How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Fan Service

Queue up the 60's ryūkōka film music!

... Johnny recently finished high school... He had the whole world in front of him... But what Johnny hadn't realised was just how dangerous that world could be…

WAIT. Wrong film! Hold on a sec, let us search the archives... hmmm... driver’s licence... nope... fire safety regulations... nooo... Fan Service and You. Yes! That's the one!

What is fan service? Well, fan service can be defined in the simplest of terms as giving the people (fans) what they want. In most cases, that means intentionally providing them with spicy imagery. It can range from a shot of a fully dressed person where the curves of the body are easily seen… from a quick glimpse of a panty shot (yes the otaku folks know this one) to a full on boob shot in a film scene (slasher movies tend to do this very well). Above all, the purpose is to suggest sexuality without fully showing it.

So when DID fan service begin? It actually dates back to a 1950’s French film starring Brigitte Bardot! Back then, very few movies showed imagery that could be considered vulgar in multiple parts of the world. This is also what made the French movie Manina, la fille sans voiles, also called The Girl In Bikini, so popular. At the 40-minute mark, you could see Bridigitte Bardot in a very sexy and revealing bikini strolling around. It served no actual part in the plot and although she only appears late in the film, this scene became so popular that movie tickets were getting sold out everywhere. The idea that a simple flaunting of sexiness could be used in such a way slowly became popular in multiple countries including Japan.

Screenshot from the movie The Girl In Bikini featuring Brigitte Bardot

Anime fan service can be dated to the 70’s when Cutey Honey manga was popular for its ability to show enough sexiness not to be considered pornographic while also pleasing its readers with moments of lewdness. This opened the door for more risqué work to appear in 80’s anime and manga. For instance, you may recall seeing a steamy shower scene or two back in the day while browsing various anime or manga content.

It should be noted that one of the most famous depictions of early fan service is found in one of the most popular outer space films from 1983. Yes, you might have guessed it, Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back featured a classic “fan service” moment with Lea (in a now-iconic metal bikini) attached to Jabba the Hutt. This is yet another very popular moment of fan service that spawned a cultural shift in what was considered a level of acceptable sexiness to be displayed at that time. Fast forward to today and the classic attire is still one of the most popular cosplay seen in various comic cons around the world! It’s undeniable that fan service is a very popular phenomenon in modern culture, so let's explore what exactly makes it so unique.

Types of Fan Service in Pop Culture

Fan service moments can be very diverse and unique. Would you believe that there are numerous types of fan service outside of the usual naughty ones? For instance, imagine being a big fan of NASCAR and everything car related. If you were watching a race car movie, you might hope that there is a scene where they spend a few minutes focusing on one of the cars­–its style, motor and mechanics. Or maybe you might want a long race scene where you can sit back and enjoy. These car-related scenarios are perfect examples of fan service for any race car fan!

Since fan service is quite popular (and mostly very noticeable in anime) it can take on many shapes and forms and be included in almost anything. A full scene of Obi-wan and Darth Maul fighting to death with lightsabers? Fan Service. A beautiful girl eating an ice cream in a kinky kinda way? Fan Service. John Travolta and Jamie Lee Curtis breaking a sweat by doing aerobics for a whole 4 minutes in the 80's movie “Perfect”? Yeah, you guessed it, all of these are fine examples of fan service moments in popular culture. 

Fan service has always been quite predominant in anime, hentai and pop culture in general. Let’s define and explore a few popular forms of fan service to help you identify them during your next viewing or game time:

The Long Shot.

