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What is the most padded and filler filled anime you've seen?

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May 9, 7:48 PM
#1

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Jun 2017
6148
DBZ really takes the cake for me. The story beats are way too slow and needlessly drawn out. And the filler, it seems like there's filler breaks every 3 episodes. And it's not even fun filler, it genuinely feels like filler.
My waifu is the most wonderful waifu. Mai Valentine.

We're freaking out that we're running out of time, but to do what? Should i stop and think of that? Is there something i could do to slow it down? Live in a day for once, instead of watch it sprinting by
May 9, 7:51 PM
#2

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Dec 2021
3598
Urusei Yatsura definitely has a good few episodes that genuinely don't need to exist (Identifiable due to having noticeably more off-model characters, paired with significantly worse writing / comedy / animation than normal), which even then I'm excluding the gratuitous amount of recap episodes. Despite meaning a lot to me, there's a good reason this anime's not a 10/10 to me. I know "filler" is a weird term for these types of episodes in Urusei Yatsura, since there's no overarching story to pad out, but no other term seems more fitting for the slop episodes that exist to have something out on time for the weekly release schedule.
May 9, 7:57 PM
#3

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Sep 2018
13260
Boruto anime is very guilty of it. Tbh Choji's daughter often gets more screentime than Boruto himself. Lol
May 9, 7:57 PM
#4
Nostalgia Rules!

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Jun 2008
11138
Not sure exactly if I would say these are filler episodes, but Maison Ikkoku can be a very slow burn for rooting for the main couple of getting together. So much so that the number of misunderstandings can get ridiculous at times.
May 9, 8:10 PM
#5

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Dec 2012
9868
Naruto and Naruto Shippuden are more filler than they are actual plot content. Or at least that the way it seems.
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-Gambit "X-Men '97"

May 9, 8:32 PM
#6

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May 2019
9604
in my experience it's One Piece by far.
May 10, 1:07 AM
#7

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Sep 2016
17516
https://myanimelist.net/anime/21/One_Piece
May 10, 1:29 AM
#8

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Apr 2011
514
From my experience, it's Sailor Moon. The nineties anime, to be specific. While the filler does a purpose, such as developing the supporting characters and giving them the occasional spotlight.


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May 10, 1:41 AM
#9

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Apr 2022
7301
it's between bleach, naruto and boruto.
May 10, 1:48 AM
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Aug 2024
328
I'm gonna be honest, if you chose DBZ over Kai, or One Piece over One Pace (or the manga) etc. You had the option with no filler yet you still chose filler, so you can't complain. This is not the 90's anymore where you had to watch each filler episode on TV.

I have never watched the Dragon Ball anime. Only read the manga, and the pacing is incredible.
May 10, 2:00 AM

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Aug 2017
642
Dragon Ball, One Piece and the 100 episodes filler arc in Naruto.
But we can still skip fillers and watch fan cuts
May 10, 2:00 AM
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Apr 2018
42
Yeah, DBZ definitely drags things out way too much. Filler episodes seem endless, and it's not even fun filler.
May 10, 2:44 AM

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Oct 2010
21547
one piece adapted one time 3 pages in one episode
May 10, 7:06 AM

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Mar 2025
245
Bleach and Inuyasha
Inuyasha doesn't have that many fillers compared to some major battle shounens like Bleach and Naruto,but it's such a slow paced show that some episodes feel like filler with how insignificant they are to the story
May 10, 7:59 AM

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Jul 2024
464
Probably MHA so far.
I'm four seasons in and literally every season seems to have been half filler. Like every time I allow myself to actually get into what they're doing, they give me a load of stuff that matters so much less, borderline not at all.
May 10, 8:53 AM

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Feb 2016
13862
Reply to _ohara
I'm gonna be honest, if you chose DBZ over Kai, or One Piece over One Pace (or the manga) etc. You had the option with no filler yet you still chose filler, so you can't complain. This is not the 90's anymore where you had to watch each filler episode on TV.

