Brethren are we, I salute you
I like to fashion myself as a connoisseur of fanservice. An…ass aficionado perhaps? Or, as Blissmo artfully put it (while spelling my name wrong *tear), “I likes boobies.” What a similarly inclined person is bound to notice about fanservice, is that what constitutes it tends to change. While contemplating the other day the rampant censoring designed to get you to buy DVDs with nipples in them, I came up with the idea for this post.
Warning: This post will obviously be NSFW, although there will be no explicit nudity until you click the links labeled as such.
Coverups- Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu
In addition to being one of the most hilarious anime episodes of all time, the onsen episode of Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu provides a good example of what I guess you could consider the most “artful” type of fanservice?. Rather than copious amounts of lens flare or bath steam, the animators at KyoAni manage to much more subtly cover the naughty bits. It’s far less distracting and much more pleasing to watch, as you will usually notice the sensuality of the scene rather than how bright the lens flare is.
They also make good use of “camera” movement and cutaways, which is rather difficult to show in a screenshot but can easily be appreciated by watching it. This techique often involves last second cutting away before showing at all, or moving around the edges of what they can’t show. I find that it preserves fluidity in the animation and helps accomplish the same ends I mentioned above: less distraction and more sensuality. You also find some “strategically placed” objects, but they aren’t at the same levels of glaring and obvious like some of the examples later on in this post.
Censorship- PLEASE BUY DVDs
The other side of the coin to the less distracting examples of censorship I described before is this. The recently released Sekirei DVDs provide a great example of the recent trend of over-censorship designed to get you to buy the DVDs. When I first watched the show, I found large giant bars and other really obvious covering up of nipples and the like rather unpleasant. It’s something that is really quite obvious and jarring to the viewer. Now the first DVD of Sekirei has far, far more examples of egregious censoring, which can be viewed here (18+, exposed nipples). As you look through those examples, some are more egregious than others, and range from blurring, to bath steam, to flowers. All in all though, I wouldn’t say that the draw of Sekirei was merely that you could buy the DVDs and see nipples, it fell more on the side of just a Pokemon for lovers of large racks. However, it seemed to me that by making these obvious cover ups and then baring it all on the DVDs, there is a certain underlying drive to push you into purchasing them.
Now Nipple Strike Witches takes this concept a step further, basing nearly it’s entire DVD drive on underaged nipples. You can get further examples of how far they went for this one here (18+, exposed nipples). This show is a great example of waaaayyyy too much bath steam, once again prompting people to think to themselves “wow if I buy the DVDs I can see them nipples!” This was made especially clear during the recent release of Volume 3, to which thousands of otaku rushed to buy to get a glimpse of Sanya’s nipples. What I’m curious is, that if you are a Gonzo employee, do you ever think to yourself “wow, my company was saved by underaged nipples and panties.” If you’ll recall, Gonzo a couple of months ago was in deep shit, but since it sold OVER 9000 Strike Witches DVDs, it was saved by an infusion of cash. As you will note in the blog post I linked, they even pushed the nipples in the extra materials that came with the DVDs.
Another offender of the bunch, which just so happens to be another Gonzo show, is Rosario + Vampire. The bane of this show is those goddamn bats, which sporadically cover up parts of the females. The first couple of episodes there was at least a satellite station showing it without the censorship, but then they all went heavy censorship, even on mundane things like bras. Now, they apply censorship to some panty shots but not all, and the censorship is all together a mess. It just makes me think they are trying to push DVD sales to save said company.
Pantsu- Someone Explain This To Me
This is a long running observation of mine that really isn’t as recent a trend as BUY DVDs, but it is interesting to note regardless. Now, I’m not really an expert on Japanese sexual preferences, but it appears to me that at least Japanese otaku really burn for panty shots. Now, contrast that to most American males, who come in two categories. When it comes to 3D girls, most men in the States are either boob guys or ass guys. Personally, as many of you probably have figured out, I’m generally a boob guy. Now that’s not to say I can’t appreciate some prime junk in the trunk, but I just have a preference. And in general, when you consider sexually-oriented American entertainment, it tends to be either ass or breast focused, mostly breasts. For example, at Mardi Gras guys ask for girls to flash their jugs, not flash their skirts for a panty shot.
Manservice- We Be Packin
Manservice is a category out on it’s own, but a I believe it deserves some brief notation. Now, let me first define what I consider to be manservice. It has nothing to do with yaoi, nor any of that bishounen drivel some of the other blog authors seem to enjoy. I’m talking about men wearing Speedos who are packin, like the above illustrations. Enjoyment of manservice comes not out of arousal, but of a combination of disgust and humor.
