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Why do people hate anime fanservice so much? Especially compared to other media.

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Apr 28, 9:09 AM
#1

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Jun 2017
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I want legit opinions from both fanservice supporters and anti-fanservice folks

I don't see the big deal, look at any other movie or tv show and you'll see fanservice. Look at pretty much any movie involving college or high school girls and look at what they wear. Or Movie's like The Last American Virgin or Fast Times

Nobody complaints about the nudity and fanservice and outright sex scenes in those movies. But why does anime fanservice get such disdain but nobody bats an eye at those other series?
My waifu is the most wonderful waifu. Mai Valentine.

We're freaking out that we're running out of time, but to do what? Should i stop and think of that? Is there something i could do to slow it down? Live in a day for once, instead of watch it sprinting by
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Apr 28, 9:11 AM
#2

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Jul 2015
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Show me a pg13 movie or TV show where the camera focus shifts on the 14yo heroin's massive tits bouncing around every 2 minutes, including during important conversations.

Pretending "fanservice" is the same between anime and western TV shows is delusional tbh.
Prophetess of the Golden Era
Apr 28, 9:14 AM
#3

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Sep 2018
13260
It is simple, a lot of women want ecchi to change for them. It would be equal to me asking for all shoujo to have a manlet romance interest. People like trying to push beliefs in media that does not even align with them. I love ecchi so I do not want it gone. If you dislike something, you do not have to engage with it in entertainment. Not every anime should be watered down for the mass audience.

Anime's ability to cater to niche demographics is a big reason why it got so popular.

Also, it is funny people only complain about the male gaze ignoring the elephant in the room.
rohan121Apr 28, 10:52 AM
Apr 28, 9:26 AM
#4

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Sep 2016
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Because they think anime fan service is "objectifying" and like to signal prude virtue.
Apr 28, 9:28 AM
#5

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May 2014
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I think it's often the same people who look upon anime at the same level as children cartoon. They're just ignorant about audience rating, or even worse slightly xenophobic about another culture standards. Who knows? Maybe those same people will look at hentai with wide eyes, while they consume porn themselves with real women being exploited into whoredom and procuring. At least, no real girl is being sexualized through anime while the West fashion, movie and perfume industries had their little ... ad moments. At one point, you couldn't take the bus without seeing a huge poster of a girl in underwear. The same bus middle-schoolers and high-schoolers take to go to school.
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Apr 28, 9:43 AM
#6

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If I had to guess I would say xenophobia and maybe even racism have something to do with it; people say it's because anime has more fanservice, but seriously, I've seen people complaining about series that contain little to no fanservice on it for what they percive as "improper sexualization" while completely ignoring Western proporties that feature the same level of fanservice they would deem unnaceptable on any anime show. It's a blatant double standart on their part.

This leads me to believe they are hating on them parcially because they are Japanese instead of Western, if it was the other way around they probably wouldn't have any problem with it.
Apr 28, 9:49 AM
#7

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Reply to Deathko
Show me a pg13 movie or TV show where the camera focus shifts on the 14yo heroin's massive tits bouncing around every 2 minutes, including during important conversations.

Pretending "fanservice" is the same between anime and western TV shows is delusional tbh.
@Deathko Most of those old Naughty Comedies feature high school characters. All the female characters exist just to get naked
My waifu is the most wonderful waifu. Mai Valentine.

We're freaking out that we're running out of time, but to do what? Should i stop and think of that? Is there something i could do to slow it down? Live in a day for once, instead of watch it sprinting by
Apr 28, 9:50 AM
#8

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Jul 2013
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When I was a teenager, I really liked fan service. And it wasn't an issue that the characters of the shows I watched were teenagers since I was a teen. Now, I don't really enjoy those shows. If there is an ecchi I am watching, it is because I am hoping for a good comedy. Sadly, the comedy is some ecchi scene with the main character that I can't see the joke in it.

I don't hate ecchi now that I am older, I just don't care for it. I don't engage in cancel/crybaby culture so you don't hear any objections from me.
Apr 28, 10:04 AM
#9
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"Nobody complaints about the nudity and fanservice and outright sex scenes in those movies."

Yes they do.

But there's no point asking this question on MAL where the average age is about 14 and there's maybe five women reading. Obviously the target audience isn't going to complain; or even notice that anything odd is happening. There's no point asking people who have never experienced (and never will) being objectified what the problem is with objectification or why it might cause people who have to live with it every day of their lives to roll their eyes and dismiss anime as slop for teenage boys.

