<p>It's the same as Japanese Television seasons (or sometimes referred to as "cours"). There are 4 of them each year and each one lasts roughly 13 weeks. The Wikipedia page for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_television_drama" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Japanese Television Drama</a> says:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Japan has four television seasons: Winter (January–March), Spring (April–June), Summer (July–September), and Autumn or Fall (October–December). Some series may start in another month though it may still be counted as a series of a specific season.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>So while the seasons themselves have a fixed start and end, the shows themselves can sometimes start in the middle month of a season and thus spill over into multiple seasons (given that it's a 13 episode/1 cour show), but it is still considered part of the season that it started airing. There's obvious advantages to always starting at the beginning of a season, the main one being that shows lasting 12 or 13 episodes can continue to fill a time-slot throughout the calendar year without having breaks.</p>

<p>For example, here are the "Summer 2013" shows and their air-times:</p>

<ul>
<li>07/01 22:25 (AT-X) - <strong>Recorder to Ransel Mi♪</strong></li>
<li>07/01 25:00 (Tokyo MX) - <strong>Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou</strong></li>
<li>07/02 19:30 (AT-X) - <strong>BROTHERS CONFLICT</strong></li>
<li>07/02 25:35 (TV Tokyo) - <strong>Senyuu. (Season 2)</strong></li>
<li>07/02 25:40 (TV Tokyo) - <strong>Gifuu Doudou!! Naoe Kanetsugu -Maeda Keiji-gatari-</strong></li>
<li>07/03 21:30 (AT-X) - <strong>Tamayura ～More Aggressive～</strong></li>
<li>07/03 24:30 (Tokyo MX) - <strong>Free!</strong></li>
<li>07/04 25:28 (TBS) - <strong>Tokurei Sochi Dantai Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C3-bu</strong></li>
<li>07/04 25:35 (MBS) - <strong>Dangan Ronpa no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei The Animation</strong></li>
<li>07/04 25:58 (TBS) - <strong>Rozen Maiden (New Series)</strong></li>
<li>07/04 26:05 (MBS) - <strong>Ren-Ai Lab -Love Lab-</strong></li>
<li>07/04 26:35 (MBS) - <strong>Senki Zesshou: Symphogear G</strong></li>
<li>07/04 26:43 (Nippon TV) - <strong>Kitaku-bu Katsudou Kiroku</strong></li>
<li>07/04 27:08 (ABC) - <strong>Servant x Service</strong></li>
<li>07/05 22:30 (AT-X) - <strong>Rou-Kyuu-Bu! SS</strong></li>
<li>07/06 20:30 (AT-X) - <strong>Kiniro Mosaic</strong></li>
<li>07/06 20:30 (ABC) - <strong>Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou -il sole penetra le illusioni-</strong></li>
<li>07/06 23:20 (Nico Nico Douga) - <strong>Fate/Kaleid Liner: Prism-Illya</strong></li>
<li>07/06 25:00 (Tokyo MX) - <strong>Monogatari Series: Second Season</strong></li>
<li>07/06 25:00 (Tokyo MX) - <strong>Genshiken Nidaime</strong></li>
<li>07/06 25:30 (Tokyo MX) - <strong>Kami-sama no Inai Nichiyoubi</strong></li>
<li>07/06 27:28 (MBS) - <strong>Fantasista Doll</strong></li>
<li>07/07 20:30 (AT-X) - <strong>High School DxD NEW</strong></li>
<li>07/07 22:27 (Tokyo MX) - <strong>Teekyuu (Season 2)</strong></li>
<li>07/07 22:00 (Tokyo MX) - <strong>Uchouten Kazoku</strong></li>
<li>07/07 22:30 (Tokyo MX) - <strong>Hakkenden -Touhou Hakken Ibun- (Season 2)</strong></li>
<li>07/07 24:30 (TV Kanagawa) - <strong>Blood Lad</strong></li>
<li>07/07 25:05 (TV Tokyo) - <strong>Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist</strong></li>
<li>07/08 25:35 (TV Tokyo) - <strong>Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai -The World God Only Knows- (Season 3)</strong></li>
<li>07/08 26:05 (TV Tokyo) - <strong>Watashi ga Motenai no wa dou Kangaete mo Omaera ga Warui!</strong></li>
<li>07/11 24:45 (Fuji TV) - <strong>Gin no Saji: Silver Spoon</strong></li>
<li>07/12 22:00 (BS Animax) - <strong>Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation</strong></li>
<li>07/12 25:58 (Nippon TV) - <strong>Gatchaman Crowds</strong></li>
<li>07/13 22:00 (Tokyo MX) - <strong>Futari wa Milky Holmes</strong></li>
<li>07/13 23:30 (TV Tokyo) - <strong>Kimi no Iru Machi -A town where you live-</strong></li>
</ul>

