About

Eromanga Sensei (エロマンガ先生) is a series of light novels written by Tsukasa Fushimi and illustrated by Hiro Kanzaki, later adapted as a twelve-part anime series by A-1 Pictures.^[1] The series has received attention for its taboo contents, featuring incestuous tones and underage characters in risque situations.

Premise

Eromanga Sensei centers around step-siblings Masamune and Sagiri Izumi. Having lost their parents shortly after moving in together, Sagiri grows reclusive and isolates herself in her room, with Masamune having to leave the food outside her door and walk away for her to eat. Meanwhile, Masamune makes a living writing erotic light novels, illustrated by an online contact known only as "Eromanga sensei." Upon tuning in on the artist's live stream, he comes find out that the mysterious illustrator is in fact his step sister, Sagiri.

The two of them begin to grow closer over time as they work as partners, and some uncertain romantic feelings begin to form. More characters come into play, such as Sagiri's classmate Megumi Jinno, the rival light novel author Elf Yamada, and the successful author and secret admirer Senju Muramasa. The erotic work of the two step siblings informs the series' raunchy humor and lewd fanservice.

History

The first volume of the Eromanga Sensei light novel series was published on December 10th, 2013, by Kadokawa.^[2] The series was later given a comic adaptation which began its run on November 7th, 2014 and is also published by Kadokawa.^[3]

The anime adaptation of the novels began airing on April 9th, 2017, and ran until June 25th the same year.^[4] Search trends show that the series rose massively in popularity with the airing of the anime. An OVA has been announced and is scheduled for release in 2018.^[5]

Reception

The Eromanga Sensei anime sold well in Japan, with its sales estimated to rank in the top 15 of all the series released that year.^[6] The anime series became notorious in the west for the taboo behaviors and portrayals of the characters, with regards to many characters being put in sexual situations despite being young, as well as Masamune having feelings for Sagiri even though he's her step brother. Many reviews from western audiences display unease at the content. Some have received the show favorably, emphasizing the good production quality and cuter parts of the show. Others have drawn comparisons to the author's previous work, Oreimo, which even received a cameo in one of the show's episodes. ^[7]^[8]

With its over-the-top content, some have taken to see the show as something to be enjoyed in a so-bad-it's-good manner. Anime youtuber Gigguk^[9] released a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the series on June 4th, 2017, where he argues that the show becomes a masterpiece through the absurd level of trashiness of it (shown below). He finishes with the phrase "Anime is trash, and so am I," which has gained some minor popularity. The video has received over 1.3 million views as of April 2018.

Online Presence

The show has a presence on western websites, with a smaller community of around 1,000 on reddit at /r/EroMangaSensei,^[10] and a notable amount of content on Tumblr, much of it focused on Sagiri.^[11]

Many pieces of fanart have been made for the series and is featured on various websites. Pixiv returns over 10,000 results when searching for the Japanese title of the series, "エロマンガ先生",^[12] and over 6000 results when searching for "和泉紗霧" (Sagiri Izumi).^[13] Sites with more western audiences feature art as well, such as DeviantArt, which gives over 1500 results when searching for "Eromanga sensei".^[14]

Dicks. I love them!

The second episode in the series features a scene where Megumi Jinno first meets Masamune. She arrives at their house to attempt to get Sagiri to come to school, but teases Masamune at the door, using the word "おちんちん" (ochinchin, a casual word for penis) prominently.

[This video has been removed]

With Megumi being noticeably young, the scene stands out with its absurdity, and has been used in several video edits. Screen captures from the conversation have also been used to demonstrate the show's nature.

[This video has been removed]

Sagiri

A lot of the audience's attention has focused on the character Sagiri. Much of the fan art for the show depicts her, and she's been widely used in various joke images, in many cases comparing her to trash] One reaction image in particular featuring Sagiri has also seen some prominence on the internet. It comes from a scene in the anime where, upon being told that Megumi is coming by, Sagiri simply gives off a sound of "Bleh" and closes her door.^[16]

[This video has been removed]