Less Ecchi scenes in Anime than I thought

obviously it should've been more ecchi but the adaptation is beautiful, I almost cry out of Joy

As I don't know about the manga and I watch it because a friend told me it will be a nice comedy I'm actually pretty interested in what you said here. Does it actually have some kind of depth ? Or the whole "fight against the norms" is just an excuse of the author to put many girls half naked?
I mean will there be some kind of developpement of the characters towards an acceptance and conflicts with their parents and friends?

@smoltulip

First off, I enjoyed reading your comment, and you're more than welcome to comment here, and you don't really have to censor yourself at all if it's relevant to the discussion. I'm a guy, but I'm very sex-positive/non-judgmental, so I really appreciate stories with sexually empowered female characters, even if they double as shameless fanservice lol. Second, unfortunately, there's almost zero chance of an uncensored BD release. Today any uncensored ecchi anime can air alongside the "light beam" version thanks to networks that air adult content, if that is what the creators wish to do. The scenes in the anime as they currently are aren't just "censored", they're completely altered to obscure erotic content out of frame, so they would have to redraw a whole bunch of scenes, and it just wouldn't be realistic or make sense given the direction they've chosen to go in.

I'm a woman (and a relatively new ecchi fan) lol, but hopefully I can still speak on this.

Personally, I was drawn to 2.5-jigen no Ririsa for the cosplay premise, and I ended up loving those extremely detailed cosplay-focused panels, and also, yeah, that the manga is just filled with ecchi. I actually think it's a really important parallel to Ririsa's character, and how she hid her interests in ecchi because she was so worried about being judged for them. I hugely relate to that, and I'm still working through a lot of that myself (that's a long story that doesn't relate to this, though). But part of what made 2.5-jigen no Ririsa so impactful for me was being able to admit that I like it for both the cosplay AND the ecchi, which is like, very important, and I'd argue that it's actually the point of the manga to begin with. Like, just like the characters that Ririsa cosplays, characters can be cute and sexy and badass and hot all at the same time, and it's likewise okay for the manga to be the same, and have all of these different kinds of moments (with tons of ecchi and fanservice) in it, too.

Like... the fanservice is amazing, and it's also plot-relevant. So seeing something sanitized and censored like this actually annoys the hell out of me. Idk how much I have to censor myself here on the forums, but... literally I love the cosplays in the manga because of the visible underboob and the pantyshots and just how hot they are. And I love Ririsa's character because of how much she learns to value herself as a cosplayer, and how she realizes that a) she is in fact really hot and attractive exactly the way she is, and b) that her love of characters that just happen to be from ecchi anime and manga, is nothing to be ashamed of. Like even the manga page you showed: It really does represent fanservice shots that I've seen in ecchi shonen manga, like that's the whole point; and the anime just doesn't do it justice. It's just sadly ironic to me that a manga that starts out examining shame for your interests is... censoring those interests in its anime adaption.

I'm rambling a lot, but idk. This was the manga that led me down a rabbit hole of really good ecchi/18+ visual novels with really amazing heroines that I adore... so I have a lot of feelings about this haha. And like, yeah, I know this was probably done to make money (like they'll probably have uncensored Blu-rays later or whatever), but it's still very frustrating. Hopefully you don't mind a woman's perspective on this~

And also like???? Manga Lilliel and Manga Ririsa cosplaying her are just absolutely 1000% superior, that design is so hot and cute and iconic and it's missing so much of the fanservice that made me love it in the manga...
I'm praying for uncensored blu-rays at this point.
Otherwise the adaption is great, but it's literally missing a huge important part of the manga's identity, is basically how I feel.

@smoltulip There's a lot of coomers and gooners who get upset at not seeing children(Ririsa and Mikari are 15 years old) either mostly naked or in sexually compromising situations when a very raunchy manga is turned into an anime. Do with that what you will, I'm here to supply the explanation for why the ecchi was toned down so much and how this is completely normal for both the industry and the studio.