I personally like and enjoy a good bit of fanservice but for a very large portion of the human race (~50%) it's a real turn-off in more way than one. They're the ones you need to ask, not the MAL-adjusted crew that hangs out here.
Apr 28, 10:04 AM

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Reply to TheBlockernator
@Deathko Most of those old Naughty Comedies feature high school characters. All the female characters exist just to get naked
@TheBlockernator If that's a jab at my love for 80s anime comedies, this is actually wrong. Women don't exist purely to get naked in City Hunter, Golden Boy, or GTO. City Hunter is, in fact, 100% tits/pantyshot free. Women are powerful in these shows, and aren't objectified by the author. When the character tries to objectify them it's portrayed as the behavior of a creep and loser.

And those comedies are supposed to be raunchy. Nobody ever complained about Prison School being naughty, people complain about this shit:

happening every 3 minutes in your random non-naughty shonen.
DeathkoApr 28, 10:29 AM
Prophetess of the Golden Era
Apr 28, 10:13 AM

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-Moral panic: they think showing an unrealistic "underage" character in NSFW situations can made people to sexually assault minors in real life or some shit about "objectifying" women.
-Anti-sex: anything sexual or perceived as sexual is seen as something bad.
-Anti-Japanese sentiment/Xenophobia: somehow it's always Anime's fault but like you said plenty of live action movies involving college or high school girls has very similar scenes but which it makes even less sense no one complains considering they are adult actors representing a minor (hs girls) in NSFW situations in the most realistic way possible but somehow its only bad with the unrealistic Anime girl in a NSFW situation. Also, this is also not limited to live action-Anime, plenty of Western animation has similar scenes which its innapropiate, its worse since several are aimed at children, like for example Turning Red has obvious NSFW implied scenes.
-Tourists aka fake Anime fans: plenty of such people have several series who have similar themes yet its only an issue with some. For example, this TV tropes mod falsely accused KissxSis of being of "pedopandering" when he has as favourite show Mob Psycho 100 (several episodes implies something more than just a just a mentor-student relationship between Reigen and Mob), Code Geass (ignores the obvious incest among the Britannian Family, Lelouch being siscon and obvious fanservice of hs characters), Death Note (all female characters fanservice scenes with Misa looking like a high school girl rather than an adult women), One Punch Man (lolicon character: Tatsumaki), Jujutsu Kaisen (sexualization of high school boys), Eminence in Shadow (main character is sexualized despite he's a high school boy, the sauna scene is the most obvious), Demon Slayer (Nezuko demon transformation and the obvious incest implication between her and Tanjiro), Chainsaw Man (several female characters grooming Denji, a minor), Tokyo Ghoul (Eto being sexualized despite she looks much younger than her age), High School of the Dead (no need to explain), 86 (child soldiers, the novel has a scene of Shin being naked). Also the fact TV tropes allows Cuties but not kissxsis, it says everything about them.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Tropers/Kory

If you have favourite shows with "problematic" content, why you complain about other shows with "problematic" content?



ToumaTachibanaApr 28, 10:31 AM
BANZAI NIPPON. Nippon is the Land of freedom. Nippon is the Land of Peace. Nippon is the Land of Justice and Prosperity.

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Apr 28, 10:26 AM
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I've never understood it either. Sure, it can be overdone, but it's fine in moderation. Everything is.
Apr 28, 10:28 AM
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Sometimes it just feels unnecessary. What if my mom walks in on it? 😂. Especially when the storyline is good yet the fanservice is crazy-

It kinda makes me uncomfortable as woman- 😭 [I'm okay with anime women and men showing off built muscles but not when they animate those jiggle physics or somethin']
Apr 28, 10:28 AM

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Reply to Deathko
Show me a pg13 movie or TV show where the camera focus shifts on the 14yo heroin's massive tits bouncing around every 2 minutes, including during important conversations.

Pretending "fanservice" is the same between anime and western TV shows is delusional tbh.
@Deathko

Isn't there a ton of Western movies and TV shows depicting teenagers in sexual acts or erotic displays? In Sex Education, we're shown a 16-year-old masturbating in pristine panty service. Obviously, all of this is tolerated and even celebrated, while similar content in anime is condemned. Sure, everyone will say the former is ethically justified because they are actually adult actors. But why doesn't the inherently unreal nature of anime characters, who are simply cartoons with adult voice actors, receive the same validation? In the end, in both cases, no actual minors are involved in the production of these images. It seems there's simply an underlying cultural prejudice against the medium of anime. Representations that, in essence, uses the same distance from reality as Western fictions. There's a double standard here that I don't understand but is certainly not a genuine concern for minors integrity.
Apr 28, 10:34 AM

