Most assuredly one of the most infamous aspects of anime and manga, I have made my opinion on fan service well known. However, let’s discuss the history of fan service, what it started out as and what it has become and how it should perhaps change, particularly as Japanese popular culture becomes more global.
When hearing the words “Fan Service”, I and many others immediately imagine the image of highly sexualized anime and manga characters (usually female) in provocative positions and outfits. However, it might interest you to remember that the term fan service simply means content that pleases the audience and can mean a wide variety of things.
However, to focus on non-sexual fan service would be to avoid the issue at hand. The fact remains that the vast majority of fan service in anime and manga is of sexualized females. One of the earliest anime examples of this is a series called “Cutie Honey”, a series that was originally meant to be aimed at a female audience. However, a shift to a male-focused time slot prompted a change in the style of the show where Cutie Honey became more highly sexualized (check out the opening for an excellent example of this).
Since then, the anime and manga industry has become inundated with highly sexualized content and has exploited it with merchandise such as risque figurines and body pillows. An example which I found personally upsetting was where the director of Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale teased that the blu-ray release of the film might have a shot of female lead Yuuki Asuna’s nipples.
It is no wonder that fan service remains one of the most controversial and ridiculed aspects of otaku culture. There have been many people I have met who have actively looked down on anime and manga, viewing it as a medium for “sexually frustrated men”. If we wish to see the medium continue to grow and expand, we must begin to question the need for this overwhelming sexuality.
It is not as if fan service is the exclusive domain of otaku culture. Fan service can be seen in many western properties from Marvel films to X-Files and Bones. What’s different about anime and manga is the sheer quantity and the highly sexualized nature of their fan service. Instead, I think anime and manga fan service should reinvent itself and become less about highly sexualized characters and more about engaging the audience’s intellect with homages, callbacks and (metaphorical) knowing winks at the audience.
The fact remains that this change is unlikely to come anytime soon. Sexual fan service has become too important as a source of revenue for the anime and manga industry. That doesn’t mean that we can’t begin the change now though. Let me know your thoughts on fan service and whether the industry needs to change or not.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!