You’re Not Imagining It, Anime Episodes Are Officially Getting Shorter

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If you’ve noticed more and more new shows with shorter episodes, it’s likely a reflection of a changing trend in how TV is being made.

Anime is more popular than ever right now. But, with so many new shows being made, it’s creating a lot of pressure on the people who create them and the TV channels that show them. Japanese TV networks are deeply involved in anime production, often helping to fund and create the shows they broadcast.

There aren’t enough programming slots on television to show everything being made. Because of this, broadcasters are changing how they produce content, now focusing more on shorter anime projects to make the most of limited space.

Anime Episodes Are Officially Getting Shorter to Solve a Big TV Broadcast Problem

Recently, more anime series are being made with very short episodes – six minutes or less. We can expect to see even more of these in the future. TV Tokyo, known for broadcasting popular shows like Spy x Family, Re:Zero, and Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, is leading this trend with a new program block called “Animori.” This block is designed to show several short anime series all within a 30-minute timeslot.

Shows like Me & Roboco have successfully used short episode formats, and now this trend is expanding beyond just comedies. We’re seeing more fantasy and isekai series also adopting this approach.

It typically takes three to four years to produce a 30-minute anime series before it airs, which is a costly and uncertain process. However, shorter anime projects can be completed in just one to two years from the original concept, and they offer a great opportunity for experimentation and learning, according to Nariomi Ishii, deputy director of TV Tokyo’s anime department.

TV Tokyo isn’t the only broadcaster exploring short-form anime. TV Asahi is partnering with its animation studio, Shin-Ei (famous for series like Doraemon and Crayon Shin-chan), to produce new short anime, including Pop Pap Polters and Sirotan, which will air this year. TBS has gone even further, creating a dedicated department for short anime and already releasing quick adaptations of Nmeneko and Rilakkuma, along with a new stop-motion project called Candy Caries.

Some anime episodes are very short, lasting only 90 seconds. But the main reason these shows are made is to sell merchandise. For instance, Sirotan is a well-loved character with many fans, and Koupenchan, an emperor penguin designed to be emotionally supportive, was already a huge hit with over $31 million in merchandise sales before the pandemic – so Asahi created an anime based on it too.

Crunchyroll Has Also Explored Streaming Shorter Anime for Decreasing Attention Spans

Crunchyroll is adapting to how today’s younger viewers consume video content. As President Rahul Purini explained to Nikkei XTrend, these audiences are accustomed to watching a series of short videos, typically lasting just two to four minutes. This means anime storytelling may need to evolve from traditional formats to better capture their attention.

Short-episode anime are popular because they’re easy to watch all at once and usually don’t have unnecessary content. However, as companies like TV Asahi and TOHO plan to significantly increase anime production in the next few years, broadcasters might start making more anime with shorter episodes as a way to manage costs and production.

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2026-05-03 21:08