Beach Episode / Anime & Manga

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Beach Episodes in Anime & Manga.

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• Abunai Sisters: The sisters live in a beachside mansion, and several episodes use this setting:
  • The first episode has them trying to go swimming, with Mika looking forward to wearing a skimpy swimsuit while Koko is planning on skinny-dipping. Unfortunately, they're stopped by a robotic shark with a gun in its mouth.
  • The sixth episode starts off identically to the first one, down to them having a similar conversation about their choice of swimwear (or lack thereof). However, Matsumoto has built a booby-trapped changing room in which to trap Mika.
  • The eighth episode once again has the sisters going to the beach for a swim. However, a shark alert sign causes them to change plans and play volleyball instead, allowing Matsumoto to swap their ball with a bomb.
• Episode 16 of After War Gundam X takes place at the shore, since Tiffa's sensed a Newtype there. (Who just so happens to be a dolphin.) Naturally, the crew takes the opportunity to enjoy sun, swimsuits, and Ship Tease.
• Another has this type of episode, in which Ms. Mikami brings some of her students outside of Yomiyama in order to talk with an old schoolmate about how to beat the curse plaguing their class, since talking about the curse inside town runs the risk of it killing someone. It starts like a typical one and even has some funny moments... until Junta Nakao falls victim to a Time-Delayed Death version of the class curse, collapses dead in the water, and then his corpse gets gratuitously mauled by a boat propeller.
• In chapter 43 of Assassination Classroom, Koro-sensei builds a pool for the students so they can find relief from the summer heat. Ties in to the main plot when it leads to them discovering that Koro-sensei can't swim.
• Asteroid in Love: The fourteenth chapter, animated in the fifth episode, involves Moe, Mira, Ao and Ino visiting the beach at the end of the summer vacation.
• Downplayed in Attack on Titan season 3 episode 22 for one scene, when the Scout Regiment finally get to see the ocean for the first time. It's a happy moment for everyone, especially Armin, who always dreamed of seeing the ocean, until Eren reminds everyone that on the other side of the ocean, humanity is still alive and united in hatred of those living on the island.
• Azumanga Daioh: Chiyo's summer home is beachfront property, which the girls get to visit once a semester, during their summer break. Though the last time was only because Tomo had lied about wanting to make it a study trip, when it was really just an excuse for her to spend time at the beach again.
• Baby Steps: A beach and a pool both serve as backdrops for romance-related plot advancement.
• Battle Spirits Shonen Toppa Bashin: Episode 44. A very silly filler episode involving the kids going to a beach to train, wherein almost the entirety of it is All Just a Dream.
• Beach Stars: The sports-manga is mostly a Beach Episode-manga as the sport in question is beach volleyball.
• Berserk: Guts and his newfound True Companions reach the ocean after leaving Schierke's Doomed Hometown. No swimming happened, but it did offer a break for the crew for a short while and some heartwarming moments occurred, especially when the Child appears for the first time in human form, and Guts and Casca had a very awkward "family" scenario with him.
• Black Clover has one when the Black Bulls are sent to investigate the Underwater Temple. The thing is, Yami explicitly said they weren't going there for fun, but everyone did anyway. Yami got to scold everyone by burying them in sand up to their necks.
• Bleach conveniently has a Beach Episode that pops up right in the middle of a major arc. The twist: although the reason for the beach party is expanded into the realms of anime filler, the fact one occurs at all is actually based on a series of omakes Kubo inserted into his manga, so the premise of it is actually Canon. It focuses on the Shinigami Women's Association (accompanied with the boys). Such highlights included skimpy bikinis (including Captain Unohana wearing one of the skimpiest swimsuits), Matsumoto teaching Orihime how to use her breasts as a bucket much to the horror of either Ichigo (manga) or Nanao (anime), a sandcastle-building competition, and a watermelon/tentacle monster hybrid. And Hitsugaya and the ice. Good lad to have around in hot weather.
• Blue Exorcist has one the anime and one in the manga. The former is pure filler. The latter, however, adds in Character Development for both Rin and Shiemi while dropping hints to Yukio falling apart. Both involve a Kraken.
• Bodacious Space Pirates:
  • Subverted in episode 6. Marika and Mami are ready to go to the beach... only for Misa and Kane to pike up Marika to fill out a few trees' worth of paperwork.
  • In episode 20, the Yacht Club goes to the beach, but it's for plot purposes - they're training for an upcoming race. The bulk of the fanservice is provided by Kane in a speedo.
• Bokurano begins with kids playing happily at the beach. It does not stay that pleasant though...
• A portion of a chapter in Bokura no Hentai has Marika and her friends visiting the beach. Marika bemoans being unable to wear a swimsuit.
• Boys over Flowers. The anime and manga continuities of have two beach plot arcs, one during a summer break and one on the Domyoji private island.
• Burst Angel has a beach episode with very skimpy swimsuit. And a tentacled Squid Monster. Made even better once you find the dirty hidden commentary on that DVD.
• Buso Renkin: The summer break trip around halfway through the series has the main characters relax and mess around at the beach^note added due to fan request with surfing, flirting and everyone wearing swimming costumes. The episode only serves as a backdrop to set the third arc of the series into motion and becomes a Wham Episode at the end.
• Campione!: The first part of episode 8 due to Erica's manipulation. She wants to spend time with her true love, you know?
• Zig-Zagged in Cardfight!! Vanguard, with the characters having getup of varying levels of conservativeness.
