Fan service: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Wikipe tan wearing a bikini by Kasuga39.svg|thumb|right|A bathing suit is typical "fan service".]]
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[[File:Fanservice.jpg|thumb|right|An anime or manga character wearing a bathing suit is typical "fan service".]]
 
In Japanese [[manga]] and [[anime]], {{Nihongo|'''Fan service'''|ファンサービス|fan sābisu}}, '''fanservice''', or {{Nihongo|'''service cut'''|サービスカット|sābisu katto}},<ref name="honey-servicecut">Example: {{Anchor|encyclopediach|CITEREF吉田陽一1999}}{{cite book |title={{Nihongo|Encyclopedia Cutie Honey: Go Nagai World|エンサイクロペディアキューティーハニー : 永井豪ワールド}} |editor={{Nihongo2|吉田陽一}} |location=[[Nakano, Tokyo]] |publisher=Keibunsha |date=June 25, 1999 |isbn=978-4-7669-3236-2 |page=028}} A frame (numbered "25") from the English opening sequence of ''[[New Cutie Honey]]'', in which character Danbei Hayami fires a [[Mazinger Z (robot)#Weapons and Attacks|Rocket Punch]] as main character Honey Kisaragi lies topless and [[Prone position|prone]] in the background, is shown and captioned "{{Nihongo2|サービスカット! 団兵衛がジャマ......}}"</ref><ref name=barrett2006p112>{{cite book |first=Grant |last=Barrett |authorlink=Grant Barrett |chapter=fan service |chapterurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=Fn-Sh1nv7pQC&pg=PA112 |title=The official dictionary of unofficial English: a crunk omnibus for thrillionaires and bampots for the Ecozoic Age |publisher=[[McGraw-Hill]] |location=[[New York City]] |year=2006 |page=112 |isbn=978-0-07-145804-7 |oclc=62172930 |accessdate=June 15, 2009}}</ref> is material that is designed to amuse or excite the audience with especially derived content - giving the fans "exactly what they want",<ref>{{cite book|last=Wolk|first=Douglas|title=Reading comics : and what they mean|year=2007|publisher=Da Capo|location=Cambridge, Mass.|isbn=9780306815096|url=http://books.google.com.au/books?id=985VEvosUm4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Douglas+Wolk&hl=en&ei=Ru6xTbvqJofCvgO0rpWTBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=fan%20service&f=false|authorlink=Douglas Wolk|page=6|accessdate=22 April 2011}}</ref> and usually referring to "[[wikt:gratuitous|gratuitous]] [[wikt:titillation|titillation]]".<ref>http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fm20080314l2.html</ref> Long full shots of robots in [[mecha]] shows, sexual elements, long fight scenes or violence, all can be considered fan service as they are specifically aimed to please the fans of any given show.<ref name="animecritic">{{cite web |first=Pete |last=Harcoff |url=http://www.animecritic.com/resources/glossary.html |title=Fan Service |work=Anime Glossary |accessdate=June 15, 2009 |date=May 23, 2003 |publisher=The Anime Critic}}{{Self-published inline|date=June 2009}}</ref><ref name="animetion">{{cite web |url=http://www.animetion.co.uk/glossary.htm |title=Fan Service |work=Animetion's Glossary |accessdate=June 15, 2009 |publisher=Animetion}}{{Self-published inline|date=June 2009}}</ref> [[Baseball in Japan|Japanese baseball]] teams provide fan service events during baseball games such as dance shows, singing the [[team song]] or a performance by the team mascot.<ref>{{cite doi|10.4236/ns.2011.33032}}</ref><ref>http://asbbs.org/files/2010/ASBBS_%20Proceedings_13th_Intl_Meeting.pdf</ref>
 
