For obvious reasons, nude scenes are not entirely uncommon in entertainment media, but they are often played for titillation (if not just for laughs). Some nudists object to this portrayal, citing their concern that pop culture is contributing to the "sexualization" of nudity - which makes nonsexual nudism a progressively more foreign concept, and thus less likely for mainstream populations to permit. As somebody who enjoys nudity both for its nonsexual as well as its sexual qualities, these scenes don't typically bother me - in fact, I quite enjoy them. However, it is nice to see nonsexual nudism represented in fiction as well. Since there are so few truly nudist characters out there, my ears always perk up when I hear about one. That's what led me to recently sit down and watch Waiting in the Summer (romanized Japanese title: ano natsu de matteru).
Out of all forms of popular media, Japanese anime is one that has a prolific tendency to sexualize its characters (especially women, a notable portion of which are fairly young in age), for which it sometimes receives criticism. As a sex-positive progressive, I'm not concerned by the acknowledgement of human sexuality (even among youth) present in these stories; rather I am more concerned by the stilted way in which sexual feelings and relationships are often addressed by a culture that, while having a demonstrably creative sexual imagination (which I champion!), often still manages to express a considerable level of shame and repression through its fiction, which may act as an outlet for desires unfulfilled.
I'm sorry, I'm not trying to put Japan on the therapist's couch here. Nor is this meant to be an academic study of the sexual health and politics of a country I don't even live in. It's just an observation I've had as a longtime fan of the culture, and of the media it puts out into the world. To continue to my intended point, while explicit nudity in anime is rare (outside of the pornographic subgenre referred to as hentai), so-called "fan service" is quite common. These are scenes where characters are either scantily dressed, or involved in sexually suggestive poses or situations (sometimes humorously misconstrued by other characters as such, or otherwise accompanied by a metaphorical wink and nod to the viewer), for no other reason than to appeal to a prurient interest.
Which, again, I have no problem with. But given that this is the general temperature of the medium, and that I'm not aware of the counterculture of nudism having a significant foothold in Japan*, it's fair to say that this is not where I would expect to find a lot of good representations of the lifestyle. Nevertheless, when one does crop up, it may be quite notable. Kill la Kill is the most prominent example of a series I can think of where anti-textilism is a major theme, albeit in a highly sensationalized manner. In the story, an armed resistance group called Nudist Beach fights aliens who come in the form of clothing, and one of the main antagonists is a grand couturier.
The last occurrence of an ostensibly nudist character I encountered in anime turned out to be a brief digression in a series dripping with fan service. Titled Eromanga-sensei, it lies deeply entrenched in the realm of eyebrow-raising anime premises: a teenage boy discovers that his shut-in of a little sister is actually a minor celebrity in the online world of erotic manga. In one of the show's more relatable moments, a character is caught unawares while lounging naked at home alone. Regardless of the artist's intent in drawing this scene, in attempting to explain her actions, the character manages an effective defense of nudism - even if you'd prefer to take it out of the context of the rest of the series.
*[On the subject of social nudity in Japan (as I know it), there is a cultural history of using hot springs and public bath houses, but as far as I am aware, these are typically segregated by gender, and the nudity is fairly well contained to the activity of "bathing" (or soaking), and does not, to my knowledge, usually spill out beyond that; also, the practice of "skinship", in which a mother and child engage in unimpeded skin-to-skin contact for reasons of health and bonding, once again does not seem to translate to a generally open attitude toward nudity outside of the bounds of such parental intimacy, early in the life of a child, before it has broadened its social life outside of the home.]
First Impressions
The very broad premise of Waiting in the Summer is that an alien crash lands in the Japanese countryside, disguises itself as a teenage girl (or conveniently already looks like one), and befriends a group of high school students working on an amateur film project over the summer. It's a bit like E.T. meets Dawson's Creek. From the start of the series, it's not readily apparent who the nudist character is going to be (to the point that I had to wonder if I'd got the name of the right series). My best guess was that it would be the alien character, who is unfamiliar with Earth customs. But she expresses genuine anxiety about fitting in with human culture, and it seems like any kind of stubborn adherence to a nudist outlook would be a hindrance to that goal.
The second episode almost certainly reveals the answer, but in a very understated manner. In a scene where the various characters are engaged in a "game" of phone tag, one of the characters is standing in her bedroom on the phone completely naked (albeit holding a large stuffed animal to obscure much of the view), which by itself is pretty unusual. There is no explanation - not even an acknowledgment of the character's state of dress (after all, she is alone in the room), and the scene is very short. It's just there, and then it's gone.
In the same episode there are scenes of deliberate fan service, in which the alien girl comes out of the shower barely dressed, and through a combination of anime logic and physics, ends up pressing her bare breasts into the main protagonist's face (he is, of course, unconscious at the time). In this light, the fact that the earlier scene was glossed over and not played for titillation becomes rather conspicuous.
As further evidence, in the following episode, the character in question seems pointedly rattled when a breeze threatens to blow up her skirt. Granted, it's not unusual for a teenage girl in a short skirt to worry about flashing her underwear, but the subtle suggestion that she's not wearing any is another example of this show's rare blink-and-you'll-miss-it approach to nudism.
The most curious thing about the character who turned out to be the nudist is the fact that I would not have guessed it would be her. She's excessively shy, and modest about her body. When volunteered to feature on camera in the amateur film, she expresses visible apprehension. At swim class, everyone else is hanging out in their swimsuits, and she's wearing a baggy overshirt.
