(T/F): "Fanservice ruins anime"

[DokiDokiTsuna]

I've seen this take going around on Twitter a bit recently, and I thought it was actually kind of an interesting dilemma. Because, y'know, fanservice is actually a very broad term...something as simple as 'this character is wearing an unexpectedly cute outfit in this episode' can be considered fanservice.

Of course, we all know what people mean by 'fanservice' in these cases...and on that note, I don't expect this thread to be 100% safe for work, you've been warned. ^^;

But before I get into my thoughts, let's take a vote:

• True
• False

Show results

So, using the word 'fanservice' in the colloquial sense (i.e. sexy visual treats)...I kinda have to say True. =T

I think the answer you pick will most likely depend on how this kind of fanservice has affected the anime that you watch...like, if all you watch is ecchi harem anime anyway, this poll isn't going to mean much to you.

But for someone like me who's generally just interested in fantasy action anime with female protagonists...yeah, it literally does ruin most of it. =/
Of all the anime I have watched and liked in that genre, there are only two that are unaffected by weird, often inappropriate sexy scenes that I'd have to be prepared to explain if I were to recommend the anime to someone else. If you're interested, the two are Houseki no Kuni and Black Rock Shooter...and honestly, neither of those are completely free from weirdness, but it's much less egregious than in the other shows.

Like, I don't think anime fans who only interact with other anime fans realize how frustrating it is to want to talk about shows you like to people who aren't in that sphere, but NOT want to have to explain why a 14-year-old girl doing a pole dance as part of her magical girl transformation inspires only an eyeroll instead of shock and revulsion. And honestly, underage fanservice in particular needs to disappear. Like, yesterday. This poll isn't for debating that.

It's also frustrating because it often just detracts from the message and/or tone of the show...I'm not going to take the battle with the evil demigods seriously if it includes scenes focused on boob and butt jiggles. I can't examine a character's sexual abuse as a legitimate trauma when it's blatantly obvious that you want your audience to enjoy it. At best, this results in mixed messages and pointless distractions, at worst it results in offensive implications that undermine any serious message you want the show to deliver (which is often the case with action anime).

So yeah, with all that in mind...I really have to say True. =/ I know I'd have much more fun watching anime in general if "horny heterosexual male" wasn't CONSTANTLY the assumed target demographic of ANY type of story.

[candiedcotton]

I think bad fanservice (or anything badly written) can ruin a story/anime/whatever.

But I do think fanservice can be done in a good/tasteful way. Just like anything well written, it can work for the story, too.

Edit: Some good examples of fanservice can be found in anything like the new Castlevania series (I forget the name), or even Ouran... fuck, what's it called. Ouran Host Club? Anyway, the fanservice is kinda endearing in that one. Also, Sephiroth. Don't forget fanservice exists for both men and women.

Edit 2: I'm kind of disappoint at how many people here seem to think anime = shonen. Yeah, shonen often has a lot of gross fanservice. It's for dumb horny teen boys. Shonen as a whole makes me cringe. But there are TONS of genres of anime out there and I'd argue in the absolute majority of them, they do not have a bunch of cringe fanservice. It is incredibly unfair to just associate 'anime' with exclusively shonen.

[BoomerZ]

I think you also have to separate the fan service from the ironic fan service. Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt is full of fan service and knows it. The beach episode is fan service and the most series know this and play to it. The fan service that is part of the joke and everyone is on it, I have zero problem with. The fan service than is just there to grab eye balls to watch the show I just feel sad about. Most of the time it's not needed but on the flip side if it gets watches and allows the creator to continue his series and make money, go for it. We all need to make a living. I don't watch harem anime/manga so I don't know those tropes for the most part. But if they are expected for that genre then you have to fulfill your part of the bargain and give what the readers sign on to read.

[thepenmonster]

I find modern anime and manga is too obsessed with appealing to the fetish crowd and so fanservice is applied in ways that are either grotesque ("It's okay because the eight year in bondage gear is actually a 300 year old witch") or out of place ("This action heroine needs to show her titties more when she fights") just to excuse it.

Sexy characters and T&A makes sense in sex comedies like Interspecies Reviewers (which had problems well beyond fanservice) or even My Dress Up Darling where the sexy girl is the entire point. You want to have a comic about coming out of your shell? You don't need Gainax Bounce for that.

Even Go Nagai knew where and when to apply it and he is a human anarchy grenade with a dip pen.

tl;dr- There's a time and a place for everything and your exploration of depression with giant robots didn't actually need you to sell sexy body pillows of your 14 year old lead.

When your best justification is cynical marketing, you don't have much of a justification.

