After recently writing an editorial about Miyazaki Hayao about most anime made these days are unorginal and uninspiring… it’s because most anime are focusing too much on fanservice and less on the content to excite the audience.
The main reason I approve most anime series from Kyoto Animation and Miyazaki’s films is that… you guess it… they have minimal amount of fanservice. The problem today is fanservice is everywhere…type 1 mainly focusing on non-sexual fanservice (which I’m not against) and type 2 fanservice which involves with sexual in nature which is very common… like nudity, panty shots, etc which is COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY and does not add to the story or make the series any better… I don’t mind if a anime have some fanservice, but when it gets too excessive like Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo, Gonzo’s version of Full Metal Panic or something alot worse like Queen’s Blade for example… this is where I find it unorginal and also annoying… While most people won’t care in the world about fanservice or some actually liking it… I for one find it completely unnecessary nor it make the series any better with it.
The problem with modern anime today is that too many are focusing on excessive, type 2 fanservice which adds no quality to the story or make it inspiring or a masterpiece. This is the main reason why most fanservicey anime series tend to fail in quality because it’s overused and every animation studio besides Kyoto Animation far I know does it. You may ask youself, how come Kyoto Animation’s adaption of Full Metal Panic is better than Gonzo’s version of Full Metal Panic… it’s because Kyoto Animation focused on the actual material which resulted in good results while Gonzo added too much fanservice which caused the quality to fall. I’m not against series because it have too many fanservice, but the type 2 fanservice is causing the drop in quality of the story and better improved if studios stop relying too much on type 2 fanservice and actually focus on the story and make it original and/or inspiring. ¶
I’d contend that every kind of fanservice, sexual or not, is completely unnecessary. What makes one kind better than another? Personal taste, really. Big, soppy eyes, pretty faces, cute noises, unyielding cuteness can get pretty annoying too. These things are just some concessions creators make to gain easy viewership, to grab their audience’s attention early on. Even if we could eliminate perverted fanservice, like the beloved Kyoto Animation has as of late, we still get things like K-ON!, brainless fluff, innocuous enough, but ultimately insubstantial and devoid of any profound insight or artistic merit.
Like the foods we eat, we have to be conscientious of the quality and quantity of things we feed our minds.
Oh, Kyoani also knows its share of fanservice. Perhaps not in the nudity or pantyshots, but they always try to make their characters as moe as possible, which as Kadian mentioned, also has a tendency to get pretty annoying. Fanservice indeed is annoying, though I wouldn’t go as far to say that type 2 fanservice always ruins its series. Basquash for example is a pretty neat series, despite all of the fanservice shots and Full Metal Panic also was pretty good. It of course gets really bad when the fanservice gets used too much, like in Queen’s Blade and the like.
Gotta agree with the contents of this post. I thought that Hatsukoi Limited could very well be an above-average show, except the random panty shots out of nowhere just ruin the mood. It’s almost insane how that little element could be so obnoxious, and had that been removed completely, I think the show could have been a lot more compelling.
While I don’t mind fanservice, as long it’s not type 2 fanservice and not excessive. I don’t base the rating on fanservice alone because it adds 0 value to the content of the story which some may find annoying regardless of what type. But the most annoying is type 2. I wouldn’t say type 2 fanservice will completely ruin a series, but overdoing it wlll to the point that it gets annoying or worse, have no basis to the story.
Well… then again, anything in life in excess most of the time is harmful… no matter what.
I’m not against or for fanservice, but what I don’t get is all the fuss over it. In anime/manga everyone gets all up in arms over fanservice, but in Holleywood no one says anything. Nearly every movie has sexy shots of women, and most movies have at least one sex scene.