Forced ecchi ruins anime, they claim

Twitter user "朝野おやつ (@asano082)" recently became a trending topic due to his criticism that some anime series for all audiences (i.e., not labeled as ecchi) lose quality and even followers for the simple fact of putting in forced ecchi scenes. According to his posts, he had decided to watch an anime with his brother, and although he found the story interesting, he stopped watching it because it included unnecessary ecchi scenes.

In his posts, he wrote:

"I was watching an anime series with my brother because I thought it was interesting, but all the girls had big breasts, camera angles were taken that made them look erotic, lesbian relationships were talked about, and even the girls themselves were talking about the size of their breasts. I certainly didn't like it at all, but my brother swore to me that the story was interesting, and that I should give it a chance until the third episode."

"Watching the second episode, the story really started to look interesting to me, so I thought I could put aside the sexualization of the girls to enjoy the plot. And then they do a scene in a bathroom and with the girls completely naked."

"In my brother's defense, he doesn't recommend any ecchi anime to me or force me to watch it. People who have been watching anime for years don't find the presence of ecchi scenes in a regular series strange, given that it's something that's been around for decades. Rather, I mean that many times a story could lose its quality or seriousness just because of the fact that it inserts an unnecessary and repetitive ecchi."

There are certainly anime labeled from conception as ecchi, such as "Mato Seihei no Slave" and "Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete" this season. However, the criticism does not go towards this type of productions, but towards those that put ecchi scenes out of thin air or simply as a resource to keep the audience glued to the screen.

Of course, while some may believe that "ecchi is never and will never be unnecessary," others will agree that it is precisely this kind of thing that is why "it is dangerous to watch anime in public or with the family." After all, you never know if at some point a naked girl or a pair of boobs will appear on screen in a series where you never would have expected it.

And this is why the topic became a debate on an Internet forum:

"I can totally understand when you use camera angles to focus on girls' breasts or ass. When I like the story I can ignore it, but it's certainly the kind of thing I don't watch anime for in the living room."
"Erotic scenes that have nothing to do with the story feel like they're just trying to prove something, and they start to alienate viewers. I don't want people to think I don't like ecchi, but when it's present in a show, it's automatically no longer one I'd recommend."
"There are times when the story is interesting, but the forced ecchi scenes make it embarrassing to say I like it, let alone recommend it to anyone else. One time I was watching an anime in my living room thinking it was one without these kinds of scenes, and by chance my family crossed paths when they forced an ecchi scene."
"A lot of recent anime series have bathroom scenes and things like that. It's unsettling and sometimes unnecessary. Even in fighting anime, they put this kind of content. If I'm watching a fighting anime, it's because I want to watch fights, not unnecessary and forced ecchi."
"To be honest, I often like a story, but is it really necessary for girls' boobs to sway back and forth all the time? There doesn't seem to be any anime that can be taken seriously."
"I'm not bothered by breasts much, but when they put yuri elements that don't lead anywhere, that's really embarrassing. Even though a friend had recommended a series to me saying it was a masterpiece, it was this kind of thing that drove me away."
"I know it's out of place, but I like details like Asuna from 'Sword Art Online' and Rem from 'Re:ZERO.' If you pay attention, you'll see how her breasts increase in size as the story progresses and the years go by."
"I'm feeling that with Kusuriya no Hitorigoto. I had been watching an anime series with my kids for a while. I like flowers and plants, as well as poisons and China-themed stories, but for some reason they throw in these kinds of scenes when they talk about aphrodisiacs and things like that."
"When I want to watch ecchi scenes, I watch a series labeled as ecchi. It's certainly annoying when, all of a sudden, a show starts to force these kinds of scenes."