Japanese animated films, familiarly called "anime," have become well-known worldwide. With the success of the 1988 "Akira," the genre became a sound commercial export and its popularity (mainly on home television) continued, thus justifying the publication of Helen McCarthy's "The Anime Movie Guide" in 1996.
Several qualities accounted for the popularity of "Akira": its slick graphics, its futuristic-fantasy architecture and its fashionably doom-laden message. Also important was its extraordinary eroticism. Little Kaori, you will remember, was brutally assaulted by a biker gang and emerged bruised and traumatized.
This event gratified a number of male viewers and perhaps contributed to the film's popularity. At any rate, in the following decade many Japanese anime followed its lead -- so many that erotic anime is now seen to deserve a volume of its own and again Helen McCarthy, this time along with Jonathan Clements, has provided it.