Anime 'Sazae-san' Awarded Guinness Record for the World's Longest Running Cartoon

by symbv
Sep 14, 2013 11:04 AM | 99 Comments

On September 5th, Guinness World Records named "Sazae-san" the Longest Running Cartoon on this planet. The TV anime series is based on the manga written by Hasegawa Machiko from 1946. It started airing in October 1969 and is now approaching its 46th anniversary. So far, more than 2200 broadcasts have been made. The previous holder of the record was the American cartoon show "The Simpsons".

Source: Asahi Shimbun

Anime Awards

20 of 99 Comments Recent Comments

ZetaZaku said:

symbv said:
Similarity to certain extent - this is why I said SoL can be a secondary genre for this anime.

It's still SoL, secondary genre or primary, it's still SoL.

Well it is SoL perhaps, but if it is secondary genre, can it be called a SoL anime? Definition varies, and my point is that many people may t classify it as such.

ZetaZaku said:
However, that line you were quoting states that I think that SoL is pretty much trash unless it's targeted at everyone, which is correct, I do think that. If you need to belong to a certain group to enjoy a piece of entertainment, there's probably something wrong with it.

My "most" referred to your comment about SoL being trash if it is not targeted at everyone, but I find very much a flawed statement, both in the "everyone" part and the implication that you are talking about all not most such anime. And I don't really see anything wrong of a piece of entertainment being made for a certain group, there are many kinds of entertainment like this from books to movies to TV series. I do not see why there is something wrong for making a niche piece of entertainment.

Sep 17, 2013 1:06 AM by symbv

symbv said:
Similarity to certain extent - this is why I said SoL can be a secondary genre for this anime.

It's still SoL, secondary genre or primary, it's still SoL.

symbv said:
And you did not say "most" when you said "SoL is pretty much trash unless it's targeted at everyone" so the implication is that you are saying all, not most.

ZetaZaku said:
Otaku SoLs on the other hand are mostly targeted at grown up men (not referring to all seinen SoLs, but specifically those targeted at otaku). Still, the first mentioned shows are much more popular accepted than those otaku SoLs, which are mostly viewed and liked by otaku.

My most was referring to this. It's mostly viewed by them, but there obviously are exceptions.

However, that line you were quoting states that I think that SoL is pretty much trash unless it's targeted at everyone, which is correct, I do think that. If you need to belong to a certain group to enjoy a piece of entertainment, there's probably something wrong with it.

Sep 16, 2013 10:53 PM by ZetaZaku

ZetaZaku said:
Never talked with a Japanese about what genre Doraemon is, so I wouldn't know. It's really similar to other SoLs.

Similarity to certain extent - this is why I said SoL can be a secondary genre for this anime.

ZetaZaku said:
Are we talking about the K-On anime or manga? And I said most, not all.

Anime, manga, doesn't matter. And you did not say "most" when you said "SoL is pretty much trash unless it's targeted at everyone" so the implication is that you are saying all, not most.

Sep 16, 2013 9:51 PM by symbv

symbv said:
Never say this is not the case, but that does not equal to " targeted at everyone".

Doraemon has strong SoL elements, but as I said if I ask people in Japan to describe this anime, I doubt SoL (nichijou) will be the first thing they'd come up. And for the movies, those are definitely not even SoL as a secondary genre even, as you also noted.

And if you talk about shows that people of all age can enjoy, many non-otaku also mention K-On, one major "otaku-oriented" SoL anime.

Never talked with a Japanese about what genre Doraemon is, so I wouldn't know. It's really similar to other SoLs.

Are we talking about the K-On anime or manga? And I said most, not all.

Sep 16, 2013 9:48 PM by ZetaZaku

ZetaZaku said:
Shin-chan, Chibi Maruko-chan and Doraemon are pretty much shows people of all age can enjoy. You don't have to be a child to enjoy them. That's the charm of them.

Never say this is not the case, but that does not equal to " targeted at everyone".

Doraemon has strong SoL elements, but as I said if I ask people in Japan to describe this anime, I doubt SoL (nichijou) will be the first thing they'd come up. And for the movies, those are definitely not even SoL as a secondary genre even, as you also noted.

And if you talk about shows that people of all age can enjoy, many non-otaku also mention K-On, one major "otaku-oriented" SoL anime.

Sep 16, 2013 9:37 PM by symbv

symbv said:
The thing is those SoL you mentioned did not really targeted at "everyone" (if anything most people would say Shin-chan, Chibi Maruko and Doraemon as targeted at kids). As I said, there are people who don't like Sazae-san, and Doraemon is not even considered SoL (as the primary genre) in Japan. Whether it is ahead or trash is just purely your own personal opinion, so don't say it as if it is some universal objective truth.

