Reactions to Gratuitous Fanservice

[User236592]

I was looking at GIFs from the recent beach episode of Nisekoi posted on another site and I wonder if japanese otaku actually go "Ooooohhh!!!~" and go into a frenzy in real life like boys do in anime when they see these kinds of gratuitous fanservice scenes. It's just that it suddenly hit me just how laypeople must feel when they see this kind of fanservice for service's sake, and made me wonder if there are viewers out there, probably in Japan, who actually have that sort of schoolboy-like response to these scenes.

[IceHism]

There probably are people like that. You can just search up kpop reaction videos on YouTube. People squeal and do all that "I love this shit so much" reaction. Its not anime but the concept is pretty universal. If they really like fan service, then they will enjoy it.

Its not a Japan thing. It's a human thing. This shit happens everywhere

[Tempester]

Originally Posted by Newprimus

made me wonder if there are viewers out there, probably in Japan, who actually have that sort of schoolboy-like response to these scenes.

Yeah, schoolboys of course. They are Nisekoi's primary demographic after all.

Also, this thread title is misleading.

[Triple_R]

It's not unusual for real life teenage boys to have these sorts of reactions to real life teenage girls in bathing suits, swim-wear, and what not. Some are smoother and more discreet about it than others (excited whispering amongst your male buddies rather than being so loud that you make the girls think you're a perv ), but it's pretty universal. Anime may exaggerate it a bit for added comedic effect some times, but comedy in general is often like that.

[Infinite Zenith]

I used to rage-quit whenever I saw that stuff at my high school's anime club My friends eventually held me to a chair and made me watch things to their entirety. However, as I got older, I eventually realised that it was probably just there, and I stopped reacting so negatively :P

[SuitUp]

The title mislead me, I thought this thread was going to be about the topic of whether gratuitous fanservice is a turn off, and I got a question about teenagers reaction to boobs insted

[Marcus H.]

Title should be "Reactions to Gratuitous Fanservice" instead.

[Utsuro no Hako]

What I wonder is, why do these shows recycle the same jokes over and over? I mean, I've seen guys fall down and "accidentally" grope some girl's boobs like five thousand times now -- there are multiple shows that use that gag every single season. It was barely funny the first time. Are there actually guys who sit there and laugh every time it happens? Can't ecchi writers think up a new joke?

[Marcus H.]

There's a reason why the Three Stooges became one of the most popular slapstick actors of all time.

[Infinite Zenith]

Originally Posted by SuitUp

The title mislead me, I thought this thread was going to be about the topic of whether gratuitous fanservice is a turn off, and I got a question about teenagers reaction to boobs insted

I answered the opener with that assumption in mind. In response to the original query, I doubt that such scenes would evoke such reactions in the audience. Perhaps the moment mentioned was an exception, rather than the rule; most of the people I watch anime with don't even react to fanservice unless it's intended as comedy.

On the flip side, those who don't watch anime and happen to catch a glimpse of my screen and see what's going on will immediate assume I'm watching something unsavoury

[Hazou]

High School of the Dead

Thought I was going to watch some cool zombie anime. Turns out there is so much fanservice that is not needed, imo. So I turned it off and never watched it. I just wanted to see high schoolers get eaten by zombies. Not pantie shots and big breast bouncing when getting attacked by zombies.

[Archon_Wing]

Originally Posted by Utsuro no Hako

What I wonder is, why do these shows recycle the same jokes over and over? I mean, I've seen guys fall down and "accidentally" grope some girl's boobs like five thousand times now -- there are multiple shows that use that gag every single season. It was barely funny the first time. Are there actually guys who sit there and laugh every time it happens? Can't ecchi writers think up a new joke?

It's the same thing with porn, though not as extreme. This is how you can have such not so creative titles such as "People have Sex 674" There's little incentive when sex sells anyways and you're pandering to the lowest common denominator , regardless of how banal it is. It may be safe to say that such subtlety would be lost on the audience that have their collective zippers unzipped* already. And so studios like Xebec can release their half-assed (or no assed) censored anime knowing people will be silly enough to see a few extra nipples or what not on dvd.

* As I have stated before, I do not watch this kind of thing with my pant zippers unzipped. My pants don't have zippers.

[Akito Kinomoto]

I used to watch only yuri fanservice, then I hit my elitist phase and stopped watching fanservice, and now when I'm feeling adventurous bored I'll watch any kind of fanservice.

