History Main / CompensatedDating

The high value in Japanese culture for youth, along with the incompatibility of Japanese consumer culture with the lowered economic prospects of the average family since the boom of the 80s collapsed, have been cited as driving forces. ''Enjo kosai'' has also been strongly identified in the public eye with the ''kogal'' subculture.

* In ''Anime/MaiHiME'', Nao Yuuki seems a delinquent type is alluded to engage in this. Later we find out she uses it as a hook to ''mug'' men, who cannot report the crime for obvious reasons. [[spoiler: It's actually a sort-of revenge she takes on men, since a bunch of thugs killed her father and injured her mother.]]

* Subverted in ''Manga/PleaseTellMeGalkoChan''; Galko has always been suspected of doing this despite having ''no'' experience in romance or sex. A specific example can be seen in episode 2: Galko said "Papa" (in English) would pay her if she made bread. Unfortunately, "papa" is also the term for the "other side" in Compensated Dating, which causes a misunderstanding. Galko almost immediately notices the looks and starts to protest that she slipped and she really always just calls him "Father", clearing up the misunderstanding while apparently completely oblivious to it.

* Part six of ''LightNovel/KaraNoKyoukai'' (the original novel, but not the anime adaptation) sees Azaka and Shiki uncover a compensated dating operation at Azaka's [[TheOjou elite]] [[OneGenderSchool girls-only boarding school]], run by one of the teachers. While they initially assume the teacher has forced his students into this, Azaka eventually concludes that at least some of the girls went along with him willingly, as a way to stick it to the school's stifling rules and regulations. The ring operated for months until one of the girls got pregnant and committed suicide out of despair, indirectly prompting Azaka's investigation.

* Its not just in Japanese Anime anymore but also was a case in Taiwan Drama ''Series/BrownSugarMacchiato''. The brothers in order to help the boy students overthrow the matriarchy in their class attempted to catch the AlphaBitch in a scandalous act which was related to this trope. Needless to say it sorta worked until she reveals it was her uncle who she was visiting.

* ''Webcomic/{{Megatokyo}}'': Junko from has been observed engaged in apparent ''enjo kosai,'' taking money from an older man after a dinner. However, since Fred Gallagher is American, this is given a rather neutral light.

* There was an episode of ''LightNovel/MariaSamaGaMiteru'' where one of the girls was suspected of engaging in ''enjo kosai''. [[spoiler:She was getting clothes and money from her father and brothers to spend time with them, because they missed her while she was living at an all girls school.]]

A recent development in modern Japan has been the appearance of the practice of ''enjo kosai'', translated as "subsidized dating", "compensated dating", or "dating for assistance". Japanese girls, often still in high school or even junior high, make arrangements with older men who pay them for dates. The arrangements are usually made through ''telekura'' (telephone clubs) or ''merukura'' (email clubs).

While the arrangement is not explicitly for sexual services, the nature of the activity is such that such activities are known to occur with some regularity. Up until very recently, the low age of consent in many areas of Japan and the restricted legal definition of what constitutes prostitution has protected the participants from legal repercussions. Even with new laws, ''enjo kosai'' is still a widespread and controversial activity. To non Japanese this seems to be a form of softcore prostitution.

* In HideakiAnno's 1998 movie ''Love & Pop'', the main character, a 16-year-old high school girl named Hiromi, goes on subsidized dates in order to purchase a ring she adores.

* Subverted in ''Manga/PleaseTellMeGalkoChan''; Galko has always been suspected of doing this despite having ''no'' experience in romance or sex. A specific example can be seen in episode 2: Galko said "Papa" (in English) would pay her if she made bread. Unfortunately, "papa" is also the term for the "other side" in Compensated Dating, which causes a misunderstanding. Galko almost immediately notices the looks and starts to protest that she slipped and she really always just calls him "Father", clearing up the misunderstanding while apparently completely oblivious to it.

* Manga example: In ''Manga/{{Kobato}}'', the titular character is approached by a businessman wanting to be 'healed' When Fujimoto intervenes, he berates Kobato, believing her to be engaging in this practice -- she, being the NaiveEverygirl, doesn't know what he's talking about.

* Speculation has it that Aerith from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready participated]] in this.

* Anzu was suspected to be one of these in the original version of ''Manga/YuGiOh''. It turned out that it wasn't exactly what they were expecting to be.

