Forum - View topicREVIEW: Senran Kagura: Ninja Flash! BD+DVD
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Jedi Master
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I enjoyed this show.
Fanservice is like adding hot sauce to spice up to your anime. Some like it mild, some medium, and others hot. Hentai is like drinking the hot sauce straight out of the bottle. |
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Trypticon
 Posts: 80 Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
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I saw this thread only a couple days ago and wanted to comment, but have been quite busy with work and my hobbies as of late, however; I am very compelled to post despite how old this thread is, I do apologize for any inconvenience. I do want to express my thoughts on this since there are a few points I want to explore. I also apologize for my delay coming here, any spoilers and the length of this post.
Since you’re asking some questions in a diplomatic way that conveys a sense of curiosity, I would like to pull up a chair and participate by adding my thoughts to this discussion and illustrate some of those with a couple of examples. The answers I give are only what I think and how I perceive the art/entertainment I choose to view, enjoy and engage with and, even sometimes, those I consider horrible and tedious to watch; but that’s a discussion for another time. I am not coming here to attempt to be “right” about anything, or get into a debate as I’m fully aware we all have different perspectives and opinions especially when dealing with a subjective art form such as anime; this is just how I feel about it. Even if I disagree with what someone says or how they feel about a particular piece of art/entertainment, a majority of the time I can empathize and respect other people’s opinions; I only ask people are willing to do the same for me. Before I press forward, I’m not going to lie though; I will admit that I do appreciate some of the fan service that’s on these shows which pretty much amounts to me thinking; “Yeah, that bit/gag/scene is pretty sexy,” but that’s about the extent of it.
Common sense would dictate that, however; I’m hard pressed to say that the end goal is to make pornography as I find many of the shows that I do enjoy that happen to have from a low to high level of fan service, are still more character, premise and story focused. In other words, for me, there’s far more substance to them than mere erotic cinematography; I actually watch and engage with these shows on a deeper analytical level the same way I would any other show that I favor. So I can’t really say that pushing the content further isn't really the endgame since there are a lot of good shows that have various levels of fan service in them including a lower, tamer amount. If anything, it’s more about being consistent and coming up with clever ways to do it by writing a sensual situation into a series that can still have relevance or at least some relevance to the characters and narrative. Some shows are extensively good at balancing this and/or even great at doing it simultaneously making them actual good shows. With how the fan service is executed, for me anyways; as long as it’s well integrated and doesn't disrupt the momentum of the show I’m watching I can enjoy it; the fan service may not “add” anything of great significance to the series at times; but it may not detract anything either.
Once again, I have to answer in the negative on that one; evolving is more about integrating the fan service into a series without disrupting the narrative flow, or character interactions as I started to touch on earlier. In some cases, even using it to compliment a scene; this is based on how it’s executed of course, from how it’s timed with the characters lines in a given situation or even writing the scene to have a situation where frivolous nudity can actually occur. The end result is that a scene can simultaneously have fan service to titillate the target audience but still have meaningful character interaction; which is more what reels me in. For instance, on Queen’s Blade, there’s a scene where Tomoe goes to a hot spring only to be confronted by Elina. While this scene has plenty of nudity, the interaction and conflict between the two characters conveys Tomoe's patience and diplomacy and Elina's sense of entitlement and willingness to confront others as a result while foreshadowing a future conflict between the two. Which brings me to another point about what I consider “good fan service,” is when it’s well integrated into an action scene. That future conflict I mention between Tomoe and Elina is a well executed fight scene in that the fan service is integrated in there, but the suspense and emotional gravity of a well-coordinated action scene is what really makes it work. The same thing can be said about High School of the Dead with how the action scenes are done on that show with how there’s fast paced action with erotic cinematography melded into them. The result here is this sort of B-movie zombie flick grindhouse tone making the series a lot of fun to watch. Of course, I do think there are some deeper meanings and allegory on this series, and I do plan on revisiting it during my time off; during that time I’ll see if those literal theories pan out, for now, I will continue on here. While High School of the Dead is one of my favorite anime, I do have criticisms for it; I can use a scene on it to illustrate