If you thought The Simpsons was the longest running animated television show, take a look at some of the series from Japan. While a lot of the mainstream series such as Naruto, Bleach and Dragon Ball Z seem neverending to those who watch them outside of Japan, there are some shows which eclipse these shows easily. This is a select list of anime shows, with episode counts up to November 6^th, 2011 – the original broadcast start and end dates are in parentheses. While Pokémon has an insatiable list of episodes (more than 700), it was difficult to sift through the numerous series and versions available to get an accurate count.

1. Sazae-san – 6,000+* episodes (October 5^th, 1969)
2. Doraemon – 1,787 episodes (April 2^nd, 1979 – March 25^th, 2005)
3. Case Closed/Detective Conan – 635 episodes (January 8^th, 1996)
4. One Piece – 521 episodes (October 20^th, 1999)
5. Naruto Shippuden – 455 episodes (February 15^th, 2007)
6. Bleach – 346 episodes (October 5^th, 2004)
7. Dragon Ball Z – 291 episodes (April 26^th, 1989 – January 31^st, 1996)
8. Naruto – 220 episodes (October 3^rd, 2002 – February 8^th, 2007)
9. Inazuma Eleven – 127 episodes (October 5^th, 2008 – April 27^th, 2011)

* Fuji TV’s web site lists 5,620 episodes for Sazae-san which is not up-to-date.