[powerplantanimations]

I had a problem with it, but I think I learned to accept it after playing Street Fighter and watching Jojo. I GET the appeal of exaggerated body proportions. Those two focus more on characters pushing their bodies to the limit so it makes sense that they look over-the-top. In fact, I think Street Fighter is an interesting case study about how to do fanservice RIGHT... and how to do it WRONG lmao.

Just don't do anything weird with children. One of the biggest reasons why I couldn't even begin with Dragon Ball. I was like "Wow this is... wow.... okay.... I guess I'm clicking off now".

[NickRowler]

I feel like it can range from funny to annoying. I am not into busty ladies so when scenes focus too much on the chest, I just get bored.

But on the other hand. Merman in my Tub is only worth watching for the fan service. Without it, it’s just an anime about an annoying merman. If people want to watch/read ecchi stuff, all the power to them.

[Kaisei]

In general, yes. Anime tends to be guilty of the worst kinds of fan service: underage fanservice (esp. under 16) and fanservice in scenes dealing with sexual assault come to mind. There are other scenarios where it's not hinting at criminal activities, it's just out of place and gratuitous, like "did that serious fight scene require a boob jiggle?" It's part of why I don't watch much shonen.

Fanservice isn't necessarily bad, but on balance, anime doesn't have a great record for tasteful fanservice. There are a few shows that made good use of fanservice.

[JaveCraze]

it can't "ruin" things, unless it's SUPER EGREGIOUS, but it can definitely 100% soil things and bring them down a letter grade for me. I absolutely hate fanservice, but I can appreciate things despite their flaws.. but the fact that it's just everywhere in anime is super annoying. If it's a quick page or a short scene, I can just skip over it or ignore it, though.

[XiuLyn_12]

I don't think fanservice entirely ruins anime because it depends on how extreme the "fanservice" is.
The majority of readers or watchers (me included) would love to receive fan service once in a while. It is kind of refreshing to see good-looking characters wearing cute outfits or showing off their ripped bodies.
What I would consider "this fanservice ruins the anime" is when they over-sexualize a character, especially the ones that look like a 15-year-old.
Otherwise, I think fanservice is not a bad thing.

[ButterflyEmpress]

If the show is centered around fanservice or its during a scene with a lighter mood or the show is goofy in general that's fine. It's annoying when the tone is supposed to be serious or on a subject unrelated to sex when the framing says otherwise. I remember an ep of SAO where a girl came to Kirito and Asuna for help regarding a murderer lurking around and the camera was zoomed up the girl's ass the whole time. Is the audience supposed to be worried for the cast or be turned on? Apparently Fire Force is like that which is why I don't want to watch it.

[Ladyofbirds]

Fan service is like salt, use a little bit not the whole bottle.

[LunarScyphozoa]

Good analogy but… a bottle? Of salt?

[BlairFujin]

Some time ago I just gave up and stopped giving a chance to anime series with girls on the promo pic (unless it's an adaptation and I know it's safe or I guess it is aimed at female audience bur there's barely any coming out nowadays) as at this point I know at least one of those girls will get groped and I'm just tired of this...
This has kinda pushed me into male idol anime rabbit hole and while those are full of fanservice at least the worst it can be is dumb and not gross (I was really missing a word here but you know what I mean, it's not sexually harassing characters for fanservice)

[darthmongoose]

Assuming we're talking about fanservice of the "drawing a character sexy, or framing a shot or panel in a way meant to be sexually appealing when it's not meant to be an erotic or sexy scene" I'm personally not a fan, because for me, it can really undermine the emotional intent of the scene.

Like you have two ladies in this instense battle, life or death, high stakes, exciting! And the Artist is like "mmm look at their knickers though... look at how their knickers cling to their bumcheeks." and I'm like "please, artist... I'm trying to enjoy this intense and exciting battle, I don't want to be distracted by your creepy urge to be more interested in their underwear or questioning why you had them dress like this for this battle" and then the battle continues and the artist is like "mmmm... look at how their boobies are flapping around!" and I'm just like "RRGH! Artist! Stop that! I just want to enjoy the cool ladies having a cool sword fight! Boobs flopping around like a plastic bag part-filled with water isn't sexy, and doesn't even make sense in the clothes they're wearing!"

I'm very into sexy or romantic swordfights. Like I love when two people who fancy each other are circling each other, glaring intensely. Their swords clash! They pull in close- YES, give me that! That's sexy for me. But taking a serious, non-sexy fight, where the people fighting just aren't into it, and just seem sincerely focused on the fight, but trying to make it sexy by making the viewpoint "creepy man who is crouching behind a bush with a camcorder zooming in on their underwear and ogling their chests" isn't sexy for me, it's kinda creepy and distracting.