When speaking of humor-based manservice, it warrants pointing out two distinct categories. One, manservice that is intentionally funny, such as the previously discussed episode of Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, as well as another show, Kenko Zenrakei Suieibu Umisho. The latter is a show you definitely need to see if you haven’t, because the team captain is a personification of hilarious manservice. Being a show about swimming, the Captain proudly wears his bulging Speedo, often wearing masks over his junk for added effect, if I recall correctly. In both of these shows, the manservice is done in moderation though, as the time scantily clad women are on screen tend to out number the manservice.
On the other side of the coin are shows such as Dragonaut, which is rife with unintentionally humorous manservice. I found it humorous, because as a show, it seems intended to be some sort of serious mecha/dragon show that appealed to men. To most, it is most memorable for grotesquely large breasts that defied all laws of physics (I’m a boob guy, but they went way beyond my ideal size), but I really remember it for copious amounts of manservice. Now, I didn’t watch the whole thing, picking up episodes here and there, but it often seemed to me that there was a very high ratio of manservice to fanservice.
Conclusion
On one side, you have some subtle covering up but with no resulting nipples on the DVDs. On the other side, you have obnoxious censorship but on the DVDs you get a lot of nipples. Generally, I find the first to be more pleasant to watch and generally reflective of a quality show. But there is something to be said for the latter, they do serve a purpose. They aren’t made to become the next top 10 show of all time, they are instead meant to appeal to those who like nipples and panties, something they are quite effective in doing. There isn’t anything inherently wrong with entertainment through sexuality and in fact I often indulge in such, my problem lies more in how they go about it. They could have spent the time in making it artful and more subtle, but as a cost saving measure and I suppose a DVD sale promotion measure, they decided upon the quick and easy job. Would this be solved by having all shows have nipples on their DVDs? I don’t know, I think that some of the most talented folks in the industry may balk at such pandering. In the end, I’m often torn between the two.
That being said, I will continue to watch a good amount of fanservice shows, because just like Kuruz Weber I am openly perverted. I do find it interesting how things change over time, and that was the motivation behind writing this entry. However, I will be the first to say that I do not watch shows such as Sekirei for the plot (and I didn’t actually watch more than a couple of episodes of Strike Witches), for the same reason I didn’t watch American Pie for the plot. I think it obvious that you can put them in a separate category from plot and character driven shows that happen to also have fanservice.
16 Comments
I must object to your characterization of Strike Witches as “just a fanservice show.” It has excellent characters, plot, and drama as well!
Yeah, I didn’t get the pantsu thing either. I guess the Japanese prefer to be titillated rather than satisfied.
I like to contribute to CALAWAIN’s discussion.
I don’t find fanservice particularly good or bad. I find it as an extension of my puberty drive. I don’t consider it toilet humor, I find it rather engaging to my suppressed male psyche.
Fanservice though, is best served when it’s least expected and on rare occasions, like Full Metal Panic and Shuffle rather than all the time like Rosario Vampire and Strike Witches. If a director overuses an effect too much, like Bullet-time in Wanted or panty shots in Rosario Vampire, it loses it’s effect. It becomes unengaging.
On the topic on tasteful censorship, like your FullMetalPanic Onsen episode example, it becomes artful. Sex in movies is best when it’s not shown, just hinted at. Once you see the boobs or other private parts, the sexual act and situation loses its mystique. The character in question becomes another piece of meat and not a character that has grown on us, the viewers.
Personally, I would never buy the DVD just so I could watch the uncensored boobs and panties. I have an imagination – my brain can do the uncensoring for me. There isn’t incentive enough for me to buy the DVD just so I could see the boobs or panties in an anime.
To all those concerned, would you buy the DVD of an Anime, R1, R2 Japan, R2 Europe or otherwise, just to be able to see animated boobies or patines after having viewed the Japanese broadcast – whether it’s fansub, DVD or RAW?
Personally, that’s not enough of an incentive for me.
I like films with extended scenes, like Apocalypse Now Redux, but those uncensored and added scenes have to be meaningful and not mere fanservice.
So, no, I won’t be buying the Rosario to Vampire Capu2 DVDs since I’ve already seen the fansubs of the TV broadcast.