* Subverted in episode 2 of ''Manga/ServantXService''. Taishi was suspected of this, for managing to placate Touko with a hug and a few yen, before Saya clears up the issue by noticing that they have the same surname--they are, in fact, siblings.[[/folder]]

* ''GreatTeacherOnizuka'' had two episodes where Onizuka was persuaded to try ''enjo kosai,'' but was surprised by who shows up...
* ''SuperGALS'' had one of the main characters, Aya, introduced as a perfect student engaging in ''enjo kosai'' in order to escape a high-pressure home and academic life. At the end, Ran helps her see her own self-worth before she "goes too far".
* There was an episode of ''LightNovel/MariaSamaGaMiteru'' where one of the girls was suspected of engaging in ''enjo kosai''. [[spoiler:She was getting clothes and money from her father and brothers to spend time with them, because they missed her while she was living at an all girls school.]]
* In ''{{Mai-HiME}}'', Nao Yuuki seems a delinquent type is alluded to engage in this. Later we find out she uses it as a hook to ''mug'' men, who cannot report the crime for obvious reasons. [[spoiler: It's actually a sort-of revenge she takes on men, since a bunch of thugs killed her father and injured her mother.]]
* Takumi's girlfriend Natsuki in the original version of ''InitialD'' is engaged in ''enjo kosai'' from the start of the series. The English dub [[{{Bowdlerise}} alters the plot]] so that she is just spending time with her divorced father.
** By the second session, Natsuki has subverted this trope by quitting her relationship with "Papa" which was endangering her budding relationship with Takumi. She decides to get a job at a fast-food restaurant, mimicking the hard-working job she sees Takumi engaging in at the gas station, when she realizes people are looking down on her for her slightly-whorish behaviour.

* Mako "Nakama" Nakarai, one of the girls in ''{{Bokurano}}'', engages in ''enjo kosai'' to get money for something she needs to accomplish before [[spoiler:she dies]]. However, [[spoiler: she is steered away from it, and learns a lesson about [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold her mother]]'s past in the experience]].
* The main character, "Sexy Voice", of ''SexyVoiceAndRobo'' was engaged in something like this at the beginning of the series
* ''PuniPuniPoemi'' very briefly showed a Gyaru on a subsi-date before violently showing her the error of her ways.
* Manga example: In ''{{Kobato}}'', the titular character is approached by a businessman wanting to be 'healed' When Fujimoto intervenes, he berates Kobato, believing her to be engaging in this practice -- she, being the NaiveEverygirl, doesn't know what he's talking about.
* Subverted in ''{{Karin}}'' - Kenta sees Karin in a park embracing an older man and assumes she is engaging in enjo kosai. However, because Karin is a vampire, she was actually biting his neck.

* ''PrincessNine'': When HugeSchoolgirl / {{Delinquent}} Seira Morimura is recruited for the baseball team, she mistakes the seedy-looking coach's offer of "recruitment" for ''enjo kosai''. When she relizes the truth she is half relived and half livid. "I thought I was.. Well nevermind what I thought I was coming here for!!"
* ''HellTeacherNube'': "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itako Itako-girl]]" Izuna Hazuki. Nube himself mistakes her for a ''kogal'' at first sight. Unusual in that, instead of indulging in compensated dating, she sells her services as an oracle and general spiritualist but she's not above taking risqué pictures of herself and selling them.
* Anzu was suspected to be one of these in the original version of ''Manga/YuGiOh''. It turned out that it wasn't exactly what they were expecting to be.
* In ''{{Chu-Bra}}'' Given Nayu's tendency to wear panties totally unlike most girls her age and her frequent conversations with an older man (actually her stepbrother), this is what she was accused of.

* ''SamaritanGirl'' shows that the phenomenon isn't limited to Japan, and also exists in South Korea.
* The movie ''Bounce Kogals'', being about a group of kogal friends, also use this trope.
* In HideakiAnno's 1998 movie ''Love & Pop'', the main character, a 16-year-old high school girl named Hiromi, goes on subsidized dates in order to purchase a ring she adores.

* Its not just in Japanese Anime anymore but also was a case in Taiwan Drama ''BrownSugarMacchiato''. The brothers in order to help the boy students overthrow the matriarchy in their class attempted to catch the AlphaBitch in a scandalous act which was related to this trope. Needless to say it sorta worked until she reveals it was her uncle who she was visiting.

* Rare male example: In ''{{Gungrave}}'', [[ManipulativeBastard suave]], handsome Harry [=MacDowell=] is shown, as a teenager, taking money for dates from rich boarding-school girls.

* There was an episode of ''{{Maria-sama Ga Miteru}}'' where one of the girls was suspected of engaging in ''enjo kosai''. [[spoiler:She was getting clothes and money from her father and brothers to spend time with them, because they missed her while she was living at an all girls school.]]

[[/folder]]

* ''PrincessNine'': When HugeSchoolgirl / {{Delinquent}} Seira Morimura is recruited for the baseball team, she mistakes the seedy-looking coach's offer of "recruitment" for EnjoKosai. . When she relizes the truth she is half relived and half livid. "I thought I was.. Well nevermind what I thought I was coming here for!!"

* In Hideaki Anno's 1998 movie ''Love & Pop'', the main character, a 16-year-old high school girl named Hiromi, goes on subsidized dates in order to purchase a ring she adores.

* ''Film/BreakfastAtTiffanys'': AudreyHepburn did it first. This was her occupation. Though how much was censorship and how much was GettingCrapPastTheRadar is left as an exercise for the reader.

* Speculation has it that Aerith from ''FinalFantasyVII'' [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready participated]] in this.

* ''BreakfastAtTiffanys'': AudreyHepburn did it first. This was her occupation. Though how much was censorship and how much was GettingCrapPastTheRadar is left as an exercise for the reader.

