Filler Material

[GamerSkull]

I know there are a lot of meh filler stuff in Dragon Ball (all series). But there are some filler scenes that I felt helped the story... such as Gohan's extended survival training after Raditz' defeat.

Do you have any filler material that you like or that you felt helped the story?

[Lunaar]

Great topic! One that immediately comes to mind is Gohan's first real transformation into Super Saiyan, while Cell was attaining his Perfection. I really enjoyed Goku basically deciding that he needs to push Gohan like this. Cell is such a monster and only getting stronger by this point, so death is really just a sooner alternative to dying by Cell's hand. It's a very "Goku" way to handle his pupil. Gohan's quiet realization of needing to fight for himself is the stuff of legends. Not to mention the BGM that plays when he finally snaps is... just seared into my mind. I can't think of that scene without it.

[sintzu]

I think the extended fights and character moments in the Buu arc helped it a lot as the manga was going down hill a bit at that point.

[Kunzait_83]

Quite a fair bit:

- Goku's 'round the world training episodes that lead directly into the 22nd Budokai are all around VERY well conceived, well executed, and just out and out fun little side adventures that feel 100% in keeping with the manga (and are filled to the brim with tons and tons of wonderful classic Wuxia references and homages from Journey to the West to Zu: Warriors From the Magic Mountain), as well as greatly flesh out Goku's continued growth as a fighter, AND even directly seeded and foreshadowed later important characters and concepts from future manga stories. Tenshinhan and Chaozu of course being the most obvious, but in the episode with Shura and the demon army, Great King Enma and Kami are both directly referenced and discussed well long before either would debut in the series.

- The episode showing Kuririn, Yamucha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu spiritually traveling into the distant past to fight a couple of average Saiya-jin is a fantastic stand-alone episode that not only gives a lot of great added material to those characters, but also adds a TON of extra tension, genuine dread, and built-up to Nappa and Vegeta's arrival. It cannot be overstated how INCREDIBLY well the filler worked to the Saiya-jin arc's advantage. Plus the fighting and overall atmosphere of this episode are just fantastic in and of themselves, with an amazingly evocative setting that compliments the hopeless nature of how outmatched the heroes are. This is honestly one of my all time favorite episodes of the anime and always has been.

- I legit appreciate that the anime version of the Saiya-jin arc actually does remember to bother to give the character Lunch a proper sendoff before she's gone from the series forever. Its a nice little tiny bit of closure that the manga very infamously didn't have with her.

- I actually am one of the few people who vigorously defends the Space Orphans episodes. Mainly because I think that they function as a MUCH better and more endlessly effective introduction to Freeza and the rest of his army, as opposed to the manga where they're already just there on Namek once the heroes show up. Gohan, Kuririn, and Bulma running across frightened child survivors of one of Freeza's many planet-scale genocidal massacres on their way to Namek - who make cryptic and foreboding allusions to him - is SUCH a more narratively satisfying means of setting up the entire concept of Freeza's army, and wonderfully compliments the further information we learn about them later on on Namek.

- Piccolo's fight against Freeza on Namek is a fight that I'm very happy was expanded on in the anime; its almost anti-climatically brief in the manga, whereas it feels like a genuine event in the anime. The animation and choreography for it is exceptionally handled as well.

- Piccolo and the rest of the Z Warriors jumping in to help out Gohan against Perfect Cell at the very end of the Cell Games is a HUGE improvement on the Cell arc's climax in the manga. This makes for SUCH a more fitting swansong of an end to the "classic" lineup of fighters prior to the Boo arc's 7 year time jump and introduction of "the next generation" cast, as opposed to the manga where its all 100% Gohan's show, with only Vegeta pitching in slightly near the end. The internal dialogue given to all the Z Warriors as they pour on their attacks against Cell each makes for VERY heartfelt and effective sendoffs to them all as active warriors (particularly with Yamucha and Tenshinhan) before they're largely gone from the series (at least until Super as far as Tenshinhan goes anyway).

By that same token, I also love that the anime expanded on the fight between the Z Warriors and the Cell Jr.'s, making the whole fight much less one-sided and giving everyone a chance to shine individually for a brief moment before they're inevitably overtaken and overpowered.

