I think Fillers get a bad rep to be honest. I've not read the manga but I know where it ended in the original series and the fillers began. You got to see an absolute ton of the other teams and even had them mixing it up a lot. I would not have been able to see Shino in action or Hinata really if it just stuck to the manga and did nothing else. I think it gives the other characters chances to shine and if you enjoy Naruto then really why complain when you get more of what you love?

There have only been a few times I really suffered. The Star Village arc was beyond terrible, it was so dull and repetetive I almost stopped watching. The powers it gave looked naff and the characters introduced were mind numbing to listen to.

The tea village arc I THINK which was about them escorting that prisoner who was just looking out for the kids was pretty wretched aswell come to think of it.

Still there were plenty of interesting arcs and some fun ones like the Curry of life, the one with the imposter Gai and Lee and of course Naruto peeing on Ino

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Yeah there are def some cool filler stories. What upsets me most is knowing of an even cooler ark that is put on hold cause I gotta watch a filler. Ignorance is definitely bliss. lol

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Nice post and I believe it or not but I agree with you for the most part. I've only in the last couple of episodes actually caught up with the series as I only started watching Naruto quite recently. The relevance being that when I ran into a filler I didn't much care for or an overly long arc I wasn't enjoying I was comforted by the knowledge that I still had plenty of episodes still to watch. I could watch so many episodes in one day and make it through those that dragged.

Now for the first time I've run into this filler and unlike before been unable to watch it and then move onto the next episode. As such I'm finding it more annoying than before because I'll wait a week for an episode and have to endure (current arc isn't TOO bad) an episode that I know will have little or no impact on the main story. What's more I was so shocked becuase we'd been watching Sasuke fight I think the seven tails in an epic match and before we even PROPERLY saw it resolved (some mention of the seven tails more powerful brother who would be upset at his younger brothers capture...) we are thrust into a filler! That was the first time I'd been properly bummed out lol

Yeah I really do dislike Sasuke but I watched all the original series fillers too so I've actually seen very little of him for a long time until he broke free from Orochimaru and it made for a nice change of pace/perspective seeing him on his own little quest.

(I can't believe I put I'm a man of few words in my intro at one point...)

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Let me tell you how it went for me. I started like you, was told about the show from a friend then got hooked and watched it all very fast. Once I caught up it wasn't so bad until I hit a filler, mine was the three tails ark. I got so impatient I started reading the manga from that point because I just wanted to move forward. after I hit the end of the manga and realized I actually like it more I started from the beginning and read the manga all the way through. It was actaully the first time I've ever read a manga, but its def a new love of mine

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I understand where you're coming from and I'm in the exact same position, I just recently started looking for the first graphic novel to buy so I could read while waiting for the animated series to move forward. Everyone says how much better it is than the series. I've read Akira but that's the only managa I've read, I've always just read Marvel/DC/Vertigo graphic novels before.

The three tails arc dragged on too long in my opinion and it felt like they just kept doing the same thing over and over so it can't have been pleasant...

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You should go to naruto-tv.com/manga. The entire series is online in a pretty easy to read setup. I'd say if you want to start right where the anime left off then 403 would be a good point.

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I'm very tempted. I've never been able to read off the net before and always preffered it in my hand but I'll certainly give it a look thanks.

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I feel ya, nothing beats having the book/comic/graphic novel/manga in hand.

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You can also visit manga.naruto-tv.com !

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How can I ever be Hokage, if I can't even save one friend?
Isn't that right Sasuke?

Unbelievable, but this is EXACTLY the same way I started reading this manga. I also started reading it when the anime hit the three tails arc. The only difference is that I actually got so hooked that I read the manga from the beginning SEVERAL times so I could absorb every little thing that happened (even though the anime was still very fresh in my head, I found the manga to be a completely different experience).

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His smile saved her

Thats awesome! Yeah I just read it through the one time but after posting on this forum have felt a strong urge to read it through again to see if I missed anything.

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The personality of some characters in the Manga is better too. At least the way they aproach and dialog.
Tobi-Madara to me is the craziest son of a ..; but in the anime he only sounds deep, with a very generic speech.

i hate fillers..they destroy the story sometimes! Like for now..Isn't Naruto supposed to go to the Mt. w/ all the forgs to train(LOL sorry,...forgot the name) but in the anime he goes on a mission to protect the girl!
BUT some are good..cause I see some characters fight more

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"Sasuke and Naruto were always in the lead! Now it's my turn to take the lead, and all of you can watch me from the background!"

Give me fillers all day long if it means we can see other characters and how they fight/have developed.

One of the single most dissapointing things about Shippuden has been the lack of screen time given to Neji (I'm a Shik fan but Neji is pretty cool and meant to be really powerful!) and even Hinata, the amazing Hyuga clan is getting no respect.

Now if this is sticking with Manga then I repeat give me fillers all day long if it means I can see other characters instead of the same bunch. More than 1 team passed the exams!

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Fillers dont show how characters develop, they are simply the fantasy of the anime folks when they need to ... fill. And i've got to admit, sometimes they are pretty childish fantasy story lines, very weak, this late one, the sixth tailed is actually interesting, but it's already dragging to long, for one, we saw pains summon as a suspense, then in the next episode, no pain... so yeah.

In the original series we would never have seen any of Hinata's developed techniques from working with water and it's effects without the fillers for instance. And you totally develop character by showing them at all, without the fillers we would have seen nothing of characters beyond team 7 (by nothing I mean very little )

Could you define childish for me and give me some examples of it in the fillers? I only ask becuase I agree it can be childish, like when the two impersonate Lee and Gai and try to infiltrate the village to disastrous consequences, or the Curry of Life...I mean need I say more. But that for me at least is quite charming or at least a bit of silly fun away from all the endless Sasuke brooding

Like I've said before though, the worst kind of fillers are the ones that take themselves too seriously when the concept is just flat and dull. What's more ones like now just stretch on too long like with the 3 tails and the star village. So fillers are far from perfect but I think they do more good than bad

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