Year after year, the anime that Americans can’t seem to get enough of are the ones involving action, adventure, conflict, and no small amount of dramatic tension. Since anime is made in Japan, many Western fans would assume that the Japanese anime fan base shares similar tastes in their animated content. Interestingly though, a trio of anime series show that Japanese audiences historically prefer stories with a bit more wholesome fare. Just looking at the longest-running anime, it’s clear that there is much more to the medium than just action.
The series in question are – Sazae-san, Chibi Maruko-chan, and Crayon Shin-chan. Sazae-san, which is based on Machiko Hasegawa’s manga by the same name, has been a part of the Japanese Sunday television entertainment schedule for decades. Similarly, Yumiko Sato and Tsutomu Shibayama’s Chibi Maruku-Chan and Crayon Shin-chan – an anime based on Yoshito Usui manga, have both been airing since the 1990s.
While the three series tell completely different stories, a strong thread of commonality runs among them. This shared link, moreover, is the reason why all three resonate so deeply with the Japanese anime-watching community and why they’ve been entertaining Japanese audiences with their shenanigans for decades. The one link that rules them all is each series’ focus on family dynamics.
Sazae, Maruko, And Crayon-Shin Share An Extraordinary Connection
Their Focus on Family Makes Them Timeless Classics And Everlastingly Popular
Sazae-san focuses on the small and large aspects of Sazae Fuguta’s daily life. In the series, Fuguta is a married woman with kids in post-World War II Japan. Accordingly, the series delves into the personal dynamics of the modern Japanese family. Switching the perspective from wife and mother to daughter, Chibi Maruko-chan details the joys and sorrows of nine-year-old Momoko “Maruko” Sakura as she deals with assorted circumstances from her parent’s wishes to her school’s mandates.
Following in the footsteps of the family-friendly anime vibe established by Sazae and Chibi Maruko, the third series – Crayon Shin-chan, explores the story of five-year-old boy Shinnosuke “Shin” Nohara as he tries to do everything he can to avoid the demands of an elementary student’s life while also giving a hard time to his parents.
Having run continuously since 1969,
Sazae-san
holds the record as the longest-running animated series of all time.
Each show centers around the daily challenges and topical situations that normally arise within a family. However, rather than treating these circumstances from a real-world perspective, each refracts the environment through its own unique comedic filter. Moreover, each series has expended no small amount of effort on depicting the unique perspectives of different generations within a family. As a result, the shows are relatable to all age groups in Japanese society.
Despite Their Age – Sazae, Maruko, And Crayon-Shin Are Still Fan Favorites
The elements of these anime series that make them so popular with successive generations of Japanese fans and are not completely absent from non-Japanese anime-loving cultures like the United States. The U.S. also has a rich and diverse popular subculture that also emphasizes family-based slice-of-life anime stories. However, the promotion of anime in the U.S. has mainly been focused on more action-oriented series rather than the family-based comedy that these three shows exhibit.
The Japanese interest in the three series might strike some readers as similar to the budding interest in the U.S. for classic cartoons, but there is a massive difference. While the American nostalgia for animated series of yesteryear derives from a desire to “relive” the style, theme, and feel of series that ended long ago, Japanese interest derives from the ongoing entertainment the three series have continuously been able to provide for decades.
The trend toward retro anime in America can accurately be described as a niche movement, with fans revisiting old episodes of their cherished classic series and tuning into their current favorite series. Their interest in the legacy series isn’t mutually exclusive. Conversely, in Japan, the interest is in the current episodes of the legacy series. If Japanese fans are watching any of the three series, they are not watching newer, contemporary series. According to a recent survey printed in Anime News Network, Sazae-san, Chibi Maruko-chan, and Crayon Shin-chan have all been rated within the top ten most popular series currently running, with the first two even beating One Piece.
Sazae, Maruko, And Crayon Shin Prove The Importance Of The Domestic Anime Market
In America, the retro-anime movement plays little part in which series are currently the most popular. On the other hand, in Japan, the three series are in a yearly, monthly, and weekly direct competition to determine which series should hold the title of the most popular current anime series. The popularity of the three anime doesn’t translate to a wish from Japan’s anime audience to do away with action and adventure in their viewing selections. Conversely, it indicates that domestic consumption is not solely dependent on action, adventure, and tension as it is globally.
While the roots and essential “life force” of anime are Japanese, its growth over the last few decades as a global cultural phenomenon has meant that, as an industry, it has had to expand its appeal to take into account international – especially Western tastes and traditions. Although the anime industry has proven to be the epitome of the “thinking globally, acting locally” idea; there’s still some great anime content that just doesn’t easily resonate internationally – which is fine, as domestic support is abundant.
Source: Anime Network News
