The anime with the most filler episodes isn’t Bleach or Naruto: it’s a childhood classic
Nearly every anime has filler episodes, but which series holds the record for the highest percentage?
Filler episodes, those non-canon stories created specifically for anime adaptations, are a common feature in long-running series. From ’Dragon Ball’ to ’One Piece’, ’Naruto’, ’Bleach’, ’Sailor Moon’, ’Ranma ½’, ’Rurouni Kenshin’, and ’Saint Seiya’, nearly every major anime has had its share of filler content.
However, the anime with the highest percentage of filler episodes isn’t one of the usual suspects—it’s ’Detective Conan’ (’Case Closed’).
According to sources like Fiction Horizon and Sportskeeda, ’Detective Conan’ has 440 filler episodes out of 1,014 total, meaning 43% of its episodes are original content created by TMS Entertainment.
How other anime compare
While ’Detective Conan’ holds the record, other anime also have high filler percentages:
- ‘Bleach’ – 164 filler episodes out of 366 total (45% filler content)
- ‘Naruto’ – 293 filler episodes out of 720 total (41% filler content)
- ‘Rurouni Kenshin’ – 40 filler episodes out of 95 total (40% filler content)
What is filler in anime?
Filler episodes are non-canon content that does not follow the original manga’s storyline. They are often used to:
- Extend a series when demand is high.
- Give manga creators more time to develop new material.
- Expand the anime’s universe with side stories or alternate narratives.
Some anime pause their broadcast entirely when they run out of source material, while others rely on filler arcs to keep episodes coming.
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