What is the meaning of Canon in anime?

As a new anime viewer, you can come across many interesting stories and interesting characters that can have a huge impact on you. However, as new anime viewers, you may hear some new anime terms that can cause some confusion. These terms include ONA, OVA, AMV, etc. Of all these terms, the most basic terms you need to understand are what is “canon” and what is “filler”. So, this article will let you know what Canon means in anime and what fillers are. Not only this, but listed below are five anime with fillers for you to check out.

As mentioned above, Anime can affect our mind in such a way that we want to see more of it. Maybe that’s why watching anime is so cool. So before we get into the article, let’s appreciate the creators. Whether they’re the original makers or the adapters, they work hard to provide us with what we love most.

What is the meaning of Canon in anime?

The meaning of Canon in anime refers to episodes that are part of the original storyline from which it was adapted. As we know, most of the stories in anime are based on manga, light novels or novels. So when the anime production crew closely follows the plot of the text they are adapting the anime from, these episodes become canon. In simpler terms, Canon episodes are the main quest of the entire anime. For example, in Naruto, it was part of the canon that Obito became an antagonist. However, the entire Kakashi Gaiden arc was a fill arc.

What is the meaning of fillers/filler arcs?

If canon exists, what are the other episodes called? They are called Fillers and usually have an entire arc devoted to them. When the anime’s episodes catch up with the text it was adapted from, anime writers come up with individual stories and animate them so that the original writers can release more chapters. These filler episodes often introduce us to new characters, or they use characters that are canon but not yet introduced. Naruto is another example of using the latter. So if canon episodes in anime are the main quest, then fill episodes or fill arcs become the side missions. You can skip it or go for it.

Are fillers important?

While most people who watch anime skip fillers, we still need them because they’re fun and let us watch our favorite characters for a longer period of time. However, there are also times when the original artists and writers of the story need a break from their work, then the anime writers step in, giving the audience not only content to watch, but also for the original artists to take a healthy break.

Understandably, fillers can be boring and at times annoying for the fans who have invested heavily in the canon story. This is because fillers can affect the engagement that the anime’s storyline has built with its audience. But as mentioned above, they let us watch as our favorite characters participate in side missions that might be more interesting than the canon.

5 Famous Anime With Fillers:

Detective Conan/Closed

It’s understandable why Detective Conan or Case Closed series has the most number of fillers. This is because it is one of the longest running anime that started its journey on January 8, 1996, two years after the release of the manga. The series is still going on and still remains one of the most interesting anime series. To be fair, most of Detective Conan’s fillers can’t be skipped because they’re just as interesting as the canon storyline. Detective Conan has had 1044 episodes so far, 459 of which are fillers.

Naruto/Naruto Shippuden

Most Naruto fans have a love-hate relationship with the fillers in the series. While some filler arches are very interesting, the others are just plain boring. Maybe the fill arcs in Naruto were acceptable, but the ones in Naruto Shippuden annoyed a lot of people because most of them just pop up between intense battles or when the plot gets really good. However, there are some fillers that cannot be skipped, such as the Kakashi Gaiden arc. In Naruto, which has 220 episodes, 90 of these episodes were considered fillers. While in Naruto Shippuden, out of 500 episodes, there are 201 fillers.

pokemon

One anime that probably welcomes many otakus to the world of Anime is Pokemon. Pokemon was a fun adventure anime to watch. It started its journey in 1997. As of today, it has released more than 1000 episodes that introduce us to many characters and Pokemon. Out of all the episodes, only 231 are considered fillers. Again, like Detective Conan, Pokemon Filler episodes are also interesting to watch.

Bleach

Another anime that is very popular in the anime world for its story as well as interesting characters is Bleach. Even the antagonists of the series are recognized and appreciated. The first episode was released on October 5, 2004 and has released 366 episodes. Of these, 163 are considered fillers. Like Naruto, these fillers can get tedious to watch as they interrupt the interesting canon episodes. But again, there are some interesting filler arcs in the anime.

A piece

Another anime that is one of the longest running series is One Piece. The journey of the One Piece anime started in the year 1999 and is currently going well. However, this anime is probably the odd one out of all five anime on the list as it has more canon episodes than fillers. Out of the 1020 episodes it has released, One Piece has only 93 filler episodes.

Also read: What is the meaning of ONA in anime?