In Japanese [[manga]] and [[anime]], {{Nihongo|'''Fan service'''|ファンサービス|fan sābisu}}, '''fanservice''', or {{Nihongo|'''service cut'''|サービスカット|sābisu katto}},<ref name="honey-servicecut">Example: {{Anchor|encyclopediach|CITEREF吉田陽一1999}}{{cite book |title={{Nihongo|Encyclopedia Cutie Honey: Go Nagai World|エンサイクロペディアキューティーハニー : 永井豪ワールド}} |editor={{Nihongo2|吉田陽一}} |location=[[Nakano, Tokyo]] |publisher=Keibunsha |date=June 25, 1999 |isbn=978-4-7669-3236-2 |page=028}} A frame (numbered "25") from the English opening sequence of ''[[New Cutie Honey]]'', in which character Danbei Hayami fires a [[Mazinger Z (robot)#Weapons and Attacks|Rocket Punch]] as main character Honey Kisaragi lies topless and [[Prone position|prone]] in the background, is shown and captioned "{{Nihongo2|サービスカット! 団兵衛がジャマ......}}"</ref><ref name=barrett2006p112>{{cite book |first=Grant |last=Barrett |authorlink=Grant Barrett |chapter=fan service |chapterurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=Fn-Sh1nv7pQC&pg=PA112 |title=The official dictionary of unofficial English: a crunk omnibus for thrillionaires and bampots for the Ecozoic Age |publisher=[[McGraw-Hill]] |location=[[New York City]] |year=2006 |page=112 |isbn=978-0-07-145804-7 |oclc=62172930 |accessdate=June 15, 2009}}</ref> is material that is designed to amuse or excite the audience with especially derived content - giving the fans "exactly what they want",<ref>{{cite book|last=Wolk|first=Douglas|title=Reading comics : and what they mean|year=2007|publisher=Da Capo|location=Cambridge, Mass.|isbn=9780306815096|url=http://books.google.com.au/books?id=985VEvosUm4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Douglas+Wolk&hl=en&ei=Ru6xTbvqJofCvgO0rpWTBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=fan%20service&f=false|authorlink=Douglas Wolk|page=6|accessdate=22 April 2011}}</ref> and usually referring to "[[wikt:gratuitous|gratuitous]] [[wikt:titillation|titillation]]".<ref>http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fm20080314l2.html</ref> Long full shots of robots in [[mecha]] shows, sexual elements, long fight scenes or violence, all can be considered fan service as they are specifically aimed to please the fans of any given show.<ref name="animecritic">{{cite web |first=Pete |last=Harcoff |url=http://www.animecritic.com/resources/glossary.html |title=Fan Service |work=Anime Glossary |accessdate=June 15, 2009 |date=May 23, 2003 |publisher=The Anime Critic}}{{Self-published inline|date=June 2009}}</ref><ref name="animetion">{{cite web |url=http://www.animetion.co.uk/glossary.htm |title=Fan Service |work=Animetion's Glossary |accessdate=June 15, 2009 |publisher=Animetion}}{{Self-published inline|date=June 2009}}</ref> [[Baseball in Japan|Japanese baseball]] teams provide fan service events during baseball games such as dance shows, singing the [[team song]] or a performance by the team mascot.<ref>{{cite doi|10.4236/ns.2011.33032}}</ref><ref>http://asbbs.org/files/2010/ASBBS_%20Proceedings_13th_Intl_Meeting.pdf</ref>
   

Revision as of 21:41, 4 May 2011

Not to be confused with Fan labor.
An anime or manga character wearing a bathing suit is typical "fan service".

In Japanese manga and anime, Fan service (ファンサービス fan sābisu?), fanservice, or service cut (サービスカット sābisu katto?),[1][2] is material that is designed to amuse or excite the audience with especially derived content - giving the fans "exactly what they want",[3] and usually referring to "gratuitous titillation".[4] Long full shots of robots in mecha shows, sexual elements, long fight scenes or violence, all can be considered fan service as they are specifically aimed to please the fans of any given show.[5][6] Japanese baseball teams provide fan service events during baseball games such as dance shows, singing the team song or a performance by the team mascot.[7][8]

The typical, but not only, variety of fan service is racy or sexual content, such as nudity or other forms of eye candy.[5][6] Pin-up girl style images are common, often using an "accidental exposure" excuse to show a favourite female character.[9] Shower scenes[5] are very common in movies, and in anime of the 1980s and 1990s, while many more recent TV series use trips to onsen (Japanese hot springs) or trips to tropical locales (or in some cases a swimming pool), in order to showcase the characters in bathing suits. Shoujo manga also includes fan service, such as showing male characters "half-naked and in enticing poses". Robin Brenner notes that in the US comics culture, fan service aimed at females is rare, and also that in Japan, series can be famous for their fan service content.[9] Male homoeroticism, such as accidental kisses, is a common feature of fan service for females, and has been described as "easier to get away with" in terms of censorship than fan service for males.[10] Brenner notes that fan service can be offputting to teen readers, as in a male reading shoujo manga or a female reading shonen manga, and that in general fan service is more criticised when it features a female character. She cites Tenjo Tenge as an example of a fan service-laden series.[9] Shoujo manga series may eroticise its female leads as well for crossover appeal, as fan service aimed at a potential male audience.[11] Fan service can also be a hint of eroticism, such as an upskirt "glimpse of a character's panties".[12]

