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Bathtub Scene

One of the most simple forms of Fanservice is having an attractive female or male spend a small amount of screen time in the tub. Many films usually use this as an easy excuse for nudity. Even though they are not very necessary, bathtub scenes usually seem to sneak their way into many forms of media even though most of the time they're unnecessary to the plot. If they do advance the plot, that's often due to a deadly twist.

When a bubble bath is involved, the Bath Kick is probably close by. Can include candles and Censor Suds usually come in. This trope is a variation of the Shower Scene. See Furo Scene for the Japanese variation.

Examples

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Anime & Manga

Blair from Soul Eater first appears in a bubbly bathtub scene in which Soul lands in her bathtub during the first episode.
- Blair has another in episode 4.
- Tsubaki has one in a wooden bathtub in episode 14.
Zoids Genesis has many with the Bathing Beauty Colonel Felme who even has bathed in an Awkwardly-Placed Bathtub.
Many episodes of Maicchingu Machiko Sensei include a scene with the title character in the bath tub. One scene involved one of her students attempting to join her. Yeah, it's that kind of an anime.
In the second episode of 009-1, main protagonist Mylene Hoffman is taking a bubble bath, but is interrupted and sent on a mission.
A Little Snow Fairy Sugar always ends with tween Saga and the titular character sharing a bubble bath as they reflect on the events of the episode. The Censor Suds keep it clean.
Bulma from Dragon Ball has a bubble bath in the second episode and is then seen naked by Goku, who makes comments about her cleavage, which is covered by the bubbles, and says it looks like a butt. She also has one in a filler scene in episode 49 of Dragon Ball Z during the Frieza Saga where she is in a capsule house in the bathtub talking to her father on a radio.
In the wartime Girls Love manga series Kurogane Pukapuka Tai, there's an unwilling one where stinky U-Boat captain Nina Stortebeker is hauled off and thrown in the tub before being scrubbed with a long-handled broom. Played for fanservice, naturally.
Pretty much every episode of Hidamari Sketch contains someone having a bath. It's usually Yuno, but it has been Sae, Hiro, Miyako, and Yoshinoya-sensei. One episode had short snippets of each one singing part of the first season theme song, but most often, whoever it is says something referring to what happened.
- By contrast, such scenes are few and far between in the manga.
In Sailor Moon Esmeraude had a bathscene where she was talking to her boss. A lot is actually shown, in comparison to her closed-up outfit.
The vampire villain, Camula, has a short scene in the bath after she sends her bats to spy on various duellists in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. Her entire role is very much played for fanservice, being the only attractive female to appear up to that point (except Asuka).
The Dirty Pair movie known as Project Eden has our two heroines stop in the middle of their mission in an abandoned mine for them to engage in small talk while they have baths in a room that conveniently had multiple bathtubs filled with hot soapy water, but then becomes a significant plot point when they are attacked by alien-like creatures and are forced to retreat with just a Modesty Towel for the rest of the movie.
Neon Genesis Evangelion has a few bathtub scenes primarily used to show introspection on behalf of the characters of Misato and Asuka. Both of their respective scenes are part fanservice, part "What I am doing with my life everything is crazy" rants.
Would you believe there's an entire wiki devoted to this trope? Ain't the internet great?
- The crazy part is not that the wiki exists, but how serious it is.
The episode of Azumanga Daioh narrated by Chiyo shows snippets of what her fellow main characters are doing at the end of the day. Osaka is relaxing in the tub... which hides everything but her appendages.
Squid Girl has a couple of quick ones: When Squid Girl is sick, one of the remedies they attempt before finding out what the illness is is a soak in hot & cold water. The other is an Imagine Spot where Sanae imagines what she could do with something that makes you invisible... such as watch Squid Girl bathe.
Battle Tendency, the 2nd part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has a bathtub scene with Lisa Lisa after Jojo defeats AC/DC. The anime version definitely increased the Fanservice.
In Axis Powers Hetalia, Japan gets one in season five.

