At 07:26 PM 4/26/97 -0700, Jonathan Haas wrote:

Forgive me, FFMLers... I'm sure this is a FAQ, but I was unable to find
the answer, no matter how hard I looked. What is the origin of the term
"lemon" to describe a fic that contains sex?

I think this is one of those questions that no one really knows the answer
to, but IMO it has to do with a late-70s/early-80s(?) OAV series called
"Cream Lemon".  The entire idea of "Cream Lemon" was for the characters to
end up in some kind of sex scene.

I've seen a few of the episodes, and from a purely technical point of view,
it's really kind of fascinating. (NO NOT THAT WAY! GET YOUR MINDS OUT OF THE
GUTTER!!!)  The series has been running so long, you really get to see how
animation styles changed over the years. You also get to see how the "rules"
changed, and changed again, by how graphic things get.

btw - did you know that the original "Project A-ko" started life as an
episode of "Cream Lemon"?  At some point in making it, the production staff
realized what they had, and made it more mainstream.


Jeanne Hedge
http://www.accsyst.com/jhedge/

Assistant SysOp
Compuserve Anime/Manga Forum