Ahegao

ahegao (n) a term from Japanese porn that describes a facial expression of extreme sexual ecstasy

In 2019, it seemed streetwear fans couldn’t get enough of the ahegao trend, with illustrations of the lewd facial expression blanketing hoodies and backpacks.

If you’re an anime geek, you may already be familiar with this term, which comes from the world of Japanese cartoons. Ahegao refers to the exaggerated facial expression a woman character has during the throes of sexual ecstasy. What does it look like? Well, feel free to do a Google Image search, but an ahegao illustration usually depicts flushed cheeks, crossed eyes, a protruding tongue and occasionally tears, sweat or drool emerging from one’s face. To put it colloquially, ahegao is a heightened, almost absurdist version of an O-face. The expression is meant to show a complete loss of control and the utter surrender of one’s senses during climax.

This isn’t a new term. It has been associated with hentai (anime pornography) and other forms of Japanese erotic art since the 1960s, but, thanks to the internet, it has taken on a vibrant life of its own outside of hentai. Ahegao now has an almost inescapable presence in meme culture, with people using it as an emoji to express their extreme approval or delight at something. And if one searches the #ahegao hashtag on Instagram it would appear that some female influencers have even built entire followings around their ability to mimic the perfect ahegao face. Gamer girl and cosplay model Belle Delphine is one of the biggest internet stars to popularize and capitalize on the ahegao trend, boasting nearly a quarter-million followers on Instagram and a freshly minted OnlyFans account with nearly 100,000 likes.

Ahegao has entered streetwear culture as well, with erotic ahegao hoodies enjoying so much hype last year that they attracted controversy and ended up being banned from several major anime conventions. The godfather of hentai, Toshio Maeda, even did an ahegao-inspired collaboration with popular streetwear brand Supreme that included sweatshirts, T-shirts and pillows.

Being a flawless combination of hot but goofy, ahegao seems to hit a psychosexual sweet spot, and it doesn’t look like it will be leaving internet culture anytime soon.