For one, I'd say people consider RWBY an anime, because it's style is almost like anime, as well as the fact that it takes anime tropes and uses them.
Those are not filler they are side stories that original author released unlike DBZ, Naruto, bleach, one piece etc where fillers are just released to not caught up with original material.
I don't care, I just dislike how the show threw acid on my face after establishing really high stakes and an awesome world with a shoehorned in romance plot and an underdeveloped main character. And "side story" is just a fancy way of saying "filler that doesn't contribute to the plot". I tried to like this anime, and I really did just tell myself that it was awesome sword fighting and I ignored all the bad writing, which a few of my friends pointed out to me and that opened up my eyes to what a mess the show was (I do like that action in it though, that's well done in my opinion) but... Then I watched the second half of the first season.
Replace ''kids'' with teenagers and you basically have every other anime that ever existed.
