Fillers. Yay or Nay

[Vijay]

Fillers in original DragonBall (Son Goku Arc ~ 23rd TB Arc) have superior story-telling, humor & enjoyable sense of parody which makes it distinct. Needless to say, it serves as worthy "additions" to Akira Toriyama's rich tale

Goku's training segments prior to 22nd TB, or extended training scenes with Mr.Popo at Shinden/Temple prior to 23rd TB (especially episode 128-130 have high-level storyboarding) were pleasant.

In Z, mixed bag. While it retained the old-school, heart-warming filler segments (Gohan's growth in Saiyan Arc, Fake Namek, Goku's training in Capsule Corps Spaceship on the way to Namek etc), some staring & screaming contests (Frieza Saga being the major culprit) makes fillers as nay!

Thats not to say Z filler are complete farce. Some genuinely arresting moments that were absent in manga emphasized vital key moments. Ex: Glimpses of Mecha Frieza's reconstruction, backstory of Future Trunks & Cell, whole OtherWorld filler & build-ups in Majin Boo Arc. Good stuffs

So, what are your opinions?

[Hellspawn28]

Some fillers are good, but most of them are pretty bad and have no real part of the plot. So nay for me.

[fadeddreams5]

The Other World Tournament arc is probably the best arc in the Buu saga (next to Kid Buu arc), if we count it as part of that.

[precita]

Some fillers are good, but most of them are pretty bad and have no real part of the plot. So nay for me.

I'd argue the majority of the anime's fillers are very good, with only few exceptions (like the Fake Namek arc, etc).

Its the filler padding during fights and the cut-away shots showing reactions and or powering up that's bad. But the unique story filler we got is usually good or decent.

[TheatreStyleKai]

I liked the Garlic Jr. arc. There, I've said it.

[Valerius Dover]

I actually really enjoy filler overall. Even the Fake Namek arc, mostly for its creepy and unsettling vibe. And the Inside Buu filler where Goku and Vegeta argue all the time.

[precita]

I think the Saiyan and Buu saga had the best filler. The Cell saga filler was good too with few exceptions.

The Freeza/Namek saga had the worst filler by far, especially all the padding during Goku Vs. Freeza.

[Vijay]

I think the Saiyan and Buu saga had the best filler. The Cell saga filler was good too with few exceptions.

The Freeza/Namek saga had the worst filler by far, especially all the padding during Goku Vs. Freeza.

True that. You basically summarized my extended views & gotta say we have mutual thoughts. Btw, what do you think of fillers in DragonBall?

They're handled much better imo

[Khin]

Fillers in the Freeza arc (especially in the main fight) are by far the worst fillers in the series.But some fillers like Goku and Vegeta's adventure in Boo's body are pretty entertaining.

[Lord Beerus]

I think the filler in the original Dragon Ball anime as a whole is much more entertaining and adds much more to the story, while not overstaying its welcome. I mean, the filler is Z at it's best is fantastic (the Other World Tournament, The Great Saiyaman, Gohan's training in the Saiyan arc, the driving episode), but at the worst, it can be truly awful (Garlic Jr arc, all of the Namek/Freeza arc filler, Vegeta and Nappa on Arlia, Princess Snake).

[ABED]

I don't mind filler arcs, they are typically short and can be skipped over if you don't like them with minimal effort. When it gets bothersome is when it interferes with the flow of the episode. It's usually cutaways from the action to things that don't matter such as Bulma and the frog or what Chichi is doing on Earth. I've never had an issue when there's extra fight material.

[Silver Sinspawn]

Filler is all around pretty awesome.

Not even taking into account great arcs like Garlic Jr, Otherworld, the namek fillers, the 10 days waiting for the cell games filler, and (arguably) Great Saiyaman.

We always meet some pretty interesting characters. For example, Sky Dragon and his school in Dragon Ball, or Terror and Plague. It's nice to see that there is some depth to the people on the planet and they're not all just bystanders. Plus there are some neat locations and attacks that never get seen again. Not to mention that most of it is very lighthearted, and it's a nice touch.

