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Anpanman Anime's Voice Recording Production Adapts to COVID-19

The Mantan Web website reported on Friday that the staff of the Soreike! Anpanman anime has adapted to new methods for recording voices for the weekly series, as a way to minimize exposure and contact between people and prevent the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The anime is celebrating the 32nd anniversary of its October 3, 1988 premiere on Friday with a special episode (episode #1509 "Hashire! Jam-ojisan" or "Run! Uncle Jam").

Voice actors are now separated into individual booths, instead of recording lines together in the same booth as they had usually done in the past. The voice actors now take shifts to record voice lines, with two shifts of production staffers also working on the audio recording. Director Aginori Nagaoka stated that his staff members would overcome the difficulty with the teamwork they have built up over 32 years of production.

Mantan Web previously published a report in June that anime is currently taking "twice" as long to produce overall, and "three times" as long to dub, according to interviews. In a July interview with ANN's Kim Morissy, sound engineer Seiichi Nakayama said that his G-angle studio initially cut its workload by half during the pandemic, but eventually returned to 80-90% of its original workload. It has also begun doing remote recording sessions, and allowing some staff to work from home.

The Soreike! Anpanman television anime series adapts the late Takashi Yanase's picture books about the titular superhero with a sweet bean bun for a head. The anime's production halted voice recording indefinitely in April due to COVID-19, but it has since resumed. The anime series began in 1988.

Eiga Soreike! Anpanman Fuwafuwa Fuwari to Kumo no Kuni (Soreike! Anpanman the Movie: Fluffy Fuwari and the Cloud Country), this new Anpanman anime film, was originally slated to open in Japan on June 26, but was indefinitely delayed in May for the safety of theatergoers. It will now open in summer 2021.

Source: The Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web