Great Filler Scenes from the original Dragon Ball.

[Cure Dragon 255]

From TV Tropes.

In the King Piccolo arc, there's a filler scene of when Tien, Chiaotzu, and Master Roshi are gathering the Dragon Balls of the former having a run-in with an unnamed fighter from his past with the Crane School (the said man has a dragon ball in his infant son's crib). Long story short, Tien broke the man's leg in competition even though he'd been named the victor of their match. This left the fighter crippled with a permanent limp and it took two years for him to recover enough just to get back to his family. That backstory alone is sad enough, but when he encounters Tien again, he understandably is both bitter and possibly afraid that the ex-assassin-to-be would try to ruin his life again and has his wife call the police (though that was partially due to thinking he was responsible for Tambourine's murders). The police arrive, another long story short, Roshi is able to defuse the situation by vouching for Tien's character and the cops stand down. The man, however, accuses that Tien would probably just tear apart his place just to find what he wants, as expected of a man who formerly ruined his life, and even points a shotgun at him. Does Tien get angry? Does he attempt to take the gun? Does he attempt to use telekinesis to take the ball? None of the above; he gets on his hands and knees and begs for the ball, even offering the man vengeance by breaking his arms. The man is taken aback by the humble gesture and grants Tien his forgiveness and the dragon ball. It's honestly a powerful scene that one wouldn't expect from the Dragon Ball series, let alone filler, and emphasizes the point of "just because you've had a change of heart doesn't magically erase all of your crimes".

[KBABZ]

That scene was a difficult one to cut from The First Chapters because it was so good (although the guy wasn't in the Crane School, he was an opponent in the ring). What makes it great is that it's part of the redemption arc that I think is important, which is your past catching up to you and challenging whether you really mean it or not (Zuko went through something similar in Season 3 of Avatar). It's excruciating watching Tien try to convince this guy that he's not there to rough him up, he just wants the Dragon Ball.

I have no sympathy for the Pirate Cave padding, though.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

I quite like that filler actually, it shows how Tien is gradually growing out of the shadows of his past with the Crane Hermit and Tao Pai Pai as he is now finding his own path as a martial artist and confronting that past. The first seeds of change was after his and Roshi's match at the 22nd Budokai after the former had voluntarily rung out himself which left him utterly baffled and explained himself, as well as attempting to get him to see the Crane Hermit's teachings for how bad and destructive they really are, and this i believe was a good little piece of material to further emphasize how much he has changed as both a fighter and a person overall.

[Soppa Saia People]

i honestly love like all the filler in the first arc and the first tourment. some really great pilaf scenes in there, and just a lot of neat stuff in general.

[TheBigBoy]

I *think* it's filler but there's a really hilarious scene during the training for the 21st tournament where Kamesenin teaches Goku to read by making him read smutty stories. I even recall the dub version of this scene being pretty funny.

[KBABZ]

I *think* it's filler but there's a really hilarious scene during the training for the 21st tournament where Kamesenin teaches Goku to read by making him read smutty stories. I even recall the dub version of this scene being pretty funny.

-checks the Kindle version-

Well it's not filler, it's in the ViZ translation!

Roshi: We will begin with a study of the finest literature. Goku, begin reading from page 12.
Goku: Ummm... "Don't Bob, please," moaned Margaret, "Mama's coming home soon." But Bob only ran his hand down...
Krillin: .....

Side-note: I am really glad that Roshi's training has him teach Goku stuff like reading and math. Not only does it help free some of the early restrictions on Goku's character later, but it also shows that Roshi can teach more than just martial arts. It's like he realizes the young age that Goku and Krillin are and that they won't make it in the real world if they don't have a basic education.