FMP:Fumoffu was an incredibly hilarious show. I haven’t found a show that can match it yet in many aspects.
i have a high tolerance for fanservice. it can be funny and can be a good ice breaker in certain situations in anime. but only if they are used as intended: a sporadic, unexpected thing. personally, i dropped strike witches after one episode despite the seemingly interesting premise because the fanservice was too much. so that’s what the show’s resputation was reduced to: fanservice. no one who wanted to watch a “good” story ever bothered picking it up anyway. i would say the same thing about rosario+vampire, but that show was just crap.
and hooray for manservice!
Ah Full Metal Panic Fumoffu I remember that, especially the last episode where a air-borne virus at cotton and made everyone naked. I think there was a orgy in one of the montages of what is happening around the school.
I’m surprised you wrote an entire segment of your post on Manservice without even a single mention of Inukami. Umisho is definitely right up there in that department as well, though. =P
I really hate the censorship of Rosario Vampire. It’s very distracting.
+points for Umisho mention get.
If you’re looking for an explanation about panty shots…
http://oihayaku.com/top-ten-anime-fetishes
A certain level doesn’t hurt my enjoyment of a show if it is quirky and funny, but it seems they are taking it to a whole other level lately.
I was looking at the preview images of the winter shows, and I am saddened by the overabundance of teenage boy targeted fanservice shows, it’s like the other audiences barely exist.
Agree with Takumi.
I can’t believe the topic of Manservice was broached with nary a mention of Inukami! For shame.
@Anonymous
OH YOU. You almost had me there, good laugh.
@Lubczyk
I wouldn’t buy a DVD just for that, no. I’d buy the DVD if it was a good show, the nipples would just be a bonus. It’s a rarity however, and none of these shows have really made it over to R1 DVDs.
@Biankita
It’s hard to find a story amongst all the pantsu. It was constantly nagging me at all times, because it was just the females who lacked pants. Perhaps there was a law against it.
@0rion/Myssa Rei
The lack of mentioning Inukami was out of format concerns, I’ve seen the show. I tried to keep the examples balanced and the size of the article limited. I picked Umisho because I don’t think a lot of people have seen it and I wanted to throw it out there.
@Elena
There are certainly many more of them then there used to be. It’s a phase, it will wax and wane just like most others.
@LDC
3D=pig disgusting, right?
Ahh Fumoffu how I loved it. The rugby episode is one of my all time faves, I laugh so damned hard everytime I watch it.
KURZ!!! Another sniper who may be dead. Seriously what is it in the anime world and their hatred of snipers, because they always snuff it.
My beloved Michael from MF, Lockon from Gundam 00, and Kurz from FMP! Why?????!!!! Is it because they are so damned pretty and everyone is jealous?
He was doomed the second he wore those red speedos
I tend to be the old-timer pointing stuff to the past, but this issue has caught my attention because it is indeed becoming widely discussed and has developed into a marketing strategy for an otherwise nudity-friendly industry. Broadcast censored, then sell uncensored to get max $$$.
I remember shows way back, such as Ranma, Urusei Yatsura and other oldies in the 80′s, 90′s had no censorship, even in the normal broadcast. When those shows were brought to other countries, it was known that a certain level of censorship was in place to adequate to “western” levels. Now, in a time with supposedly more freedom, I see censorship everywhere.
Sure, times change, regulation and standards change; but the thing that catches my eye is that these censored-uncensored releases take both time and money from the publishers, in a time where resources are supposedly scarce, in order to create “products” to sell, not only to express animation as limitless as it can be. Now, what was a question on a moral level has become a money making strategy. If this is their counter to piracy and improves some of their numbers, hope it works, but it is really funny to watch an industry whose levels of censorship were so low that it got series and episodes completely out of syndication or completely re-written in other countries to block the viewer of the complete product for the sake of sales.
Just my 2 cents.
I don’t usually read blogs of any sort but I found this one in particular to be quite interesting. Also I to am a fan of fan service, but is there a line?
Such as Rosario + capu2, I may be blind but it seems to me that there is NO PLOT what so ever. They say its also in the action genre but I find that to be pure BS for the 2 mind of crappy action compared to the 23min of dialogue and fan service.
So what do you think, where’s the line of fan service? is it when it just casually pops up in a show? or when it seems forced in every 2 minutes or so?
And my last question Do you prefer a show based on fan service to have a plot OR just useless dialogue and fan service?
Well that’s all I have to say, I’ll read some more of your blogs they seem to have caught me x] well peace.
One Trackback
[...] This show is not exactly shy about the fanservice, whether it be panties or a classic transformation scene. It’s good to see the lovely Yumiko back in action and of consenting age. Loli is good for some, but I prefer the busty version. And as many loyal readers know, I am all for appropriate and well-done fanservice. [...]