The Only Non-Graphic Cover for Shōjo Tsubaki

⚠️ Detailed descriptions of sexual assault and mentions of CSAM.

While the “ahegao¹” face first appeared in 60’s Japanese porn as a way to avoid censorship- Suehiro Maruo, an ero guro artist, turned it into something that simply cannot be undone.

1. Not to be confused with ahoge. ↩︎

Shōjo Tsubaki, published September 25, 1984, depicts gruesome acts of physical & sexual violence against a 12 year old girl. Suehiro Maruo also single handedly created many other comics featuring violence against women, children, and even animals.

Suehiro Maruo used the “ahegao” face, which includes the unnatural combination of an outstretched tongue and crossed eyes, to depict a “forced orgasm” on the victims’ faces while being sexually and physically assaulted.

This depiction comes from the false stereotype that Asian, specifically Japanese, women are submissive, easily overpowered/manipulated, and that they want and/or deserve abusive treatment.

They watched the girl enter a stationary store and decided to ambush her. The two Marines bound the girl with tape, pulled her shorts and underwear down to her ankles, and after the three men raped her, remarked that the girl looked like she enjoyed it. – White Sexual Imperialism

Even though the “ahegao” face was originally created to avoid censorship, it continues to be used today to depict the sexual assault of an Asian woman, femme, or child, thanks to Suehiro Maruo’s work being the earliest example of it’s use.

Ahegao is not just a “silly face”, it’s one of many tools used by abusers to enforce and validate their desires and perversions of Asian women and femme presenting people. Predators want you to think it’s just a “silly face” because it removes the harm from the narrative.

In a 2002 study conducted by Jennifer Lynn Gossett and Sarah Byrne out of thirty-one pornographic websites that depicted rape or torture of women, more than half showed Asian women as the rape victim and one-third showed White men as the perpetrator. Furthermore, images of Asian women in pornographic forms consistently came up through a keyword search on “torture.” – White Sexual Imperialism

Gaslighting their victims and bystanders is exactly what abusers do to stay in the shadows. Willingly performing the “ahegao” face, as a non-Asian woman or femme presenting person, despite being told it’s harm only helps predators stay hidden and their victims silenced.

What started as a creative way to get around unneeded censorship in porn was changed by one man and enforced by anyone who shares his mindset as well as white women who perform the “ahegao” face for profit to their questionable fanbase.

David Dailey and Edmund “Eddie” Ball abducted, handcuffed, and blindfolded two Japanese schoolgirls, ages 18 and 19, in Spokane, Washington. The two girls were taken to a house and raped repeatedly over a span of 7 hours. Eddie Ball, the mastermind behind the crime, professed an avid fascination in bondage, sadomasochism and Japanese culture. He collected Japanese bondage videos and was an expert in Japanese rope-tying techniques. Ball specifically targeted Japanese students because he believed them to be submissive and thus less likely to report the rapes. – White Sexual Imperialism

Many Asian women and feminine presenting people have suffered harm from those that share Suehiro Maruo’s mindset and continue to to this day, however- you are not owed their stories in order to believe them.

So please just uncross your eyes or put your tongue back in your mouth.