Dragon Ball Z (commonly abbreviated as DBZ) is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation.
The story follows five years after Son Goku wins the World Martial Arts tournament, Goku is now living a peaceful life with his wife (Chi-Chi) and son (Gohan).
This changes, however, with the arrival of a mysterious enemy named Raditz who presents himself as Goku's long-lost brother.
He reveals that Goku is a warrior from the once powerful but now virtually extinct Saiyan race, whose homeworld was annihilated. When he was sent to Earth as a baby.
In total 291 episodes of Dragon Ball Z were aired. With a total of 39 reported filler episodes, Dragon Ball Z has a low filler percentage of 13%.
Dragon Ball Z Filler List covers everything you need to know about fillers.
Want to know more about filler? What are filler episodes and why they are made? Read on!
Fillers are episodes of an anime series that have nothing to do with the main story.
These are usually used to extend the length of a show and give animators more time to work on upcoming episodes without spoiling the story.
Related: Fairy Tail Filler List
Fillers also provide extra content for viewers who want to watch something new and different from what they are used to.
Dragon Ball Z has some great filler episodes, as well as a few fillers that are important for character development, like Gohan's training with Piccolo.
You can find a full list of Dragon Ball Z fillers here: Full Dragon Ball Z Filler List
Short Dragon Ball Z Filler Guide
FILLER
These episodes are not adapted from the original manga, so it technically does not follow the original story, some skip these episodes.
MIXED
These episodes are adapted from the original manga, but they have some filler fragments, some only watch the marked minutes/episode.
CANON
These episodes are 100% related to the manga that follows the story, some watch it all.
Manga Canon Episodes:
1-8, 19, 21-38, 45-99, 101, 103-107, 118-123, 126-169, 172-173, 175-194, 200-201, 205-228, 230-250, 252-273, 275-286, 289-291
Mixed Canon/Filler Episodes:
11, 17-18, 20, 44, 204, 229, 251, 287
Filler Episodes:
9-10, 12-16, 39-43, 100, 102, 108-117, 124-125, 170-171, 174, 195-199, 202-203, 274, 288
While the DBZ filler is entertaining, there are also a few divided in each arc, so as not to bore us with something similar to the One Piece episodes.
Otherwise, it was in Naruto Shippuden that these episodes were added indiscriminately to the point of driving us crazy and felt like a kick right in the dragon balls.
You're right, the list above explains which episodes are fillers and which ones aren't.
And not only that but there's even a section that explains the mixed episodes in detail (episodes with both canon and filler content.)
But I want you to have the best of both worlds. Therefore, the table below is a complete list showing all the Filler vs Canon Episodes of Dragon Ball Z.
You're welcome!