Question about anime TV seasons

[Trisha Lynn]

So I'm working on adding info for a box set to the database at work and I started thinking about TV seasons in Japan.

In the U.S. where I'm from (with some rare exceptions these days) a TV season starts in the fall and ends in the spring. This means that the year span dates are very easy to guess. Like just by counting and knowing that the "MASH" TV series started in 1972, you know that the sixth season took place between 1977 and 1978. Japan's different because new anime series debut during both the spring and the fall. And yes, generally speaking a full season will have from 24 to 26 episodes which means that yes, it will span a year.

But is this really the case with all anime series? If I know that a series started in April 1997 and the first season did have 26 episodes, can I automatically assume that the span dates are 1997-1998 and will I be correct?


Trisha Lynn
...ugh, the weird trivia kills me sometimes...

[BluWacky]

[ QUOTE ]
Trisha Lynn said:
In the U.S. where I'm from (with some rare exceptions these days) a TV season starts in the fall and ends in the spring. This means that the year span dates are very easy to guess. Like just by counting and knowing that the "MASH" TV series started in 1972, you know that the sixth season took place between 1977 and 1978. Japan's different because new anime series debut during both the spring and the fall. And yes, generally speaking a full season will have from 24 to 26 episodes which means that yes, it will span a year.


[/ QUOTE ]

New anime don't just start in the spring and the fall; new anime seasons occur four times a year (roughly January, April, July and October).

Thus, if a show started in April 1997 and ran for 26 episodes, it will have run until September/October 1997.

There are a few exceptions to the rule due to delays etc. (RahXephon, for instance, aired from January 2002 to September 2002) but that's the general situation.

[perigee]

If you want to look up the actual run dates for a particular series, here is a good resource (http://espanol.geocities.com/gapc/animetv-jp/index_e.html) [1960-2004].

[Trisha Lynn]

[ QUOTE ]
perigee said:
If you want to look up the actual run dates for a particular series, here is a good resource (http://espanol.geocities.com/gapc/animetv-jp/index_e.html) [1960-2004].

[/ QUOTE ]

That's an excellent resource for series as a whole, but I need individual season dates which aren't on that list. But thank you for the link.


Trisha Lynn
...*adds to bookmarks list*...

[Dave_Evans]

[ QUOTE ]
Trisha Lynn said:
And yes, generally speaking a full season will have from 24 to 26 episodes which means that yes, it will span a year.


[/ QUOTE ]

Uhhh..... A 26 episode TV series in Japan airs for exactly 26 weeks (generally, as there are some exceptions) without any breaks or repeats. This means the series airs for 6 months and thus does not span a year the way US TV shows do. US TV shows span September-May for a 22 episode season because US shows take several breaks a year.

[DocWatson]

[ QUOTE ]
Trisha Lynn said:
[ QUOTE ]
perigee said:
If you want to look up the actual run dates for a particular series, here is a good resource (http://espanol.geocities.com/gapc/animetv-jp/index_e.html) [1960-2004].

[/ QUOTE ]

That's an excellent resource for series as a whole, but I need individual season dates which aren't on that list. But thank you for the link.


Trisha Lynn
...*adds to bookmarks list*...

[/ QUOTE ]
The other site which comes to mind is...

Heck, it will be easier just to post the Anime Check-list's Links page: http://www.animechecklist.net/links.html. I was thinking of Richard's Animated Divots (http://www.public.iastate.edu/~rllew/andivots.html), but there looks to be a lot of links that you might be able to use. As an aside, for North American releases, I particular recommend Alan D. Peters' AnimeMania (http://animemania01.tripod.com). Note that the Anime Check-list has unfortunately not been updated for a couple of years.

Two more sites I find useful: Animelab.com (for their dictionary (http://animelab.com/anime.manga/dictionary/) and translator (http://animelab.com/anime.manga/translate) (which outputs romaji as well as Engrish), which use the EDICT file), and World Art's animation list (http://www.world-art.ru/animation/list.php) (in Russian, Japanese, and English), which is good for identifying titles.

[monika]

[ QUOTE ]
Trisha Lynn said:
I need individual season dates which aren't on that list.

