One aspect I like a lot about Japan is the general lack of “uptightness” people and companies have about the ecchi side of society. Many of Japan’s top artists, from Code Geass character designer Takehiro Kimura to Sgt. Frog creator Mine Yoshizaki, have extensive careers on the steamer side of the industry as well, yet no one rends their garments shouting “think of the children!” because of this fact, and huge companies like Bandai are perfectly happy to work with them. Actually most of the top Japanese game and anime companies have eroge in their past, including the mighty Gainax, and no one bats an eye about this since that’s part of life, too, and there’s no reason to build a wall between the two sides. Recently it was announced that JAV star Nao Oikawa was going to star in Ryoma-den, the high-budget jidai-geki drama about the life of Ryoma Sakamoto. You might think that having an actress from her line of work would cause some raised eyebrows on the straight-laced NHK network, but there was no negative reaction to the news at all — since she’ll be playing a woman of ill repute from the Yoshiwara district of Edo, she’s perfect for the role.
Takehiro Kimura made the classic Viper series, and Code Geass.
