Nintendo’s ‘Hentai Girls’ Series Renamed to ‘Kawaii Girls’ Amid Visibility Concerns on Switch 2 eShop

Image: Hentai Girls DJ Romance/Charming Chef/Naughty Neko (Credit: PakotimeGames)

The long-running and often controversial Hentai Girls puzzle game series on Nintendo platforms is getting a major rebrand. Starting July 2025, publisher Pakotime will rename future entries in the series to Kawaii Girls, a move that appears aimed at countering possible visibility issues on the Nintendo Switch 2 eShop.

While no official explanation was given for the name change, the timing and context suggest that the word “hentai” may be triggering content filters or shadowbanning mechanisms in the Switch 2 store’s search engine.

In an announcement posted on X (translated by Automaton), Pakotime confirmed that the name update applies only to upcoming releases. Existing titles, such as Hentai Girls: Charming Chef which launched on June 19, will retain their current names.

What’s particularly telling is that users are reporting difficulty locating the newer Hentai Girls games on the Switch 2 store. Unless players specifically search using the keyword “Pakotime,” these titles often don’t appear in the search results—unlike their easier-to-find listings on the original Nintendo Switch. This discrepancy has sparked speculation that certain keywords, including “hentai,” may be flagged or filtered in Japan’s version of the Switch 2 eShop.

Interestingly, this apparent restriction does not seem to apply globally. According to Automaton, older titles with “hentai” in the name still appear in the US eShop without issue in the new releases section. This could point to regional content moderation differences. In Japan, calling someone “hentai” is more like saying they’re a pervert or have creepy behavior—it’s an insult, not a genre label. Meanwhile, in the West, “hentai” is used simply to describe explicit anime or manga—which explains why the term has become a problem on the Japanese storefront but not overseas.

The Hentai Girls series itself is a set of simple jigsaw puzzle games featuring anime-style illustrations of girls in various themed outfits and scenarios. These range from cyberpunk aesthetics in Hentai Puzzle: Cyber Girls to sportswear in Hentai Puzzle: Volleyball Girls. Despite the suggestive branding, the actual content tends to lean toward soft-core, with characters typically fully clothed and shown in mildly provocative poses.

Gameplay involves solving puzzles to reveal the artwork, with added features like background music, galleries, zoom options, and sometimes achievements for casual players.

Despite the backlash over AI-generated art and provocative marketing, the series maintains a niche following. Some players enjoy the laid-back, no-pressure puzzle format, while others treat the titles as humorous gifts or easy ways to rack up achievements.

By shifting to the more innocuous-sounding Kawaii Girls branding, Pakotime may be trying to sidestep future conflicts with Nintendo’s content policies.

For now, if you're trying to find these games on the Switch 2, your best bet is to search for the publisher’s name directly.