Expanding on Fillers

Jerseymilk · Post by **Jerseymilk** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 11:31 pm

I just finished reading the latest posts concerning what everyone would change in DB. As I read Psyliam's point about some filler episodes being good and adding to the show and some being just a waste of time, I thought I'd ask everyone what their favourite filler episode is and what is the one they hate the most? I've already stated once or twice that my favourite is the first episode of DBZ with Gohan lost in the woods because I think it's sweet and it gives us tantalizing hints at Gohan's potential power. Also the Princess Snake episode because Goku's so darn funny in it. The one I probably dislike the most would definitely be Buruma on Namek with the crab mother, that one's excruciatingly boring. Another one I don't like is the whole filler with Kuririn trying to get that undersea pearl for Maron. That last episode was a ridiculous waste of time. They could have had Maron leave Kuririn just as easily at the end the episode before it. Considering that whole saga was filler, Toei really shouldn't have pushed it. So those are mine. It's everyone else's turn now.

Dayspring · Post by **Dayspring** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 11:35 pm

I hated filler so much that I haven't seen most of the show (couldn't stand Funi's dub, let alone Funi's FILLER dub).

Of what I have seen, I would have to say any filler eps from the Namek saga. Surprisingly however, my fav filler is also from the Namek saga: the Bardock Special.

PsyLiam · Post by **PsyLiam** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 11:41 pm

It adds nothing to the story, and is a complete waste of time.

But anybody out there who doesn't love the Goku and Piccolo at driving school episode deserves to be shot in the head. Several times.

Deus ex Machina · Post by **Deus ex Machina** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 11:57 pm

PsyLiam wrote:But anybody out there who doesn't love the Goku and Piccolo at driving school episode deserves to be shot in the head. Several times.

I concur, whole heartedly. No matter how stupid some people said it was, you can't help but laugh while watching. It would've been funnier if Vegeta had also been trying to get his liscence. Heheh...

My favourite filler episode is kinda a tie between the episode when Gohan fights Taio, and Vegeta's traveling across the universe during the Garlic Jr. Saga. It was cool to see the old Vegeta doing what he does best, killing Freeza's henchmen.

I can't really think of an episode I didn't like though...I'll get back to you on that.

XxShinGokuxX · Post by **XxShinGokuxX** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 12:00 am

PsyLiam wrote:It adds nothing to the story, and is a complete waste of time.

But anybody out there who doesn't love the Goku and Piccolo at driving school episode deserves to be shot in the head. Several times.

Lol so true and so very funny.

SonGohan-san · Post by **SonGohan-san** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 12:39 am

I pretty much concur with the infamous driving school ep and the first episode. I'm sure there are plenty others that are worthy. I even liked Kaiou's narrative of Vegita, despite its questionable nature. I just seem to like them fillers, damn it.

The two I that I dislike most are probably Bulma/Frog and the Ginyu Toksentai arriving at Kaiou's (The three Z Senshi being capable of beating the Ginyu's creates a lot of friction, I think. They were training for less time than Goku. It was so unbelievable that Yamucha could beat Rikum when Vegita struggled to stay alive against him like ten-fifteen eps before.)

PsyLiam · Post by **PsyLiam** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 12:45 am

But it does follow the "Z Senshi do the same training as Goku does a short time after and end up a lot stronger."

Goku after Kami training-unable to beat Raditz without Piccolo's help and comitting suicide.

Yamcha, Kuririn and Tenshinhan after Kami training - able to beat Siabamen (same strength as Raditz) without really breaking a sweat (notwithstanding Yamcha falling for the "give me a cuddle OH NO I've blown up in your face" trick).

SonGohan-san · Post by **SonGohan-san** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 1:10 am

And I think they were much, much stronger after training with Kame-sennin (excluding Kuririn) as well as after climbing Karin Tower for the first time.

I guess you could make the argument that Goku was younger than Yamucha and Tienshinhan for Kame-sennin and Karin and even Kami's training as well as the others have Goku to look up to while Goku seems to be the one setting the pace all the time.

One thing about Kami's training specifically. I think a good explanation for them being stronger was that filler episode (which again a filler is helping out) where they go on that mental time trip and get killed by the two "weak" sayians. That could explain how they were able to get stronger than Goku was.

I brought the training inconsistencies up in another thread and it seemed that most people thought I was making sense sorta, but not really. Glad some else seems to recognize this problem.

laserkid · Post by **laserkid** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 2:05 am

Favorate filler: Call me insane but I like the pre landing on namek filler with the reflective space ship, it gives us a much clearer clue that Freeza is pure evil and behind the planet trade.

My LEAST liked filler is a tie, the Garlic Jr Saga tied with the "false Namek" story wiuth the mind bending aliens that try to steal the spaceship. Neither serve a purpose, and both....are annoying.

Alias · Post by **Alias** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 4:13 am

I love filler. I like the anime much better than the manga because of all those extra scenes. The manga left so much about the characters out, focusing more on battles rather than character interaction. It was nice to see more about the characters pasts, their weird quirks (Goku's fear of needles...

), and all those goofy little bits.

