Showa Monogatari Anime Film, TV Series to Launch Next Year

[Eudemon]

The production company THINK Corporation announced  on Thursday that the Showa Monogatari (Showa-Era Story) film and television series will launch next year. The original story follows the human drama of the Yamazaki family in Tokyo in the Year Showa 39 (1964) — the year that the city hosted the Summer Olympics. According to Think, the "TV manga" is "the world's first anime aimed at seniors," although it is also targeted at families.

Tadahiro Murakami (Symphony in August) is directing the film at the studio Wao World, while Hiroshi Kugimiya (character designer of JAPAN, Our Homeland, Haré+Guu) is directing the television series. The writers include Yasushi Hirano (6 Angels, Brave Exkaiser, Dinosaur King, Ultraman), Sukehiro Tomita (Sailor Moon, Macross, Sazae-san), Natsuhisa Arakawa (Mobile Suit Gundam 00), and Miho Maruo (Chibi Maruko-chan). Tatsuo Yanagino (Lupin III: The Legend of the Gold of Babylon) is designing the characters and overseeing the animation process.

The film, which is about 100 minutes long, will open in Japan on January 29, 2011. The television series of 13 30-minute episodes will follow in April, although a television

special will air at the end of 2010.

The voice cast includes Yasunori Matsumoto, Misato Fukuen, Wataru Takagi, Masaaki Tsukada, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Hisako Kyouda, Sakiko Tamagawa, Makoto Aoki, and Shōya Chiba.

Source:ANN