# Which long-running anime has the worst filler?

> Recap episodes, beach detours, whole arcs invented while the manga caught up: every long-running anime pads, and some pad for years. Which one made you sit through the most?

*By YPB Team · Published August 4, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/which-long-running-anime-has-the-worst-filler*

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## Current results (0 votes)

1. **Naruto**
   The original 220-episode run padded roughly two in every five episodes with side stories.
2. **One Piece**
   Over a thousand episodes and still the leanest of the Big Three, but the filler arcs it does have drag.
3. **Bleach**
   The Bount and Zanpakuto Rebellion arcs pushed the original series close to half filler.
4. **Dragon Ball Z**
   Whole episodes of powering up, screaming and flying toward a fight that starts next week.
5. **Fairy Tail**
   Beach episodes, tournament detours and anime-only arcs stacked between canon chapters.
6. **Boruto: Naruto Next Generations**
   Ran so far ahead of its manga that most of its early seasons are original material.
7. **Black Clover**
   Padded arcs and recap-heavy stretches slowed a series fans wanted to sprint.
8. **Inuyasha**
   Dozens of monster-of-the-week detours between the plot beats of Takahashi's manga.
9. **Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters**
   Duels stretched across episodes, plus entire anime-original tournaments.
10. **Sailor Moon**
   The 1990s run repeated its transformation-and-villain formula for whole seasons at a time.
11. **Case Closed (Detective Conan)**
   More than a thousand episodes, the bulk of them anime-original cases.
12. **Pokémon**
   A weekly format that can go a full season without advancing anything.
13. **Hunter x Hunter (1999)**
   The older adaptation wandered off-manga before its OVAs pulled it back.
14. **Gintama**
   Filler by design — and often better than the canon it interrupts.
15. **Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)**
   Overtook the manga and invented its own second half and ending.
16. **Soul Eater**
   Ran out of source material and wrote an anime-only conclusion.

Tags: animation, japan, classics, all-time