Ask John: Is There a Burmese Harp Anime?

Question:
When will there be an anime version of the movie The Burmese Harp?

Answer:
The Harp of Burma (Burma no Tategoto), author Michio Takeyama’s elegaic story about the aftermath of World War II, was originally serialized in the Akatombo children’s magazine in 1947 and 1948. The chapters were collected and published as a novel in October 1948. In 1956 director Kon Ichikawa adapted the award winning novel into a now classic feature film that earned a 1957 Academy Award nomination. The story was animated as episodes 25 & 26 of the 35 episode 1986 Seishun Anime Zenshu (Adolescent Anime Complete Works) television series. Central Park Media initially released both episodes of the Harp of Burma anime adaptation on a subtitled VHS tape in 1994 as the second volume of its “Animated Classics of Japanese Literature” series. CPM re-released the two episodes on DVD on February 11, 2003. Although this DVD is now out of print, it is still available for purchase very inexpensively.

There have been numerous anime set during or directly following WWII, including well known productions like Graveyard of Fireflies and Barefoot Gen, along with relatively forgotten works including Tsushimamaru ~Sayonara Okinawa~ (1982), Hi no Ame ga Furu (1988), and Anime Ningen Kakumei (1995). The fact that the current Hetalia ~Axis Powers~ takes a lighthearted look at WWII era world politics signifies that the war remains a fruitful subject for anime. So while there already has been one anime adaptation of The Harp of Burma, there’s no telling when or if there will be another anime adaptation sometime in the future.