How do you feel about "fanservice"?

Obligatory "I'm not ace"

When I want to consume a work, there is a reason for that, and "horny" ain't it. In essence, the way I'm wired, if I'm not specifically in "arousal mode", then shameless fan service is just embarrassing. That being said, I won't pretend I don't appreciate a good looking character, especially if their personality is captivating, and if their attractiveness is played up in a subtle, tasteful manner, I can safely say I'm on board with that. (General examples: having a character put extra effort into their appearance for a special occasion, or taking a quick glance during their morning routine.)

I have a confession. Nowi was my first spouse in Fire Emblem Awakening; I found her character funny. I won't deny her outfit is ATROCIOUS especially for someone who looks her age and acts like a child. The children mechanic doesn't help especially with how old her spouses look. She is DESPISED because of her fan service and is only remembered for her fan service.

Nowi's outfit never defined her character and maybe that's why I was able to overlook it. On the other hand, I don't remember Awakening well bar my basic emotions so maybe I'm overlooking the scrappy. Am I an awful person?

Long story short, a characters' appearance and mannerisms can and will overshadow their other traits. This is especially true when it comes to fan service.

Edited by ChicoTheParakeet on Aug 18th 2023 at 11:24:08 AM

Uh, no... you're not "An awful person" just because you like a sexualized character. That's a good thing because it means that you can see beyond their design and enjoy a personality that they were given, which isn't always possible with super sexy characters.

Well, I’d be lying if I said I never enjoyed it. Mostly I’m in agreement with some other posts that it depends on how much dignity the fan service character is allowed to keep. I also generally prefer it when I get a sense that the writer/artist understands that there’s a difference between liking to look at someone and wanting to sleep with them (of course “getting a sense” is often pretty subjective).

Blaming Anime for fanservice seems a bit disingenuous. Using sexuality in media goes back as far as humans having eyes, libidos, and art. It's just that we call it fanservice in Anime and some people use it to justify crapping on anime.

That said, I tend away from Fanservice shows. There are works that have it that are fairly entertaining, but at one point it seemed like every studio was all "Hey, let's forget gripping stories and science fiction/fantasy in favor of scantily clad girls jiggling on screen at the drop of a hat." That, or such shows were all the companies importing anime wanted to touch.

That seems to be balancing out with the return of story driven shows with compelling again, but still...

But let's not pretend that TV shows in America don't sexualize their content to titillate and entice their audience. And then you have what South Park called "informative murder porn", and a large number of fictional shows that jumped on the bandwagon by glorifying sexual sadism killers.

It's usually annoying if I didn't expect it but if I did it's fine.

Is it alright that I bumped this thread? Can I use live action examples of fan service? Can I talk about online discord?

Edited by ChicoTheParakeet on Sep 5th 2023 at 2:05:43 PM

It's fine if it's done well is my answer.

There's certain genres where I find it innapropriate, there's forms of it that are kinda blanketly bad — fanservice that is truly gratuitous and clashes with the tone and content of the rest of the work, stuff that's made with dubious consent of the people involved in live action, and the anatomically impossible stuff in comics and anatomy where it's clear the artist hasn't seen a naked human except in other anatomically incorrect drawings.

Otherwise, I do think art can and should push boundaries, and even be in bad taste. If it's too over the top for my taste, I'll watch something else.

That sums up my thoughts on the reaction to Cuties.

Despite Cuties' portrayal of preteens, some people still liked aspects outside of its racy content. They can't hold their opinion up without being shot down due overlooking its main problem. Regardless of strong examples and arguments, they are deemed repugnant and ignorant.

Am I going to watch Cuties? No, I've seen lesser examples turn me off therefore I refuse to watch extremes. If you can find merit beyond sexual content (in any work), good for you but be ready for the counterarguments due to accepting perverted media.

Edited by ChicoTheParakeet on Sep 6th 2023 at 4:34:46 AM

I don’t exactly care for fanservice (despite finding certain characters hot regardless of gender), just don’t put minors in it and we’re good…

Same.

It exists.

I mean, if you've got a huge cast of characters, just stick it on a couple of them, and...um...yeah I have no idea what I'm trying to say here. I'm the guy who still has a thing for Lady Dimitrescu so maybe something's in there?

Depends on the genre. If it's in something like an ecchi, I don't really care much as that's the entire point of the genre and I can just avoid it if I don't want to see it. But if it's in any sort of genre that does not revolve around turning the audience on (like mystery, horror, sci-fi, etc.), fanservice tends to be absolutely repulsive to me and I would prefer if it wasn't there at all, especially if it involves underaged characters (I'm an adult man. I do not want to see a panty shot of a 14 year old girl.).

I have no problem with fanservice, and often enjoy it myself. In the case of stuff specifically geared towards fanservice, I've always been one to say that if other people don't like it, that is understandable and fine, but kind of think its silly when people get full-on upset at its existence when they can just ignore those works.

I am usually more sympathetic when people are upset if it turns up in a work that nominally doesn't have anything to do with fanservice, its just randomly there. But speaking for myself, it still rarely bothers me.

I'm an actor and bodybuilder.

I actively want to do fanservicey scenes. Showing off my work, more or less.

I think part of the issue for me is that I rarely get anything out of it. It doesn't always bother me but it also does almost nothing for me.

Edited by WarJay77 on Apr 22nd 2024 at 4:43:57 AM