Picture taken from the movie Evangelion 1.0

Have you ever thought, man, it would be so much cooler if we could see all these spaceships together or get a good long look at that badass mech before the battle. That is where the long shot comes in. It's a special moment where we are allowed to get a really good long look at the thing we love most. The long shot can apply to anything we desire: food, beer, cars, babes, boobs... whatever floats your boat. Yes, boats count too! 😊

Multiple examples of this sort can be found in numerous anime. One of the original show’s is called Today's Menu for the Emiya Family from the popular franchise Fate, and it’s all about fan-service-cooking. It features beautifully animated cooking scenes with plenty of mouth-watering moments like meat sizzling in a pan or a long shot of the characters mixing a batter. Another great example is the numerous classic long shots in the Evangelion series. Whether it's the tv show or the movies, Evangelion features plenty of attention to its cinematography by doing long shots of the large Evas walking in the sunset or Angel slowly transforming. Most importantly, it’s impossible to talk about long shots without talking about the Inital D and the classic long shot of cars racing through the streets. In this anime, the long shot is often used to portray the distance between the racers and to give momentum to the action. 

In all of these examples, the main aspect of this type of fan service is to give an impression to the viewer and make them feel something. These are those fun and satisfying moments that make you go: "Oh my god, this is way too cool" and usually make a lasting impression! Pair that with some high animation and you really have something unique that will be remembered by the fans.

Episode Long Fight Scenes.

Picture taken from the classic fight scene between Goku and Frieza in Dragon Ball Z

A good long battle scene always creates a spark of excitement even in the most emotionally reserved individual. It’s also what we want to see in every space opera, mecha show or movie that we watch. Have you ever watched an old episode of Dragon Ball and thought to yourself: "hasn't Goku been fighting this dude for like 8 episodes now?" Well, this is what episode-long fight scenes fan service moments are all about! Mostly predominant in Shonen content, American action movies or multiple martial art pieces, fan service fight scenes are what differentiates this from other forms of fan service. These moments usually boil down to two sides, good and evil, fighting with all their might to survive impending doom. In most cases, the good side has little hope of winning but always manages to overcome the odds and come out victorious.

It's very easy to mention numerous ways that focus on these types of fan services in otaku culture. The classic Gon Vs Hisoka fight in the Hunter X Hunter series, Goku and his numerous fights against Vegeta in Dragon Ball, Luffy Vs Arlong in One Piece and so many more are all perfect examples of the fan service we are talking about. These sort of moments in otaku culture have become so popular that they have become a parody in and of itself in pop culture. For instance, the series One Punch Man focuses heavily on the satirical aspect of Shonen fight scenes by having Saitama, the main protagonist, win all of his battles in one punch.

Now if you believe that episode-long fight scenes have been exclusive to otaku culture, we wholeheartedly disagree. TV shows and movies in recent years have capitalised greatly on episode-long fight scenes with numerous episodes and moments that focus heavily on this aspect. We have been awarded with massive Viking-age battles, fighter jet dogfights, epic monster battles and so much more. Classic action movies like Face Off, Terminator, Rambo and so many more movies use a similar form of fan service to please their audience. It might not be as evident as anime fights (and yes there is probably less yelling in them) but all around it comes down to using full on action scenes to create and please viewers.  Sometimes, all you need are two individuals beating each other up against all odds.

Shipping.

Picture of the popular "Shipped" Rem/Subaru taken from the Anime Re:Zero 

Here’s one that you probably know about but did not know had a name. Shipping is when we want two characters to hook up. The application of fan service here would be giving us what we want and placing those characters in a time and place for them to connect. I am sure you can name a pair of characters you wished hooked up and never did. Can you imagine how happy you would have been if they had? Sometimes writers for shows and movies foresee our shipping desires and feed us what we need.

So many examples exist in all sorts of media. Buffy hooking up with the "not such a bad guy" Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mikasa and Erin finally get together in Attack on Titan. Carol and Daryl seal the deal in The Walking Dead. Harley Quinn having a date with Bruce Wayne. All of these moments might not really have happened, but they are instances that viewers, readers or gamers crave for it to happen. This hope drives them to watch further to see if this might actually happen. Shipping is therefore a very fun fan service that sparks lots of discussion for fans of a certain content.

Let’s be honest, this sort of fan service rarely takes place in hentai games. That is because the main character almost always manages to hook up with the character that the players want to. That being said, in a lot of hentai visual novels, this sort of fan service is used to build up momentum between characters. It serves to create the narrative and desire of wanting to see the protagonist hook up with one of the certain girls. Who said that getting everything easily was fun!

