I am a fan of longer running shows like bleach or naruto, but does anyone like filler episodes? Im just sorta curious. Filler episodes just in case people have no idea what I talking about are episodes that generally have nothing to do with advancing the plot. Some shows have great fillers like Fruits Baskets had a number of funny filler episodes. What series have good fillers and not so great fillers?

Hmm... Well, it depends on the show. Fillers can serve purpose to the story, being just general character development, or to build tension for what the characters' goals truly are, etc.

For example, one could claim that shows like Samurai Champloo and even Cowboy Bebop are almost nothing but episode filler type of stuff, but it's all still at least character development. ...not to mention I freakin love both of those shows, so yeah.

I dunno, I tend not to mind filler episodes at all simply because I see them as serving some sort of overall purpose. If they truly DON'T serve any purpose, like suddenly for one episode the show becomes Excel Saga, then I think an extreme could take place... it could be a total stand-alone gem (and do nothing to hurt the show), or it could possibly be so terrible and out-of-place that it could actually hurt the rest of the series.

Of course I'm not talking about shows like Inuyasha or Naruto or whatever where the series goes on forever... since I'm usually not fans of those types things.


I dunno... how's that for an answer heh.

Yup, usually when an anime gets farther along than the actual manga that it's based on the animation studio will use filler episodes in order to allow the manga to advance enough for the animation studio to have material to work with. This can be good in some cases and bad in others, depending I guess on the talent at the animation studio and the subject matter they're working with.

I'm fine with fillers as long as they're entertaining. One Piece has some pretty decent fillers, they don't really advance the plot but they add a sort of rich embellishment to the pirate legend. And you can skip them really if you don't care, you don't miss anything. I heard Naruto and Bleach have some pretty painful fillers to wade through... friends of mine (who are fans) keep groaning about how awful it is, which kinda discouraged me from seeing either of the series :X

Well, for the original question: apparently not everyone hates them (they wouldn't make them or at least that many if that would be the case) and it seems that they still rake in enough profits with those fillers so it pays to do them. Otherwise they might just stop producing episodes for a couple of months until the manga has enough stuff to bring out another season.
But from my personal viewpoint fillers can be as various as animes are anyways. Some are good, some are for die-hard fans of the series and some are ... not even worth mentioning.
For the three ongoing series I'm following:
Well, for Naruto it's basically the gigantic filler they had before they started shippuuden. For about two years mini-arc (5 to 8 episodes) following mini-arc, occasionally sprinkled with a lone standing single episode war very tired. They got better though.
For Bleach, they didn't do several mini-arcs but created a single storyline which they kept throughout the fillers, but I still stopped watching those after a couple of episodes and just take the occasional peek every three or four episodes to look if the filler arc is coming to an end.
And D.Gray-Man has so far the most fillers which I found acceptable (although they still have their share of not worth watching)

Well yeah everyone does hate fillers but they are usually a reason as to why they add them so far i've only seen bleach fillers and i think maby naruto since i skip episodes but the bleach filler did talk about things that were important like team work and the royal family

I HATE filler episodes! /(>c<)\ I love watching Naruto, but I won't watch the filler episodes when ever they are on. They, to me, are stupid, but that's what I think.

Filler episode is actually for me as long as it doesn't hurt the entire story. Sometimes, fillers can be used to further the character development to some degree. What I don't really like the fillers is when it just being in there to prolong the season rather than add up some spice and serve as good fan service.

I hate filters because they look funny. But some are not. Just use the filters at the right timing, so it won't look stupid.
Also, that's the 7th reason why I hate Naruto.

I don't mind fillers as long as it one or two a season. A funny one here or there isn't too bad, its just when you have a bunch in a row that it gets annoying.

Well i don't really hate fillers. i mean, i think its pretty considerate of them to make SOMETHING for us to watch when the main story is on a break- at least then it can waste time till the main story is ready again. they're kinda interesting, and they are nice side stories. i just don't think its our right to complain about fillers when they're already trying their hardest to please us.

Fillers are alright, as long as it doesn't get to the point where it gets annoying (Naruto for example). I don't mind having a filler every now and then, but if it's a constant pattern then (10 fillers, 1 episode, 10 fillers), yeah...I'll get pretty annoyed.

It all depends on the series as well as the timing of the fillers. In Naruto, the fillers did seem to stretch, whereas in a series like Mushishi, there is no definite plot, or direction, can we say its all fillers? Its one of the best series i have watched :)

In bleach near episode 50-51 , I don't recollect the exact episode no. but it was near the climax of first arc and there was a filler =.= I didn't like the timing of that filler!

^^ all in all its a 50-50, sometimes they are fun, sometimes they are not.

Hmm well i dont hate them as they make the series run a longer XD lol and sometimes people get bored of watching the story so the fillers do the job of adding the fun and other genres to the anime itself =D
So sometimes fillers are fun and othertimes if the fillers get a bit too out of hand LOL they start getting boring and so bad!

Honestly I don`t get bothered by fillers. I`m actually patient enough to watch them and such. Seems that most people around me are annoyed by them but it didn`t get to me... yet.

It all depends on how long and good the fillers are. Like Naruto fillers are really long and boring, Bleach fillers are much more tolerable. I've Heard that people in japan take fillers as a part of the story and it doesnt matter much to them.