That said, Bleach and Naruto still have too many of them.
Summary:
Anime-original episodes, or fillers, often break the pacing and have poor writing quality compared to the rest of the anime, which angers the fans.
Fillers used to be more common — and were not always that bad.
Sometimes it feels like otaku use the term to describe only the anime-original content they dislike.
Fillers are often considered the worst thing about anime. They are a bane of every dedicated fan — imagine being incredibly invested in the series only to open an episode and have to watch something that doesn’t progress the story.
In general, fillers are of poorer writing quality than the main plot, which aggravates the fans even further. A lot of them even decide to look up the filler guides online and skip certain episodes. However, sometimes, fillers are better than people give them credit for.
Why fillers might be bad
In general, it is understandable why people dislike fillers. In series like Naruto or Bleach, they take up over 40% of the total airtime. If you were to cut them, the time to actually complete the anime would be halved. In a series of such length, it’s understandable why people would want to skip them; however, sometimes the line is a little too thin.
For example, in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, a lot of anime episodes are anime-original yet canon to the series. The exact details are a little bit complicated, but essentially, there are two canons — manga canon and anime canon — that exist separately. In an anime like this, you can’t dismiss any anime-original episode as filler.
Anime-original episodes used to be common — and not always bad
Just a decade ago, using fillers while adapting an unfinished manga was common. After all, you wouldn’t want to catch up to the source material too early, otherwise, you might have to employ the tactic that One Piece is somewhat infamous for: stretching the content and adding extra recaps to each episode. Some fans prefer fillers to that approach.
Sometimes these anime-original episodes were actually liked as much as the source material. A popular example is Blue Exorcist (Ao no Exorcist): despite the first season being about 50% filler, fans still loved it — and were confused when the sequel retconned the anime-original content and started following the manga.
Counterexamples to this also exist, of course: the first season of Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji) was mostly filler, and the second was entirely anime-original. Fans of the manga didn’t like the anime very much until a later adaptation, Book of Circus, actually continued from where the canon material of S1 left off.
Sometimes, the anime is on par with manga despite having fillers
In general, sometimes the anime is considered better than the manga because of the original content — or at least equal to it.
The 2003 adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist might be overshadowed by Brotherhood now, but even then, it’s a compelling story that becomes what otaku might call “filler” later. They don’t, though — perhaps they only use the term to describe the episodes they actually dislike.
That said, Bleach and Naruto still have too many of them.
Summary:
Anime-original episodes, or fillers, often break the pacing and have poor writing quality compared to the rest of the anime, which angers the fans.
Fillers used to be more common — and were not always that bad.
Sometimes it feels like otaku use the term to describe only the anime-original content they dislike.
Fillers are often considered the worst thing about anime. They are a bane of every dedicated fan — imagine being incredibly invested in the series only to open an episode and have to watch something that doesn’t progress the story.
In general, fillers are of poorer writing quality than the main plot, which aggravates the fans even further. A lot of them even decide to look up the filler guides online and skip certain episodes. However, sometimes, fillers are better than people give them credit for.
Why fillers might be bad
In general, it is understandable why people dislike fillers. In series like Naruto or Bleach, they take up over 40% of the total airtime. If you were to cut them, the time to actually complete the anime would be halved. In a series of such length, it’s understandable why people would want to skip them; however, sometimes the line is a little too thin.
For example, in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, a lot of anime episodes are anime-original yet canon to the series. The exact details are a little bit complicated, but essentially, there are two canons — manga canon and anime canon — that exist separately. In an anime like this, you can’t dismiss any anime-original episode as filler.
Anime-original episodes used to be common — and not always bad
Just a decade ago, using fillers while adapting an unfinished manga was common. After all, you wouldn’t want to catch up to the source material too early, otherwise, you might have to employ the tactic that One Piece is somewhat infamous for: stretching the content and adding extra recaps to each episode. Some fans prefer fillers to that approach.
Sometimes these anime-original episodes were actually liked as much as the source material. A popular example is Blue Exorcist (Ao no Exorcist): despite the first season being about 50% filler, fans still loved it — and were confused when the sequel retconned the anime-original content and started following the manga.
Counterexamples to this also exist, of course: the first season of Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji) was mostly filler, and the second was entirely anime-original. Fans of the manga didn’t like the anime very much until a later adaptation, Book of Circus, actually continued from where the canon material of S1 left off.
Sometimes, the anime is on par with manga despite having fillers
In general, sometimes the anime is considered better than the manga because of the original content — or at least equal to it.
The 2003 adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist might be overshadowed by Brotherhood now, but even then, it’s a compelling story that becomes what otaku might call “filler” later. They don’t, though — perhaps they only use the term to describe the episodes they actually dislike.
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