Fan service – Why It Bother’s Me and Why It Doesn’t

My favorite fan service picture.

Out of the blue, I had an epiphany concerning the inclusion of fan service in anime a couple of days ago. The topic of fan service in anime is something that I’ve been thinking about for awhile, among other things – I’m always trying to improve myself so I can be a better blogger. I always had a gut feeling towards it; namely, it is used to plaster over defects in the storytelling and characters. This worked in a lot of cases but it didn’t really explain how in some shows I’m okay with fan service and in other shows I’m not. This is where my epiphany comes in.

Aang the anti-Avatar

I’d like to commend the makers of Avatar for showing that Americans can still turn out a quality animated tv series that has a story to tell and ends itself when that story is told. I felt, though, that they dropped the ball with the ending. (Spoilers ahead.)