Rant: The great 'One Piece' filler debate at my local anime club

Last Tuesday at the Springfield Public Library, our club was watching the Alabasta arc. Right when things got good, we hit a stretch of four filler episodes about a rainbow mist. Half the group, like me, wanted to skip them to get back to the main story. The other half argued that skipping any content, even filler, was disrespectful to the show's full run. It got pretty heated, with someone actually saying, 'The filler builds the world.' We ended up putting it to a vote and skipped ahead, but it left a weird vibe for the rest of the meeting. Now I'm wondering if we should have a set club rule for this stuff. How does your group handle filler arcs when you watch together?

3 comments

3 Comments

davis.olivia12d ago

Honestly, the real issue is that filler changes the pacing the creators intended. You get these weird lulls in tension that can kill the mood for a group watch. Maybe the solution is to watch filler on your own time if you're curious.

derek_lee12d agoMost Upvoted

Four episodes of rainbow mist filler sounds like a special kind of torture for a group watch. I mean, I get the idea of wanting the full experience, but that stuff can really kill the energy when you're all together. My old club had a rule where we'd watch one filler episode as a sample, then vote to skip the rest of the arc. It saved so many arguments. Maybe something like that could work, because letting it get heated just ruins the fun for everyone.

shane_bell12d ago

Come on, skipping filler is like fast-forwarding through a road trip. @derek_lee, your club's rule is why people watch alone now.