Forum - View topicAnime with good filler episodes?
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BellosTheMighty
 Posts: 767 |
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Recently the topic of the Naruto filler episodes has been under discussion. The poor record of filler episodes in general has been brought up many times, and that's just the truth. But there seems to be a disturbing trend towards the sentiment that filler episodes, as a universal rule, are worthless. I personally find this to be a foolish blanket judgement. I also think it unjust to the point of malice to judge an artist's work with such finality before even seeing it. Who knows an example that bucks the trend? A series where the filler comes up to the level of the original?
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RoseWhip
 Posts: 58 Location: Los Angeles |
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I think the best answer to your question would be the Fullmetal Alchemist anime series. Many people forget that the second half (and many elements from the first half) of the anime series are filler; they go in a completely different direction from the manga. However, as proven by FMA's worldwide success, they were done quite well and are not really seen as fillers by fans, just a different storyline from the manga.
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Veoryn87
 Posts: 808 |
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FMA strays from the mangas story about half-way through, but I don't consider the episodes to be "filler." By itself the series still has an ongoing storyline with little to no throwaway episodes.
If the definition for "filler episodes" literally is anything that isn't in the manga, then I'm sure people will let me know soon enough.  But I've always considered a filler episode, like I already said, a throwaway episode that doesn't really develop the story or characters and can be skipped. I've seen filler in manga too.
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Murasakisuishou
 Posts: 1469 Location: NE Ohio |
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My defenition of filler has always been closer to Veoryn87's, although some filler is just there to put something on TV until the manga progresses far enough to animate more story (Bleach, Naruto).
Anyway, to answer the question, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex has some really good filler episodes. Most of the first half of the first season is filler, but the stories are action-packed and exciting, and help the viewer better acquaint themselves with the characters. One of my favorite episodes, Escape From (where a tachikoma runs away and helps a little girl look for her dog), is almost totally filler. 2nd GIG has some cool filler episodes too, dealing with the backstory of some of the minor characters. The Poker Face episode, which is about Saito, was extremely well done. The only other series that comes to mind with good filler is The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi. Chronologically, everything after episode 6 is filler, but it's amusing and well animated. |
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Animastryfe
 Posts: 152 Location: Vancouver |
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But it's only season 1, and episode 6 was the climax, not the end of the series. The other episodes still advance the plot. |
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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I think the definition of filler as being anything different from the manga is ridiculous, personally. I define it as something that doesn't move the plot, whether that plot be shared between the manga and the anime or is in the anime alone (also don't think for a moment that something not based on a manga cannot have filler).
The best filler I can think of is Sailor Moon. Yes, I think it has too much at points, but this filler is all and all pretty fun and does have interesting character development. That said, it really can't compare to the moments when the show deals directly with the main plot. Those are just amazing. |
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Polly E.
 Posts: 140 |
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Filler, usually good or bad, irks me. I just want the story to keep trucking on, but there's a few notable exceptions.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 1 and 2 both have great filler episodes. It feels wrong even labeling them as "filler" since since they're so damn good. Paranoia Agent eps 8, 9, and 10 could be considered filler. They really do nothing to push the story forward and you could skip them without missing anything at all, but you'd miss out on the fleshing out the world and the madness that's slowly consuming it. Jigoku Shoujo/Hell Girl could almost be considered ALL filler for a majority of both seasons, but I think most (not all) of the one-shot stories end up enjoyable in their own little wicked ways. Gunslinger Girl has the same episodic tendency with episodes you could skip (though I love the series too much to), but I think I may be diverging too far off the "filler" track and onto the "episodic" track and I don't even know if they're the same or not by my own standards. Wheeeee. |
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blind_assassin
 Posts: 755 |
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Personally, I think that the Bleach filler is pretty good. It wasn't mind blowing but I actually kept watching Bleach during the filler arc unlike Naruto or many other shows that descend into filler sprees (though Naruto is widely known to have been "filler hell" which is a pretty dubious title to have).
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Animastryfe
Posts: 152 Location: Vancouver |
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Would an anime that's supposed to be...episodic (as in each episode kind of stands by itself) be considered almost all filler? I'm specifically thinking of Detective Conan.
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Xenofan 29A
 Posts: 378 |
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Filler is by definition something used to artificially extend the size of something without adding substance. "Good" filler cannot exist; if something has merit, such as expanding the world or showing character development, it cannot be rightly considered filler.
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Joichiro Nishi
Posts: 163 |
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The anime with best filler for me is Saint Seiya. After the gold saints arc, the series had 26 episodes of filler, the Asgard arc; and later returned to follow the manga with the Poseidon arc. Many Saint Seiya fans watch the Asgard arc as one of the best arc in the series, it is considered better than the Poseidon arc, the official story. Asgard arc has great characters (The seven god warriors had sad deaths because many of them believe in their cause), a tragic storyline and a new mithology in the series. There isn't an evolution in the main characters and this arc doesn't have great consequences in the series continuity but it was awesome.
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Ohoni
Posts: 3421 |
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I tend to agree with Xenofan and Veoryn, filler is not to be confused with something that can be of good quality. What is not filler?
Episodes that come after a series has abandoned the manga, if the two never meet again, is not filler. To be filler, the episodes have to be merely biding time before it can rejoin the loving embrace of the manga's plot. FMA definitely wasn't filler (except for episodes like the one where they find the puppy with the ghost warehouse). Episodic episodes, that is, episodes that have a self-contained plotline designed merely to tell a fun story in their own right, and perhaps expand a bit on the characters, is not filler. It sometimes CAN be filler, IF the trend of the series is to have a serious ongoing plot, and the episodic episode detracts from that, but it doesn't have to be. Some series are designed to be almost entirely episodic in nature, and they work that way just fine, because the episodic episodes don't cause you to miss out on anything. Detective Conan is a good example of that, because it does have a plot, namely figuring out how and why he was de-aged, and how to reverse it, but this is barely touched on over the series, so that almost every episode is a "done in two" story, but that's the format the series is designed for, so it really can't be considered "filler", as such. Filler is just filler. It's the cardboard in the hamburger patty, it's the extras they pay to sit in empty seats at award shows, it's just material that exists to stretch out something that isn't going anywhere at the moment, rather than just not airing it until they are ready to continue the story in earnest. |
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blind_assassin
Posts: 755 |
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Good filler can exist otherwise people wouldn't say it does. The quality of animation is subjective so just because you can throw a label on it doesn't mean you have an opinion that trumps whatever anyone else says. If all you want to do is debate whether or not filler can be good or not (which it can) then make your own topic.
Though I hate to contradict myself after disputing someone, I do tend to consider good filler "anime original" rather than just filler. Though that is just a personal label and regardless of what I or others call it, it is still designed as filler and if it is purely ignored by the main story then it remains as such. |
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Monster in a box
Posts: 671 |
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If your definition of filler is 'episodes that don't advance the plot', I'd say Cowboy Bebop has the best filler of any series I've seen.
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Ohoni
Posts: 3421 |
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Considering that Bebop is a 26 episode series in which only 5 advanced the core plot of the series, I really don't think you could call the remaining 21 episodes of the series "filler". They're just episodic episodes.
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