A Powerful Resurgence How Seasonal Anime Reshaped the Anime Community

In the past few years, Japanese animation or “anime” has struck a chord with mainstream audiences bringing in the greatest commercial success we’ve ever seen from the medium. What was just a rare pastime for a minority viewing audience in the west just 20 years ago is now a global industry dominating with lucrative titles that are known all around.

Gone are the days where the term anime is solely attributed to shows like Dragon Ballor Naruto, whereas now many other modern titles have found themselves in the position of cultural relevance. Speaking from a western world perspective, it is now uncommon to go to your local mall and see stores littered with merchandise all advertising the hottest animes you could imagine. There’s a new standard of cultural acceptance present now that wasn’t always the case.

So what changed?

Broadcasting channels like Adult Swim’s Toonamihave always been a gateway for audiences to get introduced to the thrills of anime even before it reached peak popularity. It became one of if not the only network to consistently dedicate an entire broadcasting block to new anime that introduced an entire generation to the genre. But creating interest in a market, although impactful, can’t be the end all when looking to generate success for an entire country. Adult Swim may have introduced audiences but there were still many shows gaining popularity that unfortunately either weren’t broadcasted or weren’t updated with the newest episodes. The network created a demand but needed more representation through broadcasting outlets to fulfill the supply.

The solution?

Revise the broadcasting method.

In the anime industry there are two primary methods in adapting the written work of a manga into animation.

The first being a week to week production schedule that produces a new episode every week. This was at one time the most optimal strategy, especially when animating written work where the story had not concluded yet. This way you can give the audience a consistent product that they won’t have time to forget while simultaneously not overstepping the story as it exists.

The second method for anime adaptation is a seasonal schedule. This strategy has been implemented by countless studios and can be credited for why anime has exploded with popularity in recent years. Seasonal anime sacrifices the constant exposure element of a weekly schedule instead choosing to have a set season number. This allows animators to completely devote their artistic ability to a slate of 10 to 24 episodes in a season. These production methods are vital in the current landscape of televising primarily because most audiences consume media through streaming platforms. So crunching down a show into digestible seasons that can be streamed is a long term investment that allows the show to still capitalize off its popularity even when the season has concluded.

The error in this method arose in slow pacing issues as you could only adapt one chapter at a time to stay on schedule or in some instances having to make filler content as to not outpace the written work. Another fault in this method was the budgeting for animation. Creating a neverending show week by week, animators had less time to make otherworldly animating feats so the product would come out less polished. But many studios believed this was the preferred way to broadcast their show in fear that without constant exposure to their product, their show would be forgotten by the masses.

A xed seasonal schedule allows for quicker pacing, a more allocated budget for animation and more often an improved nal product. Shows have been divided into release schedules in accordance with each season, so even when your favorite fall anime inevitably concludes, there’s still an extensive winter anime schedule around the corner to look forward to.

The rotational release scheduling of seasonal anime premieres affords audiences the opportunity to try new series that they may not have had any appeal towards with the older format. It’s easier to convince a newcomer of a series to invest three seasons of their time to a series than demand they keep up with the large episode numbers a week to week anime offers. And with a new series dominating each season, the audience is afforded a break to build anticipation for the future while they get invested in another show. And with our culture's new inclination to binge an entire series rather than patiently waiting for more content, it’s no surprise that seasonal anime has revitalized the anime industry worldwide.