Fillers are basically episodes in an Anime that are created to keep the series going when the series has progressed too fast and catches up with what is currently happening in the manga. Unfortunately for us, there are many of them in Naruto, and some of them are really, really bad! Here is a list of what we consider to be the 5 worst fillers in Naruto.
#1: Naruto episode 185: “A Legend From The Hidden Leaf: Onbaa!”
This episode was simply useless. Everybody hates the filler arcs, the same old missions with a randomly generated villain, but I think the single episode fillers are the worst, and this might be one of THE worst of the worst. While walking through the woods, Naruto gets hit by an object, which turns out to be a little monkey-looking animal that attaches to his back, calling itself “Onbu” and only repeating that word over and over. Naruto leaves the village to find the animals mother in the forest, which attacks Naruto, only this time only saying “Onbaa!” A very pathetic fight scene between a corny looking animal makes this one filler you’d rather miss out on.
#2: Naruto Episode 26: “Special Report! Live from the forest of death!”
In this episode, Konohamaru and his team try to follow Naruto from a box so that they can interview him before the Chuunin exams. I thought it was bad enough that the first episode of Naruto had a small flashback to the beginning of that episode, but this entire episode is just a recollection of events that have happened and the characters of his team. I’d understand showing a little re-introduction for say, another Anime series that acts as a sequel (such as Shippuden), but I’m sure that everyone knows and has already seen flashbacks about the characters in the previous episodes. The fact that this is only the 26th episode of Naruto, and the entire thing is about the characters that we’ve seen for the last 26 episode makes it a really boring and useless episode.
#3: Naruto Episode 168: “Mix It, Stretch It, Boil It Up! Burn, Copper Pot, Burn!”
Really? Just…really? This episode involves Naruto’s favorite ramen shop owner, Teuchi, trying to develop a new ramen recipe that will help get back his captured daughter, Ayame, who was captured by another chef that believes Teuchi has a secret recipe that is getting him all of his business. The filler involves a battle between various ninja and Naruto, Teuchi, Chouji, and Sakura use their ninjutsu to mold noodles to perfection. The combination of epic music along with action-based cut scenes makes this battle of the ramen simply a pathetic episode!
#4: Naruto episodes 142-147: The Return of Mizuki
These filler episodes aren’t exactly the worst of the worst, but definitely make this list for a few reasons. For one, the fact that it was more than one episode, which means we have to watch more than 30 minutes of filler material, is one. The second and biggest reason that these fillers are horrible, is the famous “Thundercat Mizuki” form that Mizuki undergoes during the final battle. In this small arc, Mizuki (the white-haired ninja from the first few episodes of Naruto that tried to steal the scroll for the Kage Bunshin technique) breaks out of prison with two very large, unintelligent brute strength side kicks. The attempt to bring more depth and history to Mizuki is a very sad attempt to make things interesting and in the ending battle, Mizuki takes on a beast-like form that really resembles something from the Thundercats. Just watching it fight will surely make you laugh.
#5: Naruto Episode 174: “Impossible! Celebrity Ninja Art – Money Style Jutsu!”
Episode 174, one of the many fillers in the giant blob of more than 100 episodes of fillers, makes you want to contribute some ideas of your own to whomever is coming up with the stories for these fillers. By now we’re well aware of what a filler is, and if you’ve even made it this far, please skip to Shippuden right away! This episode is about some rich boy who believes he can buy friends. Naruto is hired to basically be some kind of bodyguard for the kid, who is surrounded by suit-wearing assistants that act as human bridges for him whenever and wherever he throws his wads of cash. The little kid, resembling Rock Lee’s long-lost cousin, is simply annoying to listen to and the episode in general can be used as a substitute for sleeping pills whenever you have a hard time sleeping.
