Do we underappreciate filler too much?

[Leonhart]

That's the thing though, they were arcs. I think by that point they had submitted to focusing primarily on main arcs with the filler being the padding.

The second season of Johto suffered from not having much of either, likely because they hadn't figured out how to keep the series ongoing yet by then, but it still had the odd good episodic plot to hold it up (especially with Wobbuffet introduced then).

I often wonder if the middle of Jouto had so much pointless filler because the writers might have had trouble pacing the series due to them not knowing when the next games were going to be released. Perhaps they were just stalling for time with their fillers until they got the announcement of Ruby and Sapphire's release.

 

[Ubermuk]

I often wonder if the middle of Jouto had so much pointless filler because the writers might have had trouble pacing the series due to them not knowing when the next games were going to be released. Perhaps they were just stalling for time with their fillers until they got the announcement of Ruby and Sapphire's release.

I actually think that this makes the most sense and it would explain why season five had less filler because by then they prolly knew that the next games would be out soon so they didn't have the same pacing problems.

 

[DatsRight]

Well remember the anime wasn't supposed to last that long originally. I think it was meant to have a season or so in Johto at best and then end. The mid point was likely when they had to change plans and try to keep things going, and likely didn't have many ideas how to do so at that point. The final season added some small arc focus before AG tried to shake things up.

 

[Leonhart]

From what I heard, the anime was originally supposed to last about a year or so until it was extended when it became clear that it was too popular to end in that time frame. In fact I think that all the filler episodes that we got in the middle of the Kanto saga before the Guren Island episodes were probably created as a way of making the saga longer once the network decided that the anime would continue past Gen I.

 

[Emboar_Rulez]

I have a love hate relashionship with filler episodes.In a way us fans view filler as bad or unimportant but filler really makes us enjoy the other episodes even more.The series would feel weird without the character development or humor in the filler episodes.Sure some series have way to much filler but filler can be good.I thought Sun and Moon had great filler episodes.I think we all need to appreciate filler episodes more.

 

[SerGoldenhandtheJust]

I often wonder if the middle of Jouto had so much pointless filler because the writers might have had trouble pacing the series due to them not knowing when the next games were going to be released. Perhaps they were just stalling for time with their fillers until they got the announcement of Ruby and Sapphire's release.

There was also a lot of filler to make up for the cut celebi story arc that was supposed to happen with the GS ball

 

[Leonhart]

There was also a lot of filler to make up for the cut celebi story arc that was supposed to happen with the GS ball

That's true as well I suppose. It's a shame that the Celebi plot got moved to the fourth movie instead, because quite frankly I would've rather seen the Celebi plot kept in the main anime if it meant us getting less filler.

 

[SerGoldenhandtheJust]

That's true as well I suppose. It's a shame that the Celebi plot got moved to the fourth movie instead, because quite frankly I would've rather seen the Celebi plot kept in the main anime if it meant us getting less filler.

Agree.

 

[SerenaRulez]

Some filler episodes can be really fun. I want to say that my favourite filler of all time was the evil Togepi one but some people don't consider it a filler just because we got gender confirmations but since I don't give a crap about Pokemon genders I still count it as a filler sorry.

 

[Gen82]

The thing I like about filler is it allows for the showing off of pokemon that the main characters don't have.

I hope to see some episodes with Impidimp, Purrserker, and Falinks.

 

[DatsRight]

Some filler episodes can be really fun. I want to say that my favourite filler of all time was the evil Togepi one but some people don't consider it a filler just because we got gender confirmations but since I don't give a crap about Pokemon genders I still count it as a filler sorry.

Well this is in the same way some fillers establish personality traits or depths that main arc episodes don't as well (eg. the Maile City episode which is about the only full moment of limelight Mallow's Shaymin gets as a character). Some fillers can have a purpose this way, it's just too many of them are known for just following the same formula over and over.

 

[Emboar_Rulez]

The series really wouldn’t be the same without filler if you really think about it.

 

[DatsRight]

The series really wouldn’t be the same without filler if you really think about it.

Truth be told, there's as many continuity episodes that follow the same lazy formula as well. Just because it moves the main plot forward doesn't mean it's more entertaining or gratifying than a filler episode.

 

[Leonhart]

Some filler episodes can be really fun. I want to say that my favourite filler of all time was the evil Togepi one but some people don't consider it a filler just because we got gender confirmations but since I don't give a crap about Pokemon genders I still count it as a filler sorry.

That was one of the few filler-like episodes in DP that I liked. In truth DP was an amazing saga because of its plot heavy episodes, but its fillers weren't known for being that great. The Mojumbo filler in particular is painful to re-watch.

 

[Emboar_Rulez]

Sun and moon had decent filler and X and Ys was decent but besides that nothing too special.

 

[Ubermuk]

The thing I like about filler is it allows for the showing off of pokemon that the main characters don't have.

Yeah but the writers kinda suck at balancing out filler episodes to make them worth watching. They put in the least amount of effort developing the so called Pokemon of the day in fillers.

 

[Emboar_Rulez]

It would be nice if filler had Ash mention his old Pokémon or something like that

 

[Sham]

Some of my favorite episodes are fillers like the Cave of mirrors episode in XY, the episode where the SM cast helped Nurse Joy after she fell ill, when Ash, Brock and Misty went to get a Ghost type to defeat Sabrina etc. Fillers can be done right when it is isn’t a blatant attempt to delay things or too many at a time are thrown at us like the ridiculous amount of time it took for Ash to battle Candace in DP due to enormous amounts of fillers.

 

[Emboar_Rulez]

Some of my favorite episodes are fillers like the Cave of mirrors episode in XY, the episode where the SM cast helped Nurse Joy after she fell ill, when Ash, Brock and Misty went to get a Ghost type to defeat Sabrina etc. Fillers can be done right when it is isn’t a blatant attempt to delay things or too many at a time are thrown at us like the ridiculous amount of time it took for Ash to battle Candace in DP due to enormous amounts of fillers.

The cave of mirrors episode was great

 

[Leonhart]

Yeah but the writers kinda suck at balancing out filler episodes to make them worth watching. They put in the least amount of effort developing the so called Pokemon of the day in fillers.

That's natural since few people get invested in the troubles that minor characters face, so by default the writers don't spend much time focusing on their Pokemon either. For some reason, I prefer fillers where the cast meets a wild Pokemon over fillers where they meet a COTD.