One of the biggest problems concerninganimeis filler. Filler sounds like a good thing at first. They are original stories made by the anime team to fill in the gaps of the main content coming from the manga side of the series. Moreanimeepisodes should mean more fans are happy. The problem is that these diversions often veer off course too much from the central plot, and dilute the series.
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This is a curse for bigger Shonen shows that seemingly have no end date.Naruto, for example, had 700 episodes. A majority of that content is original material and most of it isn’t great. Not all filler is bad though. Baseball episodes are a fun pitch most anime receive. Here are some of the best examples.
8BNA: Brand New Animal
BNA: Brand New Animalfollows the story of a normal high school girl, Michiru, who gets turned into an animal-human hybrid. She runs away to the city of beasts in the hope of finding answers. It’s a dire situation but the anime is very lighthearted and this episode is proof of that.
“Greedy Bears” is the fifth episode of BNA: Brand New Animal. In it, Michiru befriends a bumbling baseball team of bears and helps them get out of the dugout. The full episode is focused on various games.
7Dorohedoro
Dorohedorois one of the more convincing3D anime showsthat still looks like it was in 2D. It’s a great-looking anime with an interesting premise that combines the cyberpunk motif with magic. Kaiman, the main character, gets his head turned into a lizard so he’s off to find the magicians that did it.
Most episodes are pretty gruesome but this is one of the funnier episodes. “The All-Star Dream Game” is the seventh episode ofDorohedoro. It sees two doctor practices duke it out in some shady baseball shenanigans. About half of the episode is dedicated to it.
6Dragon Ball Super
Dragon Ball Superis the recent continuation ofthis long-running mangaand anime series. It is well known for filler, but this episode is one of the better ones. “A Challenge From Champa! This Time, a Baseball Game!” is the 70th episode ofDragon Ball Super.
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Beerus’ brother, Champa, challenges him to a game of baseball. His fighters versus Beerus’ fighters in a “friendly” competition. Things heat up quickly as fans can imagine. The best part about this entire episode is Yamcha who finally gets a redeeming arc.
5FLCL
FLCLis one of themost bizarre animeever made. One day an alien comes to visit a quiet town in Japan. Naoto is a young boy trying to live up to his brother’s reputation who left the family to play baseball in the U.S. Haruko is the aforementioned alien who looks like an ordinary woman but behaves like every second is her last.
Baseball definitely has a theme throughout the entire series so it’s only natural that a full episode would be dedicated to the sport. “Full Swing" is the fourth episode ofFLCL.
4Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusadersis the third arc isthis long-running seriesabout fighters with magical assistants called Stands. “D’Arby the Gambler” is the 16th and 17th episode of the second season ofStardust Crusaders.
Jotaro, Kakyoin, and Joseph are sucked into an alternate dimension by another one of Dio’s minions, D’Arby. He challenges the trio to play video games. In exchange for their freedom, he wants their souls. The first episode finds Kakyoin playing a racing game while the second features Jotaro playing a wild game of baseball.
3Jujutsu Kaisen
Jujutsu Kaisenis a premise that should sound familiar to most anime fans. A boy gets magical powers dueto a demonbeing trapped inside of him. The boy joins a magical school of sorcerers to fight evil and become stronger. Despite the unoriginality, it’s one of the bigger anime out there.
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“Jujutsu Koshien” is the 21st episode ofJujutsu Kaisen. The episode deals with the aftermath of the tree demon laying waste at the school’s exchange event. To make up the festival, a baseball game is played. It’s a good episode that has both sides drop their rivalry to have a friendly game of the classic sport.
2Pokemon
Pokemonis a series that does not need to be explained. “The Double Trouble Header” is the second episode of the Johto arc in thePokemonanime. Ash, Misty, and Brock stumble upon Casey and her Chikorita. She’s a huge fan of both Electabuzz as a Pokemon and as a baseball team.
After losing a friendly duel, Casey runs away only to find herself face to face with Team Rocket. They trick Casey into convincing Ash to rematch her in a baseball stadium wherein Team Rocket secretly awaits his arrival to snatch Pikachu. Those three never learn.
1Samurai Champloo
Samurai Champlooisa mashup of an old-school samurai anime with influences of modern culture like hip-hop. The core premise sees a young girl, Fuu, hiring two vagabond samurai to help her find a samurai smelling of sunflowers.
“Baseball Blues” is the 23rd episode ofSamurai Champloo. After dining and dashing and then getting caught, the trio is hired to play a baseball game to clear their tab. A local ship of U.S. officers challenged the small village to a game and they need all the help they can get.
