times where too much fan service messed up a otherwise great anime

[crazygameguy4ever]

I love anime.. been watching it for at least 10 years now(more if you count watching Digimon when i was a kid) and while I love anime, I've noticed times where too much fan service gets in the way of the story or simply seem out of place, like they needed to fill in time so decide a panty shot, half naked or completely naked girl would do the trick and keep interest... for me one of those anime is Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends. It's a interesting anime with great characters, great english dub, a good story.. but it's often ruined by too much fan service..

They good lots of shot that are close ups of the busty girl's huge rack as it bounces,it's got the busty girl completely naked and running in slow motion while the main male character is standing there, and worst of all it's got too many shots of the underaged girls being naked..the 13 year old Kobato(sister of the main male character) runs into the living room completely naked and jumps on her brother making crying sounds and moving around in a way that if not for the parts before and after might make you think you've walked into a adult hentai anime.. and way too many shots of the equally under aged character Maria as she runs naked and has way too many shots of her crotch.. this along side lots of panty shot, ass shots, and boobs shots of the other female characters.. yeah, you can fast forward through this stuff, and I suppose these things are suppose to be part of the appeal of the show but i don't wanna see underage naked anime girls.. not when the other thing in the anime is so good.. but why is it there to begin with?

so anyways.. my question to everyone is, what are some anime series that you felt could be better if they removed some or all of the fan service moments?

 

[dyre]

Code Geass. Now, the whole anime pretty much revolved around "show the viewers what they want to see" in terms of big battles with cool mechas and scantily clad females, but at times it came pretty close to a serious, well-written show...

...and then you'd see some chick would go into battle in a bunny outfit. It didn't ruin the series or anything (blame Season 2 for that), but it seemed out of place and distracting.

Somewhat related to this thread: I wonder if there have been any studies on how viewers react to fanservice in anime. Personally I feel that it reaches diminishing returns very quickly. No judgment here about being "attracted to pixels," but I find wit and charm to be the most attractive part of a character, and while an attractive character wearing an attractive outfit is definitely a plus, a character with physics-defying F-cup breasts and ridiculous outfits is just downright unimmersive. Especially the outfits, which can get pretty weird. French maid...hot. Naked except for suspenders that cover the boobs...just weird.

I wonder if the people who make shows like "High School of the Dead" are relying on actual market analysis or just assuming that their viewers like seeing someone's boobs being used as a stabilizer for a .50 cal sniper rifle...

 

[Casual Shinji]

All of them?

No but really, High School of the Dead. I don't mind sexy girls being sexy girls, but jeez... As soon as I see chicks running around an anime with boobs the size of 12-pound hams, I'm out.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Highschool of the Dead come to my mind.
I mean it was a somewhat interesting synopis well it's your typical zombie apocalypse but set in Japan instead of the US. Granted I don't know if it would of been a better anime removing the fanservice along but the fanservice did ruin it. I'm sorry but having a panty shot of a school girl getting devoured (in episode 1) by several zombie is still suppose to be fanservice? Don't get me started on the slowmo breast ripple from firing a gun and aswell that slowmo boob bullet dodge time!

 

[Ratty]

SNIP

SNIP

I wouldn't call "Highschool of the Dead" a great anime or manga anyway. It's just "Hey guys, what if we did the Walking Dead, but as a high school drama?" The fanservice is actually the most interesting part in that it's so grotesquely overdone. It's like a hideous trainwreck, you don't want to see it but you can't look away. When I read the manga years ago (before the anime was made) not once was I titillated, but I usually did feel dirty afterward. It's actually way more sleazy than most porno somehow.

