Ask John: Should Filler Storylines Affect Primary Anime Storylines?

Question:
How do you feel about the Bleach anime filler still affecting the original storyline? The Bleach filler is long and over. However, it would appear the filler left a horrible aftertaste. With the annoying and often times completely useless new modified soul characters getting in the way, constant references to the bounto, and characters acknowledging each other as friends even though they never actually met, if you ignore the filler, it’s a constant reminder of a period of the Bleach series that a good majority of people would rather just forget.

The Naruto filler was decent enough to not have it effect the main storyline at all, and with Shippuden starting right after the original series ended, it’s almost like it never happened, much to the pleasure of most fans. I think this is what most Bleach fans were hoping for.

Answer:
First of all, I need to explain that I’ve still only watched the first dozen episodes of Bleach. Although I wish my circumstances were different, there’s simply too much anime, and I have too little available time to watch everything that I’d like to watch. So I can’t address the impact of “filler” episodes in the Bleach anime specifically, I can discuss the impact of “filler” in general.

I certainly don’t need to be told or reminded that devoted anime fans take anime very seriously and invest a lot of themselves into anime. I’m not the least bit surprised that fans of an original manga series become frustrated when an anime adaptation isn’t faithful to its manga origin. I’ve felt some of that same frustration myself when unconsciously or unavoidably comparing an anime to its manga source. But rationally, anime viewers should remember and accept that anime is not the same as manga. When watching an anime adaptation, you’re not literally seeing and reading the original manga, so it’s unreasonable to expect and insist that the anime precisely and slavishly duplicate the manga. An anime adaptation may be based on an earlier manga, but the anime is a unique, original creation often made by a staff totally unrelated to the original manga. Comparisons between an anime and its manga source may be useful for comparative critique, but an anime is not a substitute for an original manga, nor does reading a manga provide the full audio and video experience of watching an anime.

When an anime diverges from its manga source I think it’s fair to critique the cinematic quality of the new, divergent material because doing so constitutes a criticism of the narrative consistency of the anime. Delineating lulls and weaknesses in an anime is an integral part of film criticism. However, regardless for the reason or quality of original content inserted into anime, it shouldn’t be directly compared to a manga. An anime is a self-contained, independent work with a right and even an obligation to be honest to its own narrative and structure. An adaptation that varies from its source material isn’t intrinsically or automatically bad; it’s just different. If the story within an anime series suddenly changes, and the pace or production quality suddenly change, viewers have a right to criticize the change and critique the part in relation to the whole work. But arguing that an anime isn’t like its manga isn’t really a fair criticism. An anime is never like manga, no matter how faithful the adaptation may be because anime and manga are two entirely different media.

The lasting effect of “filler” episodes on an anime series is a matter of relative judgment. On one hand, isolating “filler” to specific episodes and excluding its influence from direct adaptation of original manga storylines allows an adaptation to remain faithful to its source material. On the other hand, if events and revelations in “filler” episodes have a lasting and recurring affect on a story, the story feels cohesive and responsible to itself. From the perspective of cinematic criticism, events that have no lasting impact and no direct, obvious affect on a narrative shouldn’t appear in the narrative in the first place. Fans have every right to decide which episodes of a television series they do and don’t watch, but it’s unreasonable to expect the show itself to entirely disregard significant events in its own narrative development. Regardless of whether or not an event or plot development is based on source manga or not, it makes no logical or believable sense for a major event to occur within a continuing story but have no impact or repercussion on future story development. I think it’s fine for an anime to include isolated, disposable side-stories. But if an anime introduces major plot developments, naturally those developments should resonate into the future of the narrative in order to establish and sustain credibility. That may create increasing divergence from the original manga, but after all, anime inevitably always has some degree of difference from its source manga.

Ultimately, my opinion is that anime should be enjoyable. The purpose of anime is not to supplement or enhance manga with sound, color, and motion. Anime is an independent, equal medium that parallels manga and can be enjoyed concurrently with manga. By that principle, anime has a responsibility to strive for consistent cinematic quality, but doesn’t have an obligation to be strictly an alternative version of a manga. Anime fans should understand and accept that. Those who can’t accept that should just avoid anime adaptations. Recognizing anime as an independent work allows viewers to appreciate anime for its own qualities, and allows viewers to objectively critique the effectiveness and contextual relevance of “filler” story content.