What's fanservice?

[Zipi-2]

I read alot of reviews latly and in some reviews i see the term Fan service , can someone tell me what is that?

[IntrepidAKP]

I may have it wrong since I just figured it out and never really asked, but its basically just an event happening for no reason except the fans. Tons of fan service in Love Hina for example. Anytime theres like groping of breast or walking into the shower and the character is half naked, whatever. That's fan service.

[Kyuven]

boob shots, panty shots, characters in skimpy or ridiculous costumes, all are fanservice (Love hina is a good example, Hanaukyo Maids is the physcial incarnation)

[babbito2k]

Fanservice is usually spelled out as one word. Fanservice is erotically suggestive content in anime or manga, almost always visual. Fanservice may or may not include nudity and nude figures in anime may or may not be depicted as having secondary sexual characteristics such as nipples. Examples include but are not limited to scenes showing characters bathing or showering, dressing, falling and exposing underwear, bending over and exposing part of the breasts.

Fanservice is most often but not exclusively aimed at male viewers - i.e., female characters are more commonly portrayed in the suggestive scenes.

This is not at all the same thing as erotic content, such as graphic sex scenes or display of the genitals (which are always censored with a mosaic in Japan). Anime containing erotic content is known as ero-anime in Japan and "hentai" elsewhere. Ero-anime is strictly labeled and sold as such, much as adult films are rated X.

I hope this is suitably definitive, inclusive and boring to read.

[Secret Squirrel]

Diff with Love Hina was that the whole clips of Keitaro accidentaly wandering into the women-only bath etc were part and parcel of the whole storyline. It was a comedy ABOUT a male caretaker in a female residence. So it wasn't really fanservice - "Love Hina Again" however was a different matter

Puni Puni Poemi for me illustrated fanservice more than anything...in that we did not need to see the other character's sexual fantasies re: Poemi to make any difference to the storyline

[Kyuven]

Originally Posted by Secret Squirrel

Diff with Love Hina was that the whole clips of Keitaro accidentaly wandering into the women-only bath etc were part and parcel of the whole storyline. It was a comedy ABOUT a male caretaker in a female residence. So it wasn't really fanservice - "Love Hina Again" however was a different matter

slightly untrue
if a premise of a series is a guy walking in on girls bathing a regular basis, then it's a fanservice anime (just like Hanaukyo Maids' premise is Taro getting taken care of by 50 different maids)

[babbito2k]

Originally Posted by Secret Squirrel

Diff with Love Hina was that the whole clips of Keitaro accidentaly wandering into the women-only bath etc were part and parcel of the whole storyline. It was a comedy ABOUT a male caretaker in a female residence. So it wasn't really fanservice - "Love Hina Again" however was a different matter

Puni Puni Poemi for me illustrated fanservice more than anything...in that we did not need to see the other character's sexual fantasies re: Poemi to make any difference to the storyline

Fanservice is fanservice, whether a few scenes are tossed in "unnecessarily" or the whole premise is skewed to make the scenes "necessary." You can do romantic comedy in space suits, school uniforms, or a nudist colony.

edit: It is true that some shows have fanservice and are poorly written, and that others have fanservice and are well-written. The fanservice itself can't make or break the series.

[Secret Squirrel]

point taken, but I suppose what I was really trying to do was illustrate the difference between the kinds of fanservice.

I liked Love Hina (as that was an example), because, OK if you want to define it as fanservice, you could, but some effort had gone into building the full plot.

Poemi I hated because it was "Here's the storyline" - "And now we cut to some pointless pantie shots" - "Oh and we'll get back to the storyline again later"

[Tsu]

Fanservice doesn't necessarily have to be T&A (even if that is usually meant when 'fanservice' is said), though. Ragnarok the Animation, for instance, is filled with fanservice for fans of the game. Things like emotion bubbles appearing and little references like that.

[Slade xTekno]

Fanservice is basically treats for the viewers. Bouncing breasts, panty shots, skimpy outfits [ie the very short skirt], and others are all examples.
A very good example of fanservice is the Midori no Hibi anime. In every episode, the studio felt the need to show someone's breasts. Although it could have been avoided many times [ie ep4, just give her a towel], it's there.

