Absolute sequences

Absolute sequences are why a release named “Spy x Family - 17” can be matched to the right episode. New terms are in the glossary.

Fansub groups often number a multi-cour show continuously: the second cour starts at 13, not at 1. An absolute sequence is an ordered chain of works numbered that way. It is what lets Courmap read “Spy x Family - 17” as the fifth episode of Part 2.

data/sequences/spy-x-family-absolute.yaml

id: spy-x-family-absolute
members:
  - { work: spy-x-family, episodes: 1-12, absolute_start: 1 }
  - { work: spy-x-family-part-2, episodes: 1-13, absolute_start: 13 }

Absolute

1-25

Works

spy-x-family 1-12spy-x-family-part-2 1-13

Absolute 17 is Part 2 episode 5, the release name Spy x Family - 17.

• A work can belong to several sequences (a fansub numbering and a streaming numbering, say). One of its memberships is marked default: true, and the absolute translation target always answers in that one.
• Most sequences are not hand-written: works that share a TVDB show and continue each other without a gap form a derived sequence in TVDB order, named <first work>-absolute. A hand-written sequence for any of those works replaces the derived one.
• AniList’s sequel relations order works into prequel chains but never create or extend a sequence; only TVDB order and hand-written files do.
• Changing an existing sequence renumbers releases people already have, so the bots treat any such change as needing review, and a change that shifts a finished work’s numbers as a conflict for a person.

In the client, translate(ref, episode, ['absolute']) gives a work’s absolute number, and translate('absolute:spy-x-family-absolute', 17, [...]) goes the other way.