- And finally, the Boo saga overall is probably the one arc that I would argue was overall VASTLY improved by the anime's expanded additions. Whereas in the manga the whole arc felt far too rushed (you could feel Toriyama's fatigue the most here), the anime gives the whole thing IMMENSELY needed breathing room and the overwhelming majority of the added material is largely rock solid, fun, visually stylish, and fits right in seamlessly, with only a few notable exceptions (most of the stuff with Dende and Mr. Satan following Super Boo around is pretty dire and dull).

[ABED]

Kunzait took most of mine, but in addition to many of the ones mentioned by the rest, I also like Pilaf and his minions being integrated into the entire first arc instead of coming in only at the tail end.

[Lord Beerus]

The filler episodes with Gohan surviving for 6 months on his own in the Saiyan arc have some of the best character building Dragon Ball has ever do for anyone. Goku's training journeys after the conclusion of the Uranai Baba tournament are also incredibly fun and criminally overlooked. And the Majin Boo arc as a whole in the anime is a vast improvement over the manga version of events in every department.

[ABED]

- The episode where Kuririn breaks up with Mar(r?)on - It's very different for DB, but emotionally satisfying.
- Goku's journey to drink the spirit water from The Darkness. I really love the part where Goku is holding onto a cliff with one hand and Yajirobe in the other as The Darkness continually hits him saying he'll stop if Goku drops Yajirobe. Goku refuses to drop him and proves himself worthy of drinking the water.

[Jord]

I like the Garlic Jr saga regardless of the weird continuity it fits in. It bridges the Gohan who relies so much on his partners in the Namek/Frieza saga to the more independant Gohan which we see in the early Cell saga. It also shows his bond with Kuririn as well as Piccolo and deepens it.

[Lord Beerus]

Ah, I can't believe I forgot about this... the Afterlife Tournament. I really like this mini-arc. It served as a great bridge from the end of the Cell arc into the Majin Boo arc, the expansion on the lore of the cosmos of Dragon Ball was great and the fights themselves were very entertaining, with Goku vs Pikkon being a hidden gem of a battle.

[KBABZ]

While it's overall still a stalling tactic, I've always had a soft spot for the "Tao climbs Korin's Tower" filler for when Korin drops him off the Black Flying Nimbus and he falls like a damn fool.

[ulisa]

I have always liked filler. Not all filler necessarily but I think a LOT of it really builds on the story and adds to the characters and character development. Plus, a lot of it allows for some great world building which in an universe like Dragonball is always a great thing to see.

Goku's Travels Around the World--Originally, I didn't much care for these adventures but when I revisited them, they are definitely some of the highlights of the original Dragonball. It's a great way to see how Goku grew and developed and I think that exploration gave him a lot of the "earthling" traits that we see later and a new appreciation for the world as a hole. With as wide as the world gets in later sagas with whole other alien races and planets, I sometimes forget that Goku originally was a completely isolated boy in the mountains. This, I feel, was one of the first times he really got to see how large the world was.

Goku's Quest for the Holy Water--Yajirobe is always a fun character for me and I also love how they added in a quest for this drink instead of Korin simply having it. It gave it a sense of urgency and while it may be a little cliché to go on a quest essentially seeking a power-up, for Dragonball, it works so well. The scene where Goku finally achieves the water and is told that no one else has survived drinking from it just seemed much more "heavy" with the atmosphere of the cave/darkness/shadow. It's a purely aesthetic difference perhaps but I love it.

Gohan's training before the Saiyans--This still remains some of my favorite filler of the whole series. While the manga gives a small sense of how Gohan changes/grows, seeing it play out this way was much more effective. Seeing a boy that had been coddled and protected suddenly thrust in the harsh wilderness and seeing him having to learn the harsh lessons really drives home how much he changes and makes his development feel much more genuine. I always found the episodes with the Robot and the dinosaur to be very strong messages that Gohan had to learn about life, death, survival, etc. I am also a sucker for the fact that he uses a first aid technique his father taught him.

The Garlic Junior Saga--Okay, so the saga itself definitely has its problems but I think this gave us a very good look at Gohan's character after all the events he had been through with the Saiyans and Freeza. He is becoming more independent, much more than he was before but he still hasn't quite become a fighter in his own right. I love seeing him and Krillin interact as they have a very interesting relationship--in some cases, it definitely is buddy-buddy and in other uncle-nephew. Seeing Krillin be protective of Goku's son always gets to me.