 

[crazygameguy4ever]

I just thought of another anime that has fan service that seems out of place.. Bleach.. in one of the anime exclusive episodes ,the gang all go to the beach and besides just having the girls in bikini's the whole episdoe, it also has the large breasted character Rangiku trying to get the equally large breasted girl Orihime to gather up water for sand castles by pushing their large breasts together to make and I directly quote "boobie Buckets" .. also some of the female characters get molested by a watermelon creatures that have tentacles at the end and the tentacles are pretty much trying to rape them.. why is this in the episode? in fact why is this episode in the anime at all? I know swimsuit/beach episodes seem mandatory for most anime/manga but the boobie buckets and watermelon creatures with tentacles that try to rape some of the females have no purpose here

 

[Casual Shinji]

I wouldn't call "Highschool of the Dead" a great anime or manga anyway. It's just "Hey guys, what if we did the Walking Dead, but as a high school drama?"

And that would've been more than enough for me.

As a zombie anime it had a very unique setting in the medium, and that alone was great. It was stupid, gory fun, but thanks to the "fan service" I couldn't express much beyond awkward titters. It ruined something so simple with overly complex panty and boob shots.

 

[Elfgore]

Freezing would have been great without any fan service. When two girls fight, the first thing to get ripped is their top. So their massive boobs can jiggle about as they fight. Watching it censored is like staring into the sun. Has a great story with some really interesting characters. Then their tits pop out and I lose interest.

Sekirei was already a pretty bad anime, but the insane fan-service only made it worse. All of the girls are of course rocking triple G cups and if they have any thing below a C their flat chested. And the first thing ripped in combat is their tops so their balloons can jiggle about as they fight. The manga improved greatly when they realized the fan-service was ruining it.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

Eiken, so that it's entire existence could be wiped out.

OT: I can't recall a lot of anime that was ruined JUST due to fan service, but one I feel would be better off without it is Kampfer. Not saying it would make it a good or even decent anime, especially if we're just taking out only fan service and keeping the writing in tact, but I think the premise has potential to be interesting, sorta Ranma 1/2 meets Sailor Moon meets Team Fortress 2, but most of the anime is wasted on pointless ecchi scenarios that distract from the actual plot.

 

[Username Redacted]

All of them?

No but really, High School of the Dead. I don't mind sexy girls being sexy girls, but jeez... As soon as I see chicks running around an anime with boobs the size of 12-pound hams, I'm out.

I kind of thought of High School of the Dead when I saw the thread title but upon further consideration I'm pretty sure that would have been a shit series excessive titties or no excessive titties.

I can't think of any series that I think would have been markedly improved by having less fanservice (most shows that rely on that sort of thing are IMO kind of weak anyway) but I will say that I am getting very weary of having my fanservice delivered in the form of tedious beach episodes. I also find the "joke" of having a male protagonist walk in on partially clothed or nekkid women tiresome. Where these people raised by wolves? Fucking knock on the door before busting in.

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

It's trollish to say, and I hate that, but yeah I'm going to have to go with all anime in general being diminished if not outright ruined by "fan-service." Which, as a side note, I hardly understand calling it that considering it has never felt like a service to me as a fan.

 

[Radeonx]

Maken-Ki comes to mind, in the sense that the manga was a martial arts manga with somewhat heavy ecchi elements and the anime is entirely fan-service with occasional martial arts.

There are a whole lot of them, though. The romantic comedy/harem genre come to mind, where the entire thing is over saturated with fan-service and more fan-service.

 

[FPLOON]

Funny... The fanservice in Haganai didn't bother me that much... Then again, I'm REALLY perverted, so there's that...

OT: Uh... I can't think of any where I was like "Dammit, anime series! Now's not the time for you to get my dick hard and shit!"

I will say, though, that most pervert-related fanservice in anime, in general, I tend to ignore to the point that it doesn't outright "ruin" a pretty good anime in my book... Then again, some of the anime series listed so far I just didn't like for "other" reasons...

 

[hazabaza1]

Haven't seen it yet but this is how I feel about Kill la Kill for the most part.
It's an anime made by the guys who made Gurren Lagann and apparently goes even more over the top. I should love it. But whenever I see a screenshot of it there's surprisingly buxom 14 year old girls in straps that only start covering their shoulders and lower legs. Apparently it's supposed to be a parody or ironic or something but creepy lecherous staring stays creepy and lecherous even if we say it's only there to be funny.

