This article contains a discussion of intense sexual themes.
One of the signature aspects ofanime, for better or worse, is its penchant for fanservice. Regardless of genre or demographic, many anime will depict their female characters with some combination of excessively curvaceous bodies and revealing outfits and repeatedly put them in situations where they’re naked or nearly naked or otherwise violated, and the fact that those characters are often minors makes the entire concept especially contentious for many.
Fanservice will always be a contentious part of anime, but that shouldn’t be the reason someone stops watching something. While many anime very much go too far with their fanservice in the absence of competent writing, just as many anime have great stories to get invested in so long as someone can get past the risqué moments, and in some cases,some anime with a lot of fanservice are great specifically because of how effectively they use fanservice. A few anime like that are especially worth watching, even if, in many cases, someone should take care to watch them alone.
In Toei Animation’sOne Piece, the world has entered a Great Age of Piracy following the death of Gold Roger and the hunt for his legendary treasure, the One Piece. Among the people searching for it is Monkey D. Luffy, and despite the oddity of him having a body made of rubber, Luffy will gather a crew to travel through the Grand Line, find the One Piece, and become King of the Pirates.
One Pieceis infamous for giving its female characters ridiculously busty and curvaceous bodies and scantily clad outfits, and the way the anime often exaggerates Eiichiro Oda’s art style, in addition to its numerous original scenes focused purely on fanservice, has given it a bad reputation among fans for years. That being said,One Pieceis plenty worth watching because of its incredible writing and action and for howOne Piece’s female charactersare almost always written well, despite the fanservice, and it also helps thatOne Pieceis surprisingly tame by anime standards.
Studio Khara’sNeon Genesis Evangelionstars Shinji Ikari, a reserved young boy who goes to the futuristic Tokyo-3 to see his father for the first time in a decade. There, Shinji is told that he has to pilot a giant robot called an Evangelion and protect the world from monstrous beings called Angels, all of which gradually takes a toll on Shinji’s fragile psyche.
Neon Genesis Evangelionhas a surprising amount of fanservice with things like the heavy focus on the skintight nature of the girls’ plug suits, especially in theRebuildtetralogy, and the infamous scene of Shinji masturbating to a comatose Asuka after her breasts were exposed. However, not only is the anime’s dark and deconstructive writing and action plenty worth experiencing, butthe coming-of-age nature of Shinji’s arc inNeon Genesis Evangelioncan be seen as a rationalization of its heavy use of fanservice, so to some extent, it does have a better handling on things than most of its contemporaries.
Sunrise’sCode Geassstars Lelouch vi Britannia, the former prince of Britannia who his father banished to Japan, now the Britannian colony Area 11, for calling him out on his failure to save his mother from death and his sister, Nunally, from becoming paralyzed. When Lelouch gains a Geass, a mysterious power that lets him brainwash anyone he looks at, Lelouch decides to use his power to become the vigilante Zero and slowly take down Britannia to avenge his mother and create a better world for Nunnally.
Code Geassis famous for its heavy amount of fanservice, with every new installment upping the ante on how far it can go with busty female characters, superfluous nudity, and how much the camera can draw attention to the girls’ revealing outfits and ridiculously curvaceous bodies. The incredible action and increasingly complex writing make it more than worth sitting through, of course, but even then,Code Geass’ heavy use of fanservice perfectly highlights its lighthearted and campy tone underneath all its darker elements, so for better or worse,Code Geasswouldn’t be the way it is without it.
Science Saru’sDandadanstars Momo Ayase and Okarun, two teenagers obsessed with aliens and the supernatural who end up permanently changed by an encounter with both, with both teens gaining supernatural powers and Okarun losing his genitalia. Momo and Okarun work together and with others to get them back while fighting any supernatural threat they come across, all as a budding romance begins to develop between the two.
Dandadanis infamous for its sexual themes, as not only does it have all the usual types of anime fanservice with nudity and revealing outfits, but from the premiere all the way to the finale,Dandadanhas repeatedly used the threat of rape in major story beats, with Momo almost always being on the receiving end. It’s impossible to denythe problematic nature ofDandadan’s writing, but fortunately,Dandadan’s gorgeous animation and clever and heartfelt writing more than make up for its problematic handling of fanservice, and the popularity it’s been met with is proof positive of that.
