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Fanservice in Anime/Manga
I don't get why some people are bugged by seeing it if it doesn't derail the story, or the thing they are interested in IS blatant fanservice (seriously, a friend was complaining about how much better DOAX or whatever it's named for the PSP if the theme wasn't so lewd and I went "Wat").
It seems like the squeamishness around sexual themes seems to have an adverse effect on foreign animation too?
It seems like the squeamishness around sexual themes seems to have an adverse effect on foreign animation too?
Comments
I mean, half the point of the story was to disturb you, and if tits and ass do that, then its doing its job.
It is sometimes used in places where it really doesn't fit or just screams "this was only here to titillate the viewer" though, such as the last Bio-Booster Armor Guyver OVA, and that's terrible.
So I guess what I'm saying is, its not sexual imagery that's the problem, its the context.
It was, though. While some of the sexual content was valuable to the plot, at other times it was random and wholly gratuitous, and the two types are very easy to differentiate.
It's the same reason, for example, that there's gratuitous fanservice in Metal Gear Solid 3--the game is trying to fuck with you (and on a deeper level, express Hideo Kojima's apparent contempt for his audience).
See, I was fine with Kiddy Grade and even Sky Girls because they just kinda glossed over it. Éclair's occasional panty shots didn't matter to me, because no one ever talked about them; the closest the show came to mentioning it was kids (of both gender) commenting that she's beautiful, at times when there were no panty shots at all. And Karen once complains how the Sky Girls'
plugsuitsnanoskins are obnoxiously revealing, but after that no one ever talks about it anymore.I can tolerate that.
Compare that to, say, Mai-HiME, where Mikoto keeps on snuggling into Mai's boobs, and Natsuki's sexiness is a focus of the show multiple times, panty-thieving and lingerie-wrecking is the point of an entire episode (granted, the episode usually most disliked by the fanbase, it seems), Nao's characterization is built partly on her luring and mugging pedophiles, etc....yeah. That annoys me.
Sorry to cite these same shows again, but they just happen to be good examples of what I'm talking about.
- Some people just dislike sexual stuff. For them fanservice is just annoying and detracts from the enjoyment of a show, just like how some people might say the same thing about shows with a great deal of cursing or violence.
- Other people either do not really care either way or actually do like that kind of stuff, but what to share shows they like with other people and find it embarrassing to watch fanservice scenes with them, especially with people who find it inappropriate. Going along with that idea, I think that some people want others who are unfamiliar with anime/manga to consider the two to be legitimate "serious" types of media. I believe that some may just notice the fanservice and say that anime and manga as a whole are just about pandering (basically the opposite of the animation age ghetto).
- I guess there is also a group of people who do not necessarily have a huge problem with fanservice, but would prefer for it to strictly stay in fanservice oriented series rather than leaking into everything.
- I am not sure how common this opinion is (though I think I remember Khwarizmi mentioning this once), but I think that some people specifically dislike the type of fanservice often found in anime/manga. I think they find it to be perverted and may even feel insulted by the implication that they would want that kind of stuff.
- Plus, some people might just not like fanservice because it is not targeted towards them (i.e. a female viewer of a show with a lot of fanservice based on male gaze).
Your mileage may vary on if any of those explanations make any sense. I agree that complaining about blatant fanservice when that is what you are into does not make much sense.What about when that fanservice ends up being thoroughly unsexy, though? It's fair to complain about a poor-quality product, no?
What about when that fanservice ends up being thoroughly unsexy, though? It's fair to complain about a poor-quality product, no?
I think that makes sense. I guess I was more referring to what Vorpy said about someone complaining about the mere existence of lewdness in a game where that is to be expected.
I don't recall there being any gratuitous fanservice in Stand-Alone Complex...
Then again, the main thing I remember about SAC is that it sucked.
We're not talking about a normal manga where each volume is a continuation of the same storyline. Each of the GITS graphic novels is a self-contained story. As are the movies and TV Series (which are alternate universes).
So, its "complete" in the same sense that any given James Bond movie is--this particular story is over, but they could tell a new one in the future.
I could buy this. I could also buy that the Major's outfit is meant to show her compensating for her being a full cyborg/not being feminine enough. I cannot buy, however, that having the "camera" focus on her ass thrice an episode is supposed to part of the themes/atmosphere/whatever.
Ecchi shows that are like a step behind actual hentai. Everything but the naguhty parts really (Freezing, Quasar)
Just watch real hentai when its at that point.