@Greg:
I wrote a long post where I started to get bored halfway through but then I remembered something and laughed my ass off and it makes any discussion about the 'importance' of the anime moot.
If you only watch the anime you don't know how Luffy got his scar.
You are completely right.
But the problem is people keep quoting the past as if it is the way everything is done.
I mean do we still believe the world is carried through space on turtles?
Drilling the head is the only way to release evil spirits?
No we learn from mistakes.
I think the Directors of the anime have a very indepth respect for Oda and try to keep his image as true as possible - moreso NOW then BEFORE.
You are correct the early stuff suffers and no doubt can be quoted ad-nausem against my claim.
But the more recent anime is showing a more solid influence outside the initial manga. This comes from learning from mistakes - listening to people like yourselves clearly and vocally listing the failures they have made.
We can argue till we're blue in the face - you can call me names - drop tomatoes into further conversations. But the influence is becoming stronger - it is being taken advantage.
Does this mean the past fillers were all cannon? I never said that nor do I believe it.
Does this mean Oda may have influenced sections of arcs not covered in the manga? We may never know.
Does this mean everything to come is cannon? HELLS NO!
Does this mean that there may be cannon in fillers to come? Quite Likely