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Reply to Gnza
@Deathko

Isn't there a ton of Western movies and TV shows depicting teenagers in sexual acts or erotic displays? In Sex Education, we're shown a 16-year-old masturbating in pristine panty service. Obviously, all of this is tolerated and even celebrated, while similar content in anime is condemned. Sure, everyone will say the former is ethically justified because they are actually adult actors. But why doesn't the inherently unreal nature of anime characters, who are simply cartoons with adult voice actors, receive the same validation? In the end, in both cases, no actual minors are involved in the production of these images. It seems there's simply an underlying cultural prejudice against the medium of anime. Representations that, in essence, uses the same distance from reality as Western fictions. There's a double standard here that I don't understand but is certainly not a genuine concern for minors integrity.
@Gnza Haven't seen it. But the show is called... Sex Education. That doesn't sound like fanservice, that sounds like the whole premise and subject of the show.

Do people who look down on "fanservice" in anime complain about Highschool DxD's giant tiddies? Or do they complain about Fairy Tail's giant tiddies? I don't think anyone would be so out of touch that they'd complain about an ecchi show's sexual content being pointless and distracting them from an otherwise interesting show.
Prophetess of the Golden Era
Apr 28, 10:34 AM

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Personally, I feel like fanservice is done best if it isn't too dragged out and out of nowhere/doesn't detract from the main plot too much.

I don't mind if there's a little bit here and there in a show that isn't otherwise lewd, but if it's got an otherwise interesting and compelling plot and then some weird pervy stuff happens to sidetrack the characters for half the episode outta nowhere, well it's just kinda jarring.

OR if they want to have some episodes dedicated to fanservice, a much preferable alternative is having some side story OVAs. That way you know what to expect and it doesn't have to relate to any main plot stuff.

Of course if the series is meant to be an ecchi or something then no one should complain, you should go into it knowing what to expect.
Apr 28, 10:38 AM

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I can think of some reasons. Some might consider fanservice in something generally geared towards a teenage or younger audience to be taboo. So might find it off putting because a lot of the characters are high school age or younger. Personally unless they look like a tiny midget child, I don't really care about the age of a freaking drawing, but I get why it'd be a turnoff. I have my own things I'd rather not see. Mine are pretty easy to avoid though, were as fanservice in anime can pop up anywhere.

Frankly, even if I can see why people are against fanservice, especially in the cases of that "L" word that gets threads locked, compared to the horror stories about actual child actors, I can't really bring myself to give a shit about how drawings are treated. If the artists aren't creeping on real life kids I could care less. They can do whatever the hell they want with their characters.

In general I lean more towards not treating completely fictional characters exactly like real people, because they aren't. They're drawings or polygons or some other inorganic non living beings. The ages are purely based on what the creator wants them to be. How is that my problem? Had to add that "completely" before "fictional" to cover my ass, because obviously there are fictional characters played by real people. Not what we're talking about here.
FanofActionApr 28, 10:51 AM
Apr 28, 10:40 AM

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Reply to Cherie_758
Sometimes it just feels unnecessary. What if my mom walks in on it? 😂. Especially when the storyline is good yet the fanservice is crazy-

It kinda makes me uncomfortable as woman- 😭 [I'm okay with anime women and men showing off built muscles but not when they animate those jiggle physics or somethin']
@Cherie_758 Replace fanservice in your text with "deaths/violence" sometimes something more explicit and I wonder what you will do. Fanservice of female character exist since the average Anime fan is a straight male and want to watch such content, its nothing wrong with them enjoying them. Plenty of female viewers do the same with male characters.

If doesn't make you uncomfortable since you're a woman considering many women enjoy fanservice of male characters, it makes you uncomfortable since you are not the target audience of such scenes.

For things you don't like, just ignore like all things.

ToumaTachibanaApr 28, 10:46 AM
BANZAI NIPPON. Nippon is the Land of freedom. Nippon is the Land of Peace. Nippon is the Land of Justice and Prosperity.

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Apr 28, 10:48 AM

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My opinion as a person that doesn't mind fanservice most of the time. [and as a woman].

