The Origins of Ecchi: 12 Groundbreaking Anime in Fan Service History

Over the past three decades, anime has evolved from a niche subculture to a mainstream phenomenon, even making its way into IMAX theaters. While fans are drawn to the captivating stories and unique character designs with their large, expressive eyes, many also appreciate the genre’s freedom to explore adult or sexy themes. In this post, we’ll explore 12 pioneering series that helped shape the history of ecchi fan service anime!

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When Did Anime Start to Get So Ecchi?

One thing we hear a lot is, why is there so much fan service in anime? The fact is that visual fan service has been there from the beginning. Today we’re used to the modern age, where ecchi has become its own anime genre, alongside mecha, isekai, idol, slice-of-life, or full-bore hentai. But things were once much simpler. Most series would follow the normal story, but insert an occasional upskirt shot for comedy. No harm, no foul.

While the proper ecchi genre — meaning shows where the primary reason fans are watching is for the sexy visual set-ups — got its start with shows like Golden Boy (1995) and Love Hina (2000), the roots go back much further. While virtually all series offered some sexy visuals for fans, Cutey Honey by the great Go Nagai probably got the ball rolling.

What Are the 12 Most Iconic Ecchi Anime in Fan Service History?

Here, in no particular order, are the top twelve most iconic ecchi series that made anime what it is today!

Urusei Yatsura Opened Our Minds to Sexy Visual Humor

What’s the most famous nipple in the history of anime? It’s the topless shot from Urusei Yatsura episode 1, in which Ataru pulls off Lum’s bikini top. Of course we didn’t get the repeat we wanted in the 2022 reboot, but that’s pretty much how life goes.

Ranma 1/2 Was a Doorway Ecchi Anime for Millions

1987’s Ranma 1/2 was an extremely important ecchi show. It was the first anime you could show to “normie” friends that they could enjoy. The endless bath scenes and topless moments featuring female Ranma opened a lot of minds back in the day.

Dirty Pair Was a Visual Feast

Another big doorway anime was Dirty Pair, about two bikini-clad special agents who you could hire to solve any problem for you…and usually blow up a planet along the way. If you’re curious about the show, the Project Eden film is some of the best ’80s anime you can find. Here’s a link to the OP if you’re curious about it.

Golden Boy Was the “First” Ecchi Anime

I’m extremely thankful to Golden Boy manga artist Tatsuya Egawa for his early sexy manga Be Free. I got my hands on this manga while studying Japanese and it opened my mind to how sexy 2D girls could be. I was probably destined to create a hentai company in Japan from then on!

Ikki Tousen: “Industrialized” Ecchi

The first really big ecchi anime of the 21st century was 2003’s Ikki Tousen, aka Battle Vixens. It featured sexy girls doing martial arts while managing to show their pantsu in nearly every shot. This was the era of the Anime Production Committee, which funded new anime series. Since fans loved buying Ikki Tousen figures, figure shops like Tora no Ana were happy to help fund new seasons.

Aim For The Top: Gunbuster Was a Watershed Moment in Anime Fan Service

I could write a whole blog post about why Gunbuster is the most wonderful sci-fi anime ever. And I did right here. It was part of the then-new OVA distribution system, in which studios made original anime to be sold directly to fans rather than for television broadcast. Thus, a new level of sexy fan service was possible, and director Hideaki Anno made full use of this fact.

Sailor Moon Brought Boys and Girls Together in the Name of the Moe

I’ve often written about the sheer genius of Sailor Moon. The show married the formerly separate genres of magical girls and Super Sentai-esque fighting teams. Now both girls and boys could tune in to watch a perfect blending of both genres. And by adding a few choice camera angles, animators could give the boys in the audience an extra shot of dopamine. Everybody wins!

How did the OG Sailor Moon change the world? Read my blog post here!

Anime Wouldn’t Be the Same Without Dragon Ball’s Fan Service

It’s hard to think of a more influential anime than Dragon Ball. Among other things, the world’s first anime streaming site (Funimation, founded in 1994) was created expressly for the purpose of bringing Dragon Ball to the West, which obviously helped change the industry a lot. And the sexy fan service in the show brought in even more fans.

Agent Aika Was the Pinnacle of ’90s Ecchi

There are three things Japanese director Katsuhiko Nishijima loves: beautiful women, guns, and pantsu. Agent Aika featured all three, in pretty much every shot.

Does making ecchi anime doom studios to go bankrupt? Read my blog post and find out!

Maicching Machiko-sensei Was a Groundbreaking Ecchi Anime

Another breakthrough fan service-heavy series from Japan was Maicching Machiko-sensei, which ran from 1981–1983. It’s basically nothing but jokes about Machiko’s students doing things like flipping her skirt up to reveal her underwear.

Japanese Grew Up with Scenes of Nobita Peeking at Shizuka in the Bath

Another “pillar” of ecchi culture in Japan is the popular Doraemon, about a lazy boy named Nobita and a cat-type robot from the future. It’s a running gag for Nobita to use Doraemon’s handy gadgets to peek at Shizuka while she’s in the bath, causing her to scream and splash water at him. Other stories involve the wind blowing Shizuka’s skirt up, or some contraption of Doraemon’s removing her clothes.

Anime studios continue to insert sexy scenes featuring Shizuka even in this era of “modern audiences.” This gives me hope that animators are aware of the pressure from the West to avoid this kind of fan service, but are not willing to change just because people in foreign countries want them to.

(Also, what’s up with the Cartoon Network logo in the above shower scene??)

Cutey Honey’s True Superpower Was Ecchi

We all owe the great Go Nagai. He created the Super Robot genre with Mazinger Z, the first anime in which the main hero entered the robot’s cockpit to pilot it into battle, allowing fans to insert themselves into the story in new ways. He created the concept of ecchi with Harenchi Gakuen, an influential sexy manga that ran in Weekly Jump from 1968. And he created Cutey Honey, the first ecchi magical girl anime.

Thanks for reading this blog post on 12 pivotal ecchi anime that made the industry we know and love today possible. What was the first ecchi anime you watched, and how did you feel about it? Tell us in the comments below!