Ecchi

Ecchi is the cheeky, suggestive end of anime and manga comedy: innuendo, fan-service, embarrassment, badly timed entrances, wardrobe treachery and the mysterious gravitational properties of the accidental fall.

It is not the same as explicit pornography. Ecchi usually works through implication, teasing and comic sexual tension rather than graphic depiction. That said, "not explicit" does not automatically mean "mild", "clever" or "something to put on while your visiting relatives are still in the room".

Ecchi often appears as a seasoning rather than the whole dish. Harem comedies use it constantly. Fantasy adventures and school comedies may add it for slapstick or titillation. Some battle shonen titles include ecchi gags in otherwise action-led stories, which can be jarring if the tone has been heroic for ten minutes and then suddenly develops a camera problem.

At its best, ecchi is bawdy farce. It knows sex is funny, bodies are ridiculous and embarrassment is a renewable comic resource. At its worst, it becomes lazy, intrusive or exploitative, especially when characters are young or when the gag depends entirely on humiliating someone for the viewer's benefit.

The audience is viewers comfortable with suggestive comedy and fan-service. A decent guide should flag ecchi plainly because tone matters. Nobody wants to recommend a "fun fantasy comedy" and then remember, too late, the hot-spring episode lurking in the shrubbery.