In today’s era, fans have always been joking about whether ‘One Piece‘ will end during their lifetime or not, but little do they know, that it is by far, not one of the longest-running anime. There are at least 3-4 or even more animes that count their episode numbers in thousands.
Though it may sound daunting at first, these shows are kind of like the pied-piper. They are magical and will lure you into their sphere within a few episodes. You may have heard some of the names listed down below, or maybe they’ve been released even before you were born.
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Best Longest-Running Anime
The list below is a countdown of my own personal preference. There are more than 10 to 20 shows whose numbers are above 900. So I’ll note some classic names to the list, along with the recent most talked about – ‘One Piece‘. So let the trail begin!
5. Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball by far has released 804 episodes or more along with 19 movies approximately. This show has different parts like – Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super, and Super Dragon Ball Heroes. This is a classic anime, which most of you have seen or at least have heard of it.
The title song of this anime is pretty well-known, and maybe even I can sing a few lines of it (lol). Akira Toriyama’s show focuses on the protagonist Son Goku who is the sole survivor of their clan – the Saiyans. His story from childhood to adulthood, facing challenges, making friends with dragons, and wishing upon the Dragon Balls – is what the show is all about.
4. One Piece
By far One Piece has a count of episodes 1,036. It’s a worldwide all-time favorite for anime fanatics. While some transform into asthmatic patients after looking at the episode numbers, some enjoy the show as its progresses. Surprisingly even after all these releases, the anime has yet to slow down its pace or fall behind in ranking.
Eichiro Oda’s manga/anime paints the journey of Luffy and his friends in search of the treasure “One Piece” which a famous pirate Gold D. Roger has left somewhere at the end of the earth. The struggle, character development, fight scenes, and emotional balance have been well woven into the story.
3. Detective Conan
We have to hand it to Gosho Aoyama for coming up with the latest detective cases to date starting from 1996 which has kept the viewers glued to the anime for further revelation and mystery. Each story carries a depth psychological murder/mystery that the now-young detective Shinichi Kudo solves. It has an approximate episode number of 1,043.
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Shinichi was force-fed some experimental drug, due to which his body shrank to the size of a kid. But that didn’t reduce his brainpower a bit. He goes on a quest to solve cases while also looking for those people responsible for his currency state. Sadly, not even the girl he used to like can recognize him in his stuart form, though she continues supporting him regardless of his new identity.
2. Pokemon
This anime series started back in 1997 and to date has released 1,215 episodes as of this week of October 2022. Pokemon is an anime show that all of us have watched. I won’t believe it if you say you have not watched it unless you were born just a few years back (though that too seems weird). The franchise was designed by Satoshi Tajiri.
He did an explicitly beautiful job at creating the pokemon, especially Pikachu. The story revolves around a boy who travels around the world with his Pokemon companions, one constantly being Pikachu (who likes to be outside of the Poke ball). Ash’s aim is to become a Pokemon master by winning numerous battles in which his friends and Pikachu participate.
1. Sazae San
Nothing can ever beat this masterpiece written by Machiko Hasegawa which has an episode number of 7000+. Yes, you heard it right! This has even been registered in the Guinness Book of World Records as being one of the longest-televised anime series ever in history.
The anime portrays the ordinary life of the household of the housewife Sazae Fuguta and her family. The daily office going, weekend breaks, chit chats, and quarrels are beautifully yet simply shown in this program. It is quite loved in Japan and even now, there are families who look up to this show date.
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