Historical Anime

An omnibus-format TV series consisting of anime adaptations of Japanese folk tales, this is one of Japan's longest-running TV series, and Group Tac's second TV series (the first was The Road to Munich, a documentary anime about the 1972 Olympics). The governing rule of the series was that the creative staff change from episode to episode. While later other anime series like Nippon Animation's Famous Works of Japanese Literature would attempt the same, none would be as long-lived or successful. The rotation idea was that of director Sugii Gisaburo, a visual visionary unequaled in Japanese film history who has revolutionized anime several times in his career, be it in the 1967 TV series Goku's Big Adventure, in which he sought to shake anime free from the dominance of story development by yanking it back to a more cartoonish form, or The Belladonna of Sadness, where he broke the Disney full-animation mold, creating a full-length animated film in a completely new style that was a hybrid of still drawings and animation. The reason for rotating the staff each episode was so that each episode would have a completely different look and feel from its predecessor, and in this it was eminently successful. This is a series that is genuinely rewarding to watch, and is visually one of the richest in anime history. While this system also meant that quality varied, there were also occasionally superb episodes, as on the staff were many veterans like Group Tac founder SUGII Gisaburo himself, SHIBAYAMA Tsutomu, FURUZAWA Hideo, RIN Taro, and HIKONE Norio. Old episodes started being repeated more and more frequently as the years went on, and production of new episodes finally ceased completely in late 1995, but the series is still widely broadcast.

(Source: pelleas.net/dbman/db.cgi?db=wmt&uid=default&ID=247&view_records=1)

Maru-san and Kaku-san have grown complacent in the long peace. They go to view a military parade, but it turns into a comparison of the military strength of countries around the world. In the end, they listen in on an arms control conference to find out what each country is really thinking.

(Source: Japanese Animated Film Classics)

Sasuke is the story of a ninja child that starts right after the battle of Sekigahara where Tokugawa Ieyasu becomes shogun of Japan. Sarutobi Sasuke (Jump Like Monkey Sasuke) was a famous ninja in the employ of Sanada Daisuke who fought for the losing side against Ieyasu. He was believed to have committed suicide when he was trapped in a castle, but the story takes off that he really escaped and that Sarutobi is not a name of a ninja but a whole ninja clan. (from AniDB)

A festival cut/compilation of the animated segments made by Yamamura Kouji for a TV documentary by NHK, Kojiki Girl Travelogue (古事記ガール 日向路を旅する).

The 4 episodes that compose The Hyuga Episode of Kojiki are:

#1: The Cleansing (禊/ Misogi, 3’17”)
#2: Sun Goddess Amaterasu (天照大御神/ Amaterasu Ookami, 2’11”)
#3: Flowering Tree (木花之佐久夜毘売/ Konohananosakuya-bime, 2’31”)
#4: Umisachi and Yamasachi (海佐知山佐知/ Umisachi Yamasachi, 3’30”)

A Korean animated full-feature film about the gods in ancient Greece. It was created to teach young people about ancient Greece and its myths.

Based on Ueda Toshiko's shoujo manga.

The story is about Fuichin, a young tomboy girl living in Manchuria.

Based on the 1981 book of the same name by new age guru Ken Keyes, Jr., which in turn is based on the story of a 1952 experiment on the southern Japanese island of Kojima.

Once one monkey has learned how to wash its food, it is able to teach others the same skill. When a certain number have learned (and Keyes suggests an arbitrary figure of 100), not only do the remaining monkeys suddenly appear to know how to do it, but so too does a completely different group of apes on a completely separate island. Keyes uses this apocryphal tale as a parable for the antinuclear movement, as "proof" that change would come if enough people joined forces.

(Source: The Anime Encyclopedia)

This is a different version of the story than the one included in the Seishun Anime Zenshu TV series.

Botchan, a recent graduate, sets out for his first teaching assignment… never anticipating what awaits him. He must contend with students who spy on him and pull nasty stunts and with a landlord who constantly tries to sell him worthless antiques. While on a fishing trip to boost his spirits, Botchan suspects Hotta, his one friend in the village, as the cause of all of his misery. But this is just beginning of his problems…During a meeting to discuss the students’ disrespectful behavior towards Botchan, the proposed punishment is surprisingly mild despite the severity of the acts. Yet, Botchan’s suspected adversary defends him! Were the other faculty members lying about Hotta? Botchan may soon discover the truth, for when evidence of the dean’s activities surface, Botchan and Hotta must team up to corner the dean in his own scandalous game!

(Source: Anime News Network)

The chinese tale of the poor young man. His mother married with cruel king of the state and he want to take his mother back. One old man come from the heaven and make his three wishes come true.

(Source: Anime News Network)

Story of Marco Polo.

The second season of Marie & Gali.

Independent animation by Yanagihara Ryouhei, member of the Animation Sannin no Kai pioneer group of independent animation.

The show was about historical events through a character who was not aware of "what happened on this day in history".

(Source: Wikipedia)

Megumi Yokota was abducted by North Korea in 1977 when she was 13 years old. North Korea acknowledges abducting her and at least 12 other Japanese residents during the 1970s and the 1980s, but the country has not provided any conclusive evidence on her fate and most of the others.

(Source: Anime News Network)

The second season of Guan Hai Ce.

A compilation OVA of 5 stories portrayed on the life of Ozaki Yutaka, a famous Japanese musician in the 80s and early 90s that died young in his career.

At a high school that sits in front of the ocean, three unpopular pubescent guys, Abe, Nagaho, and Mita, spend more of their time goofing off at the beach than studying. Of course, surfing always comes first, but their other adventures on the beach and search for girls are a source of non-stop laughter.

(Source: AniDB)

During the ancient Western Han dynasty (206BC-9AD), a series of disasters caused by occult phenomena swept across the entire world. Huainanzi, the mysterious Chinese book bound in bamboo, was ripped apart and sent through time to different historical junctures. The book pieces were transformed into various objects, waiting to be rediscovered.

A hundred years later, a young man, named Hong Lie, lifts up the burden to collect the missing pieces of the ancient bamboo book. With the help of Ba Gong and his friends going through the Gate of 24 Solar Terms, Hong Lie travels through dynasties to search for the lost pieces.

In his adventure, Hong Lie and his loyal friends, Ji Ming and Gou Tiao, experienced the greatness of the ancient legends, appreciating the wisdom of the ancestors from Chun Qiu Period, and witnessed all the weird things happening among ordinary people. Warmth and coldness, sadness and happiness, separation and reunion, stories led him to the great world in the book Huainanzi. Through exciting adventures, he also made lifelong friends. In this special way, Hong Lie communicated with ancestors and started to see the principle of world, realizing that obeying the laws of nature and being in harmony with the environment was the right thing to do. A simple collecting journey slowly became a challenging trip for him to go on with his family mission, and inherit the ancestor’s spirit.

(Source: Wikipedia)