Well handled nudity in anime

[blackrave]

I'm interested in examples on anime series that handled nudity in a manner that doesn't scream "FANSERVICE" and proceed to insult your intelligence.

Recently watched "Future Diaries" and I noticed how different it treated nudity (except when it was used for comedic purposes, but that's unavoidable I guess) when compared with most other anime.
Poses were natural, angles weren't focusing on body parts, for the most part nudity was justified.
(granted, your opinion on this may be different)

So, curious on what series handled nudity in non-fanservice way?

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Er...that's kind of hard, because most of the anime I watch is fanservice centered. But let me think here...

Okay, two come to mind. The first is 'A Certain Magical Index/A Certain Scientific Railgun'. There are hints of fanservice in the show, but I think the part with the Sisters, where it's showing them being grown and when they first come out naked, is done well. There's no fanservice feeling about any of those scenes.

Next is Spice and Wolf. When Lawrence first meets Holo, she is completely naked. She doesn't care, and while he is shocked by it, it's not like she shows it off in a seductive way or anything like that. He's embarrassed, but the camera or the panels aren't lurking on her chest or butt like in other shows.


I had a third show, but it has slipped my mind.

 

[I can't enter my old name]

Elfen Lied.

No seriously. The depiction of Lucy being naked is not fanservice, despite what some people believe. The use of nudity shows the primal nature of humans that we have long forgotten. To say that this is uncomforting would be an understatement. What bothers me how people immediately see nudity and gore and scream edgy and immature.

It also has blatantly obvious religious symbolism, in line with Renaissance depictions of nudity in religious art. The intro song Lilium really makes it obvious that she is not human but a pure being without sin. Really she serves as the God's final judgement on mankind.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Ha! Not.
I mean, you're gonna get a lot of people defending the anime they like.
"Oh, they handled it quite gracefully". "It was plot-relevant". "The breasts were only K-cups". But no. I don't buy it for a second.
There're three things you can't ask anime to NOT do, and one of them is NOT handle nudity as anything other than fanservice.
The other two are reaction freeze frames and the words CHOTTO MATTE KUDASAI!

 

[Lightspeaker]

To be honest there's a bunch. There's a surprising number of anime series that just have nudity just as part of normal scenes with no particularly implied fanservice but...you know...because someone is taking a bath or whatever. Or as part of a thematic imagery thing.

But there's a lot of immature people out there that throw up their arms over the whole thing. *shrug*

 

[Fox12]

Perfect blue handled it very well. The anatomy was realistic, convincing me that the animators had actually seen a woman, but it's much more then that. It's handled in a way that is natural for the scene. It's never fan service related at all. In fact, it could be seen as a massive criticism of fanservice in the film industry. It centers around an actress who suffers a mental breakdown. One scene has her agreeing to shoot a rape scene that she doesn't want to do. It's awkward for everyone involved, and she isn't comfortable doing it.

Another one is Neon Genesis. Every nude scene is plot relevant in some way, even the one with Rei. They're either plot relevant moments or they're criticizing other anime series. It's usually part of the psychological tone of the scene, since the characters are being layed "bare" before the audience, and the layers of bullshit they've built around themselves are torn away. A real masterpiece of a series.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

Now stay with me on this one, but Kill la Kill comes to mind.

Yes, there's a lot of nudity and fanservice, and it is rather juvenile and in your face at time, but it's all so excessive that after a point you become unfazed to it, and just accept it as a part of the show. Hell, by the end of the series literally every character is or has been naked, and you don't feel a thing.

On a similar note, I felt the short ME!ME!ME! used it effectively, amping the sexual imagery up to a point that it becomes less sexy and more disturbing and horrifying. Evangelion can dabble into this from time to time, too.

Perfect Blue, as above mention, works as well, but it's not a movie that comes to mind in that way.

Can't say I agree with Elfen Lied, though.

 

[Casual Shinji]

The first Ghost in the Shell movie.