• Case Closed has beach trips once in a while. This being Conan, someone in vacation ends up dropping dead. One that begins in chapter 972 of the manga turns out to be vital for the plot... Because it shows the first time Shinichi and Ran met Shuichi Akai and Masumi Sera.
• Episode 5A of Castle Town Dandelion, which was mainly adapted from the colour extras of Volume 2. Downplayed as it is not really a beach; the Sakuradas found the logistics for having a beach vacation for this very Modest Royalty so they faked one from what is essentially a film set.
• Chimidoro Ice Cream: In chapter 9, Shion joins the other girls in going to the beach. However, since Shion is a half-zombie, the sunlight makes her body start to rot and the others need to pile shaved ice onto her to keep her cool.
• Chobits anime series: one of the many deviations from the manga is a Beach Episode. Completely useless for the plot and hammered in without fear of splinters....
• A Certain Magical Index has a Beach Episode right after the Radio Noise arc. It initially appears as a simple family reunion between an amnesiac Touma and his parents he doesn't remember. Unfortunately for Touma, the beach happens to be the beginning of the Angel Fall arc... specifically, everyone but a handful of people gets their physical appearances switched without realizing it. And then one of the arc's good guys turns out to be an angel Touma's father accidentally summoned and which is now hell-bent on killing the summoner in order to get back to Heaven. Hell-bent, as in, ready to unleash the fire and brimstone rain on his head.
• Then comes A Certain Scientific Railgun which returns the favor somewhat. Mikoto and Kuroko are invited by swim club members to do a photoshoot. Several other prominent female cast also attend. Mikoto initially wants to don a frilly, girlish swimsuit but ultimately settles for a one-piece. Then comes the shocker when Kuroko tries wearing something that would make even adult women blush... only to get one-upped by Kongo appearing with a live snake^note as she says in Gratuitous English, "Sexy and exotic!"; not that the other girls (except Uiharu) liked the idea coiled around her one-piece... only to get one-upped in turn by Konori showing up with a bikini she complains is too small for her. She's not kidding; even the snake is staring at her. The photoshoot happens in a Holodeck type room where one can change the scenery to match the needs of the scene. At first it works for the shoot (Beach, poolside, pleasure boat), but then the shoot has a glitch of sorts (Mountains with blowing snow, Hot Desert, a fishing boat in a storm, and the surface of the moon) which has to be fixed, so the girls are "transported" to a camp site to take a break and decide to make some curry.
• Of course a show as shameless as Cross Ange has one. Complete with a foot race across the beach in water-soluble bikinis... that they cut away from as soon as the starting gun is fired. Ironically, the episode likely has some of the least sexual content of all the episodes in the show.
• DARLING in the FRANXX has one in Episode 7, where Squad 13 gets to take a break from fighting klaxosaurs and spend time at the beach.
• The Daughter of Twenty Faces has a Beach Episode that furthered both plot and character development, and the actual beach scenes were rather short and almost completely devoid of fanservice. Unless you're into conservative 1950's style swimsuits or something.
• Destroy All Humankind. They Can't Be Regenerated.: In Chapter 7, Ito takes Hajime and Emi to have fun at a local water park since the card shop was closed for the week. Emi learns to swim using Magic lingo and Hajime's feelings for her start to bud.
• Digimon Frontier has the episode "Beasty Girl", where the protagonists take advantage of the fact that they've arrived on a tropical island resort to try and relax. Unfortunately for them, the mons running the place are part of Ranamon's fan club, eventually leading to everyone but Izumi/Zoe's D-Tector being stolen for a few episodes and a battle against Ranamon and her newly acquired Beast Spirit Calmaramon. Also notably for the series most egregious example of fanservice, in a scene where Izumi/Zoe pictures herself wearing a skimpy bikini with the words "sexy dynamite" in the background.
• Doraemon had several of these, in the manga and anime. And because Nobita can't swim even if his life depends on it, most of the time Gian and Suneo would tease and make fun of him until Nobita asks Doraemon for a swimming-related gadget for help.
• Excel♡Saga:
  • Lampshaded in one case where the show's creators introduced an episode by saying that they needed better ratings, and as a result there would be no men in the episode, and all the women would be wearing swimsuits.
  • The manga had two Beach Episode chapters as well. One was a Formula-Breaking Episode chapter that turned the manga into a high school drama, and the other was a regular chapter, where the Department of City Security were on break and the ACROSS girls were trying to win a Birdman competition.
• Eyeshield 21: The Devilbats go to Texas and, while there, visit a beach. Of course Hiruma doesn't do anything without a plan, and it turns out he brought the team there so they could A) participate in the Beach Football tournament, and B) to meet up with Hiruma and Kurita's old coach. Also averts the fanservice aspect by throwing in the "Sexy Queens", a band of gangly, hairy, spandex-clad men.
• Fairy Tail:
  • Fairy Tail got one, complete with Erza wearing a bikini and a hot dress (they went to a casino after, double win anyone?) and Lucy getting tied up in a rope (bended backwards even).
  • A second in the Welcome To Fairy Hills OVA.
  • And then there's a third in the X791 arc, which includes copious amount of Lucy, Erza, Juvia and Levy fanservice as well.
  • And a fourth after the third day of the Grand Magic Games, the pool variant. Also, it's a flashback episode during the fourth day of the games.
• The Familiar of Zero may be set in a medieval European fantasy world, but that does not stop it from having a Beach Episode. It helps that Headmaster Osmond is a Dirty Old Man who will make up whatever excuse he can to get the girls into swimsuits that have somehow appeared from our world.
