Ask John: Why is Fan Service Getting Blamed for the Death of Anime?

Question:
Why is fanservice getting blamed for the downfall of anime. All I hear these day is how ecchi fanservice/harem show is killing the industry, why is that. I’ve been a anime fan for 16 years and it frustrate me when I see people attack ecchi fanservice/harem show saying it the reason anime is dying say that that there too many of them and that there all trash. I’ve been keeping track for the past couple of years and on average by my count, only 12 to 15 of the 75+ new anime that comes out every year is ecchi fanservice, harem, or both. Wouldn’t it be more correct to say that what killing the industy is not too much ecchi fanservice/harem show, but the lack of good quality show that are on par with Gundam, Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchmist, Princess Tutu, and Kaleido Star? And as Ken Akamatsu said a couple of week ago that male viewers havn’t been buy anime like they have in the past cause they can’t afford it. I feel the show like Code Geass and Gurren Lagaan, to name a few, have been poor attempt to imitate Gundam and Evangelion with complete lack of story and, as a guy, I can varify how hard it is to buy anime cause of how exspensive it is. So why do people keep saying that ecchi fanservice/harem show are killing anime and shouldn’t we be offended by this?

Answer:
The commonly heard argument that ecchi and fan service anime are downing the industry, stifling creativity, and generally suffocating the future of the medium presumably has to have some degree of validity in order for it to be such a widespread belief. Debate over President Barak Obama’s nationality at birth and religious conviction also continues to be debated in defiance of clear factual evidence, suggesting that a theory, once presented, is difficult to dispell. But unlike political conspiracy theorism, which has fringe proponents arguing against the mainstream, the argument that fan service, ecchi, and moé are killing anime seemingly is the mainstream, and there’s no vocal opposing theory or opposition. Seemingly the majority of anime fans claim either that fan service is the bane of anime, or make no public claims at all. Arguing that the theory is entirely mistaken and misguided would be, itself, wrong. However, the present state of the anime production industry is too complex to be attributable to any singular or primary cause.

The anime titles that characterize the 1970s are typically sci-fi and hero shows: Gatchaman, Yamato, Mazinger Z, Gundam. The 1980s show a bit more diversity: Urusei Yatsura, Hokuto no Ken, Sailor Moon, City Hunter, Dirty Pair, St. Seiya, Nausicaa, Gundam Z, Akira, Dragon Ball. The 1990s begin to demonstrate a narrowing focus on bishoujo and otaku anime: Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Tenchi Muyo, Rayearth, Card Captor Sakura, Initial D, Trigun, Rurouni Kenshin. The beginning of the 2000s has been dominated even further by select shounen anime with cult followings – Naruto & Bleach – and bishoujo anime: Love Hina, Sakura Taisen, Suzumiya Haruhi, Lucky Star, K-ON, Mahoromatic, Rozen Maiden. Certainly, since its modern foundation in the early 60s anime has enjoyed a great diversity of genres and styles. But certain shows and movies have always naturally dominated and defined the consumer’s perception of the era. We see the 60s and the birth of modern anime; the 70s as a time of commercialism and stylistic cohesion. The 80s were the golden era of experimentation and explosive growth. The 90s were a cooling off period when “otaku” anime started to gain prominence. The present early 2000s are the fruition of the 90s – a period dominated by otaku oriented anime and stereotyped by anime that exists to sell pretty girls. In the 2000’s era of moé and tsundere, anime including K-On, Queen’s Blade, Idolmaster, Moetan, Ikkitousen, Love Hina, Ichigo Marshmallow, Galaxy Angel, Fate/stay night, and Lyrical Nanoha have contributed to a perception that contemporary anime exists to sell pretty anime girls – characters, appearances, and personalities with story optional – regardless of whether that’s actually the case. Just as in past decades, fan service shows have constituted only a minority fraction of the anime produced in the 2000s. But unlike past decades, in the 2000s the minority fan service shows have had the highest profile and the largest audiences.

A vicious circle, the anime industry is paid to produce more of the type of shows that consumers and audiences most want, and contemporary consumers have demonstrated that they most want anime filled with cute girls doing cute things. Thus we get programs like K-On!!, Sora no Woto, Akikan, Saki, Kanamemo, and Kanokon. These shows aren’t all bad, but too much of anything is bad for us. Blame doesn’t lie entirely on the anime itself, nor on the studios that produce it, nor on the sponsors that comission it. The viewers and consumers that support it are equally responsible. We bemoan the dearth of serious, intelligent, dramatic, and literary anime, but when shows like Kaiba, Denno Coil, Nijuu Menso no Musume, Shion no Ou, Akagi, RD Sennou Chousashitsu, Kemono no Souja Erin, Oh Edo Rocket, Ristorante Paradiso, Higashi no Eden, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Summer Wars, and Saraiya Goyou attempt to offer precisely what the vocal otaku community claims to desire, these shows go disregarded, unwatched, and under appreciated. Sponsors don’t pay to continue producing anime, and types of anime, that viewers don’t support.

It’s far easier for otaku to blame the anime industry – the half of the anime community that’s not themselves – and pick on the easy target – high profile fan service anime – than accept an equal share of personal responsibility for the the status of contemporary anime. Yes, otaku should be offended by the common argument that fan service is the cancer of anime; not because the accusation is unfair but rather because it’s exemplary of the hypocritical attitude of anime otaku. We blame fan service anime as though it, and only it, is solely responsible for the anime industry’s sagging income and creative doldrums. Yet fans continue to demand cheaper anime and increasingly hesitate to financially support the medium they supposedly love, and fail to encourage the industry to continue developing artistic, expressive, creative, and unique anime by ignoring the artistic and unconventional shows that do appear. Anime creators don’t exist and operate in sterile isolation. They’re aware of the fan reception of particular shows, and animators in particular are frequently at the mercy of corporate sponsors and media distributors that decide which projects get production budgets and which don’t. When fans express interest in certain types of anime, even if that interest is disappointment, at least it serves as encouragement to improve. However, in the present era, the otaku community seems to consist only of fans that aggressively or silently consume moé, bishoujo, and fan service anime, and fans that vilify moé, bishoujo, and fan service anime. We get what we deserve. When we fail to recognize our own complacency in the state of the anime industry, it’s offensive to complain without accepting appropriate responsibility for the exact situation we’re complaining about. The anime industry gives its fans exactly what its fans want. So when we complain that fan service is killing anime, we’re allowing it to happen and contributing to that situation without doing anything to avert or reverse it. Anime is a two-way collaboration. We have a legitimate right to complain about what the industry offers, but we also have the ability and, as self-proclaimed fans, the responsibility, to affect precisely what the industry produces and offers.