Ask Jack: Unmentionables
Q: I’m not complaining about the fan-service in anime, but I want to ask something: Why is it such a huge thing to have just about every female character flash her unmentionables? And what started the trend?
Q: I’m not complaining about the fan-service in anime, but I want to ask something: Why is it such a huge thing to have just about every female character flash her unmentionables? And what started the trend?
—Ken Stokka, Jackson, MI
A: For one, it’s easier to do panty shots in anime, since live-action is (ironically enough) more graphic. Watching a real actress (who may not enjoy stripping for the camera) feels like genuine voyeurism, while a caricatured presentation carries no such baggage. That’s an avenue of opportunity for animators, and one look at tentacle hentai should convince you of how far they’re willing to go. Not that wanting to see panties is strange, mind you. We all love a good peek at someone’s “unmentionables.” The vulnerability that comes with a panty shot also inspires our protective instinct (or predatory instinct, depending on your sympathies), a key emotion exploited in the recent glut of moe anime. But what the fan-service trend really shows is the evolution of the industry. While the relaxing of content restrictions is an obvious culprit, the real one is probably the coming-of-age of the TV anime generation. The same people who wanted to see more fan-service when they were growing up are now making anime themselves, and they’re not being censored like their predecessors were. Cutey Honey (1973) is widely considered one of the best early examples of blatant fan-service in a TV title, and many current anime directors would’ve been in their impressionable teens around that time. The presence of the right kind of fan-service in a show can also boost cult cachet in a target market, paving the way for DVD sales.
P.S. One of the earliest panty shots in animation was—believe it or not—a Disney film! Minnie Mouse uses her frilly knickers as a makeshift parachute when she bails out of Mickey’s stunt plane in Plane Crazy (1928). Mickey lost control of the plane while trying to coerce her into a little highflying hanky-panky...