Fan service (AKA the ever so unsubtle art of shoehorning in scantily clad characters or other unnecessarily pervy plot points that don’t serve the story into a show) is something you can’t really escape in anime. In fact, its become so common that even an entire fan service sub-genre (called Ecchi) isn’t enough to keep all the innuendo bottled up, with even the biggest anime shows bowing to the online pressure and writing in fan service more regularly than you’d think.
But what if you could watch anime fan-service-free? Well, don’t worry – we’ve got you. In order to ensure you can stay engrossed in the story without having to worry about confusing storylines or disconcerting camera angles, we’ve compiled a list of great anime series that are totally devoid of fan service.
There are a few to choose from so we are going to skip over some of the more obvious ones you might have seen and also focus on the ones you can actually watch online easily.
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
Moribito is an anime with some great action scenes that comes to us from director Kamiyama Kenji; director of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Moribito introduces Balsa, an accomplished spear wielding mercenary who takes the job of protecting a prince from assassins. Interestingly, these assassins have been sent by his own father — the emperor — who believes his son is the reincarnation of a water demon that will bring ruin to his empire.
Chased across a fantasy world resembling feudal Japan, our duo comes across a nice variety of interesting characters. The real standouts though are Balsa and the other female characters, who refreshingly don’t pander to stereotypes and have character arcs that are surprisingly well fleshed out. Even the villains of this show are much deeper than originally presented and crucially have understandable motives. The actions scenes are spectacular and use the picturesque settings to full effect, giving each fight its own individuality. With consistently top-notch animation, great characters and detailed world building this is one anime you need to check out.
Trigun
A staple classic in the anime genre, this Sci-Fi western centers around a sixty billion bounty on the head of a legendary gunslinger named Vash. Due to the bounty and his past life, Vash has spent years trying to hide from civilisation just to stay alive. Being plastered with a 60 Billion dollar bounty and being instantly recognisable, tends to lead to some tricky situations and A LOT of destruction.
So much in fact that an insurance company decides it’s more cost effective to have two of their employees accompany Vash full time and try to stop him getting into trouble.
A large part of the comedy in Trigun comes from all three characters trying to stay out of danger and failing in a multitude of ways. Added to this you have a gunslinger who now refuses to kill; a character quirk that slowly develops into a plot point providing key insights into Vash’s beliefs.
It’s little touches like these throughout the show that help flesh out the characters and keep you watching. The animation is very 90s and doesn’t hold up that well in the HD era, but if like me you enjoy some retro animation now and then this will be great for you.
Natsume’s book of friends
Natsume has the ability to see spirits, and upon the death of his Grandmother inherited a book. The Book of Friends has the names of spirits in it which grants Natsume power over them and the ability to release them from the bond of the book.
Throughout the series, Natsume comes across spirits that need his help. Unfortunately for him though, not all are kind and some of the more malicious spirits attempt to kill Natsume and take The Book of Friends for themselves.
The eccentric spirits give this anime a great amount of variety from episode to episode. Character development has rarely been done better in anime, with the spirits often being more complex than the humans they interact with. Each episode tackles touching and emotional subjects in relatable ways that may affect you just as much as the show’s characters. The artwork can be simple at times, but does the job well for an anime that is much less about flashy visuals and more about making you feel something.
Fate / Zero
Now, something a bit different. Fate/Zero is a fantasy battle royale where teams of two fight to the death, with their prize being an all-powerful wish granted to each member of the winning team. The team members are all mages of one type or another, giving us some nice visual embellishments to go with their magic use.
The other member of the team is the spirit of a legendary person; for example Alexander the Great, Gilgamesh or King Arthur. Yep, THAT King Arthur.
Not all the characters in this are paragons of light, however. In fact, some of them are horrendously terrible people and the idea of them getting an all-powerful wish gets prespine-chilling. The choice of a single wish in such a dark world is handled well.
In a story built around killing everyone in sight, this was never going to be an uplifting romp, what’s surprising though is how psychologically disturbing it is to both the characters and the viewer. Be warned, this show doesn’t mind killing children. You won’t actually see anything but a child whisked off screen by a demo, but the sounds that follow are grim enough. Luckily, this is quickly forgotten when a fight starts and you are drawn in by visual flourishes and an entertaining variety of fighting styles. The fantastic fights coupled with the character intentions make Fate / Zero a great dark anime you can watch without worrying about fan service cropping up.
Mushishi
As something of a pallet cleanser after an intense list, we have Mushishi, a beautiful show that explores nature and humanity in a way that will make you think. The show follows Ginko as he travels around tackling a variety of problems thrown up by life forms called Mushi.
Mushi appear in increasingly fantastical forms and affect humanity unwittingly in a myriad of ways. Surprisingly, no two incidents are alike and the creators play around with a variety of ideas that keep the series feeling fresh throughout. Protagonist Ginko himself mirrors the artwork, simple on the surface yet increasingly intriguing as you watch more.
The Mushi are beautifully drawn, with no two ever feeling alike. The countryside is enchanting too, and shots linger on stunning scenery in order to pull you ever deeper into this charming world. As you glide through the series each episode introduces you to new characters that are thoughtfully fleshed out and believable; a hard feat to achieve when you are starting from scratch at the beginning of every episode.
If you want something a little slower and more thought-provoking than your average anime romp, this is the best way to round out a viewing session of anime without any pesky fan service.