Which Anime Series Has the Most Filler?
There are a lot of signatures and staples that define the anime genre - and not all of them are [...]
There are a lot of signatures and staples that define the anime genre - and not all of them are good. There are any number of quirks or cultural customs that make Japanese animated stories hard for American viewers to engage with - but when it comes to the subject of "filler material" in anime series, even hardcore fans openly against it.
Filler (i.e., side stories or comedic intermissions that distract from the main storyline) is a problem that has plagued anime for decades - but which of the modern series is the worst offender? Thanks to some well-conducted research, we now have that answer.
Check out the chart below (via Reddit), which tracks how much filler there is in some of the most popular anime series of today:
As you can see, the winner(?) of this little contest is none other than Naruto: Shippuden, with the original Naruto series coming in at No. 3. This should serve as a surprise to pretty much no one who has stuck with that series since its inception; it's almost become a right of passage to recommend Naruto to friends with the caveat that there is a ton of filler moments to get through. Of course, it's just as true that in the case of Naruto, the good parts are well worth the filler distractions.
Even though Naruto took the crown for overall filler material, it's clear from the chart that One Piece tends to drop actually drops in filler material more often, even if it has less filler overall. Bleach also scored a No. 2 spot for overall filler, which shouldn't be all that surprising to fans of that series. Meanwhile, Dragon Ball Super follows a clear pattern of being front-loaded with filler before getting into its more action-packed bits - while both Bleach and Fairytale have patterns of alternating moments of high-action and shameless filler for much of their first halves, before getting into much more legitimate story in the latter half.
Overall, this is some pretty interesting stuff to sit back and take in - and should make for some pretty interesting fan debate. Personally speaking, we would love to know more details such as which series had the most enjoyable filler moments, and how each series' anime filler compares to the manga.
Do you think this chart is accurate? Which anime filler scenes do you love/hate the most? Let us know in the comments!
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