are fillers bad for anime

by Tierra Konopelski 6 min read
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Filler isn't always terrible - there's actually some that's pretty good - but there's a reason it has such a bad reputation. The worst filler does nothing to advance the plot or develop the characters and distracts from or contradicts what's meaningful about the original story.

Full Answer

How do anime fillers work?

Typically, filler is used when an anime catches up with the manga it's based on. Many anime are created and aired while the manga is still being written. But a lot of times, the anime is finished faster than the volumes of its manga, and filler is then used to give the manga time to catch up. Having said that, some anime avoid filler altogether.

Do modern anime series have filler?

Modern anime have avoided anime filler for the most part. Dragon Ball Z Kai, for example, is a re-release of the original anime with the filler material taken out, resulting in a faster-paced, leaner series.

Why do anime adaptations get cancelled?

In other cases, anime can be canceled because filler is less interesting than the material from the manga. Rurouni Kenshin, one of the most beloved shonen manga of all time, ended up having its anime adaptation canceled after the third arc, which consisted of filler material.

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Are fillers in anime good?

Filler is usually present in anime adaptations due to space in the anime and manga stories. The reason no one cares for this addition is that it doesn't add anything to the story of said anime. However, not all filler is bad. In fact, the filler arcs in this list are definitely better off watched instead of skipped.

What is the point of fillers in anime?

Typically, filler is used when an anime catches up with the manga it's based on. Many anime are created and aired while the manga is still being written. But a lot of times, the anime is finished faster than the volumes of its manga, and filler is then used to give the manga time to catch up.

Are filler episodes bad?

Not all filler episodes are bad, as there are times when fillers can fix plot holes from the original adaptation or, occasionally, give some time for characters to develop or give more information about the show's world and/or its characters. In other words, fillers are good if they're done right.

What anime has no filler?

10 Best Battle Shonen Anime With No Filler Episodes3 Jujutsu Kaisen.4 Parasyte: The Maxim. ... 5 Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. ... 6 Hunter X Hunter. ... 7 Yu Yu Hakusho. ... 8 Attack On Titan. ... 9 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. ... 10 My Hero Academia. ... More items...•

Which anime has most fillers?

Percentage wise bleach has the most fillers, since it has a total of:366 episodes.160 filler episodes.

Should I skip fillers in Naruto?

You won't miss anything by skipping all the Naruto filler episodes. The only filler in that large span of fillers I legitimately enjoyed was the very last filler adventure, episodes 216-220. These episodes involved the Konoha and Sand ninjas fighting together and just had some fun fights.

Does AOT have filler?

Attack on Titan is all giant killer, no episode filler Per Anime Filler List, the episodes that contain non-canon material are Season 1, Episode 22, Season 2, Episode 8, and Season 3, Episodes 1-4 (via IMDb).

What is Naruto filler?

The filler is any content that can't be found in the original story but it is added to the anime which includes anime original scenes episodes and even entire arts.

Why Does Naruto have more fillers?

Like many of the anime based on long-running shonen manga series, Naruto has a lot of filler arcs. This is because the anime usually begins before the manga is complete, meaning the series often has to fill time until there's more of the major plot written to move the story forward.

Does Initial D have filler?

There is also some unique anime content (fillers) in the series. A few I remember would be Initial D Episode's 13, 22, and 23.

Are anime fillers canon?

It usually refers to anime original content that is adapted in-between source canon content. The original content, the Filler, is seen as deviating from the source canon, even if it's part of the anime canon.

9 Filler Allows The Manga To Get Further In The Story

Audiences may lament a lengthy span of filler material, but filler is typically not something that's done unless there's an important reason for it. The primary purpose for anime filler is to allow the corresponding manga to get further ahead in its story and give the anime more material to adapt.

8 Filler Is An Opportunity To Introduce Original Characters

There are plenty of different approaches that can be taken with filler, but it's usually a good opportunity to introduce new and original characters. These new characters can help the anime's universe expand and develop important aspects that don't conflict with the larger narrative.

