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While it might sound great to follow a manga to the letter, some of these anime arcs are far too long, dragging out the story and ruining the pacing. The longest shonen anime arcs, along with the lengthiest anime fights in history, can be found in some of the most popular shows still airing. Buckle in for a long binge, because these series are overly generous with their episodes.
Updated February 2, 2022, by Jourdan Silva: Some of the biggest anime in TV history have been around for over ten years and continue to release new episodes, seasons, and full-length movies. As nearly everyone familiar with the Japanese media knows, one anime in particular prides itself on being the longest-running of all time. The longest arc in One Piece is still airing today, inching its way up to the top spot. Other anime shows have proven their story writing and character building abilities through incredibly long arcs, which deserve a spot here in the list of the longest anime arcs.
12 Cell (Dragon Ball Z)
The famous Cell arc consists of 29 episodes that aired from 1992 to 1993. The anime episodes are based on the last 26 volumes of the Dragon Ball manga. The lengthy season covers all 92 chapters and 1388 pages of Cell’s story.
The arc consists of three different sagas: the Imperfect Cell Saga, Perfect Cell Saga and Cell Games Saga. Dragon Ball Kai shortens the arc to make it a bit more condensed and quicker to get through, though it is still lengthy. The season is a favorite for many DBZ fans as it shows the mind-blowing ascension of the four main Saiyans, Goku and Vegeta, Future Trunks, and Gohan. Cell and the androids are vicious antagonists to watch battle against the Earth protectors.
11 Alvarez (Fairy Tail)
The iconic Alvarez arc is the seventeenth and final story arc of Fairy Tail. After so many incredible seasons of the magical anime, the last 43 episodes make up the final arc. They are based on the manga chapters 438 to 545.
In this conclusive season, the Alvarez Empire is waging a war upon Ishgar while Zeref and the deadly dragon Acnologia scheme to achieve their own selfish goals. The season was well received by longtime viewers of the anime, making a great ending for the show. There are many emotional moments, dramatic battles, extreme magical abilities, and an admirable ending. It’s not the longest arc in Fairy Tail, but it is long enough to wrap up the main plot and the stories of each of the main protagonist and antagonists.
10 Chunin Exams (Naruto)
Oh, the Chunin Exams. This long-winding arc in the beginning of Naruto’s story, consisting of 47 episodes, covers the training exams that the student ninja need to pass in order to gain the rank of chunin. The arc includes both the Chunin Exam Preliminaries and Finals, and really shows viewers how long and intricate the story can get. It puts time into describing each character, their backstories, and their fighting style.
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The season fully introduces the Konoha 11, Team Guy, the Sand Siblings, and huge upcoming antagonist Orochimaru. The Chunin Exam arc covers chapters 34 to 115 of the manga, and leaves out very little detail.
9 Thriller Bark (One Piece)
This won’t be the only One Piece story arc to make this list. Released back in 2008, more seasons have since come out and beat the number of episodes in this one. The Thriller Bark arc, the eighteenth in the series, consists of 45 episodes in the anime that cover 48 chapters in the manga.
During their time in the Florian Triagle, The Straw Hats come across a Thriller Bark, a haunted island.ship filled with a creepy, ghoulish crew. When their shadows are stolen by the Warlord of the Sea, the pirates must fight to get them back. This long (and sometimes disliked arc) is important to the overall story, for the crew meets skeleton Brook, who joins them as an ally.
8 The Frieza Saga (Dragon Ball Z)
Dragon Ball is famous for its long arcs and yawn-inducing, stretched out battle scenes. After each powerful attack, the characters always feel inclined to fully explain their every single move, in very specific detail.
It’s almost comical how slow some story arcs are in Dragon Ball Z, including the Majin Buu and The Android and Cell Saga. The infamous Frieza Saga consists of 33 episodes in Dragon Ball Z and 19 episodes in Dragon Ball Kai. It also includes the longest fight scene in all of anime history, the battle between Goku and Frieza. This fight scene alone spans over 18 episodes, totaling a whopping 4 hours and 13 minutes.