Starting with the obvious; Tv broadcasting standards. They don't change often but when they do they get more restrictive, not less. Sometimes a studio will opt for an approach that works with animation layers like Lerche did with Everyday Life with Monster Girls in 2015 and Staple did with Wedding Ring Story in the winter season of this year(Jan-Mar 2024). There it's simply turning off the "Nipples" layer and publishing the TV edit then having the original version with "Nipples" turned back on. Pretty simple. But with 2.5D Seduction the problem isn't just whether or not the company will fall afoul of Japanese Penal Code 175(The Obscenity law) but to bring the series to a wider market. By changing the scenes just enough the studio and publisher can secure better timeslots for airing the the anime which translates into more or better advertising dollars. Gotta remember the studio still has to make money and the more niche a product is, the less money it'll make.

Now for J.C.Staff; in 2019 JC bought the studio Xebec, this is important for 2.5D Seduction because those animators from Xebec don't just vanish, they get new assignments from their now boss. And if you look at the filmography of Xebec you'll find Ken Akamatsu's works Love Hina and Magic Sensei Negima as well as Yuuna of Yuragi Manor, To Love-Ru, Keijo, Maken-Ki, Ladies Vs Butlers, Kanokon and all the way back to 1995 with Sorcerer Hunters. Xebec didn't only make ecchi series but for the ecchis they did make are consistently of this level of fanservice. Which is really saying something because of the flagrant nudity of Akamatsu's works with Negima's cast being mostly under the age of 14.

30 years of ecchi series, consistant fanservice standards from companies with decades of market success. 2.5D Seduction is almost paint by numbers with how standard the ecchi scenes play out. And to be honest, I'm glad the show focuses more on the cosplay hobby then getting teenage girls in risky positions. Also it bares saying that with the manga chapters of 128 and 165, Yuu Hashimoto, the series creator, seems pretty happy with how the anime turned out.

@NB_Tenchy Ah yes yet another L take about coomers when people are complaining about censorship. It's an adaptation of ecchi manga and people are expecting adaptation to be ecchi as well. And when in reality it turned out to be heavily censored people have all their rights to complain about this.

And when we are talking about wider market and sales just look at huge success of Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete. No censorship, rating R+ and yet big sales in every possible way. Manga, blu-ray, merch, you name it. All because people got what they wanted and expected and even more.

And lastly, who in the world is giving a shit about age of fictional characters?

@Sunlighthell
"Ah yes yet another L take about coomers when people are complaining about censorship."
It's not censorship. It's a deliberate design choice made by an approved party. You don't even know what censorship actually looks like, especially not the Japanese style of censorship. All other arguments about the manga fanservice levels are moot.

"Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete."
An irrelevant comparison. As you're probably not aware, seeing your complete lack of rational thought, Asahi Productions is not J.C.Staff. Different studios means different standards and different target audiences. Do you not like how toned down the fanservice is? Well that sucks for you since this series wasn't made with you in mind. Go back to watching your porn.

"And lastly, who in the world is giving a shit about age of fictional characters?"
So you're choosing to defend the sexualization of children?

@smoltulip There's a lot of coomers and gooners who get upset at not seeing children(Ririsa and Mikari are 15 years old) either mostly naked or in sexually compromising situations when a very raunchy manga is turned into an anime. Do with that what you will, I'm here to supply the explanation for why the ecchi was toned down so much and how this is completely normal for both the industry and the studio.

Starting with the obvious; Tv broadcasting standards. They don't change often but when they do they get more restrictive, not less. Sometimes a studio will opt for an approach that works with animation layers like Lerche did with Everyday Life with Monster Girls in 2015 and Staple did with Wedding Ring Story in the winter season of this year(Jan-Mar 2024). There it's simply turning off the "Nipples" layer and publishing the TV edit then having the original version with "Nipples" turned back on. Pretty simple. But with 2.5D Seduction the problem isn't just whether or not the company will fall afoul of Japanese Penal Code 175(The Obscenity law) but to bring the series to a wider market. By changing the scenes just enough the studio and publisher can secure better timeslots for airing the the anime which translates into more or better advertising dollars. Gotta remember the studio still has to make money and the more niche a product is, the less money it'll make.

