Doraemon the SuperHero of the World
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Plot
Doraemon, a cat robot from the 22nd century, is sent by Sewashi Nobi to help Nobita Nobi, a young boy who scores poor grades and is frequently bullied by his two classmates, Gian and Suneo so that his descendants can improve their lives. Doraemon has a four-dimensional pouch in which he stores unexpected gadgets that improve his life. He has many gadgets, which he gets from The Future Department Store, such as Bamboo-Copter, a small piece of headgear that can allow you to fly; Anywhere Door, a pink-colored door that allows people to travel according to the thoughts of the person who turns the knob; Time Kerchief, a handkerchief that can turn an object new or old or a person young or old; Translator Tool, a cuboid jelly that can allow people to converse in any language across the universe; Designer Camera, a camera that produces dresses; and many more.
Nobita's closest friend is Shizuka Minamoto, who eventually becomes his wife in the future and has a child with him named Nobisuke Nobi (the same name as Nobita's father). Nobita is often bullied by Takeshi Goda (nicknamed "Giant"), and Suneo Honekawa, but they are shown to be friends in some of the episodes. In most episodes, a typical story consists of Nobita taking a gadget from Doraemon for his needs eventually causing more trouble than he was trying to solve. As for the movies, Doraemon, Nobita, Shizuka, Suneo, and Giant (and sometimes Dekisugi) are often shown ready for an adventure to protect people. They are adventurous, humorous, and emotional.
Manga
In December 1969 the Doraemon manga appeared in six different children's monthly magazines published by Shogakukan. The magazines were aimed at children from nursery school to fourth grade. In 1977 CoroCoro Comic was launched as the flagship magazine of Doraemon.[5]
Since the debut of Doraemon in 1969, the stories have been selectively collected into forty-five tankōbon volumes, which were published under Shogakukan's Tentōmushi Comics imprint, from 1974 to 1996. Shogakukan published a master works collection consisting of twenty volumes between July 24, 2009 and September 25, 2012.[6][7]
In addition, Doraemon has appeared in a variety of manga series by Shōgakukan. In 2005 Shōgakukan published a series of five more manga volumes under the title Doraemon+ (Doraemon Plus), which were not found in the forty-five original volumes. On December 1, 2014, a sixth volume of Doraemon Plus was published. This was the first volume in eight years.[8]
There have been two series of bilingual, Japanese and English, volumes of the manga by SHOGAKUKAN ENGLISH COMICS under the title Doraemon: Gadget Cat from the Future, and two audio versions.[9][10] The first series has ten volumes and the second six.[9] In addition, 21st Century Publishing House (二十一世纪出版社集团) released bilingual English-Chinese versions in Mainland China.[11]
In July 2013, Fujiko Fujio Productions announced that they would be collaborating with ebook publisher Voyager Japan and localization company AltJapan Co., Ltd. to release an English language version of the manga in full-color digitally via the Amazon Kindle platform in North America.[12] Shogakukan released the first volume in November 2013.[13] This English version incorporates a variety of changes to character names; Nobita is "Noby", Shizuka is "Sue", Suneo is "Sneech", and Gian is "Big G", while dorayaki is "Yummy Bun/Fudgy Pudgy Pie."[14] A total of 200 volumes have been released.
The manga has been published in English in print by Shogakukan Asia, using the same translation as the manga available on Amazon Kindle. Unlike the Amazon Kindle releases these volumes are in black and white instead of color. They have released four volumes.[15]
Shogakukan started digital distribution of all forty-five original volumes throughout Japan from July 16, 2015.[16]
Anime
After a brief first attempt at an animated series in 1973 by Nippon Television, Doraemon remained fairly exclusive in manga form until 1979 when a newly formed animation studio, Shin-Ei Animation (now owned by TV Asahi) produced an animated second attempt of Doraemon.[17] This series became incredibly popular, and ended with 1,787 episodes on March 25, 2005. In Asia, this version is sometimes referred to as the Ōyama Edition, after the voice actress who voiced Doraemon in this series.[18]
Celebrating the anniversary of the franchise, a third Doraemon animated series began airing on TV Asahi on April 15, 2005 with new voice actors and staff, and updated character designs.[19] This version is sometimes referred to in Asia as the Mizuta Edition, as Wasabi Mizuta is the voice actress for Doraemon in this series.[18]
On May 12, 2014, TV Asahi Corporation announced an agreement with The Walt Disney Company to bring the 2005 series to the Disney XD television channel in the United States beginning in the summer of that year.[20][21][22] Besides using the name changes that were used in AltJapan's English adaptation of the original manga, other changes and edits have also been made to make the show more relatable to an American audience, such as Japanese text being replaced with English text on certain objects like signs and graded papers, items such as yen notes being replaced by US dollar bills, and the setting being changed from Japan to the United States.[23] Confirmed cast member of the new American adaptation include veteran anime voice actress Mona Marshall of South Park fame in the title role of Doraemon and Johnny Yong Bosch of Power Rangers and Bleach fame as Noby. The English dub is produced by Bang Zoom! Entertainment.[24] Initial response to the edited dub was positive.[25] The Disney adaptation began broadcast in Japan on Disney Channel from February 1, 2016. The broadcast offered the choice of the English voice track or a newly recorded Japanese track by the US cast.[26]
In EMEA regions, the series is licensed by LUK International.[27] The series began broadcast in the United Kingdom on August 17, 2015 on Boomerang.[28]
Feature films[edit]
In 1980, Toho released the first of a series of annual feature-length animated films based on the lengthy special volumes published annually. Unlike the anime and manga (some based on the stories in select volumes), they are more action-adventure oriented and have more of a shōnen demographic, taking the familiar characters of Doraemon and placing them in a variety of exotic and perilous settings. Nobita and his friends have visited the age of the dinosaurs, the far reaches of the galaxy, the depths of the ocean, and a world of magic. Some of the films are based on legends such as Atlantis, and on literary works including Journey to the West and Arabian Nights. Some films also have serious themes, especially on environmental topics and the use of technology. Overall, the films have a somewhat darker tone in their stories, unlike the manga and anime.
