Best Anime With More Than 200 Episodes

This is the age of 12-episode anime seasons with years between them, but there are a few rare ultra-long anime series that start at 200 episodes and keep going up from there! Starting one of these behemoths from scratch can seem like a daunting task - which it is! However, if you're up for it, you'll also find some of the most epic and fleshed-out storylines this side of a Homerian epic. Here are some of the best anime with at least 200 episodes, ranked by episode number in descending order.

11. Case Closed/Detective Conan (1,009 Episodes, Ongoing)

Year: 1996 - Present

Watch On: Crunchyroll, Anime Planet and Amazon Prime Video.

Case Closed (also known as Detective Conan) is one of the longest-running anime series of all time. The show's premise is pretty weird, but if you can roll with it, there's an entertaining crime caper to be had.

Shinichi (Jimmy) Kudo is a high-schooler and a detective. So far, so good, right? While not going to class, he sometimes helps the local police to solve cases that are too hard for them - so it's Hardy Boys, sort of. Okay, hold on to your hats: while investigating a crime, Shinichi is forced to drink poison by the Black Organization. Instead of killing him, it turns him into a child.

Instead of, let's say, looking for medical help, he changes his name to Conan Edogawa to hide his identity. Then he moves in with his childhood friend and her dad, who is a detective. When he solves a case, he tranquilizes the grownup detective and impersonates his voice to reveal the solution to the case.

Look, this is a pretty wacky crime-of-the-week show, but it's also an entertaining and culturally significant show. Japan's government has even used the character to promote crime awareness among children. It skews towards a younger audience, but we reckon people of all ages can give it a chance.

10. One Piece (977 Episodes, Ongoing)

Year: 1999 - Present

Watch On: Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu and Funimation

Where do I even start with the juggernaut that is One Piece? This show is shonen anime royalty, standing in the company of titles like Naruto, Bleach, and Dragon Ball Z. It's been running continuously since 1999, and it's not entirely clear when it will end. The mangaka (manga author) Eiichiro Oda has hinted at when the manga (and thus the anime) will end in the past, but some of those milestones have come and gone. According to CBR, the manga will come to an end in around five years, which would put it somewhere around 2026. However, take that with a grain of salt since this seems to be a train without brakes.

At almost 1,000 episodes to date, getting into One Piece can seem insurmountable. We've only managed to complete a relatively small bite of the show ourselves! Making use of a filler guide is highly recommended since, at this point, we've seen estimates of One Piece being around 10% filler!

As for the show itself, it's set in a world all about pirates and island dwellers. In this world, there's an ultimate treasure known as the One Piece and magical fruit that can give you special powers for a price. The main character, a boy named Luffy, wants to find the One Piece so he can become the pirate king. He eats a "Devil Fruit" that gives him the power of a rubber body but takes away the ability to swim - so any Devil Fruit users who fall into the sea are goners.

It's a massive adventure with countless memorable characters. The individual arcs may follow a similar pattern, but as the show's longevity shows, no one is tired of it yet!

9. Naruto Franchise (922 Episodes, Ongoing)

Year: 2002 - 2017

Watch On: Netflix, Crunchyroll, Amazon and Hulu

Naruto is an absolute phenomenon! It follows the life of Naruto Uzumaki, an orphaned student at the Ninja Academy in the Hidden Leaf Village. For reasons Naruto doesn't understand, everyone seems to keep their distance from him. This social rejection turns him into a bit of a rebel, and his desire for acceptance drives him to the life goal of becoming "Hokage," the leader of the Hidden Leaf Village.

This ambition sets him on a collision course with many other ninja, and as Naruto overcomes the various challenges on his path, the stakes heighten even more. Naruto has one of the most fleshed-out and interesting worlds we've ever seen. The characters are mostly fantastic, and the actual plotlines are smart and keep you guessing. It's easy to write off Naruto as another shonen fighting anime, but it's far more than that.

