Sennin Buraku

Sennin Buraku (仙人部落) is a manga series by Kō Kojima which runs in the adult magazine Weekly Asahi Geinō, published by Tokuma Shoten in Japan. 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 the longest running manga to be serialized in a dedicated manga magazine with Doraemon the second longest, and Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo (Kochi-Kame) the third longest (Asahi Geino is not a dedicated manga magazine). While Sennin Buraku has been running for more years than Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz's strip has more "episodes" as it ran daily rather than weekly. The story was a romantic comedy taking place in historical China, and it was quite risqué for its time. The characters were very traditionally dressed (e.g. all wearing kimono). Although the anime is very hard to find, it has been rerun on Japanese television, its intro and outro has appeared on DVD, and an episode has resurfaced on Nico Nico Douga.

Sennin Buraku was the first late night anime, broadcast shortly before midnight on Fuji TV from September 4, 1963 to February 23, 1964. This was the first anime series produced by Tele-Cartoon Japan, and a page exists on their website about it. The series was in black and white and ran for 23 episodes. A live action movie was released in 1961, titled Fūryū Kokkei-tan: Sennin Buraku (風流滑稽譚 仙人部落).

Plot summary
The ancient Chinese village of Taoyuan is populated solely by Taoist ascetics. The eldest, Lao Shi, conducts research into the mysteries of magic and alchemy, while his disciple Zhi Huang remains more interested in pleasures of the flesh. He has fallen for three pretty sisters who live nearby, much to Lao Shi's annoyance.

Manga
While the manga has run for over fifty years now, it has had no collection volumes released in English. The only way to read the manga is to buy or subscribe to Weekly Asahi Geinō in Japan, or to buy the Japanese tankōbon.

Live action movie
The 83-minute live action movie was titled Fūryū Kokkei-tan: Sennin Buraku, and was released in theaters by Shintoho on 1961-02-08.

Cast

 * Akiko Matsuyama: Mayumi Ōzora
 * Tenpei Naiki: Yōichi Numata
 * Yōko Kondō: Mako Sanjō
 * Doctor: Bokuzen Hidari
 * Laundry boy: Akihiro Maruyama
 * Daikichi Narayama: Bunta Sugawara

Staff

 * Director: Morihei Magatani
 * Planning: Mitsuo Nakatsuka
 * Screenplay: Isao Matsumoto
 * 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 following the world news, and episodes nine through 23 were broadcast from 23:30 to 23:45 on Monday 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
 * Yoshiaki Hanayagi
 * Tomoko Kokai
 * Ichirō Nagai

Staff

 * Director: Shigeharu Kaneko
 * Screenplay: Akira Hayasaka, Tōru Kino
 * Production: TCJ

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