Fan service: Good or bad?

[C.A.]

Originally Posted by idiffer

^^that was actually very informative. but that definition also allows for it to be stretched. how do you tell the difference between "extra bits" and "main content" ? it is , i think, very subjective.
PS. who invented the term "fanservice" ?
PPS. I only watched ep 1 of Sora Kake, so i'm not really one to talk. i thought that if a show has fanservice, it has it from the beginning. guess i was wrong.

Yea the definition for fan service is actually quite flexible.

The very first fan service coems from the 80's, Gundam is actually famous for its nude bath scenes, then came Gainax's Top wo Nerae!, the first anime to introduce bouncing boobs, which crowned the term "Gainax Bounce".

Sexual tidbits are the original fanservice. As anime progressed, fanservice expanded and the simplest definitition for fanservice is "eye candy". Anything that visually excites the audience.

So this developed into mecha fanservice, most famous in the mecha game Super Robot Wars, which treats fans with amazingly epic mecha action, enough to trigger manly tears. Best anime example is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and Macross's missile spam.

And for violence and gore fans, people are either turned off or excited by the bloodshed, Berserk, Evangelion, Hellsing are some examples.

I usually call these fanservice, I'm not sure what other eye candy there are.

Oh and in Sorakake, you'll get great eye candy, fanservice thrown at you every now an then, and it doesn't overwhelm you too much. Some people gets turned off by too much pantsu and boobs thrown at them, but Sorakake balances it well and shows them tastefully.

[Astrana]

Originally Posted by C.A.

So this developed into mecha fanservice, most famous in the mecha game Super Robot Wars, which treats fans with amazingly epic mecha action, enough to trigger manly tears. Best anime example is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and Macross's missile spam.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann for example, has unique art style in certain battle...
where can you draw a line between fan service and art style?
or would you consider special art style is a form of fan service?

[C.A.]

Originally Posted by Astrana

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann for example, has unique art style in certain battle...
where can you draw a line between fan service and art style?
or would you consider special art style is a form of fan service?

Hmmm art style usually only contributes to the atmosphere and effect of the animation and stays constant throughout.

Unless the style itself is used as a visual treat independently, like what they did in FLCL. The insane parodies even incorporated the styles of the referenced anime or cartoon, it was really great eye candy.

So yea, maybe you can say its a form of fanservice, I've never heard of it being call such yet though.

The amazing eyecatches of Gurren Lagann, they were really nice pieces of marker art, these could be fanservice, extra eye candy treats for the fans.

Oh and I forgot, TTGL is Gainax, so is FLCL. Gainax is famous for such wonderful visual treats, its a unique animation technique that they use to both save animating costs and provide exciting fast moving animation.

[Amon81]

Its never bothered me, it also hasn't made me want to watch something or not watch something. Although when its ment to be little children Its a bit off-putting.

It can be funny though.

Infact the only show I deliberatly got because of the fan service was Akia. I just wanted to see just how meny panty shots they could throw in.

[Sugar_Prayer]

Good, good! ^^

Fanservice is good! ('Cause em a pervert XP)

Hmm.... and my favorite is probably.... Haruhi Suzumiya, light, humorous fanservive

[Fate21]

I even didn't think it was a fanservice i always thought it was a part of the strory that makes more spicy and interesting. But if it is too hentai or echi i can't stand it X)

[Umandsf]

I'm not a proponent of fan service...at least to the extent that it's gotten to. I'd rather a show catch me with it's engaging characters and interesting story. Then again, I've seen shows with little to no fanservice, so you know where I come from.

[chikorita157]

Although some fanservice is fine, too much fanservice is bad and make a series worse than it should. I am totally against any ecchi content what so ever (since it's going close to you know what), but I have expressed my opinions on my blog regarding fanservice and how it can make a series turn out bad than it should be.

Also, I'm not a big fan of pantsu either. (no offense to people who like pantsu) and also type 2 fanservice... I find them completely unnecessary to the story and distracts from the story telling.

[miscs]

Fan service is ok, but there is a fine line between fan service and excessive fan service. In small doses fan service is a welcome addition to an anime, at least for me.

Animators need to remember, that there is a time and place for fan service. The time being outside of a serious moment, and the place being the genre en which the anime belongs. I personally think fan service is better suited to the slice of life genre.

[NorthernFallout]

I'm on chikorita's line of reasoning here. I'm not a big fan of fanservice either, I much rather prefer a good story or anything else actually. Sometimes it actually works though, in a few cases.

