Anime Glossary
What is a cour in anime?
A cour is a 13-episode broadcast block. Understanding cours is the key to understanding anime renewal odds.
The short answer
A cour (also spelled cours, from the French word for "course") is an approximately 12-13 episode block of anime that fills one Japanese broadcast season - roughly three months. Japan divides the TV calendar into four cours per year:
- WinterJanuary - March
- SpringApril - June
- SummerJuly - September
- Autumn / FallOctober - December
One-cour vs two-cour vs split-cour
One-cour
12-13 episodes
A single broadcast season. Most anime starts here. If it sells well, a sequel season gets greenlit.
Two-cour
24-26 episodes
Two back-to-back seasons of continuous broadcast. Signals strong upfront confidence from the studio.
Split-cour
24-26 episodes total
Two blocks with a gap of one or more seasons between them. One story, not a sequel - the continuation was always planned.
Why cours matter for renewal odds
Every Courcast renewal forecast takes cours into account in two ways:
- Source-material runway. If an anime has adapted most of its manga chapters or light novel volumes, the studio has little material left for a sequel - a hard cap on renewal probability regardless of how popular the show is.
- Cour count as a success signal. A title that received a two-cour order on its first run has already proved its commercial viability. Courcast weights this history when estimating the chance of a further continuation.
Courcast tracks the remaining cours of unadapted source material for every title. You can see this as the Runway metric on any title page.
Frequently asked questions
- How many episodes is one cour?
- One cour is typically 12 or 13 episodes, occasionally 11. Two-cour runs 24-26 episodes over two consecutive seasons.
- Is a cour the same as a season?
- In everyday English, fans often use "season" and "cour" interchangeably - and that's fine. Technically, "cour" is the Japanese broadcast industry term for a three-month block, while "season" in English can mean either a broadcast block or a narrative arc. When Courcast says "S2" it means a sequel cour, not a calendar season.
- What is a split-cour anime?
- A split-cour anime is a single story divided into two broadcast blocks with a hiatus between them. It is NOT a sequel - the same season continues after the gap. Courcast flags split-cour titles so you know the continuation was always planned and doesn't require a fresh renewal announcement.
See renewal odds for any anime
Courcast tracks source-material runway and renewal signals for thousands of titles, updated daily.
Courcast - renewal forecasts updated daily