History Main / OnceASeason

** Almost every season has an episode where Chandlers starts smoking again, though it never sticks, and sometimes only lasts for a quick gag.

** Except for Johto, Ash receives a [[NiceHat new hat]], which [[LimitedWardrobe he'll continue to wear for the rest of that generation's anime series]]. In addition, every hat he has worn in the TV series has been stolen by a mischievous Pokémon at least once, with the plot of that episode being a chase to get it back.

* Almost every major arc of ''Manga/OnePiece'' will end with the main protagonists and their allies from said arc throwing a huge party, to celebrate their victory over the ArcVillain. Hell, the Skypiea arc even had [[UpToEleven two]] of those, one of which was at the halfway point of the arc. Pretty often, this was then followed by the Straw Hats having to ''leave'' in a hurry for one reason or another (the residents chase them out, the Marines are coming, etc.).

** At one point or another every season Jack ends up either [[ClearMyName being framed]] or [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight breaking protocol]] (sometimes both!) and being on run from the law for a few episodes and forcing him to use more limited resources while he tries to stop whatever threat is going on. Season 8 took this UpToEleven by [[spoiler: making him part of the BigBadEnsemble when he starts using more extremist methods to take out the other antagonists of the season, giving both sides a more justified reason for trying to stop him.]]

** Reakumatizations played a little part in seasons 1 [[note]]Stoneheart[[/note]] and 2 [[note]]Queen Wasp and Heroes Day[[/note]]. The writers took this element Up to Eleven in season 3 when many characters like Lila, Juleka, Kagami, and Max got reakumatized into identities, both old and new, possibly to avoid creating countless new characters. This element returns in season 4.

** The first main challenge will always be to make runway looks from unconventional materials
** Since Season 2, the main challenge for the fifth episode is always The Snatch Game
** The final five challenge is for the contestants to pair up with strangers and make them over into drag queens
** The final four challenge requires three different runway looks to be made and for the contestants to perform a show-tune together
** The final three challenge revolves around filming the music video for whatever new song Creator/RuPaul is promoting that season

* ''Series/Lucifer2016'': The season premieres for seasons two through five open with a scene of Lucifer crossing paths with petty criminal Lee Garner a.k.a Mr. "Said Out Bitch". The fifth season breaks from the formula as the character appears throughout the episode as he and Lucifer investigate [[BackForTheDead his murder]].

** Except for Generation II, Ash receives a [[NiceHat new hat]], which [[LimitedWardrobe he'll continue to wear for the rest of that generation's anime series]]. In addition, every hat he has worn in the TV series has been stolen by a mischievous Pokémon at least once, with the plot of that episode being a chase to get it back.

** With the exception of the Advanced Generation saga which had none and the Original series which had two, a projection of a Legendary Pokémon would appear to Ash and/or his friends at the beginning of that saga (Ho-Oh in Kanto, Suicune in Johto, Mesprit in Sinnoh, Zekrom in Unova).

** The first movie of each generation would feature the trio of fully evolved starter Pokémon, the exception to this rule being ''Anime/{{Pokemon 3}}'' in Johto and Hoenn's ''Anime/PokemonJirachiWishmaker''.

* In ''Fanfic/TheOwlAndTheFrog'', each story arc has a [[VignetteEpisode vignette chapter]] containing at least five short stories. Arc 1 has "Chapter 6: Summer Stories" (5), Arc 2 "Chapter 19: What's Anne Been Up To?" (6), and Arc 3 has "Chapter 28:Newtopian News" (7). There's also the one-shot "Three New Students" (3).

** In the last episode of every season, one of the three human girls experiences a DisneyDeath. In S1, Sasha lets herself fall off the collapsing Toad Tower before Grime saves her. In S2, [[spoiler:Marcy was fatally stabbed through the back by Andrias' sword, before he eventually revived her to become the human host for [[MindHive The Core]].]] In S3, [[spoiler:Anne uses the power of all three Calamity Gems to destroy The Core for good, costing her own life in the process; she comes back to life when a celestial guardian makes a backup copy of her and she refuses to take its place in the afterlife.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'':
** For one episode during each season, the [[SpecialEditionTitle ending credits and ending theme would change depending on the mood of the story]]. Season 1 had "Snow Day", which has an exterior of the Plantar Home with snow falling. Season 2 had the surprisingly emotional driven episode, "Hopping Mall", which had a somber version of "Anne's Theme" to reflect the mood in the final scene.
** In the last episode of every season, one of the three human girls experiences a DisneyDeath. In S1, Sasha lets herself fall off the collapsing Toad Tower before Grime saves her. In S2, [[spoiler:Marcy was fatally stabbed through the back by Andrias' sword, before he eventually revived her to become the human host for [[MindHive The Core]].]] In S3, [[spoiler:Anne uses the power of all three Calamity Gems to destroy The Core for good, costing her own life in the process; she comes back to life when a celestial guardian makes a backup copy of her and she refuses to take its place in the afterlife.]]
** Near the end of each season, the human girls come to a situation where they [[FightingYourFriend fight each other]]. Anne fights Sasha in Seasons 1 and 2, while Sasha fights [[spoiler:Marcy possessed by the Core]] in Season 3.
** One episode every season also includes an appearance of the mysterious newt Valeriana; "Bizarre Bazaar" in S1, "The Second Temple" in S2, and "The Hardest Thing" in S3.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': For one episode during each season, the [[SpecialEditionTitle ending credits and ending theme would change depending on the mood of the story]]. Season 1 had "Snow Day", which has an exterior of the Plantar Home with snow falling. Season 2 had the suprisingly emotional driven episode, "Hopping Mall", which had a somber version of "Anne's Theme" to reflect the mood in the final scene.