<p>So, like you said, everything happens around the same time, the first week of July, then we have a few outliers that start during the second week. It's worth noting that <strong>Silver Spoon</strong> is only 11 episodes, and <strong>Hyperdimension Neptunia</strong>, <strong>Gatchaman Crowds</strong>, <strong>Futari wa Milky Holmes</strong>, and <strong>Kimi no Iru Machi</strong> are all 12 episodes, so they'd end right at the end of the season.</p>

<p>The real outliers from last season, Spring 2013 (though some sites attach these 2 shows to the Summer 2013 season), would be:</p>

<ul>
<li>06/08 23:45 (NHK-BS Premium) - <strong>Kingdom 2</strong></li>
<li>06/14 17:55 (Disney XD) - <strong>Yuuto-kun ga Iku</strong></li>
</ul>

<p>In some cases, certain channels will start a show in the middle or near the end of a season, sometimes because of a timeslot that needs to be filled. <strong>Kingdom 2</strong> is a 39 episode historic drama on a pay satellite channel that doesn't have any other anime, and the other is a 5 minute-per-episode young children's after school show. These are shows that are typically outside of the usual late-night anime demographics.</p>

<p>See also this question: <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/1971/what-defines-one-season-of-anime/1972#1972">What defines one &quot;season&quot; of anime?</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-09T14:02:17.857Z
2013-07-09T14:02:17.857Z
2017-04-13T12:54:48.523Z
Jon Lin
<p>Are there set periods of time in which seasons start and end? In America, generally, TV shows begin in the Fall or the Summer. Many shows will start within a week or two of each other. Is the same true for anime? If not, what controls when anime seasons start/are released?</p>

<anime-production>
How are anime seasons released?
# How are anime seasons released?
Posted by: username_0 on 2013-07-09
Are there set periods of time in which seasons start and end? In America, generally, TV shows begin in the Fall or the Summer. Many shows will start within a week or two of each other. Is the same true for anime? If not, what controls when anime seasons start/are released?
**Tags:** anime-production
---
## 1 answers
### Answer by username_1 on 2013-07-09. Score: 9 | Accepted answer
It's the same as Japanese Television seasons (or sometimes referred to as "cours"). There are 4 of them each year and each one lasts roughly 13 weeks. The Wikipedia page for [Japanese Television Drama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_television_drama) says:

> Japan has four television seasons: Winter (January–March), Spring (April–June), Summer (July–September), and Autumn or Fall (October–December). Some series may start in another month though it may still be counted as a series of a specific season.

So while the seasons themselves have a fixed start and end, the shows themselves can sometimes start in the middle month of a season and thus spill over into multiple seasons (given that it's a 13 episode/1 cour show), but it is still considered part of the season that it started airing. There's obvious advantages to always starting at the beginning of a season, the main one being that shows lasting 12 or 13 episodes can continue to fill a time-slot throughout the calendar year without having breaks.

