Ear Cleaning: Difference between revisions

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[[File:mimikaki.png|link=Lucky Star (Anime)|right]]

Also known as ''Mimikaki'', ear cleaning is a mostly Asian practice, as generally Asian peoples' ear wax is harder and more lumpy than westerners'. It uses an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_pick ear pick] (often shown with a puffy, cotton-ball like thing on the end) to remove wax from the inside of the ear. Because having this done to you by another person is considered intimate, this is usually seen in anime and manga between parents and children, siblings, or two people who are lovers. As such it can be used for variations of [[Does This Remind You of Anything]], [[Visual Innuendo]] and even [[Accidental Innuendo]].

Also known as ''Mimikaki'', ear cleaning is a mostly Asian practice, as generally Asian peoples' ear wax is harder and more lumpy than westerners'. It uses an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_pick ear pick] (often shown with a puffy, cotton-ball like thing on the end) to remove wax from the inside of the ear. Because having this done to you by another person is considered intimate, this is usually seen in anime and manga between parents and children, siblings, or two people who are lovers. As such it can be used for variations of [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]], [[Visual Innuendo]] and even [[Accidental Innuendo]].

It's a pleasant experience akin to having one's back scratched, and the sight of someone cleaning out another's ears is almost always an indication of a close, warm relationship.

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(Note that this method of cleaning your ears is not exactly medically approved, due to the risk of getting things stuck or potentially perforating your eardrums. Not that it stops anyone...)

== Anime and Manga ==

* As shown in the image above, Kagami does this to her sister Tsukasa in ''[[Lucky Star (Anime)|Lucky Star]]''.

** One of the character sketches in the manga shows the twins' mother Miki holding an ear pick while asking her husband to come closer.

* In ''[[Ranma ~~One Half~~ (Manga)|Ranma 1/2]]'', Cologne can be seen doing this to her great-granddaughter Shampoo in an early chapter of the manga.

* In ''[[Ranma ½ (Manga)|Ranma 1/2]]'', Cologne can be seen doing this to her great-granddaughter Shampoo in an early chapter of the manga.

* Similarly, in [[Rumiko Takahashi]]'s earlier series ''[[Urusei Yatsura (Manga)|Urusei Yatsura]]'', Lum does this to Ataru on several occasions. In the anime version, specifically, the first time it happens is at the end of the second 'chapter' of episode 4. She's also seen doing it to him at school in the 17th episode.

* ''[[Darker Than Black (Anime)|Darker Than Black]]'' features an [[Innocent Innuendo]] situation that turns out to be a widow cleaning out the ears of the private investigator she hired. Though for him it might not have been completely innocent...

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* Sana from ''[[Kodomo no Omocha (Manga)|Kodomo no Omocha]]'' does this at one point to Hayama when she wants to teach him what it is like to have a mother. They become a couple later on.

* In a sweet subversion of ''[[Futari Ecchi (Manga)|Futari Ecchi's]]'' usual stance that [[All Men Are Perverts]], when Yura offers to do "anything" for Makoto, he asks her to do this.

* In the second season of ''[[Ah My Goddess (Manga)|Ah My Goddess]]'', Keiichi gets his ears cleaned by Belldandy in one episode and [[Hot As Hell|Hild]] in another.

* In the second season of ''[[Ah! My Goddess (Manga)|Ah My Goddess]]'', Keiichi gets his ears cleaned by Belldandy in one episode and [[Hot As Hell|Hild]] in another.

* Atsushi's fiancee does this to him in a chapter of ''[[Higanjima]]''

* ''[[Poor Poor Lips (Manga)|Poor Poor Lips]]'' has a chapter that revolved around Nako cleaning Ren's ear. The intimate subtext of the act gets lampshaded for all its worth.

{{quote| '''Nako''': (Describing her ear cleaning technique) You gently tickle the outside of the ear before you remove the earwax. That helps the person relax, so the hole opens up wider. <br />

'''Ren''': (thinking to herself) [[Does This Remind You of Anything|... Foreplay?]] }}

'''Ren''': (thinking to herself) [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|... Foreplay?]] }}

* Otae does this to her future grandfather-in-law in ''[[Gintama]]'' in a show of how perfect a wife she would eventually be for the Yagyuu heir. And then she pulls out a really large blob of...stuff from the old man's ear. Horrified, and with some effort, she shoves it back in.