Non-fanservice fanservice tropes: Fanservice

Someone started a discussion just now about how we have too many fanservice/sex tropes. The discussion got locked, so let's not talk about that.

Instead, let's talk about how fanservice has too many subtropes, many of which are not quite fanservice. They may relate to fanservice in some manner, or people may feel aroused watching the scene, but they have a primary purpose other than, as we define fanservice, displaying under- or skimpily-dressed characters to "reward" viewers. They are still valid tropes, for the most part, but we have other sex and nudity indexes for cataloging them.

Here are what I see as some of the misfiled tropes. Do people agree?

• Please Put Some Clothes On - A character walking around naked? Fanservice. This trope, which covers another character's flustered reaction? Comedy, maybe even drama, but not fanservice.
• Distracted by the Sexy, Eating the Eye Candy, She Cleans Up Nicely - Again, someone's being sexy, and a contributor will surely list it under the appropriate pages. But this trope is about someone else's reaction, which is not fanservice.
• Not Distracted by the Sexy, Ignore the Fanservice - Ditto. (And the latter misuses "fanservice"; it should be Ignore The Sexy)
• Anime Anatomy - This trope concerns characters' lack of sexual organs. I do not think that supplies fanservice; correct me if I am wrong. The nude scene itself offers fanservice, but not the anime anatomy.
• Ass Kicks You - This is about fighting someone with your ass, perhaps while farting. The quote is from South Park. The description refers to Toilet Humor and makes no mention of fanservice. (Yeah, everything turns on someone, but that doesn't make all tropes fanservice.
• Contemptible Cover, Hello Boys, Lady Not-Appearing-in-This-Game, Sex for Product - Though they share many elements with fanservice, and will use fanservice subtropes, I think we should instead equate these with Sex Sells or Sexy Packaging, which are non-fanservice tropes. These forms of sexy material aren't supposed to pop up in the narrative to reward viewers. They're advertising to draw viewers in. (This point is more debatable than others on this list.) I think this is most clear with Sex for Product, which needn't include sexy imagery at all but just the argument that a product will get you sex.
• Dojikko - This trope is about clumsiness. Which may be adorable, or even sexually appealing, but that's not fanservice as we've defined it.
• Fan Disservice - It is the opposite of fanservice. I therefore see the temptation to add it to a fanservice index," but it is assuredly not a fanservice subtrope.
• Fanservice Pack - Given the name and page image, you'd think this was surely about fanservice. But read the whole article. It's about characters' increasingly attractive portrayals over a series run, sometimes to please viewers, sometimes because kid actors grow up and sometimes because minor characters gain importance. A single scene in underwear is fanservice. A long-term shift to better make-up is not. So this trope may list fanservice scenes as evidence, but the overall trope is not a subtrope of fanservice.
• Footsie Under the Table - Though people use the term "fanservice" for a lot, we call it "under- or skimpily-dressed characters to reward the viewer." A footsie scene is sexy in a "look at this character dynamic!" way, and it's Fetish Fuel, and it's Foot Focus, but it's not fanservice.
• Gag Penis - Penises can be fanservice. Gag Penises, by definiton, are not. Note that even Gag Boobs isn't a fanservice trope.
• Going Commando - If dispensing with underwear reveals a sexy figure, that's fanservice. As written, this isn't a trope at all.
• Instant Cosplay Surprise - Though I'm sure people find cosplay sexy, and some individual costumes have their own fanservice tropes, this trope talks people changing costumes instantly. it labels itself a subtrope of Changing Clothes Is a Free Action, and its description does not refer to fanservice, other than listing the possible "fetish wear," and the fetish wear, not the change's instantness, is the fanservice.
• Lift And Carry - "It is about girls/women who show their strength by lifting or carrying another woman or even men." Fetish Fuel, sure. Fanservice, no.
• Modesty Bedsheet - Though the description notes that a woman attired in bedsheet's sexier than one fully clothed, this trope juxtaposes the bedsheet against the expected state - nudity. Neither the quote nor any of the examples look to the fanservice potential. This is a Censorship Trope.
• Modesty Towel - Like above - the shower is sexy, the covering, not so much. I thought the examples might focus on characters looking sexy in towels, but no, they treat this as a censorship or comedy trope.
• Ms. Fanservice - j/k
• Opera Gloves - One paragraph says "this can be Fetish Fuel," but is it a subtrope of fanservice? Also, is it a trope?
• Scenery Censor - The nudity's fanservice, the censorship isn't. Similar: Godiva Hair, Hand-or-Object Underwear, but with these, it seems more of a "this instead of clothed" rather than "this instead of nudity," so I see why they might be here.
• Sarashi - A type of clothing. I hadn't heard of it, but the description does not reference sexiness at all till final line saying "Compare Bandage Babe." (I'm sure people find the dress attractive; that doesn't make it a fanservice subtrope.)
• Sleep Cute - They're cute. Awwwww. But they're not supposed to be sexy.
• Stock Underwear - Its a list of underwear. The sexy ones have their own sexy tropes.
• Transformation Sequence - Some versions may turn some people on, but no, definitely not a fanservice subtrope.

