Top 7 Saturday No. 2
Filler Episodes
Filler episodes have been treated with a certain wary stigma as long as I've been into any sort of anime. It has become such a geek symbol that the term has even crossed over into non-anime media, as a general term for an episode where nothing of import happens. However, the term itself, as my understanding of it goes anyway, refers specifically to those extra moments anime teams put in their show to keep their series from catching up with the manga it's adapted from. My point being that filler needn't be bad simply because it's filler. And it's often in these smaller, less consequential moments, that we get to see our characters fully realized by reacting to situations we wouldn't have seen them in otherwise.
Dragon Ball certainly has its share of filler episodes. So for today, I'll be listing my top 7 favorite of them. What qualifies as a filler episode? For this list, I'll be taking from episodes where the primary story, or A plot, of an episode isn't adapted from the original episode. A so-called "canon" manga moment by be squeezed in here or there by the staff in the various B plots, but the overwhelming thrust of the episode is anime only. For this reason, I won't be counting Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super episodes, since they
As always, let me know how wrong I am in the comments.
Written by Satoru Akahori
This episode might as well be an issue of Spider-Man. Gohan's in high school, has a superhero identity to maintain, and is blackmailed by a girl in his class to go on a date in order for her to keep his secret. The date is once awkward teenage disaster after another, and finally we learn the only secret his date has is that Gohan wears underpants with a little bear on the bum. This episode is wall-to-wall what a perfect slice-of-life filler episode should be. Our superhuman hero is forced to navigate life as we all know it, and finds his unique position as World's Strongest Man only hinders rather than helps. Fantastic.
Written by Keiji Terui & Takao Koyama
If "Gohan's Frantic First Date!" is a perfect slice-of-life filler, than this is a prime example of another great use of filler -- letting the side characters have their own adventure! In this two-part episode, Kuririn, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu are on their way to the Land of Karin to climb Karin Tower and train with Karin-sama himself, when they come upon a village that worships a strange God of the Mountain. After spending some time getting to know the villagers, our heroes find they like them, despite their superstitious ways. Then their mountain explodes -- actually being a volcano -- and it's up to the B-Team to save their new friends, lest they feel the wrath of their Mountain God! Kuririn gets a romantic subplot, Tenshinhan and Chaozu show off more of their signature Crane moves, and Yamcha fights a mountain... and wins. It's a great time.
Written by Atsushi Maekawa
I'm a sucker for this episode. Another slice-of-life filler, this one shows what life is like for the whole Dragon Ball gang after Majin Boo's defeat. It's half a year or so since the epic battle in the Kaioshin Realm, and Bulma is holding a BBQ so that everyone can catch up after the intervening months. Only Goku finds himself taking care of some dinosaur eggs, which he's been waiting to hatch for weeks now, as predators, bad weather, and good intentioned but poorly skilled parents keep putting the little ones in danger. It's a cute look at how despite Goku is now a suit-wearing hero, he's still that same nature boy Bulma found all those years ago... and the party doesn't start til he walks in!
Written by Aya Matsui
If you're someone who just reads the manga or watches Dragon Ball Kai, you've probably been told about this episode. And it was almost certainly in the context of, "If you watch one filler episode ever, make it this one". It's hard to argue with that premise. This episode is wonderfully bonkers. This little slice-of-life gem features Chichi, tired of having to go to the store on foot, decides it's time for the men of the house to get their driver's license so she can have a chauffeur. This results in a hilarious 22 minutes of Son Goku and Piccolo navigating the world of safe automotive travel. This description can't possibly do it justice. It's just so, so great.
Written by Kei Shussui
After the Uranai Baba Saga but before the Tenshinhan Saga, we're treated to five episodes of Goku's solo adventures while training for the next Tenka-ichi Budokai, which take place at various points during the three-year gap. All of them are fun in their own way, but this episode is hands down the stand out. In 22 minutes, it manages to thrust our hero into a High Fantasy world of Kings, Princesses, Demons, Magic Swords, and Other Realms... which Goku must contend with the only way Goku can -- with his fists. The story is simple but really cool. The villain (who is voiced by Toshio Furukawa!) has an awesome design, a cool fighting style, and isn't all he seems. And though we're only there for a moment, the Demon World is a place rich with its own implied hierarchy and politics and all sorts of cool stuff that Goku's just gonna ignore in favor of fighting strong guys, anyway!
Written by Toshiki Inoue
Like the above episode, this one is smack between a whole bunch of great filler episodes, this time exploring the time gap between Piccolo Daimao and Piccolo Jr. I already put the two-part B-Team episodes on the list, and while all the episodes are great, this is really the most stand out. In it, Goku is Marty McFly; Only it's not his dad he's got to help out in the past, but his teacher, Kame Sen'nin. He and young Kame learn from the greatest martial artist in history, Master Mutaito, who teaches our hero critical information about ki manipulation that will become paramount in every Dragon Ball/Z/GT/Super storyline moving forward. But on top of that, Goku finds himself caught up in a love triangle between a gal named Fanfan, young Kame, and young Tsuru Sen'nin! It's equal parts cool and funny, and moreover, an absolute critical moment in the overall lore of the Dragon World.
But it's not number 1...
Written by Masashi Kubota & Atsushi Maekawa
The Majin Boo Saga can be a bit of a mixed bag. It's really, really long, and it relies pretty heavily on tropes that Toriyama has absolutely beaten to death by this point in the story. Worse still, Toriyama had a crisis of how to end the storyline, as he realized midway through that he wasn't satisfied with Son Gohan as the hero. Then Goku and Vegeta come back as the main focus of the story, and after a brief time as the Potara Warrior Vegetto, have to work together in what became the strongest element of the whole Boo Saga -- Goku and Vegeta's buddy cop dynamic. In the anime, we have these episodes to partially thank to setting up that dynamic so well. They're just fucking funny when they work together. And having a strange Magic School Bus adventure through Majin Boo's insides is the perfect setting to see them bumble around, trying to get back to doing what they know best - fighting. Plus, Vegeta screams out "TOILET TIME", in English, in episode 274. If Ryo Horikawa as Vegeta saying "TOILET TIME" doesn't make an episode the best piece of filler of all time, then baby, I don't know what can.
AMF really liked the Mountain God name, XD!
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