Japan is getting credit for our home-grown invention of animated smut and frankly I’m offended! I learned about a new strange and small ripple in the moral fabric of America from The Beat this morning. Apparently someone is actually trying to condemn sexualized Japanese (and Japanese inspired) art as *gasp wrong.This article on MSNBC sends shivers down my spine. More about the sheer hilarity of the news outlet showing how lame they must be in the sack. Seriously, this is just really sad filler.

“Within the adult realm of otaku culture, cuteness is fetishized (hence the Hello Kitty sex toys) and gender is often bent or dissolves altogether.”

Really? Really? Well, if they’re talking about crossplay or other niche within a niche Russian dolls I guess they have a small point. But if you ever read “The 4Chan” you’d see that it’s just a bunch of horny teenagers expressing themselves in their own anonymous weird way. When I was their age the thing was “Big Johnson” tee shirts and local BBS boards.

I’m man enough to admit that cartoons are sexy. Hell! The good old USA invented the sexy cartoon. Does anyone recall a certain wild raving pervert name of “Tex” Avery?

Jessica Rabbit was so much of a sex symbol that Saturday Night Live did a phone sex parody ad or her!

Comic book women also have a long and seductive history. The point of the matter is that we created this fetish and I’m damned insulted that the Japanese are getting all the credit for it! I love anime, but let’s get real… we were making “Once Upon a Girl” and “Heavy Metal Movie” while anime producers were still cranking out flat-chested versions of Disney princesses (you heard me Sayla Mass).

The way I see it anime, or more aptly, Hentai, is just another example of Japanese innovation. As a society they’re excellent at innovating, tweaking and producing. This isn’t any different.

That said, I think we also need to own up to the fact that America is the proud creator of “Furry” culture too. I’d rather visit a maid cafe then a furry convention any day. No offense intended, but it’s really just not my scene.

So, the next time that MSNBC says, “Women are penetrated by octopi and young women in short school-girl skirts save the world. Men, on the other hand, are often passive worshipers of small figurines depicting sexy characters.” Just smile, nod and think back to the good old days when America was number one on the shortlist of freaky cartoon love. (sigh) Those were good times. At least I could enjoy looking at animated breasts without pretending to really like sushi.