In the world of Studio Trigger’sTengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, humanity has been forced to live underground for centuries under the threat of murder by the Spiral King and his army of Beastmen, something most people aren’t even aware of. When Simon discovers a mysterious robot called a Gunmen, he and his blood brother Kamina end up joining humanity’s fight against the Spiral King, and Simon’s part in it all has him grow into a man that can take on not only the world, but the entire universe.
Owing to its Gainax roots,Gurren Lagannis filled with fanservicey elements like Yoko’s famously skimpy outfit, how often drills and combining are used as metaphors for penises and sex, and the general escalation of fanservice to the point thattheGurren Lagannmovieshad fully uncensored nudity.Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagannepisode #6 had such intense fanservice that it had to be edited down into a clip show, with the original cut unavailable in most releases, so the show’s proclivity for fanservice is undeniable, but with how amazing the writing and animation is, it’s more than worth sitting through.
Studio Trigger’sKill la Killstars Ryuko Matoi, a troubled girl who enrolls in Honnouji Academy to uncover the truth about her father’s murder. While initially powerless against student council president Satsuki Kiryuin and the superhuman abilities of the student body’s Goku Uniforms, Ryuko evens the playing field with a sentient Goku Uniform named Senketsu, and together, they’re ready to beat down anyone who gets in their way as they search for answers.
Kill la Killis famous for its heavy use of fanservice, with characters fighting in skimpy, superpowered school uniforms and series antagonist Ragyo Kiryuin subjecting Ryuko and Satsuki to sexual assault, but it all works thanks to the great fight scenes and how the writing works things into a surprisingly positive message about body positivity and freedom of expression.Kill la Kill’s use of fanservice and action makes it the perfect culmination of every wonderfully bizarre writing quirk of Studio Trigger’s team, and even after over a decade, it remains one of thebest Studio Trigger anime, by far.
Studio Trigger’sPanty & Stocking with Garterbeltstars the titular Panty and Stocking, a pair of angels who were kicked out of Heaven for their bad behavior. The two of them need to work with reverend Garterbelt to protect Daten City from evil Ghosts and eventually earn their way back into Heaven, but between Panty’s obsession with sex and Stocking’s obsession with sweets, it ends up being a far more difficult task than need be.
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt’s writing and animation make it the raunchiest anime ever made by the team at Studio Trigger, as not only does it have an incredible amount of fanservice and nudity to the point that Panty and Stocking’s magical girl transformations are actual stripteases, but the writing is filled with sex jokes and generally crass dialogue, especially in the English dub. It’s the closest thing to an X-rated Cartoon Network show in the best of ways, and withPanty & Stocking with Garterbeltseason 2in development, there’s finally more of its absurdity in store.
Gushing Over Magical Girls
Cast
Gushing Over Magical Girls follows Hiragi Utena, a magical girl enthusiast who discovers her true role as a villain after transforming. Embracing her new identity, she becomes a sadistic tormentor of the very heroes she idolized, inverting the traditional magical girl narrative.
In Asahi Production’sGushing over Magical Girls, ordinary middle schooler Utena Hiiragi is a major fan of her town’s magical girl team, Tres Magia, and she jumps at the chance to become a magical girl just like them. Unfortunately, Utena was recruited to become an evil magical girl, and whenever Utena fights as Magia Baiser, she can’t stop herself from indulging in her repressed sadist urges and subjecting them to BDSM-style torture, resulting in varying degrees of arousal from both parties every time.
Gushing over Magical Girlshas no reservations about its fanservicey nature, as not only does everyone dress in highly-revealing outfits, but every fight plays out in a way clearly meant to appeal to someone’s absurd fetish. Not only does the anime have plenty of great comedy and a surprising amount of heart, though, butthe sheer lengths with whichGushing over Magical Girlsexecutes its fanservice makes it fun to watch because of how absurd it is, and that handling of things probably makes it the best example of ananime that’s surprisingly good, despite having a lot of fanservice.