• Food Wars!:
  • Chapter 52.5 has Erina and Alice going to an outdoor pool together. Additionally, Soma and the rest of the Polaris Dormitory find themselves trying to find a place to cool off from the summer's heat.
  • Chapter 277 has the beginning of a Beach Arc. Unlike the previous one, this one isn't filler, since the second year students are taken to the beach for their end of term exams, where they'll have to run some restaurants and meet a quota of earnings in money to pass.
• Franken Fran subverts it : In Chapter 41, Fran and some of the cast go to a beach to try and investigate on a mysterious phenomenon that causes many people to drown, but Fran, in true Cloudcuckoolander fashion, still wants to have fun.
  But let's not worry too much about the whole DYING thing. We should think of this as a vacation and have a good time!
• Free! offers both an inversion and deconstruction in episode 5. Even though Gou is seen wearing a swimsuit one at one point (it's still relatively covered up) it's the guys who are dressed in swimsuits more and they are here for swim training. The deconstruction part comes when the weather turns bad and Rei decides to sneak in to practice at night and he nearly drowns as a result.
• The Fruits Basket manga has a Beach Arc that lasts two volumes. All's fun and Fanservicey, until Akito shows up. Well, Rin shows up naked after that, but considering that she only transformed in the first place because she was in extreme pain...
• Full Metal Panic! contains several subversions.
  • Twice, Kaname gets primed and ready for a beach vacation only to end up having Sōsuke drag her somewhere else (once to a submarine, once to a military festival) instead. When Kaname does go to the beach for a vacation in the middle of the series, the episodes focus almost entirely on Sōsuke's mission in the Middle East instead, with only a few brief cuts to Kaname showing her bored and worrying about him.
  • An actual Beach Episode, meanwhile, takes place in Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu.
• Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet is set in a world without beaches, but still manages the equivalent in episode 5, when the fleet stops for maintenance and the main characters have a barbecue party on a smaller boat. Aside from their own tiny bathing suits, the girls get Ledo down to a pair of shorts and what looks like a Hawaiian shirt. Also a bit of a Breather Episode; the previous one ended on Ledo acquiring some existential angst, with more drama set to emerge by episode 7.
• Gakuen Babysitters has a beach chapter, but it really has only one scene that can be considered as fanservice. The chapter's actual intended focus is Ryuuichi's insecurities about the trust between him and Kotarou, using the current and past visits to the beach as a device.
• Genshiken has fun with this type of episode, as most of the cast were otaku and thus not the sort to go to the beach on a regular basis. ("What the hell am I doing in a place like this... Isn't it embarrassing to go to ComiFes with a tan?") Also notable was Cosplay Otaku Girl Ohno, who wears some fairly risque things, being shy enough to cover most of her outfit with a long shirt.
• Gintama's beach episode actually gives an explanation as to why there are no other people in the same area as the cast: their usual antics pretty much alienated everyone else from coming. Any Fanservice that might have been generated from the games the cast played were ultimately thwarted, and the only person who managed to get their privates shown was the Shogun.
• Gravion has a Beach Episode that gets interrupted by the Zeravire planning to assault a peace summit, resulting in the hero and the Gran Divas having to do battle in their swimsuits.
• Great Teacher Onizuka: The double beach episode is an opportunity for two of Onizuka's students to deal with their UST.
• Guilty Crown has episode 8 which takes place mainly at the beach. However, this was done possibly to get the viewers to lower their guard, as the episode doubles as a Wham Episode, and even marks the beginning of a neverending series of Wham Episodes. Seriously. Starting with episode 8, the rest of the series except the finale consists of nothing but Wham Episodes!
• GUN×SWORD had a plot episode where they needed to kidnap a character living in the Kingdom of Mizugi Missoghi, a port which only women wearing swimwear could enter. In a solid effort it managed to provide fanservice and plot at the same time. With a nice dose of Fan Disservice in the closing moments.
• Hajime no Ippo:
  • Hajime No Ippo has one featuring not only humor, but also some degree of plot as the guys went there not just to relax and have a good view of girl booty, but to train. In fact, Ippo realizes one of his early flaws (lack of leg strength) there.
  • Later it's subverted, as the guys assume they will go to the beach to train and end up going... elsewhere.
• Even Hamtaro had one, with the Ham-Hams exploring the beach for the first time and helping Laura during a storm.
• Hanaukyō Maid Team. During the second half of episode 7, Taro and his maids go to a beach to relax (the first half is a Hot Springs Episode).
• Happiness has a Beach Episode for its eighth episode, taking the opportunity to show off the female cast in their swim attire. Later parts of the episode do contain material that is slightly more plot-relevant.
• Haruhi Suzumiya:
  • A Beach Episode with a twist, a parody of a Locked Room Mystery that has been set up, Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre-style, to keep Haruhi from getting bored and unconsciously using her Reality Warper skills. And since it was taken directly from the novels, it is not filler but canon.
  • And also the Phoenix Wright Parody.
• Haruka Nogizaka's Secret has a Beach Episode as the prelude to the title character's birthday party. On a island that her father had bought for her especially for the occasion. It is plot relevant, as a VERY important character is introduced during this episode: Haruka's grandfather, a man that even when retired, causes industrial giants to cower in fear.
• Harukana Receive: Much like the Beach Stars example above, this is a beach-set manga about (what else?) female beach volleyball. In fact, around 80% of the manga happens on the beach volleyball courts.