[sub][sub][sub]EDIT: If you do enjoy Kill la Kill please resist the urge to quote and correct me, I'm not planning to watch the show nor to respond.[/sub][/sub][/sub]

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

...and then you'd see some chick would go into battle in a bunny outfit. It didn't ruin the series or anything (blame Season 2 for that), but it seemed out of place and distracting.

The chick in the bunny outfit happened...once. The only reason she was in a bunny outfit is because it was literally her JOB, being forced to work in a casino as some kind of escort/call-girl serving the higher-up richer Britannians.
The moment the uprising started came she simply jumped straight into her knightmare wearing whatever she was wearing, since in Code Geass they don't have to wear any kind of special suit to interface with with their knightmare.

I'll agree that Code Geass has some fanservice, but for me it's one of those cases where the fanservice ADDS (as a bonus / icing on top) to the show's brilliant plot & action instead of distracting me and putting me off.

Now Highschool Of The Dead - good lord, what were they thinking. Somewhere in there was a pretty decent zombie survival story but the fanservice completely destroyed the show.
Even if I try to see it as a purely fanservice anime with zombie survival going on in the background, it's just so horribly done and in-your-face...urgh.

Haven't seen it yet but this is how I feel about Kill la Kill for the most part.
It's an anime made by the guys who made Gurren Lagann and apparently goes even more over the top. I should love it. But whenever I see a screenshot of it there's surprisingly buxom 14 year old girls in straps that only start covering their shoulders and lower legs. Apparently it's supposed to be a parody or ironic or something but creepy lecherous staring stays creepy and lecherous even if we say it's only there to be funny.

Ah, so you're one of those people who has completely ignored the fact that there is just as much male fanservice (if not more) in Kill La Kill as female.

Actually what we see in Kill La Kill can't even be called "fanservice" because in the later episodes literally everyone (male and female) stops wearing clothes, being 90% nude basically becomes the standard. Most audience say that halfway through Kill La Kill they completely forgot about the whole nudity/fanservice aspect because it becomes so normal, so all that is left is pure untarnished awesomeness of action and plot twists.

If you removed all the "fanservice" moments then you'd probably have to delete at least half the anime.

I just thought of another anime that has fan service that seems out of place.. Bleach.. in one of the anime exclusive episodes ,the gang all go to the beach and besides just having the girls in bikini's the whole episdoe, it also has the large breasted character Rangiku trying to get the equally large breasted girl Orihime to gather up water for sand castles by pushing their large breasts together to make and I directly quote "boobie Buckets" .. also some of the female characters get molested by a watermelon creatures that have tentacles at the end and the tentacles are pretty much trying to rape them.. why is this in the episode? in fact why is this episode in the anime at all? I know swimsuit/beach episodes seem mandatory for most anime/manga but the boobie buckets and watermelon creatures with tentacles that try to rape some of the females have no purpose here

That's called a fanservice filler episode, most long-running shounen have at least one. None of that stuff happened in the manga AFAIK.
It's something extra for the fans that has absolutely nothing to do with the storyline, i.e. fanservice by definition.

 

[hazabaza1]

Haven't seen it yet but this is how I feel about Kill la Kill for the most part.
It's an anime made by the guys who made Gurren Lagann and apparently goes even more over the top. I should love it. But whenever I see a screenshot of it there's surprisingly buxom 14 year old girls in straps that only start covering their shoulders and lower legs. Apparently it's supposed to be a parody or ironic or something but creepy lecherous staring stays creepy and lecherous even if we say it's only there to be funny.

Ah, so you're one of those people who has completely ignored the fact that there is just as much male fanservice (if not more) in Kill La Kill as female.
Actually it can't even be called "fanservice" in Kill La Kill because in the later episodes literally everyone (male and female) stops wearing clothes, being nude almost becomes the standard.

Without it Kill La Kill simply wouldn't be Kill La Kill lol.

