Were all of the fillers in the original anime series that bad?

[EXBadguy]

I personally don't think they are, now that I've looked back at some a while ago. I used to think the fillers for the original Z anime were all bad, but I think some are only hit and miss, as I did like some of the slice of life moments in the filler episodes, especially the ones in the Android/Cell saga with the driving school and the Mercenary Tao moments. And I think a few of the fillers actually made sense as it added some details like Gohan first acheiving SSJ2 in the HTC.

[nickzambuto]

Of course not all of them were bad. With the sheer amount of filler that there is, it can range from, at best, defining character moments that not only improve upon, but even overshadow Toriyama's own work (Gohan and the robot), and at worst we get five solid minutes of heavy breathing.

[Cipher]

Some of Z's best moments are anime-only. The Saiyan and Saiyaman arcs benefit the most, but there are gems sprinkled throughout. The driving episode is a fan-favorite, and Goku's encounters with Tao Pai Pai in the Cell arc are hilarious. Padding within manga-adaptation episodes is obviously unwelcome, but what're ya gonna do. When the team got room for new episodic material, they tended to handle it well.

The original Dragon Ball's filler tends to be both less intrusive and less interesting (in terms of completely new plots) than Z's, but it has some standout moments as well. I'm a big fan of the Haski episodes in the middle of the Red Ribbon arc, and one of my favorite joke scenes in the entire franchise — Goku discovering Turtle's long-lost son — is anime-only and comes right the fuck out of nowhere. On the other hand, filler during the tournaments and the quest to find the Super Divine Water are snoozers.

[EXBadguy]

The original Dragon Ball's filler tends to be both less intrusive and less interesting (in terms of completely new plots) than Z's, but it has some standout moments as well. I'm a big fan of the Haski episodes in the middle of the Red Ribbon arc, and one of my favorite joke scenes in the entire franchise — Goku discovering Turtle's long-lost son — is anime-only and comes right the fuck out of nowhere. On the other hand, filler during the tournaments and the quest to find the Super Divine Water are snoozers.

Looking back at some, the Dr Frappe episode was a bit of an insult to Dr Gero's reputation. I only wanted Dr Gero to be the only creator of the androids, that way there would've been build-up like there was in the manga...a little.

[nickzambuto]

A lot of the fighting is also filler. Since a manga is just still images, most fights would be finished in seconds if there wasn't filler.

[ABED]

No, just like not all filler or stand alones are bad. This isn't just applicable to anime, some of the best episodes of Supernatural and Buffy are stand alones. Like most people here, I like the Gohan training during the Saiyan arc episodes. I also like the episode where the B Team (I say that with affection) fights the two Saiyans in the Pendulum Room. That version of what I assume is Planet Vegeta looks more what I imagine the planet would look like as opposed to the clean, technologically advanced planet in the Bardock TV Special.

[nickzambuto]

No, just like not all filler or stand alones are bad. This isn't just applicable to anime, some of the best episodes of Supernatural and Buffy are stand alones. Like most people here, I like the Gohan training during the Saiyan arc episodes. I also like the episode where the B Team (I say that with affection) fights the two Saiyans in the Pendulum Room. That version of what I assume is Planet Vegeta looks more what I imagine the planet would look like as opposed to the clean, technologically advanced planet in the Bardock TV Special.

Which is a weird inconsistency since TOEI created them both. It's not as if they created one version and then Toriyama put his own in the manga, so they had to contradict themselves to follow him. No, TOEI just straight up wrote two different versions of Planet Vegeta.

[B]

There's very little filler in the way of brand new storylines. I've taken less to the "Goku's training around the world" arc than that first high when I was introduced to them. Minus the InoShikaCho and Konkichi episodes, they are not that great. One of these days I will actually pay attention when I watch the Wedding Dress arc. The original series "filler" was much more in the way of "padding", cutaways to what other characters are doing. There's hardly ever a plot to it, it's just stuff like Sno playing with animals or the Kame Family hanging out. I don't mind most of this stuff, unless it's extremely obvious they're just trying to beat the running time clock, such as recaps of half of the previous episode.

I actually really like the ice cave filler. Forget making sense; it sets such an eerie, captivating vibe; not completely dissimilar to how the Trunks TV special is far more darker and ambitious than Toriyama's Trunks The Story. I guess it's weird to use Kame Sennin in an antagonistic role shortly after his dramatic, heart-crushing death, though.