God I hate filler...

[Wolf Kanno]

This is an anime topic... and one that has to do with those obnoxious 300+ episode series so those who hate anime or popular drawn out series need not apply to this topic.

So I was bored and watching Bleach on Adult Swim last night. I'm somewhat happy cause they finally got past the tediously boring "Bount arc" and have finally got back on track with the actual canon part of the story.

Course I'm getting quite annoyed with characters from the filler arc popping up and acting like main characters and I'm really annoyed with pacing issues caused by the story trying to explain how the Bount Arc doesn't really retcon the plot cause they were clever about Rukia and Ishida :roll2

Overall, there is nothing I despise more than filler arcs. I'd rather have a series go off the air or go into rerun limbo than watch massive and poorly done story arcs that alter the plot significantly and don't go anywhere but need to be treated as canon for the sake of continuity.

This is another reason why I don't really watch Naruto or Bleach anymore is because of this stuff. At least One Piece got its together and found a system that calls for fewer filler arcs. I think Sailor Moon is the only series that seems to have done it right... Especially since we don't see the Sailor Senshi talking about the Moonlight Knight in SuperS or Sailor Stars.

[END RANT]

So what are your thoughts on fillers?

[Yar]

Usually I don't have the attention span for them. :/

[Jessweeee♪]

I just wait for them to pile up and then watch them online and skip around when I get bored with it :P

It's much more enjoyable that way xD

[Heath]

It's rare that I actually stick with a long television series or whatever, so I don't get a lot of filler to put up with. I'm not a fan of it, but if it's done relatively well I don't mind. If it's blatantly filler for the sake of filler, then it can be quite irritating, but if it actually has some relevance or it's actually interesting then I'm not too bothered by it.

[Tavrobel]

I dislike them because they're usually told in a way that is completely different from the main story; character regression, old and already used gags, things of that nature. But sometimes, there's some decent filler that doesn't entirely suck over an extended period of time. The Orange League of the Pokemon series is the only filler worth watching for shows I've seen that comes to mind. There's single episode fillers, but those are usually done in short series, and done superbly (e.g., Samurai Champloo's baseball episode).

Then again, I just downloaded the third and fourth season of Pokemon, along with the first eight movies.

[Gullick]

I agree with Tavrobel.

Some fillers are cool and can add something to the series. But fillers just for the sake of filling just suck.

[Masamunemaster]

well some fillers are acctually helpful like the next two in bleeach when AS gets there

[blackmage_nuke]

I wouldnt mind the bleach filler as much if they had just pretended it never happened after they finished like the Naruto fillers, but those damn modsouls hung around and when shipudden turned out to be really slow i pretty much stoped watching anime and started to read manga. I find that one of the things more annoying than a filler episode is filler inside a cannon episode.

[Masamunemaster]

well i know AS has thevizards next if im not mistaken

[Vermachtnis]

I don't mind fillers all that much. But they only mostly pop up in shonen and I don't read the manga a lot for that. So the fillers don't bother me that much. Except when my friend comes over and he's read the manga and watched the subs and talks about about how it gets better when this part is over.

Filler or not I got bored with the Bount Arc in Bleach cause it dragged. Stupid Ishida just had to shoot the thingy into the other thingy that made it go on for another twenty episodes.

[Kossage]

I don't mind fillers. They can be hilarious sometimes, and at other times the longer filler arcs can be interesting such as the Bount Arc which I liked because of its interesting villains, developed backstory, and nice moral dilemmas.

Filler for the sake of filler is never a good thing, though, but when filler information is integrated into the story and becomes part of the overall plot, it becomes much more satisfying. :)

[Aerith's Knight]

Fillers?

One word: Dragonball Z

Okay, one word + a letter. Still annoys the hell out of you though.

[JKTrix]

Bleach has actually had a more respectable reputation with fillers than most of its bretheren, though this is not something you would notice during the US broadcast.

Where its pals like Naruto and DBZ would do extended fillers to give the manga time to catch up, I know Bleach has at least taken a break entirely from broadcasting instead of doing fillers. So, if Bleach were more popular, there could have been *more* fillers.

Thing is though, these shows are made for children, and they are made to sell toys and keep a franchise going. The more popular shows can't afford to take a break, to give children a chance to latch on to another product. It's all business related. Children really do have lower quality standards so companies can get away with the filler as long as they fulfill certain requirements in an episode. They dont' care about 'us', the older people, because we are not buying their toys.

So for the most part, I no longer watch shows that are made for children and value having their product in view at all times more than maintaining a consistent quality.

As for DBZ, dude, these new shows have far surpassed DBZ's level of pointless fillers. However, I've mentioned here before, there is a 'new version' of DBZ showing in Japan now called Dragon Ball Kai. It is astounding just how fast it is going by chopping out all of the fluff and keeping the pacing closer to the manga. The last episode of Dragon Ball Kai I watched was episode 7, and they were doing stuff there that originally happened in the 20th episode. Twenty! They have the luxury of doing this not only because the manga ended a long time ago, but the animation was finished a long time ago too :P

There are a lot of anime that are created from 'finished' manga, but they tend not to be of the Bleach/DBZ level Shounen variety, and not nearly as long. Filler is less of an issue if the anime company is not trying to establish a franchise off of a currently running manga.

[Cyric]

The solution to such a dilemma is quite simple, stop watching them. There are MUCH better animes out there.

[Cyric]

The solution to such a dilemma is to STOP watching Naruto and Bleach. Hell, I'm sick of it just from seeing all of the cosplayers. Besides, there are MUCH better animes out there.