** There is a major character's death in the first four seasons: [[spoiler: Tommy Merlyn in Season 1, Moira Queen in Season 2, Laurel Lance in Season 4]]. Season 3 is somewhat of an anomaly in this regard - [[spoiler: It begins with the death of Sara Lance, an important recurring character from the previous season but not a series regular - moreover, Sara's death was eventually reversed, unlike the others, though admittedly only because she was to star in ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'']].

Much of the time it ends up as a SomethingCompletelyDifferent episode.

** Each season also has an [[SomethingCompletelyDifferent "art episode"]], which experiments with the usual art style and/or storytelling, from doing a NoDialogueEpisode to a parody of ''[[Anime/TheAnimatrix The Second Renaissance]]''. Season 5 didn't have one, but the following season had two to make up for it.

*** Season 9: Return appearances by Oswalt (joined by his wife and daughter) and Yankovic

** Each season also has an [[SomethingCompletelyDifferent "art episode"]], which experiments with the usual artstyle and/or storytelling, from doing a NoDialogueEpisode to a parody of [[Anime/TheAnimatrix The Second Renaissance]]. Season 5 didn't have one, but the following season had two to make up for it.

* ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'': A character [[PrecisionFStrike says the "F" word]], mostly to the title character and WordOfGod says it must be used when [=BoJack=] does a transgression to the person who says the word that is so big, that his relationship with said person is utterly soiled.

* On ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' there is a C.A.K.E.D. episode every season.
** Also, each season had an [[SomethingCompletelyDifferent "art episode"]]. Season 5 didn't have one, but the following season had two.

** Pikachu frying a girl's bike once per saga. I
** Ash and crossdressing also goes once per saga.

* ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'': Once a season you will have at least one main character with a sibling complex:
** ''[[Anime/DigimonAdventure Adventure]]'' has Yamato (as well as Taichi), ''[[Anime/DigimonAdventure02 02]]'' has Ken, Tamers has Jenrya, ''[[Anime/DigimonFrontier Frontier]]'' has Koji, ''[[Anime/DigimonDataSquad Savers]]'' has Tohma (and Masaru), and ''[[Anime/DigimonFusion Xros Wars]]'' has Nene.

* The ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime had Pikachu fry the bike of TokenGirl once per saga. In ''Best Wishes'', Pikachu shocked the TokenGirl herself.

* Each season premiere of ''Series/Lucifer2016'', with the exception of the original pilot, opens with a scene of Lucifer crossing paths with petty criminal Lee Garner a.k.a Mr. "Said Out Bitch". The fifth season breaks from the formula as the character appears throughout the episode as he and Lucifer investigate [[BackForTheDead his murder]].

** Season 1: "" has Robby look at a one of Johnny's Cobra Kai flyers and, when asked about it by his criminal friends, he replies, "it's my fuckin' dad."
** Season 2: After Eli/Hawk gets beaten by Samantha and Robby after he tries to beat up Demetri at the mall for posting a negative review of Cobra Kai, Moon confronts him and breaks up with him due to his increasingly hostile actions, but Hawk calls Demetri "a fucking nerd."
** Season 3: Nathaniel shows upb, bloody and bruised, at Samantha's door with the rest of Miyagi-Do saying that Cobra Kai not only stole the money they raised for Miguel's operation but that "they kicked the fucking shit out of me."

*** In episode 5, Johnny tells a bartender to "shut the fuck up" when he asks for Johnny and Daniel to stop yelling at each other.
*** In episode 9, when Eli/Hawk, still depressed after his mohawk gets shaved off by Robby and Kyler, gets a pep talk from Moon about how he shaped up since Cobra Kai turned him into a bully, he tells Daniel he knows who he is now: "the guy who's gonna win the whole fucking thing." And he does.

** Starting with Episode 34 of the ''Manga/VentoAureo'' anime, [[spoiler:we see the interval between the blood drops in the OP's normal version: Diavolo activates King Crimson, and uses Epitaph to predict Giorno's attack in the future, all the while monologuing [[BilingualBonus in Italian]] about how the heroes are doomed to fall before him.]] Then, as a first time, [[spoiler: during the beginning of Diavolo's monologue, Giorno's newly acquired Gold Experience Requiem undoes the effect of King Crimson.]]

** ''[[Anime/DigimonAdventure Adventure]]'' has Yamato (as well as Taichi), ''[[Anime/DigimonAdventure02 02]]'' has Ken, Tamers has Jenrya, ''[[Anime/DigimonFrontier Frontier]]'' has Koji, ''[[Anime/DigimonSavers Savers]]'' has Tohma (and Masaru), and ''[[Anime/DigimonXrosWars Xros Wars]]'' has Nene.

* ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'': A character [[PrecisionFStrike says the "F" word]], mostly to the title character and WordOfGod says it must be used when BoJack does a transgression to the person who says the word that is so big, that his relationship with said person is utterly soiled.