Note again that we already have indexes for sexy tropes. But not all sexy tropes are subtropes of fanservice.

edited 22nd Jan '12 5:12:01 AM by Routerie

I believe the reason Anime Anatomy lacks the display of sexual organs, is because Japan has censorship rules on them and/or the author may not like drawing them.

I don't see how Ass Kicks You belongs in fanservice tropes either.

edited 16th Jan '12 3:29:31 AM by lu127

Anime Anatomy is Fanservice actually, you would be surprised on how much it is used as that even though it does not show bits and leaves it up to the imagination... all the curves none of the parts. (Here is looking at you Negima and Love Hina...)

Ass Kicks You can be Fanservice depends on the person using it. Princess Peach and Jessica from Dragon Quest VIII oh yeah it is Fanservice. Baby Got Back does not exist anymore so...

edited 16th Jan '12 3:42:10 AM by Raso

This sounds like somebody is just slapping anything related to something that might be fanservice on the fanservice index.

@Raso,

People finding Anime Anatomy attractive =/= it being fanservice.

The entire object of the trope is to not show anything sexual. It's not supposed to be a subtrope of fanservice, it's the opposite. That parts of the audience don't react properly isn't the fault of the author (in this case).

Showing people naked just lacking actual detail is for sure Fanservice it could easily be skin colored Pasties. (do me a favor and dont google if you dont know what it is....) especially if it say used in a bath or even during sex. (I would rather not post images.)

It is for sure Fanservice.

edited 16th Jan '12 3:45:04 AM by Raso

I wouldn't call it such. Unless you count all those "spirit vision thingies where people are naked" to be such. I think it's supposed to be non sexual intimacy.

No, not really, because not every instance of someone being naked is fanservice.

Anime Anatomy is a form of censorship. It's not fanservice at all, but rather the opposite. It doesn't make sense as a subtrope of fanservice... though it does make sense as a part of the Censorship Tropes index.

Edit: Fuck. I'm supposed to be going to bed. >_<

edited 16th Jan '12 3:42:58 AM by Flyboy

Anime Anatomy may very well be a way around showing nudity without having to worry about the work being marked pornographic or mature.

The examples Raso stated are cases where the author has used Anime Anatomy exactly for that reason. It can be very easily played for fanservice.

One thing to remember Fanservice does not mean just "Sex" or "Skin" it is a lot more than just that. Hell Costume Porn is Fanservice.

Instant Cosplay Surprise oh yeah this is Fanservice for its audience and flat out intended to be so by the artists.

Modesty Bedsheet, Modesty Towel, etc... oh yeah those are Fanservice tropes especially the latter someone walking around in that usually gets drools, stares or turn aways like Put Some Clothes On reaction by guys in the room . A tease or Implied Nudity is still very much Fanservice.

Contemptible Cover, Hello Boys, Lady Not-Appearing-in-This-Game Sex Sells is Fanservice and well thats why Sex sells stuff. Now I could see converting Sex Sells into a Sub Index of Fanservice though.

edited 16th Jan '12 3:56:46 AM by Raso

Huh? What did I say?

