The Guinness Book of Records was broken by “Sazae-san,” but Fuji’s two most popular animated cartoons are still causing “concern” among those involved.

Sazae-san” and Midori Kato, who broke the Guinness World Records for the second time.

On November 25, her agency announced that Ayako Hori, who voiced Hatrikanzo and other characters in TV Asahi’s classic anime “Ninja Hattori-kun,” died of old age on November 18 at the age of 89. In addition to “Hattori-kun,” Ms. Hori was known for her roles as Mii in “Moomin” and Q-taro in “Shin Obake no Q-taro.

He was also known as Mii in “Moomin” and Q-taro in “Shin Obake no Q-taro”. “Another veteran voice actor who voiced the main character in popular Showa-era anime has passed away. There are no plans at this time to produce a new “Hattori-kun” animated film, so Mr. Hori’s role has become a one-time-only one.

Although “Hattori-kun” was not an anime that is currently airing or has new productions planned, many veteran voice actors are involved in the anime that is currently airing on our station. If something were to happen, there have long been fears of panic in the field,” said a source in Fuji’s animation department.

Recently, Fuji’s nationally long-running anime “Sazae-san” broke two Guinness World Records. Based on Machiko Hasegawa’s manga, the TV anime began broadcasting on October 5, 1969, and was recognized by Guinness World Records as the “longest-running TV anime program” in 1913. In 1919, it broke its own world record by five years. This year, it broke the record by another five years and was certified as a Guinness World Record.

Midori Kato, 85, who has played the role of Sazae Huguda since the first broadcast, also broke her own Guinness World Record for the “Longest female voice actress to play the same character in an animated television program.

Ms. Kato is the only voice actor in the main cast who has not been replaced. Already, the voice actors for the Isono family characters are the third generation to play the roles of Masao, Katsuo, and Wakame, while Tarao, Nampei, and Fune are the second generation.

In the fall of 2005, Toshiba, which had been a commercial sponsor of Sazae-san since its broadcast, cancelled the contract due to deteriorating business performance. At that time, there was a theory that the show would be terminated. However, Fuji seemed reluctant to suspend the “national program” that had been established for many years, and the program continued to air. In the meantime, Mr. Kato has grown older. After all, Mr. Kato is the one and only, so he cannot be replaced so easily,” said a reporter in charge of broadcasting.

Among Fuji’s popular anime series, Masako Nozawa (88), who portrays Son Goku in the “Dragon Ball” series, which has been a hit every time a film version is released, is still going strong as a legendary voice actress. The voice actors for the main cast of the series are also aging.

The Difficulty of Choosing a Successor Voice Actor

On the other hand, TV Asahi’s national animated cartoon “Doraemon” was renewed in the April 2005 season, with the voice cast of Doraemon, Nobita, Shizuka, Gian, and Suneo all replaced. Of the five voice actors who had been the main cast until March of the same year, Nobuyo Oyama (90 years old), who played Doraemon, and others have already left for heaven, and only Michiko Nomura (86), who played Shizuka, is still alive.

Aside from “Doraemon,” there is no other station that has as many long-lived animated programs as ours. I think we should have handed over “Sazae-san” and “Dragon Ball” to the next generation of voice actors at the end of their careers. When TARAKO, who played Maruko, the main character of “Chibi Maruko-chan,” passed away in March of this year at the age of 63, all parties involved were in an uproar because they had to choose a replacement in a hurry.

Even so, changing the voice actor for a character with an established, one-of-a-kind image is a major undertaking for the entire program. In fact, when Hiroshi Masuoka (83 years old) was replaced by Hideyuki Tanaka (74) as Masuo in “Sazae-san” in 2007, the image of his voice changed so drastically that viewers were puzzled.

TARAKO’s voice was so distinctive that it was difficult to find someone who would not destroy his previous image. The program had to be rerun for several weeks to select a replacement. Finally, in April of this year, after multiple auditions, the decision was made to go with Kokoro Kikuchi (42). She is now completely familiar with the role of Maruko, but in order to avoid a situation like this, it is still necessary to replace her when there is enough time,” said an insider.

Incidentally, when the voice actors for “Doraemon” were replaced, auditions were held based on the concept of finding voices that best fit the atmosphere of the original work, and new cast members were chosen from among 590 people.

The “voices” of the national cartoon characters are familiar to everyone. Trial and error continues in order to continue to meet the expectations of the viewers.