#The Reason Dragon Ball Z Has All Those Filler Episodes

Alright, ya caught me — this was all just an elaborate scheme to get on a soapbox about my favorite crop of filler episodes in the series: the post-Cell high school arc. This is what great filler is all about! By this point in the series, we’ve watched Gohan grow from a wimpy booksmart kid into a booksmart teen with strength to rival his legendary father. We’ve seen him travel to new planets, survive the brink of death and exceed everyone’s expectations as a fighter. We’ve watched the kid grow up! So it’s impossible for us not to be curious about what happens when he takes off the tunic, dons a suit and say, goes out on his first date.

The Great Saiyaman saga is all about Gohan picking up on his studies seven years after the Cell Games. Unable to step away from heroics completely, he ends up getting a ridiculous costume (cape included) and adopting the persona, The Great Saiyaman. This is also where he meets Videl (the woman he’ll one day marry), teaches her to control chi and prepares for the tournament that leads us into the Majin Buu saga. But hey, slow down, nevermind all that action — the filler episodes are where it’s at!

This is where we get gems like “Gohan’s First Date.” Smack dab in the middle of the arc is an episode that shows off Gohan’s struggle to live the superhero/regular student double life in the most hilarious fashion possible. His classmate Angela discovers his big secret and threatens to tell the world … unless he goes on a date with her. Hilarity ensues, culminating with a scene where Gohan resorts to literally screaming as loud as he can, in an attempt to drown out the sound of her exposing his secret to another person (spoiler alert — it doesn’t work).

The following filler episode sees the Great Saiyaman and Videl teaming up to take down the Red Shark Gang. It gives us extra time with these two as a duo, fighting crime and also building their rapport (despite Gohans’ disguise). It adds to their budding romance, and beyond that, spotlights the pure fun of this arc. Gohan is in high school now, being a socially awkward teen with a secret superhero persona. It’s a premise as old as time so the possibilities for both dramatic and hilarious situations are endless. The filler episodes give us room to embrace that.