Ask John: What Are TV Seasons Like In Japan?

Question:
I would like to know what TV seasons in Japan are like. Are they about the length of the seasons in America or longer/shorter. I am curious because when I see short series like Tenchi Muyo(the TV series),which is only 26 episodes long, well that is the length of one TV season here. Then there are series like Dragonball Z which has 291 episodes , and has no definite length and break between seasons. My question in the end is how long are these seasons over in Japan, because I don’t understand how a series can be concluded in only one season, and another be several years long, but with no clear breaks.

Answer:
The Japanese television broadcast year is divided into four 13 week periods, called “kuru,” beginning in January, April, July and October. As a result, most television anime series are created with episode counts in multiples of 13 week broadcasts. Series with limited market potential and series that appeal to only a select market of die-hard anime fans often run for only two 13 week periods, for a total of roughly 26 episodes. Anime television series with broad market appeal to families and young children are often broadcast in year or year-and-a-half long “seasons” or simply continue airing new weekly episodes for as long as the title remains popular. Most of the very popular TV shows, including Pokemon, Inuyasha, Doreamon, Saeze-san, Detective Conan and One Piece simply keep running new episodes every week with no season breaks. Other shows, like Sailormoon, Slayers and Ojamajo Doremi, rather than getting new seasons, get new series, such as Sailormoon R, Sailormoon S and Sailormoon SS and Ojamajo Doremi, Motto Ojamajo Doremi, Ojamajo Doremi Dokkan, and Slayers Next and Slayers Try.

Article updated October 30, 2002