5 anime series with 1,000+ episodes ardent fans need to binge

Every anime fan eventually reaches the same crossroads. You finish a seasonal hit, stare at your watchlist, and consider finally starting that show. The one with hundreds, or even thousands, of episodes. The one people talk about like a rite of passage rather than a series.

Long-running anime series have a strange reputation. They are intimidating, easy to joke about, and often framed as commitments you need to mentally prepare for. But they are also the backbone of anime fandom, the shows that shaped weekly viewing habits, defined eras, and stuck around long enough to become cultural reference points.

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Now, a quick and necessary caveat before we go further. There are anime with much higher episode counts than what you’ll see here. Series like Sazae-san or Doraemon absolutely dwarf most shonen giants. But they are not what most global anime fans realistically queue up to watch next.

So, this list is intentional. As of February 2026, these are five of the longest running anime that are also massively popular, the ones every anime fan eventually feels obligated to invest time in.

One Piece (1,150+ episodes)

At this point, One Piece is less an anime and more a shared life milestone. Running since 1999, Eiichiro Oda’s pirate epic has achieved something almost no other long series has. It keeps getting bigger without collapsing under its own weight.

Arcs planted decades ago still pay off. Side characters return after hundreds of episodes. And despite pacing complaints that are practically tradition now, fans keep coming back because the story rewards patience, and then some.

Every anime fan knows the deal. You either start One Piece, or you spend the rest of your life explaining why you have not.

Detective Conan (1,200+ episodes)

Detective Conan has been solving crimes since 1996, and somehow, the main mystery has still not wrapped up. Fans have long accepted that this is not a show you watch for the destination.

You watch it because it reliably delivers clever cases, satisfying deductions, and an absurdly high murder rate for what is technically a family-friendly time slot.

It is a comfort watch for mystery lovers. The kind of anime you dip into, step away from, and return to years later without missing a beat.

Pokémon (1,350+ episodes)

Ash’s journey may have finally ended, but Pokémon itself is eternal. Since 1997, the anime has reinvented its format, regions, and protagonists while quietly stacking up episode after episode.

For many fans, this was their first anime. The gateway show that taught type matchups before storytelling structure. Its longevity comes from adaptability, evolving alongside the games while remaining instantly recognisable.

Crayon Shin-chan (1,300+ episodes)

Crude, chaotic, and unexpectedly observant, Crayon Shin-chan has been pushing buttons since 1992. Its humour leans juvenile on the surface, but longtime fans know it often slips in sharp social commentary when you least expect it.

What makes Shin-chan impressive is how little it chases reinvention. The world changes, the jokes shift slightly, but Shin remains unapologetically himself. That consistency is why it has lasted this long. It is the kind of anime people dismiss until they realise how deeply it has embedded itself into pop culture.

Naruto (1,000+ episodes)

Technically split into three series (Naruto + Shippuden + Boruto), but emotionally treated as one long endurance test, Naruto defined long-running shonen for an entire generation.

Between endless training arcs, war sagas, and flashbacks that became memes, fans stuck with it for over a decade.

Its episode count alone does not tell the full story. Naruto mattered because it grew up with its audience. Because themes of loneliness, ambition, and failure hit differently at 24 than they do at 14.

Complaints about fillers aside, most anime fans can still hum at least three Naruto openings from memory. This anime is truly iconic.

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These anime aren’t some of the longest running of all time because they were perfectly paced or endlessly innovative. They survived because they became part of fans’ lives.

There are longer-running anime out there. Much longer. But these are the ones ardent anime fans everywhere eventually have to watch. Which long-running anime is your favourite? Drop a comment to let us know.