Sazae-san

Sazae-san

By Amanda Dala

 In the Hasegawa local newspaper, a comic strip will hold the longest running series. According to The Guinness World Record, Sazae-san holds the record of being “the longest ongoing series” with 7,071 episodes. It had also won the 8^th Bungeishunjū Manga Award in 1962 (“An award given out to gag, yonkoma, and one panel strip manga.” Wikipedia). It was turn into an animated series in 1969 and as of 2013 is still an ongoing series.

The main character is a mother named Sazae-san. She lives in a house with her husband, her kids and her parents. Her husband is name Masou who is a salaryman who moved into the family after marriage. They have three year old son name Tarao who is also called Tara-san. Her father is Namihei Isano who is the patriarch of the Isano family.

 The series tends to follow traditional view and is the ultimate family program. The plot points and simplistic art style from a western point of view are considered to be “boring”, but most Japanese viewers considered this anime to be really good. According to Myanimelist.net, “As a result, the show continues to grab the top ratings on TV. It is also one of the few animes that is considered by parents as “acceptable.”  

There have also been many live adaptations of the series too. In 1955, a radio station aired a serial drama based on the comic series. At the same time as the audio drama, there was a short- lived live- action series that is currently aired on TBS. In November 1965, the TV channel TBS created a series that uses the comic strips as an example until 1967. In 1979, NHK created a series that focuses the creation of Sazae-san and Machiko Hasegawa in her younger days and in 2010, Fuji television debuted a live action comedy call Sazae-san 2 and Sazae-san 3. The shows follows the same elements as the anime series, including theme music and ending with, classic janken match (Japanese rock- paper- scissors)”.

Sazae-san is not like any typical anime. Like other anime; it usually have violence, swearing and magical girls. Sazae-san is an anime that you can watch together with family. It takes back to traditional Japanese society and brings a calming atmosphere whenever you watch the show. It is recommended for all ages, and it is a no wonder why many people would love it.

Another article for the magazine project. It was interesting knowing about it and how it still occurs today.