When it comes to fillers, Naruto is one of the first anime series that comes to mind. Naruto Uzumaki's journey from an outcast to becoming the world's greatest ninja was legendary, but it was often interrupted by excessive fillers that were poorly written and poorly placed. While these fillers expand the world of Narutodid they still interfere with the audience's overall viewing experience.
Naruto isn't the only anime notorious for excessive fillers. There are many anime out there that contain terrible fillers so bad they do Naruto seems restrained in comparison. Most of these anime are long running shonen that rely on fillers to not only stretch out their stories but also to buy time for the source material.
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The Prince of Tennis
This list wouldn't be complete without mentioning it The Prince of Tennis. It is a long-running sports anime that revolves around a genius tennis player named Ryoma Echizen, who defeats opponents one after another with his overpowered attacks. Nowadays, the series could pass as a fantasy anime because of how over the top and impossible some of the techniques have become.
Like most long-running shonen, The Prince of Tennis rely on fillers to stretch out their matches, practices and tournaments. A single episode contains the same scene played over and over, with slow motion shots and unnecessary commentary. While there are occasional fun fillers, many episodes feel like they turn a five-minute rally into a full-on marathon.
The Prince of Tennis
- Release date
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2001 – 2005
- Network
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TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, TV Aichi, TVh, TVQ, TSC
- Directors
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Takayuki Hamana
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is part of this list only because of the infamous “Endless Eight” story arc that most fans consider filler, despite not being filler in the traditional sense as it contributes to the main plot in a very drawn-out way.
For context, the Endless Eight arc consists of episodes that are nearly identical, with very little variation between them. It lasted for eight episodes, where the characters do the same thing over and over again with small tweaks here and there. Watching them all is a grueling task, almost like a psychological punishment for the fans.
Detective Conan (case closed)
The amount of filler in Naruto pales in comparison to the number of fillers in Detective Conan. It features more than 500 filler episodes that slow down the main story with stand-alone cases, comedic slice-of-life stories, character-focused arcs, and more.
It's a mixed bag, but fans often find them repetitive and boring due to the lack of meaningful impact on the main plot involving the Black Organization and Shinichi Kudo. If you're not a fan of detective stories, watching 500 filler episodes is a commitment many fans aren't prepared to make.
One Piece
Fillers are an inevitable part of One Piece viewing experience. While there are good and entertaining ones, they can't make up for the long episodes that add little to the main story.
In a single episode of One Piecefans usually get less than half of an actual adaptation due to the amount of filler mixed into the story. It includes recaps, OP and ED and other unnecessary elements that disrupt the flow of the main plot.
thankfully, One Piece switching to seasonal broadcast not only to avoid filler, fix the pacing and improve the animation. Had Naruto followed this approach, it might have reduced the number of unnecessary fillers.
Dragon Ball Z
As much as we love Son Goku and his crew, Dragon Ball Z contains fillers that are hard to skip because of their poor placement. Most of these happen between fights, where Goku, Vegeta, and other Earth warriors have extended staredowns with the villains. Not to mention, their ultimate moves and signature attacks tend to consume more runtime than necessary to charge just to drag out the fight.
While most of the Narutos fillers offer something new to the audience, fillers in Dragon Ball Z usually add nothing to the world. There are some comedic fillers worth watching, like the episode where Goku and Piccolo took driving lessons, but fans usually find themselves watching Goku power up for 10 episodes straight with little to no progression.
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Boruto has big shoes to fill after success Naruto, but that didn't stop the series from using unnecessary fillers to test the patience of longtime fans. Unsurprisingly, many fans felt like they were aging a decade, waiting for something meaningful to happen in Boruto anime due to the amount of original content, which is more frustrating than entertaining to watch.
Fortunately, fans can simply turn the page Boruto manga to avoid fillers. There is little or no irrelevant content in the manga, making it easier for readers to catch up with the main story in no time. Instead of being bogged down by forgettable arcs, repetitive quests, and forgettable villains, readers can enjoy the story as it was meant to be in the manga.
Whiten
Just like NarutoBleach is notorious for filler episodes that usually kill the momentum of the main story, especially in its most intense arcs. Just when you thought Ichigo Kurosaki was about to make a breakthrough, the next episode switches to a bright and sunny beach setting where nothing of significance to the main story happens.
Whiten have reported a total of 163 fillers, nearly doubling the number Narutos filler. Among these irrelevant episodes, the Bount Arc overstayed its welcome by containing 28 episodes. Even worse, this arc has nothing but forgettable villains who will never play a role in the series again.
