, fanservice, , or simply [1], is a vaguely-defined term primarily used for Japanese anime and manga to refer to elements that are unnecessary to the storyline[2][3]. There is a widespread belief that fan service is only material that is designed to amuse or excite the audience with sexually-derived content[4][5], but the term can be applied generally to any nontopical content that is added solely to please fans.[6][7] When such content fits within the storyline it would not usually be considered fan service, but excessive content is usually considered gratuitous regardless of its justification.[8][9]
While the term is used primarily with respect to Japanese animation, any gratuitous content within entertainment may be considered to be fan service. The term is also occasionally used in the video gaming community, for example. The meaning remains mostly the same ? content added for the sake of fans and not for any actual gaming value.[10]
Tropical locales such as beaches are convenient places to showcase sexual fanservice.
The typically understood definition is inclusion of racy or sexual content (usually female, but also male[11]) to titillate the viewer, such as nudity, and other forms of eye candy[4][5]. Shower scenes[4] are very common in movies, and in anime of the 1980s and 1990s, while many more recent TV series use trips to onsen (Japanesehot springs) or "obligatory" holiday episodes. These latter are often to tropical locales, in order to showcase the characters in bathing suits[5]; all aim to depict characters in states of relative undress when it would otherwise be out of place with the tone of a series. In anime, two common types of fanservice are the panty shot and jiggling breasts. Fan service permeates almost all anime, but obvious examples can be seen in the OVA series Eiken, as well as the series Tenjo Tenge. Even sh?nen anime such as Naruto, Bleach and One Piece will occasionally contain sexual fan service. Similarly, Studio Fantasia's Agent Aika and Najica Blitz Tactics are known as the epitome of the panty-shot anime. A third type is the nude transformation sequence, first introduced in Go Nagai's Cutie Honey (1973?1974). One of the most renowned examples of fan service is the Chun-Li shower scene in Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. These scenes were subsequently cut from the U.S. translation of the film, but were added back in the newest DVD release of the movie. First panty shot scene was in Astroboy in 1963. These are all usually seen as fan service, with rare exceptions such as for parody.[12]
Cosplay
Characters drawn wearing maid uniforms are a common form of fan service.
In anime and manga, another type of fan service is having one or more of the characters cosplay, usually female, particularly in a costume that is part of a Japanese clothing fetish. Common costumes include:
Often, a movie or television show will make a pastiche reference to another work of which the creators are particularly fond. Examples can be found in movies by Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith, both of whom are admitted fanboys. Quentin Tarantino himself has been paid homage to by animation: in the second episode of Aaron MacGruder's The Boondocks, which features Charlie Murphy (voice-acting Ed Wuncler III, a privileged white soldier returned from Iraq), his partner, Gin Rummy (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) berates the main characters with part of a speech used by Jules Winfield, Jackson's hitman character in Tarantino's Pulp Fiction.
Also, many remakes of movies employ throwaway lines that serve nothing more than to "tip the hat" to the original classic:
A well-known example is the uncredited cameo appearance of Charlton Heston as Thade's father in the Tim Burton remake of Planet of the Apes. The character's deathbed speech makes clear references to his "Damn you all to hell!" line that closed the original classic.
In the 2003Hulk movie, the last line spoken (in Spanish) in the movie is "Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry", a clear homage to the Bill Bixby/Lou FerrignoThe Incredible Hulk TV series of the 1970s.
In the 1990s remake of Disney's The Parent Trap, one of the twins quietly sings a few bars from the trademark song of the 1960s original, "Let's Get Together".
In the film Batman Forever, Robin makes a reference to his previous characterization on the Batman 1960s TV series by saying "Holy (holey) rusted metal, Batman!", speaking of fake rocks which make up the Riddler's island lair. Batman asks him to repeat what he said, and Robin explains, "The ground, it's all metal and full of holes, you know? Holey!" This parodied the 1960s character's habit of putting "Holy..." in front of any situation.
In the 2003 Battlestar Galactica miniseries, the theme from the original show was used as the Colonial Anthem. The final line in the miniseries is "By your command", the only dialogue of the original series' Centurians.
In the 2000 X-Men movie, after Wolverine complains to Cyclops on the stiffness of their black uniforms, Cyclops retorts with, "Well, what would you prefer? Yellow spandex?", an obvious reference to their original costumes from the comics. In the third movie, Juggernaut delivers the line "I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!" from a popular fan dub of the animated show.
In the 2005 King Kong remake, when Carl Denham is in a cab asking Preston who should play the lead girl in his movie, one of his suggestions is "Fay" to which Preston replies, "She's already doing something for RKO." Denham says, "Cooper, huh? I should've known." Fay Wray played Ann Darrow in the original King Kong; that movie was produced by RKO Pictures and was directed by Merian C. Cooper.
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