Suggestive or Erotic Eye Candy.

Picture of the anime Rosario Vampire season 2 showing a classic eye candy moment

Oh yes, the whole reason we are here and the most common form of fan service in anime and manga content. The eye candy or suggestive type of fan service is the ability of a certain content to show just enough to be considered sexy without fully being considered pornographic. It can be as mild as a camera angle that is suggestive to a full on display of a character acting sexy. The bottom line is that there needs to be some sort of sexual undertone to the situation. The fact that the viewer is left riding the line between sexy or not is what makes it so unique!

Although it's less common overall outside of the otaku culture, suggestive fan service is still very popular with certain movie genres in pop culture. Lots of slasher movies like Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street play on the stereotype of the overly sexual character trope where upon showing a bit of lewdness (usually taking off their shirt and kissing) gets them attacked by the slasher. Other movies like the classic macho action movie also do something similar by having some sort of display of sexiness that leaves the main character unphased. 

Now that we have covered what is the most popular form of fan service let’s delve a bit more on how it is portrayed in anime.

Anime Fan Service 

Picture taken from Monster Musume showing a classic fan service moment between the main character and Miia the Lamia

We love bouncy boobs. Can you blame us? The movement they make is almost hypnotic. In fact, there is actually a term for this sort of movement. It’s called the “Gainax bounce.” Why? Because the company Gainax Co. Ltd, was known for really grasping the ability to provide the best fan service, especially that bounce. But, hey, there are many other ways the great anime gods have awarded otaku with what they want. Nowadays, lots of high budget anime that get released have plenty of jiggle physics. 

Another fun application of fan service is "panty exposure". This happens when your favorite female character has a moment that exposes their panties. Otherwise known as an “upskirt.” Sometimes it might be due to a camera angle being a little sneaky or the popular happy accident which takes place from time to time.

Talking about accidents, this is another popular form of eye candy that takes place in a lot of anime and also hentai games. Clumsy characters tend to get stuck on a tree branch, fall down some stairs or maybe simply slip on the floor. This usually causes either the classic wardrobe malfunction that displays some either too much skin or panties or in the opposite situation the main character falls down in a suggestive way on someone. These classic moments are some of the most common displays of fan service and happen in almost every series that label itself 17 .

As mentioned before, another popular form of fan service are shower scenes. Sometimes, female characters suddenly need to bathe, no matter how superfluous or possibly wrenched into the storyline it is. A good example of this comes from our busty fave Revy from Black Lagoon.     

Finally, costumes, especially maid costumes themselves are a form of fan service and we encourage everyone to read this article for more about that topic.

All of these fan service moments can be found in many anime aimed for an adult audience, but some of the most notable are Highschool of the Dead, Highschool DxD, Kill La Kill, Prison School and To Love Ru, to name a few.

Of course, there are degrees to anime fan service as well. When aimed at older audiences, the fan service can get much more explicit, similar to what is found in hentai titles and hentai games. 

Fan Service Hentai Games 

Anime and hentai games heavily feature fan service and as you might have guessed eye candy is the most popular form found in this content. Sometimes as a reward or a mission achievement or other times as part of the story or gameplay, little glimpse of lewdness and full on hot scenes can be easily found in this form of content. With so many games featuring the perfect fan service moment to enjoy, it might be hard to choose. Worry not, below, we have listed a few games that you should explore if you are looking to be serve a good time:

Project QT

Do you like puzzle games? Do you enjoy turn-based RPGs? How about a combination of both with a hearty dose of anime-style fan service mixed in? Sounds delicious? It is! Project QT combines hot heroines with hotter uncensored art. 

Ready to save the world some of the horniest waifu you can find. Win battles, seduce your captives to make them more loyal and evolve your characters into more revealing outfits. Remember it’s not always about the destination, sometimes it’s about the jiggle-journey along the way, and hot girls!

