One Piece versus Naruto, Bleach, and the Shame of Fillers
I don’t watch One Piece, Naruto or Bleach, so when I talk to people who do talk about it (and there are quite a few of them) they engage me similarly to those who do not know anything about anime at all. Except, I do know something about anime. At least, I can speak the language of fillers, of character-driven serials, of 24-minute doses of amusements, and adaptations of manga.
The question came up when I was talking to a couple RL friends about fillers in those shows. And somehow there’s a consensus that fillers in One Piece are actually a good thing. The Straw Hat Pirates go have an adventure, and that’s that. And that’s what people seek when they think, “Mmmm, pirates!” Maybe it’s not the best thing in the show to them, but it is enjoyable at least.
But the consensus flips for Naruto and Bleach fillers–they are just terrible. Why is that? Putting aside the fact that fillers in anime adaptation of manga often are a necessary vice to deal with the reality of TV scheduling, there is something inherently wrong with it. What is?
What made the discussion about Naruto and Bleach memorable in my mind is how it’s tied to the narrative style, and it’s not an obvious connection (to someone who only knows the shows by mostly hearsay). All three of these shows, in simple terms, are character-driven stories that take place over many smaller narrative arcs. Despite that they are character-driven narratives, they do things in two different ways. For One Piece, people commonly refers to the concept of the show as a gathering of a large crew. Much of the story is devoted to the characterization of the crew during their adventures as the crew increases in number. The serial nature of the overall story accrues like experience for the readers and viewers, and snowballs in the plot as a larger-than-life gang. It’s like you’ve been with them all these years (literally), and you know who they are.
The approach for character development in Naruto and Bleach are more expositional. Gradually the characters reveal themselves to the readers and viewers. We understand the motivation behind them through juicy flashbacks, narrations, whatever. It’s like a good episode of Toradora split into several episodes.
But what makes fillers? To define it quickly and only to the degree that it’s functional in this post’s context, I describe it as episodes that don’t further some preconceived notion of progression of the narrative. It isn’t to say fillers don’t further the overall narrative, as often times fillers do reveal something about characters and are often a critical tool to character development in anime TV series.
Well, just not always.
And I think it would only be fair if we focus on the type of fillers that doesn’t further anything in terms of character development. But what makes One Piece’s fillers another encounter, another experience to put into the audience’s memory banks as a positive? How do you avoid being compared to the notorious Naruto fillers?
Am I even barking up the right tree? I mean, yeah, on a certain level, no fillers are desirable. But yet at the same time fillers are sometimes very edifying and very entertaining. Sometimes it’s the main course of a meal. But I think the gigantic red arrow is pointing towards the way character development and deconstruction is handled within the narrative. I don’t even think I can say that One Piece characters are “less developed” but they might be more flatly amusing than humanly sympathetic. They’re more why some of us are watching the show per se, rather anything that is happening to them. Then again, that might just be me and how I very infrequently find an anime character that reminds me of a true-to-life personality. Maybe a lot of people can see themselves or someone they know in some Naruto character, and it becomes a real draw rather than seeing the development of those folks. Or what happens to your Bleach folks rather than “oh I really like Ichigo because I know someone just like him in 8th grade” or whatever.
I wonder how much of this applies to Kannagi.
===
Speaking of shame and fillers, people who want to vote and support the characters running in this contest, now is the time to vote with your…vote. Or hate spiel. Or image spam. I do this every year, or almost, for the past half dozen or so. It’s a riot and a lot of fun if you know what you’re doing. It’s shameful business, and there are even actual, free prizes for some lucky people if they stick around.
The reason One Piece filler is better than Naruto or Bleach filler is because it isn’t as poorly written, especially in the context of the show. You need to actually watch all three series (something I do while touting my BADGE OF HONOUR) to understand just how far apart they are in quality.
To be honest, the characters in Naruto are all simplistic templates; there’s really not much to learn about them, what you see is what you get. The same can be said for Bleach and One Piece, only to less of a degree, so it’s not the character development (or lack of it) that makes filler terrible. It’s the fact the writers for Bleach and Naruto just can’t compare to the original mangaka’s story (as degraded as each may be by now).
I mean, Naruto went on a three episode arc about CURRY, for god’s sake, and recently Bleach went on an arc that seemed promising but turned out completely awful at the end, due to poorly written chracters. One Piece is nowhere near as confined by the context of the show. As Eiichiro Oda has created such a huge world in which literally anything can happen, the writers can create something which is both entertaining and won’t affect the plot in anyway. Just say it took place on a random island, make shit up, and there you have it.
I haven’t sen filler in many other shows, but whenever filler is done it should at least be kept short and sweet, like the one or two episodes in Soul Eater or Kannagi.
And damn you, I was planning a post about filler.
I would normally not be interested in anything about the three anime you mentioned, but a trip to TOEI Animation (Philippines) today made me think kindly about One Piece. I too have heard that One Piece’s fillers are the least filler-ish among the three.
I’ve also gotten this comment on a post re Nadesico episode 05, saying how such episode should be watched by anyone who hates filler. In the episode I mentioned, very little of the plot is pushed forward, but a fair bit of world-building is accomplished through its many slices of (frantic) life on board the ship. It does feel like the main course of the meal.