Tbh I got used to it, my first anime ever was Fairy Tail [that explains a lot]. I also started watching hentai in a pretty early age [11-13, I think], after seeing first image of Misty from Pokemon naked, I got curious and went into the rabbit hole of many hentai's, making me desensitised to this kind of content. I don't mind ecchi, I don't mind most of the fanservice, I like loli's [but I fully get people that don't like them], I don't care for high-school girl/guy fanservice - I only don't like it when it takes me out of the story. [Infamous Tamaki from Fire Force]. [or recently I watched Tensei Kizoku and ngl the switch-up from Charlotte being a young homeless girl, to being grown-up next episode with first thing we see being her tits on the screen.] [I wasn't mad, just dissapointed. It didn't fill me with any kind of anger, it was just cheap and unneeded.]

Even looking back at Fairy Tail I still don't mind the fanservice, mostly because it was there from the start. [I think, unless my memory fails me] - but I'm shocked that it doesn't have an ecchi tag. [maybe It's not ecchi enough? XD] [but I may be biased because I got used to it]

When it comes to non-anime movies I don't care, as long as all the actors are adults. I don't have negative feelings towards movies like that - it all depends on the execution. [also the fanservice is different between both medium, sometimes similiar for sure, but not the same at all]

So except few jarring moments [in no-ecchi show's] - I'm indifferent, sometimes I even like it.

Still I fully get why people dislike fan-service and I won't hate/dislike them for it. [sexualisation of underage characters, lolis used in sexual-fanservice etc. etc.] - but I will never agree with beliting people who like it or deletion of it. [that goes for the other side, people need to live with others, having different opinions XD - at least I would like that, but well. XD]

[also fictional characters are fictional - so anything can happen to them and it won't be an issue for me.] [real child actors being used in awful scenes and being sexualised by the world tho - that makes my skin crawl]
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Apr 28, 10:56 AM

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Most Western media fanservice tends to be of the "Callback to something the audience recognizes" variety rather than "random sexual content interrupting at times that it doesn't make logical sense and sometimes ends up playing into non-consent".
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Apr 28, 11:03 AM

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Because some people are prudes and like to hate on anime for no reason.
Apr 28, 11:07 AM

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Reply to Deathko
@Gnza Haven't seen it. But the show is called... Sex Education. That doesn't sound like fanservice, that sounds like the whole premise and subject of the show.

Do people who look down on "fanservice" in anime complain about Highschool DxD's giant tiddies? Or do they complain about Fairy Tail's giant tiddies? I don't think anyone would be so out of touch that they'd complain about an ecchi show's sexual content being pointless and distracting them from an otherwise interesting show.
@Deathko Sixteen Candles has Nudity

Every horror movie from the 80's has nudity
My waifu is the most wonderful waifu. Mai Valentine.

We're freaking out that we're running out of time, but to do what? Should i stop and think of that? Is there something i could do to slow it down? Live in a day for once, instead of watch it sprinting by
Apr 28, 11:21 AM

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Reply to TheBlockernator
@Deathko Sixteen Candles has Nudity

Every horror movie from the 80's has nudity
@TheBlockernator Those 80s horor movies are generally considered mass-produced trash with no literary value, so that seems quite fitting.
DeathkoApr 28, 11:38 AM
Prophetess of the Golden Era
Apr 28, 11:27 AM

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It's mostly for me because there is too much of it and sometimes it gets thrown in at the wrong time. Plus it's 96% female fanservice so it's heavily skewed a certain way. And if it's going to be fan service I prefer if the subject is fully aware of their sexiness and isn't under a certain age.
Apr 28, 11:34 AM
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the age bruh. you only see R-rated series or movies get teenagers doing sexual things or it's a 20 yo with a baby face playing a teenager doing sexual things. it's in the context that this is a depiction of a teenage girl/boy exploring sexuality showcased in a progressive manner that American films allow.

but for anime, here's a naked 14-yo tits out and its funny cause she's into him. the message? buy our naked figurines of this 14-yo girl. buy the uncensored blu-ray version. the mangaka is a freak. you're a freak. here's a freaky show.

but for non-ecchi shows where you're supposed to care for the characters, fanservice kinda distracts and feels like we're being jingled keys so that we don't drop the anime. it's a lack of creativity and lack of writing skills to make a scene dramatic/funny/engaging/immersive and worth watching for.

even as someone who likes fan-service doing it just for the sake of doing it is annoying, i can get hetnai pretty easily, make the fanservice make sense. Guilty pleasure, mushoku tensei really does it well, it fits the setting, it fits the characters and even affects the plot.
Apr 28, 11:47 AM

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The premise of this thread is false because in reality tons of other media have gotten flack for that. I can literally pull up articles accusing Euphoria of being pornography and exploitive. It's has gotten critiqued plenty due to the fact it's focused on HS characters. Game of Thrones has been bashed for it's sexual violence and again also iffy scenes regarding underage characters in the books.

