Can somebody explain multi-part seasons?

For example, the Attack on Titan final season was released in 3 parts annually. Isn't it indistinguishable from separate seasons?

It's just marketing, or is it a legal thing? Why would J.C. Staff choose to call the next cour of One Punch Man "season 3 part 2" instead of season 4?

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MaximalDisguised2025-12-30 13:32

Usually that's an indicator that its part of the same production.

Meaning the same production committee, studio etc.

It's all ordered to be produced, just released over the cours of time.

Chlodio2025-12-30 13:33

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MaximalDisguised2025-12-30 13:33

It was ordered though. Even before Part 1 aired it was planned to happen later on, regardless of what happens.

Roketsu862025-12-30 14:06

Have you ever been to a restaurant where you order the entire multiple course meal at the start?

You get your salad, then later your entree and finally your dessert, but it's not like they were preparing your dessert for the entire hour you were eating your salad and entree.

Similar concept here. S3 part 1 and 2 were paid for and ordered upfront, even though part 2 was not in production yet due to whatever timeline reasons

Phnglui2025-12-30 13:32

Season typically means it's all one project, regardless of length or air timing. That's why old anime would have seasons that lasted 24 or sometimes even 75 episodes. Or in One Piece's case, where everything releases up to this point is technically one season.

qwertyqwerty45672025-12-30 13:33

its just the industry being stupid

Derallerechtere2025-12-30 13:38

It means that the same team will work on the parts while different seasons can even change the studio

1000-MAT2025-12-30 13:58

Overall it's just marketing, But it almost always means that part 2 is already planned beforehand, but this can also happen when they split an arc in half, which can often result in a lack of a proper climax in part 1, this serves to give a sense of continuity.

One Punch Man It's a very different case since the Garou arc started in the second season, but since there wasn't enough material at the time to make a continuation, as the arc was still ongoing, they paused, now that the arc is complete, they can go all the way to the end, which will likely result in 3 parts of 12 to 13 episodes.

But you might be wondering why they don't do everything at once, and the answer is simple: because most studios can't manage it, so they take a break that varies from 3 months to 1 year.

In the case of AoT, they probably planned to release everything at once, but if you remember the meme with the right eye, you know why they stopped at 16 episodes back then.

SouekiSennoSTM2025-12-30 14:14

That's why I typically just use seasons one, two, three, four, etc. and don't even bother getting into the whole "Season 1: Part II: Such and Such Arc, The Third Act" BS.

It's all an internal industry-related phenomenon and ultimately fans can call them whatever they want for their own convenience and organizational purposes.

timpkmn892025-12-30 15:11

>For example, the Attack on Titan final season was released in 3 parts annually. Isn't it indistinguishable from separate seasons?

They were all commissioned under the same contract, to be made by the same team

Ben99ny222025-12-30 16:29

Attack on titan final season was announced in spring 2019. I think they labeled it the final season because they didn't expect the manga to go on further than it did and also the pandemic happened which messed things up i'm sure.