Doraemon

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This article is about the media franchise. For the title character, see Doraemon (character). For other
uses, see Doraemon (disambiguation).

This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (April
2016) Click [show] for important translation instructions. [show]

Doraemon

Doraemon volume 1 cover.jpg

D1 cover

Genre Comedy-drama, Science fiction

Manga

Written by Fujiko F. Fujio

Published by Shogakukan

English publisher Fujiko Pro (North America)

Shogakukan (Singapore)

Demographic Children

Magazine Various Shogakukan kids magazines

Original run December 15, 1969 June 23, 1996

Volumes 45 (List of volumes)

Anime television series

Doraemon (1973 anime)

Doraemon (1979 anime)

Doraemon (2005 anime)

Related works

The Doraemons

Dorabase

Kiteretsu Daihyakka

Wikipe-tan face.svg Anime and Manga portal

Doraemon (Japanese: ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F.

Fujio. The series has also been adapted into a successful anime series and media franchise. The story
revolves around a robotic cat servant named Doraemon, who travels back in time from the 22nd
century to aid a pre-teen boy named Nobita Nobi ( Nobi Nobita).

The Doraemon manga series was first published in December 1969 in six different magazines. A total
of 1,345 stories were created in the original series, which are published by Shogakukan under the
Tentmushi () manga brand, extending to forty-five volumes. The volumes are collected
in the Takaoka Central Library in Toyama, Japan, where Fujiko Fujio was born. Turner Broadcasting
System bought the rights to the Doraemon anime series in the mid-1980s for an English-language
release in the United States,[1] but cancelled it without explanation before broadcasting any
episodes. In July 2013 Voyager Japan announced the manga would be released digitally in English via
the Amazon Kindle e-book service. It is one of the best-selling manga in the world, having sold over
100 million copies.

Awards for Doraemon include the Japan Cartoonists Association Award for excellence in 1973, the
first Shogakukan Manga Award for children's manga in 1982, and the first Osamu Tezuka Culture
Award in 1997. In March 2008, Japan's Foreign Ministry appointed Doraemon as the nation's first
"anime ambassador." A Ministry spokesperson explained the novel decision as an attempt to help
people in other countries understand Japanese anime better and to deepen their interest in
Japanese culture."[2] The Foreign Ministry action confirms that Doraemon has come to be
considered a Japanese cultural icon. In India, its Hindi, Telugu, Tamil translation has been telecasted,
where the anime version is the highest-rated kids' show; it won the best Kids' Show award at the
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards India.[3] In 2002 Time Asia magazine acclaimed the character as an
"Asian Hero" in a special feature survey. An edited English dub distributed by TV Asahi aired on
Disney XD in the United States started on July 7, 2014. On August 17, 2015, another English dub
distributed by Luk Internacional began broadcast by Boomerang UK. The film series is the largest by
number of admissions in Japan.

Contents [hide]

1 Plot

2 Media

2.1 Manga

2.2 Anime

2.2.1 Television series

2.2.2 Feature films

2.3 Video games

2.4 Musical

3 Reception

3.1 Criticism
4 Legacy

5 See also

6 References

7 External links

Plot[edit]

Main article: List of Doraemon characters

Nobita is a young boy who suffers from poor grades, frequent bullying and negative emotions like
sadness, jealousy, etc. In order to improve the life of his descendants, the robotic cat Doraemon is
sent back in time by one of those descendants to protect and guide Nobita. Doraemon has a pocket
from which he produces items known as "gadgets", which range from toys and medicines, to
technology from the future. Some of these include the "bamboo-copter", a small head accessory
that allows flight and the "Anywhere Door", a door that opens up to any place the user wishes.

Nobita's closest friend and love interest is Shizuka Minamoto, who also serves as his romantic
interest. Nobita is usually tormented by the bullying Takeshi Goda (nicknamed "Gian"), and the
cunning and arrogant Suneo Honekawa. A typical story consists of Doraemon using one of his
gadgets in order to assist Nobita in various ways, often causing more trouble than he was trying to
solve.

Media[edit]

Main article: List of non-Japanese Doraemon versions

Manga[edit]

See also: List of Doraemon chapters and List of Doraemon Plus chapters

The first appearance of Doraemon, who came via the time machine.

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.[4]

Since the debut of Doraemon in 1969, the stories have been selectively collected into forty-five
books published from 1974 to 1996. Shogakukan published a master works collection consisting of
Twenty volumes between July 24, 2009 and September 25, 2012.[5][6]

In addition, Doraemon has appeared in a variety of manga series by Shgakukan. In 2005

Shgakukan 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.[7]
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.[8][9] The first series has ten volumes and the second six.[8]

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.[10]
Shogakukan released the first volume in November 2013.[11] 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."[12] 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.[13]

Shogakukan started digital distribution of all forty-five original volumes throughout Japan from July
16, 2015.[14]

Anime[edit]

Television series[edit]

Main articles: Doraemon (1973 anime), Doraemon (1979 anime), and Doraemon (2005 anime)

After a brief 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 anime series of Doraemon.[15] 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 yama
Edition, after the voice actress who voiced Doraemon in this series.[16]

Celebrating the anniversary of the franchise, a new Doraemon series began airing on TV Asahi on
April 15, 2005 with new voice actors and staff, and updated character designs.[17] This version is
sometimes referred to in Asia as the Mizuta Edition, as Wasabi Mizuta is the voice actress for
Doraemon in this series.[16]

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.[18][19][20] 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, and items such as yen notes being replaced by
US dollar bills.[21] 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.[22] Initial response to the edited dub was positive.[23] 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.[24]

In EMEA regions the series is licensed by LUK International.[25] The series began broadcast in the
United Kingdom on August 17, 2015 on Boomerang.[26]

Feature films[edit]

Further information: List of Doraemon films

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 shnen
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 heart of darkest Africa (where they encountered a race of sentient bipedal dogs), 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[edit]

For more details on this topic, see List of Doraemon video games.

There are a total of 63 Japanese-only video games ranging from platformer games to RPG games,
which began 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 Chinese version of Microsoft's 3D Movie Maker
contained a Doraemon-themed expansion pack.

Musical[edit]

Doraemon the Musical: Nobita and the Animal Planet ( (

) Butaiban Doraemon: Nobita to Animaru Puranetto) was a 2008 musical based on
the 1990 anime film of the same name.[27] It debuted at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space on
September 4, 2008 running through September 14.[28] Wasabi Mizuta voiced Doraemon.
Reception[edit]

More than 100 million copies of the manga have been sold and the animated series is available in
over 30 countries.[29][30]

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.[31] In 2008, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign
Affairs appointed Doraemon as the first anime cultural ambassador.[32][33][34]

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".[35] 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.[citation needed]

Jason Thompson praised the "silly situations" and "old fashioned, simple artwork", with Doraemon's
expression and comments adding to the "surrounding elementary-school mischief".[9]

On September 3, 2012, Doraemon was granted official residence in the city of Kawasaki, one
hundred years befor