1972


From what I've been able to follow, the seasons of anime shows have been tied
to thirteen week blocks, directly correlating with the actual season in Japan
(for instance, this is the Winter 2013 season).

However, there are instances in which shows with more than 13 episodes are
considered to have only run for one season.

Which is the correct definition - are seasons 23-26 episodes, or are they
11-13 episodes?


CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-15T03:08:54.640
1971
2013-03-21T22:33:11.283
2013-03-21T22:33:11.283
27
102
question
anime-production
What defines one "season" of anime?


The 13 week "season" that refers to a time of year or when a show starts
airing is sometimes referred to as an "airing" season or a "television"
season. This is like "Winter 2013 season". But since shows sometime span
different television seasons, even if it's 13 episodes long, this run of a
series can also be referred to as a "season".

Sometimes shows get cut off, go on hiatus, or for whatever reasons (e.g.
financial) have a significant break between certain episodes such that the TV
series runs through multiple "television seasons" (e.g. _Girls Und Panzer_ )
yet the show itself is still referred to as the "first _season_ ", and this is
sometimes referred to as a "cour" or "series". The usage of "season" comes
down to semantics. Multiple "seasons" of a TV series can also be called
"series", like _Galaxy Angel_ and it's multiple (different lengths) "
_seasons_ " are sometimes called "series 1", "series 2", etc. "Cours" however,
usually refer to a 12 or 13 stretch of episodes. So a 26 episode series can be
referred to as "2 cours".

But as far as the length of an anime "season", a 12 episode series run can be
referred to as a "season", yet sometimes a 26, or 36, or 201 (Gintama) episode
run is called a "season". It's technically not tied to a specific length,
which is why some people prefer to use "cours".


CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-15T03:50:26.317
1972
2013-01-15T03:50:26.317
91
1971
answer


A "season" is pretty much whatever the producer defines as "season".

The traditional size of a season in a periodic TV show is 24-26 episodes, but
this is not written in stone. Frequently a "test run" will be 12 episodes.

There is another reason called "[Broadcast
Syndication](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_syndication)" - a bundle
of either between 88 and 100, or exactly 65 episodes is sold to a TV network.

So, season sizes are often adjusted to these: two seasons of 26 and one of 13
episodes will create a bundle of 65. Three seasons of 25 and one of 13 will
create 88. Four seasons of 25 will create 100.

And of course there are exceptions: two-episode stories, extras, OVA and so on
which may or may not be included in the number.


CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-16T14:23:45.740
2015
2013-01-16T14:23:45.740
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1971
answer