As the Spring 2025 anime season nears its conclusion, several titles like Witch Watch and Kijin Gentosho have entered their second cour. This season is expected to wrap up with the final episode—Episode 48—of The Apothecary Diaries, which had its penultimate episode, Episode 47, postponed by a week.

It’s not unusual for episodes to be delayed during the final stretch of an anime season. Many viewers have likely wondered, “Why was this week’s episode postponed?” In this article, we take a closer look at the reasons behind anime broadcast delays and interruptions.

Two Main Reasons Broadcasts Still Get Delayed

Despite improvements, anime delays continue to occur, mainly for two reasons:

1. Production Delays on the Studio Side
2. Broadcast Schedule Adjustments on the TV Network Side

● Delays Caused by Production Challenges
The most understandable reason is when production simply can’t meet the broadcast deadline. With extremely tight schedules, studios sometimes fail to deliver a completed episode on time, forcing a temporary pause.

● Interruptions Due to Broadcast Scheduling
Another factor, less familiar to overseas viewers, involves TV station scheduling. In Japan, networks regularly adjust their programming.

For example, if a live baseball game is scheduled or major events like the Olympics or World Cup take place, anime broadcasts—among others—are often bumped. During quarterly programming changes, special TV segments promoting new shows or dramas may also replace scheduled anime slots.

One X (formerly Twitter) user illustrated this point with a breakdown of delays during the Dragon Ball era:

Dragon Ball frequently faced delays due to network rescheduling. On July 11, it was replaced by a historical drama special; on July 25, by Japan’s pro baseball All-Star Game; and on August 15, by another baseball broadcast.

Interestingly, these broadcast gaps can serve as a blessing for the production team, giving them extra time to catch up—essentially acting as a much-needed buffer.

The “Longest Five Minutes in the Universe”: Dragon Ball’s Legendary Delays

As someone who watched Dragon Ball in real time, I remember the show’s notorious pacing and “stretching tactics.” One of the most legendary examples is the Planet Namek arc—where Frieza declares that the planet will explode in five minutes. Yet ironically, it took nearly 10 episodes—spanning about three months of real-world broadcast time—for those “five minutes” to pass.

Delay as a Quality-Saving Measure: Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water

Delays don’t always hurt a production—in fact, they can sometimes enhance it. One notable example is Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water by Gainax.

Due to the Gulf War in 1991, the series faced several scheduling changes. As a result, the production team gained extra time to preserve the show’s quality.
(Source: Japanese wiki-style page — https://dic.nicovideo.jp/a/ふしぎの海のナディア)