I have never watched the Dragon Ball anime. Only read the manga, and the pacing is incredible.
@_ohara
While I admit I didn't read the Z portion of the manga, I watched Kai and found it extremely slow.
その目だれの目?
May 10, 8:57 AM
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Aug 2024
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Reply to Lucifrost
@_ohara
While I admit I didn't read the Z portion of the manga, I watched Kai and found it extremely slow.
@Lucifrost Uhhh... really? Kai is slow? Honestly I dont mean it in a disrespectful way, but thats a you problem. This is the first time I have ever heard that Kai is slow. People usually complain that its too fast.
May 10, 8:57 AM

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Dec 2018
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Pokemon and Naruto/Naruto Shippuden.

May 10, 10:25 AM

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Feb 2016
13862
Reply to _ohara
@Lucifrost Uhhh... really? Kai is slow? Honestly I dont mean it in a disrespectful way, but thats a you problem. This is the first time I have ever heard that Kai is slow. People usually complain that its too fast.
@_ohara
You think Goku and Freeza fighting for 12 episodes is too fast? Even the 1986 Dragon Ball is faster paced than Kai, and that thing is full of filler.
その目だれの目?
May 10, 10:34 AM
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Aug 2024
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Reply to Lucifrost
@_ohara
You think Goku and Freeza fighting for 12 episodes is too fast? Even the 1986 Dragon Ball is faster paced than Kai, and that thing is full of filler.
@Lucifrost I guess peak fiction isnt for everyone aye
May 10, 10:41 AM

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Feb 2016
13862
Reply to _ohara
@Lucifrost I guess peak fiction isnt for everyone aye
@_ohara
It objectively takes more episodes to accomplish anything in Kai than it does in the 1986 anime and in Super.
その目だれの目?
May 10, 10:47 AM
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Aug 2024
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Reply to Lucifrost
@_ohara
It objectively takes more episodes to accomplish anything in Kai than it does in the 1986 anime and in Super.
@Lucifrost Translation: I am too impatient.

You do realise that fast pacing does not = good pacing and slow pacing does not = bad pacing? Goku vs Freeza is paced well both in the manga and in kai because of the narrative within the fight.

If goku vs Freeza was 3 episodes, that wouldve been trash pacing as there wouldnt be much room for story. You need the MC to be broken and then rebuilt. You can't have that pay off if you dont take the time.

So yes, Goku vs Freeza is long, but because its long, its paced well, because the length allows for a lot of character rich moments from both goku and freeza

Please keep in mind that you are in the minority who actually thinks kai is slow. The vaaaaaast majority can see how fast is, which relates back to my earlier point, that people complain that its too fast, so fast pacing isnt always good.
May 10, 10:49 AM

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Oct 2022
2288
You seem to watch battle shounen so I assume you have many more candidates than anyone else. I would assume Yugioh is 90% filler. DBZ is known to be filler. One Piece...
I'm assuming that with 1000 episodes, not all of them were 100% necessary
May 10, 10:53 AM

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Feb 2016
13862
Reply to _ohara
@Lucifrost Translation: I am too impatient.

You do realise that fast pacing does not = good pacing and slow pacing does not = bad pacing? Goku vs Freeza is paced well both in the manga and in kai because of the narrative within the fight.

If goku vs Freeza was 3 episodes, that wouldve been trash pacing as there wouldnt be much room for story. You need the MC to be broken and then rebuilt. You can't have that pay off if you dont take the time.

So yes, Goku vs Freeza is long, but because its long, its paced well, because the length allows for a lot of character rich moments from both goku and freeza

Please keep in mind that you are in the minority who actually thinks kai is slow. The vaaaaaast majority can see how fast is, which relates back to my earlier point, that people complain that its too fast, so fast pacing isnt always good.
_ohara said:
If goku vs Freeza was 3 episodes, that wouldve been trash pacing as there wouldnt be much room for story. You need the MC to be broken and then rebuilt. You can't have that pay off if you dont take the time.

