

That is not this trope, see Overtook the Manga or Adaptation Expansion, but such cases are often related to it. This stems from the practice mentioned above of adaptations that are threatening to catch up to the source using original story arcs, episodes, and general content to pad things out. The term "filler" is also used by fandom to refer to anything that isn't in the source material. In these cases, the episode can be ignored outside of "something got an upgrade". without having to work it into the greater narrative. This uses a filler episode to introduce a new power, new machinery, costumes, minor characters etc.
How many episodes of filler in the original dragon ball z series upgrade#
However, there is also a style of filler called the "single upgrade filler".

In most cases, the defining aspect of filler is the lack of series momentum.įiller can be safely ignored without any loss of important information. Ultimately the anime is going to Snap Back into following the manga, so the filler arcs even if they're enjoyable in their own right cannot contribute anything of substance to the story. In the context of ongoing anime series adapted from ongoing manga, because where the main purpose of the anime is often to follow the manga storyline (unless the source material ended and there are no plans to continue further - with everything being anime-only), any story that's created to fill time because the series Overtook the Manga literally cannot have any significance.
