What is "ecchi"

a. (context of Japanese animation English) erotic, lascivious, lewd, naughty, sexy, suggestive n. 1 (context uncountable English) A genre, especially of anime and manga, featuring playful, tongue-in-cheek usage of sexualized imagery and situations such as double entendre or flirtation, while remaining non-pornographic. Often used to differentiate from hentai which features overt sexual themes. 2 (context uncountable usage chiefly western English) blanket term used to describe such media 3 (context rare countable chiefly proscribed by fandom English) A situation within a story, especially anime and manga, which ventures into the ecchi genre.

is an often used slang term in the Japanese language for playfully sexual actions. As an adjective, it is used with the meaning of "sexy", "dirty" or "naughty"; as a verb, , with the meaning to have sex; or as a noun, to describe someone of lascivious behavior. It is perhaps softer than the Japanese word ero (エロ　from Eros), and does not imply perversion in the way hentai does.

The word ecchi has been adopted by fans of Japanese media to describe works with sexual overtones. In Japanese, the word ecchi is often used to describe a person's conduct, but in fandom, it has come to be used to refer to softcore or playful sexuality, as distinct from the word hentai, which connotes perversion or fetishism. Works described as ecchi do not show sexual intercourse or genitalia, but sexual themes are referenced. Ecchi themes are a type of fan service, and can be found in most comedy shōnen and seinen manga and harem anime.