Boku no Pico, I Don’t Get the Hype

If you have been on any form of anime social platform from Facebook pages, groups, Twitter or online forms, you have heard of Boku no Pico and there is no question that it has a really bad rap. After hearing about it for years I finally searched the world wide web and actually found the episodes.

Please note that this post is not an actual review of the anime but my experience with the anime. Also, this may upset some people as I am quite frank with this and do go into detail so discretion is advised. If you are sensitive to ‘young age-related’ sex – stop reading. If you are prejudiced about gay sex – you probably should also stop reading. Also, if you are a minor, this post is not for you.

Other than that, this is my personal thoughts and I just really want to explain why I do not understand the hate this anime gets. To do so I shall be looking at each aspect of each episode, so there are massive spoilers, but to be honest, since there is no storyline as such the spoilers don’t really count, they just take away the unexpected but not unexpected aspects of each episode.

For years I have seen various memes that are basically saying that this is the worst anime out there and really disturbing that will do nothing but leave you mentally scarred and such like the ones below:

Now, I understand that for a whole lot of people full-on yaoi (where you see and hear exactly what is going on) can be seen as disturbing but you need to realise that Boku no Pico is clearly rated as a Hentai, so yea porn. Thus, you should already have an inkling as to what is coming your way. No pun intended. Also, this is a Shotacon, meaning an attraction to young boys. There is also the fact that this anime is not readily available on ‘main-stream’ anime sites and you really have to go looking for it.

If you have not seen it, here is a quick synopsis for ya – During summer Pico (12-14 years) is working in his grandfather’s bar and meets Tamotsu (22 years old) who is a regular white-collar worker. Together the two form a sexual relationship. Being a Yaoi means that they are both males so this is a guy on guy hentai. There are a total of 3 episodes and each episode sees Pico pairing up with a new partner or two.

Seriously, last warning, Boku no Pico is gay porn with preteens discovering their sexuality and engaging in sexual acts which I will be talking about in a fair amount of detail. By reading the below you will know what is in each and every episode of Boku no Pico even if you have not watched it. This is not an appropriate post for minors (to me that means under 16).

The post below has screenshots from the anime.

~ You have been warned ~

So I can easily see the issues with the above stated and other aspects of each episode. Below I have mentioned the rather glaring and obvious shockers.

Episode 1

• Pico is underaged.
  • Being between the age of 12-14 (age not really too clear and he ages during the OVA’s) most of the world regards this as underaged and as such is clearly seen as statutory rape. 
  • So I looked up Japan’s consent age and the federal laws put consent at the young age of 13. This surprised me, I had expected a much older age but it cleared up a lot of confusion for me and made some of the Yaoi I read not as disturbing as they had originally been.
  • Puberty – I did say detailed – starts between the ages of 9 and 12 for most children. While they become more conscious of their gender, masturbation does increase during these years. Apparently, same-gender sexual behaviour is common at this age – relax, this does not necessarily mean sex.
  • Between the ages of 13 and 19, there is an increased interest in romantic, sexual relationships and in genital sex behaviours – okay here they do mean sex. [Source]
  • Conclusion: I feel that Pico was exposed slightly early (12) to sexual urges he had been going through puberty and was more aware of the urges than others.
• Pico is seduced into having sex with a guy.
  • Okay, I cannot defend Tamotsu here nor do I intend to. In truth, I look down on what he does. He should know better since he is an adult.
  • Pico gives his consent, although I am not sure if he is aware of the full extent of what he is actually giving consent to.
  • Pico develops feelings for Tamotsu, who is obviously his ‘first’ so this is not rape. However, if I was Pico’s parents I would want to kill Tamotsu.
• There are two guys having explicit sex.
  • This is a massive part of the anime/manga industry with hardcore fans called fujoshi. I myself have read a fair amount of this genre (my family and boyfriend call it my gay porn, yes my family knows) and there are stories that are a lot worse than Boku no Pico.
• Pico is made to wear women’s clothes.
  • This is going on the fact that Tamatsu first thought Pico was a girl. So it is meant to bring that fantasy to life.
• This is just a sex-based relationship and not love.
  • While Pico develops feelings, Tamatsu does not. Once again, shame on you Tamatsu.
  • Pico gets over the fact that it is not mutual and then sleeps with Tamatsu again anyway seemingly perfectly fine that there was nothing meaningful there.
    • This makes you wonder if he really loved Tamatsu or if it was just lust and he himself was not sure.