• Hayate the Combat Butler has its Beach Episode set in an artificial beach constructed inside the Sanzenin property.
• Hetalia: Axis Powers:
  • Germany, Italy, and Japan get shipwrecked on a tropical island and don't seem to mind too much. They actually enjoy themselves. In another strip, America and England are both stranded together, both being themselves.
  • Also, one of Seychelles's first apparitions has her seeing the others around as she wonders what the Hell are they doing at her islands.
  • Another one has America stranded in a beach with China instead.
• High School Of The Dead: In the Drifters of the Dead OVA special, the gang finds a seemingly deserted island and decides to take some time off for fun in the sun... until they realize that no-one was on the island in the first place because of hydrangea plants. Fanservice, loads of in-your-face innuendo, and Hilarity Ensues, as even a few bikini-clad zombie girls end up being part of it.
• Higurashi: When They Cry has a beach arc (one day), which was adapted into a one episode. In the anime, it's a pool arc. Also, the manga has a few swimsuit omakes, and there are quite a few beach/pool official arts.
• Hitohira has a dramatic beach episode in which Nono and Risaki beat each other up until they collapse.
• How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?, characters of the show visit the beach on two separate occasions:
  • In episode 4, the characters Sakura Hibiki, Souryuuin Akemi, Uehara Ayaka, and Tachibana Satomi had plans to go to the beach before the end of their summer vacation. and have fun. However, when they get there, they find that they cannot participate in the typical beach activities due to some hammerhead sharks off-shore. Since their plans were derailed, the group, following Akemi's suggestion, decides to do some muscle training at the beach.
  • In episode 12, the whole cast visits the beach as a part of an excursion hosted by the gym they use. There, they participate in some typical beach activities, such as watermelon smashing and a muscle-themed beauty contest.
• In chapters 24-25 of I Think I Turned My Childhood Friend Into a Girl, the photography club head to the beach for a photoshoot. The main conflict of the arc is Wholesome Crossdresser Hiura wondering about what kind of swimsuit to wear.
• If Her Flag Breaks: In the twelfth chapter of the manga (episode 6 of the anime), a few members of the cast (Souta, Megumu, Nanami, Ruri, and Tsumugi) hang out at the beach.
• Downplayed in Kaguya-sama: Love Is War. A single panel at the start of the summer vacation arc shows Fujiwara and her sisters at a beach during their family vacation to Hawaii and the possibility of a trip to the beach comes up when the student council are discussing potential plans for a group trip, but there is never a dedicated beach chapter.
• Kaiju Girl Caramelise has two chapters where Manatsu brings Kuroe and Rairi to a beach on a mysterious island, partly to swim and to enjoy nice food, but mainly to conduct a ceremony to summon Harugon so Manatsu can declare her love to him.
• Kamisama Kiss has Nanami going on a trip with some school friends to the beach and dragging Tomoe along for the ride. He didn't want to go because he had previously pissed off a ocean demon and was wary of setting foot in the ocean again.
• Kasei Yakyoku: The third OVA has this, which features a traditional festival Sara and Taka having sex in a small beach town.
• Kenko Zenrakei Suieibu Umisho has several beach episodes, including the start of the first episode when Amuro's house arrives at the beach. Since the show focuses on a swim team, though, the cast is almost always in swimwear anyway.
• Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple has a couple of them, during which Kenichi's masters still manage to rope into doing some training:
  • In the first one, the cast goes to an island owned by the Elder, and they try to get Kenichi to jump off a cliff so he loses his fear of water. Shigure finds him when he tries to escape the others and teaches him how to swim.
  • Later, when Ma Renka shows up at the dojo, she tells Kenichi to come with her to learn how to make his own signature Finishing Move. Turns out it was just an excuse to drag him to the local indoor pool to hang out together, but everyone catches on and they go all together.
• Kimagure Orange Road. The pilot is a Beach Episode. There is another one later heavily based on it. Both of these episodes were based on the same story in the manga, with the second one (set in a skiing resort) being the accurate one. Even more surprising was that during these two episodes, things between Kyōsuke and Madoka progressed somewhat, especially without Hikaru around as much to be a Clingy Jealous Girl.
• Kimi ni Todoke has a beach chapter; the main characters all go to the beach in chapter 51. It doesn't really have any fanservice, though, considering that Chizu's the only character who turns up in her swimsuit and Ayane accuses her of being childish for wanting to swim.
• The Different from Usual – Color of Summer chapters of Kitsune no Yomeiri see the main characters and their friends invited to a beach resort run by Kanon the Tanuki who wanted to use the opportunity to continue her rivalry with Kyouka.
• K-On! managed to impressively fit two into a fourteen-episode season (episode 4 and episode 10), separated by an in-universe year. The second season (K-On!!) only did a single pool-based episode (despite having more episodes to play with). However they compensated by doing a Maid Cafe sequence in another episode.
• Even Laid-Back Camp, where the cast live in a landlocked region, cannot avoid this. The OVA released for the third BD volume had Nadeshiko and the others stranded on a tropical island, where they make use of the island's resources to survive and have a camping trip of sorts here.
• Last Period has the heroes go to the beach in episode 8. Instead of being on a quest to fight Spirals like usual, they're working ordinary part-time jobs like lifeguard or food vendor.
• Linebarrels of Iron (anime) has one, and it plays out like a cross between the Bleach beach episode and a satire of something from a hentai.
• The anime of Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! has the distinction that the Beach Episode is the first serious episode. They reveal why the main female character is like she is. When her dad died, she started acting like this because she doesn't want to accept the reality that he's dead.
