One fun tradition in anime is the “fanservice episode,” in which the story is put on pause and all the characters brought into some ridiculously sexy situation for the enjoyment of fans. I asked J-List’s awesome customers to help make a list of the best anime fanservice episodes, and here’s what we came up with!
Often the fanservice is front-loaded in the first episode of the show, which gets fans’ attention and gives them a shot of dopamine that gives them a warm, fuzzy feeling about the anime and its characters. I know a J-List customer who got into Wake Up Girls! in a big way and has toured all over northern Japan and attended some concert events, arguably all because of the above pantyshots.
Infinite Stratos was a show with fanservice in every episode, so it’s hard to pick the best one. But the episode where Charlotte’s panties kept disappearing was a lot of fun.
Episode 11 of the Shuffle! anime was another great fanservice episode!
The Monogatari Series loved to tease us with sexy camera angles, and this scene with Kanbaru was impossible to forget.
The most famous toothbrush in Japanese history…
Anime is Nisemonogatari. pic.twitter.com/hhAhKE9D2i
— J-LIST (@jlist) May 4, 2018
Of course, a certain toothbrush scene has also gone down in anime fanservice history.
Highschool of the Dead was a really good zombie anime that was also great in the fanservice department. This was one of the best moments.
Strike Witches had a legendary fanservice episode in which Erica Hartman misplaced her panties, so she borrowed Lucchini’s, leading to a chain reaction in which all the girls are running around with no underwear on. As a follower on Twitter pointed out, the episode was a parody of a real incident in which fighter pilot Erich Hartman (all characters in the anime are based on historical people) once got drunk and stole Hitler’s hat.
Despite seeming like a fanservice-heavy series about a busty university student teasing her senpai with her boobs, the show was mostly an adorable rom-com about two people falling in love. This was one of the best fanservice moments.
One legendary anime #fanservice moment was episode 4 of Mai-Hime. Wind always comes along at just the right moment. pic.twitter.com/9hFrDdSsPE
— Peter Payne (@JListPeter) November 16, 2020
Who can forget episode 4 of Mai-Hime, when a strange creature stole all the girl’s panties, forcing Natsuki to walk across the school with no knickers on. Naturally, a strong wind rises right as a boy who was crushing on her happened by, giving him a “lucky sukebe“ moment.
What’s the most hilarious anime bath scene you can think of? I doubt anyone can top this scene from episode 2 of Please Twins! pic.twitter.com/x7e1Wq8L6C
— Peter Payne (@JListPeter) March 8, 2020
Then there was this incredible moment from Please Twins. Fanservice rarely gets better than this.
Read my blog post about visiting the “holy lands” from Please Teacher and Please Twins here.
Before he made Evangelion and Shin Godzilla, Hideaki Anno gave us such gems as Aim for the Top! Gunbuster, which had public baths in space, and the first full-frontal nudity I can remember seeing in anime.
I’ve got a post about why the Macross Do You Remember Love?, animated by Hideki Anno, is the “best” anime film here.
Maybe something classic like Ranma 1/2’s Bath house battle, where Ranma attempts to keep purvey old Master Happosai out of the woman’s side while preventing himself from being turned into a girl or back into a boy on the women’s side. pic.twitter.com/p4hfiTYJ43
— hartsfang (@hartsfang) November 15, 2020
Ranma 1/2 was the first show to feature lots of nudity, which probably caused a lot of embarrassing moments when guys stood up after viewings of the show at anime clubs.
Fanservice episodes aren’t new at all. Episode 4 of 1982’s Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, shown as Robotech in English markets, featured a shower scene in episode 4. Seeing Minmei naked back in high school left quite an impression on me, and is probably partly responsible for my coming to Japan to create a hentai empire. Watch the full version here.
Some anime fanservice episodes become the stuff of legend, and episode 101 of Urusei Yatsura, titled Operation: Peek in the Woman’s Bath, has been screened at anime conventions for decades.
While the reboot of Space Battleship Yamato added attractive female characters and fanservice, I was surprised to find the original 1974 series had fanservice, too, which was naturally cut from the U.S. broadcast version. The above animation is closer to 1928’s creation of Mickey Mouse than it is to today.
Thanks for reading this blog post about the top 15 anime fanservice episodes! Did we miss your favorite sexy fanservice moment? Tell us below, or on Twitter!
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