Forum - View topicWhy are 13 and 26 the lucky episode count numbers?
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Luinsan
Posts: 7 |
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Hello I am wondering why alot of shows seems to come in 13 or 26 episodes? For instance Record of Lodoss War (OVA) 13 episodes, Escaflowne is 26.Big-O on the other hand is 13 episodes a season makeing it 26 as well.
So why is a good majority of Animes 13 and 26 episodes? Does it have to do with the average TV station season length on TV in Japan? Or is it just a kind of tradition that has devolped over there? 
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cheezisgoooood
Posts: 253 Location: Orlando, FL |
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Because those numbers represent a certain fraction of a year of broadcasting on Japanese television, the standard episode numbers are 13, 26, 52, 74, and so on. A 13 episode series can be counted as one small season, while a 26 episode series could be either two small seasons or one standard season. Studios try to keep true to these standard episode numbers with filler and recap episodes.
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Nagisa
Moderator
 Posts: 6128 Location: Atlanta-ish, Jawjuh |
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Japanese television seasons work differently from our own. Here, a television season lasts approximately six months, then there are six months of reruns. Over there, there's a new television season every three months. A three-month period is approximately 12-14 weeks, double that is about 24-26, and then there's about 39 if the show is three seasons, 52 if it's a full year long, etc.
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Luinsan
Posts: 7 |
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After a show is finished does Japan tend to rerun it again or do they tend to show reruns of older shows like we do in NA?
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Deltakiral
 Posts: 3338 Location: Glendora, CA (Avatar Hei from Darker than BLACK) |
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The Naked Beast
 Posts: 1028 Location: A Blue Planet |
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I never thought of it that way. I'd always thought they pick 13 and 26 since in some Asian cultures they consider 13 to be a lucky number. By the way, I am Asian, Chinese and Vietnamese to be exact. In Chinese, Cantonese dialect, depending on how you pronounce it, 3 can sound like birth. 14 is our unlucky number. Likewise, 4 sounds like death. Well that is my take on it. But this sounds the most logical unlike my superstitious approach. Another thing is that, in some series the series is coincidentally in time for the 13th [insert big giant galactic tournament here] whatever. Has anyone ever notice that? |
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
 Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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April (Spring Season), July (Summer Season), October (Fall Season), and January (Winter Season) are when new anime series all start to air. Since many, if not a majority, of anime are 12-14 episodes (one season), a flock of new series start airing as soon as anime from the old season finish. 24-26 episode series keep airing for another three months after the first three, and 50-52 for a full year. It seems that after the 24-26 mark, you'll see some odd episode count numbers, many which end somewhere nowhere in the 40's (GTO, 12K).
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Deltakiral
Posts: 3338 Location: Glendora, CA (Avatar Hei from Darker than BLACK) |
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12 Kingdoms was basically cancelled so that is why it abruptly ends that. Well it didn't cancel but the source material (Novels) are so different to that of anime the producer decided to end the series  . When I originally found out about the Japanese schedule I was shock that there isn't and summer break.
Till next time, Delta Kiral |
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Kidder
 Posts: 188 Location: Bat country! >.< |
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Well in Cantonese the number "24" is the most unlucky because the pronounciation is "yi say" which is very similar to "easy death" or "likely death". "14" can also be considered unlucky because it is pronounced "sup say" which can be interpreted as "assured/definate death". I've never heard my parents mention "13" as a lucky number, but a good number in Cantonese is the number "8" (pronounced "Fat") which is similar to "Fortune" or "Prosperity", and so pairings of "2" and "8" are lucky since they sound like "easy fortune". Interesting little tidbit, my bro was born on the 22nd of August in 1988, making his birthday 22/8/88  very very lucky.
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epixeltwin
 Posts: 325 Location: Montreal, Qc, Canada |
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And the storyline with spoiler[Taiki] wasn't even finished. It interested me...what a letdown.
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The Naked Beast
Posts: 1028 Location: A Blue Planet |
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So that is why! There is an Asian supermarket called Super 88 around where I live. I was wondering why they name they name. Some friends told me that 8 is a good luck number to the Chinese. I guess 88 for double the "fortune" and "prosperity." Thanks for the information, Kidder! Referring to the number 8, is that why there is are eight mobile suit battalions in Sunrise's Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team? Even Shiro Amada's "upgraded" mobile suit has the number 8 in its name! Gundam Ez8 for those of you who are curious. |
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jaybug39
 Posts: 552 Location: Oregon, Is it FOOTBALL yet? |
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FYI, originally in America TV shows ran for 26 episodes per season. Then down to 22, about the time Star Trek was on the air on NBC. And now we're a lot more like Japan, 13 episodes, but not for all shows. This was done to cut costs. This is why in January, the half season mark, we have so many new shows that did not start in September.
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epixeltwin
Posts: 325 Location: Montreal, Qc, Canada |
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26 Weeks is half a year...I wonder if they stop for christmas holidays and such or if there's always something running.
The 22 weeks over here are because it stops in the middle of winter, methinks. |
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Kidder
Posts: 188 Location: Bat country! >.< |
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I'm not sure if that's the reason why there are 8 battalions. My grasp of the Japanese language is less than that of an infant so I'm not even sure what the numbers from 1-10 are  So if the pronounciation of the number 8 in japanese sounds the same as their pronounciation of "prosperity" then that might be the reason.
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