[/ QUOTE ]

ANN has episode air dates for most shows.

Example:
Utena showed straight through. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=207&page=25)

[aquapermanence]

[ QUOTE ]
monika said:
Example:
Utena showed straight through. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=207&page=25)

[/ QUOTE ]

Except for the close-ups of her bicycle shorts.

::rimshot::

[Speedy Boris]

[ QUOTE ]
Dave_Evans said:
Uhhh..... A 26 episode TV series in Japan airs for exactly 26 weeks (generally, as there are some exceptions) without any breaks or repeats. This means the series airs for 6 months and thus does not span a year the way US TV shows do. US TV shows span September-May for a 22 episode season because US shows take several breaks a year.

[/ QUOTE ] The U.S. has too many holidays. /images/graemlins/sad.gif

[Doyen]

I know I'm repeating a few of the facts stated above but let me bring everything together.

Anime shows start four times a year and that is in January, April, July and October (winter, spring, summer and fall).

Shows run continuously with no breaks but a few shows (ones in prime time slots) may be preempted during a holiday week such as Christmas/New Years or during Golden Week.

Generally 24-26 weeks is considered a full season show, 12-13 weeks a half season show. Still if a show only runs 12 weeks then that is its "season". There are always exceptions because some shows (i.e., Gundam Seed, Blood+, Eureka SeveN, FMA) get scheduled for 50 weeks right out of the box so that is their "season". Plus there are shows that have run continuously for years/decades in Japan (Dragonball/DBZ, Keroro Gunso, Detective Conan, ect...).

[Captain Impulse]

[ QUOTE ]
Speedy Boris said:
The U.S. has too many holidays. /images/graemlins/sad.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

/disagree /images/graemlins/cry00000.gif
If we did, I might get a day off once in a while.

[mighty_vespa]

Here's something I've wondering about:

Have any of the 50, 100 or 200+ episode animated series ever taken a lengthy break in between seasons? If not, why haven't they?

I'd imagine that a production staff would welcome a 3-4 month break; they'd probably throw a damn party over it. Also, wouldn't this allow some studios to wait while more manga chapters are produced for their animated adaptations? Something like what's being done with Twelve Kingdoms (Juuni Kokki). Or is there a real risk of shows taking breaks, and losing their ratings momentum or spot in the marketplace?

[aquapermanence]

[ QUOTE ]
mighty_vespa said:
Here's something I've wondering about:

Have any of the 50, 100 or 200+ episode animated series ever taken a lengthy break in between seasons? If not, why haven't they?

I'd imagine that a production staff would welcome a 3-4 month break; they'd probably throw a damn party over it.

[/ QUOTE ]

With a TV series, particularly a long-running one, you would normally have multiple animation teams working on different episodes at the same time. In the case of Paranoia Agent, for example (and a relatively short series at that), some of the later episodes were finished early but the ones that ran before them had to be completed in a rush.

Animation work is not very well-paid in Japan. As I understand it, most junior animators do the work primarily for love of the medium, and either work a second job or live with their parents. With the reputation of the work ethic in Japan, I wouldn't be surprised if there were animators who were content to spend year after year after year working on the same series, and taking pride in its popularity and longevity.

[ QUOTE ]
Also, wouldn't this allow some studios to wait while more manga chapters are produced for their animated adaptations? Something like what's being done with Twelve Kingdoms (Juuni Kokki). Or is there a real risk of shows taking breaks, and losing their ratings momentum or spot in the marketplace?

[/ QUOTE ]

If I recall, Kenshin faced just that situation--by the end of the Kyoto arc the TV series had nearly caught up with the manga. The choice was whether to wait for the next manga arc to finish, or go ahead with the show in the meantime. Thanks to a lackluster third season, the series wasn't renewed for a fourth.

Twelve Kingdoms was very well-received, but it's been on hiatus for years. If I recall, there were plans to make at least 68 episodes, but when we'll see those next 23 is anyone's guess.

Some shows get renewed or revisited years after first airing, thanks to the dedication of the original staff. Jubei-chan comes to mind as an example, and the new Tenchi projects showed a lot of promise back when they were announced in 2000.