20 Longer Length Anime To Get Lost In

Certainly it is believed that the 12-episode format or even the longer 24-episode format is good for telling a good self-contained story. However, for some, anime isn’t about how many series you can watch – it is about the quality of the ones you do.

Now, that isn’t saying that a longer anime series equates to better quality, but longer length anime often does create a big world full of characters that you can truly get lost in.

If you only want to get invested in the world of one long anime series, here are our recommendations for longer length anime.

Best Longer Length Anime

Why New Longer Length Anime Series Are Rare

You will notice that there aren’t too many newer anime on this list. The reason behind that is because less longer length anime that span multiple seasons are being made these days.

The reason anime has gone with a shorter format and often are left unfinished after a brief first season boils down to – as it always does – a money issue.

Anime is an art form AND a business, never forget. It costs a significant sum to make an anime, and that anime must have returns in the form of Blu-Ray sales – the metric in which Japan measures the success of an anime series – or in sales of the source material for that series.

As such, what you get these days are first seasons of what are actually long series that never go on to get another season. They made that anime to give you a taste – sort of like a long commercial for the source material. If it doesn’t perform well financially, it never gets another season.

Gintama

With 10 seasons and 300-something episodes, if you can get into Gintama, you have a lot to devour. While it is by far and wide the best parody comedy series once it gets going, it also has a surprisingly deep plot of its own that is weaved in with the jokes. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to get into this series if you let the first few episodes leave a bad impression. In fact, since the first two episodes are basically just jerking off that the manga got an adaptation, it is widely recommended to skip them.

Related: How to Watch Gintama in Order

One Piece

If you want to watch only one anime, One Piece could be that one anime. It is on season 20, with over 900 episodes, and the source material is still not close to finishing. What’s more is that the creator has still managed to keep the characters and world interesting without the devastating power creep that happens to some action series. *cough BleachandDBZ coughcough*

Naruto

Naruto, unlike One Piece up there, has an ending. Well, it did right up until a few months later when it didn’t again. You have Naruto and Naruto Shippuden that wraps up the titular character’s story. Then you have Boruto that focuses on his son and demotes Naruto to neglectful father. The main series has 500 episodes on its own and Boruto is still ever-growing as well.

Related: How to Watch Naruto in Order

Fairy Tail

If you are looking for an action series that has an ending eventually, Fairy Tail has tidily wrapped up and hasn’t decided it needs to reboot itself yet. At over 300 episodes, you can explore deluge of mages and creatures that progress ever-so-quickly in difficulty for the main characters to deal with.

Natsume’s Book of Friends

If action isn’t so much your thing, you don’t usually have a lot of options for longer anime that is both cozy and interesting. However, Natsume’s Book of Friends is one of those rare long-running cozy series that isn’t meant for younger audiences. This series spans 6 seasons and 60 episodes about a kid that can talk to spirits and constantly gets pulled into their problems.

Haikyuu

If sports is your thing – or even if it isn’t – Haikyuu has garnered a huge fan base for its intensity and its characters. Even if sports isn’t really your favorite thing, Haikyuu executes an excellent underdog story and makes even volleyball seem interest with its lovable cast. So far it has gathered 4 seasons and over 70 episodes, allowing you to fall deep into it.

Black Clover

Black Clover suffered initially in the first season because it featured so many cliched things. Even as a series about mages, it was something people has seen before in series like Fairy Tail. However, it later redeemed itself by introducing the characters and magics that would actually make it interesting. Now it is quickly becoming a big shounen staple, gathering more than 150 episodes with more seasons on the way.

The Monogatari Series

If you want something more casual that you can turn your brain off a little to watch, the Monogatari series may not be for you. Heavily laden with dialogue, it is a series where you might miss a crucial plot point if you aren’t paying attention to the subtitles. However, it expands upon a huge cast of unique characters that help to draw you into its supernatural thriller. While there is only roughly over 100 episodes to the entire series, it is one of those complex beasts that will require a watch order guide.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

Certainly one could tell a bizarre adventure story in a compact amount of episodes, but not Jojo. As it is a series that follows a new generation of the Joestar family with every part, the series has gotten girthy. Not counting episodes before it was rebooted, JoJo and the four parts that have been adapted has reached over 150 episodes now, and still has many parts yet to adapt into anime. It is guaranteed to be one hell of a bizarre ride.

