What is Ecchi?

Ecchi refers to anime and manga with suggestive or mildly sexual content that stops short of being fully explicit hentai. Common ecchi elements include fanservice shots, wardrobe malfunctions, suggestive poses, and sexual humor. Popular ecchi anime series like High School DxD, To Love-Ru, and Kill la Kill blur the line between mainstream anime and adult content. Ecchi serves as a gateway genre for many viewers who later explore explicit hentai.