A lot of people turn up their noses when it comes tofiller episodes in anime. A rough and negative definition of filler might be that a filler episode is one in which nothing that might affect the progress of the long-story arcs or the development of the main characters, with no returning side characters of other important ones, appear. Very simplistic, biased, and, at times, very far from reality.
For instance,Fairy Tail’s arc“The Key Of The Starry Sky” is the longest filler story in the franchise, with 25 episodes that follow a story created exclusively for the anime, in which Lucy and the crew head out to investigate an ancient apparatus referred to as Infinity Clock. Not only this entire arc affects the progress of the anime series, but it also develops, even more, the main characters, and counts on the return of very important side characters. It also tells the origin of the Dragon Slayer Magic.
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What Exactly Are Filler Episodes?
It is a less simplistic, and somehow better way to come up with a definition for “filler episodes”, to say that they are episodes used by anime — as well as other TV shows since fillers are not exclusive to the anime medium —, usually between the individual plot points of the major arcs, or between the end of a major arc and the beginning of another one. Sometimes entire arcs, such as the aforementioned “The Key Of The Starry Sky”, inFairy Tail, are filler episodes. So, when it comes to anime, fillers are those episodes that are not adapted from the original source material.
While some people like and/or prefer to skip fillers, they are not always bad and deeming them bad just because they do not adapt the source material is another simplistic way of thinking, considering that even the original sources for the anime adaptations can indeed havebad — and good — stories. What one thinks is good sometimes is seen as even awesome by another person, so, saying all fillers are bad is a generalization, and this attitude is bad in itself. Therefore, the most direct definition of fillers is — anime filler episodes are original episodes created for the anime series.
Here is another example of why saying fillers do not add anything to the main story is not right. In theInuYashamanga, there is an arc in which the villain, Naraku, is recovering after his most recent defeat. While the main villain is not around, a new menace comes the way of the group of heroes, the Shichinintai group. This is a story that comes from the manga, hence, it is canon, written byInuYasha’s author, Rumiko Takahashi, but this arc does not move the main plot of the manga forward. The group of seven mercenaries entered the scene only for Naraku to have time and recover, with the single purpose of filling this waiting period with a story. Furthermore, whileInuYasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale, the anime, does not have a lot of fillers, it is strongly recommended that viewers do not skip them, for most of them are fun to watch, and exciting, and serve as a good respite from all of the suffering, challenges, and battles of the main plot.
What Are Fillers For?
There are several motives — as well as purposes — behind the insertion of fillers inlong-running anime series, while it is hardly possible to find fillers in seasonal anime series. And why is that?
In addition to the more obvious reason, which is the need to wait for more source material to be produced in order to adapt them, there are other motives behind fillers, which can be even cruel for world-building and deep storytelling. Filler episodes might serve the purpose of creating more depth to characters, exploring the interactions between characters, sometimes out of competitions and battles and in more mundane settings, which helps not only to providegood storytelling, character development, and world-buildingbut also can give rise to more empathy and sympathy from the viewers toward the characters and situations depicted in said filler episodes.
This version of filler episodes is used by a lot of Western big franchises as well, and, while they are indeed fillers, some are well-awaited for, the commemorative episodes. Anime series running through holidays, whether in Japan or worldwide, such asChristmas, can feature filler episodes focused on these events, becoming thematic ones. Bad examples of fillers are those that contradict the canon or have the characters acting in ways that do not fit their usual behavior or personalities, or even those that recycle elements of the canon, without much inventiveness and creativity.
Some anime series count on a lot of bad filler episodes, with no good reason at all for existing, and they end up being just boring and skippable, such as those recap episodes that break the flow of the story and are useless for those who have been accompanying the series and still remember, obviously, what happened before.
Verdict! Skip Fillers Or Not?
Some anime series set a high bar of creativity and inventiveness not only with fillers but also in other parts of the anime.Chainsaw Manmade a remarkable job ofcreating an opening that is considered majestic for its cinematic references, as well as the different ending sequences, with a different song per episode as well, making the experience of not skipping them quite delightful. So, should viewers check the lists of fillers on the internet and decide to skip them or not?
It is something very personal to judge if an episode or arc, filler or not, is good or bad. It is undeniable, though, that filler episodes play a vital role in the method for the production of anime series. Even without being created by the author of the original material, these stories tend to serve the purpose of giving more emotion, causing empathy, and making us connect more to the characters.If they fail or not is up to the viewers to decide.
