The Eternal Era of Showa Anime, Fading Voices and Stories to Pass On [Showa 100 Project]

The Showa era began in 1926, and this year, 2025, is truly the year that marks Showa 100.

So, this is a project to look back on the theme of Showa 100!
Writers, please share your articles using tags like #Showa100 #Showa100Project!

Now, the second installment is themed around anime.
Japanese anime is the best in the world! The Demon Slayer movie is also doing great, breaking box office records.
Starting from black-and-white picture-story shows, it now features 4K visuals and tons of CG. It can be said that it is the genre that has grown the most rapidly since the Showa era.

In contrast, since the start of the Reiwa era, we have heard many reports of celebrity deaths. There are so many that I can no longer keep track of who is still alive and who has passed away.
So, I have compiled a list of long-running anime, favorite anime, and voice actors. Are any of your favorite anime or voice actors on the list?

By the way, the theme of the first installment was professional baseball players.

Japan's Long-Running Anime Ranking

As expected of Sazae-san. It's a landslide victory, leaving others behind.
And Doraemon. That makes sense.
It is worthy of praise that Conan and ONE PIECE have continued with that level of quality.

What about Dragon Ball? I looked it up, and
in total, it has been broadcast intermittently from 1986 to 2025 (although there is a hiatus of about 20 years), which calculates to about 39 years of continuous television broadcasting. The number of episodes, when combined across series, reaches over 1,000.

Personally, I wondered about Kiteretsu Daihyakka, but it was only 4 years (^^♪

My Recommended Anime

Well, just talking about nationally popular works would be boring for an article, so let me tell you about my favorites after watching anime for 40 years.

Niche but impactful works

I would like to mention Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Sword Art Online, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Attack on Titan, etc., but those are famous works that any anime fan would know.

A step below that would be Psycho-Pass, 86, Fate/Zero, Zegapain.
All hardcore sci-fi works. I love this genre.

The first season was the best. It concludes with a movie, but there might still be a sequel.

The first and second seasons were broadcast in 2021, but the final two episodes were delayed to pursue quality and were broadcast in March 2022, by which time everyone had forgotten about it. A hardcore near-future sci-fi war story.

The Fate series is so vast, with so many derivative works and spin-offs, that it's hard to know where to start.
This is a work that even a beginner like me, who was new to Fate, could enjoy. If you watch just this, you can understand what Fate is all about.

The first season has a lot of exposition and is quiet, but if you endure that and watch the second season, it was truly amazing.

Speaking of summer anime, this is it. Entangle!
It was broadcast in 2006, but even now, many people talk about it every summer.
Thanks to that, a re-edited movie version was actually released in 2024; that's how much it's loved.
It is almost the debut work of voice actor Kana Hanazawa. It's fresh how she sounds so monotone lol

I would be happy if there are fellow fans who watch these four works and understand what I mean.

Finally, Akebi's Sailor Uniform

Well, anyway, the visuals are beautiful. The backgrounds, the characters, and the movements. It's not that moe anime pandering to viewers is bad, but this pursues only the pure beauty of high school girls, which is the polar opposite. The fetishism behind the dedication to the animation is deeply felt.

This one episode

I think you have also had the experience of having your recording device fill up and having to delete program data with tears in your eyes, but there were special episodes of works that you just couldn't delete, even then.

■ Land of the Lustrous Episode 10
The camera work moves fluidly during the battle scene against a giant, overwhelming enemy that seems impossible to defeat. The quality, which makes you wonder if they kept this up for the whole episode, was a masterpiece.

■ Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! Episode 8
It's a so-called anime about making anime, but this is the episode where they screen the finished work at the school festival. I was thrilled by the quality that made me wonder if an amateur really made that!
Completing a work is so precious.

■ Zombie Land Saga Revenge Episode 12 (Final Episode)
A passionate development that is exactly how the final episode of a band anime should be.

The first episode of the first season was also a shocking development that just left me surprised.
(The above is currently available for a limited time during summer vacation, so watch it now if you want)

Please tell me about "this one episode" that remains in your heart as well.

Voice actors who passed away after the Heisei era

The other day, there was news that Tomo Sakurai had passed away at a young age. Some of you may have heard the news.
It is sad that there are fewer and fewer people who know that the Showa era will continue for 100 years.

Oh, I had an AI make this table, but it forgotNobuyo Oyamafrom Doraemon. She passed away last year at the age of 90.
How many voice actors from the Doraemon series are still with us?

Please refer to Animate Times for accurate information.

Personally, the one that shocked me the most, although it is not in the table above, isKaneto ShiozawaHe had a distinctive voice that you would recognize once you heard it, such as Colonel M'Quve in Gundam and Oberstein in Legend of the Galactic Heroes.
He also added a nice touch to the Metal Gear Solid game.
He fell down the stairs at his home and died at the age of 46. It was too young.

I'm worried because the voice actors for the Gundam series are getting older.

I think it is necessary to look back at the data from time to time and keep track of the voice actors who are no longer with us.

[Showa 100 Project] Please spread the word!

It doesn't have to be people; any genre is fine.
Like popular sweets or gags.
Or conversely, things that disappeared in an instant but sold explosively.

#Showa100 or #Showa100Project to post. I will go check them out!

See you later