Asahi Shimbun purchased the right to publish the forty-five paperback volumes. Twelve bilingual (Japanese-English) manga volumes were published by Kodansha between 1997 and 1999 as The Wonderful World of Sazae-San. The volumes were re-released in 2004, and in 2015 another three bilingual manga volumes were released as The Best of Sazae-san. By 1999, it has sold over 86 million copies. Anime In October 1969, Fuji Television started an anime series, which is still on the air today and currently in production, making it one of the longest-running scripted TV series in history and the longest running animated show. The broadcast time is every Sunday from 18:30 to 19:00 and has never been changed since its inception. The format is in the form of three vignettes. The anime series has some characters, like Katsuo's classmates, who have not appeared in Hasegawa's original works. On September 5, 2013, This anime was awarded the Guinness World Record for the "Longest running animated TV series". The record continues to be broken even today, As of November 2021, there have been over 2250 episodes aired. The story will be based on at least one episode of Machiko Hasegawa's manga, from which an original story developed. Due to the limited number of episodes, a new story is created every few years using the same episodes. In addition, the unique culture and events in a typical Japanese household, including the four seasons, will always be reflected in the story. At the start of the anime, it was a slapstick comedy with references to Tom and Jerry, but within a year it had become a sedate family drama. From that point to the present, there has been no major change in style for more than 50 years, from directing, scriptwriting, and character design. For this reason, it is often described as a "national anime" in Japan and is regarded as a symbol of "universality" and "permanence". Whenever there is a change, such as a change in voice actors, there is always a great deal of media coverage, and the anime retains a strong influence on the public. In recent years, due to the influence of its unchanging style, it is sometimes criticized as "anachronistic" or "this anime depicts the 20th century," such as the absence of smartphones and convenience stores in the work even though the period setting is the present day. In response to this comment, the