You are citing also pretty old films, the nature of relationships/AOC in the West has changed a lot since then, due to new moral understandings. They absolutely would get bashed under a different lens today.

Anyway the real difference beside the supposed age of these characters is really how Japan frames sexual attraction. It's more cutesy and not sexy (what people usually encounter of course anime does sexy a lot too), and a lot of people in the West do see that as creepy.

Additionally, even as someone that hey loves sexy stuff, plays H-VNs, like hentai, I am going to be honest a lot of anime fanservice outside of hentai sucks. It interrupts the plot, often isn't sexy and shrugs off frankly criminal acts (being a peeping tom). That said, it''s not like Western works can't also use sex to interrupt the plot. One show I remember doing that was Last Kingdom, by shoving a sex scene while an important plot moment was going on. It was equally annoying. Sex is fun to develop relationships, or if it's quick, non lore breaking tease, or if you have really built up the lore to explain it. Most anime fanservice doesn't do this or don't do this well.

Personally, as a result, I would just rather shows keep things fade to black. If you want to include anything of that nature you should just write straight up porn. People that try to balance the two, tend to hurt their story, with garbage scenes. I mean I can cite works that have done that well, it's just in this medium, it almost never benefits a work that isn't trying to be hentai.
BilboBaggins365Apr 28, 11:58 AM
Apr 28, 11:49 AM

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The vocal pps who scream fanservice, tend to hate it in all media. Margot Robbie on first suicide squad trailer? Lollipop chainsaw? Overwatch's Tracer? Female in Super hero Comics (hawkeye initiative) ? Showgirls? 50 shades of grey ? Glass onion ? Game of Thrones? ... And they will turn it into a complaint.
Terrible mix with the fact that subbed anime sounds like moaning to some westerns.

I do think there is a place in their mind "Anime is for kids", "Anime is different", "People keep talking about how fanservice is bad", "We don't need this aspect in this new land we are exploring". The last one is typically a positioning too. It is like when pps pick british gallows comedies and start saying British Comedians are all so full of morbid jokes.

People saying their mom/grandmother appears during these scenes, would probably also not pick the movies with fanservice to watch in the living room. So it is a double prude stance of feeling shame and needing to repress their sexuality.
Apr 28, 11:49 AM

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Not all fanservice is actually sexual but who cares this is a bait/attention seeking thread afgter all.
Apr 28, 11:51 AM

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Reply to Sasori56483
The vocal pps who scream fanservice, tend to hate it in all media. Margot Robbie on first suicide squad trailer? Lollipop chainsaw? Overwatch's Tracer? Female in Super hero Comics (hawkeye initiative) ? Showgirls? 50 shades of grey ? Glass onion ? Game of Thrones? ... And they will turn it into a complaint.
Terrible mix with the fact that subbed anime sounds like moaning to some westerns.

I do think there is a place in their mind "Anime is for kids", "Anime is different", "People keep talking about how fanservice is bad", "We don't need this aspect in this new land we are exploring". The last one is typically a positioning too. It is like when pps pick british gallows comedies and start saying British Comedians are all so full of morbid jokes.

People saying their mom/grandmother appears during these scenes, would probably also not pick the movies with fanservice to watch in the living room. So it is a double prude stance of feeling shame and needing to repress their sexuality.
@Sasori56483

Fanservice and sex scenes are not the same thing at all, nice try though.
Apr 28, 11:55 AM

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@Sasori56483

Fanservice and sex scenes are not the same thing at all, nice try though.
@JoeChip Yes, Fanservice is a hypernym for sex scenes. Was Margot Robbie in suicide squad trailer a sex scene, no? Nice try though.
There is a LSSJ comment about reference fanservice, for example.
Apr 28, 11:58 AM

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Reply to Sasori56483
@JoeChip Yes, Fanservice is a hypernym for sex scenes. Was Margot Robbie in suicide squad trailer a sex scene, no? Nice try though.
There is a LSSJ comment about reference fanservice, for example.
@Sasori56483

Not very smart, as expected from a coping zoomer. Unlike your cherrypicking example I was referring to your mentions of " Showgirls? 50 shades of grey ? Game of Thrones". When you simply say fanservice ninety nine percent of people wouıldn't think of a sex scene but some partial nudity or a scene that has a reference to sexuality, and as I mentioned before not all fanservice refers to sexual content actually.
JoeChipApr 28, 12:25 PM
Apr 28, 12:12 PM