Strange, then, that all the previous battles were able to manage that with fewer episodes.
その目だれの目?
May 10, 10:57 AM
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Aug 2024
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Reply to Lucifrost
_ohara said:
If goku vs Freeza was 3 episodes, that wouldve been trash pacing as there wouldnt be much room for story. You need the MC to be broken and then rebuilt. You can't have that pay off if you dont take the time.

Strange, then, that all the previous battles were able to manage that with fewer episodes.
@Lucifrost 🤦‍♂️ And? You give off the impression that when you watched the fight, you were more foucsed on how many episodes it would take rather than actually focusing on the developing story thats at hand.

Like I said before, its a you problem, nobody else has this problem. You just want things over and done with ASAP. You approached it wrong imo.
May 10, 11:10 AM

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Jun 2019
7479
For a much more recent example of a series which is less likely to be brought up than the classic examples of the battle shounen "Big Three" and other giants, but which I found jarring and badly handled enough to actually bother me enough to make a mental note of it and comment upon (when I usually am the last person to complain about slow pacing or padding and the like), I actually found Megumi no Daigo: Kyuukoku no Orange particularly poorly arranged in this regard.

Maybe anyone else who watched it will get what I'm talking about, but there were just multiple minutes of a lot of unnecessary recap at the beginning of many episodes and extremely dragged out oddly shot scenes of conversation/dialogue with a lot of what seemed like deliberate slow-motion panning in a way I hadn't seen and experienced before, or at least, if I have, it never stood out to such a degree and extent.

I think I might not mind it still if I was extremely emotionally invested in the series (as, for example, with Inuyasha, which many people nowadays commonly cite and complain about as an example of detrimental too slow pacing but which for me is just right and perfect, although they definitely weren't handled identically in execution), but it's just a modestly interesting mostly plain and straightforward occupational procedural, so...

Well, I started it in autumn of 2023 during the active airing season and it'll probably be the next series I finish soon, and we're in spring of 2025.
May 10, 11:24 AM

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Feb 2016
13862
Reply to WatchTillTandava
For a much more recent example of a series which is less likely to be brought up than the classic examples of the battle shounen "Big Three" and other giants, but which I found jarring and badly handled enough to actually bother me enough to make a mental note of it and comment upon (when I usually am the last person to complain about slow pacing or padding and the like), I actually found Megumi no Daigo: Kyuukoku no Orange particularly poorly arranged in this regard.

Maybe anyone else who watched it will get what I'm talking about, but there were just multiple minutes of a lot of unnecessary recap at the beginning of many episodes and extremely dragged out oddly shot scenes of conversation/dialogue with a lot of what seemed like deliberate slow-motion panning in a way I hadn't seen and experienced before, or at least, if I have, it never stood out to such a degree and extent.

I think I might not mind it still if I was extremely emotionally invested in the series (as, for example, with Inuyasha, which many people nowadays commonly cite and complain about as an example of detrimental too slow pacing but which for me is just right and perfect, although they definitely weren't handled identically in execution), but it's just a modestly interesting mostly plain and straightforward occupational procedural, so...

Well, I started it in autumn of 2023 during the active airing season and it'll probably be the next series I finish soon, and we're in spring of 2025.
WatchTillTandava said:
I think I might not mind it still if I was extremely emotionally invested in the series (as, for example, with Inuyasha, which many people nowadays commonly cite and complain about as an example of detrimental too slow pacing but which for me is just right and perfect, although they definitely weren't handled identically in execution), but it's just a modestly interesting mostly plain and straightforward occupational procedural, so...

