The wonderful world of Sazae-san｜Anime

“The wonderful world of Sazae-san” is a Japanese animated television series based on a manga by Machiko Hasegawa, which was broadcast from 1969. The manga was serialised in newspapers from 1946 to 1974. It depicts the daily lives of the Isono and Huguta families, including the main character Sazae. There are 6477 episodes in the book collection.

It has been on air for more than 55 years and holds the Guinness World Record as the longest-running TV animation program in the world. The basic broadcast date and time has not changed at all on Sundays at 18:30 since the start of the broadcast, and it is also the longest-running program that has continued with the same broadcast time.

Synopsis

The main character is Sazae. She is a housewife in an ordinary salaried family, and is a fidgety and cheerful character. Her family consists of seven members: father Namihei Isono, mother Fune, brother Katsuo, sister Wakame, husband Masuo Fuguta, eldest son Tara and one pet cat, Tama.

“The wonderful world of Sazae-san” is not a story manga, but consists of relatively independent episodes, each with a consistent setting and characters. The seasons change, but the characters do not age. Much of the content is symbolic of the historical background, and the style differs greatly between the early and middle periods, which depict the period immediately after the end of the war and the period of reconstruction, and the later period, which depicts the period of high economic growth. In particular, the main subject matter in the early and middle periods is the daily lives of Sazae, her family and their surrounding characters.

The wonderful world of Sazae-san | Recommendations

What makes “The wonderful world of Sazae-san” different from other anime is not whether it is funny or not funny, popular or not popular, high or low quality, but that there is “The wonderful world of Sazae-san” in Japan, just like there are days of the week on the calendar.

It is an anime that should be loved for a long time by men and women of all ages.
The absurdities and slapstick of everyday life are depicted in a surrealistic way, but watch it with a smile on your face. As it is a gag anime (manga), it is a hilarious comedy story about a cheerful and friendly family, but it is also a little sad. This work depicts the everyday life of Japanese people and Japanese-ness.

© Machiko Hasegawa Art museum / Fuji Television Network