"Why not just watch porn?"

[Paragon Fury]

So after going through the comments for an anime video I was watching, I came upon the line I so neatly paraphrased in the title several times. Its not just an isolated thing either; basically any where in games and anime where you can find an attractive woman wearing less than full plate armor covered in censor bars you'll find that accusation, or one similar to it. Even here on the Escapist.

All other issues aside, something I've always wondered (and when asked never gotten a response) is this; what if the person watching doesn't like porn? Despite porn's popularity there are many people who just don't like it, and there is a big difference between "ecchi" and "naughty" and actual porn.

Women in bikinis is not porn (imagine the economies that would destroyed if it was!). Women with nice features isn't porn. Women being seductive/playful isn't porn either. Maybe that is one of the reasons people watch it. To see something they DO like without having to see something they DON'T like?

But nope. According to the Internet, its just that these people apparently know enough to work Youtube or a PS3 but can't figure out how to work Google.

 

[twistedmic]

But nope. According to the Internet, its just that these people apparently know enough to work Youtube or a PS3 but can't figure out how to work Google.

You do realize that to properly utilize Google, and any other search engine for that matter, that you have to use proper spelling, don't you? That immediately disqualifies at least half (rough, generous estimate) of the internet users.

 

[Little Woodsman]

So after going through the comments for an anime video I was watching, I came upon the line I so neatly paraphrased in the title several times. Its not just an isolated thing either; basically any where in games and anime where you can find an attractive woman wearing less than full plate armor covered in censor bars you'll find that accusation, or one similar to it. Even here on the Escapist.

All other issues aside, something I've always wondered (and when asked never gotten a response) is this; what if the person watching doesn't like porn? Despite porn's popularity there are many people who just don't like it, and there is a big difference between "ecchi" and "naughty" and actual porn.

Women in bikinis is not porn (imagine the economies that would destroyed if it was!). Women with nice features isn't porn. Women being seductive/playful isn't porn either. Maybe that is one of the reasons people watch it. To see something they DO like without having to see something they DON'T like?

But nope. According to the Internet, its just that these people apparently know enough to work Youtube or a PS3 but can't figure out how to work Google.

Umm, according to Webster's pornography is "Writings, pictures ect..intended primarily to arouse sexual desire."
So yeah, women in bikinis, women with nice features, women being playfully seductive can actually all be considered porn, though from the definition it would seem that the intent of the creator is actually the primary consideration.
I'm with you about there being people who just don't like what most people consider porn now...don't want to watch other people going at it...but I love to watch bellydancers, which according to the definition....

 

[tippy2k2]

Because some great animes have been stunted by the sheer stupid amount of fan service. My favored example:

High School of the Dead

Now I loved HSD. However, the amount of fan service is so extreme in that show that it just seems like it'd be much easier to cut out the middle man and go to midgetsandgiraffesmakingtenderlove.com (...or a different site >.> <.<)

Frankly, I found it incredibly distracting. While I liked the anime a lot, I just plain feel uncomfortable sharing this particular anime with friends.

I'm not going to tell creators what to do with their shows/games or judge the fans since I'm aware that this is just kind of a trope of anime. However, I think they need to realize that they are isolating a lot of potential viewers (or in my case, causing a fan like myself not trying to get others to give the show a shot).

EDIT: Here is one of the funniest (or saddest pending your view point) of HSD fan-service. Ladies and Gentlemen...I present to you...

Spoiler: Matrix Boobs

...yeah....that just happened. Feel free to take a minute to clean up all the brain from your mind exploding.

 

[Fappy]

If a piece of fiction is to be taken seriously it shouldn't have sexual content unless it is relevant to the plot, themes or characters in some way. If it's just fan-service without context it has no substance and thus, no point. The same applies to violence, or really anything that happens just for the sake of happening.

There are exceptions of course. Some genres are known for their gratuitous amounts of sex/violence/etc., but that doesn't mean they are immune to criticism.

I don't mind that some people like seeing tons of fan service in anime, but I personally don't want to deal with it if I can avoid it. There are plenty of animes out there that handle sexuality in a mature and relevant way... they're just rare it seems >.>

 

[Fappy]

Because some great animes have been stunted by the sheer stupid amount of fan service. My favored example:

High School of the Dead

Now I loved HSD. However, the amount of fan service is so extreme in that show that it just seems like it'd be much easier to cut out the middle man and go to midgetsandgiraffesmakingtenderlove.com (...or a different site >.> <.<)

Frankly, I found it incredibly distracting. While I liked the anime a lot, I just plain feel uncomfortable sharing this anime with friends.

I'm not going to tell creators what to do with their shows/games or judge the fans since I'm aware that this is just kind of a trope of anime. However, I think they need to realize that they are isolating a lot of potential viewers (or in my case, causing a fan like myself not trying to get others to give the show a shot).