[Archon_Wing]

I'm a fanservice elitist.

[SPARTAN 119]

Originally Posted by Hazou

High School of the Dead

Thought I was going to watch some cool zombie anime. Turns out there is so much fanservice that is not needed, imo. So I turned it off and never watched it. I just wanted to see high schoolers get eaten by zombies. Not pantie shots and big breast bouncing when getting attacked by zombies.

While I managed to watch through HOTD mainly because I liked to characters of Saeko Busujima and Kouta Hirano (I mean, he was one of the few male characters in a fanservice oriented anime who managed to steal the show from the fanservice with his sheer badassness!), I have to agree that the series would have been a lot better without the fanservice. For that matter, when I read the manga, I could have sworn the fanservice was present, but never that insane. For instance,

Spoiler for HOTD spoilers:

I don't think Saeko's ballistic oppai made an appearance, and Takashi's infamous "breast grope of courage" on Saeko in the manga was present, but looked like it could have been accidental, like he was placing his arm around her from behind, and accidentally got his hand there....

IDK, maybe that last one was my interpretation, as when I read the manga, I assumed that the infamous bathtub scene was in the mind of the male cast, not actually occurring.

Point being, I will occasionally put up with fanservice if I like a character, but in general, in the words of Archon:

Originally Posted by Archon_Wing

I'm a fanservice elitist.

[itisjustme]

Haha you know my mind always skipped over fanservice like yeah yeah next, and nowadays I find ecchi's silly if they're not actually going through with it (they almost never do), but I remember traveling to Asia when I was 13 or 14 and our host's son in HK I think it was, who was maybe a year older than me, was really excited to see pictures of women that showed some thigh flesh and co so I don't really find this unbelievable. :P

I think sex is a lot more taboo in Asia than the west, nowadays you can find everything you never wanted to see on the internet so maybe that's changed, I have no idea how efficient parental controls would be.

[Marcus H.]

I like my meat well done and dressed right (or not at all!).
Sometimes, it may just be the thing I need to dive right into an anime series. (Oh Kobeni~ )

[Eragon]

I only watch fanservice in which characters are fully dressed. Semi-nekkidness is way too mainstream and a cop-out from drawing awesome clothes.

Will post pics later.

[speedyexpress48]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

It's not unusual for real life teenage boys to have these sorts of reactions to real life teenage girls in bathing suits, swim-wear, and what not. Some are smoother and more discreet about it than others (excited whispering amongst your male buddies rather than being so loud that you make the girls think you're a perv ), but it's pretty universal. Anime may exaggerate it a bit for added comedic effect some times, but comedy in general is often like that.

Well, if you count "Hey, that chick looks pretty hot/bangable/whatever", I guess that is pretty common, teenage boys or not. More common with teenagers of course, but pretty common with the male section of the human race as a whole.

Anything that makes the girls think you're a perv though...well, I do remember this kid having boners whenever a certain girl would enter the classroom back in science class of 8th grade. Was kinda funny, but pretty embarrassing for the girl involved.

Of course, one thing to keep in mind is...

Originally Posted by itisjustme

I think sex is a lot more taboo in Asia than the west, nowadays you can find everything you never wanted to see on the internet so maybe that's changed

This is a huge part of it. Sexual relations, nevermind sex in itself, is a lot more taboo in Japan than in Europe/the Americas (yes, I said the Americas, not just North America) and even certain parts of Asia. Boys and girls aren't even supposed to talk to each other in high school, and boyfriend/girlfriend relationships are "banned" (obv completely unenforceable) in several Japanese high schools. It's kinda like having Utah as the biggest consumer of porn in the United States - the more repressed a place sexually, the more ways they have to go against that taboo (porn/fanservice/octopus rape/whatever.) Despite outside appearances, Japan is a very conservative society.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Utsuro no Hako

What I wonder is, why do these shows recycle the same jokes over and over?

There's some people, like many of us here (including myself), that are anime fans for a very long time. But there's probably a larger number of people that are anime fans for a few years during their late teens and early 20s. This group turns over every so many years, so jokes that are as old as dirt seems new to the new anime fans experiencing them for the first time. And by the time they seem old and tired to the exiting fans, those fans are, well, exiting. Anyway.

Don't get me wrong, I also find heavy reliance on certain old jokes a bit annoying. But I can see why it happens in anime, and why anime kind of gets away with it.