Like the rest of the visuals, the nudity emphasizes the cold and sterile nature of this (the movie's) world. There's plenty of times Major Kusanagi is displayed naked, but it's never shot in a way to titillate or for you to leer over her. And of those scenes we get one where she's being constructed in a lab, and one where she tears herself apart, showing that she's not a warm body of flesh and blood (attractive), but a cold, mechanical construction. The movie also drives this symbolism home when showing a couple of mannequins in a boutique during a montage.

And I'm not even that big of a fan of this movie.

Not that nudity needs to be specifically not arrousing in order to be well handled. There's nothing wrong with some titilation, but anime could most certainly use some more thought behind it.

 

[Tsun Tzu]

Next is Spice and Wolf. When Lawrence first meets Holo, she is completely naked. She doesn't care, and while he is shocked by it, it's not like she shows it off in a seductive way or anything like that. He's embarrassed, but the camera or the panels aren't lurking on her chest or butt like in other shows.

This is my pick as well.

Holo's just an awesome character all around and the occasional nudity, which doesn't include actual bits by the way, is handled as simply being a matter of course. It's not sexualized. It's just her being as she is; natural. And, also, a wolf god.

 

[Kyrian007]

I can only think of one example. The Animatrix: The Second Renaissance. There is a brief scene of nudity where an actual sexbot is torn apart by an angry mob. The nudity is representative of the robot's function, and it's only a few frames until the skin is torn from the thing and it turns to a scene of violence as opposed to titillation.

As far as traditional anime is concerned, if a show's creators worry about making sure nude scenes are necessary for the story and are "tasteful" ... they usually eventually don't do them at all. Don't get me wrong, nude scenes in anime can be great scenes and can be done for fantastic story reasons that are powerful and meaningful... but it's ALWAYS a "2 birds with one stone" scenario. And fanservice is always that other bird.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

The first Ghost in the Shell movie.

Like the rest of the visuals, the nudity emphasizes the cold and sterile nature of this (the movie's) world. There's plenty of times Major Kusanagi is displayed naked, but it's never shot in a way to titillate or for you to leer over her. And of those scenes we get one where she's being constructed in a lab, and one where she tears herself apart, showing that she's not a warm body of flesh and blood (attractive), but a cold, mechanical construction. The movie also drives this symbolism home when showing a couple of mannequins in a boutique during a montage.

And I'm not even that big of a fan of this movie.

Not that nudity needs to be specifically not arrousing in order to be well handled. There's nothing wrong with some titilation, but anime could most certainly use some more thought behind it.

That's Mamoru Oshii for you. Though to be honest I prefer his depictions of sexuality over the blatant and off putting tits in the manga and the television series.

 

[Thaluikhain]

The first Ghost in the Shell movie.

Like the rest of the visuals, the nudity emphasizes the cold and sterile nature of this (the movie's) world. There's plenty of times Major Kusanagi is displayed naked, but it's never shot in a way to titillate or for you to leer over her. And of those scenes we get one where she's being constructed in a lab, and one where she tears herself apart, showing that she's not a warm body of flesh and blood (attractive), but a cold, mechanical construction. The movie also drives this symbolism home when showing a couple of mannequins in a boutique during a montage.

And I'm not even that big of a fan of this movie.

Not that nudity needs to be specifically not arrousing in order to be well handled. There's nothing wrong with some titilation, but anime could most certainly use some more thought behind it.

I was going to say GitS, yeah, but only certain scenes. There's other times where it does seem as well done. Also, the Major's costume is a bit odd.

 

[Hades]

Fma brotherhood perhaps? Ed gets a scene walking out of the shower. This last only a second if I recall and the character who enters on it(Envy) doesn't comment.

The scene was no doubt there for fanservice but for a character who seems to have quite a lot of fangirls I think it showed at least some restraint.

 

[happyninja42]

I can't remember the name of it, but it's a REALLY good anime that my wife showed me on Netflix. I think it's still there, but I could be wrong.

I think it's called Morijimbo? Moributo? Eh, I forget. The main character is this middle aged woman, or at least she seems that way, she is probably in her 30's if I had to guess, she felt older though. And she's this badass spearwoman, and she is charged with defending the prince because he's got a special destiny. The only time nudity came up at all that I can remember, was when she's changing clothes, and the young prince turns to watch her. But then another person who is a close friend of the woman, politely turns the prince's gaze the other way. The fact that it didn't have tons of fanservice (at all really), and the one time it's brought up, they do it offscreen and with some level of discretion, was something I really enjoyed. That and it's direct flipping of several common tropes, made for a very fun and refreshing anime.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I can't remember the name of it, but it's a REALLY good anime that my wife showed me on Netflix. I think it's still there, but I could be wrong.

