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Many shows in America (I am using the US as example because I live here) have
TV shows announced almost right away. There aren't usually gaps of more than a
year in between seasons.

However, for anime, there are usually several years gaps in between seasons.
For example, _Attack on Titan_ has a couple of years in between seasons, and
the Fate series had several years in between all of them.

Is this because they aren't very popular, or is it due to a different reason?


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2014-11-18T10:45:25.950
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anime-production
Why do anime (in general) have so much time in between seasons?


I think it depends more of production than if is an anime or a TV show. But is
true that in anime sometimes the time between seasons is more than one year.
That's because some anime are quickly than manga and anime need stopping for
don't reach the manga.

Is possible that the reason is only the business model un US about manga, but
I think is for the reason I comment. For be sure you can consult the time
between season in Japan.


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2014-11-18T22:37:20.077
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There are _sooo_ many anime series (and manga for that matter), that
broadcasting companies don't know which will be hits and which won't be at the
time of establishing a contract with a studio.

The fact is, when a studio gets the green light to do a series, it is
typically one season; that is, with the exception of some of the _Jump_ comics
that have long-running series (e.g. Naruto, One Piece, Bleach, and so on).

So when the studio gets the green light to start production, the number of
episodes is already decided. For some, this is enough to do a full story arc
and have a clean ending. Others end more openly or on a cliffhanger. This can
drive the audience to pick up the manga to see how the story continues, or to
the hopes of the studio, the popularity will be high enough that the audience
will request or demand a second season. This is evident in the recent
_Shingeki no Kyojin_ ( _Attack on Titan_ ) boom.

This is also true for Japanese dramas. Typically, they are all one season. And
**if** there is a second season, it comes much later because the studio and
the TV broadcasting company weren't originally planning to make a second or
third season from the get-go. This means you also have to account for
production time between the seasons too.

Hope that helps. (My only reference is that I lived in Japan for over 5 years
and saw this happening _a lot_ and heard about it in the news.)


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2014-11-19T16:50:29.583
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One reason may be that anime takes longer to produce than a normal show (as in
ones with actors such as supernatural), however I have no idea wether this is
true or not.

The other reason I know of is that most (if not all) anime is based off of
manga, and also usually advance much faster than it story-wise. Thus it needs
to pause for a while to allow the manga to beat it. I do know for certain
that, that is the reason Attack on Titan hasn't aired in a couple years.


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2015-07-25T06:30:45.323
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Just to clarify my main reference is family, namely my brothers and father who
have all lived in Japan for years at one time or another time for various
reasons.

One of the biggest reasons is their expense. Animes are expensive to make.
Anime and video games are the most expensive form of advertising there is for
manga, which is the real moneymaker. A single episode can cost anywhere
between $100,000-200,000. That's the equivalent, in the current market, to
¥1,0072,000-2,0144,000. This is also an average as it isn't always a set
amount, and some anime get more funding than others if they are popular or
raised it somehow. So that means for a single 24 episode season you just spent
$2,400,000-4,800,000 (which is a lot of yen, you can do the math yourself) on
what may be a boom or bust for the company.

Now with the anime out you have to give it time to market your manga for you.
If sales don't pick up much or at all after the anime comes out it isn't
likely the anime will continue. Like KiaiFighter pointed out the only ones
that get a really longstanding season are the ones who have an incredibly long
and popular manga, probably through JUMP or one of their competitors. Like he
said you have anime like One Piece, Gingtama -- or Fairy Tale through Weekly
Shōnen Magazine -- which all feature hundreds of episodes because they were
popular and established before the anime even got started and can afford to be
given longer seasons. The ones that don't have that kind of backing must wait
potentially years for the anime to market the manga and paraphernalia before
there is even consideration for a new season.

Then there is also the problem it takes time to make a manga and storyline.
Lesser known mangas that don't have the advantage of JUMP or other forms to
effectively distribute their manga probably don't have a whole lot of arcs
covered. Basically a single 13 episode season can catch up on the whole series
effectively. So even if it is popular, the funds are available, and the
populace is waiting, it is likely it might very well be delayed anyway for
several years simply so the author can get ahead a few arcs. Look at the anime
Tsukaima no Zero which had between two to four years between each 12 episode
season so that the light novels could get ahead enough (didn't really matter
though because the author passed before he could finish but I digress). If
they don't then you just have a huge number of filler episodes, like with
Naruto and the Hunter x Hunter from the 1990's (I can't get over how the
nickname for Hunter x Hunter is Hiatus x Hiatus because the author constantly
puts off continuing the manga which was only recently started again. Its been
around for almost 20 years but they only have about 150 episodes worth of
anime, as opposed to One Piece which started a year before, and even GinTama.
But again I digress).

Lastly, like KiaiFighter also pointed out, Dramas are a whole other ballpark
and shouldn't be touched with another season because they generally leave
everything wrapped up nice and tightly so there shouldn't be any complaints
other than the tears of joy a the happy ending or shock and denial for the
depressing ending.


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2016-07-07T23:50:35.370
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