Bleach Filler, discussion, questions, comment

[Rahan]

The biggest problem with Bleach fillers was the first mini-arc with the mod souls which really sucked and made a lot of people stop watching the anime.

Once the Bounto were introduced, it was not outsanding, but it was still ok. Got even a little better when we got rid of the snake guy who was really annoying.

Sure, there wasn't any character developpment (except for Ishida maybe), but it was still slighty entertaining. I really liked some fights like Hisagi vs possessed Rukia or anything involving Mr T.

[The Avatar]

Originally Posted by NoSanninWa

As for skipping them altogether, if you do that some things will seem a bit odd since several characters and situations from the filler arc will continue to exist as part of continuity during the manga arc animated in episodes 109 plus. It might be a bit jarring to you to suddenly see characters who you were never introduced to since the writers assume that you saw those episodes.

I just finished watch the Soul Society arc for the second time. I want to jump to episode 109 and all the current episodes. I plan to watch the filler but my first priority is the current episodes. Could someone tell me how many new characters were introduced in the filler arc and how confused would I be if I skipped it.

Originally Posted by poptart

well, i only speak for myself that i didnt care for the "fillers" simply becaue they were boring to me. there was a deceided drop in whatever that special something was that pulled me into bleach in the first place. i hadnt read the manga at that point and had no clue they were fillers (or even what the hell a filler was) but i knew i once they left soul society and the new villans appeared it was missing something.

That's the same with me. I'm starting to watch the beginning of the filler arc and it doesn't have the same feeling and intensity of the Soul Society arc. It feels like the first part of Bleach only less. I like the humor but not at the expense of the characters. Renji just doesn't act like the Renji I grew to love from the Soul Society arc. He seems so submissive.

[Rahan]

Originally Posted by The Avatar

I just finished watch the Soul Society arc for the second time. I want to jump to episode 109 and all the current episodes. I plan to watch the filler but my first priority is the current episodes. Could someone tell me how many new characters were introduced in the filler arc and how confused would I be if I skipped it.

Hmm, for the new characters, Only the mod soul trio gets real screentime after the time skip. They are mod souls created by Urahara with bounto detection ability. They can fight a little (they litteraly pwn Kon) and have each a special power. They all have both plushie and human gigai form. They are the villains of the first mini-arc as Urahara use them against the Ichigo corp to test him.

The other new characters appear only in brief flashback in the current arc. There are around a dizain of Bounts (including the ones who appeared only in flashback). Only one survived. Their creator is an exiled shinigami (Ran Tao) who lives in SS, but not in Seireitei. There are as well a few minor characters, like Rukongai inhabitants, but they don't matter at all.

[NoSanninWa]

Originally Posted by poptart

i can see why some like them and some dont. i'm one of the ones that didnt like them at all. not becuase they were "fillers" but because they didnt intrest me. to the point that i stopped watching them once i realized that they had nothing to do with the manga story and was just episodes created to fill time until the manga could progress. so i used the time that the "fillers" were on to read up to catch up.

thats just me though...

Bravo. Thank you for disliking them based on their own merits and not merely because they are labeled as "filler."

[poptart]

Originally Posted by NoSanninWa

Bravo. Thank you for disliking them based on their own merits and not merely because they are labeled as "filler."

well thats just silly.

in it of themselves the episodes were not horrible. they just weren't for me.

and if one is against "fillers" there is the easy option of just not watching them. so far the show has done little more than vauge references and have kept only the mod souls. which they incorporated into the manga plot line quite well in my opinion. i'd have a problem with the "fillers" ONLY if it messed up the manga plotline for the anime.

so far it hasnt done that.... now what they are gonna do to stall for time the next go around is up in the air.

*shrugs*

its one thing to dislike something and state why, for whatever reason. but to constantly bitch about it is silly.

[poptart]

Originally Posted by The Small One

The problem seems to be, that people can't differentiate between Anime-Bleach and Manga-Bleach, which basically are two different stories.

If you're watching/reading both, than it is kind of hard to keep them seperate, that's why I think it's better to decide only for one and ignore the other. Well, I did it this way in the past, now...

Another problem with the "fillers" is, that the story itself just feels wrong. It's like a foreign body and doesn't really fit into the world itself. Which is obviously a result of bad writing and could have also happend in non-filler material.

i'd have to agree on this.

its hard to seperate them when the anime follows the manga so closely. there are some anime that use the manga only as a loose base for the story but mostly create their own anime story from the manga characters.

bleach is one of the animes that if i compare manga to anime some/most of the scenes are almost excatly like the manga. so, yes in essence the "fillers" have little to nothing to do with the original story, which is the manga story line.

the "fillers" became boring once i realized that all these characters would basically spin their wheels, stuck in one place because the next time they would 'power up' or advance in character development would happen in the manga.

so yes technically, in the anime it did happen. but as far as it advancing the original story, the manga story line, it was totally useless.

i stopped watching around episode 80. checked back in for a couple of episodes around 85-87. then stopped completely. picked up on 107. so far there is nothing that i feel i'm missing in the storyline because i didnt watch them.

that to me, speaks to how they have nothing to do with the continuity of the story.