[Invoker]

Originally Posted by babbito2k

It is true that some shows have fanservice and are poorly written, and that others have fanservice and are well-written. The fanservice itself can't make or break the series.

I'm not sure about that. If I want to watch hentai than I'll just watch hentai, I don't want to be watching a normal anime only to be interupted by OMG PANTY SHOT NOSEBLEED.

Unnessessary fanservice is bad in any show, IMHO.

[7thMethuselah]

Personally I love fanservice as it is often used to create a comical situation. Often it is used to make a point as well, for example the fanservice scenes in KGNE that were meant to show how desperate Mitsuki became. If they take out a reason to show the fanservice (i.e. it has no purpose) then their is a BIG chance it'll ruin the anime. An example of this is Midori no Hibi: while the occasional nudity in ep 1 and 2 wasn't a problem the entire bath scene in episode really ruined the episode for me.
So basically fanservice is ok as long as it serves a purpose or happens without purpose but not too often/not screwing up the story.
Fanservice for the fanservice (*cough* Hanaukyo Maids*cough*) is a waste of time and should be avoided!

[MasterFuu]

Originally Posted by Zipi-2

I read alot of reviews latly and in some reviews i see the term Fan service , can someone tell me what is that?

I love fan service as long its not too extreme Like penty shot or 2 is OK but thats as far as it should go I think.

[Kyuven]

Originally Posted by Rand

So hum....
Do you think that Full Metal Panic or Fumoffu contains fan service? Or is it rather some sort of parody of fan service?

tough to say
the onsen episode has a lot of fanservice (EVERY guy who likes FMP likely wanted to see Tessa, Kaname, Mao, and/or Kyoko without clothes on at one time or another...) but at the same time it IS a parody...but it's still fan service (actually, FUMOFFU's existence denotes the second kind of fanservice)

[kujoe]

Fanservice is actually a very general term in my opinion. Ecchi elements are a very common example of fanservice, but it is by no means solely limited in that form. Another common example of fanservice are cameos--such as Sawa's appearance in Mezzo OAV or Kei's rare appearances in Onegai Twins.

Another is the game Kingdom Hearts, which is practically a fanservice game done well. I mean, that game wouldn't have received such hype back then if it weren't for the FF characters. In fact, they didn't really have to be there at all.

[Kyuven]

Originally Posted by kujoe

Another is the game Kingdom Hearts, which is practically a fanservice game done well. I mean, that game wouldn't have received such hype back then if it weren't for the FF characters. In fact, they didn't really have to be there at all.

i believe that 50% of that games sales were because of Square's involvement of FF characters (i know a guy who bought the game just to see Aerith again and hear her speak O_O)

[Komataguri]

Delete this

Could have SWORN I hit new thread button instead..

[SwiftStar]

Then you have some series where the fanservice isnt necessary and may even seem a little out of place. Godannar is one of my favorite shows. The fanservice there is wholly unnecessary and that makes it funny because you wouldnt expect it to happen when it does.

[Sayianianian]

Eiken Anyone?

That show is entirely fanservice of the ecchi kind.

This is how I imagine the Director of the animation would speak to the female cast members:

Cast Member - "So whats my motivation in this scene?"

Director - "Hmm, your motivation is that you have big breasts, huge actually."

Cast Member - "How is that a motivation?"

Director - "BREASTS!!! ARGH!!!"

Cast Member - *Sweatdrop*

Yeah... and the plot is non exsistant. But the over the top fanservice is very amusing and I think its worth watching. Too bad i can't figure out what happened to it being fansubbed...

[Kyuven]

going along with Sayianianian's little story:
Director: "Congratulations! you got the part! now take these" *hands voice actress a set of fake boobs...big ones*
Actress: "Ummmmm"
Director: "Your character has big ones, and yours aren't, you need to get into character"
*Actress slaps Director and storms out*