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For me there is just too much of it and it's usually thrown in at the wrong time. Plus it's at least 95% female focused and it's unintended by the victim of it. I prefer if it's done to be more balanced between the genders and that the women are aware of what they are doing with their bodies.
Apr 28, 12:30 PM

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I don’t really hate fan service, but I do think it can get in the way of enjoying a show sometimes. When a series leans too much on fan service, it feels like they’re trying to cover up a weak plot or shallow characters. I just wish the story could stand on its own without needing those extra distractions.
Apr 28, 12:49 PM
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Depends on the show i guess and how it's implemented overall it's unnecessary so why do people care so much if it's in anime.
Apr 28, 1:25 PM

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TheBlockernator said:
Why do people hate anime fanservice so much? Especially compared to other media.


lol Not often other forms of media entertainment pull stuff off like this...



Not that I am complaining about the above image, just even live action Japanese TV shows even from the 70s and 80s wouldn't just have the camera man typically laying on the floor directly right under a girls skirt while filming. lol

While shit like this doesn't personally bother me (it actually makes it hilarious when they pull this kind of random stuff off in Anime to me), I can totally understand why others would feel indifferent or even appalled about being exposed to having a school girls crotch shoved right in their face, even if it's just animated fiction. lol
ColourWheelApr 28, 1:38 PM


Apr 28, 1:55 PM

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Fine, I'll bite, I think the ever-present fanservice is probably one of the worst things about anime. For me, it practically ruins the part of whatever I'm watching and more often than not I just find myself wanting to completely skip the scene.

One of the reasons for my actual hatred of this practice is quite simply that I don't need everything in my life to be sexualised. Not everything you watch has to be sexually arousing to keep your attention, right? It's useless and could just be replaced with a more pretty shot/scene... And it's not only in anime intended for adults, shonen as well contains way too much sexual content for the intended demographic!

Constant fanservice also contributes to an oversexualisation of women as a whole (Yes, men are also sexualised in anime, but just way less). Though I'm not a woman and thus can't really speak for them, it can be rather damaging. In anime, women are often objectified, seen as something that simply exists for men's sexual pleasure, which can lead to real-world objectification as well. Not to mention the sexualisation of children in anime - my God.

As to why fanservice in anime is not okay and fanservice in western media is:
I'll start off by saying neither of them are fine and objectification is inherently a bad thing, both of the movies you listed are from 1982 and we've (mostly) moved on from the commodification of women nowadays. Fanservice in anime is often more extreme in nature than that in a western movie, I think. Where, in western media, most of what you'll get is some character being promiscuously clothed and showing some cleavage, in anime there's a lot more to be found. Classic examples in Neon Genesis Evangelion, with that damned Rei shower scene and the like come to mind. Unless you're Eric Prydz, western artists are way less likely to have long shots of some character's ass than their Japanese counterparts.
Apr 28, 2:03 PM

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Are there a lot of "fanservice" in non-anime media these days?

I don't think that's the case. You yourself had to go all the way back to the 80s to find some examples of American movies:
TheBlockernator said:
The Last American Virgin or Fast Times

And plenty of people have complained about that kind of content back then. And I think people are just disinterested in present day, and they sometimes get irritated when they see that stuff.
Apr 28, 2:24 PM

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Well, people are mentioning that you're going back to the 1980s for examples, which, sure, the 80s was surely abundant with that content interspersed throughout so many films, if we're talking about live action American cinema at least. Especially in slasher horrors and high school and college comedies.

But I don't know why folks are talking as if this was only an 80s (or earlier) thing. The nudity, sex scenes, and revealing and sexually provocatively dressed characters, including largely high school-aged characters, in many American horror, teen comedy, and other genres of film absolutely was an abundant thing at least through the 2000s. I know as I have seen plenty of American films from then. I've seen less newer stuff in terms of variety and the type which might most heavily feature it to maybe give the best example right now off the top of my head from, say, 2021 or 2016 - I know there are some, plenty still probably, but I'd have to comb my list of watched films and such to pick out individual examples.

But have those here not seen American horror and raunchy comedy flicks from like, 2003 or 2008? This isn't an 80s thing. Just think of stuff like the American Pie series of films in the late 90s and early 2000s. And content like slashers with teens in school having sex at parties or cabins in the woods I'm pretty sure have been continuously coming out for decades.
Apr 28, 2:24 PM

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Jul 2015
13141
Reply to Deathko
Show me a pg13 movie or TV show where the camera focus shifts on the 14yo heroin's massive tits bouncing around every 2 minutes, including during important conversations.