one aspect of what I consider “bad fan service.” With what I said about all the fan service on High School of the Dead, the one scene I have an issue with is the bath scene; not only is it inconsistent with the way the rest of the fan service is done, it conflicts with the situation. I’m not saying completely do away with it if people want it in there, but considering the situation, I think the women wouldn't have been goofing off in there but rather talking to each other about the current state of affairs. The scene could remain, there can still be frivolous nudity, but I think the characters would've been asking each other how widespread they think the zombie problem is, their next possible course of action, stuff like that. As it is now, I just kind of rolled my eyes when that scene came on. As for other examples of poor execution and integration of fan service; We Without Wings comes to mind and Wannabe the Strongest in the World. Aside from simply disliking We Without Wings for a few good reasons, the fan service there is very cut and paste; the series goes along normal, then has separate fan service scenes that have nothing to do with the actual show; it’s like watching two separate anime at the same time, or better yet, an anime with the omake shorts randomly thrown in there. Overall, I actually did like Wanna be the Strongest in the World after the forth episode; the matches get suspenseful, the pacing is well done at that point; as just a silly action/sports anime, it’s okay. The issue is, aside from the structural and technical issues that plague this series, is the fan service; it’s the same thing over and over. What I mean when I say that is that it’s not only the same idea, but the same idea executed exactly the same way with the same cinematography with the same outcome; there is no variation of it and it ends up being boring to downright annoying. As for other aspects I consider positive, I find some shows, even the ones that are fan service heavy, will dial it down a little for more dramatic scenes. Now, what I mean is that there is still nudity in these scenes, but it's a little more constrained than at other times in a given series. There are many examples, but one is a scene from High School DxD where Asia dies before being resurrected. While there is some light nudity in this scene it is completely reduced to make room for the dramatic and emotional aspects of the scene opting more for facial close ups, and background shots. This scene has Issei praying to god with no response which is complimented with religious imagery in the form of being in a run-down church with a broken cross along with arm less and headless statues to convey that god is not listening. In the case of the Senran Kagura Anime, which is what this thread is mainly about, I regretfully must admit that I am really not impressed with it. My lack of enthusiasm for this anime isn't because the fan service is “tame” as a matter of fact it’s very well done, bubbly, playful and sexy; it fits the overall atmosphere of the series just fine. On that note, I am generally pleased with the aesthetic of the show; the backgrounds range from warm and colorful to gritty and detailed when required. The fighting situations have some creative backgrounds and surroundings, the character designs are also lovely and have a soft tone with good variation and cool outfits; so cool in fact that I could sworn there’s almost a cosplay advertisement aspect to it. Strangely, with one of the characters I almost felt like, this: 
Spliced with this: 
Gives me this: 
Getting back to my opinion on the Senran Kagura Anime, aside from some cool action scenes, I feel there are some great ideas with the premise here, but how it is executed is where things become problematic for me. For a series that is meant to be a straight forward “fun” show, it does get tedious to watch sometimes. The main reason for this is a lack of focus at times with scenes that come off incomplete; it would get pretty frustrating to watch sometimes with how it jumps from dire action sequence to cute girls being cute to repetitious comedy (no seriously, it was a same bit over and over involving one character squeezing another character’s boobs; like that’s never happened) to the most frustrating, which is how the character fleshing out is cut off prematurely. This normally wouldn't be an issue, since there are plenty of anime like both Fullmetal Alchemist shows, Princess Tutu or Trigun that can juggle and transition between comedy, drama and action with the smoothest precision; Senran Kagura fumbles at times, which is where a lot of its problems come from. The issue Senran Kagura seems to suffer from is that it comes off like its in a rush all the time; anxious to move along to the next scene and change tone far too abruptly, almost like the people who made this anime think that people who choose to watch it lack patience and will lose interest if it “dwells” on an idea or concept for too long. I would say that the characters are an issue since they’re pretty much quite girl archetypes or personality traits in young girl form, but, not only is that the most clichéd criticism in the book; it doesn't necessarily have to be considered a weakness. Nothing on any anime is original, and the vast majority of characters, if not all, fall into some sort of “category” after all, developing characters have to start somewhere. More importantly is what they do and how it affects/changes them as characters, pending their