Now for J.C.Staff; in 2019 JC bought the studio Xebec, this is important for 2.5D Seduction because those animators from Xebec don't just vanish, they get new assignments from their now boss. And if you look at the filmography of Xebec you'll find Ken Akamatsu's works Love Hina and Magic Sensei Negima as well as Yuuna of Yuragi Manor, To Love-Ru, Keijo, Maken-Ki, Ladies Vs Butlers, Kanokon and all the way back to 1995 with Sorcerer Hunters. Xebec didn't only make ecchi series but for the ecchis they did make are consistently of this level of fanservice. Which is really saying something because of the flagrant nudity of Akamatsu's works with Negima's cast being mostly under the age of 14.

30 years of ecchi series, consistant fanservice standards from companies with decades of market success. 2.5D Seduction is almost paint by numbers with how standard the ecchi scenes play out. And to be honest, I'm glad the show focuses more on the cosplay hobby then getting teenage girls in risky positions. Also it bares saying that with the manga chapters of 128 and 165, Yuu Hashimoto, the series creator, seems pretty happy with how the anime turned out.

@NB_Tenchy Dude I live in a country with heavy censorship and I know very well how to recognize it because it's matter of freedom. And this was an act of self-censorship from studio side no matter what reasons they had.

Absolutely relevant comparison and target audience is the same. Or are you gonna tell me that different shounens from different studios are for different audience too? Plus this funny take about me being not their target audience. So all manga readers as well then? And what about reverse situation? Let's say people liked how toned down fanservice and decided to read manga after. Won't they be grossed out because of how obscene scenes there?

And of course I am strongly against of sexualization of children. Thankfully anime don't have actual children so it is completely safe.

@Sunlighthell
"Ah yes yet another L take about coomers when people are complaining about censorship."
It's not censorship. It's a deliberate design choice made by an approved party. You don't even know what censorship actually looks like, especially not the Japanese style of censorship. All other arguments about the manga fanservice levels are moot.

"Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete."
An irrelevant comparison. As you're probably not aware, seeing your complete lack of rational thought, Asahi Productions is not J.C.Staff. Different studios means different standards and different target audiences. Do you not like how toned down the fanservice is? Well that sucks for you since this series wasn't made with you in mind. Go back to watching your porn.

"And lastly, who in the world is giving a shit about age of fictional characters?"
So you're choosing to defend the sexualization of children?

Thank you Kishida for the censorship!
Wow I love watching ecchi series that censor its ecchi scenes!!! says no one ever.
dropped and gave it 1 rating as a statement.

I think JC Staff should have taken the Vtuber anime and TNK this one, it wouldn't be too different for the Vtuber anime but this one would have obviously been better if made by an studio with tons of experience doing uncensored ecchi.

@Sunlighthell
"Ah yes yet another L take about coomers when people are complaining about censorship."
It's not censorship. It's a deliberate design choice made by an approved party. You don't even know what censorship actually looks like, especially not the Japanese style of censorship. All other arguments about the manga fanservice levels are moot.

"Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete."
An irrelevant comparison. As you're probably not aware, seeing your complete lack of rational thought, Asahi Productions is not J.C.Staff. Different studios means different standards and different target audiences. Do you not like how toned down the fanservice is? Well that sucks for you since this series wasn't made with you in mind. Go back to watching your porn.

"And lastly, who in the world is giving a shit about age of fictional characters?"
So you're choosing to defend the sexualization of children?

I'm... um, not sure why in your very first sentence you had to bring up coomers and gooners and immediately went to calling the characters children, but okay.

Let me start by saying, arguing on the internet really isn't my thing. I'm generally not an argumentative person, and particularly these days, I'm seriously way too tired for it. So forgive me if this is the only thing I say and I don't respond to your (likely) future counterargument. It's genuinely just because I'm too tired and with my energy levels as of late, it's simply not worth the effort. Before I get into all of this, genuinely, thank you for the lesson on TV broadcasting standards. I genuinely wasn't aware of a lot of that, and it was interesting.

