Beginning as a comic by Machiko Hasegawa, in 1946, Sazae-san is a series that tells the story of the life of a young lady named Sazae. The story encapsulated what the average Japanese family was like after World War II, yet from those original 45 volumes and about 10,000 comic strips, something more came from the story.
A few years before the manga would complete publication, studio Eiken decided it was a great idea to bring the characters to life, as an anime! Since that the decision was made, everything after was history. As of now, the series has about 2,500 episodes and is officially the longest-running animated series in the world!
Since its inception, the series has been forced to postpone production twice. The first was during the 1975 "oil shock," and the second was for the COVID-19 pandemic. While it was a smart decision to postpone productions for the safety of the cast and crew, it had still been 45 long years since anything like this had happened again.
During the delay, the company decided to play older episodes of the series until news came that production would begin again on more episodes. Thankfully the wait did not last for much longer. After a reveal from the official website of the series, Sazae-san is officially returning from its delay, this June. The anime will premiere with three new short stories titled, Big Sister's Megaphone, Namihei, Father's Day Graduation, and Apologies on Behalf of My Troublesome Family!
With the series finally back from its delay and cast and crew ready to return to work, its time for Sazae-san to continue to be the longest-running animated series once more! Make sure to share your thoughts on the series or the return in the comments!
Based on Machiko Hasegawa's newspaper comic of the same name that started back in 1948, this series follows the day-to-day comedic activities of the extended Isono family: Fune and Namihei, their three children Sazae, Katsuo and Wakame, Sazae's husband Masuo Fuguta, and their child Tarao.
Sazae-san is continuing with new episodes on June 21st!