Fanservice

[Shradow]

So what's everyone's opinion on fanservice (in this case, the sexual kind)?

 

As of right now I'm pretty indifferent to it. I think partly I'm just used to it by this point. If I watch something with my friends who are much newer to anime than I am, and they react a certain way (maybe thinking its weird or awkward, or showing excitement over it), the sort of reactions they give are things I did years ago as a younger teenager, but don't really do anymore. It's also partly a culture thing that I've come to realize and accept, with things like nudity and other sexual content being more stigmatized in western media than in Japan, so it's a more normal thing with regards to Japanese anime. You could consider it as being seen as more playful than something unclean.

 

Some examples regarding specific shows, when I was watching Kill la Kill I was too involved with all the action and crazy goings on to be bothered or interested by the fact guys and girls were running around pretty much nude for a lot of the show. And the first few episodes Shokugeki no Soma took the over the top lewd reactions to such a degree that I couldn't do anything but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all, by that point it didn't matter to me that it was showing such sexual things.

 

Also, as a result on my thoughts on fanservice, I don't think it necessarily detracts from a good series, such as things like Kill la Kill or No Game No Life. Though I don't really read or watch anything overly ecchi that takes its fanservice to huge extremes like Highschool DxD (at least, it sounds like that kind of show from what I've heard a couple of my friends say). Also, by definition it's something done in service to the fans, so I'd say it's a little weird to consider something like that in a negative tone, even if you're not interested in it.

[Maeriberii Haan]

I personally dislike fanservice, but I don't really think that it's bad as a concept. Just..don't mix fanservice with scenes that are supposed to be serious unless you're in a comedy series or we're talking about Kill la Kill or a series with similar level of audacity due to differing norms within them.

Viewers are supposed to be invested in those serious scenes, not on a random juicy butt that stole the spotlight.

[Makο]

Fanservice for the sake of fanservice isn't so great, tbh. I mean, I'm fine with it (more like, not offended, I guess), but it just feels a bit manipulative, demeaning, and... gross.

 

If it's thematically appropriate, then by all means go ahead (see: klk). But I think the anime and manga industry as a whole would be better off without it for the most part.

[Susie]

im fine with fanservice just so long as its pushed to the side, when its upfront and being constantly thrown at you, its just distracting. with that said, stuff that does fanservice like KLK is pretty much an exception, since the fanservice is being parodied by showing us how over-the-top and insane it is.

if its just a few scenes i can deal with it, but i still really do hate it.

[Fusion X. Denver]

Thing is, I've seen a ton of shows and a ton of fanservice by now that it doesn't really register on my radar anymore. Personally, I don't really dig fanservice that feels "tacked on," but even then I just greet it with an eye roll and keep watching. Unless it's over the top distracting in a non-ecchi show, then it's not something I'll fault the show for.

 

[spoiler=Went off on a bit of a spiel here]

The other thing is, fanservice is never going to go away with how the industry is right now. Sex sells. The reason there's so much more moe shows and/or shows with gratuitous fanservice is because that's what Japan's anime audience wants right now. Check the chart below.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2015-05-27/anime-studios-success-calculated-based-on-10-years-of-disc-sales/.88558

What's KyoAni specialize in?

Relaxing moe shows.

What's Shaft done?

The Monogatari series, Nisekoi, Madoka, etc. 

 

I got some insight into this phenomena from a new friend I lived with for the past year who'd originally lived in China and Japan. He personally is into anime that's relaxing. Stuff like Non Non Biyori, Haruhi, and KyoAni are what he looks for (though he has seen other shows like Parasyte, Code Geass, etc). And my friend works a lot. He would be studying on Friday and Saturday nights at times because he wants to be on his A-game at all times.

And that's Japan. They work so much and usually don't make that much from it. Plus their birth rate is at an all time low because not enough men are pairing off with women. From their point of view, their work routine is already so demanding and time-consuming that trying to find a relationship is another giant effort they don't have the energy for. So stuff like anime, VNs, whatever can serve as that outlet for them.

 

Of course, that's not all of the buyers, I don't want to generalize here. You'll have your otakus too or other general anime fans buying the stuff. But there's no denying that there's a demand for these types of shows right now and some shows will feel obligated to board that bandwagon that's been proven to work for a while now.

Things may change if anime collapses like Hideaki Anno says (that's a whole other topic) and goes through some sort of renaissance at some point. But for now, fanservice ain't going away, get used to it.[/spoiler]

[CLG Klavier]

Unpopular opinion: I don't mind fanservice it all, and most of the time I like it. Throw buckets of it at me if you want to~

[EHN.]

I guess for the most part I enjoy fan service. When used correctly, it can be hilarious and add a lot to the enjoyment factor of an anime. When it seems slightly unnecessary and over the top, I'm not really bothered or offended as I knew what I was going into. It pisses me off when people criticize an anime for having 'too much fan service' as it's their fault for knowingly going into an ecchi/harem anime. Most ecchi anime are aware that they are over the top and don't try to hide it. In the majority of cases, non-ecchi/harem anime don't have a lot of fan service scenarios that differ much from something you would see in a western production (ignoring Kill la Kill here, as I could write an essay on it and this post will probably be long enough already).

