Well handled nudity in anime

[happyninja42]

Dragon Ball Z maybe? I don't think they ever went fan servicey there, but I don't remember well.

Considering there is one scene at least, where Bulma willingly flashes the old guy and the pig, while she's not wearing panties, because it would get her something if she did that for them, I would say that was a bit fanservicey. Or at least a little skeezy xD

 

[Zhukov]

I thought the opening to Elfen Lied was pretty good. Lucy tearing people apart while wearing nothing but a helmet is used to emphasize how detached and alien she is. Which is kinda her thing.

The weird obsession that the show developed later on with having 12-year-old girls' clothing get torn off at the slightest provocation... not so much. But I liked the opening.

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.

This too.

Also not a huge fan, but that scene where she tries to open the tank hatch was freaking incredible.

Although it always struck me as very anti-climatic. "Ah ha! Our heroine has beaten the odds and enacted her cunning plan! In a last momentous effort she... completely fails. And here's someone else to save the day."

 

[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.

This too.

Also not a huge fan, but that scene where she tries to open the tank hatch was freaking incredible.

Although it always struck me as very anti-climatic. "Ah ha! Our heroine has beaten the odds and enacted her cunning plan! In a last momentous effort she... completely fails. And here's someone else to save the day."

I think that scene was meant to show how obsesed she was with getting to the Puppet Master, but even more so, to get to the truth behind herself. Sort of a fruitless struggle.

 

[happyninja42]

Dragon Ball Z maybe? I don't think they ever went fan servicey there, but I don't remember well.

Considering there is one scene at least, where Bulma willingly flashes the old guy and the pig, while she's not wearing panties, because it would get her something if she did that for them, I would say that was a bit fanservicey. Or at least a little skeezy xD

Wasn't that in the original Dragon ball?

Was it? I dunno. I just remember seeing a clip of it in a reference to "blatant sexual references in anime" video on youtube. I've never actually watched DB or DBZ, just saw those clips. They could all be restricted to the original, and if so, disregard my comment.

I keep forgetting there was a series before the one that everyone lost their minds about. So in my head, it's all just one big show with grunting muscley dudes staring at each other while they light up.

 

[ecoho]

]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.

kind of with you on that kill la kill did it so much you went looking for the plot after the 3rd episode and (thankfully)found a good one.
another show id say does this is highschool DXD and its later incarnations as they go for the over the top, boobs in every other scene so much that you end up actually following the story which is a rather nice shoneon anime with boobs to get you interested.

 

[Frankster]

I ain't the best judge on this kind of thing but I like how sexuality and nudity is handled in Ghost in the Shell...Which was already mentioned by other posters, heh.

Well great minds think alike I guess.

I'll expand by saying I was primarily thinking of the series, the major seems to be very much in total control of her sexuality in a way that I cant quite explain it.. So though you might often see her in revealing outfits or even outright nekkid, I never felt like such moments were fan servicey but felt like a natural part of what I was watching.

 

[Tony2077]

Of all the series i own i don't think any of the ones with nudity don't scream fan service
yamada's first time being the quietest

 

[balladbird]

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.

Yeah, it's usually just labeled as moribito, though the full English localized titles is: Moribito, guardian of the spirit.

On topic... Umm... Totoro had a family bathing scene that wasn't fan service(at least, I hope to god not), and there are quite a few anime that feature non-sexualized nudity. If you meant in a different context, well... I know the joke is that American shows can't do subtlety, but we're all satirist extraordinaire material compared to japan

 

[sageoftruth]

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!

Chotto what now???

 

[sageoftruth]

Aside from the ending episode where a certain someone loses his clothes and doesn't bother to cover himself, Fate Zero is completely devoid of fan service.

 

[Kae]

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.

Having just watched that movie, it's digital remaster, the sequel and the first episode of SAC, I have to agree, the original version of the film felt very robotic and it was distinguishably un-sexy and clinical, good stuff, the sequel manages to do the same but then again there are only naked robots in the sequel, the remaster didn't nail it though and SAC doesn't do that at all, just the way they redesigned her costume and changed her attitude to be a bit more sassy and confident rather than the cold and distant almost robotic way she acted in the movies.

