1969 Anime

To secure his rule over Japan, the tyrannical lord Daigo Kagemitsu sacrifices his unborn child to 48 demons. The pact is sealed, and the infant is born without limbs, only to be abandoned in a raging river. Fifteen years later, a resourceful orphan named Dororo fights to survive in a war-ravaged land, battling starvation and hostile samurai. After provoking a gang of thugs, Dororo is cornered until a masked stranger intervenes, claiming to sense nearby spirits. A river monster soon appears, and the stranger reveals prosthetic arms containing hidden blades, using them to defeat the beast before disappearing. Intrigued, Dororo tracks the man down and insists on joining him. The stranger, Hyakkimaru, explains that the demons stole his body parts and that he is hunting them to reclaim his humanity. Despite his isolation, Dororo refuses to leave his side. Together, they journey across a brutal Japan, accompanied by a dog named Nota, confronting the horrors of both the spirit world and human cruelty.

Originally known as Naoto Date, Tiger Mask earned a fearsome reputation as a heel wrestler in America, notorious for his brutality in the ring. Upon returning to Japan, he underwent a change of heart when a young boy from the same orphanage where Tiger Mask grew up declared he wanted to become a villain like him. Unwilling to let the child idolize a villain, Tiger chose to become a heroic wrestler instead. The principal antagonist in the manga and anime is Tigers' Den, a shadowy organization that trains young people to be villainous heel wrestlers under the condition that they surrender half their earnings. Tiger Mask was once a member of Tigers' Den under the alias Yellow Devil, but he abandoned them and started donating his money to the orphanage. This enraged the organization's leader, who dispatched numerous assassins—including other professional wrestlers—to exact revenge.

The protagonist is Sazae-san, a mother who shares her home with her husband, children, and parents. This series stands as the quintessential family program, adhering to conventional themes throughout. If you imagine it as Japan's counterpart to "The Partridge Family," you will have a solid grasp of its atmosphere. Do not anticipate violence, profanity, martial arts action, or magical girls. Instead, stories revolve around everyday events such as "Today, Sazae-san visits the new mall and becomes lost." These seemingly mundane plots, paired with the simple artwork, often deter non-Japanese viewers; however, most Japanese audiences hold the show in high regard. Consequently, it remains one of the highest-rated shows on television and is among the few anime deemed "acceptable" for adult viewers.

This series draws very loosely from the Moomin novels written by Finnish author Tove Jansson. Jansson rarely endorsed the adaptation because of the significant alterations made to the plot, atmosphere, character traits, appearances, and names. Additionally, the show was intended for an adult audience rather than children.

Atsuko "Akko-chan" Kagami (also known as "Stilly," "Caroline," or "Julie" in Western adaptations of the anime) is an energetic elementary school girl who loves mirrors. One day, her favorite mirror, given to her by her mother (or, in some versions, by her father as a gift from India), breaks. Rather than throwing it away, she chooses to bury it in her yard. In her dreams, a spirit (or in some accounts, the Queen of the Mirror Kingdom) contacts her, moved that the young girl treated the mirror with such respect instead of discarding it. Akko-chan is then granted a magical mirror and taught an incantation that allows her to transform into anything she desires.

Kamui, a ninja from the Edo period, abandons his clan and becomes the target of a relentless manhunt by former comrades who brand him a traitor and seek his death. To survive, he travels across Japan, relying on his wits and exceptional skills to evade his pursuers. As the series progresses, the pressure of being a hunted man drives Kamui into paranoia. He comes to believe that everyone intends to kill him, leading to deep distrust of every person he encounters.

Sanshiro Kurenai, the esteemed successor to his family’s Judo dojo, is devastated when he discovers his father’s lifeless body alongside a mysterious glass eye. Determined to restore his family’s honor and avenge his father, Sanshiro joins forces with his friend Ken to hunt down the enigmatic one-eyed killer responsible for the tragedy.

One day, Kan-chan discovers a magical bottle in the attic. Each time someone sneezes, a genie called Hakushon Daimaou is summoned and is obligated to fulfill the wish of the sneezer until they sneeze once more. Occasionally, however, he botches the task, resulting in mischief rather than granted desires.

An anime adaptation of Motomiya Hiroshi's Weekly Shonen Jump manga Otoko Ippiki Gaki Daishou, centering on a young gang leader and the endless trouble and brawls that his gang becomes involved in.

Another addition to the Marine Boy franchise. This time, 65 episodes were produced to extend the 1966 series, and all 78 episodes were sold to the United States. The show's airing pattern in Japan was a bit more complex: initially, only the first 36 of the 78 episodes were broadcast, but later all 78 aired—65 are part of this entry, while 13 belong to the Ganbare! Marine Kid series. Marine now wields an underwater boomerang and a hydrojet, and the mermaid Neptuna/Neptina has become his girlfriend. Some earlier episodes from Ganbare! Marine Kid had their footage partially reused for this series.

The goofy tales of a king and his family who make their way to Earth after their planet explodes.

Adapted from Fujio Akatsuka’s manga, this story follows Batsugoro, the proprietor of the Yaobatsu grocery store. After falling to his death while retrieving a balloon stuck in a tree for a child, Batsugoro returns as a ghost to oversee his son, Ataro, who inherits the business. Although Ataro runs the shop on his own, he is soon joined by his assistant, Dekoppachi. The narrative unfolds through heartwarming interactions with a cast of eccentric characters, including Nyarome and Butamatsu.

Short stories centered around the legal field. This was the first anime ever aired on the newly established Nagoya Television Network (NTV). The work is based on a story by Saga Sen.

A comedy about two goofy twins in the armed forces.

This series blends adventure and comedy, tailored for younger audiences. The narrative unfolds continuously across five-minute episodes broadcast from Monday to Saturday, with each week’s arc concluding on Saturday.

Zen-chan Tsuu-chan is an educational television series aired on NTV that aimed to instruct kids on traffic safety. The show continued to be rebroadcast on various networks until 1978. Although it occupied a five-minute slot, the program shared its time with other children's live-action shorts and series.

A music video produced for the song "Midori no Makiba de" by Bonny Jacks and the Nishirokugou Shounen Shoujo Gasshoudan, which was broadcast on NHK's Minna no Uta program. It is classified as lost media.