Perfect example. I didn't mind some of the more funny bits they did (to the point where it bordered on parody), but a lot of it just came off as... creepy...

There were more than a few scenes from that anime that had me rolling my eyes thinking, "Get on with it!"

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Some videogames are pretty pornograhic in an exploitative kind of way, though that doesn't necessarily make them porn.

 

[Queen Michael]

Because some great animes have been stunted by the sheer stupid amount of fan service. My favored example:

High School of the Dead

Now I loved HSD. However, the amount of fan service is so extreme in that show that it just seems like it'd be much easier to cut out the middle man and go to midgetsandgiraffesmakingtenderlove.com (...or a different site >.> <.<)

Frankly, I found it incredibly distracting. While I liked the anime a lot, I just plain feel uncomfortable sharing this anime with friends.

I'm not going to tell creators what to do with their shows/games or judge the fans since I'm aware that this is just kind of a trope of anime. However, I think they need to realize that they are isolating a lot of potential viewers (or in my case, causing a fan like myself not trying to get others to give the show a shot).

Perfect example. I didn't mind some of the more funny bits they did (to the point where it bordered on parody), but a lot of it just came off as... creepy...

There were more than a few scenes from that anime that had me rolling my eyes thinking, "Get on with it!"

It's been a while since I watched the anime, but I still remember the part of the opening here a girl's breasts jiggle so much that when a bullet is fired straight at them, they manage to jiggle away from the line of fire.

 

[Paragon Fury]

But nope. According to the Internet, its just that these people apparently know enough to work Youtube or a PS3 but can't figure out how to work Google.

You do realize that to properly utilize Google, and any other search engine for that matter, that you have to use proper spelling, don't you? That immediately disqualifies at least half (rough, generous estimate) of the internet users.

Hey, spellcheck is a thing.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Because some great animes have been stunted by the sheer stupid amount of fan service. My favored example:

High School of the Dead

Now I loved HSD. However, the amount of fan service is so extreme in that show that it just seems like it'd be much easier to cut out the middle man and go to midgetsandgiraffesmakingtenderlove.com (...or a different site >.> <.<)

Frankly, I found it incredibly distracting. While I liked the anime a lot, I just plain feel uncomfortable sharing this particular anime with friends.

I'm not going to tell creators what to do with their shows/games or judge the fans since I'm aware that this is just kind of a trope of anime. However, I think they need to realize that they are isolating a lot of potential viewers (or in my case, causing a fan like myself not trying to get others to give the show a shot).

EDIT: Here is one of the funniest (or saddest pending your view point) of HSD fan-service. Ladies and Gentlemen...I present to you...

Spoiler: Matrix Boobs

...yeah....that just happened. Feel free to take a minute to clean up all the brain from your mind exploding.

Yeah, I didn't disagree with you before, now I really really don't disagree.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

All other issues aside, something I've always wondered (and when asked never gotten a response) is this; what if the person watching doesn't like porn? Despite porn's popularity there are many people who just don't like it, and there is a big difference between "ecchi" and "naughty" and actual porn.

Women in bikinis is not porn (imagine the economies that would destroyed if it was!). Women with nice features isn't porn. Women being seductive/playful isn't porn either. Maybe that is one of the reasons people watch it. To see something they DO like without having to see something they DON'T like?

Well.

Technically, there is no set definition of porn.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobellis_v._Ohio

The most famous opinion from Jacobellis, however, was Justice Potter Stewart's concurrence, holding that the Constitution protected all obscenity except "hard-core pornography." Stewart wrote, "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that."

Not going to say anything of the topic of the thread, just pissing this information out.

 

[HardkorSB]

I'm not going to tell creators what to do with their shows/games or judge the fans since I'm aware that this is just kind of a trope of anime. However, I think they need to realize that they are isolating a lot of potential viewers (or in my case, causing a fan like myself not trying to get others to give the show a shot).

They would realize faster if you would tell them, actually. Don't be afraid to hurt their feelings, they can take it, I'm sure.
It doesn't matter whether it's a trope or not. Racist characters like the Coon were once a trope in (American) media as well:

Also, I'm pretty sure that you can't really consider fan service a trope. It's a marketing gimmick.
Afraid that your show will have low ratings? Just put in some tits and asses and watch the viewers flock.

 

[Eri]

Because some great animes have been stunted by the sheer stupid amount of fan service. My favored example:

High School of the Dead

Now I loved HSD. However, the amount of fan service is so extreme in that show that it just seems like it'd be much easier to cut out the middle man and go to midgetsandgiraffesmakingtenderlove.com (...or a different site >.> <.<)

Frankly, I found it incredibly distracting. While I liked the anime a lot, I just plain feel uncomfortable sharing this particular anime with friends.

