Most anime nowadays are only 1 cour long, which doesn’t allow many longer stories to get to the point.
Multiple popular series this season are 2 cours, which might mean the comeback of the format.
It won’t become prevalent again, but the unquestionable domination of 1 cour series might be over.
With more and more anime being released, the length of an average series actually shortens. Nowadays, the most popular series are just one cour (usually, roughly 12-13 episodes, so 3 months of weekly airing) long. While it makes it faster for fans to binge and lets more anime have their time in the spotlight, this format is not without its caveats. Most notably, it’s way harder to tell a complete story — or adapt any decent amount of content — in such a short timespan. However, with some of the most popular anime this season carrying over to 2024, 2-cour anime might be making a comeback.
Most anime nowadays is short
Now, the fact that most anime nowadays are only one cour long doesn’t mean longer series disappeared completely. Some of fan favorite shows are two cours long, with many of them getting sequels (Jujutsu Kaisen and Dr. Stone come to mind). However, more often than not, this format is reserved to shounen series — and it’s not even guaranteed. Both Chainsaw Man and Hell’s Paradise (Jigokuraku) were one cour long — and while the latter got a sequel announcement, the former didn’t, which, in the opinions of some fans, hurt the series’ popularity.
Another common release schedule is a split cour series — which takes a one or two season break between its cours. This year, Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari is an example — and while this still is technically a 2-cour series, a break causes the anime to lose momentum and, therefore, popularity.
There are more 2-cour series this season
However, some of the most popular anime of this season are going to carry over into the next one. Frieren and The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) immediately come to mind, but there are more examples from this season alone, like Ragna Crimson, Undead Unluck and Shangri-La Frontier. Yes, popularity of a few select series doesn’t necessarily mean much for the industry at large, but the quantity means that maybe the production committees and studios are willing to work on longer series again.
Are we going back to making 2-cours the most popular format?
Will we go back to the pre-2000 era where much of anime was 4 cours or even longer? Definitely not. Even the format of the 00s, where 2-cour anime largely dominated the scene, is probably not making a comeback. However, it seems like not every anime is going to be 12 episodes long nowadays — and sometimes, studios are going to take on riskier projects (like White Fox with Sengoku Youko at 37 episodes, starting next season). Diversity like that is a good thing, allowing to create and adapt stories of virtually any length.
Spoiler: very likely so, and that’s a good thing.
Summary:
Most anime nowadays are only 1 cour long, which doesn’t allow many longer stories to get to the point.
Multiple popular series this season are 2 cours, which might mean the comeback of the format.
It won’t become prevalent again, but the unquestionable domination of 1 cour series might be over.
With more and more anime being released, the length of an average series actually shortens. Nowadays, the most popular series are just one cour (usually, roughly 12-13 episodes, so 3 months of weekly airing) long. While it makes it faster for fans to binge and lets more anime have their time in the spotlight, this format is not without its caveats. Most notably, it’s way harder to tell a complete story — or adapt any decent amount of content — in such a short timespan. However, with some of the most popular anime this season carrying over to 2024, 2-cour anime might be making a comeback.
Most anime nowadays is short
Now, the fact that most anime nowadays are only one cour long doesn’t mean longer series disappeared completely. Some of fan favorite shows are two cours long, with many of them getting sequels (Jujutsu Kaisen and Dr. Stone come to mind). However, more often than not, this format is reserved to shounen series — and it’s not even guaranteed. Both Chainsaw Man and Hell’s Paradise (Jigokuraku) were one cour long — and while the latter got a sequel announcement, the former didn’t, which, in the opinions of some fans, hurt the series’ popularity.
Another common release schedule is a split cour series — which takes a one or two season break between its cours. This year, Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari is an example — and while this still is technically a 2-cour series, a break causes the anime to lose momentum and, therefore, popularity.
There are more 2-cour series this season
However, some of the most popular anime of this season are going to carry over into the next one. Frieren and The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) immediately come to mind, but there are more examples from this season alone, like Ragna Crimson, Undead Unluck and Shangri-La Frontier. Yes, popularity of a few select series doesn’t necessarily mean much for the industry at large, but the quantity means that maybe the production committees and studios are willing to work on longer series again.
Are we going back to making 2-cours the most popular format?
Will we go back to the pre-2000 era where much of anime was 4 cours or even longer? Definitely not. Even the format of the 00s, where 2-cour anime largely dominated the scene, is probably not making a comeback. However, it seems like not every anime is going to be 12 episodes long nowadays — and sometimes, studios are going to take on riskier projects (like White Fox with Sengoku Youko at 37 episodes, starting next season). Diversity like that is a good thing, allowing to create and adapt stories of virtually any length.
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