• Lucky Star also features a Beach Episode, complete with characters bemoaning the lack of interest from guys, the protagonist's attempts to be more appealing with an inner tube, and a scene picking apart the trope of vacation food actually being pretty terrible.
• Lyrical Nanoha:
  • The third Megami Sound Stage, which took place in a beach, parodied the tendency for this trope to be used as an excuse for Fanservice when Hayate cheerfully announced that she, Nanoha, Fate, and Vivio were doing the recording in swimsuits. When everyone else reacted in surprise at her comment, saying that they're all in uniform, Hayate explained that since this is an audio media, she's sure everyone listening was imagining them in swimsuits regardless of what they're wearing.
  • The final ViVid Strike! OVA is a Beach Episode. It's rather notable since it's the first time that the series has had a proper fanservice episode since the original series 12 years earlier (the rest had been relegated to Sound Stages or the manga).
• Macross 7, never accused of being the most plot-heavy of series early on in its run, has one as well... only an emergency related to an attack by the Varuta caused Basara and Mylene to get trapped in between two emergency bulkheads and nearly freeze to death in a rather ironic subversion.
• Madlax has this, sort of, in episode 9, unless you count a luxury resort as a beach. It is also one of the few times in the entire series that we get to see Elenore wearing something other than her uniform.
• Maken-ki!: Minori arranges a group vacation to Okino Island]] for herself, Ms. Aki, and the student council between chapters 28 and 30, which also includes part of chapter 37. The anime loosely follows the same story during episode 13 and the OVA.
• Mars Daybreak manages to get one despite the fact that there aren't any beaches on Mars: The pirates found a spot on the planet where The Federation's satellite surveillance system was blind for one day out of the year, and so take advantage of the situation to open up a swimming pool on top of their sub.
• Martian Successor Nadesico has both a bonafide Beach Episode early in the series, and a swimsuit contest onboard of the eponymous spaceship later in the series. And even so, things still occurred that were quite amusing, and didn't end up as something that 'never happened.' Especially with the Admiral's fate in the first of these two.
• Mazinkaiser OVA has a classic Beach Episode with explicit Fanservice that may have given Kouji's perverted little brother Shirou a permanent... yeah. The Professor's shapely twin assistants need someone to oil them, for starters.
• Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch. Practically every episode has the beach in it, though as expected for the demographic a lot of Fanservice is male. There are more traditional Beach Episodes, though, such as the "Mermaid Contest" episode, where the girls try to show off talents and compete with the Dark Lovers in a beachside beauty contest. In the manga, Lucia even wins by inadvertently flashing the audience when her bikini top comes undone.
• Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid has a chapter where Kobayashi takes Tohru and Kanna to the beach, which end up leading to a discussion about family and the nature of growing up. The anime had Shouta and Lucoa come along and added Smashing Watermelons and some fanservice.
• One episode of Modern Magic Made Simple has the cast going to a water park. Then magic affects the wave-pool, causing a giant wave that they have to stop.
• Since the Moldiver episode "Overzone" takes place at Florida's Cape Canaveral, the Ozoras and their friends initially spend their time on the local beach.
• Mother of the Goddess' Dormitory: The cast, as they travel to their vacation destination in episode 5, see and exclaim 'It's the beach!'. However, their visit to the beach is delayed till episode 6, as it turns out that they booked a stay at the wrong inn. In episode 6, when the cast finally goes to the beach, they do the typical activities one does at the beach, such as playing beach volleyball, swimming in the water, relaxing under an umbrella, etc. Naturally, the cast are in swim attire.
• My Hero Academia:
  • The anime's third season starts off with a Pool Episode (which also doubles as a Recap Episode). Upon learning that the girls will be using the school swimming pool, Mineta and Kaminari scheme to have a "training session" the same day so that they can ogle them. They invite Izuku along to make it seem more legit to the teachers; Izuku, unaware of their plan, invites all of the other guys, so an actual Shirtless Scene-heavy training session ensues. The girls are there, but they turn out to be wearing School Swimsuits instead of the tiny bikinis that Mineta and Kaminari had been expecting.
  • The fifth season has an anime-exclusive episode in which Selkie teams up with Ryukyu's agency to catch some criminals smuggling Quirk-enhancing drugs on the high seas. While they're waiting for the opportunity to ambush the criminals, Selkie lets Ryukyu's interns Nejire, Uraraka and Tsuyu, as well as his own subordinate Sirius, relax on the beach, swim and eat barbecue. Selkie justifies this decision by saying that this will increase morale by giving the young heroes a taste of what peace feels like and reminding them what they are fighting to protect.
• My-HiME: Its Beach Episode came right off the heels of the series' first Wham Episode (Kazuya being the first "most important person" to die after Miyu betrays Akane). While Episode 9 did contain the requisite fanservice, there was also a side plot that delved into Natsuki's backstory, with her asking Mai and Mikoto to help her find more information about her Missing Mom.
• There is a beach episode to My Love Story!! . It is light on female fanservice, however Takeo gets the Female Gaze a lot due to his girlfriend Yamato squealing over his physique. Takeo gets mad at the other boys for wanting to stare at girls swimsuits (they believe the whole point of visiting the beach is to look at the girls), insisting swimsuits are for swimming in and nothing else. The episode ends with Takeo and Yamato almost having their First Kiss, though their friends ruin it.
• My-Otome: Subverted in Episode 9. Looks like a Beach Episode on the surface, but the beach actually serves as the starting point for a survival test (that later goes horribly wrong).
