Are Anime Body Pillows Weird? (Or Should You Buy One?)

Note: This was a reader-submitted question, from a Patreon member!

Anime body pillows – or dakimakura as they’re officially called, are somewhat of a controversial topic!

Many people don’t know that they even exist. Some people are fanatical about them, where others find them distasteful at best, and harmful to society at worst – yes, literally a societal issue that more people should be concerned about.

Truthfully, before being asked about them, I didn’t really know a whole lot – and what I found out while researching was actually pretty interesting!

So, if you own a body pillow or you’re thinking about buying one – or if you simply want to know more about the drama behind them, stay tuned! In this article, I’ll be covering them in detail.

What Are Anime Body Pillows, And Why Do People Buy Them?

Anime body pillows are pillows the size of a full body, and have a pillow case with an anime girl on them. Typically speaking, the pillow case will feature a separate design on the front and back.

These body pillows aren’t always lewd, but many are. A typical double-sided pillow will feature a naked or lewd picture of the girl from the front, while the other side will have her flipped over, with her ass visible.

Body pillows either come as a standard rectangle – usually for hugging or cuddling, or with split-legs. This will have the legs of the character going in the leg sections.

The split-leg body pillows may seem more realistic, as you can wrap your legs around theirs. The more popular reason for this design however, is that they also become fuckable!

Yes, you can put an onahole where the vagina would be, and fuck it, almost like the pillow is a cheap, soft, cuddly sex doll.

So yeah – think of it as a full-sized pillow you can fuck. However, some people develop a much more emotional attachment to their pillows, which is where things get interesting, and some of the drama starts. More about that a little later.

First, my personal opinion.

I Say, Let People Do What They Want

Personally, I carry the belief that if what you’re doing doesn’t harm anyone else, it is none of my business what you do in private.

If you want to cuddle, fuck, or go on dates with an anime character, all the more power to you. I fully understand that some people fantasize about life with a fictional character to help cope with feelings of loneliness and because, well, a lot of characters are more appealing than people you might meet in real life.

I don’t think that you should feel ashamed or embarrassed for buying one, or even having a collection of them. This hurts no one and frankly, is nobody’s business.

Even watching anime was considered a niche thing not that long ago – something that was reserved for people who were a little weird or nerdy, whereas now it’s become sort of mainstream.

Again, one should never feel guilty for enjoying what they enjoy, as long as it doesn’t harm other people. Which body pillows do not do, at all.

What Most Women Think

You’ve got to be careful assuming that EVERYONE has the same sentiment, though.

Although you shouldn’t feel bad about owning a body pillow, I do not think it is something you should advertise to others. You just don’t know how someone is going to react, and even if someone watches anime, they may still see a body pillow as ‘taking it too far.’

Quite frankly, if you are bringing a girl over to your house, I would go out of your way to make sure that she DOESN’T find out about it. This sort of thing still has the reputation of being abnormal, cringe, or cause for concern by a lot of people. Just like you wouldn’t advertise the fact that you’re lonely and haven’t had a girlfriend for a while, I wouldn’t advertise that you sleep with an anime girl next to you.

Doubly so if the character looks like she might be underage. Which, let’s be honest – a lot of anime characters are, even if they’re not sexualized in the shows themselves. To an outsider, it doesn’t matter if she’s actually over 20, or is a 7,000 year old demon. If she looks underage and you’re sleeping with her – or even just cuddling, with non-lewd artwork on the pillow case, it’s going to freak people out.

Even other body pillow owners consider this to be a red flag – one member of my Discord server, whose username is actually “Body Pillow Official”, was very passionate about this topic, saying:

“It took me like 30 pages of scrolling just to find 1 pillow case that didn’t look like it would put me on the FBI watch list. I get that anime is popular but oh my god. There were so many anime children pillow cases too. Like I actually feel weird just having one now despite it helping me sleep better.”

Anyway – own what you want, enjoy what you want in private, but if you want to be safe, hide it when people will be coming over.

The Dangers Of Body Pillows

The real risk of body pillows come when you start forming an emotional attachment to them. I’ve heard of this happening to people that buy dolls before, and it can certainly happen with pillows as well.

Really, developing any sort of emotional attachment, or attributing human traits or emotions to any inanimate object probably isn’t healthy. The problem with body pillows specifically is that seeing your waifu in your home, on your bed, this is part of the reason WHY people buy body pillows in the first place. They WANT to develop an emotional attachment. They want to feel like they have someone with them, that they aren’t so lonely.

Here’s what one person said, and I want you to really think about this story. Here’s the quote:

“The COVID lockdowns got me feeling particularly lonely, so out of boredom I got into watching anime and purchased my own anime pillow on a whim not long after. I was sort of embarrassed and wondered what the hell was wrong with me when it arrived in the mail two weeks after. But after spending time with it, I can say now that it was probably my best investment in recent memory. Throughout last year, my body pillow indeed helped me with offsetting the majority of my loneliness.

HOWEVER, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. I guess you can say that I’ve become rather overly attached to my anime pillow. There are moments where I found myself reluctant to get into a real relationship because that would likely involve me having to get rid of the squishy cuddly anime girl I held so dearly for a year and a half. As much as I fight this dilemma, it generally comes crashing down when I wrap my arms around my cuddly friend.”

This, as you might imagine, is not healthy or normal. If you start seeing your body pillow as a replacement for actual human connection, this may offer temporary comfort, but can pose serious issues in the long-term.

Sadly, I only see this sort of thing becoming more of an issue in the long-run, especially as AI chatbots become smarter and more convincing.

Conclusion

There is nothing wrong with enjoying a body pillow for what it is – a piece of art, something to hold at night, to fuck when you’re feeling horny, and so on.

Juggy, a member of my Discord server, says he owns more than 12 of his favorite characters, and hey – if you like them, why not start a collection? I’m still doing my research, but I’ll have my recommended retailer for them soon, and I’ll share it here.

Realistically, hiding them from company might be a good idea. But as for what you do in the privacy of your own home, it’s nobody’s business but you’re own!

~ Lexi