Video games
There are 63 Japanese-only Doraemon video games, ranging from platformer games to RPG games, beginning with the Emerson's Arcadia 2001 system. Doraemon can also be seen in Namco's popular Taiko no Tatsujin rhythm game series like Taiko no Tatsujin (11 – 14 only), Metcha! Taiko no Tatsujin DS: Nanatsu no Shima no Daibouken, Taiko no Tatsujin Wii, Taiko no Tatsujin Plus, and Taiko no Tatsujin DS: Dororon! Yokai Daikessen!!. The Japanese version of Microsoft's 3D Movie Maker contained a Doraemon-themed expansion pack. The first Doraemon game to receive a Western release was Doraemon Story of Seasons (2019).
Merchandise
The Doraemon franchise has had numerous licensed merchandise. In 1999, Doraemon licensed merchandise sold ¥83.01 billion in Japan, where it was the fifth highest-grossing franchise annually.[31] Doraemon licensed merchandise in Japan later sold ¥50 billion in 2000,[32] ¥36.84 billion in 2001,[31] ¥30 billion in 2003,[32] ¥106.06 billion during 2004–2008,[31] and ¥51.9 billion during 2010–2012,[31] adding up to at least ¥357.81 billion ($4,484.4 million) licensed merchandise sales in Japan by 2012. Global retail sales of Doraemon licensed merchandise later generated $557 million in 2015,[33] and $551 million in 2016.[33] As of 2016, Doraemon has generated at least $5.592 billion in licensed merchandise sales.
Reception
Until 2015, more than 100 million tankobon copies of the manga have been sold, and the anime series is available in over 30 countries.[34][35] The Doraemon film series sold more than 103 million tickets at the Japanese box office by 2015, surpassing Godzilla as the highest-grossing film franchise in Japan,[36] and the films grossed over $1.6 billion at the worldwide box office, making Doraemon the highest-grossing anime film franchise.[a]
Doraemon was awarded the first Shogakukan Manga Award for children's manga in 1982. In 1997, it was awarded the first Osamu Tezuka Culture Award.[37] In 2008, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs appointed Doraemon as the first anime cultural ambassador.[38][39][40]
On 22 April 2002, on the special issue of Asian Hero in Time magazine, Doraemon was selected as one of the 22 Asian Heroes. Being the only anime character selected, Doraemon was described as "The Cuddliest Hero in Asia".[41] In 2005, the Taiwan Society of New York selected Doraemon as a culturally significant work of Japanese otaku pop-culture in its exhibit Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture, curated by renowned artist Takashi Murakami.[42]
Jason Thompson praised the "silly situations" and "old fashioned, simple artwork", with Doraemon's expression and comments adding to the "surrounding elementary-school mischief".[10]
On September 3, 2012, Doraemon was granted official residence in the city of Kawasaki, one hundred years before he was born.[43]
With the 2013 film, Doraemon: Nobita no Himitsu Dōgu Museum, Doraemon has surpassed Godzilla in terms of overall ticket sales for a film franchise as Toho's most lucrative movie property. The 33-year series (1980–2013) has sold a combined 100 million tickets vs. the 50-year Godzilla series (1954–2004), which sold a combined 99 million tickets.[44] It also became the largest franchise by numbers of admissions in Japan.[45]
The Doraemon anime series is India's highest-rated children's television show as of 2017, with a total of 478.5 million viewers across Hungama TV and Disney Channel India.[46] Doraemon is similarly popular in neighbouring Pakistan, where the Hindi-dubbed version is aired (Hindi and Urdu are mutually intelligible). Its popularity has led to controversy in both countries. In 2016, politicians and conservative activists in both India and Pakistan campaigned to ban the show from television because they claimed it "corrupts children."[47][48] In India, legal notices were served against several companies in India, targeting Doraemon and Crayon Shin-chan, as having an adverse effect on children. In Pakistan, Doraemon was targeted by the political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf as having a negative impact on children, because of Nobita's constant reliance on Doraemon's gadgets to solve problems, and they attempted to ban 24 hour cartoon channels in general, because of their supposed ruining of children's minds. They also attempted to ban the Hindi dub of the series, as Pakistan's official language is Urdu.[49]
Legacy
A Fujiko F. Fujio museum opened in Kawasaki on September 3, 2011, featuring Doraemon as the star of the museum.[50][51]
As one of the oldest, continuously running icons, Doraemon is a recognizable character in this contemporary generation. Nobita, the show's protagonist, is a break from other characters typically portrayed as special or extraordinary, and this portrayal has been seen as reasons of its appeal as well as the contrary, especially in the United States.[52] Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro considers Doraemon to be "the greatest kids series ever created".[53]
In late 2011, Shogakukan and Toyota joined forces to create a series of live-action commercials as part of Toyota's ReBorn ad campaign. The commercials depict the characters nearly 20 years older. Hollywood actor Jean Reno plays Doraemon.[56]
Doraemon has become a prevalent part of popular culture in Japan. Newspapers also regularly make references to Doraemon and his pocket as something with the ability to satisfy all wishes. The series is frequently referenced in other series such as Gin Tama and Great Teacher Onizuka.[57][58]
Doraemon appears in appeals for charity. TV Asahi launched the Doraemon Fund charity fund to raise money for natural disasters.[59]
Doraemon appeared in the 2016 Summer Olympics closing ceremony to promote the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo
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