Animatesexual, also known as Animesexual (formerly), mangasexual or eminafictic , is an ace-spec identity and a form of fictisexuality where one is exclusively or almost exclusively attracted to anime/manga characters. Many a-spec people only feel attraction towards people who they know could never possibly be in a relationship with, such as fictional characters. While it is normal to occasionally have a crush on fictional characters, if one is animatesexual they might feel like it is difficult or impossible to be attracted towards people in real life. If the attraction is not exclusive, animatesexual people may feel as though they are more frequently attracted to anime/manga characters than they are to people in real life.
The term can be used to on its own or it can be used in combination with other terms. The romantic counterpart is animateromantic.
History
Animesexual was coined on August 15, 2016 by tumblr blog Beyond-MOGAI-Pride-Flags. It has since been renamed to animatesexual.
Flag
The animatesexual flag has an unknown creator. It is also unknown if the stripes have any specific meaning.
The alternative animatesexual flag was made by an anonymous wiki user on October 24, 2020. It was made in response to complaints about the original flag. The stripes have also been given meanings: light blue represents the parody and sports anime genres, blue represents the fantasy and mystery anime genres, grey represents manga and anime as a whole (including all genres not represented by the other four stripes), pink represents the romance and horror anime genres, and yellow represents the comedy and slice of life anime genres.
The third flag was made by a user on November 15th, 2020. It is based off of the colors on the other two flags, with an added purple. Grey represents manga/book spinoffs and genderless characters, light blue represents parody/sports genres and multigender characters, blue represents fantasy genres and masculine characters, purple represents non-binary characters and mystery/horror genres, pink represents romance and feminine characters, yellow represents comedy genres and intersex characters, and white represents otherkin-like characters and all other genres.
The fourth flag was made by Fandom user Weniviere on November 18th, 2020. The two light blue stripes stand for manga/book spinoffs and genderless characters, two dark blue stripes stand for masculine characters and fantasy genres, purple stands for non-binary characters and mystery/horror genres, pink represents romance and feminine characters, yellow represents comedy genres and intersex characters, and grey represents otherkin-like characters. It is based off of the previous three flags.
Etymology
Anime/manga is a specific art style that originated from Japan. Therefore, "animesexual" implies attraction towards anime/manga characters. It has since been renamed to "animatesexual", relating to the fact that anime is a style of Japanese animation.
Animatesexuality vs paraphillia
Animatesexuality is often confused with a paraphillia, however, this is by definition an incorrect case. Paraphillias are known as sexual disorders and harmful desires, often leading to the distress of the person experiencing them and/or those around them.
Animatesexuality, however, does not usually cause harm, as it does not influence or promote any harmful or dangerous acts, and is simply a desire/attraction to one who does not exist outside of anime/manga. In some cases, one who is animatesexual may feel levels of distress due to being unable to have sexual feelings for people in reality, however this does not mean that everyone who is animatesexual feels this way, nor does it mean animatesexuality is bad.
Animatesexuality does not include attraction to harmful fictional tropes (such as lolitas) and those with harmful attractions are not the target group for animatesexuals.