Imagine if you will a scenario like Shakugan no Shana, where a normal boy is introduced to a world of demons that will be trying to kill him with a super-powered girl at his side to protect him while he learns the ropes of the Urban Fantasy nightmare he’s in, but with added Harem elements and a much steamier romance in general. It could turn out pretty impressive, and in fact there are a few shows, such as Trinity Seven, Brynhildr in the Darkness, and most Trigger productions, that successfully navigate being both full of good fanservice and high drama. The ratios vary but it absolutely can be done and it does reap rewards when a creator pulls it off. As with just about anything else, there’s not a qualitative problem with fanservice existing; you execute it with skill and it can and will be a net positive.
On the other hand, imagine if you will a scenario like Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs, but with a more consistent plot and several incidents like the one with the dragon. That could be pretty good. Yuuna could have borne more weight than the fluff it was, and you might be more invested in the characters if you occasionally saw them in more harrowing situations than misapplied love potions or clothes-dissolving fiends. As long as it never loses sight of the fact that it’s pretty goofy at heart (the way Yuuna doesn’t even through the Dragon arc), it could play well to have a little extra meat.
These two possibilities do seem to be approaching a middle point, but when they meet it’s less a joining of separate ends of a continuous spectrum and more a collision of freight trains moving opposite directions on the same track. Omamori Himari is that train wreck.
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