I’ve run into issues with the current database (TheMovieDB/TMDb) not respecting anime season structures. For example, in Dandadan, Season 2 is bizarrely treated as part of Season 1, making it impossible to properly mark episodes as watched or track progress accurately. This seems to stem from TMDb’s rigid rules that don’t align with anime’s unique formats, like “cours” (12-13 episode blocks) or narrative arcs.
This mishandling affects immersion on LearnNatively, especially for series with multiple seasons. It’s frustrating for users who rely on precise episode tracking.
I strongly suggest switching to TheTVDB.com, which specializes in TV series and handles anime seasons much better, often aligning with sources like MyAnimeList. This could greatly improve the experience for Japanese learners dealing with anime.
Has anyone else faced similar issues? Are there plans to evaluate alternative databases? I’d love to hear thoughts!
@brandon was recently made aware of the issue, and I think plans to find a fix? But yeah, a number of us have run into this. Idk anything about TheTVDB’s api - so no opinion. But if it’s a good option, and can reasonably switched to, that would be great - since this seems likely to pop up in the future
I’m not sure i can switch anytime soon unfortunately. I didn’t realize this benefit of thetvdb before implementing it on the site
You can send in a tv season split but that is cumbersome. Honestly, their policy is so stupid i’d be open to investigating it at some point to see if it’s really that much better.
