is a
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
series by
Kō Kojima
was a Japanese manga artist. He was best known for penning ''Sennin Buraku'' (running since 1956 in ''Weekly Asahi Geinō''), the longest running comic by a single artist. He attended the private in Koishikawa (now part of Bunkyō, Tokyo), aft ...
which ran in the adult magazine ''
Weekly Asahi Geinō
, often shortened to simply ''Asahi Geinō'' or , is a shūkanshi founded by Hirotomo Takei and published by Tokuma Shoten in Japan. It was first published under the title in January 1946, though the title and size were changed to the current on ...
'', published by
Tokuma Shoten
is a publisher in Japan, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The company was established in 1954 by Yasuyoshi Tokuma in Minato, Tokyo. The company’s product portfolio includes music publishing, video game publishing, movies, anime, magazines, m ...
in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. It is the longest running comic with only one artist, being published weekly since October 1956, and the longest-running strip ever in Japan.
By contrast, ''
Golgo 13
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takao Saito, published in Shogakukan's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Big Comic'' since October 1968. The series follows the title character, a professional assassin for hire. ''Golgo ...
'' is the longest running manga to be serialized in a dedicated manga magazine with ''
Doraemon
''Doraemon'' ( ja, ドラえもん ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. The manga was first serialized in December 1969, with List of Doraemon chapters, its 1,345 individual chapters compiled into 45 ' ...
'' the second longest, and ''
Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo
, often shortened to , and known in English as ''KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops'', is a Japanese comedy manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Akimoto. It takes place in the present day, in and around a neighborhood police station (kōb ...
'' (''Kochi-Kame'') the third longest (Asahi Geino is not a dedicated manga magazine). While ''Sennin Buraku'' has been running for more years than ''
Peanuts
''Peanuts'' is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ' ...
'',
Charles M. Schulz
Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz (; November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000) was an American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', featuring what are probably his two best-known characters, Charlie Brown and Snoopy. He is wid ...
's strip has more "episodes" as it ran daily rather than weekly.
The story was a romantic comedy taking place in historical
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, and it was quite risqué for its time. The characters were very traditionally dressed (e.g. all wearing
hanfu
''Hanfu'' () is the traditional styles of clothing worn by the Han Chinese. There are several representative styles of ''hanfu'', such as the (an upper-body garment with a long outer skirt), the (an upper-body garment with a long underskirt ...
). Although the anime is very hard to find, it has been rerun on Japanese television, all episodes have appeared on DVD (save for episodes 12 and 19), and episodes have been saved on Internet torrents.
''Sennin Buraku'' was the first
late night anime
In Japan, refers to anime series broadcast on television late at night or in the early hours of the morning, usually between 10 PM and 4 AM local time.
Overview
Late night anime is targeted towards Otaku from teens to adult audiences. One of the ...
, broadcast shortly before midnight on
Fuji TV
JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...
from September 4, 1963 to February 23, 1964.
This was the first
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
series produced by
Tele-Cartoon Japan
is an anime studio in Arakawa, Tokyo, Japan. The company was formerly known as Television Corporation of Japan or TCJ before changing its name in 1969 to establish Eiken. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Asatsu-DK.
Works TCJ era
* ''Sennin ...
, and a page exists on their website about it.
The series was in black and white and ran for 23 episodes. A
live action
Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...
movie was released in 1961, titled .
With the August 7, 2014 issue, it was announced that the series would be placed on hiatus. The death of the artist on April 14, 2015 puts any future chapters of Sennin Buraku in doubt.
[http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASH4K5K8GH4KUCLV00L.html?iref=comtop_6_05]
Plot summary
''Sennin Buraku'' takes place in Taoyuan, a small
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
village, populated solely by
Taoist
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...
ascetic
Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...
s. The eldest, Lao Shi, conducts research into magic and
alchemy
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
, while his
disciple
A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure. It can refer to:
Religion
* Disciple (Christianity), a student of Jesus Christ
* Twelve Apostles of Jesus, sometimes called the Twelve Disciples
* Seventy disciples in t ...
Zhi Huang remains more interested in
pleasures of the flesh
''Pleasures of the Flesh'' is the second studio album by the American thrash metal band Exodus. Released in 1987, it is the group's first album to feature Steve Souza on vocals after Paul Baloff was fired from the band. The record was remastere ...