• Naruto doesn't have a Beach Episode (or have anything set anywhere near a beach). However, at the end of the third movie, there is a beach scene. And yes, Sakura is the focus of the scene. The series also has two Beach Ending Credits (one pre-timeskip featuring the main girls and one post-timeskip featuring a good number of the cast).
• Negima! Magister Negi Magi The manga has several chapters taking place at beaches. The original Marshmallow Hell incident occurred at one of them. Also notable that most Beach Chapters do have important or at least notable events occur during them.
  How does a shark know kung-fu?!
• Toyed with in Neon Genesis Evangelion: the rest of Shinji's class goes to Okinawa for a class trip, leaving the pilots to sit around and wait for something to attack Tokyo-3. In a reversal of the usual pattern, they find something to attack instead, leading indirectly to a Hot Springs Episode of sorts. This being Eva, of course, this doesn't turn out to be overly enjoyable..
• Nodame Cantabile. In the OVA, the main characters go to the beach, offering Nodame a chance to show herself off in a bikini.
• While Noir doesn't have a beach episode per se, one early episode has them operating out of a beach house, and includes a scene where Mireille plans the next stage of their current job while lounging on the beach in a bikini.
• Nyaruko: Crawling with Love! had one per season; the first season's episode marks some of the first real progress in Nyarko and Mahiro's relationship, while the second season's has Nyarko and Cuko wrecking an indoor water park while fighting over takoyaki. The second season's Camping Episode could be seen as a partial example, since the cast spends most of it in their swimsuits.
• Oku-sama wa Mahou Shoujo episode 7 shows Kagura going on a date to the beach.

• One Piece has one that doubles as a double Breather Episode, a two-part run at a resort after the Thriller Bark Arc, complete with requisite Fanservice for Nami and Robin, as well as stranger elements, like candy raining from the sky.
• Ouran High School Host Club:
  • There is a Beach Episode that features guys in bathing suits, but the one main female character is of course in a T-shirt and shorts, as she cannot reveal her gender. This was compensated for by having the club's customers prance about in swimwear. Hilarity Ensues? Well, not really. Instead, Kyouya acts like a creepy sexual offender, and Tamaki teaches Haruhi a vaguely sexist lesson.
  • There is another "beach" episode in which the club is on their own vacation.
• Outlaw Star has the wonderful Hot Springs of Planet Tenrei in which the crew of the ship visit an entire planet that was turned into a resort. Rather unusually it was canon since Gene collects some rare caster shell bullets from some of the monks that made them in the past. The fact that this episode contained canon information caused a bit of a plothole when CN refused to air it, given that the rare shells Gene receives in this episode are important to the finale.
• The first part of episode 9 of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. Panty and Stocking go to the beach and get into a beach volleyball match with the Demon Sisters. The opening narration even admits that they're condensing the set-up for the benefit of the male audience.
• Patlabor: The TV Series: Episode 40. Although it's the last scene of the episode that treats the viewer with a view of the team enjoying beach games and suntanning.
• Pecola: Most of the episode "Gazelle's Goof" is set on the beach. Much of the male cast such as Pecola, Rudy and Chewy are shown wearing Old-Timey Bathing Suit swimwear. They try to enjoy a day at the beach until Gazelle bothers them with his jet-ski.
• Pokémon: The Series:
  • Kanto had an episode named "Beauty and the Beach" that was — you guessed it — a Beach Episode with a swimsuit contest. It was originally cut from airing outside of Japan, but later aired as a lost episode with the most questionable part cut out: James entering the contest in a skimpy bikini with inflatable breasts. There was another altered scene during the Beauty Contest; in the dub, Misty makes a point of saying that her participation was "degrading" while she was strutting down the catwalk, while in the original, Kasumi is happily waving to the audience and chirping about how she intends to win (Kasumi also self-describes as an idol when she first appears in the episode, while Misty asks why Ash and Brock weren't meeting her at an ice cream stand).
  • Each Saga has at least one or more Beach episode. Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon even has one 12 episodes in, choosing not to waste the Alolan setting.
• The Pretty Cure franchise has one Beach Episode per season, but, notably, it's not for fanservice. The girls never wear swimsuits and they don't swim at all. There is rare case where Karen wears a swimsuit at a swimming pool (still in the Beach Episode), but you don't see much skin. She doesn't swim either.
• The Prince of Tennis: Inverted when the main characters take a break to play in an unofficial beach volleyball tournament. Male ass is revealed, and the only woman in a swimsuit is pushing 50, resulting in severe nausea when she tries to be seductive. Also a parody, since this episode was an Alternate Continuity version of PoT where the cast played beach volleyball rather than tennis. When Inui realized the truth and tried to tell the others, the word "tennis" was censored out, as if some cosmic force were trying to stop him. The episode in itself is infamous in the fandom for two things. One, the aforementioned Ryuzaki-sensei's Fan Disservicey antics. Second, because Inui is given the Butt-Monkey treatment and then some.
• Prunus Girl has a beach trip in the second chapter. Kadoyama is eager to see what Aikawa picks out to wear, but it ends up just being shorts and a hoodie.
• Psychic Academy had a short arc which tool place during a summer training session at the beach. It's actually plot relevant, as it reveals the existence of the Paradream and that the girl that Ai met on the beach all those years before was Mew, not Orina. It was the last story arc to be animated, despite it happening roughly a third of the way through the manga.