At least One Piece got its together and found a system that calls for fewer filler arcs. I think Sailor Moon is the only series that seems to have done it right... Especially since we don't see the Sailor Senshi talking about the Moonlight Knight in SuperS or Sailor Stars.

Unfortunately, North America never got Season 5 (Sailor Stars) because the series aged with it's audience into something not exactly meant for kids. Unfortunate that it never completed for North America, but fortunate because I hate english dubs on japanese animes.

[JKTrix]

(Stuff about Sailor Moon)

Funny you should mention that... I just did a survey from Funimation that asks a bunch of stuff about what you would like to see them do next.

One of the options is a Re-dub of the entire Sailor Moon series (of course, it should include the Japanese track as well. I hope.)

Survey here if you're interested
Online Surveys | Zoomerang (http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/survey.zgi?p=WEB2296BDH59FM)

[Jessweeee♪]

The solution to such a dilemma is to STOP watching Naruto and Bleach. Hell, I'm sick of it just from seeing all of the cosplayers. Besides, there are MUCH better animes out there.


I think a better solution would be to stay the hell away from those people xD

[Momiji]

One filler episode per 10 episodes is fine with me. Any more than that is unnecessary and should be removed from the series.

I don't like filler, but the kids who watch the shows don't seem to care.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

If you are watching any shounen series of the sizes of Bleach, DBZ, Naruto, Reborn!, etc...there will be fillers, especially when the manga lags behind. It is a given and most should realize it when they watch it. Sadly, it does not make it any less annoying. :/

That being said, in a normal season (~24 episodes), you can expect one to two filler and/or a flashback episode. Honestly, I prefer fillers over flashback episodes. The latter is a waste of time when you are watching a bunch of episodes consecutively.

Kyou Kara Maoh had an awesome balance. Three seasons (79 episodes in total, I think) and it really balanced between the main plot and filler/side plot episodes.

In a way most episodes of Sailor Moon were filler, ignoring the first half of the R arc that was entirely a filler. If they went by the manga, the monster-of-the-day formula would have been greatly shortened. Also, Stars is the best season ever. I don't care if they re-dub it, but on the plus side if they redubbed it (I'd miss the old voice acting for nostalgic reasons), that would at least mean there would be a chance that all seasons would be re-released on DVD, making it easier to get. :D Also, it might prompt Tokyopop to relicense the manga, or for Viz or another company to get the rights to it. (Currently, no North American company holds the rights to it, at least the manga, I dunno about the anime).

[Rebellious Eagle]

I'd rather watch fillers than have to wait a year for a new season of anime. I don't mind them, but sometimes they can be pretty annoying.

[JKTrix]

I'd rather watch fillers than have to wait a year for a new season of anime. I don't mind them, but sometimes they can be pretty annoying.

I'm going to draw attention to your avatar.

Today, a brand new episode of the show your avatar comes from was aired...3 years after that show ended (though the whole show is actually being re-run...it's complicated). Would you really want 3 years of outsourced, low quality Filler before they got to this new episode?

Sometimes, for some shows, it's better to take a break.

[Ouch!]

There are a lot of anime that are created from 'finished' manga, but they tend not to be of the Bleach/DBZ level Shounen variety, and not nearly as long. Filler is less of an issue if the anime company is not trying to establish a franchise off of a currently running manga.
Aye, this is my problem with a lot of anime. I think Fullmetal Alchemist is a prime example of why it's a bad idea to start an anime before the manga is finished (or at least sufficiently ahead of the anime that catching up is nigh impossible). Sure, FMA isn't too bad on its own, but the manga explains everything in much greater detail and much more fluidly. I have high hopes for Brotherhood as a result.

I also want to echo the sentiments on Dragon Ball Kai. At this point, Z is nigh unwatchable, but Kai has fantastic pacing. Although, as JKTrix mentioned, since it's pretty much a re-cut (and HD) version of Dragon Ball Z, they're awfully fortunate in that aspect.

[Rostum]

I know it's not anime (don't really watch it), but X-files filler episodes or "monster of the week" episodes are generally very awesome.

[qwertysaur]

The bount arc is actually very well done for a filler arc. Especially compared to the New Captain Amagai arc which is horribly done -_-.

I prefer it when the filler is a random omake inspired oneshot episode everyb once in a while. :D

[Masamunemaster]

qwerty while your here ill say it....#9's ability reminds me of a vodoo doll lol(most of them arent there yet btw)

[Namelessfengir]

then you get the other side of it where you get studios jumping the gun and making a series out of mangas that aren't finished yet then they rush through to the end just because they dont have enough to work with.

when the negima anime came out the manga was up to 14 so they had no character devolopment they kill off the main character and then alter time so she gets it into her head to ask them to help her and then you dont see how she how they save her til after the credits on the final episode.

then you get perfectly short series like flcl (pronounced fooly cooly) six episodes... thats it... great end to the story doesnt need to be expanded on.

[Cyric]

(Stuff about Sailor Moon)

Funny you should mention that... I just did a survey from Funimation that asks a bunch of stuff about what you would like to see them do next.

One of the options is a Re-dub of the entire Sailor Moon series (of course, it should include the Japanese track as well. I hope.)

Survey here if you're interested
Online Surveys | Zoomerang (http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/survey.zgi?p=WEB2296BDH59FM)

Re-dub, and possibly update the series/animation would be nice. However, I dunno who's in charge of it, but I just want them to release LoveCom. A definite buy for me.