Can we talk about the Naruto filler arc opinions from 2007 versus now?

Back in 2007 on the old AnimeSuki forums, everyone I knew was furious about the 85-episode filler stretch and told new viewers to skip it entirely. Now, I see posts all over Reddit and TikTok saying those same episodes are nostalgic comfort viewing and have their own charm. What do you think actually caused this massive shift in how we talk about filler?

2 comments

2 Comments

stone.troy1mo ago

Honestly the biggest thing is we're not waiting week to week anymore. Back then you'd get hyped for canon and then get a random curry of life episode, it was brutal. Now you can just binge the whole arc in a weekend, so the pacing feels totally different. Plus nostalgia is a huge filter, people who were kids then have fond memories of just hanging out with the characters. The shift from weekly anger to binge comfort totally changed how we see filler.

troymorgan1mo ago

My buddy got into Naruto a few years back and binged the whole thing on Netflix. He actually loved the filler arcs, said they were like bonus episodes to just chill with the characters. It blew my mind because I remember him complaining about weekly filler back in the day when we watched it live. The whole experience is just totally different when you control the pace and there's no wait for the real story to come back. Time and how we watch stuff really did a number on how people feel about it.