• RahXephon: Subverted in episode 8 is set up as a Beach Episode, with everyone wearing swimsuits, but... it's Christmas, it begins to snow, and the rest of it is played more or less like a typical Christmas episode.
• Ranma ½ has almost an entire movie as a Beach Episode, as well as a pair of regular ones. An interesting note is the transition from manga to anime actually removes one as the setting was changed from a beach to a ski resort (though it also adds another one as filler). The "Ranma Goes Hawaiian!" chapter in the manga functions also as a beach episode.
• Reborn! has one, where Tsuna gets a lifeguard job with his friends.
• Rosario + Vampire gets one in the anime and one in the manga, which are completely unrelated. In the anime, the Witch's Hill arc began with a beach trip, whereas the manga focused a later arc around a beachside hostel. There was fanservice, yes, but both were Darker and Edgier than the typical example.
• Saber Marionette J does not have a true Beach Episode in its TV run, but it does feature a contest with several of the female characters in swimsuits instead. Also, the manga version has an actual beach chapter, complete with two beach volleyball games.
• Sailor Moon. The '90s Shōjo anime has at least one Beach Episode per season. Notably, the one for Sailor Moon R was absent not only from the DiC dub, but also from the ADV Films uncut DVD release; the incident is often presented as "the creators didn't like it", however it's possible that DiC simply decided to not even bother with this episode and didn't acquire it (ADV apparently used the same masters; the episode was released as part of the Viz Media dub). The episode is rather silly: it isn't a part of the season's main storyline, and involves Chibi-Usa and what appears to be a baby plesiosaur.
• Episode 7a of Sakura Trick was aptly titled Swimsuit Fanservice ☆ Accidents Included.
• Samurai Harem: Asu no Yoichi actually has its beach episode mixed with storyline and one character's development. In the manga, this is when the villains of the arc show up (they weren't even hinted at before this) for the first time as well.
• Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei has a fairly normal episode in which the cast are all at a water park for some reason and Nozomu is mistaken for a pervert due to a trick played on him by Majiru and Kafuka. There's also a rather bizarre episode in which it is revealed that the cast aren't actually at a beach — it's just a fake background —, they are actually just at school. However, it's not the school that they are usually at, it's one on the other side of the country. And everyone is there, including the hikikomori.
• Episode 0 of Sekirei: Pure Engagement. It pretty much takes what was already a fanservice laden Harem Anime and ramps up the fanservice to eleven.
• Episode 3 of Seven Mortal Sins takes place in a beach in Miami. Fanservice ensues.
• School-Live!:
  • The anime manages to have a pool episode despite being set in a Zombie Apocalypse. It's a Breather Episode set right after the girls find out the government was involved with the zombies. It takes place on a water tank on top of the school used as an aquatic environment. The girls clean it up then goof off, complete with a dramatic watergun fight parodying western movies. It also manages to be a Wham Episode. It ends with The Reveal that a zombified Megu-nee 'lives' in the school basement, which the girls need to check out soon.
  • The manga has a chapter similar to a beach episode, except its by a riverside instead.
• School Rumble: The beach episode had an awkward moment for Eri and a very naked Harima.
• Sgt. Frog does about one of these a year. The anime tries to balance the fanservice in the first one by throwing in a comedy contest, whereas the original manga was a straight-up swimsuit contest. Involves at least one girl losing her top in front of many geeks, who are there for the Gundam models as much as the swimsuit models. Inverted in the manga with a women's skiing contest during a trip to the mountains, and in an episode of the anime featuring a man-only beefcake contest.
• SHUFFLE!: The first half of episode 9 involves the whole cast enjoying themselves at the beach, including Asa getting her bikini top washed away by a large wave. The second half takes a slightly more serious turn to get in some character development between Rin and Sia, but it still ends on a silly note.
• Sk8 the Infinity's alleged Hot Springs Episode turns into one of these instead, with all the boys getting sidetracked once Langa sees the ocean for the first time in his life, spending a big part of the episode messing around and having fun together at the beach. Reki and Langa have a significant boyfriend-girlfriend comedy skit during it that's called back on in significant ways later, including later on in the very episode.
• Sonic X: Even this has a beach episode with Amy Rose, in a swimsuit, that has a prominent focus in the episode.
• The second season of Sound! Euphonium has an episode where the girls go to the pool.
• Spider Riders: Episode 31. Although it only manages to work due to a Lotus-Eater Machine, and the episode isn't a filler like many of the other examples.
• SSSS.GRIDMAN functionally fulfills this trope with the fifth episode, where the class goes rafting on a field trip. Features everyone in bathing suits (a really skimpy one in Akane's case). Also features actual plot, with Akane deciding that Hibaki really is Gridman and summoning a Kaiju, which the others can't defeat unless they manage to get Junk.
• Star Driver has one. It does take place on a tropical island, so it's more surprising that there is only one. Not a filler one either, as it introduces two recurring villains, has Vanishing Age take over Glittering Crux and destroy the Electric Biers and sets up the fights/plot for (most) of the rest of the series.
• Strawberry Marshmallow has Nobue take the girls to the beach one summer break; slightly parodies the trope, as Miu comments that her friends should have "sexy" swimsuits like hers.
• Strike Witches: First season has a run-of-the mill type of Beach Episode; girls relaxing in bikinis have to scramble when the enemy attacks. As for the second season, there is this quote from Sankaku Complex:
  The 9th episode of Strike Witches 2 is the obligatory beach swimwear service episode — however, fan enthusiasm was muted by the presence of rather more "quality" in the episode than Strike Witches fans have come to expect...
