Hey guys welcome to another edition of the Otaku Corner. This month we’re going to be discussing fanservice. If you’ve been paying attention to my blogs you’ll notice I’ve been reviewing animes that are quite heavy on the fanservice. This wasn’t on purpose, it just sort of happened. That’s how it is with a lot of my blogs. There will be times where I give hints to what I’ll be reviewing next but for a majority of the time it all comes down to what I feel like reviewing. Of course I do my best to plan my reviews out in advance but things come up and I have to make adjustments to the schedule. Anyway sorry, I’m getting off topic here we’re talking about fanservice this month. Whether you like it or love it fanservice is a big part of anime. If I’m being really honest it’s present in just about every anime out there whether it’s big or small chances are you’ll get some form of fanservice in any anime you’re watching. Now that has raised a serious question that I’ve recently been wondering about, does fanservice ruin anime? This is actually a serious question, I’ve actually seen people drop animes just because they couldn’t stand the fanservice of an anime. Is the anime industry really killing itself from using fanservice? Well let’s take a closer and deeper look at this.
What is fanservice?
Before we dive into this discussion I think it’s best if we clearly define what fanservice is. Fanservice aka service cut, according to Wikipedia and the urban dictionary refers to gratuitous titillation meaning scenes or something meant to excite the audience. This of course means seeing anime girls in scantily clad outfits, cleavage shots, panty shots, or most cases a nude scene. That’s pretty much the basic idea when people think of fanservice but really it goes a lot deeper. Fanservice in truth is giving the fans what they want, showing them something in the anime that they exactly want to see. In that case than pretty much anything that we find pleasing in an anime can be considered fanservice such as a character hooking up with another character, a cool fight scene, a character getting punched or axed-off, basically anything that adds to the plot of the anime and gets noticed by us can be considered fanservice. For the sake of this blog I’m going to be focusing primarily on the gratuitous titillation side of fanservice since I think we can all admit the cool side of fanservice i.e fight scenes etc. are all great and make the anime for a lot of us. I don’t think anybody out there has a problem with this kind of fanservice. It’s the ecchi fanservice that riles people up.
Why people hate fanservice
Pretty much the reason why people hate fanservice is because it distracts people from the story not adding anything to the story or in some cases actually overshadowing the story completely. An example of this is Maken-Ki an anime totally driven by fanservice and nothing but fanservice. While the fanservice is good it completely overshadows the story giving the anime no story and making the series seem stupid and trust me the story for this isn’t really all that good to begin with so to just get rid of it and turn it into a series with no story, flanderized characters who don’t develop at all, and nothing but fanservice was a pretty stupid idea. Another reason why people don’t like fanservice is because it’s demeaning to women as if to say we should only view them as nothing but sexual objects for us to lust over and nothing more. It can also be seen as a sign of laziness. For example, Ikkitousen has the most panty shots in any anime I’ve ever seen and all of their characters are nothing but busty girls fighting each other. Yeah it’s cool to see hot girls fighting each other but the problem is they’re all flat characters with the exception of Kanu. They don’t grow or develop their characters and the anime never establishes a plot or story for the characters and just adds in fanservice in the hopes that it’ll distract you from all of their mistakes (this has actually worked on a few people).
Are there any moments of good fanservice
Yes. There are animes out there that are totally driven by fanservice but are actually good animes. The first anime that comes to mind for me is Highschool DxD a story about a somewhat badass perverted high school boy who catches a lucky break in life and gains the affection of multiple girls because he’s pretty badass and despite his perverted nature is really good and caring who accepts everyone for who they are no matter what. The story in this anime is good, the character development is enjoyable, the comedy and action scenes are awesome to watch, and the fanservice is great. It doesn’t feel forced, overused, or overshadows the story if anything it actually adds a little to the story. Campione was also a good fanservice anime as it had good characters, an interesting plot and good story progression. Highschool of the Dead is jam packed full of fanservice from zombie killing to seeing high school girls in scanty outfits and having a bus orgy (yeah that scene is still weird to me to this day) but it’s anime that gives us a pretty cool idea of what might happen a zombie apocalypse world and how a certain group of characters try to maintain their sanity in a world that’s rapidly falling into insanity. Daimidaler is one that’s up for debate. I’ve heard some people say they didn’t like this anime at all. Me, I don’t think it’s a good anime but I don’t think it’s horrible because it’s clear from the start that this anime was never intended to be taken seriously and was just made to get a good laugh out of people and just have fun. I’ve been noticing a few animes like Daimidaler appearing recently. Animes that were never meant to be taken seriously or be seen as great and worthwhile animes. They were just meant to get some enjoyment out of you or help you relax. The fanservice in this anime is quite similar to that of Highschool DxD but the story and its characters aren’t all that great.
Now you’re probably wondering why the fanservice in these animes work while the fanservice in animes like Maken-Ki and Ikkitousen don’t work. Well let’s compare them to another fanservice anime, To Love Ru. Probably the only anime besides Highschool DxD that blows me out of water with fanservice. I daresay To Love Ru might have the most fanservice in an anime. Now the reason why To Love Ru works is for a number of reasons. First off there’s an actual story that’s progressing. The story of To Love Ru is that Rito is in love with two girls and can’t decide who he wants to be with. On top of that there are other girls who like him secretly and Lala’s little sister is trying to convince Rito to start a harem where everybody hopefully wins. The series makes you asks question what you do if you were in Rito’s situation. Would you choose one girl or go for the harem? No matter what choice you make there’s gonna be consequences and you wanna see who Rito chooses in the end. The characters are also great in the series. Rito may have a few traits of the typical harem main character but he’s actually a pretty cool and likable character with amazing god-falling skills. It’s always interesting to see the perverted situations he gets into. The other characters are also great. Lala’s charismatic upbeat character is a joy to watch. Haruna has that classical high school beauty aura around her. Yui is strict but in truth she’s just shy and tsundere and the rest of the characters are developed and fun to watch. While the progression of the story may be slow the author keeps are attention by focusing on the characters and developing them in each chapter or adding something new to the story. The fanservice never feels distracting or forced in this anime. It all comes naturally and fits well within the series never stopping the story but instead adding to the story. Maken-Ki and Ikkitousen don’t have anything of this in their shows. Instead the fanservice just seems to be there just to be there and to cover up their mistakes.
Does fanservice kill anime?
Sort of. If you’re using fanservice to cover up your mistakes and distract people from them while giving the characters no personalities, a story that’s nonexistent, and just throwing it in there in the hopes to get people’s attention than yes fanservice can kill an anime big time. However, if you use fanservice in an effective way that doesn’t overshadow the plot or story, have good characters, and present it in a way where it doesn’t feel forced and comes out naturally than no fanservice doesn’t kill an anime. Personally, I love fanservice both cool and ecchi but I will admit that the ecchi fanservice can get out of hand in animes sometimes and ruin the anime. In the end it all comes down to the author and the studio making the manga/anime but it also comes down to our preferences. No matter what anime we watch there’s always gonna be some form of fanservice whether it’s seeing a girl naked, a cool fight scene, a character dying because we can’t stand them, or characters that we like getting together. Fanservice is a part of the anime/manga culture and if you’re too closed minded about it than you’re gonna ruin the anime for yourself. My advice, keep an open mind about fanservice whether it’s girls in scanty outfits or anything else you find pleasing. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj and the next Otaku Corner.
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