What would the show be like without fillers.

[Cybersai]

But they don't do that anymore. Kids aren't crazy obsessives like us. They're more than likely to miss at least a few every so often, and it'd be unfair for each episode to have such importance that they end up not understanding what's happened.

But isn't most of DP like that? A lot of DP episodes are connected to events from other episodes.

Looking through the last couple of Japanese episodes, the only "filler" is arguably the recent "Pokemon Hustle" episode, and maybe the Tangrowth ep...but Mamoswine did learn a new move in that ep.

If you actually scan your eyes down the entire DP episode list, a lot of episodes are connected to other eps.

 

[ii kanji]

I guess I just see things differently somewhat. Whilst obviously most eps are not filler in a purist sense, missing them won't throw you too much. I do agree with you, don't get me wrong that most eps are related in DP. But the picture I was getting in my mind was like that of animes totally unlike Pokemon in every sense where missing almost any ep would leave you completely out of the jolt because really important events happen every time. But I guess I'm being silly anyway ;]

 

[Nt '95 trainer]

Sore catches and longer battles, you get 6 v 6 battles in game, why not in the show. And Ash's team should be a cycling team of 30+. I think the remaning crap fillers should be repaced by a Choricles-like show of other people.

 

[Brago]

A show without fillers? that would be so ............. GREAT!!! I mean, not removing all the fillers, but i don't mind if 90% of them disappear. Seriously, what does that mean? more than 130 episodes in one season??!!! (Sinnoh). That's too much!

 

[domesticshorthair]

The show would go by much faster and be too short.

 

[SolgaleoGX]

The show would be a borefest without them. Fillers can sometimes be fun. I guess the hate for fillers in this show is because many tend to be dull and boring..atleast most of the pre-DP ones. Even when watching AG, when I saw that the episode started with COTD needing help because they lost their Pokemon or what not I quickly changed the channel and rolled my eye, "Great..the same crap again". I guess if we got alot more variety when it comes to fillers the opinions would change. Atleast DP is a step forward. More filler stuff like the School Arc and random type stuff like we got back in Kanto would be appreciated. But yeah..the show would suck without fillers.

 

[Cybersai]

Even when watching AG, when I saw that the episode started with COTD needing help because they lost their Pokemon or what not I quickly changed the channel and rolled my eye, "Great..the same crap again".

The problem is most episodes start that way, and you don't know if an episode is good or not until you sit through most of it. You probably skipped some eps you may have liked if you stopped as soon as you saw a filler character.

 

[SolgaleoGX]

I admit is has happened to me. I don't realize the episode can be pure win until someone else tells me something awesome that happened in it. This is probly another reason for the general bad opinion on fillers...the whole COTD thing has gotten pretty stupid and annoying...COTD is probly synonimous with filler to some people.

 

[Cybersai]

Yeah, but as said there are filler characters in almost every episode. I know there are a lot of episodes that I thought were boring in like the first 5-10 minutes and then the last half of the episode turned out great.

But I do agree its nice that DP fills the time with more mini-arcs than previous sagas. I'd at least want to watch a bunch of eps that are connected than watch random eps that have nothing to do with anything.

 

[Sleet]

Has anyone here ever tried to see if there was a single episode that does not feature any characters of the day (aside from Joy/Jenny) who weren't extras? It'd be interesting to know.

 

[Mijzelffan]

Has anyone here ever tried to see if there was a single episode that does not feature any characters of the day (aside from Joy/Jenny) who weren't extras? It'd be interesting to know.

uhhmmm, the very first episode? Dunno, but I don't remember any COD there.

 

[Piplup]

Pikachu's Goodbye had only the main cast (Ash, Pikachu, Misty, Brock, Jessie, James, Meowth... NO Togepi at that time) plus a bunch of wild Pikachu
Unless we count random characters in Ash's flashback... that ep didn't include any additional characters

 

[~SWirkl~]

If the show didn't have fillers it would be extremely boring (in my opinion) because we wouldn't see many things happen (and most filler episodes were great) and many pokemon will be left out. They can't showcase every pokemon in gym battles and/or contests.

 

[Sleet]

But they could introduce ongoing stories that would allow them to avoid fillers without having to reduce the episode count significantly. Kind of like what they're doing with Diamond and Pearl, only on a larger scale.

But perhaps that's too much for the assumption this thread suggests. If that happened, the show would be good. Actually, even if all the fillers were simply taken out, it would still be fairly good. It would just be short and lacking in character. And possibly even more formulaic than it already is.

 

[Cybersai]

Well when watching through the show, you can simply skip the fillers yourself. Assuming you know which eps are the important ones, you can simply go through each region only watching the important eps and skip everything else.

Of course, I'd never do that myself as some of my favorite episodes were fillers, but it is possible to do that. That way you can do a speed run of the anime and get up to date fast after not watching for a long time.

 

[V Faction]

That is correct. Oddly enough, the only time one could consider Fillers a negative thing is when you may be waiting for new episodes to be released... like the majority of Pokemon fans are.

Going back in time to view the seasons of old, you're able to pick and choose which episodes you'd like to waiting. You can jump to Gym episodes, story-centric arcs, the start/finish of new regions, or any filler you desire.

I can recall waaaay back watching the dub shown on basic broadcasting, when certain fights were advertised as a big deal, when episodes were shown once every week (and you were lucky to get more than a 2-parter, oh, and have fun trying to rewatch the episodes in any kind of order). Until I was really absorbed into the franchise, I took each new episode at face value and didn't give mindless episodes where 'nothing happens' any thought. But once you really got into it, an episode where the main character and fellow characters didn't get some kind of new Pokemon or Badge was maddening!

We, the fans, tend to be in perpetual anticipation, whether its waiting on an English-dubbed episode (for those who still follow it) or the next Japanese episode to air OR even the newest titles to be released.

 

[Sleet]

Didn't we at one point have a thread for listing which episodes were filler or not? If it's gone, we need to make a new one. It should be useful for people wanting to catch up to the story but can't sit through nine days of Pokémon.

 

[Mooites]

What would the show be like without fillers?

Damn boring, thats what it'd be. Nonstop action? Lame. We need something to build up to it. This is Pokemon we're talking about. Cute and funny fillers are what make it so great!

 

[Trainer'sInsomnia]

And Scott made a really good point about DP's kind of filler. It was the same thing I was trying to argue in another thread before. DP, unlike past seasons, has made it a point to make a lot of the filler eps inherent to the plot in some way.

Remember the ep with Kenny, when they went to the ruins/pyramid thing? That ep would've been completely irrelevant, but on the side, Kenny was teaching Ash's Turtwig how to use Energy Ball. A lot of the eps are like that now. They may still be skippable, but they're not entirely irrelevant either.

 

[J J M]

Remember the ep with Kenny, when they went to the ruins/pyramid thing? That ep would've been completely irrelevant, but on the side, Kenny was teaching Ash's Turtwig how to use Energy Ball.

What do you mean it would've been "completely irrelevant"? Aipom evolved in that episode.