My Hero Academia

Although it is one of the newer action series, My Hero Academia has been met with the sort of popularity that will see it get tons of seasons even after we ask them to stop. Luckily, it has not yet reached that point yet. It is still at a tidy four seasons with 80-ish episodes. There is still plenty more in the works as well. Furthermore, My Hero Academia has a pretty unique way of hyping you up with its big scenes, and that is something I hope never fades about it.

Attack on Titan

While Attack on Titan is on its last season presently, it took a long road getting there. As of presently, its four seasons have collected over 70 episodes, and by the time you get through all that, the series will most likely be finished. It is great for people who want a thrilling, albeit vicious series, that also has a conclusive ending without taking any filler detours.

Case Closed

Case Closed, or Detective Conan, as it is also called, stands alongside One Piece as one of the longer running anime series out there at over 900 episodes. Furthermore, it is one of those series that is still pretty good as well. It doesn’t keep itself as fresh as the plot in One Piece, but it has one of those plots where you don’t mind a repetitive format. As a detective series, you can expect a mystery to solve with each episode, or occasionally spanning arcs. Some are more clever than others, but it is like Scooby Doo – you get a thrill from trying to solve it before the characters.

Seven Deadly Sins

Like Attack on Titan, Seven Deadly Sins is currently coming back with its fourth season, which by the end should give you near 100 episodes to consume. While it is another action shounen series, Seven Deadly Sins puts some nice twists on the standard tropes. Sometimes they steer into them so hard, it actually feels like a subversion. Furthermore, the world of Seven Deadly Sins feels as old as it is vast. It is very much a series that can take you on an adventure.

World Trigger

While World Trigger is only just now getting its second anime season, it had a girthy 73 episodes in its first season alone. Although the second season will not be that long, it also has a third season in the works as well.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn

This is one of those weird shows where you can watch over 200 episodes of it, and then promptly forget about it. This might suggest it is bad, which it is not, but it is not the most memorable series. It has its intense moments of action, but aside from the iconic mobster baby, it doesn’t have a lot of memorable characters.

A Certain Magical Index

A Certain Magical Index has three seasons and about 75 episodes, which is a lot, but it is longer than it seems. This is because there is also its sister series A Certain Scientific Railgun that is a spin-off, happens in conjunction with Magical Index, and is fully worth watching. Scientific Railgun also has three seasons, which is another 75 episodes. However, like the Monogatari series, it is a series that is complex and dialogue heavy, meriting a watch order guide. However, it presents one of the more interesting anime worlds out there.

Sword Art Online

It didn’t used to be that Sword Art Online was “a long anime series,” but time make fools of us all, I suppose. Not counting the mostly unrelated spin-off, Gun Gale Online, Sword Art Online has gathered over 90 episodes now, still filled with the same dips and rises in plot quality that people may remember from the first season alone.

Inuyasha

Inuyasha is, at this point, a generation-spanning beast. The original series sort of fizzled out after some filler, then it got rebooted briefly for Final Act to give it an ending, and now it has a Boruto-style spin-off following the children of both Sesshomaru and Inuyasha. It has over 200 episodes in total now and remains a lovely choice for an supernatural action romance show.

Toriko

If you truly want an anime world that feels vast and full of new adventures, then Toriko is perfect. It has over 100 episodes and the main character is basically just hunting for food ingredients. It ensures that you see a variety of the dangerous and even innocuous creatures that populate the world. Furthermore, it melds excellent comedy with shounen-style action in a way that makes it work better than you standard action comedy anime series.

The Fate/Stay Series

Do you want a full-on franchise to dive into and consume your life? Well, that’s the Fate Series for you. It has lots of completely unrelated spin-offs, which are still fun if you are into the main series. The main series itself has about 70 episodes to watch, but you can get lost in the weeds among the spin-offs and movies.

Do you have any more anime recommendations for long anime series that a watcher can really lose themselves in? Let fans know in the comments section below.