Onimai: I'm Now Your Sister was brought to mainstream attention because of its insane animation, but many viewers were repelled by the amount of fanservice.
There’s more fanservice in the anime than in the manga — which is not a unique case.
Onimai’s audience is quite niche in the first place, and it probably wasn’t supposed to be a mainstream otaku show.
Onimai: I'm Now Your Sister! (Oniichan wa Oshimai!) quickly got a reputation as one of the best-looking anime of its season. However, many unprepared fans struggled to get into the series. Many were put off by the crazy premise, which, combined with a ton of fanservice, made some viewers uncomfortable. Yet, curiously enough, the manga has far less fanservice — which begs the question: why was it adapted this way in the first place?
Not a unique case
Now, it is important to remember that Onimai is not the only anime where the amount of fanservice increased dramatically compared to the source material. One of the particularly famous cases recently is Interspecies Reviewers (Ishuzoku Reviewers), which, despite its premise, wasn’t as explicit in the manga as it was in the anime. Another anime that often feels more fanservice-y than its manga is Everyday Life with Monster Girls (Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou) — although they’re not that far apart, and it depends on the scene. Strangely enough, it’s usually the opposite: if an anime has fanservice, it’s usually much tamer than its source material — TV broadcasting regulations come into play here.
Who makes the call on this matter?
Overall, this is usually decided by the anime staff and the production committee, taking into account things like the target audience and the airing time slot. In the case of Onimai, the original’s audience was already quite niche — and probably wasn’t against the fanservice bits in the anime. The decision to add more would also extend the possible audience to ecchi fans who might not care for the premise itself, but would stay for the fanservice.
The fact that it has such great production values, being animated by a team of passionate animators, helped bring Onimai to the mainstream. However, it can be argued that it wasn’t intended to become mainstream in the first place, as most otaku wouldn’t be its target audience. If that’s true, it’s no wonder the anime became a source of controversy.
Was the anime worse because of fanservice?
Was the fanservice in Onimai anime excessive — and did it make the adaptation worse? Probably not (to both questions), but it certainly made the anime harder to get into for an average otaku. While this may seem unfortunate, it’s important to remember that not every anime is made for everyone, and if you’re not comfortable with it, you don’t have to make yourself sit through it.
And is the anime any worse for it?
Summary:
Onimai: I'm Now Your Sister was brought to mainstream attention because of its insane animation, but many viewers were repelled by the amount of fanservice.
There’s more fanservice in the anime than in the manga — which is not a unique case.
Onimai’s audience is quite niche in the first place, and it probably wasn’t supposed to be a mainstream otaku show.
Onimai: I'm Now Your Sister! (Oniichan wa Oshimai!) quickly got a reputation as one of the best-looking anime of its season. However, many unprepared fans struggled to get into the series. Many were put off by the crazy premise, which, combined with a ton of fanservice, made some viewers uncomfortable. Yet, curiously enough, the manga has far less fanservice — which begs the question: why was it adapted this way in the first place?
Not a unique case
Now, it is important to remember that Onimai is not the only anime where the amount of fanservice increased dramatically compared to the source material. One of the particularly famous cases recently is Interspecies Reviewers (Ishuzoku Reviewers), which, despite its premise, wasn’t as explicit in the manga as it was in the anime. Another anime that often feels more fanservice-y than its manga is Everyday Life with Monster Girls (Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou) — although they’re not that far apart, and it depends on the scene. Strangely enough, it’s usually the opposite: if an anime has fanservice, it’s usually much tamer than its source material — TV broadcasting regulations come into play here.
Who makes the call on this matter?
Overall, this is usually decided by the anime staff and the production committee, taking into account things like the target audience and the airing time slot. In the case of Onimai, the original’s audience was already quite niche — and probably wasn’t against the fanservice bits in the anime. The decision to add more would also extend the possible audience to ecchi fans who might not care for the premise itself, but would stay for the fanservice.
The fact that it has such great production values, being animated by a team of passionate animators, helped bring Onimai to the mainstream. However, it can be argued that it wasn’t intended to become mainstream in the first place, as most otaku wouldn’t be its target audience. If that’s true, it’s no wonder the anime became a source of controversy.
Was the anime worse because of fanservice?
Was the fanservice in Onimai anime excessive — and did it make the adaptation worse? Probably not (to both questions), but it certainly made the anime harder to get into for an average otaku. While this may seem unfortunate, it’s important to remember that not every anime is made for everyone, and if you’re not comfortable with it, you don’t have to make yourself sit through it.