Keith Russell defines fan service as "the random and gratuitous display of a series of anticipated gestures common in Manga and Anime. These gestures include such things as panty shots, leg spreads and glimpses of breast". Russell regards fan service as being an aesthetic of the transient "glimpse", which he contrasts with the gaze, as it takes the mind unaware and open to "libidinous possibility" without mediation. He considers the fan service object to be reassuring in its unrealistic nature and to be confirming the "freedom of desire".[13]

Christian McCrea feels that Gainax is particuarly good at addressing otaku through fan service by adding many "meta-references" and by showing "violence and hyperphysical activity".[14]

History

Keith Russell regards the beginning of fan service as taking place in a permissive context, when "kids were just doing kids stuff", which he believes allowed authors some latitude in regards to their subject matter.[13] Beginning in the 1970s with Cutey Honey, and continuing later with other magical girl shows, fan service became more risqué. By the 1980s full frontal nudity and shower scenes became standard content for fan service.[6][15] Because of this, Anno Hideaki who had promised Neon Genesis Evangelion would give "every episode...something for the fans to drool over" later began removing the fan service imagery in later episodes; in addition those later episodes that did contain fan service elements juxtaposed them with imagery of the character in some kind of emotional trauma. Since then, fan service rarely contains full nudity.[15] Excessive content is now usually considered gratuitous regardless of its justification in relation to the narrative in which it takes place.[2][16]

See also

References

  1. ^ Example: 吉田陽一, ed. (June 25, 1999). Encyclopedia Cutie Honey: Go Nagai World (エンサイクロペディアキューティーハニー : 永井豪ワールド?). Nakano, Tokyo: Keibunsha. p. 028. ISBN 978-4-7669-3236-2.  A frame (numbered "25") from the English opening sequence of New Cutie Honey, in which character Danbei Hayami fires a Rocket Punch as main character Honey Kisaragi lies topless and prone in the background, is shown and captioned "サービスカット! 団兵衛がジャマ......"
  2. ^ a b Barrett, Grant (2006). "fan service". The official dictionary of unofficial English: a crunk omnibus for thrillionaires and bampots for the Ecozoic Age. New York City: McGraw-Hill. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-07-145804-7. OCLC 62172930. Retrieved June 15, 2009. 
  3. ^ Wolk, Douglas (2007). Reading comics : and what they mean. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo. p. 6. ISBN 9780306815096. Retrieved 22 April 2011. 
  4. ^ http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fm20080314l2.html
  5. ^ a b c Harcoff, Pete (May 23, 2003). "Fan Service". Anime Glossary. The Anime Critic. Retrieved June 15, 2009. [self-published source?]
  6. ^ a b c "Fan Service". Animetion's Glossary. Animetion. Retrieved June 15, 2009. [self-published source?]
  7. ^ Yoshino, K. (2011). "Happiness and heart rate response: A case of fan services at japanese professional baseball games". Natural Science 03 (3): 255–258. doi:10.4236/ns.2011.33032.  edit
  8. ^ http://asbbs.org/files/2010/ASBBS_%20Proceedings_13th_Intl_Meeting.pdf
  9. ^ a b c Brenner, Robin E. (2007). "Fan Service". Understanding Manga and Anime. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited. pp. 88–92. ISBN 978-1-59158-332-5. OCLC 85898238. Retrieved June 15, 2009. 
  10. ^ Thompson, Jason (July 31, 2006) Boku no Shonen Ai (or "Jason overanalyzes something and takes all the fun out of it") livejournal.com
  11. ^ Lamarre, Thomas (2006). "Platonic Sex: Perversion and Shôjo Anime (Part One)". Animation 1 (1): 45–59. doi:10.1177/1746847706065841. 
  12. ^ Drazen, Patrick (October 2002). "Plastic Little: Not What You Think" in Anime Explosion! The What, Why & Wow of Japanese Animation Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press p.329 ISBN 1-880656-72-8.
  13. ^ a b Russell, Keith (2008). "The Glimpse and Fan Service: New Media, New Aesthetics". The International Journal of the Humanities 6 (5): 105–110. ISSN 1447-9508. Retrieved June 15, 2009. 
  14. ^ McCrea, C. (2008). "Explosive, Expulsive, Extraordinary: The Dimensional Excess of Animated Bodies". Animation 3: 9–24. doi:10.1177/1746847708088732.  edit
  15. ^ a b Galbraith, Patrick W. (2009). The Otaku Encyclopedia: An Insider's Guide to the Subculture of Cool Japan. United States: Kodansha. pp. 69–70. ISBN 978-4-7700-3101-3. 
  16. ^ Nakayama, Whitney (December 21, 2004). "Fan Service". Anime Glossary. G4 Media. Archived from the original on May 19, 2007. Retrieved June 15, 2009. 

Further reading