Longest Anime Series With The Most Episodes

While it can be amazing to watch an entire show in a single day, many anime fans want a series they can truly sink their teeth into. Long-running series have the potential to connect viewers with their characters in deeper ways than short shows, making every emotional moment hit harder since some folks might have spent their entire lives with these fictional people.

With shows like Gintama and Naruto on the scene with hundreds of episodes, it can be a shock to fans to realize these aren't even remotely the longest-running anime of all time. Some series have spanned thousands of episodes and are still airing new ones to this day. Which anime series have the most episodes ever?

Updated on July 9, 2024 by Mark Sammut: As some of the longest-running anime franchises split their episodes into separate shows, a section highlighting a few of these series has been added.

Special Mentions: Anime With Various Shows/Incarnations

While certain anime produce hundreds of episodes in a single run, some franchises split their content into different series or eras. Even though the individual entries do not qualify as the longest anime ever, the franchises as a whole could be candidates.

Consequently, the following table goes through a few popular long-running anime properties that have hundreds of episodes across different incarnations. More than anything, this data is fun to compile.

28 Morning Ninja team Gatchaman (Ohayo Ninja Tai Gatchaman)

475 Episodes

Dating back to the '70s, Gatchaman is a sentai franchise that has a habit of periodically resurfacing for a new entry. While the original series, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, is somewhat iconic in Japan, Western audiences might be more familiar with 2013's Gatchman Crowds and its 2015 sequel, a reboot that shares very little common with its classic predecessor.

Airing in 2011, Ohayo Ninja Tai Gatchaman is a flash anime that consists of one-minute episodes, and it does not appear to be available online. A parody of the '70s series and its later sequels, this show might have been a good time, although it is hard to know at this point.

27 Naruto Shippuden

500 Episodes

If taken as a whole, including Boruto, the Naruto franchise has passed 1000 episodes. However, each series is treated as a separate entity, even though they combine to tell a singular story (especially Naruto and Shippuden). The sequel series contains approximately half of the franchise's entire output, and many fans regard Shippuden to represent Naruto at its best.

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Hailed as one of the big three shonen properties, Naruto was inescapable for a number of years, and the anime has remained popular to this day. While a bit too reliant on flashbacks at times, Shippuden is generally a gripping ride.

26 Little Ghost Q-Taro (Obake no Q-Taro)

510 Episodes

Debuting as a 1964 manga by Fujiko Fujio, Little Ghost Q-Taro was adapted into three anime over the next two decades, with its final series lasting more than 500 episodes. Fujio's resume includes Doraemon and Ninja Hattori-kun, so the mangaka's work has served as inspiration for plenty of long-running and beloved children's shows over the years.

Nowadays, Little Ghost Q-Taro tends to be overshadowed by other adaptations of the creator's properties. That said, the show and manga are easy recommendations for Doraemon fans since they strike a similar tone.

25 Perman

526 Episodes

Another anime based on a manga by Fujiko Fujio, Perman is a superhero-themed comedy. A young kid named Mitsuo meets an alien who gives him a few items that grant him superpowers, allowing the boy to become Perman. However, Mitsuo has to keep his identity a secret at all costs.

Although Perman has not received a new series since the mid-80s, the anime did get a couple of movies in the early 2000s. At this point, the franchise is unlikely to make another comeback.

24 Hana Kappa (Hanakappa)

650+ Episodes

Still ongoing, Hana Kappa follows the eponymous character, a kappa who has a unique flower that grants him different abilities. Obviously, this makes the protagonist a target, and he must use his powers and friends to take down a few persistent villains.

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Hana Kappa has not really made its way out of Japan, but the series has been successful enough to last more than a decade. The show produces episodes at a near-daily rate and uploads the recent segments to its YouTube channel, so they are readily accessible if someone wants to give them a try. Naturally, they don't come with any English subtitles since this series is solely for a Japanese audience.

23 Ninja Hattori (Ninja Hattori-kun)

694 Episodes

Most of the longest anime series are kids' shows that never made it out of their country of origin, and some are forgotten or impossible to find online. Compared to most of its peers, Ninja Hattori is a relatively recognizable name, perhaps due to it receiving an anime revival in 2012. However, the '80s original is the version that spanned hundreds of episodes and has a cult following made up of people who grew up on the show.

Ninja Hattori follows the eponymous shinobi as he joins the Mitsuba family and befriends their young son, helping Kenichi to navigate everyday life. The premise is not all that different from something like Doraemon, just with a ninja replacing a robot.

22 Striped Island Tiger Shimajiro (Shima Shima Tora No Shimajiro)

726 Episodes

Designed for preschoolers, Shimajirō covers all the standard lessons children might need to know, and each episode is long for this type of show. The original anime ran for 726 episodes, but the franchise has spawned several sequels; therefore, if taken as a whole, Shimajirō has produced over a thousand stories.

As is often the case with these types of anime, Shimajirō was not promoted outside of Japan. Regardless of how popular they might be with their target audience, most shows designed for preschoolers tend to remain confined to their country of origin. That said, Shimajiro has an official English YouTube channel that uploads episodes from across the franchise's history, so it is not completely insular.

21 It's Morning! Clamployees (Asa Da Yo! Kaishain)

744 Episodes

Broadcast on Nippon TV Network, It's Morning! Clamployees consists of 1-minute shorts focusing on workplace culture. Debuting in 2016 and lasting until 2019, this series produced a huge amount of content during that time, and it even inspired a spin-off called Shellfish Employee that ran for a further 25 ONAs.

It's Morning! Clamployees has almost no presence in the West, and it might be one of those cases where the content does not fully translate to other countries. Out of all the anime with the most episodes featured on this list, It's Morning! Clamployees is the only one that could theoretically be completed in a single day.

20 Kotowaza House

773 Episodes

Lasting from 1987 to 1994, Kotowaza House seems to have been wiped from existence as very little information is available about the series. Consisting of 5-minute episodes, the anime would use its protagonist, Peter, a salaryman, to conduct public service announcements. Essentially, Peter would behave in an undesirable and unhealthy way and then be educated on his flawed actions.

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Kotowaza House goes to show just how much content has been virtually forgotten by time. This goes beyond anime, as there are presumably thousands of shows and movies that are simply lost. Projects that people put their hearts and souls into; ones that might have been popular during their eras but became a thing of the past the second they stopped airing.

19 Doraemon (2005)

818+ Episodes (1400+ Stories)

Doraemon is a staple of Japanese TV, having been on the air for decades. The first series aired in 1973, lasting 26 episodes. The series was revisited in 1979 and ran until 2005. The current Doraemon anime started that same year and hasn't shown any signs of slowing down since. It should be noted that most episodes consist of two individual stories, so technically they can be taken as standalone entries in the series.

Doraemon's adventures with Nobita have inspired a wide range of manga, films, and video games. Like many of the longest-running anime out there, the series is aimed at children and has maintained a loyal following over the years. While none of Doraemon's incarnations found massive audiences outside of Japan, the eponymous character is just one of those faces that should be recognizable to most people familiar with anime.