narrative significance, is what ultimately matters. So that's not my issue with the characters. Senran Kagura’s characters are actually not all that bad; but they’re nothing to write home about either, there is some okay fleshing out when it’s not being pushed aside to make way for the next scene and some minimal development that does occur. My issue is that, considering the premise, the ensemble cast, I feel there was some wasted potential here. I think that had this series taken its time to flesh out its characters better, it would've made for a stronger dynamic thus more possibilities for everything from thematic exploration to more innovative comedy gags; and it still could be just a straight forward “cute girls doing cute things” sort of series. The fact is though, even doing a series like this requires craft and good writing; this is the sort of thing that keeps viewers interested; fan service and pretty animation alone are not enough to carry a series. Each of the characters has their own powers and abilities, but as mentioned, since a lot of the potential remains untapped, I actually found the antagonists far more interesting and fun to watch. Monica Rial, as heard on this series, has been toying with the lower register of her voice, puts this to good use with a standout performance playing Homura. The other antagonist characters are all interesting, from their behaviors to their powers; for example, one character can pull various weapons from under her skirt and in one scene, actually pulls a miniature fighter jet out; one of the coolest and most hilarious scenes in the entire series. Another character seems to possess a far left political perspective due to her personal struggles and creates a good conflictive dynamic with one of the hero characters; understand, this isn't explored in great detail and is more of a basic personality trait, however; it’s far more fascinating than what is given with the hero characters. One thing about Theron Martin’s review I completely concur and agree with is how the Senran Kagura Anime vastly improves in the last three to four episodes. There’s a lot of good character interaction, some good suspenseful battle scenes, some dynamic changes in the characters; it is a real shame the entire series didn't live up to this standard.
As someone who is looking for a good anime to watch, if that good anime happens to have ecchi fan service content in it; so be it. I subscribe to the idea that a piece of art/entertainment is only as intelligent and mature as the person experiencing it at the time; it’s all about how someone reads the text and what they get from it. That’s why talking about art/entertainment can be rather enjoyable with people discussing their interpretations of it with others. That’s the short of it, but seriously, the long of it, aside from what I haven’t already said, is my primary reasons for liking a lot of these shows is pretty much the same reasons I gush over any other anime I favor. I usually find the shows I like that happen to have fan service in them still have many of the elements of fundamentally good storytelling; from properties like compelling, well written, nuanced characters with a great dynamic to deeper themes and concepts that are conveyed by the character arcs and contribute to the narrative. For example, Queen’s Blade, despite its infamy for its heavy fan service content, has a lot in terms of symbolism, such as roses and birds, thematic ideas such as self-actualization, loss of innocence, growing up and duality. These themes aren't given mere lip service to create the illusion that Queen’s Blade has something worthwhile to bring up; they’re an integral part of the series and what make it a great show for me. The main characters and many of the supporting characters are well fleshed out and developed since there’s plenty of information given to establish their motives and of course, the epiphanies and catharses they have in the developmental stages of their story arcs; all of which feeds back into the thematic ideas the series is exploring. So my primary reasons for favoring Queen’s Blade has little to do with the fan service and more to do with the narrative and thematic consistency and execution. Understand, when I first watched this show, I went into it prepared to hate it and not only is it now one of my favorite shows, but it has changed my outlook on certain aspects of anime the same way shows like Puella Magi Madoka Magica have. This is just one of my examples, and even though I find it to be a great series, I fully understand and empathize why others may dislike it and even feel alienated from it. For the time being I don’t have much more to say about this, but as I said; this is just how I feel about all this. I look at art/entertainment on a case by case basis and essentially I like it to varying degrees; from going all out fan boy over shows like Madoka, Psycho-Pass, Queen’s Blade, Princess Jellyfish or Kino’s Journey to name a few to completely being either bored or tediously frustrated over shows like School Days (not to be confused with the classic Stanley Clarke tune), Green Green or Master of Martial Hearts (which I found so unpleasant to watch that I couldn't even finish it). Why I bring this up is because one of my reasons for analyzing a lot of these shows is to gain a clearer understanding as to why I hold a certain opinion of a given series in terms of whether I like it or dislike it. |
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