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

[Zak757]

It didn't kill the movie or anything, but one scene in Evangelion 2.22 has Asuka (14 year old girl by the way) wearing a ridiculous test plugsuit that was mostly transparent for no reason. It was supposed to be a character building moment since she was talking to Misato on the phone about character relevant stuff, but the outfit was too ridiculous to take the scene seriously.

Don't really watch a whole lot of anime with fanservice in it (save the obvious example in my avatar) so I can't think of many examples. Episode 6 of Gurren Lagann sucked hard for it, I guess.

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.

Blah blah blah sexuality is a major theme blah blah blah equal opportunity fanservice blah blah blah female puberty metaphors blah blah blah goes beyond irony or parody blah blah blah critique on shame culture blah blah blah Zak doesn't feel like writing a pretentious 2deep4u essay on Kill la Kill today.

Though I'll point out that Ryuuko and Satsuki are 17 and 18 respectively, which makes them legal age of consent pretty much everywhere in the world except a few states in the US and their voice and form definetly puts them far past puberty, so not too skeevy/pedo on that front. Nonon though... yeah, kinda. She's a 3rd year student which would make her 17/18 as well but she doesn't look the part. Most of her uniforms are modest though, final Goku uniform aside.

Captcha: slender man is slender.

 

[BanicRhys]

Dragonball Z, I mean come on, it seems like every character is either in skin tight clothing or sleeveless with their bulging abs protruding through their shirt necks.

Don't get me started on all the orgasmic onomatopoeia and the way their shirts all inexplicably tear off once they start fighting.


Hell, even the 13 year old character is forced to go partially topless. Disgusting.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Fairly sure Kodomo no Jikan sweeps the field. It's a great story with a seriously unfortunate section of the fanbase, but the occasional fanservice tends to lead to people writing it off as nothing but pedophilic pandering.

For me, personally...well, it didn't outright ruin the manga for me (it's still one of my favorites), but the sheer amount of male gaze really took me out of Ai Yori Aoshi. I could take the bath scenes, the random nudity, and Tina's, erm..."socially awkward way of saying hello" to other women, but the pointless dressing scenes, and the random ass and panty shots apropos of absolutely nothing were just terrible.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

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.

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!

I would never call High School of the Dead a great anime by any stretch of the imagination. I found pretty much all the characters insufferable. The fan service only served to make a mediocre at best anime worse.

 

[hazabaza1]

snip

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Sorry guys, but

I'll admit at most I only skimmed both of your posts, but when I get two notifications basically one after the other and there's this much text I'm just going to peace out.

I haven't watched it. I doubt I will. I don't know the major themes and I don't care to. I simply came in to give my first impressions about why I haven't watched the show and I don't want to get into discussions concerning something I'm all but clueless about. I'm speaking from a position of ignorance and if I talk any more about it I'm only going to end up frustrating people, including myself.

You enjoy it. I doubt I will.

 

[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

Come on now... Bleach went to shit almost immediately after season 1. Who didn't expect the fanservice episode to come along at some point?

The only arcs of that anime I can even BEAR to watch at the beginning ones and the Muramasa arc, which introduces a lot of new and interesting characters, but even that one goes to shit when they decide to get rid of all of these characters for no reason.

I think seasons 2 and 3 were the best.. the battles of Ichigo against Kenpachi.. or the battle of Ichigo verses Byakuya?.. both were epic.. beyond that I also liked the past arc, even if it was short.. watching Hiyori (my favorite Bleach character) yell and mess with Urahara when he became her captain was really funny

 

[Coakle]

By 'fanservice', you mean 'cheesecake' right? I know that cheesecake is a type of fanservice, since fanservice is meant to indulge the audience rather than explore what messages or themes a story is trying to convey, but I've found that cheesecake is the kind of fanservice that is least likely to ruin a good anime for me.

A lot of Rom-Coms traffic the kind of fanservice that really gets my goat. It's the idea that the guy and the girl can never get together because it would, at best upset fans who wanted another pairing and at worst, the girl would lose value in the eyes of the fans.

This is what ruined Kotora-san for me.

I like Rom-Com anime, School Rumble is one of my favorite shows full-stop. I have no problems with situations that involve misunderstandings, amnesia, or any other contrivance that enters into the relationship. Those are the ingredients that create comedy and prevent the anime from being ten minutes long. My preferred Rom-Com will use these static relationships to force character growth while having fun with the character dynamics.

I found Kotara-san interesting because our heroine can, quite literally, read people's minds. The Misunderstandings, the interrupted confessions, or the oblivious lovers, none of the standard tools could be used. The first couple episodes made it seem like a Rom-Com where two people know that they have mutually fallen for one another, and decide to act on it.

But it didn't turn out that way. The relationship fell into the standard Rom-Com rut without any kind of justification. Then it hit me.

Oh, she's not going on a date with him, willingly returning his feelings because it would make her seem 'less innocent.' She would lose some of her 'cuteness factor.' Oh man, I have never been so done with a show.

Most Rom-Coms, really any show, has some unpleasant undercurrents that influences how it plays. A great writer will render these influences inconsequential to the emotional beats of the story. School Rumble was written, so that it didn't matter who ended up with who. Cuteness wasn't emphasized. The lens was always focused on the personal growth the characters undergo.