Shin-chan, Chibi Maruko-chan and Doraemon are pretty much shows people of all age can enjoy. You don't have to be a child to enjoy them. That's the charm of them. They aren't exclusively made for a certain audience and they aren't insulting anyone's intelligence. Otaku SoLs on the other hand are mostly targeted at grown up men (not referring to all seinen SoLs, but specifically those targeted at otaku). Still, the first mentioned shows are much more popular accepted than those otaku SoLs, which are mostly viewed and liked by otaku.

Doraemon has that adventure aspect that prevents it from being your usual SoL, but it's still showing Nobita's everyday life. The Doraemon movies aren't SoL, but the show is pretty much SoL.

Sep 16, 2013 9:29 PM by ZetaZaku

Hoppy said:
Sazae-san is actually quite funny at times, the length prevents me from marathoning it (not a fan of marathoning super long runners, nor have I achieved a feat close to this level), however it's episodic so I can see a later episode with few problems if any.

The key concept in Sazae-san is the "Sazae-san timespace" where time does not really pass in it. This makes it very easy to just grab one episode without watching any past episode and you'd still able to enjoy without any confusion.

Sep 16, 2013 8:57 PM by symbv

Sazae-san is actually quite funny at times, the length prevents me from marathoning it (not a fan of marathoning super long runners, nor have I achieved a feat close to this level), however it's episodic so I can see a later episode with few problems if any.

Sep 16, 2013 8:51 PM by Hoppy

ZetaZaku said:
Doraemon, Shin-chan, Mainichi Kaasan, Chibi Maruko-chan, Jarinko Chie and Sazae-san show you the beauty of SoL. The very little I've seen from each of these were miles ahead of any otaku targeted SoL. So yeah, SoL is pretty much trash unless it's targeted at everyone.

The thing is those SoL you mentioned did not really targeted at "everyone" (if anything most people would say Shin-chan, Chibi Maruko and Doraemon as targeted at kids). As I said, there are people who don't like Sazae-san, and Doraemon is not even considered SoL (as the primary genre) in Japan. Whether it is ahead or trash is just purely your own personal opinion, so don't say it as if it is some universal objective truth.

Sep 16, 2013 8:47 PM by symbv

Congratulations to the makers of Sazae-san for this milestone.

Sep 16, 2013 3:19 PM by Conan_Kudo

Introverturtled said:

DateYutaka said:

CP9 said:

CP9 said:
i though the longest anime was doraemon

i bet one piece will beat them all

no thats just false cause all the ones listed batter One piece in the Tv Ratings

I think he's talking about the length, not the tv ratings. And he's wrong then too, One Piece will probably be 800 - 1000 episodes.

i stated the resaons why one piece will never do it i know what we h was taliked about and i rebuffed it

Sep 16, 2013 2:04 PM by DateYutaka

DateYutaka said:

CP9 said:

CP9 said:
i though the longest anime was doraemon

i bet one piece will beat them all

no thats just false cause all the ones listed batter One piece in the Tv Ratings

I think he's talking about the length, not the tv ratings. And he's wrong then too, One Piece will probably be 800 - 1000 episodes.

Sep 16, 2013 1:51 PM by Introverturtled

CP9 said:

CP9 said:
i though the longest anime was doraemon

i bet one piece will beat them all

no thats just false cause all the ones listed batter One piece in the Tv Ratings

Sep 16, 2013 1:43 PM by DateYutaka

i though the longest anime was doraemon

CP9 said:
i though the longest anime was doraemon

i bet one piece will beat them all

Mod Edit: Merged posts. Please do not double post.

Sep 16, 2013 1:39 PM by CP9

symbv said:
And it also taught me the beauty of SoL (as understood in Japan), where pain and dark side do not have to feature prominently in order to tell us something about life and relationship.

Doraemon, Shin-chan, Mainichi Kaasan, Chibi Maruko-chan, Jarinko Chie and Sazae-san show you the beauty of SoL. The very little I've seen from each of these were miles ahead of any otaku targeted SoL. So yeah, SoL is pretty much trash unless it's targeted at everyone.

Sep 16, 2013 12:46 PM by ZetaZaku

How am I supposed to feel?

Sep 16, 2013 7:16 AM by AxelcG

i've only seen an an unsubbed version of episode 1 and a couple of recent episodes gg was nice enough to do subs for, and this great show deserves any respect it gets - funny and touching at the same time - a true legend (and no, i don't think one has to be japanese or deeply versed in japanese culture to enjoy it)! now if only gg or someone else would do some more episodes (we should start a petition or something)...........

Sep 16, 2013 3:49 AM by octal9

Wow, that's a lot.

Sep 16, 2013 2:26 AM by Icyness

Holy crap, that's a long time. O_O

Sep 15, 2013 11:24 PM by soulless4now

Dat synopsis:

"..and is one of the few anime that is considered "acceptable" by adults".

Seriouslee?

Sep 15, 2013 3:23 PM by Kilnerbanker

See All Comments