They are seemingly everywhere in the Japanese Culture be it mangas, games, anime, etc. The fact is that most people of ages 21 and above (Especially those who are not in touch with animes or the culture before...) are the ones that condemned or despise this kinda stuff. Try telling them that these are works or art or that Ecchi stuffs are normally used in a context whereby at many a times creates heartbeating and comedic surprises for anime lovers around. Even the popular series Bleach has a bit of Ecchi-ness so look who's complaining? Anyway there are different levels of Ecchi-ness in such animes and stuff and unless you're talking about hentai, then that's a different caliber altogether. Even though said, it's still sometimes hard to distinguish between Ecchi and Hentai as they basically means much the same in the Japanese context...