Harem Heroes

A wise man once said, “Gotta love ‘em all” and this game will give you just that opportunity. Build a horny harem and save these sexy ladies from arrogant macho dudes in Harem Heroes. The girls need you! Start travelling the world and meet new beauties but don’t forget about Bunny, your first girl. She is super-hot! Those ears alone will make you want to bust. 

In Harem Heroes, you’ll find plenty of fetishes and fun fan service moments and if that’s not enough motivation to play, I don’t know what is! Keep playing and you will meet Red Battler and let’s just say this, your orgasm with her will nearly launch you both into orbit! We guarantee you will love the fun and stellar manga-style art that fills your screen.

My Girlfriend

Here you will find a "choose your own adventure" style visual novel game that is simply fun! Who enjoys a slice of life with their handful of fan service? We do! My Girlfriend delivers the goods. You’re a student who is stressed out by the thought of meeting a girl named Luna. Of course, you have good reason to be nervous. Luna is a gorgeous voluptuous blonde who is not only the school beauty but also an established model. After building up some nerve you ask her out and she agrees to date you but there are some rules to follow first. When you tell your cute friend Melissa what happened, she looks disappointed. Soon, she makes a proposition of her own, she suggests you date her as practice for your dates with Luna… and that’s only the beginning!  

My Girlfriend has crisp and clean manga-style art with highly detailed backgrounds. The girls are cute and look at you with a naughty glimmer in their eyes. Can you handle all the new attention and responsibilities? Make the right choices and you will get some of that legendary fan service we are talking about. 

Boob Wars

An awful event has plagued the world and now there are only women with A and E (or above) cup breasts. This is the foundation of Boob Wars: Big Breasts vs. Flat Chests. This visual novel/game starts with a well-written and rich backstory for you to enjoy. Soon, you will be thrust into combat, which is a turn-based card game battle system. Win those fast-speed card battles and you will be awarded a bounty of uncensored hentai content. 

It was only a matter of time before flat-chested girls waged war on them big ol’ titty girls. They say war is hell, well, Boob Wars is a soft and sometimes perky hell with you squeezed tightly in the middle of it/them/it. Seduce both leaders to bring this conflict to an end and don’t forget to get some B&R (breast and recuperation) along the way. 😊

Queen’s Libido Diary

Take your sea-sickness pills now, because, Ahoy Mateys, there are lots of jiggling titties here! These characters wiggle, wobble, gyrate, shimmy and nearly dance on your screen…nonstop! 

Sexy Natasha! Steamy Riley! Sweet Sara! What an amazing assortment of heroines. The list goes on and on with over 50 fantasy babes in some of the coolest outfits and styles you have ever seen. Have fun picking your favorites to take along with you for the journey. We chose Myra because that girl could rock you back and forth to sleep on her enormous boobs if you lay down on them.

Queen’s Libido Diary has it all. Fascinating and well-written storylines, RPG elements, fast-speed battles, and uncensored 3d anime hentai sex. Daily tasks will reward you for all your achievements in and out of combat and character evolution will take the game to the next level.  

If you are looking for a game with some of the best art and animation out there, then this is the one for you! 

Full service

Ready for one hell of a sexy boy's visual love novel full of muscular men?

Full Service is a Yaoi game that features 4 romantic paths for each of the main characters as you take on the role of Tomoki Nakamoto. One day, Tomoki decides to try out a popular spa in the city of Morningwood, but little did he know that he was going to get more than he bargained for! Full service features plenty of eye candy moments with 200 unique CG illustrations filled with various muscular characters, as you explore each of their respective storyline.

With so much sexy fan service content and one of the best boy-love storylines out there, it's not surprising that this game is considered one of the best Yaoi games ever made!

Conclusion

It's easy to see fan service is quite popular and present in most of the content we consume on a daily basis. Which is actually a good thing because it can be considered a common denominator that brings everyone together. Try to deny it, but everyone saw just a little peak of something lewd in a sexy game or anime and wanted nothing more than to see more of it. Well, luckily there is plenty of eye candy ready on Nutaku to get you going and avoid having to only imagine what could be the best time with that certain someone. So what are you waiting for? Go and explore all of the sexy games you can!