On the one hand, I'm sure nudists at large would appreciate that she's not being stereotyped as an exhibitionist, which is a common misinterpretation of the lifestyle. Even as an exhibitionist myself, I can understand that. It's more beneficial (and more novel) to depict a nudist character who is not interested in showing off at every opportunity. That said, there's a point at which extreme insecurity contradicts her characterization as a nudist. I don't need the character to be obnoxious about showing off her body, but I would like to see some expression of the "it's just a body, who cares?" mentality that characterizes nudism.
Second Thoughts
After writing the above, I had an epiphany that improves my impression of this series' representation of a nudist character. I realized that I'm talking from the bias of having years of nudist experience. This character probably hasn't been exposed to the "institution" of nudism like I have. I doubt she's had contact with the lifestyle, and been introduced to its fundamental tenets. I doubt her family are even nudists. This may not be the fantasy of nudism I was looking for; but it's actually more realistic that she remains "closeted" among her friends.
And the fact is, I used to be just like her. I used to be a teenager with no knowledge of nudism, who nevertheless liked to take my clothes off in private. I had to keep it a secret because I didn't know anybody else like me, and it was a taboo subject. And you know what? I was pretty self-conscious about my body at that time, too. It wasn't until I had a lot of experience being naked in front of other people (first as an internet model, and later as a social nudist) that I gained the confidence I have now. This character isn't a lifestyler. She's a secret naturist!
Or so I thought.
Further Developments
I'm not going to spoil how the story ends - frankly, I don't need to do that in order to talk about its portrayal of nudism, which is a very minor subplot. But as it was the most interesting aspect of the series (to me), you might want to stop reading now if that's something you want to discover for yourself.
The truth is, I didn't find myself very much invested in the characters or anything else that was going on. Other than being used as an engine to drive the plot towards a climax, the sci-fi elements take a backseat to the romance, which only barely rises above the genre's frustrating clichés - mostly in the second half when everyone's feelings are laid bare, and we get to see how they all deal with the fallout.
Notably, it was the nudism element - however small - that kept me intrigued enough to keep watching, just to see how they would handle it. I may have minority interests, but it seems to me that there are real stories out there that haven't been told, that would be more engaging than a silly plot about a teenager falling in love with an alien.
So, how does the nudism theme unfold in later episodes? While fighting over a boy, the nudist girl's tendency to not wear underwear is revealed. When her rival accuses her of being an exhibitionist, she defends herself by making a confession. Not only does she identify as a nudist (teaching me a new Japanese word), but she actually comes from a nudist family after all. (Honestly, I didn't know there were any nudist families in Japan). She didn't realize her upbringing was unusual until she started school, at which point she understandably hid her nudism from her peers in order to avoid being teased. (Realistically, I think this is the point when most kids raised in the lifestyle start to turn away from nudism, rather than risk social isolation).
I have some issues with the explanations she gives for some of her behaviors, though. In the beach episode (there's always a beach episode - it's one of the perks of living on an island nation), she says that she wears a sweatshirt over her swimsuit because she has sensitive skin. Touch sensitivity is an excellent reason to try out nudism, but didn't she become a nudist due to family tradition? And if not wearing clothes has made her skin sensitive to textiles, then she should be wearing less, not more. If, on the other hand, it's the sun she's sensitive to - then how did she ever become accustomed to nudism? Is this just an excuse because she's self-conscious about her lack of tan lines? (But she's not even tan). Or is it that she's afraid to develop tan lines, and thus be revealed as a traitor to her family's ideals?
On the subject of not wearing panties (the one garment I'd almost be tempted to say is the most likely thing for a nudist female to be caught wearing, as opposed to being the only thing she's not wearing while otherwise fully dressed), she claims that it's a result of her low blood pressure(!), which causes her mind to be foggy in the mornings when she's getting dressed. Am I being too critical or are the writers grasping at straws here? "I'm not used to wearing them and I feel more comfortable without, and it's under my clothes -" (for the most part) "- so nobody is supposed to find out anyway" isn't a good enough excuse?
Despite being an uncommonly sensitive portrayal of nudism, I still get the sense that we're being presented with a wish fulfillment fantasy here - i.e., "the cute girl that has a crush on you loves to be naked!" (After all, true realism would almost certainly demand that the nudist character be male). Not that there's anything wrong with wish fulfillment fantasies; that's partly the purpose of entertainment. But by the time we get to the OVA episode, where the fan service is dialed up to 11 (these are frequently bonus episodes released to DVD and therefore less limited by broadcast restrictions), I can no longer say that the character's nudism is portrayed in an entirely non-sexualized manner.
However, there is still a distinction to be made between the artistic portrayal of nudity, and the viewer's response to it. (As an example, if a textile rents a nudist video for sexual purposes, it doesn't render the video pornographic). In one notable scene, the nudist character is hanging out at home with her friend (who remains dressed). Whether or not the viewer is being invited to leer at the exposed flesh on display, the fact remains that it is incredibly rare to see this kind of casual, social nudity - accepted as is, without fanfare, and devoid of a sexual context - not just in anime, but live action entertainment as well.
It's something I'd like to see a whole lot more of - and something that could go a long way toward normalizing the concept of nudism, and letting textiles hash out their insecurities over the perceived issues involved with encountering day-to-day nudity, even if it remains pure speculative fantasy, and not something that's commonly encountered in the real world. You'd just have to beware the tempting pitfall of making it sexual (which is not to say that the subject of sex cannot be broached). Creatives take note - there is a lot of unmined potential here. I just wish I had more of an inclination for telling stories and developing characters than I do for analyzing concepts.
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