The weird obsession with underwear in particular is baffling. It feels so juvenile. Like god, how much more obvious do you have to be that you've never had sex with a consenting human who also enjoyed the sex and do not have the capability to get more sex than getting overexcited at even just getting to see a pair of knickers? They're not even sexy knickers, they're always just like standard ASDA value pack white low-waist high legs. Now, if the usually very serious and chaste character's clothes and armour got damaged revealing she was wearing like... bright red or black lacy underwear, revealing a surprisingly sexy side... now THAT, I could imagine potentially being kinda sexy, because then it's an intimate character reveal showing an intent towards sexiness hidden beneath a chaste exterior. That's a sign that on some level, that character wants her underwear to be looked at; she wants somebody to view her sexually and to desire her.
If somebody's wearing basic value white briefs, it generally means they just want to go about their business, and they're not expecting to have their pants looked at. So an obsession with that kind of pants really leans a bit voyeuristic, especially with the added angle of "white pants symbolise virginity/purity/youth" like...eugh... stop creeping on girls because they're underage or look barely legal, ya weirdos! But also... I don't find it sexy framing a character who clearly isn't in the mood to be sexy in a sexy way?

For me, the big factor is: "Is the character acting sexy because they want to be sexy, and are they dressed sexily because it makes sense that this character wanted people to view them as sexually desirable? ...OR are they acting normally, but the viewpoint is placed in voyeuristic positions that add a sexual angle that, if the character was real, they'd feel creeped out by, and are they dressed in a way where it doesn't feel like they chose their clothes so much as another entity who wanted them to be sexually appealing forced them to wear this?" It's the consent that's important, and the sense that a character genuinely feels like they wanted to be sexy, not just for the audience, but for themselves or somebody they want to appeal to. I wouldn't enjoy having sex with somebody who wasn't into having sex with me, and the same goes for ogling somebody's sexy body; it's no fun if it doesn't look like they're an adult, old enough to make an informed choice about their sexuality, and feel like they'd want to be desired by me.

[Hayka]

it truly depends on the series we're talking about...
I really wanna mention Mushoku Tensei here; a series that I can confidently say has NO fanservice

yeah you heard me. Mushoku Tensei has nudity...sure...but none of them are FANservice. The concept of fanservice is doing nude shots of characters to make the viewers satisfied. The nude scenes in Mushoku Tensei all have a reason, and it's not for fans. The camera follows that gaze of a horny kid in the first couple episodes, and the shots show HIM BEING A PERV, and nothing else. They could've been a lot more explicit with some of those shots like the parents doing the naughties in ep 1, but they didn't. Unlike OTHER series we are all very aware of. Mushoku's purpose was change and a second chance, and the ending of the second half, even tho it was anime original, was the most beautiful ending to a story about change I have seen.
Fanservice is not that...that's expressing sexuality. Fanservice is other anime...fanservice is doing panty shots that have no relevance to whatever's going on...Fanservice is showing aqua's butt in konosuba (one of my fave isekais the novel's are peak comedy and characters are freaking lovable but it still has that fanservice)
According to Rifujin (the author of Mushoku) instead of making sex a plaything, or a sacred thing, he took the middle route and made is a NATURAL thing in his world. I cannot recommend Mushoku enough to literally anyone.

Same with the nude shows in Monogatari...they never felt playful and suggestive...they always felt artistic...the nudity in Monogatari is similar to nudity in old paintings.

And hell nah there are stories that will NEVER be ruined even if they have fanservice...like Konosuba...

then there's another sort of service called Authorservice.
people have fetishes...and authors and artists have fetishes too, and sometimes they let it show in their work. That also won't ruin a series...it CAN ruin it tho...
authors have fetishes and sometimes its shown...
one of them becomes that crap DC comic where joker gets pregnant...
and one of them becomes Made in Abyss...which has some of the most emotionally devastating moments I have seen in a very long time. With emotions so far away you can't even tell what they are, but they're there, and it makes you tear up. You won't know what that emotion is, and it takes you days to put your finger on it.
On another note, the author's fetishes (even if they are weird) kinda helps the story in showcasing how weird af the abyss is and making the adventure feel more realistic instead of prettyfying it

So no...that take is WHACK and it depends on what series we're talking about, but ig mostly if fanservice isn't done tastefully, and it's just a generic pantyshot, it does ruin the show. I kinda want them to be at least more creative if they wanna make a fanservice shot. I didn't watch Edens Zero past ep 10 because animation wasn't good and I wanted to read manga instead, and then never did...but there was this one scene in episode 8 that just DID SOMETHING TO ME.
Now THAT'S how you do fanservice.