The Room of Spirit and Time--The expansion in the Room of Spirit and Time while Goku and Gohan train remains my favorite filler. It really helps show how Gohan struggled with becoming Super Saiyan, Goku's own struggles with even training him correctly "You're too soft, Father!" and the way they interact with one another is just precious. You can really see Gohan's hero-worship of his father and honestly, I think Goku presents as a pretty good father in these episodes. It's refreshing to see how they interact without any outside interruptions.

The Innards of Buu--I know, a lot of people dislike this filler but I'm sorry, it cracks me up. Seeing Goku and Vegeta trying to make their way through Buu's body and find their children and Piccolo and the effects that it has on Buu never fails to make me laugh. Seeing Mr. Satan and Dende's reactions to watching it is also pretty hilarious.

[PacificOceanDub]

With the exception of fake Namek, and Mr. Satan’s lackeys fighting in the Cell Games, I pretty much enjoy all of it. My favorites are the one with Konkichi, Goku meeting Roshi in the past, Gohan and the Orphans, and the Krillin and Maron break up.

[KBABZ]

I have always liked filler. Not all filler necessarily but I think a LOT of it really builds on the story and adds to the characters and character development. Plus, a lot of it allows for some great world building which in an universe like Dragonball is always a great thing to see.

What are your thoughts on the extended adventures with Colonel Silver? It isn't a filler arc per-se but there's so much there it practically counts, even that one Giran episode.

[BlueBasilisk]

I really like the Otherworld Tournament mini-arc and the expanded Great Saiyaman shenanigans at the start of the Buu saga. It really helps the development as Gohan and Videl as characters and their growing relationship. Plus it's just funny.

[ulisa]

I have always liked filler. Not all filler necessarily but I think a LOT of it really builds on the story and adds to the characters and character development. Plus, a lot of it allows for some great world building which in an universe like Dragonball is always a great thing to see.

What are your thoughts on the extended adventures with Colonel Silver? It isn't a filler arc per-se but there's so much there it practically counts, even that one Giran episode.

Truthfully, I’d need to watch it again as it’s been a long time since I’ve seen the original Dragonball (as I tend to prefer Z and onward) but from what I remember, it was fun. I probably would like it more now that I know more about the series—when I first watched Dragonball I started right smack in the middle so I was a bit lost. Any expansion of Goku’s adventures from the manga, I usually gravitate towards.

[GamerSkull]

As I mentioned before, I think that the Gohan filler stuff immediately following Raditz was great... but I love the filler Great Saiyaman stuff.

I also dig the extra filler stuff in the Piccolo Daimao arc with Snow.

[KBABZ]

I also dig the extra filler stuff in the Piccolo Daimao arc with Snow.

I personally found it a bit egregious, although it did give us this incredible visual.

That aside, it also had one of the most impactful scenes in the original series, where Daimao blowing up Central City is treated like a nuclear bombing, blowing out the windows and sending a hurricane into the hospital Suno's in. Made me think that they were going for parallels to Hiroshima and Nagasaki there.

[floofychan333]

Most of the original series' filler was nice except the last 5 or so episodes. FUCK those. Gohan's filler episodes at the beginning of Z were good additions to his character and evoked genuine emotion, particularly the one where he cares for "Mr Robot" in the cave. I don't really dig the Freeza arc filler (especially not Fake Namek...I'd rather forget that) and the Goku vs Freeza fighting filler is probably my least favourite of all in that arc. The extra fighting from those scenes bored me so much I actually liked when it skipped to the Roshi/Chi-Chi/Yajirobe filler. Cell started with Garlic Jr, which was mostly unnecessary though I enjoyed the end of it with the epic BGM and I have a soft spot for Goku's driving lesson. The rest of it is fairly unmemorable to me.

[Robo4900]

All the filler from the original series. (Except episodes 82 and 83)
The Saiyan arc training filler.
Z episode 125. Legit one of the best episodes in the franchise.
The afterlife tournament and all the Great Saiyaman filler.
Z episode 288. Honestly, this could have been where the series ended, and I'd have been happy.

And, to everyone who counts GT as filler, the entire GT run, except for episodes 7, 8, 43, 44, and 46.

And, if we're counting non-arc Super material, then episodes 69, 70, 75, and 76, and the dub of episodes 44, 45, and 46.

[KBABZ]

Z episode 288. Honestly, this could have been where the series ended, and I'd have been happy.

Funnily enough, this episode now doubles as a VERY convenient stopping point in Z/Kai for when you want to transition to Yo!, the Tori films and Super if you're going for a chronological run.