Rare for me to actually start a discussion, but recently, there's one topic that's been bugging me, and no, not in the obviously ambiguous way.
Of course, I'm talking about fanservice here. Fanservice seems to have become an ever-present part of media, more so in Anime than in other media, and most probably can count more than a dozen of examples in a relatively short amount of time. Whether it's random pantyshots thrown in for no reason, breasts bouncing around like they wish to defy gravity as if they were Icarus or entire episodes created for the sole purpose of fanservice, be it beaches or visits to the pool (with the obligatory attack by a kraken or anything with tentacles, of course), maids - fanservice is everywhere.
You've probably caught on to my subtle critizism already, but fanservice kind of bothers me. Don't get me wrong (and anyone who knows me a little probably won't), I'm all for girls in swimsuits and sexual content of all kinds, the more the better, but that belongs into porn. If I seek arousal, I'll visit appropriate websites or pick something from my bookshelf, but the last thing I care about when I'm watching an Anime are breast comparisons between female characters - I watch Anime for the story, not to become aroused like a 12 year-old that somehow got a hold of a copy of Basic Instinct back in the 80s or whenever that movie was released.
Naturally, how much of an issue this actually is depends on how fanservice is embedded into the show - sometimes a little scene is added, sometimes it seems to be part of every single scene, sometimes the Anime might as well be called "Fanservice with a few shreds of story in between", and that's exactly when it stops being something to smirk about or smile at and turns into an annoyance - when an anime tries too hard to cater to an audience that shouldn't be watching it in the first place, a bunch of people who, as it would appear, put way too much "brainpower" into their third party down below the waistline. I'm not saying that's wrong altogether, but if your only intention is getting to exactly those people, then why not turn it into a goddamn porn movie right off the bat? To broadcast things censored and get people to buy the uncensored DVDs, which are completely overpriced anyway, just to sustain an industry that survives by selling extremely overpriced items to a fanbase consisting almost entirely of collectors instead of catering to a worldwide audience by lowering prices? Straying off-topic here, but that's exactly the impression I get, and it's not just Anime that make it seem like this is the case - take Maid Caf?s for instance.
You've got a caf?, just with women wearing fetish items, basically, you're catering to a customer base by taking their fetishes into consideration to sell, uh, coffee and cake? What in tarnation?
Similiar to Anime, you create a strongly sexual flavour, add it to whatever you're trying to do, thus addressing a larger audience, and then pass it off as non-sexual to improve sales. Sounds like a nice marketing strategy and it's not like Japan's the only country to use it, you can find it pretty much everywhere because any man who sees a bikini-wearing blonde woman wielding a chainsaw will want to buy one, but, different from Maid Caf?s or sexualized marketing strategies, you cannot turn it off in Anime, and that's the point.
Once you've added sexuality to an Anime or any show, it's there. You'll see pantyshots when the local heroine, who, while jumping around and engaging in swordfights and what not, is wearing a goddamn skirt for no apparent reason, you'll see breasts bouncing when the heroine with the skin-tight bodysuit is fighting, you'll get shots of bosoms, crotches and breasts when ambassadors from a faraway planets negotiate
in freaking school swimsuits - and I really, really loathe the taste it gives Anime that could have otherwise been a great show by merits of having an interesting story and characters I actually enjoyed watching. Instead, I'm treated to goddamn maids wielding miniguns in a subway because a fetish-driven organization wants to capture the big breasted, bodysuit-wearing alien with cat ears because cat ears are great. Thanks, really.
Now, I realize that there are plenty of shows that probably wouldn't be able to survive if it weren't for fanservice, but to drift off from the point of the story just to cater to a larger audience really gives otherwise great shows a flavour they don't deserve in the least. Not just that, it makes it hard to seriously talk about those shows or to watch them together with friends if the focus lies on sexuality - no manly tears are shed during otherwise epic moments, no, instead the mind drifts off to wonder what might be hiding under those panties, and that really cannot be the point of creating a story.
So, what do you think? Really interested in hearing if I'm alone here.