7 Filler Helps Relieve Pressure After A Heavy Story Arc

Filler is prevalent in shonen and shojo series, which contain plenty of dramatic story arcs where the heroes have to overcome tremendous evil. Oftentimes, these arcs experience casualties along the way.

6 Filler Can Act As A Springboard For A Movie Or Spin-Off

Telling even larger stories through cinematic endeavors has become increasingly common for long-running anime. Anime movies can adapt manga and source material, but they're more frequently an occasion for anime-original content that can't fit within the anime itself.

5 Filler Can Improve A Battle Sequence

Filler material sometimes comes in the forms of entirely new story arcs, but it's also an approach that can be used to extend and augment existing elements of the series. Using filler to enhance an important battle sequence is a prime use of anime filler since it can extend the battle and give more depth to the fight.

4 Filler Can Be Used To Fill In Plot Holes

Not only can filler be used to explore completely new material, but it's also able to serve a more functional purpose and actually cover up the series' previous mistakes. Long-running anime frequently and naturally stumble upon some inconsistencies and plot holes.

3 Filler Allows The Series To Experiment With Genres

Completely changing up the series' genre for a brief experiment is one of many approaches that anime filler can take. Filler carries a level of independence that allows it to take stylistic risks that would otherwise not happen in the series. This can cause tonal misfires, but it also provides some of the biggest unexpected delights from a series.

9 It Betrays The Original Manga And Introduces Questionable Canon

Anime series can be full of such twists and turns when it comes to plotting and characters that audiences have enough to keep track of without also needing to question the canon of what takes place in the series.

8 It Dilutes What Would Otherwise Be Strong Storytelling

Pacing is a fundamental aspect in any piece of storytelling, but there are anime series that play seriously fast and loose with this element. A manga can work incredibly hard to determine the proper length of a story so that it doesn’t feel too sudden or drag its feet.

7 It Can Inevitably Result In A Revamped And Concise Version Of The Series

Filler additions can come across as innocuous at the time, but once a series is finally over they can accumulate in a debilitating manner. Certain series even decide that they’re bogged down so much with filler that it’s worthwhile to release a remastered and revamped version of the show that sheds this baggage.

6 It Can Ruin The Tension From Climactic Fights

Filler can disrupt the pacing when it comes to a story’s narrative, but it’s also an easy way to completely remove any suspense from a fight sequence. Shonen series are some of the most filler-filled anime, and they’re also programs that focus on kinetic combat.

5 It Can Reduce Viewership To Such A Degree That The Show Gets Cancelled

It’s easy to criticize an anime series that’s ripe with filler when it’s already concluded, but this process can be even more painful when a series is still airing. Filler doesn’t just affect an anime’s story and narrative trajectory, but if it suffers too much while it’s airing, then it can negatively affect the anime’s production.

4 It Can Lead To Out Of Character Decisions

A natural aspect of filler material is that it’s something that the anime’s production staff creates on their own. This can occasionally have input from the original creator, but it also frequently doesn’t.

2 It Can Make Episodes Feel More Disposable

Filler episodes can yield big results or turn into their own serialized stories, but it’s more common for filler detours to feel extraneous and ultimately unimportant to the anime’s larger story. An anime series with barely any filler turns every entry into appointment television and not a single installment can be missed.

Why is Filler Hated?

Manga is often created as a singular vision, with one viewpoint guiding it directly. When you deviate off that path, sometimes things fall apart and go unfocused. In Bleach, following the Soul Society Arc, where the murder victim Aizen is revealed to be both not dead and the series's big bad, the manga transitions straight into the Arrancar Arc, continuing Aizen's warpath on existence. In the anime, however, we transition into the Bount Arc and the Bount Assault Arc, a two-season filler arc lasting 28 episodes and 18 episodes, respectfully. That's a huge period of time devoted to something that won't be relevant once we return to the core plot of the anime. Keep in mind, at this point, Bleach was only roughly 63 episodes long before the Bount Arc, meaning that, by the time the Arrancar Arc rolled around in Season 6, slightly less than half of the entire series consisted of filler. That barely compares to the legendary hundreds of filler episodes throughout Naruto 's run.

Why was Rurouni Kenshin canceled?

