A question that many don’t consider when thinking about their favorite shows, whether they’re anime, cartoons, or live action, is, “Should the show have filler or should the show be broken up into different seasons?”

Filler is the act of filling in blank periods in different stories. For example the popular shows “Naruto” or “Bleach.” Because the author was working on the story at the same time as the animators and the fact that many weekly chapters are featured in a weekly episode, the animators would catch up and have nothing left to animate. They would have to wait for the author to gain some distance in front of them. Their solution to this was creating their own story and animating that to fit in with the original timeline.

Seasonal arcs is the opposite of filler. Instead of filling in the blanks, they leave them empty and you end up waiting until the shows return. Popular shows such as “Game of Thrones” and “Attack on Titan” use this method. When the animation is caught up, the author would simply wait until they have progressed far enough to bring back the series.

Now that you’re caught up to speed with the world of filler and seasonal arcs, let’s get to the discussion. Which is better? Hands down seasonal arcs. At first you might think, ‘You have to wait months before the show is aired once again, why would you want that?’ My answer to this is that filler SUCKS!

Filler is never as in depth or detailed as the original story, and the people creating the filler have to follow a certain line as to not ruin the original flow of the story. “Bleach” was actually killed by filler and the second half of the story was never aired.

Seasonal arcs are just better. The animators or directors of the show have a lot more time to make the show as crisp and entertaining as possible. With seasonal arcs, you can do all your animating or directing in those buildup months, which will then alleviate the stress when the show kicks back up. The creators have more time to focus and won’t be strapped for time. The time spent also builds up hype for when the show finally drops again.

Still don’t understand? I’ll put it this way, filler sucks. It is low quality, the plot sucks and it is stressful on the creators. Where as for seasonal arcs, the quality is crisp the details are fine and you will be so hyped that by the time it comes back it will be even more enjoyable for you. The wait is worth it, trust me. Filler’s main function is to keep the weekly revenue up, which is selfish. But the good thing is most recent shows practice seasonal arcs and not filler.