I haven't been ignoring things, I'm just going off of the most common things I've seen in screenshots and gifs. It's doubly hard to find a way to agree with you when google image searching "kill la kill" brings up four lines of stuff like this:

Spoiler: NSFW I guess

before you reach any reasonably similar amount of male nudity.

Also I'd say it could definetly be called fanservice once everyone starts getting naked. It just stops being "fanservice parts" and becomes "fanservice the anime".

But I do want to make the point that I'm not saying that it's bad. I haven't watched an episode of the show. But when one of your selling points is "everyone is naked guys!!!!! XDXD so craaaazy XD" I'm not... entirely convinced into watching it.

 

[dyre]

The chick in the bunny outfit happened...once. The only reason she was in a bunny outfit is because it was literally her JOB, being forced to work in a casino as some kind of escort/call-girl serving the higher-up richer Britannians.
The moment the uprising started came she simply jumped straight into her knightmare wearing whatever she was wearing, since in Code Geass they don't have to wear any kind of special suit to interface with with their knightmare.

I'll agree that Code Geass has some fanservice, but for me it's one of those cases where the fanservice ADDS (as a bonus / icing on top) to the show's brilliant plot & action instead of distracting me and putting me off.

Lol, listen to yourself. "The female ace pilot just happened to have to dress as a call girl and happened to have to go into battle in that outfit!" And that's just one random (but somewhat memorable) example. Let's not forget the entire fanservice episode that happened a few episodes later. Come on, I liked Code Geass too, but the things people say to defend the shows they love...you can laugh at a show's problems and still enjoy it, you know?

 

[CaptainMidlands]

Strike Witches

I enjoyed the idea, I liked how they were all styled after WW2 pilot/planes, and what I saw of the battle scenes looked awesome. I gave it a shot and got 2 episodes in and gave up, sure it has awesome battle scenes but apparently Long T-Shirts is adequate wear for fighting aliens in the sky while going very fast, oh and the panty shots. Spoilt it for me

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

I haven't been ignoring things, I'm just going off of the most common things I've seen in screenshots and gifs.

Hang on, you haven't even STARTED to watch it and are going purely by screenshots and gifs? I don't usually say this, but Kill La Kill is not your run-of-the-mill fanservice anime. In fact I can't think of a single other anime like it. It differs from Gurren Lagann on the fanservice aspect by a mile. The overall "feeling" nothing like it. I am aware some people get so put-off by the male & female nudity that they simply can't continue watching, which makes me wonder if they need to sort out some other issues they have first with humans in general.

It's doubly hard to find a way to agree with you when google image searching "kill la kill" brings up four lines of stuff like this:

Spoiler: NSFW I guess

Because google sorts results according to what people are searching for the most. The dominating audience for Kill La Kill is males (as with anime of it's "type") so that's what they will search, they are after the female fanservice. If you look up...say, the Rule34 for Kill La Kill then there is a rather staggering amount of male/gay stuff.

Again, it's just a bad idea to judge Kill La Kill using google images.

Also I'd say it could definetly be called fanservice once everyone starts getting naked. It just stops being "fanservice parts" and becomes "fanservice the anime".

Hmm again, you cannot say this because Kill La Kill is not your standard fanservice anime. That's really all I can say, and my opinion holds a hell of a lot more weight than yours because I've seen the whole thing while you are looking up google images.

But I do want to make the point that I'm not saying that it's bad. I haven't watched an episode of the show. But when one of your selling points is "everyone is naked guys!!!!! XDXD so craaaazy XD" I'm not... entirely convinced into watching it.

The nudity is not the focus. It's all about focus, and the nudity is not the focus. I don't know if I can make that any more clear.

Again, with Kill La Kill the nudity and "fanservice" is not the primary FOCUS beyond maybe the initial couple of episodes. It simply happens in the background (and you probably can't imagine how that is possible because you haven't seen it) and becomes something completely normal and acceptable. It's all about perspective and how nudity is portrayed. There is a reason why I refuse to call it fanservice, because it simply isn't. And I'm someone who has seen a LOT of fanservice shit.

I can only tell you this: Kill La Kill is not what you think it is.

That is all.