Maria in a bikini designed after a maid dress (drool) ;p.
If you watch anime, especially those that are comedy/fighting related, would know of fanservice or ファンサービス (fansabisu) in Japanese. With comedies like Hayate no Gotoku giving us constant fanservice of our favorite characters, like Maria and Hinagiku aka Hina (Hinagiku is my favorite ^^), to keep us coming back for more. Then you see fanservice like ikki tousan which can’t go one episode without a pantsu shot or ripped clothing ^^, which isn’t bad but sometimes it can be excessive lol. Then you have fan service of anime characters on posters or in magazines if there are none in the anime. But is fanservice really needed to keep a anime popular?
I’m a guy who likes his fanservice, you have your pantsu shots, ripped clothes, skimpy bikinis, a bit of bondage, and much more. Fanservice gives a person a little excitement that keeps people coming back for more because it is a “angle” the industry uses as a way to use what they have to please the masses.
I have a guess to how fan service came to be, it probably got its start from some guy (or girl ^^) who thought of a certain character so much so that they wanted the said character in skimpier outfits that wouldn’t be ero but just ecchi to tease the person but wouldn’t be hardcore. So fanservice drawings starting coming up, aka fan art), that would draw the attention of otaku. With pictures such as that popping up, why not put it into anime to entice more people.
I don’t think ikki tousan would be as popular as it is without the huge amount of fan service they do (I have a few ikki tousan figures that are ecchi ;p) as it brings about excitement and desire from those who watch it. I would imagine ikki tousan without fanservice to be a bit bland without it as it is known for its fan service. The fan service is what separates it from other fighting animes. Sure, there’s some history with the three kingdoms story integrated, but no one cares about history in anime, they just want sexy girls who constantly have their clothes torn off lol
I love Hayate for the randomness, anime reference, the characters themselves, the character/relationship development, and the jokes that it provides which is a win for an anime. Hayate’s fan service is more subtle compared to ikki tousan but it’s because of that subtleness that makes it so great. It’s a fanservice that is nice but isn’t required to make Hayate as good as it is. I wouldn’t mind if there wasn’t any fanservice in Hayate but it is welcomed ^^. I notice that more and more fan service is produced compared to beginning but probably due to it’s popularity there is a generally a request from the fans for it.
So having fanservice is not a must but it is welcomed in my opinion. As long as a anime has enough to go for to make it a great anime then fanservice is not required. Fanservice is a nice way to get a person excited about a character though ^^. Below is an example of this, the picture is for both guys and girls…I think lol. Katsura is so sexy ;p.
The picture below is a combination of the fanservice shots at the end of Hayate no Gotoku from episodes 44, 45, and 46. Just thought I would put it up to show you what the combined picture looks like ^^. I think Izumi (the girl with purple hair in the middle) is the cutest ;p. (Thank you cclragnarok for pointing out the wrong name, I’m horrible with names ^^;)
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If an anime is popular because of its fanservice, then it says a lot about the anime itself.
I’d rather watch a good anime with a moderate amount of fanservice than a bad anime that’s dependent on it. That’s why I like Clannad and Kyou’s thighs. ;D
xXMikotoNakadaiXx’s last blog post..My Kind of Restaurant
Isumi!!!
I also like Hinagiku.
Back to the topic, I like moderated fanservice. IMO, lots of fanservice ruin anime.
too hard to pick!!! Maria? Hinagiku? Izumi? GOD, this is killing me…
– (Hinagiku is my favorite ^^)
That means that you are normal (like me).
If you haven’t read the manga, you really should. There is a reason Hinagiku totally dominated the character popularity poll (the results of which can be found in volume 11).
– I think Miki (the girl with purple hair in the middle) is the cutest ;p.
That’s Izumi. Miki is the blue-haired one on the right.
Fanservice is like wine. Just a little bit and you’ll love it. Too much and it’s kind of ruined. I usually tend to like the moderate kind such as what you get from Hayate no Gotoku or the more tasteful type such as you see in Clannad. Series such as Ikkitousen is a little overdone and I tend to get bored of the fanservice pretty quick.
*Abridged form*
Hmmm… What you are describing here is only one form of fanservice. It should be termed as “eyecandy”… However this is the most noticeable (maybe prevalent also?) type of it.