 

[Joccaren]

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!

That's like saying you can't watch a Western show without Michael Bay explosions. Sure, some genres focus on it, however Anime is more than Shounen ecchi flicks, funnily enough.

Aforementioned Spice and Wolf, character is naked for the whole of one episode, not even, because she just manifested herself in a physical form for the first time in ages. Camera angles don't hide it, no overly obvious censorship, but nothing remotely sexual about it. And then, later that episode, she puts on clothes that she finds and that's that for the entire anime.

Only time I can think of it being somewhat seductive is the same episode when a fully clothed woman is trying to seduce the main character to try and get him to help her with his plans.

Just like watching Michael Bay movies would give you a poor opinion of Western media, watching just Shounen Romance/Ecchi shows will do the same for anime. Both have a lot more to offer though.

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!

Chotto what now???

Its a phrase that means 'please wait a second' in Japanese. Common in Shounen anime, less used elsewhere, but is inevitably the only option when one character wants the other to wait for a second. Well, the Kudasai is often dropped, as can be the matte, or the chotto, depending on the exact context, but overall its basically just 'please wait'.

 

[dangoball]

Berserk, manga more so than the anime, but both the original series and OVAs handled nudity quite close to what the manga did. Nudity and sex in Berserk is not meant to titillate as it's quite disturbing most of the time. Unless you have some weird fetishes raping your victim into severe mental retardation, getting cut in half by a giant blade going from your sex organs up, getting penetrated by a demon possessed horse dong and such. Masturbating to a fire because your mama got burned at a stake is one of the milder ones.

I'd also throw in my vote for GitS.

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.

I can't, in good conscience, agree with Elfen Lied.
I see all your points about Lucy and agree with those. Heck, the first episode is all kinds of awesome. Miu is the reason Elfen Lied should not be on this list. So much awkward and stupid comic relief mixed with fanservice it quite actively harmed my enjoyment of an otherwise excellent story. For god's sake, they even use the "oh, I slipped, fell on you, touched your boobie and now it looks like we're about to have sex" trope. If they made Miu more of a vegetable retard (like in the aforementioned Berserk) than the "cute, one sound = name" retard, the show would only be better for it.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Berserk, manga more so than the anime, but both the original series and OVAs handled nudity quite close to what the manga did. Nudity and sex in Berserk is not meant to titillate as it's quite disturbing most of the time. Unless you have some weird fetishes raping your victim into severe mental retardation, getting cut in half by a giant blade going from your sex organs up, getting penetrated by a demon possessed horse dong and such. Masturbating to a fire because your mama got burned at a stake is one of the milder ones.

I love Berserk (the manga), as in, I fucking adore it, but the way it handles nudity... I don't know. It seems there either to make a woman look vulnerable, or to shock by combining it with some horrofic, violent act. It feels very exploitative in the end. I think the one time it's done well is in the love scene between Guts and Caska; They bare themselves to eachother both physically and emotionally. Guts even more so.

 

[dangoball]

]I love Berserk (the manga), as in, I fucking adore it, but the way it handles nudity... I don't know. It seems there either to make a woman look vulnerable, or to shock by combining it with some horrofic, violent act. It feels very exploitative in the end. I think the one time it's done well is in the love scene between Guts and Caska; They bare themselves to eachother both physically and emotionally. Guts even more so.

I'd say the horrible way nudity is used serves to illustrate how horrible and uncaring the world is. Remember Casca's backstory? Now compare to Guts'. Neither seems exploitative to me, narrative wise. Then there's Slan, but again, she's more like the embodiment of perverting anything sexual into the grotesque. Guts and Caska's love scene is a rare moment of tenderness in an otherwise cruel and uncaring world.
To wrap up my argument, I don't see "handling nudity well" the same as "being sensitive about the use of nudity". If it serves the narrative and reinforces the atmosphere of the world it's used in, it's being handled well. Harsh, cruel and disturbing for Berserk, cold and detached for GitS.