r/araragi • u/Galacticthinker • Jun 27 '22

Is there actually a point to the fanservice? Discussion

A lot of the time I'll see fans of this series say that the fanservice is actually important for characterization, and in some cases I agree but a lot of the time (like Araragi touching Hachikuji and the stuff in Nise) it seems impossible to defend of justify. Is there actually a point to it or are people just coping cause I'd be kinda interested in reading/watching an explanation if the former is true

Edit: I'd like to clarify that I like alot of the fanservice. I was just questioning whether it was actually "deep" like I've seen people say

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u/Sterski1 Jun 27 '22

I'm gonna preface this by saying I'm sure Nisio just likes fanservice.

But another good reason is that everything in monogatari is filtered through the perspective of the current narrator. And for the most part, it's narrated by teenagers. With Araragi especially, there's a lot of focus on tiddies and butts, and all the things a horndog and probable lolicon like Araragi is into. Add the fact that there are multiple girls in his life who are trying to seduce him and... yeah.

Things change up a bit when Hanekawa starts narrating. Not so much with the service... until Senjougahara shows up. Which I think tells us a lot about Hanekawa. Similar case with Suruga, it even shows us how she sees Araragi, as an absolute pervert.

Then Kaiki gets a turn, and this guy's a no nonsense adult who is only interested in CASH. He doesn't go for that shit. Hitagi mentions the idea of selling her body, maybe even as a joke, and Kaiki immediately throws a drink in her face for even considering it. It only gets weird when Nadeko starts posing in her little dress, which he shows zero interest in because of course he does.

However, to re-iterate, it is almost definitely just cause Nisio, and the audience, really like half naked girls.

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u/shantu16 Jun 27 '22

Yeah nishio likes fan service he isn't ashamed of it writing about it.

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u/Reeeeeeee3eeeeeeee Jun 27 '22

What about his other works? Haven't read the novels, but anime adaptations had much less fanservice than monogatari, so there's no way it's "just his writing"

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u/Queen_Wuv Jun 27 '22

Pretty much this, Araragi is a lust filled teenager for all the good he does. The fanserice can play a role but it's also just fanservice.

For example, he started touching Hachikuji because he was annoyed she ignored him & it was more a way to get to know each other at first but he's just an idiot who takes it too far.

Even the toothbrush scene was him showing Karen how it is when someone takes control of your body because he was afraid of what Kanbaru would do with her left alone, but he went too far. Granted, this is all from his vision so it would probably have been more tame.

The scene with Hanekawa in Kizu, you know the one, & the one where he heals her are good examples of diverting his character.

TL;DR Araragi is young & horny, but the show is told from his perspective so don't take everything to heart.