Most manga and anime don’t have filler. The long-running ones do, because, well, they want to milk them for all they’re worth.
A little over a thousand chapters, but a volume has about ten chapters.
The OG series is the story Anno wanted to show. Some fans wanted a more concrete ending, so Anno gave them a concrete ending in EoE. Then some fans wanted a happy ending where Shinji gets the girl so Anno said fuck it, sold out, and made a series with a happy ending where Shinji gets a girl. But now some fans want a happy ending where Shinji gets the right girl so Anno gave up on them as lost causes and went and directed Shin Godzilla.
Sounds like something someone who sold out would say! (/s)
I still like the OG ending. I think the ‘darkness’ of EoE was partially a reaction to the death threats he got, and the Rebuilds feel unnecessarily convoluted (but the animation was great). Anyway, to each their own.