Episode 2

• Chico (the new random friend Pico makes) invites Pico to his hiding spot where when looking through the floorboards you can see into (and hear)  his sister’s room and together they watch his sister masturbate.
  • Take a moment, I understand.
  • Chico watches his sister masturbate, regularly, while not realising why this captures his attention so. He is young and naïve not knowing why he should not really do that.
• Pico seduces a (not much) younger friend, Chico Pico explains why Chico ‘feels funny’ when he watches his sister.
  • Pico also gets excited/aroused from her moans and watching her and since he is teaching his friend might as well teach him everything.
    • Usually, experience is one of the best teachers in life for many things, you know that teaching at that moment is not Pico’s intent so suddenly their innocent play disappears. While their intents are innocent and the boys are just seeking more of the pleasure they have discovered and consider it as a new part of their playtime you are still watching two young boys having sex with one another.
• Pico and Chico get into the sister’s room and play dress up with her clothes. 
  • Chico subsequently finds his sister’s ‘toys’ and suggests trying them out which they do.
• Chico’s sister comes home and discovers the boys having sex in her room, clothes and with her vibrators. Her reaction is masturbating while peaking on the two.
  • This was a whole new level of wtf for me. The sister watches as her younger brother has sex with his friend with her stuff and does not put a stop to it or walk away to deal with it later. No, she watches, gets turned on and plays with herself.
  • After everything here she says nothing nor does nothing and pretends absolutely nothing is going on. She could at the very least explain to her brother why he should wait until he is older, no matter how awkward that convo would be.

Episode 3

• Pico and Chico are in Tokyo where they meet Coco a feminine-looking runaway who lives under the subway.
  • Coco does not seem to be much older than Pico, maybe a year or two older.
  • Okay so far, not too bad, if you overlook the fact that the 3 of them use that as their home base  (yea my safety ‘protect the children’ bell is ringing in my head like crazy which is ironic considering the entirety of this anime)
• The first night there, Pico watches Coco masturbate and proceeds to also masturbate while peeking.
  • Uhm…
  • So turns out Coco knew he was there which made him even more excited. After the curtain which Pico had been hiding behind falls and they both confess the two have sex.
• Pico and Chico seem to be dating?
  • Pico starts questioning his feelings for Chico after interacting with Coco.
  • Pico and Coco have their ‘relations’ secret from Chico, like a blowjob hidden behind a bush…
• Pico gets upset when he discovers that Chico and Coco are also having sex.
  • Kinda hypocritical. However, he is still a child so can’t go too deep into that line of thinking.
  • Coco feels bad when Pico starts to pull away from the ‘trio’ so decides to take responsibility and fix everything by just disappearing from them.
• Pico and Chico decide to hunt down Coco and reunite. They find him at the top of Tokyo Tower, where the tree of them promptly have a threesome.

Now looking at all of the above, do I hate this anime? No. Do I approve of this anime? Not my place to say. Do I agree with anything that happened above? Not my place to say really.

My main issue with the negative side and message coming across regarding this entire anime seems to be coming from the fact that this is a guy on guy porn anime. The whole hype around it seems to be wanting to get a reaction from watching two animated characters have sex and the clear realisation that it is two guys.  I do not get the feeling that the negative reaction is to anything else regarding this anime. It all seems to be getting people who know nothing about it to watch it and see their horrified expressions within the first few minutes.

Would I recommend Boku no Pico?

In very rare cases I would. I would also recommend it very carefully and let the person know what it is about straight away and warn them about what they are getting into.

I myself am not a fan and watched it to see if it was as bad as people made it out to be and it is basically preteens having sex. That’s it, no plot or full-on story and I do not think it was as bad as I had been made to think it was but there were points where it was just uncomfortable to watch for me probably because of the sister and their ages. Remove the sister, and make them 17 and up and the entire BNP hype would probably never have been born.