[npal]

As it is, neither the soul society arc is of little value, as any other shounen arc is of little value if you've started from the middle. Most people starting DBZ would be bored out of their minds if they watch DB. Fillers and arc value is an inherent weakness of all long running series.

In shounen, the continuity of the story is almost irrelevant in each arc.

[Gunshot2099]

So, I haven't watched Bleach since the final episode of the SS arc (think it was episode 63) due to the fillers. I see that Bleach has returned to the manga storyline, but I've heard it still uses elements from the filler arc. So, can I start back watching Bleach from the point it started following the manga again, or should I go back and watch the fillers? Thanks.

[stonedzombie]

You don't need to watch the fillers. They do throw in characters from the filler arc into the new manga arc once in a while, but its not that big a deal.

[YuriGirl]

no you dont, but there are some good episodes in the filler arc

Spoiler for filler characters:

the new characters are Ririn, Nova, Cloud, Kariya...i think thats it

[Thewanderer]

The "fillers" are episodes too. I'd suggest watching them too, unless you want to be one that senselessly hates episodes where the filler characters appear in

They have their own plot(not just random episodes like Naruto's fillers), and they're part of the anime continuity, which is why the characters from the fillers appear and the filler events are mentioned in the "manga" episodes.

[EarlyBlake]

I tried to watch the fillers twice, but the episodes were so bad, I couldn't.

[Gunshot2099]

Alright, thanks for the info. I'm starting with episode 110, but I'll probably go back and watch some of the filler episodes later. Any fillers stand out as worth watching (i.e. specific episode numbers)?

[ashesatdusk]

Watch through episode 68. and stop there. Pick back up at 110.
Bleach episode 68 introduces the side characters....that you will see probably several times in bleach. episode 69-109 is the Blount arc... the episode 68 introduces the very beginning. Don't be worried about your curiousity its not worth the time.

I can watch SS over and over, but Blount was mediocre. I don't agree with the terrible.

[Thewanderer]

Episode 86 on has pretty nice animation. And I can't stress enough that the whole arc is severely underrated.

[risa_chan]

If you're a Mayuri fan, watch 100. I actually am not a Mayuri fan at all but I still thought the episode was awesome. And 101 was pretty darn cool too.

[shenzu]

soi fong was very cool in 100

also that one the RUkia fight and also Ishida and that woman fight (the one with the good animation)

[risa_chan]

Oh I hated the Rukia fight, gave me the shivers.

Oops, was it 100 that Soi Fon fought? Either way, I think it was either 99 and 100 or 100 and 101 that featured Mayrui and Soi Fon, respectively.

And the Ishida fight spans a few episodes, I think... pretty solid fight there.

[Guido]

Like always I suggest everyone to take caution and take everything that Anime News Network posts with a grain of salt.

Spoiler for future filler titles:

Looks like June would be the filler month for Bleach, and if what Omni posted at his thread is turns out to be true, then the show will be back to the manga on July.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ency...d=4240&page=25

129. The Swooping Descent of the Dark Emissary! The Propagation of Malice
Maiori ta yami no shisha! Zoushoku suru akui 「舞い降りた闇の使者！増殖する悪意」

130. The Invisible Enemy! Hitsugaya's Merciless Decision
Mie nai teki! Hitsugaya, hijou na ketsudan 「見えない敵！日番谷、非情な決断」

131. Rangiku's Tears, the Sorrowful Parting of Brother and Sister
Rangiku no namida, kanashiki kyoudai no wakare 「乱菊の涙、哀しき兄妹の別れ」

[niko]

Originally Posted by Guido

Like always I suggest everyone to take caution and take everything that Anime News Network posts with a grain of salt.

Spoiler for future filler titles:

Looks like June would be the filler month for Bleach, and if what Omni posted at his thread is turns out to be true, then the show will be back to the manga on July.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ency...d=4240&page=25

129. The Swooping Descent of the Dark Emissary! The Propagation of Malice
Maiori ta yami no shisha! Zoushoku suru akui 「舞い降りた闇の使者！増殖する悪意」

130. The Invisible Enemy! Hitsugaya's Merciless Decision
Mie nai teki! Hitsugaya, hijou na ketsudan 「見えない敵！日番谷、非情な決断」

131. Rangiku's Tears, the Sorrowful Parting of Brother and Sister
Rangiku no namida, kanashiki kyoudai no wakare 「乱菊の涙、哀しき兄妹の別れ」

http://cal.syoboi.jp/tid/491/subtitle has same titles so they can assumed to be real