Ask John: Are Split Two-Cour Shows a New Trend?

Question:
Fate/Zero first and then Rin-ne no Lagrange. Now rumors are circulating that the upcoming Medaka Box may be split between two cours as well. Do you think this is an emerging trend? Instead of the usual production concerns, could this be a new way of maintaining interest in a franchise or series?

Answer:
At this point in time, I think it’s simply too early to accurately determine whether two cour shows with a 13 or so week hiatus after the first cour are an emerging trend. However, while the the procedure and promise may be both frustrating for fans, the practice also has several encouraging advantages. Traditionally an anime TV series is planned for a limited or ongoing broadcast length. High profile shounen, shoujo, and children’s anime expected to become mainstream hits are developed for an ongoing broadcast that will continue for a year or more. Typical anime are planned for one or two “cours,” 13 week spans that begin in January, April, July, and October. Pre-planning broadcast length ensures that anime don’t overextend themselves, committing to extended production and production costs that may not be justified if the show isn’t popular. Deciding to extend and franchise a surprise hit is much easier than backing out of plans for a lengthy show. The fact that producers have already committed to two seasons of an anime series suggests a strong confidence in the show. Certainly, two divided cours can be interpreted as an “escape route,” allowing producers to cancel or reconsider additional episodes if the first 13 don’t prove successful, but announcing 26 episodes in advance practically obligates the production staff to actually make and broadcast all 26 episodes. More importantly, given the seeming confidence in the title, a season hiatus may allow for a slightly more generous production schedule, allowing the animation producers to put more effort into the weekly episodes and sustain high quality. With the exception of episode 11, last year’s first season of Fate/zero was consistently attractive looking and well animated. The current Rinne no Lagrange TV series has maintained a consistently high level of production quality.

While fans may resent a mid-series cliffhanger and a 13 week hiatus between episodes, the delay may fuel anticipation, which works in favor of the anime and its producers. If the show actually exhibits particularly praiseworthy production values upon its return, it will validate its hiatus and ultimately satisfy viewers more than a single span of 26 weekly episodes with a noticeable mid-series decline in production quality. There aren’t enough particularly strong potential anime titles to make divided two-cour programs dominant or even especially frequent. The majority of future TV anime will likely remain single cour productions, each of which has the potential to be continued. In the case of shows planned for two cours, benefits do seem to exist for splitting the shows into alternating, rather than adjacent, cours. But this practice only seems viable for series with unusually strong backing. The viewer anticipation created by a mid-season break practically obligates higher than average production values that justify the wait and reward the returning viewer. So while split two-cour shows probably won’t be common, viewers can seemingly expect that the ones which are announced in advance will be especially high quality shows that use their mid-season break as extra time to allow for greater production effort than typical shows produced on tight schedules get.