But I just want to say that this argument of yours, about the "sexualization of children" is just... I see it everywhere, and it infuriates me to end, the people who can't separate fiction from reality. This is why Mushoku Tensei gets a bad rap when it's literally one of the most influential works of all time, this is why we can't have a frank conversation about Ojou to Banken-kun's adaption, talking about the strengths of the manga in comparison to Project No. 9's shoddy adaption, this is why so many discsussions that could otherwise be nuanced and varied and conducive, quickly devolve into this strange tired argument of "your opinion is irrelevant because, uhhh, look at the children being sexualized!!". Like honestly, how exhuasting it must be for these people, when half the anime on my favorites list, features children being sexualized in some way. Fate stay/night: Unlimited Blade Works? Rin Tohsaka, one of my favorite characters of all time, is sexualized. Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu Part 2? Sylphie and Eris are sexualized. Hibike Euphonium 2? Kimi no Suizou wo Tabetai? Oniichan wa Oshimai? I could find more and more examples, but all I'm saying is that 2.5-Jigen no Ririsa wasn't the first to do so, and it won't be the last. I mean, even Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata features sexualization of its characters, and that's on your favorites' list. The ecchi/18+ visual novels that I mentioned in my post, all feature the sexaulization of, what would be in your opinion - "literal children". I'm not saying whether it's right or wrong or whatever, I'm not here to make that argument. But I'm just here to point out how it's so hard to have actual discussions about these issues, because people are so busy being unable to separate fiction from reality. I mean, this is why girls like me struggle with talking about sexuality and sexual things in general, because of the mindset that your argument perpetuates. (I'm not saying that your argument is 100% related, but that this mindset of sexualization and being unable to separate fiction from reality, actually makes talking about sexuality for us, really difficult.) I didn't want to get into it here, but you brought it up: The reason why it took me so long to properly enjoy ecchi like Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete, and some of my favorite visual novels of all time, was because of voices like yours in the back of my head. So I have a personal stake in this, absolutely.

Ririsa's feelings of being ashamed for her interests in ecchi aren't as far-fetched and made up as some people like to think. So many girls like ecchi in their anime and manga; a few weeks ago, I had an awesome conversation with my best friend about an 18+ visual novel that she wanted to bring up to me, but she was genuinely afraid to do so because she thought I'd judge her for it. And I'm sure it's the same for so many of us, that we do actually like this stuff, that it's not just for men, or coomers and gooners, but people who just happen to like ecchi! For another example, a massive amount of women play Nikke: Goddess of Victory, the CEO of Manjuu (behind Azur Lane) is a woman, and their are countless women mangakas working with ecchi manga, busy "sexualizing children", as it were.

I just don't understand why, when I bring up my annoyances with censorship (and lets call it what it is, censorship - if you look it up in the dictionary you will see that it applies here), there has to be someone bringing up this tired argument. My point was not about the ages of Ririsa and Mikari, I'm quite aware that they're listed as 15 years old. My point was that for me, personally, this censorship frustrates me as a person who saw a lot of herself in Ririsa's character, and found the presence and specific nature of the sexual content of 2.5-Jigen no Ririsa's manga, relevant to her own feelings and Ririsa's character. This censorship frustrates me as someone who was able to enjoy reading 2.5-Jigen no Ririsa as an ecchi manga, for the first time. That's literally all I was saying. I'm not sure why you felt the need to bring up coomers, but again, okay. And again, my feelings and opinion stand regardless of the opinion of the series' creator. Which, you know, I'm glad that Hashimoto seems pleased with how the anime turned out, but that's not relevant to what I said - as we're talking about my feelings, not theirs.

And for some reason, your reply makes me feel like my disappointment about the censorship is invalid, and I don't appreciate that. If I, or anyone is else is upset about censorship, you don't get to simply dismiss their argument as the rambling of a coomer or gooner. That's just not fair. As @Sunlighthell said, people have all their rights to complain about this.

Them mentioning Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete is relevant regardless of the difference in studios, regardless of the difference in target audience. You know the point they were trying to make, even I can understand it - they were just trying to compare two different forms of censorship and how they were handled between the TV broadcast and Blu-ray release, but you're just deciding to be nitpicky to throw away their argument. That's insulting.