In other cases, anime can be canceled because filler is less interesting than the material from the manga. Rurouni Kenshin, one of the most beloved shonen manga of all time, ended up having its anime adaptation canceled after the third arc, which consisted of filler material. This arc was of such a lower quality that audiences lost interest, and the anime ended, never adapting the real third arc of the manga, which many fans of the manga consider to be one of the highlights of the entire series.

Is there filler in anime?

Anime filler is far less common, ever since anime studios adapted a seasonal rotation system. However, back in the day, filler proved to be the theoretical bane of fans' existence. Every major shonen anime, at some point or another, reached the dreaded "filler arc" when the anime finally caught up to the manga. Manga chapters take time to produce. There are shortcuts animators can take to get episodes out on a consistent, fast level, and, when you produce anime for a weekly, almost constant basis, you get a lot of filler. For the most part, people hate filler.

Is Season 3 of Rurouni Kenshin bad?

Some are even fun. While the filler arcs that led to Rurouni Kenshin's cancellation were weaker than the Kyoto Arc that preceded it, Season 3 isn't by any means bad. It's a step-down, certainly, but the arcs present some fascinating concepts. Most notably, the Christian cult, which draws heavily from the historical Shimabara Rebellion. The ending is also fitting for the series -- arguably, far more fitting than the Samurai X: Reflection movie.

Is there filler in Dragon Ball Z Kai?

Modern anime have avoided anime filler for the most part. Dragon Ball Z Kai, for example, is a re-release of the original anime with the filler material taken out , resulting in a faster-paced, leaner series. Anime like My Hero Academia and Attack on Titan rely on seasons with long hiatuses between to avoid resorting to fillers to allow the manga to go ahead. When modern anime include filler, such as Black Clover, it draws criticism from fans almost immediately.

Is filler always bad?

So while filler is less than fondly remembered, it isn't always bad. At least, when its used creatively and not 100 episodes of nonsense filler like in Naruto.

Is Sailor Moon R filler?

While the Ali & En Arc that opens the second season, Sailor Moon R, is obviously filler, it manages to bridge the first two seasons together in a necessary way, given the first season's ending. The same is true for the Nehelenia Arc in Sailor Moon Stars, which opens up the fifth season. This arc, in particular, is fondly remembered for its incredibly dramatic, powerful moments throughout. For a filler, the stakes feel raised, and it introduces the main villain of the Stars arc: Sailor Galaxia.

Why Do Anime Fans Dislike Fillers?

Many dislike the usage of filler arcs in anime due to the problem of incoherence. Oftentimes, anime and manga become completely different works through excessive reliance on fillers, and, as a result, one of them remains unfinished.

Why do anime companies add fillers?

Also, if the series is gaining huge popularity among viewers, anime companies often add fillers to extend the show , capitalizing on popularity and profitability (remember Naruto Shippuden parasitizing on fillers for years to keep on trend).

Why Use Fillers?

Everything is pretty simple in fact. Fillers are often nothing more than a way to buy time. Anime series are almost always adapted from Japanese mangas. Most TV shows start filming the series before the original manga is finished and released. In order to allow authors time to finish their mangas, many companies use filler episodes in the meantime.

What is filler anime?

Filler episodes are a common phenomenon in the anime industry, which are not related to the main plot of the series. The Urban Dictionary describes fillers as a subdivision of anime which is not in the original manga (graphic Japanese novels that most anime series are adapted from).

What are the two types of fillers in anime?

Two Types of Fillers. 1. Separate fillers in anime refer to the episodes that are not connected with each other by a common plot. The purpose of such episodes is to defuse the atmosphere after an important fight, to create a comedic mood and relax the audience. These could be beach scenes, hot springs, and the like.

How many filler story arcs are there?

2. Filler story arcs. The name speaks for itself. These are several (usually from 10 to 30) series united by a common plot, in which the heroes fight against new antagonists who do not influence the main course of events, but are somehow involved in it.

Who wrote the filler episodes in Fairy Tail?

Most of the scripts for the filler episodes here are written in collaboration with Hiro Mashima, the author of the original manga. This approach tackles the issue of incoherence, which arises from too many different minds tackling one single story.

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