My favorite.... This one's hard, since there's so many I liked. One of my favorite funny ones would be the Princess Snake episode, minus Goku's bare bottom

.

Another would be ep #124 of the Japanese version, the one that focused on Bulma and Vegeta. The manga gave a paltry explanation of why Trunks was born. It just kind've threw the two together, leaving everything else to the imagination. The anime though, gave an excellent elaboration into the story we didn't get to read. It showed how Bulma's feeling for Vegeta emerged, starting with, as Trunks put it, her feeling sorry for him and noticing how lonely he was. It gave a deep look into Vegeta's self-destructive obsession with killing Goku and his struggle to continue on his chosen course. We got to see Yamucha's response to all that was going on around him, and his inability to change any of it. It was a beautiful episode, I wish more of the filler eps had been like it.

As for my least favorite... Like most, I really disliked the one with Bulma and the crab, as well as the fake Nameksei. But the worst to me was the Ginyu Tokusentai at Kaiou's thing. The first time I had seen those episodes I was totally in love with the series, and seeing Goku go SSJ was incredible. Having to wait through the Ginyu Tokusentai to see Goku was grating. If it had been at almost any other point in the saga, it wouldn't have been so bad. But at that moment, I wanted to kill whoever decided to taint that dramatic turning point with their presence. They were funny during their own side saga, but at that moment they were as out of place as they could possibly have been.

Sun_Wukong · Post by **Sun_Wukong** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 9:58 am

Yeah I do have to agree, some, should i say most, of the filler is annoying and pointless. The Namek arc was full of filler wich was just useless. The Freeza arc probably wouldve been a lot shorter if it werent for the countless number of filler episodes. Suprisingly, I did actually like the Garlic jr. arc. It was one of the few fillers i could actually watch. I dont know how much of the Saiyaman arc was filler but that was pretty un watchable half way into it. The filler eps after Kid Buu was defeated were pretty bad too.

I also think the Garlic jr. arc wouldve been pulled off better if it were a TV Special or an OAV. It just didnt do good as stand alone episodes. And just since were on the subject, are fillers anything that isnt in the original source? If so, couldnt DBGT as a whole be considered a filler?

Dayspring · Post by **Dayspring** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 11:24 am

The only reason the Goku+Piccolo driving ep was good filler was because it was damn funny at the right moment. Drama's supposed to have anti-climactic scenes after a climax. With the Saiyan-Cell sagas there was never room for rest. Three-year gap between Mecha Freeza and Androids was perfect chance for an anti-climactic scene. Me likey dat episode good.

Jerseymilk · Post by **Jerseymilk** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 11:36 am

It's funny you'd say that you don't like the episodes after Buu is defeated Sun, I thought the party with with everyone was quite sweet. Especially when Fat Buu kept making begging faces at Vegita while he was eating and acting like he didn't care, he grinned and slipped him a sandwich. Very nice Vegita scene. And who didn't think one of the funniest parts in all of DBZ was when Vegita didn't even bother waiting for the round, but just punched that Nok guy in the face when he started insulting him. I just loved that!

As for the driving episode, that's definitely a favourite of mine too. I love it when Goku and Piccolo start treating it like a battle and have that race. You can understand Goku being childish, but Piccolo should have known better.

Dayspring · Post by **Dayspring** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 11:42 am

And just since were on the subject, are fillers anything that isnt in the original source? If so, couldnt DBGT as a whole be considered a filler?

Technically no since the purpose of filler eps was to give time for Toriyama to progress in the manga's storyline (since they were always catching up to him in the anime). But I know what you meant so yes they are.

Sun_Wukong · Post by **Sun_Wukong** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 10:12 pm

Wasnt the manga always a whole story arc ahead of the anime?

Zackarotto · Post by **Zackarotto** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 10:15 pm

I'm almost positive that's a no. Dayspring's definition of filler is dead on.

PsyLiam · Post by **PsyLiam** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 10:45 pm

Yup. 11 pages of manga transformed into 22 minutes of cartoon is going to require some pretty serious stretching out. Imagine how much more staring and standing around there would have been without filler! You'd have been lucky with one punch per episode.

Jerseymilk · Post by **Jerseymilk** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 10:53 pm

Heh heh. I can just imagine it. Goku and Vegita staring one another down from their rocky platforms spanning over 5 episodes! Crickets chirping, the wind blowing, flies buzzing around thier heads. Wait! It looks like Goku's going to make a move! This is it! Here we...oh, he's just scratching an itch. *sigh.*

Zackarotto · Post by **Zackarotto** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 10:59 pm

It's crazy though, isn't it? They're so strict about producing episodes at an uninterrupted rate that they create stories for it. We didn't even get the dub translated fast enough, and had to wait long gaps before episodes.

Jerseymilk · Post by **Jerseymilk** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 11:06 pm

Yes very true, but at least in the case of waiting for the dubs to be done, the actual series was already made. Well, okay there is that playing around with the digital editing, since it's a sin to see a four-year old naked. There's nothing at all natural about that!

Kanzenshuu

Expanding on Fillers

Expanding on Fillers

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