You're probably right.  I'm sure the original design was done so that she could move around better without all that cloth getting in the way.

In that case though the second group is just wrong.

You're still right with what you see as fanservice. It's just become 90% about boobs these days.

Do you really believe that her original design was by accident?  Or that Disney isn't kind of famous for the heroine showing off her tumtum?  I have no doubt that it was a concious attempt to make her character more attractive.  I realize that you don't want it to be true but it's pretty obvious.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BareYourMidriff

The version of fan service you had all these years is the "localized" version that was adopted in other countries. Companies will have you believe that fan service means giving nods and references and catering to the appeals of the game. Really its just censorship of fan service! Fan service means showing gratuitous amounts of nudity and sometimes underage nudity and what not. They are stripping away the true vision of those who founded the term. They censored fan service to you when were a kid by giving you "quality" content and not giving you shots off ass. They removed true artistic vision that would have been vital to every single game you have ever played!

Now look were its led you. Instead of being exposed to true fan service all your life, you have been subjugated by these dictoral companies who want to "appeal to a broader audience"! /s

In all seriousness catering or pandering to the interest of fans and at times brand new fans is pretty much fan service. Sometimes that means what you originally though sometimes its what you have been seeing more of now. The latter has been more prevalent in Japan and other things like movie, tv, and anime rather than in other countries and especially video games. Its become more mixed in as the world became more internet-ly connected. All there is to it.

but seriously. fan service can mean a lot of things but in general i think it is when something that can clearly be considered outside the scope of the main product is created specifically for fans that artist or franchise. sometimes this can mean greenlighting projects that is not for any profit other than good will.

i have a childrens book from an author called tabby mctat. in that book if you look closely you notice on one page a child holding a stuffed gruffalo doll which is the main character from that authors previous book.

nintendo put alternative costumes into bayonetta 2 featuring zelda and metroid.

sony gave out free dynamic themes celebrating playstation's 20th anniversary for ps4.


i'd consider all of these fan service.

Ah, now you're exaggerating.  I'm starting to get the feeling you wanted to keep the definition defined in such a way that you could criticize some things without touching other things.  Also, from your first post, there is the sense that you're only tying this to female characters, which isn't true.  Male characters taking their shirts off with the intention of pleasing female viewers has been around for decades, for example.

I both disagree and agree with Rol.

We should call sexualizing random non-sexual characters fap service instead of fan service. Classy fan service is amusing fans by hinting at previous work they enjoyed, not hinting at cleavage.

Unfortunately, though, adding boobs is technically fan service (also in the case of Fates), because the developers specifically put it in for the sake some of the fans. It's just a less clever form of fan service.

Somewhere along the line I've forgotten the true meaning of 'fanservice' ...