I was talking with some friends about stuffs when the topic swerved to hentai. Then, one of my friends suddenly asked; “Why do some people prefer hentai over real porn?” The group was then divided. The team “I prefer real porn” and team “I prefer hentai” had a heated, yet civilized debate. (Guess which team I was in.)

            The question lingered in my mind. Maybe I can find a scientific explanation why some people prefer hentai over real porn.

            Looking at some forums made me realize that the topic suffers from a lack of facts and a lot of opinions from people that downright depreciate other people who watch and like hentai.

             Still, the question remains unanswered. Why do some people prefer hentai over porn? I think I know the answer.

SUPERNORMAL STIMULUS

            According to Wikipedia; a supernormal stimulus or superstimulus is an exaggerated version of a stimulus to which there is an existing response tendency, or any stimulus that elicits a response more strongly than the stimulus for which it evolved.

            In layman’s (or hentai’s) terms, an exaggerated version of a butt [anime butt] can create a stronger response to the real butt [normal butt] from where it evolved.

            Supernormal stimulus doesn’t just work in hentai, I works in other aspects of life as well. Exaggeration of social interaction (facebook and twitter) is preferred to some people more than normal social interaction (talking face to face). Why hentai over real porn? It’s because hentai is basically taking what we sexually like and ramping it up to 11, making it seem better to us. This video on youtube could help drive my point.

FETISH

            This one is more… logical? There are kinks and fetishes that some people may find … unconventional. There are large penetration, lolicon, stomach deformation, tentacles, monster girls; these genres are not available to regular porn. However, hentai can provide you with your unconventional kinks. Why hentai over real porn? Easy! You simply just have more option in hentai to suit your taste.

HYPERREALITY

            This is another one. Again, according to Wikipedia; …hyperreality is an inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality, especially in technologically advanced postmodern societies. Hyperreality is a condition where the line between fantasy and reality is blurred to the point where one doesn’t know which is which.

            Hyperreality is an old concept, but the idea has more impact now more than ever. The “hyperrealism” of our role-models is being manipulated by the media. As Daniel J Boorsit said:

“We come dangerously close to depriving ourselves of all real models.We lose sight of the men and women who do not simply seem great because they are famous but who are famous because they are great.”

and he fears that:

“…loss of old heroes like Moses, Ulysses, Aeneas, Jesus, Caesar, Mohammed, Joan of Arc, Shakespeare, Washington, Napoleon, and Lincoln, who did not have public relations (PR) agencies to construct hyperreal images of themselves.”

            But I digress, so why prefer hentai over real porn? It’s because some people had a skewered view of reality from the excessive exposure of hypersexualized characters from anime, movie, games, commercial, and other media; and hentai seems more real to these people than real porn.

            What about you? Do you prefer hentai over real porn? Do you have anything to add? Do you have any suggestions and recommendation? Please tell us about it in the comments below. Thank you for reading!