I think it's called Morijimbo? Moributo? Eh, I forget. The main character is this middle aged woman, or at least she seems that way, she is probably in her 30's if I had to guess, she felt older though. And she's this badass spearwoman, and she is charged with defending the prince because he's got a special destiny. The only time nudity came up at all that I can remember, was when she's changing clothes, and the young prince turns to watch her. But then another person who is a close friend of the woman, politely turns the prince's gaze the other way. The fact that it didn't have tons of fanservice (at all really), and the one time it's brought up, they do it offscreen and with some level of discretion, was something I really enjoyed. That and it's direct flipping of several common tropes, made for a very fun and refreshing anime.

Seirei no Moribito

Pretty good show, if not maybe a bit dull at times. And yeah, Balsa is a great character. One of the few badass anime women who isn't a retoric spouting show off.

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

The first Ghost in the Shell movie.

Like the rest of the visuals, the nudity emphasizes the cold and sterile nature of this (the movie's) world. There's plenty of times Major Kusanagi is displayed naked, but it's never shot in a way to titillate or for you to leer over her. And of those scenes we get one where she's being constructed in a lab, and one where she tears herself apart, showing that she's not a warm body of flesh and blood (attractive), but a cold, mechanical construction. The movie also drives this symbolism home when showing a couple of mannequins in a boutique during a montage.

And I'm not even that big of a fan of this movie.

Not that nudity needs to be specifically not arrousing in order to be well handled. There's nothing wrong with some titilation, but anime could most certainly use some more thought behind it.

I agree that anime does need to put more thought into it's use of nudity but then again, most anime is meant to sate a demographic, not challenge it so it may take a while for improvement to come about.

OT: I will also have to put a vote for Kill la Kill since it uses nudity and clothing in opposing thematic ways

 

[SquallTheBlade]

Kara no Kyoukai I guess? There is nudity but none if is done in a fanservicy way. It just is there. Without spoiling too much, nudity is always there for a reason but you still don't see it that often.

If you only want to watch something because it does nudity "right", then KnK might not be for you.

 

[ObserverStatus]

Nudity that didn't feel like fan service? Idk, maybe that part of Higurashi: When They Cry when Satoko tries to steam herself to death and Keiichi end having having to haul her to the hospital?

Elfen Lied.

No seriously. The depiction of Lucy being naked is not fanservice, despite what some people believe. The use of nudity shows the primal nature of humans that we have long forgotten. To say that this is uncomforting would be an understatement. What bothers me how people immediately see nudity and gore and scream edgy and immature.

It also has blatantly obvious religious symbolism, in line with Renaissance depictions of nudity in religious art. The intro song Lilium really makes it obvious that she is not human but a pure being without sin. Really she serves as the God's final judgement on mankind.

Sorry but, the part where Number 35 starts beating the crap out of Number 7, and 7 just flies out of her clothes seemed really edgy and immature to me. I'd argue that Cross Ange handled nudity better than Elfen Lied, at least it didn't think it wasn't just pandering.

 

[FPLOON]

Blue Gender comes to mind mostly because it's not even treated as titillation for the audience... Samurai Champloo had one in the form of referencing traditional art... I would almost say the first season of Haganai, but both moments were played comedically and, after that particular season, they never did something like that to that great degree of an effect ever again...

Other than that, the nudity of Afro Samurai fit with where it took place at...

 

[happyninja42]

snip

Seirei no Moribito

Pretty good show, if not maybe a bit dull at times. And yeah, Balsa is a great character. One of the few badass anime women who isn't a retoric spouting show off.

Or a topheavy teenage schoolgirl who is somehow the most dangerous badass in the universe. I think on Netflix it's just labeled as Moribito though, just in case anyone's trying to find it. I remember it being a 1 word title in the queue.