There are two mainline Naruto series: Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. Naruto's story technically ends after the combined 922 episodes of these two shows, but the currently-running Boruto follows the story of Naruto's son and shows us what happens to Naruto and other beloved characters after their time in the spotlight ends.

8. Pretty Cure Franchise (836 Episodes, Ongoing)

Year: 2004 - Present

Watch On: Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime Video and VRV.

OK, this is a little bit of a cheat. There are 18 Pretty Cure anime series, and only two of these are sequels to the series that came before them. So really, this is the whole franchise added up to get that massive episode count. The Pretty Cure is, therefore, like the magical girl anime equivalent to Power Rangers - each year, there's a new take on a similar theme.

Funnily enough, Saban (of Power Rangers fame) is also responsible for adapting two of the Pretty Cure series to English under the Glitter Force name. Specifically, Smile! PreCure and DokiDoki! PreCure were adapted as Glitter Force and Glitter Force DokiDoki.

The comparisons to Power Rangers and other Sentai properties runs deeper than you might think. With every season of PreCure, a group of teenage girls is granted items that turn them into magical girl warriors known as the Pretty Cure. Over the course of each season, they have to fight every more powerful enemy, sometimes gaining new items and abilities in the fight.

If you like the idea of teen girls kicking monster butt, Pretty Cure is a great place to start.

7. Dragon Ball Franchise (639 Episodes)

Year: 1986 – Present

Watch On: AnimeLab, Funimation & Hulu

We guess you'd have to live under a rock not to know about the Dragon Ball franchise. However, most people are more familiar with Dragon Ball Z than the first series which was simply titles Dragon Ball.

Dragon Ball Z became the archetypal standard for over-the-top fighting shonen anime. On the other hand, Dragon Ball is a much more traditional adventure and, in our opinion, better for it. It follows the adventures of Son Goku, a mysterious boy with the tail of a monkey and superhuman strength. He crosses paths with a girl named Bulma, who is in search of the Dragon Balls. If you collect all of them, you will be granted any one wish, after which all the balls are scattered across the world again.

Goku and Bulma make plenty of friends and enemies over the course of their adventure, which takes up the first 153 episodes of this franchise. Dragon Ball is then followed by Dragon Ball Z, GT, Z Kai, Super, and most recently, Super Dragon Ball Heroes. The characters are charming, and although some of the fights can really turn it into "drag-on Ball" at times, they are never less than epic.

6. Bleach (366 Episodes)

Year: 2004 – 2012

Watch On: Anime Planet, Crunchyroll, Hulu & Amazon Prime Video

While it's not nearly as famous as it once was, Bleach is still shonen anime royalty. It tells the story of Ichigo, a boy who can see ghosts, and his encounter with the Shinigami - essentially, reapers who help souls pass into the afterlife. Through an accident, Ichigo takes on the powers of a reaper named Rukia and temporarily takes on her duties.

For the first part of the show, that's basically the premise. Ichigo has to fight various "hollows" in Rukia's stead so that they don't run rampant and cause all sorts of problems. However, things start to get more serious pretty quickly. Eventually, Ichigo finds himself in opposition to the entire structure of Soul Society and all the reapers - not to mention that there are several other organizations and individuals working from the shadows.

With perhaps the exception of Naruto, Bleach has one of the best character power-up arcs of any shonen anime. Yes, we include Dragon Ball Z in that assessment. Ichigo himself consistently breaks through some tough metaphorical walls to gain the strength to save the people he cares about.

Another reason Bleach is pretty great comes from its creativity and premise. It mixes Japanese and South American folklore in ways that we have never seen before or since. The powers and battles are also consistently from left field and very enjoyable. If you're a fan of the shonen genre in general, you have to watch Bleach sooner or later.

5. Lupin III Franchise (321 Episodes, Ongoing)

Year: 1971 - Present

Watch On: Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Crunchyroll.

