I agree with you on most part. Can add from a guys point of view, 'fan service' is made in such a way that most of the time it doesnt look erotic, rather irritating or repulsive, especially scenes with Meiko. And its not a bad thing, rather it shows that its not the point, partly its about making fun of mans nature. Guys are constantly made fun of, but they completely deserve it, nothing good will come out of thinking with one point, grow up.
P.S. when I say irritating or repulsive, its more like a vibe of that, by knowing that it is intentionally exagerated to make fun and thus feels like a spit to your face (lol) - hope this made you laugh ╮(￣▽￣)╭
Lol yes, I completely agree. The scenes, like especially with Meiko, don't even function as fan service, I just wasn't sure how else to describe it. In all honesty this would probably best be described as a parody of ecchi and seinen manga. Its very effective in what its doing. Im also super invested in all of the female characters and their interactions, none of them are one dimensional. A lot of people call Chiyo plain but even she has a lot to her character imo.
Omg, they're everywhere
I can't even fucking believe it....after reading the girls prison arc it just hits me hard...that of all the fucking fan service and distortion of women's bodies and clear objectification present in this manga...It does more for its female characters than most shounen manga has managed in their centuries of running. The female characters here get to take center stage, be strong, be smart, and they steal the show in equal if not greater proportion to the men. And the girls can be just as perverted as the guys. Its a comedy and extremely exaggerates things but it really knows boys and girls well and doesn't shy away from a certain realness like a lot of male oriented content does to make women into a certain "likable" image for men. Like....I started reading this because I really liked Hana as a character and just wanted to see her and was worried I'd get super annoyed with it. But like the over dramatized sexualization constantly calls itself out and is a joke in the first place and pushed to the limits that it functions more being laughable/comedy than it functions as ecchi. The manga constantly owns up to itself and its characters actions. Its never just like "oh the girls were bitches and were way too hard on the guys" or "the guys are perverts completely without morals and only care about sex". The author makes fun of the guy characters and reminds us constantly that they do shit that of course they're gonna get punished for or called out on because we all know its inappropriate while also calling out the girls when they mess up too. And even kind of poses morals? Like the scene where Kiyoshi was debating fondling Chiyo where the author sets up a whole ecchi style joke just for the punch line to be "wait...shouldn't I truly be asking myself whether doing this in this situation and context is okay?? Like Chiyo is clearly upset and wouldn't want this under normal circumstances so something is wrong and doing this is wrong even if its what I thought I wanted". Like it takes some guys a life time to grasp the understanding of the situation Kiyoshi was in. This manga is really something else, I can't help but enjoy and actually respect it. For once I get to see strong badass women that are open to their sexuality and wants and whatever there is in between. Oh yeah, and they get to do that all in a genre where that almost never happens or only does so in small short bursts and hardly even seem canon.