Comicbooks

Phantom Lady would occasionally end her adventures with a nice hot bath, and bubbles. Back in 1942.

Films — Live-Action

Slither has one which is used a lot as promotion for the movie (being the only reason to see it).
The title character of Carrie has a bathtub scene in the 1974 version, where she washes all the pig's blood off her in the bathtub equivalent of a Shower of Angst.
There's a bathtub scene in Pretty Woman for Julia Roberts to enjoy the five-star accomodations, that works kinda sorta as Fanservice, though only her head and one of her legs are showing for most of the scene.
In The Truth About Cats and Dogs, Janeane Garofalo and Ben Chaplin have a phone conversation, each in a separate bubble bath. In this case, the Censor Suds also cover Garofalo's tattoos.
Short Circuit has Ally Sheedy (as Stephanie Speck) relaxing in the bathtub as Number 5 comes in to show he is still alive.
Black Swan has one, but it soon turns into Fan Disservice.
In In A Dark Place, Leelee Sobieski's character Anna enjoys taking scented baths and showing her sexy back to the camera.
In Back to the Future II, Marty interrupts Biff with two ladies in one of these, to ask about Gray's Sports Almanac.
In Original Sin, Angelina Jolie and Antonio Banderas take a bath together in a tin tub. Jolie's breasts are readily visible. In a case of Best Known For The Fanservice, this and the actual sex scene are probably the only things anyone takes away from the film.
In Out of Sight, as escaped bank robber Jack Foley soaks in a tub, US Marshal Karen Sisco confronts him. After clearly eying his nether regions (his eyes are closed and he's presumably unaware of her presence), she leans over to kiss him, eventually climbing into the tub with him before it's revealed that she's dreaming.

Live-Action TV

Angel: Used as a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming in the Season 3 premiere. Seeing Cordy is in pain and distraught over yet another vision, her resident ghost prepares a nice foamy bath and scrubs her back with a loofah.
Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction: The protagonist of "The Getaway", when she's on the phone with her neighbor.
The Conditions Of Great Detectives: Has one bathtub scene with Tenkaichi, though it does show off the fact he never takes his hat off.
Hawking: Has a few. The context is a bit sad - the character in question is an Ill Boy testing his lung capacity - but not quite sad enough to turn wet Benedict Cumberbatch into Fan Disservice.
The Invisible Woman: Alexa Hamilton has a bathtub scene after becoming invisible in this Pilot Movie.
JAG: Mac has one in "A Tangled Webb (Part 2)" with Scenery Censor.
Revolution: Charlie gets one in one episode.
The Sarah Connor Chronicles: One episode shows Sarah shaving in the tub, when she accidentally cuts herself. Cue dramatic shot of blood in the water.
The Scarlet Pimpernel: Young Lord Tony Dewhurst (Jamie Bamber) has a bath in public, with several girls washing him. He's a bit ashamed and tries to protest, but Mr. Fanservice has his duties. Comments from Tony's friends suggest that it might have lead to an off-screen Shower of Love and the loss of his virginity.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: In the episode "Crossover", Intendant Kira greets Major Kira as the Intendant is just coming out of her bath, escalating the sexual tension of the scene.
Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger: The entire shtick of Umeko/[DekaPink], rubber duckies and all.
True Blood: Bill and Sookie bathe in an old-fashioned claw-footed bathtub after they have sex for the first time.

Webcomics

Parodied in the Order of the Stick prequel volume On the Origins of PCs, in which Haley's bath is interrupted and she complains about her fanservice scene being cut short. Note that this is a Stick Figure Comic (unusually well crafted and expressive stick figures, true, but even so, it requires a rather active imagination to get turned on by them).
Supernormal Step gives us a bathtub scene here.
Tower Of God, chapter 89: the (mostly) male cast of Season 2 has a bath and massage session, all for the purpose of characterization and foreshadowing. No, seriously.