Why Anime Filler Episodes Deserve More Respect Than You Think

In the same way “LARPing” morphed into the internet’s latest misused go-to insult for calling someone a poser, “filler” has leaped from anime lingo into a mainstream catchall for any episode of a show like The Boys or Invincible that folks don’t vibe with. While I won’t hold it against the minority of folks using the term correctly, I can’t help feel we’re losing the plot when “filler” gets tossed around as a synonym for a bad episode when they have a history of being vital to the canon journey a show’s characters are on.

In contrast to how “filler” is thrown around online to describe slow, character-focused episodes without plot-propelling fights, actual filler refers to original storylines created for an anime so the manga can catch up to ongoing arcs. This used to happen all the time, especially with the Big Three, which had entire filler seasons. The worst of these infamously included Bleach dealing with vampires; Naruto's canon-filler arc preluding the exact inciting incident of Sasuke and Naruto’s falling out, but worse; and the Straw Hat Pirates’ early anime-original excursions woven into their canonical adventures on the Grand Line in One Piece. Their existence is why entire forum pages and fan-made recuts exist to carve out hundreds of hours of filler from anime-onlys' watchlists.

Mercifully, filler seasons have gone by the wayside. Outside of a few slimmer episode-count seasons due to a manga’s hiatus caused by a creator's health, anime releases now follow a seasonal schedule with upwards of 12 or 25 episodes, giving animators more breathing room between manga arcs. Unfortunately, that hasn’t stopped the discourse around “filler” from persisting today. Should an original episode of an adaptation—be it anime, cartoon, or live action—dare to deviate from a side-by-side comparison with its source material, it gets labeled “filler” as a derogatory term.

Having endured the dark ages of shonen filler seasons and fanservice beach episodes, I can honestly say I don’t mind anime filler. In fact, I kinda love it. On the best days, anime filler serves as a narrative playground that expands a show's tone, character dynamics, and worldbuilding, adding texture to the show’s overall vibe. But mostly—especially in big marquee shonen series—it pumps the brakes on shouting and punching and gives me a much-needed break with my favorite characters.

Granted, not all filler is created equal. So here’s a shortlist of my favorite filler episodes from big marquee shonen shows that, if released nowadays, would be called terrible, even though they’re great.

One Piece

One Piece has a unique “problem”: so much of its early filler is stitched directly into canon events that the anime’s opening stretch can feel like a slog to get through. It's such a well-known phenomenon that the series is getting a Wit Studio remake designed to streamline the dauntingly long anime series for newcomers who discover the franchise after checking out its live-action series. And sure, between One Pace and endless Reddit posts there’s an entire cottage industry built around telling One Piece