"Fan service" started off as a term from animé/manga, primarily referring to images meant to titillate and entice. It featured (and features) tits, ass, skimpy clothing, girls in compromising or alluring situations, etc. Sometimes, it can be more innocuous, like friends sharing a moment. Nowadays, the term has broadened in meaning to refer to pretty much anything in any audience-driven media that is meant to be a sop to fans, so this would include things like nostalgia bait, "memberberries," etc. "Star Trek: Picard," Season 3 was loaded with fan service if we use the term in its current sense. But when I wrote earlier about the juvenilization of sexuality in East Asian culture, the images below are more what I meant—something more along the lines of what, in the West, is referred to as the "Madonna-whore" dichotomy or complex—the male view of a woman as either pure and virginal or absolutely slutty:
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| an image that can be interpreted either way—happy virgin or cheerful slut |
There may be an either/or component to the complex, but I think a lot of guys want the same woman to fulfill both roles which is, as you can imagine, extremely unfair to the woman:
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| combat knickers |
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| All the guys are in lust. |
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| Hey, guys! Just little ol' me doing my innocent thang! |
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| Japanese scientists have spent years engineering these. |
Did the above do anything for you? None of it is real. It's like falling in lust with a RealDoll.
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| fan service for the ladies, too |
A more innocent version of fan service:
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| "KPop Demon Hunters" |
Huntr/x's clothing isn't that revealing by Western standards, but seriously... would you want your little daughter parading around in clothes like these, posing ass-first for someone's camera,* hips cocked saucily?
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| At least the animators were somewhat realistic about the chopstick-y Korean female figure. |
ADDENDUM: I should mention that juvenilized sexuality isn't uniquely an East Asian thing. Just think of all the lustful male energy in the West devoted to the cheerleader archetype: young, coltish, bright-eyed, muscularly tight girls who seem both innocent and ready to party.
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*It occurs to me that, in these pics, it's always American-raised Zoey who's got her ass toward the camera. Subtle cultural messaging?
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