. He has fallen for three pretty
sister
A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...
s who live nearby, much to Lao Shi's annoyance.
Manga
While the manga has run in ''
Weekly Asahi Geinō
, often shortened to simply ''Asahi Geinō'' or , is a shūkanshi founded by Hirotomo Takei and published by Tokuma Shoten in Japan. It was first published under the title in January 1946, though the title and size were changed to the current on ...
'' for over fifty years, there have been no translations of it.
Live action movie
The 83-minute live action movie was titled ''Fūryū Kokkei-tan: Sennin Buraku'', and was released in theaters by
Shintoho
was a Japanese movie studio. It was one of the big six film studios (which also included Daiei, Nikkatsu, Shochiku, Toei Company, and Toho) during the Golden Age of Japanese cinema. It was founded by defectors from the original Toho company fol ...
on 1961-02-08.
Cast
*Akiko Matsuyama:
Mayumi Ōzora
*Tenpei Naiki:
Yōichi Numata
(19 July 1924 – 29 April 2006) was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in 27 films between 1949 and 2001.
Selected filmography
* ''Man in the Storm'' (1950)
* ''Yellow Crow'' (1957)
* '' Jigoku'' (1960)
* ''The Ghost Cat of Otama Pond'' ( ...
*Yōko Kondō:
Mako Sanjō
*Doctor:
Bokuzen Hidari
was a Japanese actor and comedian born in Kotesashi Village (now part of Tokorozawa), Iruma District, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. He appeared in such films as Akira Kurosawa's ''Seven Samurai'', ''The Lower Depths'' and ''Ikiru''. Hidari was f ...
*Laundry boy:
Akihiro Maruyama
*Daikichi Narayama:
Bunta Sugawara
was a Japanese actor who appeared in almost 200 feature films. Dropping out of Waseda University, he worked as a model before entering the film industry in 1956. After years of work, Sugawara finally established himself as a famous actor at the a ...
Staff
*Director:
Morihei Magatani
*Planning:
Mitsuo Nakatsuka
*Screenplay:
Isao Matsumoto
is a masculine Japanese given name which was popular during the Shōwa period.
Possible writings
Isao can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:
*功, "achievement"
*勲, "meritorious"
*績, "exploits"
*公, "public"
*勇男 ...
*Cinematographer:
Shigenobu Yoshida
*Art Director:
Haruyasu Kurosawa
*Music:
Keitarō Miho
Anime series
Each episode of the anime series was 15 minutes long. The first eight episodes were broadcast from 23:40 to 23:55 on Wednesday nights on
Fuji TV
JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...
following the world news, and episodes nine through 23 were broadcast from 23:30 to 23:45 on sunday nights.
The opening theme song, ''Sennin Buraku no Thema'', was sung by Three Graces, arranged by
Tōru Kino and the lyrics were written by
Takeo Yamashita.
Cast
*Sennin:
Hyakushō San'yūtei
*
Ichikawa Danjūrō
is a stage name taken on by a series of Kabuki actors of the Ichikawa family. Most of these were blood relatives, though some were adopted into the family. It is a famous and important name, and receiving it is an honor. There are a number of r ...
*
Yoshiaki Hanayagi
*
Tomoko Kokai
*
Ichirō Nagai
was a Japanese actor, Voice acting in Japan, voice actor and narrator from Ikeda, Osaka. He was previously affiliated with Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society, and was affiliated with Aoni Production at the time of his death.
Career
Nag ...
Staff
*Director:
Shigeharu Kaneko
*Screenplay:
Akira Hayasaka
Akira may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Akira'' (franchise), a Japanese cyberpunk franchise
** ''Akira'' (manga), a 1980s cyberpunk manga by Katsuhiro Otomo
** ''Akira'' (1988 film), an anime film adaptation of the manga
** ''Akira'' (vide ...
, Tōru Kino
*Production:
TCJ
Sources:
References
External links
Lambiek article about Koo KojimaSennin Burakuin Animemorial (contains episodes list + screenshot)
*
*
{{Eiken
1956 manga
1961 films
1963 anime television series debuts
Eiken (studio)
Fuji TV original programming
Japanese romantic comedy films
Romantic comedy anime and manga
Satirical comics
Films with screenplays by Akira Hayasaka
Shintoho films
Tokuma Shoten manga
1960s Japanese films