Is fanservice considered good in anime?


I have watched the first episode of _Neon Genesis Evangelion_ and at the end,
after the credits, there was a short teaser of the next episode, ended with
the sentence:

> Tune in next time for lots more fan service!

I have watched much more American TV shows and movies than anime, so for me,
the word "fanservice" has more bad associations, like some unnecessary things,
not connected to the plot. So if fanservice is mentioned in a teaser, does it
mean something else in anime, or do people watching anime like fanservice
rather than looking down on it?




Fanservice is content which is not necessary for the progression of the story
but something which pleases the viewer/fan. In anime this is usually sexual in
nature, but can also be hints towards ships in the fandom, cameos, or similar.
It is something intentional added in hope it will increase viewers/sales.

Reception towards fanservice is mixed. Since it is often sexual in nature, it
has a negative effect for the female viewer in a male oriented show (and vice
versa). And for more plot heavy shows, extended and repeated use of fan-
service can be distracting and end up annoying. For a 'ecchi' show, fan-
service is expected and people would complain if an episode goes by without
it.

In the end, fanservice is a balance of adding value without distracting from
the show. Sometimes this will hurt certain demographics to boost the main one.
But it is a balance which is taken to increase viewers.

In case of the mentioned example in Neon Genesis Evangelion, mentioning it so
directly in the preview was something I found unusual when watching the show.
Since it is not a fan-service oriented show, it appears as a pretty desperate
move to increase viewers since it indirectly says there is nothing more
interesting coming up in the next episode. Maybe I'm missing a historical
context here, but the show was never expected to get as popular as it got.




All though I don't think we really can answer the " _do people enjoy watching
fanservice_ " part of the question. As this is left to the opinion of the
viewer, lets get into what 'fan-service' entails in anime.

Your definition of " _something unnecessary_ and " _not connected to the_
plot", except when talking about watching it for the plot (definition may be
considered nsfw, look it up at your own discretion) is pretty accurate.

[Fanservice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_service) content's direct
intention is to please the audience, which often leads to content of a sexual
nature in anime targeting the Shounen and sometimes Shoujo demographic.

These scenario's can come forth through a range of causes. In-universe reasons
range from innocence of the character, to accidental walk ins. But it is not
uncommon to have scripted 'beach episodes' or 'bathing scenes' where either
implied nudity or absurdly small bikini's are featured as a form of fan-
service.

Hence the fan service mentioned in the teaser implies that more such scene's
will be shown. However, by my recollection of the series, no actual body parts
are shown in those scene's. With the exception of the directors cut version,
which did feature nipples on certain characters.

