Usage of the term hentai does not define a genre in Japan. The character hen is a catch-all for queerness as a peculiarity-it does not carry an explicit sexual reference.
It is the shortened form of the phrase hentai seiyoku (変態性欲) which means “sexual perversion”. It also means “perversion” or “abnormality”, especially when used as an adjective. In Japan, the term “hentai” is a kanji compound of 変 ( hen “change”, “weird”, or “strange”) and 態 ( tai “appearance” or “condition”).