[saiyanvegetable]

Otherworld arc was amazingly fucking fun and Vegeta's "Lost in Space" fillers inbetween the Frieza and Trunks sagas were equally entertaining and should have been the basis for a Dragonball Z movie. (20 years ago though, after the disasters that are BoG, RoF, and Super I really shudder at the thought of Toei ruining another great concept)

[DemonRin]

For some reason, and I have no clue why, Toei hates the concept of standalone filler arcs, which is bad. In the two main DB series' as well as newer stuff they do like One Piece they tend to like to stuff the main plot with as much dragging out of the existing material as they can rather than do some filler arcs. I'd actually GREATLY PREFER actual filler arcs to padded out canon material because, at best, I get Otherworld Tournament or Driving Lesson level filler where it's enjoyable and fun on some level and I can just sit back and watch it, or, if we get Garlic Jr. Levels of bad, I can just outright ignore it on a normal watchthrough of the rest of the series.

When it's ingrained filler tho, like dragging out establishing shots WAY longer than needed, or padding out the fighting, it can make the series a SLOG to get through.
I mean, occasionally it can enhance what's going on and flesh things out, particularly if this was a part the Mangaka kinda rushed through, but more often than not it wears out its welcome very fast.

One Piece is going through this right now, being Toei's current cash-cow mega franchise and I hate it. Since the manga Author is taking a break a month now due to exhaustion, they are adapting LESS THAN one chapter of manga per each episode of Anime, and it's horrid. We're talking Namek arc levels of bad or worse here. I wish they'd just go into a year-long Boss Luffy filler arc.

I know I just did a paragraph about One Piece, but I'm trying to illustrate that this isn't a Dragonball issue in particular, but seems to be how Toei as a whole operates...

I wonder, does anyone here have any info on this? Has Toei ever gone on the record as to why they do Filler arcs so sparingly? It'd be interesting to know I think.



As for my answer to the thread's main question: Self-contained Filler ARCS, Yes.
Filler Padding added directly into Canon material? Very VERY No.

[ToxicFlame707]

I like filler when it's relevant to the source material, which is the case with Dragon Ball. I think it expands the story more.

[Adamant]

I wonder, does anyone here have any info on this? Has Toei ever gone on the record as to why they do Filler arcs so sparingly? It'd be interesting to know I think.

This is just a guess, but I think it has a lot to do with the fact that while shorter series are primarily made for people unfamiliar with the source material with the aim of promoting the source material to them, longer series just exist to keep the franchise itself in the public eye and are largely watched by people already familiar with the story from the source material. These fans are primarily watching because they want to see the story and specific scenes from the story animated, something filler arcs would largely just get in the way of.

[ekrolo2]

I think the filler in the original Dragon Ball anime as a whole is much more entertaining and adds much more to the story, while not overstaying its welcome. I mean, the filler is Z at it's best is fantastic (the Other World Tournament, The Great Saiyaman, Gohan's training in the Saiyan arc, the driving episode), but at the worst, it can be truly awful (Garlic Jr arc, all of the Namek/Freeza arc filler, Vegeta and Nappa on Arlia, Princess Snake).

Bite your tongue! Vegeta & Nappa on Arlia is the shit.

[FoolsGil]

I liked the Garlic Jr. arc. There, I've said it.

Seconded.

[ABED]

Can anyone point to moments where the filler dragged out the fight?

[Lord Beerus]

I think the filler in the original Dragon Ball anime as a whole is much more entertaining and adds much more to the story, while not overstaying its welcome. I mean, the filler is Z at it's best is fantastic (the Other World Tournament, The Great Saiyaman, Gohan's training in the Saiyan arc, the driving episode), but at the worst, it can be truly awful (Garlic Jr arc, all of the Namek/Freeza arc filler, Vegeta and Nappa on Arlia, Princess Snake).

Bite your tongue! Vegeta & Nappa on Arlia is the shit.

For what it's worth, I find the DBZA version of Vegeta and Nappa on Arlia quite entertaining. But the original version can fuck a goat.