Man the chain edits in the first post.... making me mad. (note: I agree on everything that I havent actually brought up.)

Sarashi a girl with her breasts wrapped up (comparable to a sports bra) and Guys with their ribs bandaged is the genderflip... Showing this in the work will always show skin so yes that is very much Fanservice.

edited 16th Jan '12 4:04:21 AM by Raso

I fail to see any fantasising in that post. It's more like a brief list with explanatory comments that show how the things listed are relevant as examples that serve the point being made.

Also: Try to be a bit less snide.

edited 16th Jan '12 4:03:01 AM by BestOf

I suspect much of the tropes that originated in censorship can be used for fanservice due simply to the... Theiss Titillation Theory? Essentially, because we know the work is trying to hide something, it makes it more erotic. Never understood it myself, but I can see people doing that.

edited 16th Jan '12 4:01:21 AM by Deboss

Very much so, not seeing X and getting teased about it only makes you want it more. (note this does not only apply to Fanservice.)

edited 16th Jan '12 4:03:13 AM by Raso

What about Dojikko? It's really more about a Moe being a klutz than Fanservice. Well, it can be about Fanservice, but not necessarily.

edited 16th Jan '12 4:05:42 AM by kay4today

Eh, more that once you've ingrained the idea that you'd be seeing naughty parts if it weren't for that floating black box, you eventually create the expectation that a black box means there's naughty bits around. Naturally, artists use this expectation to poke fun at censorship and toy with the viewer.

I honestly think that there's no point in listing things that could be used for fanservice, since anything can given the right context. I'd rather stick with things that are explicitly for fanservice, or for parodies there of.

That would be Moe Fanservice not quite the same as the rest of them in this index.

Cuteness can Fanservice too... that is the whole point of Moe actually.

The point of the thing is that they are implied Naked under X unless otherwise stated its a rule of movies "what you see is real" even if its most likely not, Fridge Logic does not exist.

edited 16th Jan '12 4:13:17 AM by Raso

Yeah, but it's more of a character archetype. The Lad-ette isn't on the Fanservice page either.

True, we might be missing an index here for Fan Service Character Types or something.

edited 16th Jan '12 4:18:00 AM by Raso

Ok, looking at this again:

Opera Gloves: This most likely belongs under Costume Porn, not fanservice.

Sleep Cute: I see no sexualization here. Remove.

Transformation Sequence: This may need splitting. For instance, Mons or robots transforming shouldn't be considered fanservice. However, naked transformation sequences are 100% fanservice.

Yes very much so, even those who take up Anime Anatomy in it or the glowing body thingy implying nudity during the sequence.... aka all the Magical Girl style Transformation Sequence. (Or go the Cutey Honey route and just show it...)

I dont think it needs splitting though just cause of this index... being on an index does not mean every single example has to do this.

I could see splitting off Magical Girl style Transformation Sequence vs the rest of them though for other reasons as those are extremely unique compared to other Transformation Sequence s.

(late night insomnia sucks.)

edited 16th Jan '12 5:10:26 AM by Raso

Yeah Bro's sock puppet has been troll thumped.

I think the point that Raso is trying to make is that Anime Anatomy allows artists to work nudity into scenes were it might not otherwise have gotten through. I.e. the artist trades a few details for getting to show a lot more skin. Like if they have a choice between drawing a woman wearing a bikini top and going topless with Anime Anatomy, the latter would probably be considered more Fanservice-y.

I'm not sure if that qualifies it as a Fanservice trope, but I think that's what the thought process is.

I think Fan Disservice definitely belongs on the index; it's directly related to Fanservice, even if it is not itself fanservice. The various modesty/coverup tropes, including Anime Anatomy, do seem relevant, since they are overwhelmingly used to work in fanservice where a more explicit portrayal would not have been allowed.

Naked Transformation Sequence does seem like its own trope, especially for cases where it is used to put male-oriented Fanservice into originally female-oriented works.