I'm not going to tell creators what to do with their shows/games or judge the fans since I'm aware that this is just kind of a trope of anime. However, I think they need to realize that they are isolating a lot of potential viewers (or in my case, causing a fan like myself not trying to get others to give the show a shot).

EDIT: Here is one of the funniest (or saddest pending your view point) of HSD fan-service. Ladies and Gentlemen...I present to you...

Spoiler: Matrix Boobs

...yeah....that just happened. Feel free to take a minute to clean up all the brain from your mind exploding.

You realize HOTD would not exist were it not for the tits? People can't sit there and say it would be better without them because it wouldn't EXIST without them. So no, it could not be better.

 

[lacktheknack]

EDIT: Here is one of the funniest (or saddest pending your view point) of HSD fan-service. Ladies and Gentlemen...I present to you...

Spoiler: Matrix Boobs

...yeah....that just happened. Feel free to take a minute to clean up all the brain from your mind exploding.

http://www.threadbombing.com/data/media/4/tumblr_l0z7qaEQWv1qaf8ryo1_500.jpg

OT: Because there's a backlash starting to rise against cheap fanservice as a whole.

It happens. Don't worry too much about it. Your day of reckoning will come soon.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Because some great animes have been stunted by the sheer stupid amount of fan service. My favored example:

High School of the Dead

Now I loved HSD. However, the amount of fan service is so extreme in that show that it just seems like it'd be much easier to cut out the middle man and go to midgetsandgiraffesmakingtenderlove.com (...or a different site >.> <.<)

Frankly, I found it incredibly distracting. While I liked the anime a lot, I just plain feel uncomfortable sharing this particular anime with friends.

I'm not going to tell creators what to do with their shows/games or judge the fans since I'm aware that this is just kind of a trope of anime. However, I think they need to realize that they are isolating a lot of potential viewers (or in my case, causing a fan like myself not trying to get others to give the show a shot).

EDIT: Here is one of the funniest (or saddest pending your view point) of HSD fan-service. Ladies and Gentlemen...I present to you...

Spoiler: Matrix Boobs

...yeah....that just happened. Feel free to take a minute to clean up all the brain from your mind exploding.

Ugh, I hated that anime. Not because of the fan service, but because I found all the characters to be completely unlikable. Although the Jell-O boobs certainly didn't help improve my opinion any.

 

[Shia-Neko-Chan]

I can tell you why people say that.

They think sexuality is a bad or unacceptable or indecent thing that should never be expressed in entertainment and thus, should only be displayed in its most hamfisted and inelegant form, solely for the utility of allowing people to easily get themselves off every once in a while.

In short, they have no imagination, at least when it comes to erotica. I've found that it's unfortunately not worth trying to argue with people who say that.

 

[wulf3n]

However, I think they need to realize that they are isolating a lot of potential viewers (or in my case, causing a fan like myself not trying to get others to give the show a shot).

If a piece of fiction is to be taken seriously

Why are we assuming they're trying to target a wide audience and/or be taken seriously?

OT:

In the end it's a poorly thought out question to begin with. Why would I possibly want multiple things I like combined into something better than the sum of its parts.

 

[Shia-Neko-Chan]

Because some great animes have been stunted by the sheer stupid amount of fan service. My favored example:

High School of the Dead

Now I loved HSD. However, the amount of fan service is so extreme in that show that it just seems like it'd be much easier to cut out the middle man and go to midgetsandgiraffesmakingtenderlove.com (...or a different site >.> <.<)

Frankly, I found it incredibly distracting. While I liked the anime a lot, I just plain feel uncomfortable sharing this particular anime with friends.

I'm not going to tell creators what to do with their shows/games or judge the fans since I'm aware that this is just kind of a trope of anime. However, I think they need to realize that they are isolating a lot of potential viewers (or in my case, causing a fan like myself not trying to get others to give the show a shot).

EDIT: Here is one of the funniest (or saddest pending your view point) of HSD fan-service. Ladies and Gentlemen...I present to you...

Spoiler: Matrix Boobs

...yeah....that just happened. Feel free to take a minute to clean up all the brain from your mind exploding.

That's strange. Some people just find ecchi distracting, but don't people realize they're a part of the show? Why can't people just take in every aspect? Does entertainment really need to be separated into "erotic" and "not erotic" like that?

I didn't find it distracting. The whole show was entertaining for me.

 

[Caiphus]

This thread title is basically my entire mindset every time exams roll around.

I don't do very well in exams...

 

[LetalisK]

You realize HOTD would not exist were it not for the tits? People can't sit there and say it would be better without them because it wouldn't EXIST without them. So no, it could not be better.

So in other words the shiny jingling tits are what keeps people distracted from realizing it's shit? XD