If you have been watching anime for a while, you might have heard the term "season" a lot. But the term "cour" is rarely used even though it is less ambiguous than season.

So, lets see what is cour and season, differences between cour and season, and why cour and season are used.

What is a "cour"?

A cour is a term used to describe a span of episodes running for three months with 10-14 episodes, say it's a term used for measurement of anime episodes. So, a cour series runs over a season (Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall).

Winter Season: January, February, March
Spring Season: April, May, June
Summer Season: July, August, September
Fall Season: October, November, December

Anime series has different number of episodes, so these episodes are run differently as single cour, double cour and split cour.

Single cour consists of only 10-14 episodes.

Double cour consists of 24-26 episodes continously.

Split cour consists of 24-26 episodes, i.e like a double cour but with a gap between cour.

What is the difference between "cour" and "season"?

Cour and season will sound quite confusing for the first time, but if you compare with some anime you will get it eventually. If a anime series has only 10-14 episodes then its a single cour anime, at the same time if the anime series concludes a arc or current story line with some kind of ending within those episodes then it is also referred as a season and generally there is a hiatus or long break after that season for next season to air. For example, One Punch Man Season 1 has 10 episodes it can be referred as a single cour and Season 1 because it has both episodes for a single cour and concludes a arc before getting the next season.

If a anime series has 24-26 episodes and if all those episodes are aired continuously then its a double cour anime series. For example, My Hero Academia's Seasons(except for Season 1 which was single cour) has 25 episodes which makes it double cour also with the ending of the story of the arc, it becomes a season.

Sometimes, the anime series has total of 24-26 episodes but it will be split in different equal parts then it is termed as split cour. In this case, two cour that were splitted as a whole makes up the season. For example, Attack on Titan Season 3 was splitted into two parts, which makes it a split cour.

Why are anime episodes so inconsistent and why use these terms?

For the anime episodes to be inconsistent there are huge number of reasons. Mostly anime are adapted from manga, manhua, manhwa or webtoon. It takes some time to make an anime. Generally, anime season will be double cour if they have enough content in the source they are adapting from, (i.e manga, manhua or manhwa or webtoon) else they may make it a single cour season. Or if the anime is already airing and they are catching up to the source then they may add some filler episodes to complete the season or cour. Sometimes, producers and studios even test an anime by realeasing a single cour season with the intention to release more if they get hits.

But not all anime can be described with cour and season. There are anime series that air weekly until the whole story of the series is completed. If the anime is catching up to the source or some new shows collide with the airing anime or with some reason anime series is under hiatus, there may be some breaks in between. For example, One Piece, Black Clover and such.

Hope you have cleared your doubt about cour and season and their differences. If you have some queries, you can comment down below.