Instant History (インスタントヒストリー), also known as Otogi Manga Calendar (おとぎマンガカレンダー) was a black and white Japanese anime series that aired from 1961 to 1964. It is the first anime television series.

Instant History
GenreDocumentary
Anime television series
Directed byRyūichi Yokoyama
Shinichi Suzuki (assistant)
Michihiro Matsuyama (assistant)
StudioOtogi Production
Original networkFuji Television
Original run May 1, 1961 February 24, 1962
Episodes312
Anime television series
Otogi Manga Calendar
Directed byRyūichi Yokoyama
Shinichi Suzuki (assistant)
Michihiro Matsuyama (assistant)
StudioOtogi Production
Original networkTBS
Original run June 25, 1962 July 4, 1964
Episodes54

Story edit

The show was about historical events through a character who was not aware of "what happened on this day in history". Sometimes photographs and film footage were mixed in with the animations to explain what historical event had taken place. The research archives came from the newspaper where the director's Fuku-chan manga was printing at the time.

Production edit

The series began in 1961 as a series of 3 minute shorts that comprised a mix of animation, film footage and stills taken from the research archives of Mainichi Shinbun. Director Ryūichi Yokoyama's Fuku-chan manga was running in the newspaper at the time. This first series was broadcast as Instant History on Fuji TV and was sponsored by Meiji Seika. The series was then recycled into Otogi Manga Calendar which was broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System in 1962 and was sponsored by Kirin Company. Parts of the series are also found in Knowledgeable University which was broadcast on Mainichi Broadcasting System in 1966.[1]

Season Japanese Name English Name First Aired Last Aired
Season 1 インスタントヒストリー Instant History May 1, 1961 February 24, 1962
Season 2 おとぎマンガカレンダー Otogi Manga Calendar June 25, 1962 July 4, 1964

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Clements, Jonathan; McCarthy, Helen. The Anime Encyclopedia, Revised 3rd edition. Stone Bridge Press. p. 388. ISBN 978-1-61172-018-1.

External links edit