[Editors Note: Let's take a breather from debating about moe, shall we? This is a promoted Community Blog, written by one of our readers. If you would like to see your own Cblog on the front page, warm up your keyboard and write something awesome! ~Jon Snyder] 

This may be a poor analogy, but this is what I figure a hefty majority of people who watch anime think of when it comes to fanservice.

"Fanservice is kind of like candy - it's fun and sweet in moderation, but too much and you simply get sick. A little bit can add some humor, awkwardness, or the lovely "eye-candy" appeal for the sake of entertainment. And also, I believe one of the reasons that writers, directors, and artists incorporate it is because, on paper, this is the chance to create a purely unrealistic person, especially in the culture of Japan."

I remember listening to the fanservice episode of the The Anime Counterpoint podcast with hbi2k and kaiserneko last year. Very few girls in the real world actually look like that, but in a fictitious world, it's completely possible for every girl to be perfect. It's a visual take on something that otherwise could only exist in imagination. And, I believe, that is why it becomes so entertaining - we get to physically see something interact in front of us that we will rarely come across in real life.

But of course, it can easily be overdone. However, this isn't about the current status of fanservice in anime today. This is about the current status of the anime fans who perceive fanservice today.

I'd hate to make this seem like a study, but that's probably what this is going to come off as, anyway...: It's not fair to assume that anime is, was, and always in the same boat in terms of fanservice the entirety of it's existence; you would mainly be thinking of the past decade and a half of it's history. In fact, I bet you'd be surprised that the hefty majority of all anime doesn't have any in the slightest, but even when it does, there are many varying degrees of it. You all have to realize that all anime wasn't in this shonen, moe, and ecchi state before about 1995 (although there were some romance shows dating back that far, as well, which should hardly be confused as fanservice). The real motive behind the current craze was a "Baby Boom",if you will, of harem and the recollection of moe. I think that many would agree that the anime synonymous with this could be Love Hina, although there were plenty before it, as well...just not too much that made it as huge as this particular anime did. This occurred around 2002, folks... Mainly, before the millennium it was romance shows and sometimes action genres that had scantily clad heroins that used what is now considered "fanservice" by the majority...even though the use of the term is wrong.

That said, it leads me to the next topic; exactly what is counted as "fanservice" the majority of the time differs from viewer to viewer. For most of the time, I would agree with anyone if something was unnecessarily done just for the purpose of fanservice (like if a female lead, for example, was fighting a gang of thugs completely naked), but it seems that some of you are mistaking fanservice with moe and romance elements. Remember that moe and fanservice, while seemingly interchangeable with one another, are different. Moe (which is hard to define, by-the-way, but I'll try anyways) is the love of a female character or archetype, not with a sexual feeling, but an admiration or personal feeling. So, shows like Girls Bravo are not "moe" in terms of genre, but they could contain moe characters. Slice of life's are probably the most appropriate "moe" genres, but I'll stop there, because that's a whole new topic. Fanservice, however, is a derivation from a particular story to explore a concept that would please the audience, and may de-route from the plot to do so. For one reason or another, this derivation ended up being associated with sexual themes. This is where moe and fanservice could be easy to confused. Just trust me that, with the current definition of fanservice being linked to sexual content, moe is a different concept than it.



Now with fanservice being directly defined, it's funny what people really determine what it actually is. An attractive and busty heroine as a main character isn't fanservice; it's just a character model. Sure, maybe it can be distracting and unrealistic, and maybe you may also disagree with me...but it has nothing to do with fanservice. It was a conscious decision by the designers of the anime or the artist of the manga or source material to create her like that. If she is regularly seen by the viewer and is commonly known as being attractive, it is not fanservice. On the flip side, if a new female character with the same aspects were to appear in the series within the mindset of being pointed out as attractive, then THAT would be fanservice. The reason behind this is that the main character, while still having the same qualities of the new character, has an established role in the story. As it progresses, her aspects will become more commonly accepted, therefore, her appearance will not deviate from the plot. Her looks could lead into situations that point out her attractiveness, and that, if pertaining nothing important to the plot, will be considered fanservice. A great real world example of this would be in the anime Witchblade.

The new character, however, is different. Here's an elaborate example: The new character makes her first appearance in the series, and, by Male Character X, has her appeal pointed out in dramatic / over the top fashion. That would be fanservice, not the character herself. If the new character were to "team up" with the main character, she would STILL not be a "fanservice character". However, if Male Character X at various points in the story points out her appeal yet again while not pertaining to the plot, then it is again fanservice. The point is that fanservice is not a character type, or a genre, or even a likeness...it is a term used to point out a situation in the story that pleases the viewer with no continuity. So, when a show like, using the same example, Girls Bravo is defined as a "fanservice anime", that is wrong. Granted that it has little plot, due to the fanservice in its episodes, it's wrong to place it in a genre that shouldn't technically exist. Maybe soon, there will be a genre call "fanservice" or "moe" that doesn't use the term literally, but rather refers to its qualities.....but for now, I'd rather not take that step until we all understand the basics first.



In conclusion (wow, that sounds rather too formal), fanservice and moe shouldn't be so generalized...at least not yet...The real question is this: What is the line between fanservice, a plot-related theme to attractiveness in the story, and moe...and where do those three lines blur? Surely, this isn't a perfect argument to distinguish these 3 themes, but hopefully, some of you consider what you should and shouldn't consider fanservice. 

On a side note, I do not declare anime as of recently as being of lesser quality, nor do I believe all moe, fanservice, shonen and the like is of lesser quality, either. Hardly, though, this is far from the truth. I love the stuff, and this isn't a blog complaining about the increase or disgust of fanservice at all. I DO believe that the purpose of this is that people need to know exactly what qualifies as fanservice and what doesn't, as well as to take some initiative to learn the terms and boundaries of what each one actually means.