Why So Many Anime Feature Characters Doing This Gross Action
Through the medium of anime, some Western fans may be acquainted with the odd (and sometimes rather scary) action known as “kancho.” Essentially, this outdated slang term for “enema” refers to a prank or practical joke in which one character, typically a young child in elementary school, forms an imaginary gun-like shape with their fingers and inserts them into the anus of an unaware victim, usually a childhood friend or younger sibling, but occasionally an adult family member or teacher.
Needless to say, in most of the world outside of East Asia, this action would likely be seen as outrageous at best and at worst, a form of sexual abuse. However, in Japan, kancho is known by everyone and has even acquired a kind of odd cult following, at one point becoming a prime staple of family-friendly stand-up comedy. The question is, what are the origins of kancho and why does it still feature so heavily in anime today, seemingly completely at random?
The First Known Origins of Kancho in Martial Arts
It’s understandable if anime fans think that Kishimoto Masashi’s Naruto is where the term “kancho” first appeared. Secret Finger Jutsu: A Thousand Years of Death (Sennen Goroshi), one of the eponymous character’s early characteristic moves, undoubtedly contributed to the action’s widespread appeal by motivating hordes of young Japanese viewers (and maybe even fans from other countries) to give it a try. Kancho, however, truly exists for at least 50 years before the Naruto series.
This is so because kancho is an actual martial arts manoeuvre from the Shorinji Kempo, or Shaolin Temple Boxing, school that has been heavily modified. Shaolin Temple Boxing was created in 1947 by Sou Doshin, a Japanese martial artist and former military intelligence operative. It draws extensively on Shaolin Kung Fu moves and includes an assault called sannen goroshi. The technique, which literally translates as “three-year killer,” uses both the middle and the conventional ‘gun’ index fingers to strike the opponent’s perineum in an effort to incapacitate them. This is likely because the agony from such a vicious blow will remain for three years.
Why So Many Anime Feature Characters Doing This Gross Action
Popularizing Kancho via Shonen Jump Manga and Arcade Games
The practise of kancho, as it is currently called, originated in the martial arts and subsequently entered popular culture. One of the first times it was widely used in more modern media was in Torii Kazuyoshi’s Dr. Toilet Shonen Jump manga from the 1970s (Toilet Hakase). Dr. Toilet was a parody manga that ran from 1970 to 1977 and featured a scientific protagonist who focused in scatology and worked in a toilet-shaped laboratory. While Torii tragically departed suddenly in 2022 at the age of 75, his legacy has undoubtedly continued in at least one form. The manga was particularly well-liked among its target demographic of adolescent and younger Japanese guys.
However, Torii’s Dr. Toilet was not the main source of kancho’s eventual popularity among the broader Japanese populace. Boong-Ga Boong-Ga, also known as Spank ’em, an arcade game created in South Korea expressly for the Japanese market, deserves a lot of praise as well. It is said to have garnered positive reviews when it made its debut in 2000 at the annual Tokyo Game Show conference. Boong-Ga Boong-Ga is still well-known today for being the first arcade game to physically replicate kancho using a pair of fake buttocks and a huge plastic finger, despite the fact that only five units were ever issued.
Why So Many Anime Feature Characters Doing This Gross Action
The Spread of Kancho Through Naruto and Other Mainstream Anime and Manga
While Naruto may have been one of the first big anime and manga series to include a character practising kancho on a regular basis after Dr. Toilet, it has also been featured in a wide variety of other works. Consider Bobobo-bo. Kancho-kun, who goes by Mr. Enema or The Splinter in the English-language manga and anime adaptations of Bo-bobo, is a character in the game Bo-bobo whose only purpose in life is to use his namesake technique to harm other people.
However, kancho is not only a comedy act that parodies movies or uses prankster ninjas. Thanks to other well-known franchises like the martial arts adventure Yu Yu Hakusho, the heartwarming slice-of-life series Barakamon, and unabashed satires like Gintama and Osomatsu-san, among many others, anime and manga fans may also be acquainted with kancho. In addition, kancho has developed outside of Japanese popular culture to the point that it is sometimes encountered in Western media, with Rick and Morty serving as one famous example.
Whether to the joy or dismay of fans of anime/manga or Japanese pop culture in general, kancho has amassed enough notoriety both domestically and internationally that the act has made its endurance widely known. For better or worse, kancho has most certainly permanently ingrained itself into the cultural landscape, despite the possibility that its popularity may continue to rise and fall over the years.
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