Did Toei make the right move?!

[dbboxkaifan]

There's not a single ounce of filler from DB or DBZ that adds anything of genuine worth to the series.

A lot of the filler was heartwarming and very comedic which allowed to step away from that seriousness that Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z had, although I'll admit that not all filler was enjoyable as such was the search for the Dragon Balls before the Cell Games (I literally fell asleep while watching it). Also, in Kai I missed seeing Goku playing with the dudes from Hell like he did in Z, but it's understandable why it was removed.

[LettuceJUMP]

I do love myself some Kai, specifically skipping the waiting for cell games to begin, and quicker paced namek freeza goku battle. But there are times, like the garlic jr saga which had good action and i felt helped the characters develop, especially gohan, without goku around.

[andrewtuell1991]

That's... quite the bold statement.

It's a true statement though. Regardless of what one's personal feelings toward a particular filler is, none of it adds anything to the story.

Gohan's extended training in the Saiyan arc

Making friends with robots, dinos, and delinquents adds what to Gohan's character exactly? It also contradicts the manga which implies that Gohan never strayed to far from where Piccolo dropped him.

the Other World Tournament

Why'd Toei even make a filler arc about a tournament when one was coming up, it's redundant. Paikuhan wasn't the least bit interesting (just Piccolo and Assistant Black thrown in a blender) and the fights were just lame. Also it contradict the Manga when Goku says he couldn't find anyone like him to try fusion on and FnF now totally contradicts Toei's version of hell.

and practically 90% of the filler in the Dragon Ball anime helped expand the universe and fill holes in the narrative where the manga didn't.

DB's filler was every bit as pointless as DBZ's was. How'd any of add anything to the story except contradictions via the false Dragon Ball origin story and Dr. Frappe?

A lot of the filler was heartwarming and very comedic which allowed to step away from that seriousness that Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z had

Save it for between arcs and regulate it only to omakes then. Don't interrupt the story dozens of time to see what pointless crap some pointless nobody is up to. It's annoying and makes the story drag way too long.

[VegettoEX]

Save it for between arcs and regulate it only to omakes then. Don't interrupt the story dozens of time to see what pointless crap some pointless nobody is up to. It's annoying and makes the story drag way too long.

That's a surefire way to destroy your audience's interest in the material and then never recover. See: the Rurouni Kenshin anime adaptation.

[ABED]

It's a true statement though. Regardless of what one's personal feelings toward a particular filler is, none of it adds anything to the story.

In the sense that it furthers the plot, no, but seeing other characters reactions like Roshi giving his two cents on Goku's fight against Cell can add something as he's a wise old master.

Making friends with robots, dinos, and delinquents adds what to Gohan's character exactly? It also contradicts the manga which implies that Gohan never strayed to far from where Piccolo dropped him.

It doesn't imply anything, the manga brushes over that material. Seeing his progression allows the audience to come to know a new character before the fighting begins. To that point, all the audience really knows is Gohan is Goku's sheltered son. We don't really know and love HIM. It's also nice not going from pampered kid to wunderkind. There are steps and maturity along the way. Gohan learned life lessons the hard way. It's nice growth.

Regarding DB's filler, Goku drinking the magic water to gain the power to fight Piccolo was far better in the Manga. Karin just gets the water from off page and then Goku struggles, but is fine the next page. In the anime, he really earns it.

[fadeddreams5]

Why'd Toei even make a filler arc about a tournament when one was coming up, it's redundant. Paikuhan wasn't the least bit interesting (just Piccolo and Assistant Black thrown in a blender) and the fights were just lame. Also it contradict the Manga when Goku says he couldn't find anyone like him to try fusion on and FnF now totally contradicts Toei's version of hell.

First of all, this tournament was an actual tournament--with strong warriors to boot. Secondly, it expanded the other world and introduced important figures, such as the Grand Kai. The fights were not lame either. Besides the hell scene of Cell getting clocked, and Pikkon's similarities to Piccolo, this was the definitive filler saga. It was set during a reasonable time period, it expanded the universe of the series, and it was fun. The dub made it better, imo. As for contradicting the manga, that little piece of dialogue was stupid. There's no reason Goku should not have been able to find someone like him when it's pretty much revealed in the Buu saga that there are many, many creatures in the universe with comparable strength (pre-SSJ2/3). Or is Goku really supposed to be the ONLY being in all of existence that's kept a body in the afterlife? Fuck. That. This saga was better than a lot of what followed it.

[Theophrastus]

I'm of the opinion that the filler in the first DB anime was generally more tolerable than what they did for the bulk of Z, at least insofar as it felt like they were a bit more creative about it.

...That being said, across the 153 episodes that comprise the Dragon Ball anime, they only adapted 194 chapters of the manga (chapters that averaged only 14 pages each, at that). That's not a very flattering ratio, and speaks a lot to just how much filler they added in. For the sake of comparison with another Toei series, by the end of its 153rd episode, the One Piece anime had adapted 238 chapters (18 page chapters).

[Storm]

It's a true statement though. Regardless of what one's personal feelings toward a particular filler is, none of it adds anything to the story.

What is your definition of "adding anything to the story?" Filler can emphasize characterization and themes that the manga doesn't touch on, allowing for the viewer to get more out of the story than just reading the manga. Are you saying audience's subjective enjoyment of filler is meaningless?

You're probably on the wrong site if you're this much of a diehard manga purist.

[Mewzard]

Save it for between arcs and regulate it only to omakes then. Don't interrupt the story dozens of time to see what pointless crap some pointless nobody is up to. It's annoying and makes the story drag way too long.

That's a surefire way to destroy your audience's interest in the material and then never recover. See: the Rurouni Kenshin anime adaptation.

Yeah, I'd like to think Toei learned this lesson when Saint Seiya's ratings went from over 20 points after the end of the Sanctuary Arc to dropping to 4.7 a few episodes before the end of the filler Asgard arc...it never recovered to those old heights and got cancelled.

I wonder if Naruto's ratings got hurt from that 80+ episode string of fillers, or if kids have started to gain more of a tolerance to filler.

I'm seldom a fan of filler personally. It's just too often either horribly out of character or boring to watch. It can't really add to the characters when the source material doesn't have it, so it should just be some mindless fun. Like the driving episode.

[Lord Beerus]

I wonder if Naruto's ratings got hurt from that 80+ episode string of fillers, or if kids have started to gain more of a tolerance to filler.

The Naruto 80+ episodes of filler back to back was the final nail in the coffin for Toonami. The ratings tanked because of that huge block of filler and the plug was pulled on Toonami. But honestly, at that stage, Toonami was a shell of its former self by the time the huge block of filler got fully underway.

[Kid Buu]

Actually DeMarco has denied Naruto filler killed Toonami. Heck on the new Toonami they are still showing Naruto filler as of right now.