You couldn't just let me be frustrated without bringing up a whole moral grandstanding argument, could you? I'm allowed to be upset about this. And as I've been struggling to learn, it is okay for anime and manga to have lots of fanservice and to still be respected and adored as a quality work of art in spite of it, or even because of it. It's this attitude that makes having these conversations so frustrating, that perpetuates the mentality that (I'm not saying you're specifically saying so here) something has less value because it has fanservice. And frankly, since you're bringing it up, no one is defending the sexualization of children. But we are defending our rights to complain about censorship, especially when they might affect how a piece of media is viewed and understood.

Thank goodness I've learned how to separate fiction from reality. As I mentioned before, it must be really exhausting to watch anime or read manga without being able to do so.

@smoltulip There's a lot of coomers and gooners who get upset at not seeing children(Ririsa and Mikari are 15 years old) either mostly naked or in sexually compromising situations when a very raunchy manga is turned into an anime. Do with that what you will, I'm here to supply the explanation for why the ecchi was toned down so much and how this is completely normal for both the industry and the studio.

Starting with the obvious; Tv broadcasting standards. They don't change often but when they do they get more restrictive, not less. Sometimes a studio will opt for an approach that works with animation layers like Lerche did with Everyday Life with Monster Girls in 2015 and Staple did with Wedding Ring Story in the winter season of this year(Jan-Mar 2024). There it's simply turning off the "Nipples" layer and publishing the TV edit then having the original version with "Nipples" turned back on. Pretty simple. But with 2.5D Seduction the problem isn't just whether or not the company will fall afoul of Japanese Penal Code 175(The Obscenity law) but to bring the series to a wider market. By changing the scenes just enough the studio and publisher can secure better timeslots for airing the the anime which translates into more or better advertising dollars. Gotta remember the studio still has to make money and the more niche a product is, the less money it'll make.

Now for J.C.Staff; in 2019 JC bought the studio Xebec, this is important for 2.5D Seduction because those animators from Xebec don't just vanish, they get new assignments from their now boss. And if you look at the filmography of Xebec you'll find Ken Akamatsu's works Love Hina and Magic Sensei Negima as well as Yuuna of Yuragi Manor, To Love-Ru, Keijo, Maken-Ki, Ladies Vs Butlers, Kanokon and all the way back to 1995 with Sorcerer Hunters. Xebec didn't only make ecchi series but for the ecchis they did make are consistently of this level of fanservice. Which is really saying something because of the flagrant nudity of Akamatsu's works with Negima's cast being mostly under the age of 14.

30 years of ecchi series, consistant fanservice standards from companies with decades of market success. 2.5D Seduction is almost paint by numbers with how standard the ecchi scenes play out. And to be honest, I'm glad the show focuses more on the cosplay hobby then getting teenage girls in risky positions. Also it bares saying that with the manga chapters of 128 and 165, Yuu Hashimoto, the series creator, seems pretty happy with how the anime turned out.

Wait... manga is much more ecchi?



If yes then now this meme makes sense

I'm going to say this again. The early stronger ecci elements, such as the actual nude scenes, were pretty much just a quick way to build an audience at the beginning.
Every sign of the manga points at this, from the ecchi gradually getting toned down as the manga went on, the arcs focusing on ways to develop a character through cosplay, to the raunchier scenes being later relegated to extra chapters, rather than being part of the main story. The ecchi's still there, but it became a bonus.
Now that was the manga. Where the release schedule alone won't make you notice the shift in tone unless you binge it.

But an anime is different. It adapts multiple chapters per episode, so if they were to adapt the manga as is, the shift would be sudden and egregious.
They have to commit to a style and so, as a studio they simply chose both the one that made the most sense financially and what was ultimately the tone of the manga later.

Really, I see this choice as no different to, for example, Bleach using character designs more reminiscent of the manga's mid period volumes or the anime toning down the comedy during the main story and putting a lot more of it in the omakes. People are just bitching too much about not getting animated nipples.

And no, before some nincompoop decides to bitch to me some nonsense about being a prude or pro censorship, I'll just give a reminder that my lists are public.