Do anime-only adventures (scenes and arcs) help the show or hurt it?

[Cure Dragon 255]

Since many have taken "Filler" to mean, "Any extension at all" the other filler thread has decayed. So I ask this:Do you like the anime only adventures and arcs? I love some, hate some but I think they help the show overall.

[Vijay]

I like Goku's Solo Training Arc in DB

I also liked Fake Namek & Garlick Jr Filler Arcs that were both adventurous & packed solid action

Boo Arc itself had over 20+ filler episodes which were boring when I first saw it, but after repeated viewings, they add some wacky humor & "what-ifs" which looks fun

Goku vs Mystic Gohan

Vegeta vs SSJ3 Gotenks

Despite many complains, I actually liked the fight above in DBZ Ep 274

[Robo4900]

I think a lot of the mid-Freeza arc stuff was a bit excessive, but outside of that, I think it's all good, or at the very least neutral. I quite like the slow pace Dragon Ball generally stuck to on the whole; an intense battle for the Earth, which ends up tiring the main characters out to the point where half of them can barely walk by the end of it(Using the Saiyan arc as an example here) really feels like that when it takes as much time as the show puts into it. And it means that while, yes, Z is an action show, it still continues to feel like the character-driven drama it always had been.
And of course, putting in anime-only stuff means that, rather than the show just constantly stalling, you're still getting a lot of character development, short adventures, and such, which add new depth to the story.
On one hand, you could say that Gohan, Goku, and the rest of the main characters have been training for a year, but on the other, you could show a lot of that training, and show the hell a lot of them went through to prepare themselves for the fight of their lives.

[TheBigBoy]

It's case by case for me. I don't mind Dragon Ball's slow pace building up to fights. I remember reading the Saiyan saga in the manga years after I saw it on TV and thought the manga's version of the training went too fast and that the anime filler really helped develop the characters. However, I hate it when the fights are interrupted by unrelated filler stuff - Bulma switching bodies with Ginyu is a good example. I'll admit I have a soft spot with the B-team guys fighting the Ginyu Force on Kaio's planet though. Overall, the Freeza saga filler is really bad. My least favorite kind of "filler" is what most people complain about - endless powering up scenes, characters recoiling in fear and saying "I've never felt such ki!" etc. That's probably why I actually like Kai so much - because it cuts a lot of that stuff out.

[ABED]

Earnest question, but how does this differ from the previous thread?

[Cure Dragon 255]

Because people stopped equating filler with "Non Canon Scenes" and started saying "I hate the filler that consists solely of stare fights!" that's the difference.

[ABED]

Overall the filler in DB is not net positive. The series is twice as long as it should be. However, there are some filler I like and some I don't. I can't come up with a good analogy, but good filler takes what's in the manga and adds to the show, whereas bad filler just stretches the show out. The best analogy I can think of is adding water to lemonade. Add water and you get more volume, but too much water and it dilutes the taste.

[Tombstone1988]

I'd agree with others here in that it's sort of case-by-case. I rather enjoyed the Garlic Jr. arc, even if it was silly and rather nonsensical. On the other hand, I absolutely hated the fake Namek arc. Giving an overall answer is pretty difficult because different parts made the anime more enjoyable and others less enjoyable for me.

[Hyena_Yamcha]

i actually liked all of dragon ball fillers except for the fake namek arc and some frieza saga fillers

so no the fillers doesn't hurt it at all except for the long powering up scenes and such .

[KBABZ]

I'd also argue that Dragon Ball has an equivalent to time-wasting power-up scenes, most commonly seen in the WMAT episodes, where the combatants just fight generically but no progress is made on the micro-story of the fight, or a new "ultimate attack" is revealed that doesn't actually do anything substantial for no good reason.

[MR.Mark]

Besides pacing issues, some anime only scenes cause inconsistencies to characters and the story. I don't think I have to explain Chichi getting a bad rep from fans due to a lot of anime only stuff.

