Is fanservice the scourge of the anime industry or a cure-all?

Let's be honest with each other. You like to see beautiful, sexualized and often naked girls (or guys, or traps, or furry I have no idea what your preference is). The current trends in the industry didn't spring up all of a sudden. You might be surprised, but elements of senseless nudity and piquant angles began to be added to many old anime back in the 20th century. Of course, they were not as provocative and extravagant as they are now, but such was the myth of "chaste" old Japan. Even before the arrival of Christian emissaries in Japan, the locals were already drawing hentai with octopuses, and over time, centuries later, you could say that they had returned to their roots. So what's the problem?

*There used to be a picture of The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife here, but I'm afraid that the article will be covered, so if you want, you can see for yourself*

The problem is understanding fanservice as part of each individual work. You can't just include fanservice in every work. It requires a very clever and calibrated approach. I will now give examples of good and bad implementations.

Code Geass. Episode 2 of Season 2, the good guys fight the bad guys inside a huge casino, the situation is complicated by the arrival of enemy reinforcements, and our heroine Kallen gives orders to her subordinates and does so during this shot.

What seriousness could we be talking about if the heroine's chest took up space in my brain that should have been occupied by information important to the plot? That is, the arrival of enemy reinforcements and countermeasures. And it's not about my brain, it's about the show's emphasis on how attractive this girl is.

There's another scene, too. In it, the aforementioned heroine's friend and comrade has to kill hisself in order to make the operation a success, and during this scene, which should evoke an emotional response, we are shown Kallen's ass twice. The first time before her friend's death and the second time after.

Again, what kind of plot immersion can we talk about? I don't understand why they had to include so much fanservice in such serious and dramatic moments, when literally 2 episodes later there will be an entire episode, knowingly non-serious, in which all the female characters will be shown in bathing suits. And I have no problem with that, just make the fanservice authentic. Code Geass on the other hand, completely misunderstands this, absolutely destroying any seriousness about himself.

Let's remember SAO, which I really dislike. Not so much for the fanservice, but for the combination of everything bad, but let's skip that topic for now, we're interested in other things.

At this point, Kirito and Asuna are interrogating a girl about her friend's murder, which happened a few minutes ago. Do the writers think this angle was necessary? A murder investigation, an unsolved mystery, somber music, the victim's crying girlfriend, but with a great ass. Something about this list seems superfluous to me.

This kind of fanservice is really annoying, but for some people, on the contrary, it's not uncomfortable. You can really put up with it, as opposed to intentionally simplifying characters for the sake of fanservice, but I can't put up with it. What do I mean by that?

Think about Twilight or Fifty Shades of Grey what do the heroines of those two novels have in common? The answer is their absolute drabness. They play no role in the plot, they have no bright features, they are like witnesses to the events that take place in the books. This approach to characters allows young and not-so-young ladies to fully "get into the skin" of these characters, that is, to associate themselves with them, which allows you to better feel what it means to be torn between a werewolf and a vampire and what it means to be a billionaire's plaything. I hope you get my point, but now let's try to do the same thing with men.

So, Kirito appears, an imba player, conquering the heart of any woman he looks at. The fact that his character is an empty shell only helps the teenage mind to feel more strongly, if that can be said in the case of SAO, the moments when the next loli succumbs to the spell of the black swordsman. It's dirty manipulation based on instincts, and almost every anime in the ecchi or harem genre masters these methods. And there's nothing wrong with that, as long as such methods remain within the genres that suit them.

It may seem to you that I don't accept fanservice in anime, and that's not true at all. In capable hands, not only does it not cut the eye, but it complements what's happening on the screen beautifully. For an example of proper, good work, let's take two completely different works - Kill la Kill and Cowboy Bebop.

If you want to see proper and authentic fanservice, you don't need to go any further than Kill la Kill. This series is built almost entirely on fanservice and only benefits from it. The whole series is drenched in good Japanese thrash, even the animation itself constantly breaks the laws of physics, hinting that everything here is not serious. I would like to add that Kill la Kill is a good series and worth watching.

Now about Cowboy Bebop. The main source of fanservice is Faye Valentine, a charming gambler, con artist and simply Woman with a capital letter. Quite often we see her in the most interesting poses and the most interesting angles. Unlike Code Geass, Faye's sexuality is a trait of her character, and within the plot, all the characters around her notice it perfectly well. She's well aware of this herself, which she takes advantage of by running her own scams and begging for money for space gasoline. When Faye dabs on sunscreen and looks sexy, there's no contradiction in that - it looks authentic, unlike Code Geass and SAO.

There are so many ways to do fanservice right, it just takes a little imagination...

If you enjoyed my article, I'd love to hear your comments and questions :3