Sennin Buraku

Sennin Buraku (仙人部落?, roughly Hermit Village) 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 hanfu). 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?).

Read more about Sennin Buraku:  Plot Summary, Manga, Live Action Movie, Anime Series