Has Fan Service Become A Cliché?

What pops into your head when you think of fan service? Generally, fan service includes stuff like panty shots, bath scenes and all sorts of other stuff that’s seen throughout anime. Over the years, fan service has grown to include a variety of other things like ‘mech action’ and ‘catgirls’.

Which is why I think fan service has become an easy phrase to use as a dumping ground for things that some of us love and others hate. It could be considered almost anything. Do you like maids? They’re fan service. How about meganeko (girls with glasses) or gothic lolitas? Yep, fan service too. Bad guys with white/silver hair, characters with large eyes, teenage mech pilots and everyone else? They too are considered fan service.

Maybe it’s time to revise our definition of fan service. It’s become so ‘all encompassing’ that to me the word itself has become essentially meaningless. I think most things we call fan service are more of a cliché, like these:

• Shower/Bath House/Hot Spring Scenes
• Light Yuri/Yaoi Scenes
• Holiday Episodes (with Beach Scenes)
• Panty Shots
• Boob Shots (Jiggly, Cleavage, etc.)
• Old-School Combiner Mechs
• Girls with Guns
• Naked Transformations
• Boob Grabs
• Blue Crystals with Magic Powers
• Cameos
• Panty Shots
• Movie or series homages
• Catgirls
• Large, shiny eyes
• Moé characters
• Panty Shots
• Meganeko characters
• 15 year-old mech pilots
• And the list goes on…

Let’s look at a definition of Fan Service:

Fan Service (UrbanDictionary.com)

In general, fan service refers to scenes designed to excite or titillate the viewer. This can include scantily-clad outfits, cleavage shots, panty shots, nude scenes (shower scenes especially), etc. Some broader definitions also include things like cool mecha, big explosions, battle scenes, etc. Basically, if it has little plot-redeeming value, but makes the viewer sit up and take notice, it’s probably fan service in one form or another.

Contrast that with a definition of Gratuity:

Gratuitous (Dictionary.com)

Without apparent reason, cause, or justification

Now let’s read a definition of Cliché:

Cliché (Wikipedia.com)

A phrase, expression, or idea that has been overused to the point of losing its intended force or novelty, especially when at some time it was considered distinctively forceful or novel. The term is most likely to be used in a negative context.

Which one do you think sounds better Рfan service, clich̩ or gratuity? Personally, I think clich̩ works pretty well, but not for every instance. It might fit for things like naked transformations, but how do we classify others?

Anime fandom has been using ‘fan service’ for a long time and it’s going to be difficult to let go. But rest assured, your panty shots, jiggle factors and repeated magical transformations aren’t going away any time soon! Let’s continue the discussion in the comments section!

Additional Reading

For added enjoyment, I encourage you to check out some additional reading on anime fan service:

Anime Fan Service: A Double Standard? (www.basugasubakuhatsu.com) – While checking out some reviews on some of the new season’s anime, I noticed some conflicting opinions on fanservice. For those not in the know, fanservice generally refers to gratuitous scenes that are only there to please the (mostly male) fans. This includes shower scenes, panty shots, and, in entire episode form, the anime beach episode.

fanservice: (n) Service for the Fans (anime.miao.us) – The most braindead way, of course, is to introduce nakkidness, but it doesn’t mean that other ways do not exist. Take the long spewings of mecha for the hardcore fans such as all those money shots for Strike Freedom and Destiny. They struck a pose more often for Strike Freedom than for Meer (though, this probably explains that show’s general problem). Another example would be the SDF transformation sequence to Macross.

Anime Fan Service Gallery ( Anime-Fanservice.org) – A gallery of ‘fan service’ shots from different anime series. Caution: Nudity!

How to Identify Fanservice in Anime (www.ehow.com) – This is an easy-to-read guide on identifying anime fan service…if you believe in it, lol.