redirected from Main.Loli
alt title(s): Loli
The Japanese abbreviation of the English phrase "Lolita Complex." The term refers to the book
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, which describes an older man's illicit sexual affair with a twelve-year-old girl. Sometimes written as "roricon" or "rorikon" due to the inexact mapping between Japanese and English phonemes. Not so much an
Anime Trope as a Japanese cultural trope, this is the term used to describe the fetish/fascination some mature people have for underage girls, particularly
sailor-suited schoolgirls. There is an entire industry in Japan devoted to providing legal but schoolgirl-themed pornography, taking advantage of the
cute childlike appearance some Japanese women maintain well into their twenties.
Because the characters in anime are often young by convention, many fans think that a character can only be
Lolicon if she is twelve or younger. Exceptions are granted if the other character in the relationship is a
lot older.
Lolicon themes are far more common in
hentai material, but can still be found here and there in mainstream anime. One particular device used to skirt the boundaries of taste and legality is the exotic being (alien, creature of magic, robot or the like) which takes the form of an underage human girl, but is
in fact for all other practical purposes an adult. Interestingly enough, Nabokov himself addressed the subject with far less sympathy and jocularity, describing said older man in his book as "a vain... cruel... hateful person." Nabokov's Lolita was also portrayed in a not very sympathetic light, as she consciously seduced him their first time to manipulate him, and was by no means unwilling or innocent in the affair.
Another reason why lolicon is fetishized by people may be because
some of them just view it as a substitute for their
fetish for
flat-chested, but otherwise well-developed, women.
Oddly enough, many idols among the fetish are from
shoujo series intended for girls. However, this may have more to do with the innocent fetish the younger female
audience has with having a cool older boyfriend. On the other hand, some
Moe Moe series tend to be more blatant in their aims.
The trope
may have a
slight Freudian Excuse, at least in anime; after WWII, the Japanese constitution was amended to outlaw all public exposure of male genitalia (which of course led to the codification of
Naughty Tentacles) or pubic hair, but not
female genitalia - making every female in Japanese entertainment retain prepubescent traits. It's just as lame as most Freudian Excuses, though.
See also
Joshikousei and, for teacher-student relationships,
Hot For Student. Compare with
Shotacon.