Then we have our lovable perv Roshi, I have an example from my editing of the Buu arc. Fans gave him a hard time from that episode of Super but he has worse moments in the Buu arc.

I'd like to think Roshi has SOME conscious in certain situations. When Buu murdered Chichi, not to long after Piccolo starts leading Buu to ROSAT. On the way, we get filler scenes of Roshi groping Bulma. It's all about the context of the situation, and I'd like to think Roshi wouldn't do that at a time like that because it makes him a total unlikable dickhead.

[KBABZ]

I'd like to think Roshi has SOME conscious in certain situations. When Buu murdered Chichi, not to long after Piccolo starts leading Buu to ROSAT. On the way, we get filler scenes of Roshi groping Bulma. It's all about the context of the situation, and I'd like to think Roshi wouldn't do that at a time like that because it makes him a total unlikable dickhead.

He does have certain moments. For example, recalling the story of Gohan and Ox-King's training to motivate Goku to continue with the milk delivery on foot is one of my all-time favourite moments in all of Dragon Ball. As well, he cuts the BS and consoles Bulma after Yamcha's death; in Z Kai after Bulma says she's feeling better, he replies "That's good", in a way that makes it clear that he cares about how she's feeling.

But it's all undermined by the awful sexual harassment he does throughout the show, making it obvious that he doesn't care how other people think of him or his actions. You'd think that thirty years later we can at least remove that aspect of his character, blunt it to him being merely goofy, and focus more on the wise old master side of him, but no.

[MR.Mark]

Now that I think about it, there's a filler scene of Roshi groping Bulma's as after Yamcha died too in the Saiyan saga. There's adding levity and then there's being a total asshole, lol.

[KBABZ]

Now that I think about it, there's a filler scene of Roshi groping Bulma's as after Yamcha died too in the Saiyan saga. There's adding levity and then there's being a total asshole, lol.

First time I'm hearing of this, boy am I glad Kai cut that crap out of the show.

[Hyena_Yamcha]

Besides pacing issues, some anime only scenes cause inconsistencies to characters and the story. I don't think I have to explain Chichi getting a bad rep from fans due to a lot of anime only stuff.

Then we have our lovable perv Roshi, I have an example from my editing of the Buu arc. Fans gave him a hard time from that episode of Super but he has worse moments in the Buu arc.

I'd like to think Roshi has SOME conscious in certain situations. When Buu murdered Chichi, not to long after Piccolo starts leading Buu to ROSAT. On the way, we get filler scenes of Roshi groping Bulma. It's all about the context of the situation, and I'd like to think Roshi wouldn't do that at a time like that because it makes him a total unlikable dickhead.

but most of them were written by Toriyama weren't they ?

[KBABZ]

but most of them were written by Toriyama weren't they ?

Not most of them. We could find out more things he contributed to at a later date, but Toriyama seemed to only contribute the odd filler tidbit idea and character designs (or a new one, such as Gregory). His biggest involvement, IMO, was selecting the VAs for the main cast at the start of the anime for approval.

http://www.kanzenshuu.com/production/toriyama/

[MR.Mark]

Yeah if Toriyama told Toei "eh just make Roshi grab 18 and Bulma's ass or tits regardless of the situation" that would be news to me.

[Polyphase Avatron]

They are generally hit or miss

[ABED]

Even though much of the filler creates inconsistencies, I do prefer some of those inconsistencies. For instance, I prefer the war torn version of Planet Vegeta in the pendulum room episode to the version in the Bardock special that is technologically advanced and pristine.

[KBABZ]

Even though much of the filler creates inconsistencies, I do prefer some of those inconsistencies. For instance, I prefer the war torn version of Planet Vegeta in the pendulum room episode to the version in the Bardock special that is technologically advanced and pristine.

I head-canon that by saying they were taken to planet Vegeta's equivalent of Jersey.