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This Week in Anime - Beyond Bebop

I'm probably going to get flak for this, but I think you can single-handedly use Watanabe's works to bust the myth that filler is bad. Barely a fraction of his episodes advance an overall plot but it still all works because the stories are well-told and the vibes are immaculate.

Joe Mello wrote:

I'm probably going to get flak for this, but I think you can single-handedly use Watanabe's works to bust the myth that filler is bad. Barely a fraction of his episodes advance an overall plot but it still all works because the stories are well-told and the vibes are immaculate.

I don't think "filler is bad" is really discounted by Watanabe's work, mainly cause I don't think the phrase really applies. Generally, people say filler is bad when referring to manga adaptations, not original works. The issue with those kinds of fillers is by their nature, they can't have any real stakes or outcomes. And it is dubious if any characterization they might introduce in filler ever get referenced in the future.

If anything, I think Watanabe's works are a great illustration for something I am a strong believer of in for anime and general TV: one cour/10-13 episode series can be a big detriment to certain shows. When you are guaranteed a lot of episodes, you can have a "filler" episodes that slow things and let you get to know the characters better and tend to be a great way to increase their popularity. But due to limited budgets, we don't really ever get that anymore with original works.

Joe Mello wrote:

I'm probably going to get flak for this, but I think you can single-handedly use Watanabe's works to bust the myth that filler is bad. Barely a fraction of his episodes advance an overall plot but it still all works because the stories are well-told and the vibes are immaculate.

I don't think "filler is bad" is really discounted by Watanabe's work, mainly cause I don't think the phrase really applies. Generally, people say filler is bad when referring to manga adaptations, not original works. The issue with those kinds of fillers is by their nature, they can't have any real stakes or outcomes. And it is dubious if any characterization they might introduce in filler ever get referenced in the future.

Unfortunately, the ship has long since sailed on this. When people refer to filler nowadays, it's no longer in its original context, which is for adaptations of preexisting works as you say. People now refer to episodes in completely original shows as "filler". You can find whole guides for Yugioh shows on what is and isn't filler, with people complaining about how much "filler' there is in GX Season 1, for example. Because for a bunch of people the word now just means anything that doesn't directly advance the main plot of a story

EmeraldSaucer wrote:

Unfortunately, the ship has long since sailed on this. When people refer to filler nowadays, it's no longer in its original context, which is for adaptations of preexisting works as you say. People now refer to episodes in completely original shows as "filler". You can find whole guides for Yugioh shows on what is and isn't filler, with people complaining about how much "filler' there is in GX Season 1, for example. Because for a bunch of people the word now just means anything that doesn't directly advance the main plot of a story

I don't think it's correct to call it the original context. The term itself refers to filling something with more content. Anyone who claims that actual parts of a show are filler, are just blatantly wrong.

Unfortunately, the ship has long since sailed on this. When people refer to filler nowadays, it's no longer in its original context, which is for adaptations of preexisting works as you say. People now refer to episodes in completely original shows as "filler". You can find whole guides for Yugioh shows on what is and isn't filler, with people complaining about how much "filler' there is in GX Season 1, for example. Because for a bunch of people the word now just means anything that doesn't directly advance the main plot of a story