For example, here are the "Summer 2013" shows and their air-times:

* 07/01 22:25 (AT-X) - **Recorder to Ransel Mi♪**
* 07/01 25:00 (Tokyo MX) - **Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou**
* 07/02 19:30 (AT-X) - **BROTHERS CONFLICT**
* 07/02 25:35 (TV Tokyo) - **Senyuu. (Season 2)**
* 07/02 25:40 (TV Tokyo) - **Gifuu Doudou!! Naoe Kanetsugu -Maeda Keiji-gatari-**
* 07/03 21:30 (AT-X) - **Tamayura ～More Aggressive～**
* 07/03 24:30 (Tokyo MX) - **Free!**
* 07/04 25:28 (TBS) - **Tokurei Sochi Dantai Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C3-bu**
* 07/04 25:35 (MBS) - **Dangan Ronpa no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei The Animation**
* 07/04 25:58 (TBS) - **Rozen Maiden (New Series)**
* 07/04 26:05 (MBS) - **Ren-Ai Lab -Love Lab-**
* 07/04 26:35 (MBS) - **Senki Zesshou: Symphogear G**
* 07/04 26:43 (Nippon TV) - **Kitaku-bu Katsudou Kiroku**
* 07/04 27:08 (ABC) - **Servant x Service**
* 07/05 22:30 (AT-X) - **Rou-Kyuu-Bu! SS**
* 07/06 20:30 (AT-X) - **Kiniro Mosaic**
* 07/06 20:30 (ABC) - **Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou -il sole penetra le illusioni-**
* 07/06 23:20 (Nico Nico Douga) - **Fate/Kaleid Liner: Prism-Illya**
* 07/06 25:00 (Tokyo MX) - **Monogatari Series: Second Season**
* 07/06 25:00 (Tokyo MX) - **Genshiken Nidaime**
* 07/06 25:30 (Tokyo MX) - **Kami-sama no Inai Nichiyoubi**
* 07/06 27:28 (MBS) - **Fantasista Doll**
* 07/07 20:30 (AT-X) - **High School DxD NEW**
* 07/07 22:27 (Tokyo MX) - **Teekyuu (Season 2)**
* 07/07 22:00 (Tokyo MX) - **Uchouten Kazoku**
* 07/07 22:30 (Tokyo MX) - **Hakkenden -Touhou Hakken Ibun- (Season 2)**
* 07/07 24:30 (TV Kanagawa) - **Blood Lad**
* 07/07 25:05 (TV Tokyo) - **Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist**
* 07/08 25:35 (TV Tokyo) - **Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai -The World God Only Knows- (Season 3)**
* 07/08 26:05 (TV Tokyo) - **Watashi ga Motenai no wa dou Kangaete mo Omaera ga Warui!**
* 07/11 24:45 (Fuji TV) - **Gin no Saji: Silver Spoon**
* 07/12 22:00 (BS Animax) - **Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation**
* 07/12 25:58 (Nippon TV) - **Gatchaman Crowds**
* 07/13 22:00 (Tokyo MX) - **Futari wa Milky Holmes**
* 07/13 23:30 (TV Tokyo) - **Kimi no Iru Machi -A town where you live-**

So, like you said, everything happens around the same time, the first week of July, then we have a few outliers that start during the second week. It's worth noting that **Silver Spoon** is only 11 episodes, and **Hyperdimension Neptunia**, **Gatchaman Crowds**, **Futari wa Milky Holmes**, and **Kimi no Iru Machi** are all 12 episodes, so they'd end right at the end of the season.

The real outliers from last season, Spring 2013 (though some sites attach these 2 shows to the Summer 2013 season), would be:

* 06/08 23:45 (NHK-BS Premium) - **Kingdom 2**
* 06/14 17:55 (Disney XD) - **Yuuto-kun ga Iku**

In some cases, certain channels will start a show in the middle or near the end of a season, sometimes because of a timeslot that needs to be filled. **Kingdom 2** is a 39 episode historic drama on a pay satellite channel that doesn't have any other anime, and the other is a 5 minute-per-episode young children's after school show. These are shows that are typically outside of the usual late-night anime demographics.

See also this question: [What defines one "season" of anime?](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/1971/what-defines-one-season-of-anime/1972#1972)
---
