Naruto Fillers

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About

Naruto Fillers refers to reused footage typically used in flashback sequences in the animated television series Naruto and its sequel, Naruto Shippuden. The practice is widely mocked online by critics who claim it detracts from the main storyline and it used as a stalling technique to allow the manga storyline to progress.

Origin

The anime originally began airing on October 3rd, 2002, and was produced by Studio Pierrot. After certain episodes, the anime faces issues involving the plot reaching where the manga is currently at. To get around this without the need to put the anime on hiatus, the series will often employ fillers in the form of creating side arcs which have no real impact to the main story or by adding flashback scenes into the main story to slow down the pacing. The practice has since been heavily criticized by the anime community as it often detracts the main story too much which in turn degrades the overall quality of the show. The side arcs have also been criticized for its lackluster plot and animation.

Spread

On April 15th, 2006, a page was created on Baka-Raptor titled "Naruto Filler is Bullshit" which criticizes the practice. The page gained 15.690 views in 9 years^[1]. On June 20th, 2006, Newsground user bumwolf uploaded a video titled "Naruto Filler Hell" which gained over 386.500 views and a 4 out of 5 star rating in 8 years^[2]. On October 1st, 2009, Urban Dictionary user Stuntmanjd submitted an entry about Naruto Flashback Syndrome which pokes fun at the anime's overuse of flashback scenes^[3].

Discussions regarding Naruto Fillers can be found is sites such as 4Chan^[7], Anime News Network^[8], Tv.com^[9], IGN^[10], and MyAnimeList^[11]. Anime Filler List has listed episodes from both Naruto and Naruto Shippuden that are considered canon and filler^[4]^[5]. On January 15th, 2015, The Daily Fandom published an article which criticizes the anime for having fillers on its current run even though the manga official ended back in 2014^[6].