Lupin III (that's Lupin the Third) is one of the longest-running, most beloved anime properties in the entire industry. The first series ran for 23 episodes back in the '70s, and Part 6 is slated for a 2021 release.

Arsène Lupin III is the grandson of famous gentleman thief Arsène Lupin and is very much following in the footsteps of dear old granddad. Lupin is always trying to pull off even more crazy heists and is aided by a group of experts in their own fields to steal the most heavily protected treasures. Lupin's primary opponent is Inspector Heiji Zenigata VII, who is an expert on Lupin and lives only to bring the master thief to book.

The popularity of Lupin's heist formula isn't hard to understand, and Lupin himself is charming and suave as all heck. If you like crime-based caper-filled shows and happen to like beautifully animated media as well, you've probably already watched Lupin III. If not, get on it ASAP.

4. Captain Harlock Franchise (248 Episodes)

Year: 1978-2014

Watch On: Crunchyroll and Amazon Prime Video

Captain Harlock first debuted on TV screens back in 1978 with the 42-episode TV series Space Pirate Captain Harlock set in the year 2977, where humans sail the stars at will. However, they face oppression from alien races and resulting despair from being beaten down by more advanced opponents.

It's within this universe that we meet Harlock, a space pirate with a strong streak of individualism. He's joined on his ship, the Arcadia, by a crew of interesting misfits, and together they have one daring adventure after the next. While most of the crew are human, there are alien members as well - not to mention that the Arcadia's builder lives on within the ship's computer, where his mind resides after his death.

Harlock is filled with interesting ideas that are sure to tickle the fancy of mainstream sci-fi fans, so if you're into mainstream shows like Star Trek or Farscape, the Harlock franchise is a good choice.

Harlock's franchise spans several shows and movies, including Endless Orbit SSX 22 and Galaxy Express 999, which is set in the same universe.

3. Dr. Slump (243 Episodes)

Year: 1981-1986

Watch On: Amazon Prime Video and Tubi TV

While Akira Toriyama is known mainly for Dragon Ball, Dragon Quest, and probably other things with the word "dragon" in it, it was Dr. Slump that launched his career as a legendary manga author.

There are two main Dr. Slump series. The original 243-episode anime, and then a remake with 73-episodes that aired in the late '90s. This comedic series follows the exploits of a robot girl named Arale, created by Senbei Norimaki.

Dr. Slump actually takes place in the same world as Dragon Ball. Senbei can be seen in both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Super. Senbei is actually the first person in the world of Dragon Ball to create a working android.

Dr. Slump is mainly a comedy with plenty of parodies and jokes poking fun at both Japanese and American culture. The humor is very much the same as we would later see in Dragon Ball, so Dr. Slump is a worthy show to add to the list if you like Toriyama's other work.

2. Macross Franchise (237 Episodes)

Year: 1982

Watch On: Amazon Prime Video

The Macross franchise is by far one of the most loved and well-known anime franchises in history. With character designs and writing by the legendary Hirohiko Mikimoto, this is a world that no anime fan can ignore.

There are well over 200 episodes of Macross spread over various series, but it all began in 1982 with Super Dimension Fortress Macross. This 36-episode series was one of three classic '80s anime adapted into Robotech.

1. Gin Tama (201 Episodes)

Year: 2006 – 2018

Watch On: Anime Planet, Funimation, Crunchyroll, Hulu & Netflix

Making it on to this 200 episode anime list by a single digit, Gin Tama is one of the more imaginative anime series with such a long run of episodes. It's an alternate history story of Japan where humanity is attacked and conquered by an alien race called the Amanto. The aliens turn the Shogunate into a puppet government and ban all swords from being carried in public.

Our hero is Gintoki Sakata, a samurai who now works as an odd-job freelancer. Early in the story, Gintoki gains two partners for his freelancing business, and together they have a wide variety of adventures in this weird mixed sci-fi and samurai world. If you're in the mood for something both different and comedic, Gin Tama is a great rabbit hole to fall into.