Pretending "fanservice" is the same between anime and western TV shows is delusional tbh.
@Deathko Does American Pie series or South Park count?
Dunno why you are trying to imply, that fanservice heavy anime tend to be PG13, buy in almost every case they are not, just like they don't happen to be middle schoolers, but well endowed high schoolers that do not resembles children no matter how you put it.
Lying that westerners do not sexualised underage fictional characters in any way and lying that Japanese aiming fanservice at kids is rather disingenuous.
PiromyslApr 28, 2:38 PM

Apr 28, 2:24 PM

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Reply to perseii
Are there a lot of "fanservice" in non-anime media these days?

I don't think that's the case. You yourself had to go all the way back to the 80s to find some examples of American movies:
TheBlockernator said:
The Last American Virgin or Fast Times

And plenty of people have complained about that kind of content back then. And I think people are just disinterested in present day, and they sometimes get irritated when they see that stuff.
@perseii There's still nudity in movies, i'm sure, i just haven't watched enough modern television or film to give examples. The Friday the 13th 2009 remake had a lot of sex scenes, 50 shades of gray came out fairly recently
My waifu is the most wonderful waifu. Mai Valentine.

We're freaking out that we're running out of time, but to do what? Should i stop and think of that? Is there something i could do to slow it down? Live in a day for once, instead of watch it sprinting by
Apr 28, 2:42 PM

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People don't like forced sexualization and anime has a habit of shoving it down your throat constantly.

Mod Edit: Removed baiting.
Mako995Apr 28, 10:55 PM
Apr 28, 2:43 PM

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For me i's mainly just me not looking forward to such so it's sort of an unpleasant surprise.
Apr 28, 2:47 PM

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It's really no different than how during Gamergate ten years ago grifters were pretending to be outraged about supposed objectification and sexualisation of female characters, but in fact they just hated that people they dislike are enjoying their hobbies and are not as miserable as they are. They managed to gaslight developers that their shitty takes are common consensus, when faced with criticism cried harassment and pretended to be victims and did irreversible damage to gaming as a whole.
Them complaining about anime fanservice is literally the same thing, because anime went completely mainstream, they see that people they hate enjoy it and they can't have it. That's literally it.

Apr 28, 2:52 PM
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Personally, I just find most fanservice really boring. How many times am I expected to see the exact same jokes with the exact same character archtypes and find it funny? It's just not interesting
Apr 28, 3:04 PM

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Reply to giantpudding
People don't like forced sexualization and anime has a habit of shoving it down your throat constantly.

Mod Edit: Removed baiting.
@giantpudding
ou wouldn't understand because you're a porn addict.


No i'm not, i just wonder why there's a big fuss about fanservice in anime but not in other mediums
My waifu is the most wonderful waifu. Mai Valentine.

We're freaking out that we're running out of time, but to do what? Should i stop and think of that? Is there something i could do to slow it down? Live in a day for once, instead of watch it sprinting by
Apr 28, 3:17 PM

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Reply to TheBlockernator
@giantpudding
ou wouldn't understand because you're a porn addict.


No i'm not, i just wonder why there's a big fuss about fanservice in anime but not in other mediums
@TheBlockernator Quick how many fanservice topics have you made today?
Apr 28, 3:45 PM

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Feb 2014
4119
Reply to therealnagora
"Nobody complaints about the nudity and fanservice and outright sex scenes in those movies."

Yes they do.

But there's no point asking this question on MAL where the average age is about 14 and there's maybe five women reading. Obviously the target audience isn't going to complain; or even notice that anything odd is happening. There's no point asking people who have never experienced (and never will) being objectified what the problem is with objectification or why it might cause people who have to live with it every day of their lives to roll their eyes and dismiss anime as slop for teenage boys.

I personally like and enjoy a good bit of fanservice but for a very large portion of the human race (~50%) it's a real turn-off in more way than one. They're the ones you need to ask, not the MAL-adjusted crew that hangs out here.
therealnagora said:
Obviously the target audience isn't going to complain; or even notice that anything odd is happening.
You're getting REEEEALLY close to the point.
therealnagora said:
why it might cause people who have to live with it every day of their lives to roll their eyes and dismiss anime as slop for teenage boys.
...OK, they're free to do so?
therealnagora said:
They're the ones you need to ask
They're... free to just not watch anime if they don't want to.
Apr 28, 3:49 PM

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Reply to BilboBaggins365
The premise of this thread is false because in reality tons of other media have gotten flack for that. I can literally pull up articles accusing Euphoria of being pornography and exploitive. It's has gotten critiqued plenty due to the fact it's focused on HS characters. Game of Thrones has been bashed for it's sexual violence and again also iffy scenes regarding underage characters in the books.