7 Fish-Man Island (One Piece)
One Piece hits this list multiple times due to how long its story arcs are. The anime has been airing for over 20 years now, following a manga that is just as detailed and long. The Fish-Man Island arc is the 25th story arc in the series and is 51 episodes long.
After a two year hiatus, the Straw Hats are back at it with their adventures, and head out to a mystical underwater world. Though it can get pretty tempting to skip over the very long arcs in One Piece, it reigns as one of the most loved anime of all time due to how entertaining and fun it is to watch, so skipping any of its arcs is not recommended — no matter how long they get.
6 Arrancar: Downfall (Bleach)
The entire 14th season of Bleach covers the Arrancar: Downfall arc, spanning 51 episodes. The season aired from April 2010 to April 2011, with an episode coming out every week for that entire year. The arc follows the battles between the Soul Reapers an Sōsuke Aizen’s arrancar army as they try to save Karakura Town from destruction. The arc is so long, it used six different theme songs over its span.
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The previous and following seasons of Bleach aren’t as long as this one, hitting an average of 20 to 30 episodes each. Regardless of the length, it’s still a great watch for those who love shows about ghosts, ghouls, and grim reapers.
5 Grand Magic Games (Fairy Tail)
Fairy Tail isn’t a short anime, airing from October 12, 2009 to September 29, 2019. The entire series ran for a massive 328 episodes, with 52 episodes belonging to a single arc: the Grand Magic Games. Now that’s a long competition!
In this arc, the Fairy Tail guild decides to compete in the Grand Magic Games, hoping to prove their skill and restore their good name. The arc runs from episodes 151 to 203, covering each talented guild they are up against, from the reigning champ Sabertooth to the dark and powerful Raven Tail. It’s exciting to see how each member battles it out to win the ultimate guild title.
4 Chimera Ant (Hunter x Hunter)
This famous story arc lasts a vast 61 episodes, starting at Episode 76 and ending at Episode 136. It is regarded to by Hunter x Hunter fans as either the greatest arc in anime history, or the absolute worst that should never have existed. A bunch of exotic and weird events unfold throughout the 61 episodes, involving mutant ants born from a human-eating Queen.
It’s a necessary watch for those binging the series, since it features the changing relationship between the main protagonist duo and evolves the characters dramatically. It’s gorey, it’s odd, it’s dark, and it resulted in quite a lot of viral memes.
3 Fourth Great Ninja War (Naruto)
This incredible arc is the most important in the entire series, spanning 116 episodes that are split into 3 sections. The actual story lasts only two days, but is spread out across dozens of episodes. The arc features plenty of battles between high powered shinobi and terrifying villians, oodles of flashbacks, and intricate detail about each character involved.
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There are some filler stories in the arc, which helps make it so long. Like the Chimera Ant Arc in HxH, fans of Naruto were either super happy with how this story line of the series played out, or were incredibly annoyed and frustrated with the pacing, antagonists, and ending.
2 Dressrosa (One Piece)
This fantastical, wild arc in One Piece lasted a whopping 118 episodes, airing from January 19, 2014 to June 19, 2016. The story follows the Straw Hats as they try to take down the king of Dressrosa, the Warlord of the Sea Donquixote Doflamingo.
As expected, things don’t go very easily for these rough and tough pirates, and a slew of dangerous enemies and world-changing events approach the group during this extra-long journey. Dressrosa was widely known as the longest anime arc in all of history… until One Pieceset out to break its own record with the next arc in this list, the Wano arc.
1 Wano (One Piece)
The current (and possibly last) arc of the expansive, incredibly long anime/manga series is set to be the longest arc in anime history. As of February 2022, the manga has 129 chapters for just the Wano arc, and it is still being written.
The anime is at 120 episodes so far, and will continue to follow the canon events of the manga. It is suggested that this arc will finally close Luffy’s story, after over 20 years of being praised and adored by fans across the world.
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