Winter 1972 Anime

This version of Pinocchio tells a story of an extremely gullible, naive and morally confused wooden doll brought to life by a mystical blue fairy. Pinocchio (Mokku) is characterized as having many character faults which he must learn to overcome in order to be worthy of being granted humanity. Some of these character faults include selfishness, rudeness, insensitivity, indolence, obstinacy, over- trusting, self-pity, stupidity, disobedience, compulsive lying, arrogance, greed, cowardice, recklessness, cruelty, foolishness and an inability to learn from mistakes.

Throughout the entire series Pinocchio (Mokku), partly due to his own delinquency and repetitive disobedience, must undergo other costly ordeals of hardship and pain in which he is continuously tormented, persecuted, bullied, humiliated, tricked, ridiculed, ostracised, beaten, downtrodden and subjected to degrading and inhumane treatment. Its plain depiction of the austere reality of what it would be like to be literally subhuman growing up in a world of danger and hardship, makes this another good example of traditional Japanese stories, which teach moral observance through tough endurance.

(Source: Wikipedia)

A remake of the 1969-70 Moomin series. This version is more closely based on the books by the Finnish illustrator and writer Tove Jansson.

Moonlight Mask's identity has always been a mystery (which is why the Moonlight Mask persona is credited as being played by "?" in the original series).

Decked out in white tights, white & red cape, white scarf, yellow gloves & boots, dark glasses, face cloth and Indian-style turban (pinned with a "moon" ornament), Moonlight Mask is armed with a whip, two six-shooters, shuriken and moon-shaped boomerangs. He also rides a motorcycle.

However, only audiences know that Moonlight Mask could very well be detective Jūrō Iwai (祝　十郎 Iwai Jūrō?), who seems to disappear from his friends before the caped crusader rides to the rescue in his motorcycle! Even his comical assistant Gorohachi Fukuro (袋　五郎八 Fukuro Gorōhachi?), his friend Inspector Matsuda, and children Shigeru, Kaboko and Fujiko are oblivious to Iwai's secret identity.

(Source: AniList.co)

One morning, two brothers living in a hut with their mother set out for the mountains to set traps for deer. They move silently through the forest undergrowth until suddenly a demon's arm reaches out from the treetops and grabs the younger brother. The older brother aims carefully, calms the shaking of his hands and lets an arrow fly, thus saving his brother's life. The demon's arm is left behind and somehow it looks familiar. After returning home a horrible truth is revealed.... Drawing on an early medieval Japanese legend, the film is reminiscent of the horror psychodrama Kwaidan. The Demon (1972) took awards at many animation festivals.

(Source: kviff.com)

A stop-motion adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson's The Nightingale.

This work, the title of which refers to a species of venomous snake, focuses on interactions between troops and sex workers near Naval Air Facility Atsugi (Kanagawa Prefecture), animated from a child’s perspective. Aihara’s works of this period often incorporate a documentary viewpoint of Japanese society at the time of his childhood.

(Source: Collaborative Cataloging Japan)

This pilot is remembered, really, for one notable reason: this is Miyazaki's first time as a solo director. He teamed up with Takahata for the later episodes of the 1971-72 Lupin III series, but Yuki's Sun marked his first time solely in the captain's seat.

Yuki's Sun was based upon a popular shoujo manga (girls' comic) by Tetsuya Chiba which was serialized in 1963. It involves a 10-year-old orphan girl who is adopted into a family. The storyline is somewhat complex, and seems to play out like grand melodrama. Chiba's stories were more sophisticated and grown-up than, say, Osamu Tezuka, who of course was the godfather of postwar Japanese manga.

(Source: TheGhibliBlog)

A man plays with his puppy through the different seasons but the dog passes away. The man feels blue that he lost his best friend but doesn't regret the time he spent with it.

A music video for the song La Golondrina by Bonny Jacks. Aired as part of NHK's Minna no Uta program from February to March 1972.

Japanese school children merrily sing about Happy Birthday songs, not "the" Happy Birthday song, but songs the children created specifically for the birthday person.