Fanservice has practically become a staple in anime and it's hard to come across a show that doesn't include at least a little fanservice, just to spice things up. But all too often, anime overuse fanservice in a way that doesn't add anything to the plot or is just plain unnecessary.
Thankfully, some creators and animators took note of the pointless fanservice that plagues certain genres of anime and thought of more immersive and inventive ways to include it in their series. Fanservice becomes a lot less annoying when it's delivered with a purpose, and there are some great anime out there that utilize fanservice to great effect.
10 Free! Literally Requires Its Characters To Be Topless Sometimes
This series revolves around the Iwatobi Swim Club, a quartet of high-school boys who practice swimming and even enter regional or national tournaments on occasion. Taking a dip in the pool isn't recommended without a proper swimsuit, especially in competitive swimming where speed in the water is crucial to coming out on top.
However, Kyoto Animation uses Free!'s plot and setting to dish out a good amount of fanservice, frequently with the character Gou Matsuoka reacting just like how the audience would. This series is aware of what it's doing with its fanservice, making it less irritating to deal with.
9 Kill La Kill's Message Is About Empowerment Via Expression
At first glance, Kill la Kill might seem like an anime that egregiously abuses its rights to display fanservice, but there's a deeper symbolism behind the skimpiness of Kamui Senketsu and Kamui Junketsu. Series director Hiroyuki Imaishi stated that much of Kill la Kill's plot is based on homonyms in Japanese.
In Japanese, the pronunciation for "fascism," Imaishi notes, is remarkably close to the pronunciation of "fashion" ("fassho" and "fasshon," respectively). Also, the words for "conquest" and "uniform" are both pronounced "seifuku." Kill la Kill's plot is dependent on Ryuko Matoi and Satsuki Kiriyuin embracing their scantily clad Kamui uniforms and using them to carve their own paths.
8 Steins;Gate's Fanservice Makes The Series Immersive
Rintaro Okabe lives the otaku dream in his Future Gadgets Laboratory with his best friends Itaru "Daru" Hashida and Mayuri Shiina. Fanservice is an important factor in establishing Steins;Gate's setting, so it's not out of the ordinary to see Okabe ranting about Luka Urushibara as a shrine maiden, or seeing Faris NyanNyan frequently dressed as a catgirl maid (she works at a maid café, after all). Fans who watch the series are downright expecting to see the kind of otaku style and mannerisms that Akihabara is known for.
7 Food Wars!: Shokugeki No Soma Is Self-Aware With Its Fanservice
Series illustrator Shun Saeki conceptualized a series where girls can express their feelings about food with "ecstasy," and turned to Yuto Tsukuda to help him with a storyline. Thus, Food Wars! was born. This series is deliberate and nonsensical with its depictions of fanservice, which are always centered around the reactions characters are having when eating delicious food.
As a series about cooking, there are plentiful opportunities for fanservice to occur. While this might be off-putting to some viewers, Food Wars! uses fanservice almost as a gag to convey and illustrate the series' focal point, which is the creation of delicious food.
6 Panty & Stocking w/ Garterbelt's Fanservice Is Expected
As a parody anime, it would be strange if Panty & Stocking didn't stock up on fanservice. Ironically, the funniest part about Panty & Stocking's fanservice might be the fact that it's pretty limited. Panty & Stocking is known for its American animation influence and most of the series is portrayed in styles mimicking the Powerpuff Girls and other American cartoons. Even its episodic format is a love letter to American cartoons.
Only when Panty and Stocking transform into their angel forms to defeat ghosts does the animation switch to something more detailed and aligned with what the typical anime fan expects anime to look like. And quite frankly, that's hilarious.
5 Neon Genesis Evangelion Uses Fanservice To Challenge Viewers
Fanservice in Evangelion is typically viewed through the eyes of its protagonist, Shinji Ikari. Evangelion's fanservice stands out since the series itself is dark, and the inclusion of moments that put Shinji in a provocative situation is often uncomfortable.
Both the scene where he walks in on Rei Ayanami changing and the scene where he accidentally sees part of Asuka Langley Sohryu's nude body in the hospital are meant to make both Shinji and the audience evaluate why these scenes are unpleasant. After all, in a more lighthearted anime, these scenes may have been met with laughter. But for Evangelion, they're presented as realistic and problematic.
4 FLCL's Fanservice Enhances Its Main Themes
Also known as Fooly Cooly, this short-but-sweet series is a masterpiece despite its unconventional delivery. On the surface, FLCL looks like an eccentric comedy, but it's actually an awkward, relatable coming-of-age story for Naota Nandaba.
As a pre-teen boy going through puberty and wrestling with the hassles of growing up, it's expected that FLCL would include some minor fanservice to highlight his inner turmoil. FLCL's fanservice is handled competently and is only included when a deeper message can be extracted from it. Perceptive viewers will surely see FLCL's fanservice for what it is and let it enrich their enjoyment of the series.
3 Kakegurui Is Deliberate In Its Portrayal Of Fanservice
Much like the point of fanservice in Food Wars!, Kakegurui reserves its portrayals of provocative scenes for very specific moments. Kakegurui is about gambling and its main character, Yumeko Jabami, receives an unusual amount of pleasure from taking unbelievable risks. But she's not the only one, as there are several more students at Hyakkaou Academy who derive just as much titillation from risky gambles as Yumeko does.
As a result, Kakegurui is as guilty of overabundant fanservice as Food Wars! is. But since fanservice is dedicated to heightening the tension during gambles, Kakegurui gets a pass for its egregiously seductive scenes.
2 KonoSuba Uses Fanservice Emphatically
A parody anime that doesn't make fun of its genre isn't a very good parody, so it's great that KonoSuba is unapologetic with its fanservice. In fact, some scenes practically shove fanservice in the audience's face... but that's the entire point.
KonoSuba is an isekai anime that makes fun of isekai anime. Whereas fanservice in the likes of Sword Art Online becomes an eye-rolling affair, fanservice in KonoSuba underlines its satirical nature and dares audiences to be as perverse as its characters. This kind of self-aware, fourth-wall-breaking fanservice can only enhance the comedy within the series and KonoSuba pulls it off beautifully.
1 Katanagatari’s Fanservice Builds Its Main Characters
Shichika Yasuri spent the entirety of his life on an isolated island with only his sister and father for company. Suffice to say that he's not socially adept, even at 24-years-old, which is why the fanservice moments in this anime are so brilliant.
Rather than the typical perverted high schooler who can't stop a nosebleed once he gets a panty shot, Shichika is blissfully unaware that he should feel any kind of pleasure from seeing Togame nude, or even from being in close quarters with her. In fact, Katanagatari uses fanservice moments to underline how naïve Shichika is and it effectively enhances both his and Togame's personalities.