A good show does not necessarily need fanservice, I guess… However, if you statistically consider the age groups of people who generally watch anime (who are mostly male adolescents or young adults)… you can see the idea here. (It is a bit like for videogames when you think of it)
When I hear about Ikki Tousen, I tend to find it funny, because when I began watching some years ago, I surely would have been enticed to the ecchi parts more than anything else (I began with Cat’s Eye, City Hunter, Dragonball, Kimagure Orange Road, Sailor Moon and a few others). This naturally changed with time and I know Ikki Tousen still would have been good without all those gratuitous panchira and company. I won’t even start on Divergence Eve or Rosario+Vampire or some other series with lots of ecchi since I haven’t watched them yet (the latter I’m not even I would even).
Too much kills the mood I guess. ^^; I am glad MikotoNakadai, Rakushu and Adun agree with me on it.
Well, I could talk for hours about that or what the kind of eyecandy in Japanese videogames, but I will stop there (Unless one gives me the opportunity to express myself again) ^^;;
@MikotoNakadai: Well, amusingly enough, CLANNAD was an eroge to begin with, without the eroge parts… Let’s take the example of the scene with Kyou and Tomoya in the storage room. Strong innuendo in that precise scene, yes… By the way, I won’t spoil what happens because ol’ AS hasn’t seen it yet. That said, even if this scene was much appreciated by yours truly, the show sure doesn’t need that to blow other shows away. For me, CLANNAD is the best amongst all. ^^
Maria FTW!!!
Rokku’s last blog post..Soon, Really soon!
Hinagiku is the only choice ^^
Shin’s last blog post..Brb, GACC
@D_blade: i concur. too much fanservice does indeed kill a show. However if we should take Zetsubou Sensei as an example, it would be dumb and pointless fanservice that kills a show.(people really need to be careful about using it for it is actually a double bladed sword that cuts both ways) An example of dumb fanservice IMO would be Rosario+Vampire, is there really a need to see about 10-20 fanservice shots per episode? I think not. And i would also like to point out the original CLANNAD is not an eroge. There are no ero scenes in it. The Tomoyo After story however is an eroge.
poll answer: MARIA!!!!!
Setsuna-san’s last blog post..A Childhood Friend: A VN review
@Setsuna-san: Yes, the fanservice in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (and even more in its Zeko season) is relatively out of place. I’d even say this is made for randomness and parody purposes (Just look at Ms. “I’ll sue you!!” -shamefully forgot her name- as a prime example of this idea), not for its original purposes. But again, if one finds some pleasure in that, why not?
I would add the fact that I am more interested in the crazy plot of each episode, the techniques they use in the animation and the abundant references to other anime (What I also liked in Lucky Star).
Rosario+Vampire… I would jokingly say that from what I heard about (will watch it in a near future, promised!), maybe they did all that panchira festival thing to let one viewer choose his best shot. Or maybe not. *laughs*
Oh, yes, sorry for not being technical this time. I tend to relate (as well as confuse) eroge to visual novels. Grand Sage Wiki said there was an uproar from fans of Key/Visual Studios because there was no ero content in CLANNAD…
But again, ero is not needed for true success, unless if the product is in a domain it should have (or if rather the implicit rules say so).
@xXMikotoNakadaiXx: True, but a anime shouldn’t be known just for fanservice ^^.
@Rakushu & Adun: true enough.
@Harbin: Pick Katsura ;p.
@cclragnarok: Thanks, edited and credited for the fix ^^.
@D_Blade: True, there is a lot, which is why I only talked about a few. I already spent a good hour on this post lol, a really detailed one could take 4-5 hours to do.
@Rokku & Setsuna-san: Maria is cute ;p.
@Shin: High Five ^^.
Adun comparison is very good to me ^^
Fanservice in true fancy comedies (like Hayate no Gotoku, Sayonara Zetsubo-sensei, Yakitate!! Japan…) is the best I think, since it is include on purpose to make fun on it.
And to answer the poll… NAGI!!! I want more NAGI!! xD
That’s rather unusual for me to be found of such a character (speaking of physical appearance), but her temper is fantastic, that’s why I love her
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@D_blade: miss Kimura Kaere you mean. yeah that really cracked me up.^^
Setsuna-san’s last blog post..A Childhood Friend: A VN review
i just hate the fanservice it ruins the anime ,
It’s humiliating watching something like ‘Love Hina’ or ‘Ranma 1/2′ or something and there’s a panty shot or someone naked..yeahh, let’s just say my folks don’t find it THAT appealing. Fan service sometimes adds to the comedy but most of the time, it’s just unnecessary (even though I love Ranma X3
Nobody cares about the history? I disagree. I would rather enjoy Ikki Tousen much more if it kept it’s fanservice to a minimum as it ruins the storyline.