Quote:
|
Originally Posted by relentlessflame
That is true enough. Fanservice in anime doesn't really phase me that much - it's only when it goes over the top that I sort of roll my eyes and wonder why they had to throw that in there. As you say, though, it doesn't do anything for me either.
|
Perhaps this is the part that I don't seem to understand - the thought of actually getting the thought "why they had to throw that in there."
Yes, fanservice does exist, and in ever increasing ACs (action cuts) everytime. But then, your quote actually made me wonder why we never kick our mindset to question the animators choice in placing that scene. To us, the fanservice ACs such as "panty shots," "guy accidentally going into a bath where the girl is taking a shower," etc. etc. are more of a cliche. To us, it is nothing more than what usually happens next: a girl screaming "kya~!! XXX-san/kun no ecchi~~~!!"
Let me give you an example:
Every child in Japan (at least in the past thirty years) grows up watching "Doraemon." It's a pasttime, a national icon of an anime up there along with "Sazae-san." In about one in ten episodes, there is always a scene where the main character, Nobita-kun "accidentally" uses Doraemon's dokodemo-door and ends up in Shizuka-chan's bathroom. Then there are scenes where there is a panchila shot of Shizuka-chan when the wind blows.
Both the current anime viewers and the animators themselves were watching "Doraemon" as a child. The next generation of children are also watching "Doraemon" as I speak. What you have here is a cliche. It's a recurring gag that stems from what we thought to be amusing and funny as a child. If a person who hasn't grown up in Japanese society, it will be difficult to grasp the idea of this and be viewed as rather pointless.
A very bad analogy in American cartoon terms would be something like seeing a scene where an anvil drops on top of someone's head and the image of Wile E. Coyote pops into your head. I personally think this is pointless as well, but then again, I never lived in America. But in a sense, wouldn't such scenes in your country be considered a sort of "fan-service" as well?
But then, we come back and start seeing a bunch of anime with tons of fanservice nowadays. It comes to a point that it is not amusing anymore, but to a feeling of desensitization.