[Hayka]

14-year-old girl doing a pole dance as part of her magical girl transformation

eyyy was that a Panty&Stocking diss you uncultured normie? Panty&Stocking was amazing.

if "horny heterosexual male" wasn't CONSTANTLY the assumed target demographic of ANY type of story.

yes yes...agreed...we do need more MANservice as well...that's why Jojo and Baki are awesome. There's also some Manservice in Kill La Kill which kinda makes fun of fanservice by doing it to a male to weird out the male audience and realize how females feel when they see fanservice...which is also weird because the show also does fanservice (pretty good fanservice that don't take full focus of the fight scenes...the fight scenes are PHENOMENAL...it's a Trigger show...it was always going to be phenomenal)

I don't mind fanservice or nudity but I hate DUMB fanservice...like that boob jiggle sound effect they use...ugh I cringe so hard. I also agree with DISTRACTING fanservice...which is mostly present in Monogatari
Monogatari is a heavy show with a lot of dialogue that makes you glue your eyes to the subtitle and then there's a lot of interesting stuff (not always fanservice) going up on the screen...Monogatari does an amazing job making things interesting by using weird direction style and weird visuals and artistic backgrounds. It's just a lovely show.

Black Rock Shooter

oooh booy black rock shooter...
1- do u know how much lewd stuff there is about it?
2- did you watch the classic og or the new one?

[tarraxahum]

The only anime with 'sexual' type of fanservice that I am able to watch without cringing is the already mentioned Kill la Kill. It's so overblown and purposefully hyperbolized (and affects pretty much every character at one point or the other) that after the shock of the first few episodes it very quickly devolves into something completely non-sexual. Like a literal nudist beach (ironically) - if everyone is butt naked, does it even still count?

(Excluding the whole Ragyo and her daughters bs, of course, but like I'm pretty sure that's meant to be revolting and it suceeds. Also ignoring 99% of fanart 'cause that's just rule 34 to the max.)

I used to be a pretty big Fairy Tail fan in high school, and if you watched Fairy Tail - you know it's the textbook example of the classic anime fanservice, what with Natsu constantly falling face first into Lucy's boobs or Erza's ARMORS being skimpy as a swimming suit. As a teenager I sort of tolerated it - the plot and the characters mattered more to me than an occassional cringe, but when I watched one of the newer FT movies as an adult... That particular movie was drawn in a way that made me feel like they're literally two pixels away from exposing literal ladybits and I could NOT ignore that for the sake of the plot or nostalgia. Meh.

Btw speaking of non-fanservicy anime, not sure if anyone mentioned it already, I'd say Black Lagoon counts (as long as you don't look at some of the additional manga promo art). Like, sure, there are quite some sexual topics, the women are hot and there is an occassional angle in the heat of a battlescene, but idk. To me it feels less like a "Whoops, te-hee, panty shot!" fanservice and more like, uh, adult women characters just having three-dimensional bodies, you know. They are criminal mercs, it's an adult story. But if Revy wears short ass shorts then it just feels like, you know, duh, they are in a freaking tropical seaside city, it's gotta be hot. And the whole time she spends in a skirt in that one arc she wears black leggins(?) underneath, so if the hem flips once 'cause she's doing crazy jumps while shooting people dead it doesn't feel like a typical anime skirt lift shot. Etc etc. Heck, even their characters in literal maid outfits are 1. proper scary and 2. have long skirts and properly covered up chests. Also the underage one wears shorts underneath, as she should.

Man, I love Black Lagoon, I wish more animes gave their women such badass agency with full respect.

All the other types of fanservice btw I think I fully support as long as it's not purposefully OOC. In case of said Kill la Kill I would honestly count the (SPOILER) whole switching goku uniforms plot twist as a fanservice, not the nudity. 'Cause that was definitely a lot of fanart coming through there, and if I remember correctly Trigger did literally admit to listening to the fanbase. And Black Lagoon had OVAs bringing all the classic tropes to life (school AU, genderbent AU, age-regression AU, magical girl AU...) officially. Like, this type of fanservice, when executed well, I don't mind at all.

The unnecessary panty shots and overly jiggly boobs for no other reason than 'ehehe sexy' are giving me allergies by now tho. Don't even get me started on the underage-ness of it all.

[Stargazer31]

There's nothing wrong with a bit of non-objectifying sex appeal, but when minors are lewded or sexual assault is done as a joke (looking at you, My Hero Academia) it's just gross.
Or when it's pointlessly put in. Like "She's running away from a serial killer, but there MUST be a shit of her breasts bouncing!"

[candiedcotton]

Guys, can we stop and recognize that anime =/= shonen. Shonen is a single genre IN anime. Yes, it's often loaded with a bunch of cringe fanservice. It's made for dumb teen boys. It's frequently just dumb and sexist nonsense. But there is a vast variety of different genres of anime and it's disingenuous to only bring up shonen. That's like saying tv shows are all boring and dramatic because, you know, soap operas exist.

[Katzalcoatl]

eyyy was that a Panty&Stocking diss

Panty&Stocking were both over 500 years old. Plus it is an anime aimed at adults. The fanservice is the anime in that case.