Misused: Ms Fanservice

I agree. Unless we can make a trope that covers "Rounded Character Who Spends Most of Time Being Fanservicey."

Same here.

Firstly, this is the first paragraph of the Fanservice page: Characters in skimpy clothing, or skin-tight clothing, or none at all, under the assumption that it will attract or "reward" viewers. The character is usually female, though fanservice of male characters is actually just as if not more common due to trends like Bishonen Jump Syndrome. Therein may lie the root of the problem...

Here are some rules I notice. All of them may not be true. I ask that you guys comment on which ones are true, which are not true, and anything else you need to say.

• 0.Her very existence onscreen or in writing seems to be to titillate the viewer. Every moment she's encountered arouses the audience.
• 1.Most of her actions, if not every single one, is either done or technically composed in a sexual manner; through camera work, the focus is on those actions to make her look sexually appealing.
• 2.Whatever female assets are arousing to the target audience will be accentuated.
• 3.Her clothes serve to accentuate those particular assets, or are chosen to be arousing; if the target audience thinks kimono are very sexy, she'll have a zillion sumptuous selection of kimono, for example, or one very blatantly appealing kimono if outfits are limited in that work.
• 4.The aforementioned aspects of her character overshadow everything else she does. She can be a rocket scientist, but that is not the most remembered part of her character.
  • 4.5Her sexiness is her defining trait in such a way that nothing else matters.
• 5.There can be more than one Ms. Fanservice in one work if she fulfills all of the rules too (whatever all the rules are when we decide).
• 6.(My opinion) The fanservice this character provides has no bearing on the narrative and is purely for the pleasure of the viewer. Justification is weak.

• 7Ms. Fanservice may sport an outfit that is dissonant with her setting. Ex: wearing a miniskirt and tight shirt to an office setting; wearing a bikini into battle; wearing no support on top while being active.

edited 19th May '14 9:44:10 AM by Lakija

I say that 0, 2, 3, and 5 are true. And for the record, Shimaspawn, I've never seen Ms. Fanservice used in the way that you're using, i.e. "the narrative would be completely the same without you".

Yeah, most of the well-known examples of the trope are main (or at least important secondary) characters. There's Yoko from Gurren Lagann, Daisy from The Dukes of Hazzard, and so on.

edited 19th May '14 8:07:47 AM by Discar

^ and ^^ Perhaps it's more accurate to say that: The narrative would be the same without her fan service. Therefore, her fan service offers no additional narrative relevance.

For example, if that chick from gurren lagan, Yoko, was wearing a tank top instead, and wasn't subjected to so many bad camera shots (panty, pelvic, boobs... seriously...) then the story itself wouldn't change that much. If the males in the show didn't actively and shamelessly drool over her in a bathing suit, then the story would continue anyway.

edited 19th May '14 9:36:48 AM by Lakija

Actually, the one time she wore a real bathing suit, they didn't drool over her. ("What the hell? She's showing less skin than usual.")

But seriously, I understand what you mean, though I'm not sure if I agree with it. Doesn't most fanservice fit the definition of "could be removed without impacting the plot"?

edited 19th May '14 9:42:51 AM by Discar

Must've read that example wrong. Was on a site with a fan of the show talking about her.

Eh. Point's still the same. And yeah, that's what fan service is about. It still applies here. If you strip this character of the ways she provides fan service, she'll still be the same character and the story will still be the same.

But you can't remove the whole character, because she could be integral to the plot.

I have a proposition to make:

Can we make a set of criteria for a Ms. Fanservice? She wouldn't have to meet every single point, but if she meets the majority of the points, then she is a Ms. Fanservice. Here's a bingo game about whether a female's armor is inappropriate. At Repair Her Armor people play with it.

I propose we create a similar template.

But that may be too outside the box. It would reconcile the differing opinions though while keeping true to the trope.

Good idea? Or horrible idea?

edited 19th May '14 8:17:14 PM by Lakija

I agree with Lakija.

If it's that broad then maybe we need more subtropes. I dunno, but trying to do something like bingo with a trope just feels wrong. These are supposed recognizable patterns.

edited 19th May '14 9:12:46 PM by captainpat

That's the point. It is recognizable, but that's why there are tropes called Sliding Scale Of Whatever. Everything isn't always black and white.

Honestly, that bingo card looks like fuel for a Sister Trope to Chainmail Bikini, or maybe a supertrope about unrealistic female armor designs in general.

EDIT: Looking at Chainmail Bikini, that seems to already cover what I'm talking about, but it would be handy to include in the content somehow.

edited 20th May '14 4:16:55 AM by Willbyr

It's just an example of what we could create specifically for this trope. But would it work?

Alternately, we could not do that, lol. XD I wonder should I make a mock up.

edited 20th May '14 6:20:16 AM by Lakija

Clock is set. I really don't want to see this bingo card idea die.

I'm okay with the bingo card idea if we can hash out some specific requirements.

I think Lakija's post here could serve as a good starting point, then.

Sorry for the absence. :( I will try that card out.

Here is the first try.

Try #1. I realized that bingo requires very short sentences or like three words. Yeah... if anyone can shorten these lines to three words, be my guest. So this is a different yet closely related format. Your thoughts?

edited 28th Jun '14 4:16:44 PM by Lakija

bumping for opinion. Continue? Abandon? Change?

Appears good enough to me

Seems good to me. I might take a stab at condensing them later.

Okay. Who wants to give it a try? I tried Ivy from Soul Calibur. Across the board pass.

We should see if the test works a lot of the time.

Can you elaborate on how she made an "across the board" pass? I mean, IINM we would be supposed to explain how she fits the trope in her example entry, and likewise with other characters. If nothing else, doing so for a variety of test examples here would help illustrate just how diverse are the ways that the bingo list can be fulfilled.

Here is my (rough!!) crack at it:

• Soul Calibur: Many of the characters have noticeable fan service features, but Ivy is the resident queen.
  • Check 1: (not totally sure I cannot remember a lot of her story stuff)
  • Check 2: When she is on camera she is often subjected to Male Gaze style zoom ins. Her fighting style is inherently erotic (the whip being a weapon reminiscent of dommes). (if I am remembering right..) Ads featuring her are typically composed with her butt first towards the viewer, showing her thong to all and sundry. Official art often has her posing in either an exaggerated curve with swayed hips or in boobs and butt pose.
  • Check 3: Her clothing backs up the allusion to dominatrices being made of tiny straps of leather and many weirdly positioned spikes. Her default costume has become memetic and is often used as a punchline about weirdly elaborate fetish clothing on fictional characters.
  • Check 4: (her overt sexiness is certainly what people remember, but again I am having trouble remembering her plot specifics)
  • Check 5: The target audience of the the games advertise determines the characters likely to be in the Ads, Ivy is right next to Taki in characters meant to sell you the game on sexiness.
  • Check 6: Her default outfit is absolutely inappropriate for fighting, something she is supposed to be there to do. There is little protection in many areas where she opts to show skin, and the whole things looks difficult to move in to boot. It also feels out-of-place next to the medieval armor and traditional Japanese outfits many of the other characters are wearing.
  • Check 7: She is meant to be a fighter, daughter of a pirate ghost, who is trying to get a cursed sword and/ or stop others from doing the same so no, her sexiness is not really necessary to the plot.

Like I said, this is very rough and I am not a huge Soul Calibure fan so it is missing a lot. Also some of it might be incorrect? I am mostly just trying to get a feel for how examples cold be written for maximum clarity and to make sure the trope is used correctly. This may be too clunky, however.

edited 8th Jul '14 3:30:14 PM by rexpensive