Rayas-WEBUnderstanding Hentai: A Review of Jessica Soho’s Segment
January 31, 2021 – I published an article about a certain Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho segment that tackles adult Japanese animation.
May 31, 2024 – I was able to recover the promo for the episode that contained said segment.
May 10, 2026 – On Mother’s Day no less, the denizens of Philippine Television Archives were able to pull up the entire segment.
Where do I even begin with this episode? The insinuation that hentai is primarily made for children? The existence of hentai on cable TV? There are a lot of things that I would like to point out in this particular segment. However, I would like to give you guys at least two minutes to watch the segment here:
First things first, the segment does a great job of introducing the concept of hentai to the baby boomers/people who don’t watch anime. Where it fails in that department is that they sensationalized the spread of hentai too much.
Yes, hentai is being distributed through pirated DVDs and VCDs. I even caught glimpses of hentai DVDs being sold in the street. I can see how GMA News and Public Affairs were able to put two and two together and say hentai is being sold to kids.
What doesn’t make sense to me is this: hentai? on cable television? I highly doubt that was even happening in Japan. For one, even in the 2000s, broadcast laws in Japan would not allow the airing of hentai in its “purest” form. Some channels, like AT-X, would air shows like Nukitashi or Yosuga no Sora, but those would have the sex scenes removed to comply with broadcasting laws.
Another thing I would like to point out is that I haven’t seen any Tagalog-dubbed hentai in my lifetime. Yes, I understand that even hentai gets dubbed in English. However, I have never heard of any Tagalog-dubbed hentai before or since.
Was this a good segment about hentai? It’s a good primer on the subject at the time, maybe. It gets the job done on warning parents about the existence of hentai and making sure that the anime your kids are watching are the good kind.
Where the Jessica Soho team fails is how they approach the subject. They treated this as “hentai is an epidemic that’s hurting our youth being spread everywhere” when the reality of the situation is that hentai, outside of niche anime stores that DO sell it, are being sold at bootleg DVD stores. No, Jessica, hentai was not being aired on cable TV and not all cartoons are aimed at children. Case in point, The Simpsons, South Park, and Family Guy.
Now that it’s up online, I guess my job here is done. Congratulations once again to Philipiine Television Archives for helping me find the missing footage.
If you want to read more about the journey into finding this segment, you can read the following articles:
READ MORE: That Time Jessica Soho Talked About “Off-Brand Anime”., Uncovering Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho’s Controversial Hentai Featurette
#anime #entertainment #hentai #jessicaSoho #manga #Movies #otaku #philippines #television #tv
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