• Summer Time Rendering features a rather serious beach episode within a beach episode.
  • Shinpei takes Sou to an empty beach so he can entrust him with his secrets regarding the time loops and reveal that Ushio is still alive thanks to her shadow. Hijinks ensue when Sou reacts to Shadow Ushio like he's seen a ghost.
  • After using her cell phone to regain her memories, Shadow Ushio uses her power to show Shinpei and Sou the memories of the day Ushio died. It starts with everyone in their swimsuits having a fun day at the beach, but it's not long before Shiori is dragged into the water by her shadow while nobody is looking and Ushio's rescue attempt ends in failure.
• Suzuka has a beach episode of sorts (Episode 12 of the anime) where Yamato and the others visit a water park after being offered free tickets. Rather than being shoe-horned in as fanservice, the trip to the pool actually serves as a plot device to develop the love triangle between Yamato, Honoka and Suzuka further.
• Tamako Market's episode 5 is one, which focuses less on fanservice than a love triangle formed between Tamako, Mochizou, and Midori.
• Tenchi Universe has a Beach Episode once with the obligatory bikini contest. Funny considering every other episode IS a Hot Springs Episode.
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann plays with this. When the crew arrive at the sea for the first time and the the girls demonstrate the connection between beaches and skimpy outfits, almost everyone turns expectantly to Yoko. After "voicing" her dissatisfaction, she appears in a beach outfit that is rather more conservative than her usual attire. Considering that she normally wears a string bikini and daisy dukes, if it got any skimpier she would just be naked. Even so, the episode is no filler as it features Yoko developing trust in Nia for the first time, as well as the death of a recurring villain.
• This Ugly Yet Beautiful World has one right after a Hot Springs Episode.
• Tokyo Mew Mew has a Beach Episode that focused mainly on Lettuce trying to help a little girl learn to swim and learning to swim herself.
• To Love Ru:
  • Several times that include: a school trip, invited to Saki's private beach or when they go to Okinawa with Lala's teleporter machine and turns out that they are on a separate planet, called Okiwan!.
  • The third OVA. It is so overloaded with fanservice it seemingly forgets to have a plot or dialog and just features the girls posing in swimsuits to ambient music for several minutes at a time. And then there's the comparison of tanlines near the end...
  • The last story-arc is set in a public pool.
• Tomica Hyper Rescue Drive Head Kidou Kyuukyuu Keisatsu: Episode 16, a complete filler episode where Munakata and Shinmon bring the kids to an island for summer vacation.
• Toradora!: Episodes 9 and 10 of the anime feature the cast having fun at the beach.
• Urusei Yatsura generally incorporates several Beach Episodes into every summer vacation arc. Interestingly, while most of the Aliens in the cast wear swimsuit-type outfits for daily wear, they usually change over to Earth-style swimsuits to hit the beach. Or the pool as it may turn out.
• Uta∽Kata takes place in the Japanese town of Kamakura, known for its beautiful beaches, so the occurrence of a Beach Episode is almost inevitable. In fact, there are two of those and both of them are relevant to the plot.
• Vividred Operation had this: Akane and her friends, while collecting garbage at the class' beach trip, are lured to challenge Kenjirou (Akane's grandfather), who had "kidnapped" Rei, as a part of the increasing friendship power test.
• Wandering Son has a non-traditional beach chapter. Middle schooler Maho wants to visit the beach with her boyfriend, but her dad won't let her go out alone with him. Much to her annoyance, he makes them take along Maho's younger sibling Nitori. We never see Riku, Maho, or Nitori in swimwear. The chapter barely even takes place on a beach, instead focusing on the train to and from the beach. It features one of the most notable instances of Maho showing that she cares for her little sister. Maho freaks out over the thought someone 'mistook' Nitori for a girl and kidnapped her.
• Wedding Peach averts the filler part by having the Beach Episode in the first part of the OVA, and it's where their new enemy appears.
• Welcome to the NHK has the main character join up with the girl he had a crush on in high school and a few of her internet friends to go off to a beach island...where it turns out that everyone there except him is part of a suicide pact that they plan to make good on there. Hilarity Ensues...until it doesn't.
• Witchblade has one. Perhaps memorable for having possibly the most prominent use of boob bounce in the series, as Masane runs towards the screen, whilst undressing to a white bikini.
• The anime Filler Arc of World Trigger features the main cast hanging out at a fancy pool with two Neighbor fugitives, and it's the only time in the entire series up until that point where you'll see the cast wearing swimsuits. Sadly their fun day is ruined when the Arc Villain barges in to kidnap the fugitives.
• ×××HOLiC has one. It exchanges fanservice and being filler for a downright creepy Stinger and a plot about Watanuki needing to trust Doumeki rather than being too headstrong.
• Yo-kai Watch has two beach episodes. The first involves the boys wondering about the girls swimsuits, only for Katie to come out wearing a dive suit because she's going snorkeling. The other episode was skipped in the English dub because it involved the boys swimsuits accidentally falling off and them improvising.
• Yu-Gi-Oh! GX episode 47 has Manjyome challenging Asuka to a duel on the beach in an attempt to win her heart.
• Episode seven of Yuki Yuna is a Hero has the girls celebrating the defeat of the Vertexes by taking a vacation to the beach. They also visit a hot spring afterwards. It's a Breather Episode right before the series hits Cerebus Syndrome with episode eight. The Stinger shows that the Vertexes are back.
• Chapter 24 of Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs, is the start of the Seaside school arc.

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