hentaiFREEfree: keiichi's rant

hff essays.

By Keiichi of Routevenus Anime Collective.

Ok, I think you've all gotten up to date with the current HentaiFree issue, so let me get straight to my point here. HentaiFree is wrong in many aspects of their beliefs. First of all, let me make it clear that hfree's definition of hentai as "pervert or perverted" is wrong. Hentai means pornographic, although it carries somewhat of a bad conotation, but not as heavy as 'perverted'. I suggest they check a dictionary before defining other Japanese words in the future.

[hff notes: Langenscheidt Pocket Japanese Dictionary defines hentai as "1. pervert, perversion; 2. metamorphosis (insect)." We do suspect that hF have a vested interest in emphasizing the popular/simplistic connotation, however, and we note that they seem caught in the "pornography is perverted because it's pornography" circle.]

Although hfree continuously deny it, they are censoring sites. The internet, my friends, is a public place. Any and all material can exist in this endless dimension that we dedicate so much time to, and hopefully no fan-run group will change that. I'm also happy to say that most (if not all) pornographic sites contain a warning saying that their material is intended for mature adults only. So what is hfree's problem? Sites that do not display such warnings?

I would not have a problem with hfree if they were a campaign to force all hentai/pornographic sites to display a warning before making their content available. In fact, I might even have supported that. I think that pornographic sites that do not display a warning page are wrong, and should, but you don't see me making an "Adult-Content Warning FULL" club for porn sites who do display a warning. I also would have no problem with a club for sites that have no pornographic content and want to say that their sites are free to be viewed by minors without having to encounter any material for those older than 18 years of age. That would be a pretty pointless club, however, because one can just as easily write something on their index if they really wanted to. Amazoness Quartet's CereCere states that it's ironic that most sites participate in hfree are dedicated to Sailormoon and Evangelion, both of which contain adult material. They say, and I agree, that it isn't really correct to say that your site is hentai free if the anime your site is dedicated to isn't.

But hfree's purpose is not to make the web a safe environment for childrens while still respecting the adults' rights to see pornographic material. It wants to end all hentai on the internet, claiming that it is a biblical evil and that it breeds "child molesters", "serial killers", and even (gasp) "pervys [sic]". I strongly disagree. The fact that most child molesters and serial killers like pornographic material does not necessarily mean that they are what they are because of it. That would be like saying that just because (and this is untrue) all criminals have tattoos, having a tattoo may automatically turn you into a criminal, which is a rather ridiculous concept. And it is pretty obvious to me that child molesters have child pornography in their homes, that is, after all, what makes them child molesters. Not that I think it's right, it's just a fact.

Of course, there's also the fact that most anime are, in a way, pornographic. Both Shinseiki Evangelion and Mamono Hunter Yohko contain men and women masturbating, Shoujo Kakumei Utena makes it very explicit that characters have had sex, and although these do not show any full body nudity, that would be rated R in quite a few countries. Bastard! is an anime/manga that is totally not intended to be pornographic, but the main character is frequently shown fighting naked with his genitals shown. I cannot remember how many times Hotaru was shown naked in the Sailormoon manga and she's 14 (erm... you can never really be sure of her age, but she's a minor) . Is that not paedophilia? So Naoko Takeuchi must be a lesbian child molester!

It is also funny, I might add, how hfree treats hentai. Hfree acts as if hentai was the work of some evil mind, and only those of an equally evil mind see it. I can guarantee that this is entirely untrue. Pornography and sex are treated as an everyday matter by contemporary society. I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of the people in this world have seen it at one point or another, whether it's a habit or not.

Why would one join hfree anyway? It states that its purpose is not to censor hentai, but to try to eliminate it (although they admit they don't have such power). Isn't that equivalent to censorship? It is; check your dictionaries if you like. If you forcefully eliminate or ban something it is what we call censorship. Later on, hfree says that pornography generates all sorts of lunatics and social outcasts. Then shouldn't it be censored? This line of logic makes no sense whatsoever.

Hfree also says that they object pornography because it "objectifies" men and women. My child, today everything objectifies men and women. All models are objects, I can guarantee you'll never see an ugly model, a model with greasy hair, a fat model. Because they are objects, they are supposed to be what you want to be like. This makes them objects. If you take what hfree says literally, you would boycott any magazines that contain fashion ads, run around painting over fashion advertisements on the street, and maybe even dropping small bombs on fashion shows.

In closing, I suspect Sailor Bronze Mongoose, founder of hfree, didn't really realize the power of her mission statement while making hfree. She probably just wanted to have an anti-hentai club. Again, something I do not have a problem with. If she does not like hentai, then more power to her. But hfree wants to end hentai and turn people who enjoy or don't mind hentai into hentai 'haters'. That's almost as wrong as vegetarians killing McDonald's workers because they sell meat.