Roger's List: Top 5 Worst Intances of One Piece Filler

Sure. Let's kill time by watching Luffy and Law get in a fist fight for no reason. Why not.



Hello everyone and welcome to yet another addition of Roger's List. 

Fillers, the unavoidable imperfection of any Shonen anime series. We all know the reason for them: if the animators catch up too close to the current manga storyline, they need to create a non canon story that will last a few episodes to buy time for the official story to play out. Sometimes in the case of One Piece, this has resulted in some intriguing sidetracks and a unique take on this world and it's characters. One in particular that comes to mind is the Navarone Arc starring one of the greatest non-canon characters ever, Vice Admiral Johnathan. However other times, specifically the ones we will be discussing today, come off as borderline trolling at best, to downright groan worthy and a complete waste of our time at worst. So let's get this over with. This is Rogers Top 5 Worst Instances of One Piece Filler. 


5. The Alternate History Specials

We interrupt your regularly scheduled adventure to bring you the One Piece equivalent of Samurai Champloo, Rurouni Kenshin, or any other anime set in historical Japan. 

During special occasions (specifically holidays I am presuming), Toei Animation would produce some One Piece episodes set in an alternate universe. A world that is more akin to historical Japan, with Luffy and Usopp working as a buddy sheriff duo, Nami and Sanji running a restaurant, Zoro is a wandering bum, Buggy is head of some Yakuza clan, and Vivi is a heiress of the town's Dynasty.

On their own merits, these aren't bad episodes. In fact they bring a fun unique take on our characters and get us to see them in a new and refreshing light. The problem comes in the episodes placement in the series. For those of you who don't remember (seriously though how could you not), the first History Special premiered smack dab in the middle of the Strawhat's battle with CP9, arguably their most intense and epic battle still to this day. We all remember when the assassin Kumadori pushed poor Chopper to his physical limit, leaving him no choice but to play his trump card. I will never forget the episode that ended with Chopper consuming his third sequential Rumble Ball, transforming himself in to his biggest, deadliest from, while Dr. Kureha's narrates in the background about the danger of taking on this form again, and how it will turn him into the very thing Chopper has feared people of seeing him as: A Monster. Chopper then makes a hideous roar as the screen cuts to the "To Be Continued" title in one of the most ominous and terrifying cliff hangers the show has seen thus far.....Only to then go follow up with us finding ourselves in this alternate reality where Luffy is trying to save Rika from being sold into slavery by Buggy who has it out for Pandaman for not paying his debts, instantly shattering all tension and buildup the previous episode had made.

Seriously, I felt like I was being punk'n.

 
4. Movie-connected Special

Great. The first time this show has a genuine Hispanic character, and he's a throwaway stereotype.

I suppose these episodes are presumed to take place sometime after the Thriller Bark Arc and before the movie Strong World. However, for some reason, it is placed in the middle of the Impel Down arc. The basic premise being that the Straw Hats arrive at this small island that serves as a tribute to the East Blue and all the original members of the crew that came from that part of the world. They then have to stop a pirate crew of Mexican stereotypes run by a guy name Largo with Net Net fruit powers, seeking to earn himself a place on Shaki's pirate fleet by destroying this little East Blue island.

I suppose all the nods to the East Blue were suppose to serve as a look back on how far the Straw Hats have come since the first season. For me, if this was placed where it was suppose to in the series, that being after Thriller Bark and before Sabaody Archipelago, I probably wouldn't have minded it much. But the fact that it's placed right in the middle of Impel Down, yet another very intense arc, makes it terribly intrusive to the plot. And the whole conflict with Largo being connected to the movie was pretty paper thin as well.

3. The Extended Davy Back Fight

"I hope you know we only agreed to this to humor you, right Split Head?"

This one's a bit interesting. In manga form, I actually liked the Davy Back Fight Arc. It was short, sweet, and fun while it lasted. In the anime however, they took a few liberties with the scenario and extended this 3-game-contest between two pirate crews into 6 games. The three games that were actually in the original manga (The Canoe Race, the Rugby game, and the Duel between the Captains) are all pretty awesome events. The three that were added to the anime (the roller skate race, dodge ball, and red light green light) were pretty lackluster and feel very obviously forced.

It can be said that the arc was still salvageable thanks mostly to Nami and Usopp's comedic timing and how they shared in the frustration of the whole situation (perhaps not too different from the audience) but the main problem this arc suffers from is a seriously lack of real urgency. The Straw Hats have no real reason to honor the agreement of these games. It was fine when it was just three events, but when it drags on, it just makes us wonder why the heck the Straw Hat's don't just say 'screw you guys,' kick the Foxy Pirates asses across the Grand Line, and move on. That's probably what any other competent pirate crew would have done in this situation. Seriously, just think of what would happen had the Foxy Pirates tried to pull this stunt with Kid's pirate crew. They'd probably all be dead right now.

2. Buggy and Mr. 3 Bromance Time in Impel Down

If only we were having as much fun as they were.

In an attempt to break into the world governments maximum security prison to rescue his brother, Luffy runs into two of his former adversaries, Buggy the Clown and Mr. 3. The two prisoners instantly bond as friends in their mutual hate for Luffy, and hilarity ensues.

Now on the surface, this actually looks like a lot of fun. These two have a unique chemistry and in a way, become the bad guy versions of the Luffy/Usopp duo. Except a lot of their hilarity contrasts too much with what should have been a consistently intense arc as they travel deeper and deeper into a prison with various circles of different punishments (a la Dante's Inferno). Seriously, there are several episodes that are contributed to them stuck in the frozen wasteland of Circle 5 creating igloos, hugging each other for warmth, and running away from Wolves while on stilts (which makes no sense. How are stilts suppose to make you run faster?). The sad part is that Mr.3 (whom I really should get use to calling him by his real name, Galdino) actually turns out to be extremely useful in several instances in this arc, as well as the subsequent Marineford arc, but now is stuck pulling first mate duty on Buggy's crew attempting to make his stupid plans work. At least he's now got Alvida to share in his grief.

And the Number One absolute worst instance of One Piece filler is...

Five Strait Episodes of Clip shows

Yup, we'll just stand here and patiently wait for you guys to finish reminiscing about your past. I mean it's only the most epic fight of your lives. No rush.

This was truly painful, especially when you consider just how much awesomeness was going on up to that point. The introduction of Luffy's Gear Second. The story of Robin's tear-jerking history. Sogeking shooting down the flag. The momentum was so strong, and then, of course, we cut to five episodes of each of the Straw Hats looking at their past and very haphazardly mentioning how it suppose to relate to their motivation to save Robin. Disappointing doesn't even begin to describe it.

I honestly don't have a huge explanation for this one. Simply put, clip shows are rarely done well, especially in Shonen anime. For an example of how to do clip show's right, look no further than Book 4 Episode 8 of Legend of Korra, but that is just about the one and only exception I can find.

To the show's defense, these Strawhat Theatre shorts that played after the clip shows were so awesome, they almost made it worth it. The key word being ALMOST!

So that's my rantings on the worst instances of filler. Were there any filler episodes you thought were even worse? Or, do you feel some of these moments listed above were genuinely worth it, and why? Feel free to leave your answers in the comments below.

Until next time, I'm Roger, and they just made the list.