fan service n.

chiefly in a visual medium: material not central to the plot or characterization that is included only to please the audience; (specif.) (a) sexually provocative imagery intended to titillate the viewer; (b) material (such as inside jokes) that can be appreciated (only) by serious fans of a franchise

Originally in reference to anime and manga.

[apparently after Japanese ファンサービス fan-sābisu (with ファン fan < English fan and サービス sābisu < English service), used in various literal senses, though OED warns that ‘transferred uses in the context of storytelling are rare in Japanese’]

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Comics

  • [1952 Authentic Science Fiction July 112 (advt.)

    Fan service for science-fiction fans Magazine and book trading. Postal library. Bookbinding…. Newsletter [etc.].]

  • [1980 S. Sackett & G. Roddenberry Making of Star Trek—The Motion Picture 52 page image

    A fan service organization known as the Star Trek Welcommittee publishes a list of fan clubs.]

  • [1988 Animag (#4) 15 page image

    In Japan, fan service events like previews and live shows are held around Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya concurrently with the release of new animation films.]

  • 1991 T. Kim Re: Silent Mobius in rec.arts.anime (Usenet newsgroup) 15 Nov. page image

    Also I didn't like the idea of showing Arslan with Silent Mobius. since Arslan Senki has completely different type of fans. However, I think the movie was made for fan service and/or to investigate the potential market for bigger project.

  • 1994 H. Doi [EventReport] Dirty Pair Flash event 2/13 in rec.arts.anime.info (Usenet newsgroup) 14 Feb. page image

    Then they had a question and answer session. Q: Why do the Dirty Pair have to transform? Takachiho: They are just changing clothes. M. Rika: It is fan service. (^_^;)

  • 1994 Otakon94 Program Guide 28 page image

    Someone has stolen GinRei’s favorite silk battle dress, and she’s out to kick larcenous ass! Highlights include relentless ‘fan service’ shots of our heroine.

  • 1999 L. J. Lamplighter On the Screen: Knights of Ramune in AnimeFantastique Winter 59/4 page image

    It is 93% Fan Service (bouncing bosoms, shower shots, and underwear shots) and only about 7% adventure.

  • 2003 C. Solomon in L.A. Times 26 June e8

    Many anime series include so-called ‘fan service’ shots of scantily clad girls.

  • 2005 C. Solomon in N.Y. Times 17 July ii. 4/2

    It’s a cliché that Japanese animation is populated by big-eyed, big-breasted little girls. But in anime’s strangest new trend, these often hypersexualized moppets are being turned into killing machines…. Lucy in ‘ELFEN LIED’ (2004) is the product of sinister biomedical experiments…. Lucy spends much of the show’s opening episode completely naked, an example of the gratuitous nudity called ‘fan service’.

  • 2007 D. Wolk Reading Comics i. 6

    The bottom caption, ‘Dedicated to you, the great new Marvel breed of reader!’—well, that’s a clue to the future: most obviously, Lee is setting up the idiotic brand rivalry between Marvel and its chief competitor, DC, that continues to this day. But he’s also suggesting that he and Ditko are establishing something new that has more to do with a broader system (the ‘Marvel breed’) than with the particular comic book at hand, and that what they’re presenting is a kind of fan service—giving the ‘Marvel breed’ exactly what they want.

  • 2010 T. Pacitti My Best Friend is a Wookiee 216 page image

    It was offensive on all levels, even more than the other two [movies]. Packed to the gills with fan service—hey look, it’s Chewbacca! Remember him? Wink, wink!

  • 2013 D. Tartt Goldfinch ix. 445

    Andy had chosen Japanese as his second language precisely because he had such a thing for fanservice miko and slutty manga girls in sailor uniform.

  • 2014 Starburst Magazine (#406) Nov. 121/2 page image

    What’s here is little more than an excuse for gratuitous fan-service but it’s hard not to grin as the nostalgia kicks in.

  • 2024 USA Today Dec. 30 2d/2

    Marvel…beat superhero fatigue allegations with ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’, the current second-highest-grossing film of the year and biggest R-rated movie in history. Its success could lead Marvel to lean even harder into fan service and cameos.

Research requirements

antedating 1991
Earliest cite

Usenet's rec.arts.anime newsgroup
Research History
The full context of the 1991 quot. and the related discussion thread suggests that the movie was indeed fan service: "It has everything an anime fan craves for", provides additional content related to a minor character, etc.

Last modified 2025-05-15 15:36:15
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.