Fillers. Yay or Nay

[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.

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.

I think its a pretty effective way of showing us what the Saiyan threat is capable of and the kind of guys the heroes are gonna have to deal with when the time comes.

[Hellspawn28]

I think the fillers in DBZ are better than the fillers from Naruto, One Piece and Bleach, but that's not saying much in my opinion. Fillers in DBZ should not get a free pass because of nostalgia.

[Lord Beerus]

I think its a pretty effective way of showing us what the Saiyan threat is capable of and the kind of guys the heroes are gonna have to deal with when the time comes.

Honestly, I think the nature and destructive power of higher class Saiyans should have been kept a secret. It just add more mystique and drama to when they actually fight, because you don't know what they are capable of. You constantly wondering whether the heroes will be strong enough to defeat them. Having Vegeta casually destroy a planet ruins the mystique of Vegeta for me. Because you already know how strong he is, and now you know for a fact that the heroes have no chance of winning, unless an almighty asspull occurs. And it also makes Vegeta look like a giant jackass. Because if could do that do to Planet Arlia, then why didn't he just fly in space and do that to Earth when he was losing against Goku?

[Adamant]

Because if could do that do to Planet Arlia, then why didn't he just fly in space and do that to Earth when he was losing against Goku?

But that's literally what he did.

[Lord Beerus]

Because if could do that do to Planet Arlia, then why didn't he just fly in space and do that to Earth when he was losing against Goku?

But that's literally what he did.

He technically flew into the sky not into space itself.

[ABED]

Because if could do that do to Planet Arlia, then why didn't he just fly in space and do that to Earth when he was losing against Goku?

But that's literally what he did.

He technically flew into the sky not into space itself.

Doesn't change that he wanted to destroy a planet to kill his enemy.

[Hellspawn28]

Because if could do that do to Planet Arlia, then why didn't he just fly in space and do that to Earth when he was losing against Goku?

But that's literally what he did.

He technically flew into the sky not into space itself.

He still needs his space ship. If his ship is destroyed then he is stuck in space. He would be floating around in space until he dies.

[ABED]

Honestly, I think the nature and destructive power of higher class Saiyans should have been kept a secret. It just add more mystique and drama to when they actually fight, because you don't know what they are capable of. You constantly wondering whether the heroes will be strong enough to defeat them. Having Vegeta casually destroy a planet ruins the mystique of Vegeta for me. Because you already know how strong he is, and now you know for a fact that the heroes have no chance of winning, unless an almighty asspull occurs. And it also makes Vegeta look like a giant jackass. Because if could do that do to Planet Arlia, then why didn't he just fly in space and do that to Earth when he was losing against Goku?

I don't agree in this case. It's not as though they are fighting amazing fighters. They are fighting ham and eggers. I like it because it's not necessarily about their power, which the episode doesn't even begin to touch on, it shows how despicable and dangerous they are. The audience is still left wondering if the heroes will be strong enough. And the destruction of the planet in no way proves that our heroes have no chance of winning, nor that winning would require a deus ex machina (I refuse to use such a ridiculous term as asspull). As we see in the series, Toriyama did a great job of dramatizing the heroes achieving victory over a more powerful opponent.

[Kakacarrottop]

I only like the filler that's self-contained and episodic. The Saiyan Saga seemed to have the most of this, which is one of the reasons why it's my favorite Saga. Stuff like Princess Snake, the Pendulum Room & Home for Infinite Losers remain some of my favorite Dragon Ball Z episodes. All the filler material that was used to extend fights or whatever sucked, imo.

[Hellspawn28]

Fillers have been known to create plot holes and contractions to the story which I don't like about most fillers in the series. The ones that I can think of are:

- King Kai in the filler was shown that he could teleport when Goku visit him again in the Cell saga. So why didn't King Kai thought him that in the first place when Goku first visit him? It would have help Goku go back to Earth much faster.
- Roshi went over the origins of the Dragon Balls in DB, however the origin story from Roshi is totally pointless and contradicts his story during the Namek saga.
- Dr. Frappe is the creator of #8 in the filler in DB, but his character is totally retcon forever when Dr. Gero shows up. His scenes before just feels pointless if you are watching the series in order from start to finish.
- Videl finds out that Great Saiyaman is Gohan in a earlier filler episode and yet she is totally surprise that Gohan is the Great Saiyaman during the Tenkachi Budokai. It makes it so confusing.
- Mr. Popo can send people back in time with the Pendulum Room and he sent Goku back in time to see Roshi at his youth. Since Goku meets the young Master Roshi and his rival in the past, won't Roshi recognized Goku when he first meets him with Bluma earlier in the series?
- Dende said that Buuhan's scream over time will cause the universe to be destroyed. Won't Buu's scream be powerful enough to awaken Beerus early since it was going to destroy the whole universe.

[precita]

I love the training filler too. When I read the manga for the first time I was honestly shocked how little the training was shown and how much of it was "off-screen." I was like, "They don't show any of those training moments in the manga?"

It honestly felt rushed. I loved seeing Goku train on the spaceship heading towards Namek too, it makes his huge power boost when he landed on Namek and took out Recoome, Burter, etc. a lot more believeable.

[ABED]

A filler I liked was the mirror ship episodes. I enjoyed hearing about Freeza before we meet him. It's a nice way to build anticipation.

All the filler material that was used to extend fights or whatever sucked, imo.

What exactly are you referring to? I can think of several fight bits that were great and improved the fight.

Fillers have been known to create plot holes and contractions to the story which I don't like about most fillers in the series. The ones that I can think of are:

While the contradictions suck, that doesn't mean Toriyama's version is axiomatically better.

Mr. Popo can send people back in time with the Pendulum Room and he sent Goku back in time to see Roshi at his youth. Since Goku meets the young Master Roshi and his rival in the past, won't Roshi recognized Goku when he first meets him with Bluma earlier in the series?

I don't think it's explicitly stated whether that's an actual time machine or if it's just a vision of the past.

- Roshi went over the origins of the Dragon Balls in DB, however the origin story from Roshi is totally pointless and contradicts his story during the Namek saga.

I'm not certain, but I think Roshi prefaces it by saying it's a version of the story he heard.

[ekrolo2]

I actually really like the Pendulum Room as a sort of unofficial precursor to the ROSAT.

[Ash57]

Some fillers are good, but in general they are pretty annoying, mainly the Buu Arc fillers in my opinion.

[Kuririn Fan]

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

Intro and outro episodes are amazing, but the fighting drags for-fucking-ever.

[Kuririn Fan]

Filler in DB franchise is usually very good. All of original anime's filler is great, Saiyan arc filler is amazing, driving episode, relaxing till Cell Games, Anoyoichi Budokai, lots of filler in the Boo arc. So that leaves most of the Freeza arc filler and Garlic jr.