 

As for something like High School DxD, there's a lot of controversy about its usage of fan service, and also about censorship. The fan service is basically what makes the show, and as a result I refuse to watch it censored. Not for reasons such as guilty pleasure but simply because watching it censored doesn't allow you to enjoy the series to the fullest. DxD is one of the very few anime that successfully uses its ecchi moments to advance the plot and characters rather than just for the sake of having fan service which a lot of anime fall into the trap of doing. Yes, it can be over the top at times but I personally got used to it quite quickly.

 

 

[Astro Dude]

One series that did this wrong was Master of Martial Hearts. The girls were hot but the final episode killed the mood. Ones that do it right are the previously mentioned Kill la Kill, Hyperdimension Neptunia, Ikki Tousen, High School DxD, and Senran Kagura, among a few others.

[Just Crouton]

I wouldn't mind it if they were out of high school and actually showed nipples and stuff.

[GarlandChaos]

I love fanservice, personally. Can't get enough of the stuff. But if your show is of the Ecchi genre and you're trying to attract fans of said genre, please just make fanservice the main focus. Like, combine Ecchi with Slice of Life is basically what I'm trying to say here.

[Tentacruel]

Fanservice isn't always bad, per se but I find that it's usually really forced.  If you want to have female characters and make them really attractive, great.  Shoving the camera up the skirts for no reason or zooming in on their tits and playing some jiggle sound effect is just fucking stupid. 

[BANZAI!!!!]

Honestly, depends on my mood. There will be days when I'll be in the right mindset to get on the fun of absurd shit like kill la kill, though more often than not I'll opt for ultraviolence and/or crazy mecha shows over tits and ass (not that these things are mutually exclusive, as Code Geass is one of my favorite guilty pleasures and Gunbuster, one of my favorite anime of all time, is the show that invented the term "gainaxing").

 

That being said, tits are tits, and I'm not 13 anymore, so my usual reaction is either to A. pay it no mind, or B. groan because its detracting from the goddamn show i'm trying to watch. If I honestly want to see ass and tits, there's about a zillion doujinshi (of the shows themselves, even!), fucktons of hentai, and even more actual porn out there that I have free and easy access to already. I don't need it taking away from the story I'm trying to get invested in.

[Agro]

At this point it's overdone and boring.

 

Plus it makes it hard for me to suggest one series or another to someone who is just getting into anime.

 

Or makes it harder for me to even admit I like anime, because fanservice is one of the biggest issues with the perception of anime in the west.

[Flame Dragon]

I mind fan service when it feels like its insulting me. Put another way, when its exploiting the character. Best example I can think of for this is Fairy Tail. Lucy gets this the worse. For shows where the fan service works, Kill La Kill is a great example. It feels organic to the show, helped by nudity being a central theme, and doesn't feel like its coming at the cost of the characters. Another example is Food Wars, since there its so over the top I can't take it seriously. In One Piece, even though you have characters showing a lot of skin, it doesn't feel intrusive and Oda doesn't focus on the fact that they aren't wearing a lot of clothing.

[Fusion X. Denver]

I can agree with most of that...though Oda did inflate Nami's breasts 3-4 sizes since the beginning :T

[Flame Dragon]

I can agree with most of that...though Oda did inflate Nami's breasts 3-4 sizes since the beginning :T

Certainly fair. However the way Oda draws women I wouldn't call fan service. Like, the characters in most fictional works are always going to be as attractive as possible, so that fine. What I'd call fan service is when the camera/panel lingers are a characters ass or breasts and Oda really doesn't do that.

[a bad post]

I don't know, it kinda depends for me. Sometimes I enjoy it, but other times it just gets on my nerves. Like Free! definitely has a lot of fan service just in the fact that it's a bunch of mostly good looking guys participating in a sport that requires them to be half-naked, or like in DeSu with the physicals scene where Airi has boob envy over Hinako, and then Fumi the best girl shows them who's boss. That I find funny or enjoyable. But if it demeans or detracts from who a character is then it starts to bother me. I'm probably a hypocrite anyways since I tend to get bothered by fanservice geared towards guys more than with fanservice geared towards girls, so w/e.

[Johan Liebert]

I think constant panty-shots and other forms of fanservice get quite annoying if used too frequently. But, from my perspective, Kill La Kill's fanservice had a purpose to portray a message about feminism or something relating to it in Japan. Either way, I was too mixed up in the insanity and epicness of the series to even notice the fanservice. I think the size of breasts in anime is quite ridiculous at times. XD They defy gravity and they're usually bigger than the girl's head. I also feel like frequent fanservice kind of insults us viewers because the producers must think we're all horny teenaged guys.

[Sethera]

It depends on the show/manga, for me. If fanservice is the point of it, an essential theme, or adds to the humor, then I'm fine with it, and can even appreciate it. However, I don't care for fanservice when it distracts me from something like plot, character, an important scene, etc.

 

For instance, Highschool of the Dead, I stopped reading because it seemed less like a zombie apocalypse manga and more like a panty paparazzi manga. Which is a shame, cuz I'm a huge fan of zombie apocalypse scenarios.

[Flame Dragon]

I think a good use of fan service was in Nisekoi: (season 2) episode 8. The first half of the episode was a magical girl spoof and so they played with one of the common magical girl tropes, them being naked when transforming, for both fan service and as part of the joke.