You are citing also pretty old films, the nature of relationships/AOC in the West has changed a lot since then, due to new moral understandings. They absolutely would get bashed under a different lens today.

Anyway the real difference beside the supposed age of these characters is really how Japan frames sexual attraction. It's more cutesy and not sexy (what people usually encounter of course anime does sexy a lot too), and a lot of people in the West do see that as creepy.

Additionally, even as someone that hey loves sexy stuff, plays H-VNs, like hentai, I am going to be honest a lot of anime fanservice outside of hentai sucks. It interrupts the plot, often isn't sexy and shrugs off frankly criminal acts (being a peeping tom). That said, it''s not like Western works can't also use sex to interrupt the plot. One show I remember doing that was Last Kingdom, by shoving a sex scene while an important plot moment was going on. It was equally annoying. Sex is fun to develop relationships, or if it's quick, non lore breaking tease, or if you have really built up the lore to explain it. Most anime fanservice doesn't do this or don't do this well.

Personally, as a result, I would just rather shows keep things fade to black. If you want to include anything of that nature you should just write straight up porn. People that try to balance the two, tend to hurt their story, with garbage scenes. I mean I can cite works that have done that well, it's just in this medium, it almost never benefits a work that isn't trying to be hentai.
BilboBaggins365 said:
I can literally pull up articles accusing Euphoria of being pornography and exploitive. It's has gotten critiqued plenty due to the fact it's focused on HS characters.

Well duh, it's a nukige by CLOCK-UP, what did you expect?
Apr 28, 3:58 PM

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I didn't know you could post Uma Musume ryona, the way this entire thread is about beating dead horses.
Apr 28, 4:02 PM

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Aug 2017
11993
Reply to bingusmingus
Fine, I'll bite, I think the ever-present fanservice is probably one of the worst things about anime. For me, it practically ruins the part of whatever I'm watching and more often than not I just find myself wanting to completely skip the scene.

One of the reasons for my actual hatred of this practice is quite simply that I don't need everything in my life to be sexualised. Not everything you watch has to be sexually arousing to keep your attention, right? It's useless and could just be replaced with a more pretty shot/scene... And it's not only in anime intended for adults, shonen as well contains way too much sexual content for the intended demographic!

Constant fanservice also contributes to an oversexualisation of women as a whole (Yes, men are also sexualised in anime, but just way less). Though I'm not a woman and thus can't really speak for them, it can be rather damaging. In anime, women are often objectified, seen as something that simply exists for men's sexual pleasure, which can lead to real-world objectification as well. Not to mention the sexualisation of children in anime - my God.

As to why fanservice in anime is not okay and fanservice in western media is:
I'll start off by saying neither of them are fine and objectification is inherently a bad thing, both of the movies you listed are from 1982 and we've (mostly) moved on from the commodification of women nowadays. Fanservice in anime is often more extreme in nature than that in a western movie, I think. Where, in western media, most of what you'll get is some character being promiscuously clothed and showing some cleavage, in anime there's a lot more to be found. Classic examples in Neon Genesis Evangelion, with that damned Rei shower scene and the like come to mind. Unless you're Eric Prydz, western artists are way less likely to have long shots of some character's ass than their Japanese counterparts.
@bingusmingus How it can be rather "damaging" if Anime women don't exist? It's impossible to something to be "objectified" if it doesn't exist. The average male viewer is a straight male and they have the right to sexualize everything they want in fiction since fiction in entertainment. Gay males does the same with male characters and bi males do both. Also you underestimate how raunchy female Anime fans can be with male characters, they won't admit it publicly or they criticize fanservice of female characters but they are better hiding while males are most likely to admit without issues. What is wrong with something that simply exists for men's sexual pleasure? Sounds like an anti-sex mindset which it makes no sense to apply to something which doesn't exist AND its unrealistic. Sexualisation of children in anime? Where are chlidren? Are you talking about lolis? Lolis are not children, they are just petite unrealistic Anime girls. It has nothing to do with "age" since many adult characters are lolis for example. No children have big eyes and hair of different colorus for example.
ToumaTachibanaApr 28, 4:06 PM
BANZAI NIPPON. Nippon is the Land of freedom. Nippon is the Land of Peace. Nippon is the Land of Justice and Prosperity.

In Nippon, we trust.

We love Nippon, we love Anime. Anime love us, Nippon love us. 日本
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