Why do current anime only have twelve episodes?

In today's anime adaptations it is very common for projects to be limited to a production of only twelve or thirteen episodes (depending on their premiere date in the season), except for a few cases that exceed this amount. Why has this become a trend in the industry?

1. Unconventional topics

The vast majority of the productions that are broadcast today do not deal with "conventional" themes of the industry, such as the concept of "becoming the best of all", which is the most used and used by series such as My Hero Academia, Black Clover, among others.

These “mainstream” themes (also known by the term “mainstream”) easily grab the attention of fans, so naturally they have the ability to produce more episodes than normal thanks to this leverage.

A series with a theme more focused on other audiences cannot enjoy this benefit, and in most cases they will be condemned to only have 12-13 episodes, as part of an intelligent decision by the production committee, who determine if it will be worth the It's worth taking a series "to the next level" and continuing it. A low number of episodes allows them to gauge whether the impact of the series gives it a chance to continue.

2. Risk prevention

For this case, the anime Honzuki no Gekokujou is worth mentioning. With an "isekai" theme, its success was partially assured, but the production committee decided to make only fourteen episodes. However, an excellent reception led the studio in charge to decide to produce a second season, and now even a third.

So why is there talk of “risk prevention”? Precisely because the committees do not know if a series will be successful until it is released. Clearly this is a concept that the second seasons of popular series (such as Re:Zero, Fire Force, Tate no Yuusha, etc.) will surely never know. However, the committees cannot risk producing a new series with 24 episodes or more if there is too much uncertainty about its success.

With only twelve episodes, an anime has a lower cost of production, lower risk in the market, and fewer concerns for the production committee. At worst, the series is simply forgotten and the committee focuses more on selling merchandise or using popularity to push the source material.

It is for the above that the original productions will hardly have more than twelve episodes, since there is too much risk when an anime is made of which the viewers have no idea about the concept.

3. Budgets

As mentioned before, an anime production costs a lot, a lot of money, millions of yen for each episode. A few years ago the production cost of a full twelve-episode anime easily exceeded two million dollars.

Not all animation studios have the same budgets, since they must build their name with recognition within the anime industry. Not all animation studios are like Toei Animation or Madhouse, so a $2 million budget needs to be managed wisely.

That's too much money to get back if the anime turns out to be a flop or if it doesn't get a big enough audience to produce a sequel.

4. Expectations

Sadly, for most people these days, it's much easier and more comfortable to sit through a twelve-episode series than a larger one.

Many fans these days shy away from long series, and it's a (pretty ridiculous) excuse some use to not give series like One Piece a chance. However, they have some points in favor, given that a series of twelve episodes:

It moves much faster and can hold fans' attention without the need for filler (depending on the series, if a twelve-episode anime gets filler that's pretty bad then).

Much of the target audience has enough time to sit through a twelve-episode series that typically takes four hours.

Twelve episodes is enough for someone to decide whether or not they like the concept presented in the series and to continue, they skip to the manga or the light novel.

Clearly the studios have picked up on this and used it to their advantage, so everyone wins. Technology, life and the 21st century are moving so fast that “time is money”, so unless a series has tons of original and engaging content, a safe move is to only do twelve episodes.

5. The infamous “promotional material”

Many have read the phrase “the anime was only made to promote the manga/novels” when asking if there will be a second season. The feeling of frustration is quite great, so much so that some decide to continue the story by going to read the manga or the light novels.

If the above has happened to the reader, it means that the study fulfilled its mission. Using a twelve-episode anime to promote the original material is always enough propaganda that the studio makes money and sales increase.

Such is the case of No Game No Life and Hataraku Maou-sama, two anime that became the most popular of their seasons and that, consequently, exponentially increased the sales of their respective light novels. Some have theorized that if there is to be a second season of these anime, then sales must go down so that the committees resort to this marketing technique again, however, it has never been proven.