Beach Episode/Playing With

Basic Trope: The protagonists (or sometimes the antagonists or even both) take a break to go to the beach. Fan Service is the order of the day.

• Straight: Bob and his True Companions go to the beach. When the episode reveals everyone's swimsuits, Alice and the other female characters are wearing skimpy bikinis.
• Exaggerated:
  • Alice and the other female characters are wearing swimsuits that are so revealing, they look like they're almost naked. And one or more of them has Gag Boobs for good measure.
  • Everyone wears revealing clothing on the beach. Even the guys.
  • The entire cast goes swimming. Naked.
  • A whole season of the show is set at or near the beach and the characters wear swimsuits most of the time.
• Justified: One of the beach rules requires females to wear revealing swimsuits. Whoever operates the beach must be a pervert.
• Downplayed: Bob and his True Companions go to the beach for half the episode, and only one of the females wears a bikini; the rest stay in their street clothes.
• Inverted:
  • Bob and his True Companions go to the beach. The girls are rather conservatively-dressed, while the guys are the ones wearing revealing swimsuits.
  • The cast goes further inland for a Pool Episode or a Hot Springs Episode.
  • For a complete inversion, the cast goes further inland into a cold climate that requires them to switch into winter clothing.
  • For an even more complete inversion, the cast goes to outer space to fix the outer part of a satellite and wear space suit the whole episode.
• Subverted: The cast gets rained out at the beach. They spend the rest of the episode elsewhere.
• Double Subverted:
  • The rain clears up within a few minutes, and the beach fun begins.
  • Alternatively, the gang decides to ignore the rain and enjoy the beach regardless.
• Parodied: The only people on the beach wearing revealing swimsuits are very old people.
• Deconstructed: While the cast is off having some R&R, some really bad stuff happens, such as Emperor Evulz setting his world domination plan in motion.
• Reconstructed: Fortunately, Bob and his True Companions happen to be right there when it happens.
• Zig Zagged:
  • There is more than one beach episode in the series, and everyone wears a different swimsuit each time they go to the beach.
  • Alternatively, the swimsuits each have different levels of conservativeness, with both the male and female cast showing varying amounts of skin. While Bob and Alice have relatively conservative swimsuits, Carol and Daniel's are absolutely skimpy.
• Averted:
  • The cast never goes to the beach.
  • The entire cast wear conservative business suits.
• Enforced:
  • The episode was made as straight-up fanservice.
  • Alternatively, the authors wanted to give the audience some time to relax in between arcs.
• Lampshaded: "Remember ladies, the whole gang's going to be at the beach tomorrow, so wear the skimpiest things ya got!"
• Invoked:
  • The female characters deliberately wear revealing swimsuits in order to appeal to the opposite sex.
  • "Enough saving the world for a while. It's time for a beach break!"
• Defied:
  • The female cast insists on wearing conservative clothing at the beach.
  • One of the female characters is a Wholesome Crossdresser or is pulling a Sweet Polly Oliver. Either way, she refuses to wear a swimsuit because it would reveal her gender.
• Discussed: "Dude, check out Alice and Carol in their bikinis! I am so glad we came to the beach!"
• Conversed:
  • "Oh look, they're going to the beach this episode. Cue the Fan Service!"
  • "It's good to see the heroes relaxing for once. Saving the world every five minutes must be a pain."
• Played For Laughs: The female cast members secretly arrange a contest to see who can keep the guys' attention longer -- while the guys have their own secret contest to see who can act the least perverted for the longest. The girls spend the whole episode taking increasingly desperate measures to get the boys' attention, who in turn refuse to acknowledge a thing.
• Played For Drama: When Bob and his True Companions go to the beach, Shrinking Violet Marianne suffers from A-Cup Angst and weight issues, becomes very depressed while at the beach, watching so many of the other girls in the group wearing revealing outfits and appealing to men. She becomes so unhappy that she drives off in tears and refuses to return to the beach, resulting in a disconnect between her and the rest of the group. Which is bad, because Marianne is one of the most important members.

---

Back to Beach Episode