Also, I feel the same way about many of Cowboy Bebop’s episodes. I even went as far as to say that Spike’s narrative only serves as bookends to the musical nihilism of human condition in Bebop’s setting as portrayed in most of its episodes. (I apologize if my comment got too rambling)
Nadesico’s fillers are kind of normal for that kind of shows, so it’s not alone. World-building is a part of Nadesico’s narrative (ie. revealing the background info/conspiracy) so it feels full.
Omisyth: Good input. Both of my friends as I referenced in this post do watch all three, and read the manga for all three. I think this might be something only those who did can make a note of, but it’s not like it’s worth the effort :v
I am not a fan of fillers because often times they don’t really develop the characters. Sometimes they even revert back some of the character development that has already happened. All too often something that happens in the fillers say with regards to Bleach should have an impact later on but they hardly ever use it to any extent when back in the main narrative. Something that oftentimes can be profoundly impactful on the main character is just chucked out when they get back on track. Jin Kariya? Who was that guy? I don’t even remember the name of the dude Rukia met in Hueco Mundo. It’s a clear separation between filler and narrative. Like watching 2 different shows. Also recently in Bleach’s case it’s thrown in without attempting to make it fit with the narrative at all. Which can make watching it on a weekly basis rather Jarring.
The fillers in Naruto were the worse especially the ones that focused on comedy. Naruto’s brand of comedy is terrible. It’s childish, but that makes sense, it’s hard to stomach though. Naruto fillers also suffer from Bleach’s issues with the narrative as well. New characters are introduced and as soon as we get back on the main story we never ever hear from them again.
I have no seen One Piece so I’m afraid I cannot comment on those.
Hmm, well actually now I am actually quite nervous to speak to you (Omo) about One Piece then, from the few times we’ve met, since I am such a fan of the series.
Still I don’t really care much for filers, either way - think they’re such a waste of time. Naruto filers actually killed me from watching the series. Now even more annoyed with Viz with releasing 11 more mangas of it in the next three months.
Bleach filers, I usually stop watching Bleach, until a friend pokes me to start watching the series again.
Still I think that One Piece filters are good, because there is still so much pacing between the manga and the anime. Character development is pretty good for this series. It does get annoying for me to say that the fight scenes kinda blows, with the way it is trying to match Luffy with being an extreme Goku situation. Matching powerful enemies with his own power. But from the manga, it appears that he loses a battle, so it does drag the series on.
LOL, why? I rely on the kindness of people like you to keep afloat in a sea of spoilers I have no time to watch \o/
I think something like Eureka Seven would be a good study. There was a plot, but there were also alot of little side stories and divergences. In many ways, they were filler, but as an anime story, they were all intended to flesh out a character, world concept, a key theme or something that kept the story going.
With Naruto and Bleach, the stories are simply set up in a way that makes it extremely hard to input something unrelated to the manga and include the elements that make the main story - known characters discovering new things. With fillers, you can’t progress the main characters, and nobody cares about the side characters or filler characters.
That, and the fact that Naruto and Bleach specifically had awful studios. I mean, seriously bad - possibly amongst the worst production staff you will find in the global animation industry, I expect. They were simply milking their cash cows and buying time, so all the filler plots ended up exactly the same format, Naruto was forced into the starring role of every arc, and all the disadvantages of creating plot contradictions with canon were achieved, whilst all the benefits were lost.
Basically, the fillers in Naruto and Bleach could have been written and organised by anyone with a mild interest in the show, and better. Personally, I would see all the neglected side characters get development and, in the case that fillers last for two years, create long filler plots that allow people to get into a good story.
The true reason the fillers sucked is because the nature of the studio was one of no creative concern, and they simply did not care how bad it was. They truly did not have any concern.
[…] are older, so I guess their personalities are already established, unlike the pre-teens of Naruto. Omo’s way of describing the One Piecesian-style of character development or whatever is probably […]
I just recently developed a taste for Bleach again. I was excited for the Hueco Mundo/Save Orihime arc, but … now it’s meh. Naruto? Meh. Out of the Shounen Big 3 I only like One Piece.
I read Naruto and Bleach, but Bleach drags on. Naruto, same thing. I mean, HELLO Deus Ex Machina, anyone? One Piece has neither of that. Oh, don’t go degrading Shounen anime and manga since I too was part of the crowd who didn’t like them because they were too mainstream. However, when you read them, especially One Piece, you see the real storyline.
Bleach: For a year now, Ichigo has done nothing but shout “Orihime where are you” crap, and he hasn’t beaten Aizen yet. He has insane powerups, but his friends don’t. They also don’t show the training his friends got. Now this 2nd Hollow Form, unheard of in any of the chapters, shows up. Deus Ex Machina.
Naruto: Hinata tries to save Naruto, gets KO’ed, Naruto goes 8-tail Kyuubi, and meets his father. Inside of him. I mean, WTF? Deus Ex Machina once again.
One Piece: Luffy vs Magellan, rubber vs poison. Magellan wins, and Luffy is left to die. There IS an antidote, but there is an alternative medicine as well. NO DEUS EX MACHINA.
LOL storyline.
Good to see someone else who chime in though.
One Piece’s fillers are good because Oda (one piece mangaka) can modify the fillers so it don’t look too fake.
Anyway, Naruto’s filler is like let-do-some-annoying-and-childish-mission-during-50-episode