 

[Malkav]

The Soul Eater manga got me a little sour. I'm not prudish, but out of nowhere, this pervy humour comes up and sometimes goes too far. When I'm following a fun story with awesome fights and badass ridiculous fun characters, I'm not in the mood for tentacle porn, sexual assault with rape-y vibes and pedophilia, let alone characters getting naked while some dude sprays blood from his nose. And you see all of this in the first issue alone, some of it multiple times.

It's so out of place, it's getting so old and sometimes creepy. It adds nothing whatsoever, and it's distracting and embarassing attempts at humour. The anime toned it down significantly, and I think it's stronger for it.

 

[loa]

Gigantomakhia.
Bizarre out of place lolicon fanservice ruining an otherwise fine short from the creator of berserk.

 

[gagagaga]

Yeah, fanservice didn't ruin Highschool of The Dead. It was basically already just a bunch of zombie apocalypse tropes strung together. The fanservice just made it completely impossible to take seriously. Honestly, I think the only way to enjoy that show was to watch the dub, cause they knew as soon as they saw it that it was shit, and turned it into essentially a comedy. It's pretty great.

While it didn't ruin the anime by any stretch of the imagination, there's a bit during a transformation sequence in Madoka Magica where the camera swoops between a fourteen-year-old's boobs, and it felt really out of place in a serious anime that is otherwise very good about fanservice and not turning henshin sequences into jailbait stripteases.

 

[schrodinger]

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

Technically that episode is is based off a extra manga chapter where they did have a sand castle building competition, but the tentacle rapey scene was added in.

I never liked fanservice, especially when they go fuckin' crazy with it. Filling a whole show with various panty shots, 'accidental boob grabs, or any other situational shenanigans. It's extra creepy when the characters are underage.

 

[uchytjes]

]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.

Sir, I have to compliment you on your choice of avatar.

OT: Basically any show that has it in there just to be in there. If the show acknowledges it and/or makes it overtly blatant to the point of it being the show (see Highschool of the dead) or if it makes it an actual plot point (see Kill la Kill) I'm normally okay with it, but if the show does it just for the sake of fanservice I find it to be an incredibly lazy attempt at pandering to a specific and rather creepy subset of the anime fanbase.

 

[Julius Terrell]

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.

I just finished watching it last night. I agree 100% with this statement, but for some odd reason I was only half disgusted with the fan service. I think the one thing that really got to me with this show was the lack of ANY male fighters AT ALL. It would be humiliating as a man if the end of the world was coming and the only people that could stop it would be a bunch of high school aged girls. Talk about insulting!

My pick for this thread goes to Queen's blade. I didn't even make it through the first season because the fan service took too much away from the story itself. I couldn't really take this show seriously. If I want to see T & A that badly, I've got PLENTY of hentai for that fix.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

The Soul Eater manga got me a little sour. I'm not prudish, but out of nowhere, this pervy humour comes up and sometimes goes too far. When I'm following a fun story with awesome fights and badass ridiculous fun characters, I'm not in the mood for tentacle porn, sexual assault with rape-y vibes and pedophilia, let alone characters getting naked while some dude sprays blood from his nose. And you see all of this in the first issue alone, some of it multiple times.

It's so out of place, it's getting so old and sometimes creepy. It adds nothing whatsoever, and it's distracting and embarassing attempts at humour. The anime toned it down significantly, and I think it's stronger for it.

My memory's a bit blurry, what was the fanservice in Soul Eater again? Or are you specifically talking about the manga when it continues beyond where the anime ended (I'm aware the anime skews the ending, haven't read the manga).

 

[Lilani]

I really hate how Lucy in Fairy Tail is introduced to us tits-first. She's otherwise a great character as far as I'm concerned, but the very first time we SEE her it's a close-up shot of her boobs bouncing up and down. It really grated with me the first time I saw it, and it took me a while to finally admit I liked the character. And there really isn't that much fan service of her during the show to be honest, at least not as much as there could be. It really frustrates me that they'd introduce such a great character in a way that dishonors her character and doesn't match her primary role in the show.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I'm not sure if it was fan service, baiting or, a not-too-subtle way to get more people to buy the tie-in game(s?) but the end of Rosario + Vampire season 2 seemed like it was made to appeal to people who didn't want a resolution. It's a different kind of fan service but it's more poisonous to the plot than the kind of stuff you got in the second episode of Puni Puni Poemi...or Puni Puni Poemi in general really...[sub]then again, I really liked that one and would generally rather watch that than actual hentai anyway...[/sub]

 

[Samael Barghest]

Seikon No Qwazer comes to mind. If I said "Hey, you wanna watch a show where people fight using elements? No, no fire, water and the like. I mean iron, copper, chlorine, and such."
You'd probably say "Hell yeah. That's a unique thing I have never seen in any other anime."
But the show ruined itself with the fanservice.

 

[Voulan]

I've rage-quit anime in the past for having fan-service. It completely ruins shows for me.

For a specific example, remember the entirety of the second season of Sword Art Online? What the hell happened? It was so good, and then it rapidly descended into really creepy rape crap.