While I wouldn't say Inuyasha has flawless pacing, I find it a lot better than shows others are less likely to criticize, such as Moribito or Beast Player, or that guy who's been arguing with me about Dragon Ball in this thread.
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May 10, 12:10 PM
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Aug 2024
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Reply to Lucifrost
WatchTillTandava said:
I think I might not mind it still if I was extremely emotionally invested in the series (as, for example, with Inuyasha, which many people nowadays commonly cite and complain about as an example of detrimental too slow pacing but which for me is just right and perfect, although they definitely weren't handled identically in execution), but it's just a modestly interesting mostly plain and straightforward occupational procedural, so...

While I wouldn't say Inuyasha has flawless pacing, I find it a lot better than shows others are less likely to criticize, such as Moribito or Beast Player, or that guy who's been arguing with me about Dragon Ball in this thread.
@Lucifrost You started the argument lmao.
May 10, 4:22 PM
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Jul 2024
3528
Bleach was definitely up there until Naurto: Shippuden stole that crown. My Freaking God! ( Entire 2nd Season of Bleach is filler. All of it.)
Sheol01May 10, 4:27 PM
May 10, 7:18 PM

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Feb 2021
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Reply to Kruszer
Naruto and Naruto Shippuden are more filler than they are actual plot content. Or at least that the way it seems.
@Kruszer

Without a doubt, these two stand out the most to me.
May 10, 9:28 PM

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Oct 2016
2944
Reply to Catalano
one piece adapted one time 3 pages in one episode
@Catalano Was it during Marineford? Cause I remember when I watched an episode and compared it with the manga and I was like "did they just spend an entire episode just for Akainu to use his ability?" and I remember that from time to time.
May 11, 12:30 PM
Art is hard

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Oct 2023
615
I love inuyasha, but I genuinely don’t know what’s filler and what’s not
May 12, 1:23 AM

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May 2018
704
All Dragon Ball stuff. One Piece is a second. I'm never watching Naruto but after I've watched Bleach (someday) that might go to second place
May 12, 1:38 AM

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Aug 2018
8517
I have no knowledge of the source material but it seemed to me as if the Les Misérables anime was heavily padded. The final ten episodes or so were really dull and everything interesting had already happened. Feels like they were trying to fill a certain episode count. Pretty good show otherwise.


I really enjoyed Éponine's character arc.
May 12, 2:05 AM

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Oct 2022
181
Naruto is the worst when it comes to the sheer amount of filler, but Bleach's filler takes the cake when it comes to completely ruining the flow of its story by introducing random crap that doesn't fit into the narrative whatsoever.

One Piece is the worst when it comes to padding. first 5-10 minutes of every episode are just a repeat of previous episode's last 5-10 minutes, and the pacing is generally atrocious.

DBZ is hard to judge because even without any padding and filler (Kai), it is mostly just people standing around in wastelands, screaming and flexing their muscles for hours on end. I can see why some people consider that padding and wish that the fights were quicker, but the big, drawn-out fights are its main appeal for those who like the show.
May 12, 2:17 AM

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Oct 2016
120
One Piece, buuuuut I actually love the filler lol (Except the Dragon Ball Collab ones)
May 12, 2:24 AM

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Apr 2024
1084
One Piece.

You could cut at least 75% of the runtime without losing any content.
I remember that you could skip five minutes into the episode before it would even continue. The first five minutes are just recapping the previous episode. Then during the episode things are so stretched out that it wasn't even funny anymore, just painful.
May 12, 11:34 AM
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Jul 2024
3528
Reply to AverageRiceFan
I love inuyasha, but I genuinely don’t know what’s filler and what’s not
@AverageRiceFan Nowhere near what other shows mentioned here have. Mostly single episodes, some that have character development. Some comedy. Some random demon/monster of the week stuff (which is the worst offender). But even some filler is good, like the Soul Piper episode. You NEVER get 10-20-30 episode story arcs of filler like many other shows. And Final Act has NO filler content AT ALL. LOL. So this was a very poor choice, but a common whipping boy from the past. Like I said, the ENTIRE 2nd Season of Bleach is filler.

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It’s time to ditch the text file.
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