Board Thread:Boruto Discussions/@comment-33545035-20191208124103/@comment-3523655-20191212195939

I think I'll just generalize filler as anything that has no long-lasting impact on the overall storyline.

In Dragon Ball Super, take Goku hiring Hit to kill him, or Vegeta fighting Arale. Neither of these storylines impact the next saga, namely, the Tournament of Power. Sure, Goku knows a technique or two of Hit's to mention, but it wasn't noteworthy enough to include in the manga, for instance. That's filler.

In Boruto, Boruto starts and ends as the same person he was before. He doesn't necessarily grow in power or techniques, because he's a prodigy, he already has all of those. He doesn't grow morally, as the lessons he learns each arc don't come into play in the later arc, except for the times where he does learn something, but it's something as basic as 'you must always work in a team' or 'don't abandon your friends'.

By comparison, in Naruto, Naruto learns the Cloning technique, then he learns how to walk on trees, how to walk on water, the summoning jutsu, the rasengan. And everytime, his Ninja Way is either shaped, or cemented by what he learns. The first couple of arcs inspire him to build his 'never give up, always endure' motto, the Summoning Jutsu teaches him chakra mastery, the rasengan, another chance to show he'll never back down. And every arc furthers the plot. The first few build Naruto up, the following arcs introduce the villains, Orochimaru, Akatsuki, and then we move into the true point of the story: Sasuke leaving. And every arc following these arcs, three further the plotlines established.

Hell, in the Boruto manga, the entirety of the Kara arc, Boruto is growing. He goes from a kid afraid of technology (as the last time he used it, he was chastized for it) to a ninja who sees it for what it is: a tool. He goes from fearing the Karma to slowly learning how to use it. He builds a friendship with Kawaki. Even the arc with the Daimyo's son helps further the plot.

The anime isn't furthering jack, right now. You could remove the Mitsuki/Onoki arc, the Kinshiki arc, and any arcs preceding them, and Boruto would be the very same person he was at the end of the Momoshiki arc, and the beginning of the Kara arc: a prodigy who has realized what hardships his Pops had to go through, and who will cut him some slack and work to improve himself. His techniques are still the same: disappearing Rasengan, generic futon technique, generic raiton technique. His friends would still be the same. Mitsuki, the mysterious awkward kid whose Dad is Orochimaru, Sarada, the girl who calls him a baka half the time. Done. No changes whatsoever.

So yeah, if it doesn't further the plot, if plucking the arc out would leave characters intact, then Imma call it filler, until an apter word is found for it. Source material or not.