* ''{{Megatokyo}}'': Junko from has been observed engaged in apparent ''enjo kosai,'' taking money from an older man after a dinner. However, since Fred Gallagher is American, this is given a rather neutral light.

* ''RanmaOneHalf''

* Anzu was suspected to be one of these in the original version of ''YuGiOh''. It turned out that it wasn't exactly what they were expecting to be.

* ''JigokuShojo'' shows this in the first episode, when Hashimoto Mayumi is blackmailed into earning money this way.

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]

----

The high value in Japanese culture for youth, along with the incompatibility of Japanese consumer culture with the lowered economic prospects of the average family since the boom of the 80s collapsed, have been cited as driving forces. ''Enjo kosai'' has also been strongly identified in the public eye with the ''{{kogal}}'' subculture.

[[AC:{{Anime}} & {{Manga}}]]

** [[{{IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow}} Oh, is ''that'']] what they call it nowadays...?
* ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]'' presents a unique variation. Nabiki Tendo will often accept date offers and invitations from classmates who don't know any better, will then fleece them for all they're worth during the date, and then she blackmails them with their own love letters to her. As it is, she's feared by all who have dated her, and she comes out much, much richer from the experience.
** In an anime only story, Nabiki also agrees to go out with Tofu in order to get his mother to stop bugging him about getting married. She charges him pretty reasonably for the dating, but then 'reminds' him that it wouldn't be very convincing if he didn't spend a lot of money on the dates.
** In one truly bizarre instance, Nabiki met someone who was just as selfish, manipulating and greedy as she was. They agreed to a challenge where they would go on a date, and the first to actually spend money was the loser. The entire event was them constantly foisting bills on each other and skipping out on paying out for themselves.
** Finally, Ranma does this to a lesser degree, one time in the anime he accepted a date for free eats and a boat ride, Akane came up behind him (technically her) and hit him on the head with a mallet. He also does this to acquire things like information or items from people like Tatewaki.
* When HugeSchoolgirl / {{Delinquent}} Seira Morimura is recruited for the baseball team in ''PrincessNine'', she mistakes the seedy-looking coach's offer of "recruitment" for EnjoKosai. . When she relizes the truth she is half relived and half livid. "I thought I was.. Well nevermind what I thought I was coming here for!!"
* I'm not sure if ''BillionGirl'' falls under this trope, but it sure as hell tries.
* "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itako Itako-girl]]" Izuna Hazuki from ''HellTeacherNube'' --Nube himself mistakes her for a ''kogal'' at first sight. Unusual in that, instead of indulging in compensated dating, she sells her services as an oracle and general spiritualist but she's not above taking risqué pictures of herself and selling them.

* In ''{{Chu-Bra}}!!'' Given Nayu's tendency to wear panties totally unlike most girls her age and her frequent conversations with an older man (actually her stepbrother), this is what she was accused of.

* In Hideaki Anno?s 1998 movie ''Love & Pop'', the main character, a 16-year-old high school girl named Hiromi, goes on subsidized dates in order to purchase a ring she adores.

* AudreyHepburn did it first. This was her occupation in BreakfastAtTiffanys - though how much was censorship and how much was GettingCrapPastTheRadar is left as an exercise for the reader.

* Speculation has it that Aerith from ''FinalFantasyVII'' [[strike:participates]] [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready participated]] in this.

* Webcomics example: Junko from ''{{Megatokyo}}'' has been observed engaged in apparent ''enjo kosai,'' taking money from an older man after a dinner. However, since Fred Gallagher is American, this is given a rather neutral light.
** Until recently. [[http://www.megatokyo.com/strip/1175 This strip]] has her speaking to Ping about a metaphorical situation about someone buying Ping and trying to rape her. Seems like Ping might not be the only one this is relevant to, especialy givin the sarcastic and meloncholy reply of "Must be nice." when Ping explains that her sex organs aren't part of the games she plays with her end-users.
** This comes as the confirmation of a claim she made earlier, that she is "good at taking advantage of older men and getting money from them."

----
<<|AlwaysFemale|>>
<<|UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}|>>
<<|MoneyTropes|>>
<<|TheOldestProfession|>>
<<|TropeNamesFromTheJapanese|>>

** [[{{IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow}} Oh, is ''that'']] [[{{IfYouKnowWhatIMean}} what they call it nowadays...?]]

* Its not just in Japanese Anime anymore but also was a case in Taiwan Drama ''BrownSugarMacchiato''. The brothers in order to help the boy students overthrow the matriarchy in their class attempted to catch TheLibby in a scandalous act which was related to this trope. Needless to say it sorta worked until she reveals it was her uncle who she was visiting.

* In the now-deceased online manga ''Music Box'', TheLibby and local ko-gal Maika Sakura engages into this. [[spoiler: She's caught by her classmate [[DoggedNiceGuy Kazuki]] [[ClassRepresentative Kirio]] and flat out admits it.]] The Japanese/American author mentions the practice and how she had a friend whose sister was caught by the police while in enjo kosai.