Sennin Buraku

Aired: 1963 - 1964

A TV anime produced by TCJ Doga Center. Based on Ko Kojima's manga serialized in Houbunsha's Weekly Manga TIMES (1956-2010, an exceptionally long-running serialization). Broadcast in 23 monochrome episodes on the Fuji TV network from September 4, 1963 to February 26, 1964. Aired in the 11 PM late-night time slot, it is Japan's first TV anime for adult audiences, depicting bawdy tales in which immortals living in the Sennin realm are bewildered by women of the secular world, in a satirical comedy format of 5-minute mini-anime episodes. Original author Ko Kojima, who served as chairman of the Japan Cartoonists Association, was one of Showa era's representative manga artists, known for his graceful brushwork in depicting women and his light satirical touch. The work is positioned as the prototype of late-night anime and adult anime time slots, pioneering the late-night anime broadcasting model. In the history of Japanese TV anime, it holds significant meaning as a work that opened up the adult genre in a media environment that had been entirely children-oriented at the time. (C)Ko Kojima