When the fanservice gets too much I usually drop the series, because usually it's the story that suffers and it's mostly meaningless. Pantsu is extremely overdone and I actually just find it annoying and boring, type 2 is, well ,worse.

Oddly enough I liked Strike Witches and Sky Girls which are the epitome of this... guess the story and characters made it work.

[wjr]

I prefer a Good story for peaceful slice of life stories and Amazing Fight animations for War ones i guess. But a lil fanservice wudnt hurt would it.

Watashi Ecchi na koto Warukatana.

[roriconfan]

Lately, I get the feeling all modern anime are mostly nude and cool mecha rather than actual story or characters. I'm sure it has to do with visuals improving over the years. Still, unlike retro series, all the focus is now given to the cover than the actual context of a book most of the times.

I am sure ecchis and harems are on a selling frenzy lately because the girls look super sexy because computers lower deformity by miles.

So, how important is fan service to an anime? It raises the sales alright. Does it also ruin the quality of an anime by focusing too much on the cover and not the actual book?

Harems and hentais are not really included as they are practically ONLY fan service most of the times. But what about series about more serious matters?

By the way, I consider cool mecha and trendy clothes as fan service too.

[Woopzilla]

Personally, I don't mind it. If it's just a few short 'camera angles' or shortish scenes then it's fine. The only thing I never like is when an episode long "Summer Beach Holiday!" or so comes along in a semi-serious anime and puts the story on hold. If it doesn't waste too much time, then I'm fine with it.

You can get a good amount of opinions on this in a similar thread: http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=23003

[LusterFlare]

Meh, a little bit here and there is ok, as long as they don't over do it.

[Envy]

I voted "It ruins all real enjoyment by focusing on pointless BS", but that's really if we're talking fanservice on the level of School Days.

Other series do it with subtlety or with humor, and in those cases I can let it slide. But when it's in your face every episode it's annoying and over-the-top. I'll just use School Days again because it is exactly where I think they crossed the line (I haven't seen much series like it, by the way. lol). Just constantly showing how big Kotonoha's breasts were was over-the-top. Even if I were attracted to breasts, why would I want to see them in a cartoon? And all of the POINTLESS panty shots.

Yes, every bit of fanservice in School Days screamed "Pointless!". The anime would have got a higher rating from me if it weren't from all of that crap.

[npcomplete]

Isn't that the same with One Piece though? I mean all the girls have gigantic (and revealing) boobs there. The only difference is that in One Piece they are hardly "used" in the story or as plot devices (for jokes and what not).. which I find more annoying actually.

[chikorita157]

After seeing Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu, which had some fan service, my opinion overall with fan service had not change and that some fanservice is fine when done in moderation.

What I do realize is the amount of fan service vs the quality of the story line can be pictured like a demand vs supply graph. For instance, As the quality of the story is high, the amount of fanservice is low and the amount of fanservice is high, the quality of the story is low and the equilibrium point being the equal balance in the story quality and the amount of fanservice shots. For the most enjoyment while maintaining the quality of the story, I rather have it at the equilibrium so that people can still enjoy the fanservice that that series provides while providing a good story.

I'm still against the high usage of type 2 fanservice and ecchi... some is alright, but too much mentioned earlier distracts from the story and makes the overall feel of the series not good.

[animeboy12]

sigh....I still never really quite understood the "distraction" compliant. Least for me fanservice just seems like something too trivial to be concern about in general scope when judging an anime. The problem I have it that people seem to have this mindset that it's fanservice it some kind off replacement for good story telling. It doesn't cover up for bad story telling, nor does it get in the way of good story, it's just there if you want to bother with it.

Originally Posted by npcomplete

Isn't that the same with One Piece though? I mean all the girls have gigantic (and revealing) boobs there. The only difference is that in One Piece they are hardly "used" in the story or as plot devices (for jokes and what not).. which I find more annoying actually.

heh, I do find it funny when the complaints about too much fanservice come from the people championing everything shows like code geass or Negima. It almost makes me feel as if excess fanservice it just an excuse for people to keep bashing anime series they don't like, least that the way I see it being complain about nowadays.

Anyway I actually like the way onepeice handles fanservice it's not in your face so kinda have to look for it and it's not painfully force in the story like the the third season of zero no tsukaima

[Izayoi]

I am not fond of them till I saw Strike Witches but it still doesn't mean I am fond of them either

[D-KLAC]

fanservice of it course they want give something to fans that are "oh my" but as now i say fanservice level went "nuclear" due to queen's blade from seiyu to "WHAT THE KLAC" really qb just "nuclear" on the fanservice.