Doraemon | |||
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Doraemon |
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ドラえもん | |||
Genre | Comedy, Mischief, Science fiction | ||
Manga | |||
Author | Fujiko F. Fujio | ||
Publisher | ![]() |
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English publisher | ![]() ![]() |
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Demographic | Kodomo | ||
Magazine | (various Shogakukan's kids magazines) | ||
Original run | December 1969 – 1996 | ||
Volumes | 45 | ||
TV anime | |||
Director | Mitsuo Kaminashi | ||
Studio | TMS Entertainment | ||
Network | NTV | ||
Original run | 1973-04-01 – 1973-09-30 | ||
Episodes | 52 (26 30-minute) | ||
TV anime | |||
Director | Tsutomu Shibayama | ||
Studio | Shin-Ei Animation | ||
Licensor | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Network | ![]() |
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Original run | April 2, 1979 – March 25, 2005 | ||
Episodes | 1,095 | ||
TV anime | |||
Director | Kozo Kusuba | ||
Studio | Studio Pierrot | ||
Network | TV Asahi | ||
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Original run | April 15 2005 – ongoing | ||
Episodes | 270 | ||
Related works | |||
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Anime and Manga Portal |
Doraemon (ドラえもん Doraemon?) is a Japanese manga series created by Fujiko Fujio (the pen name of Hiroshi Fujimoto and Motoo Abiko) which later became an anime series and Asian franchise. The series is about a robotic cat named Doraemon, who travels back in time from the 22nd century to aid a schoolboy, Nobita Nobi (野比 のび太 Nobi Nobita?).
In March 2008, Japan's Foreign Ministry appointed Doraemon as the nation's first "anime ambassador."[2] Ministry spokesman explained the novel decision as an attempt to help people in other countries to understand Japanese anime better and to deepen their interest in Japanese culture."[3] The Foreign Ministry action confirms that Doraemon has come to be considered a Japanese cultural icon. In 2002, the anime character was acclaimed as an Asian Hero in a special feature survey conducted by Time Asia magazine[4].
The series first appeared in December 1969, when it was published simultaneously in six different magazines. In total, 1,344 stories were created in the original series, which are published by Shogakukan under the Tentōmushi (てんとう虫?) manga brand, extending to forty-five volumes. The volumes are collected in the Takaoka Central Library in Toyama, Japan. Fujio was born in Toyama.
A majority of Doraemon episodes are comedies with moral lessons regarding values such as integrity, perseverance, courage, family and respect for elders. Several noteworthy environmental issues are often visited, including homeless animals, endangered species, deforestation, and pollution. Topics such as dinosaurs, the flat earth theory, wormhole traveling, Gulliver's Travels, and the history of Japan are often covered.
Doraemon was awarded the first Shogakukan Manga Award for children's manga in 1982,[5] and the first Osamu Tezuka Culture Award in 1997.
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In December 1969, the Doraemon manga appeared simultaneously in six different children's monthly magazines. The magazines were titled by the year of children's studies, which included Yoiko (good children), Yōchien (nursery school), and Shogaku Ichinensei (first grade of primary school) to Shogaku Yonnensei (fourth grade of primary school). By 1973, the series began to appear in two more magazines, Shogaku Gonensei (fifth grade of primary school) and Shogaku Rokunensei (sixth grade of primary school). The stories featured in each of the magazines were different, meaning the author was originally creating more than six stories each month. In 1977, CoroCoro Comic was launched as a magazine of Doraemon. Original manga based on the Doraemon movies were also released in CoroCoro Comic. The stories which are preserved under the Tentōmushi brand are the stories found in these magazines.
Since the debut of Doraemon in 1969, the stories have been selectively collected into forty-five books published from 1974 to 1996, which had a circulation of over 80 million in 1992. 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 Tentōmushi pipi volumes.
Doraemon is sent back in time by Nobita Nobi's great-great grandson Sewashi to improve Nobita's circumstances so that his descendants may enjoy a better future. In the original timeline, Nobita experienced nothing but misery and misfortune throughout his life. As a result of this, Nobita's failures in school and subsequently, his career, have left his family line beset with financial problems. In order to alter history and better the Nobi family's fortunes, Sewashi sent a robot called Doraemon.
Doraemon has a large pocket from which he produces many gadgets from the future. The pocket is called yojigen-pocket, or 4 dimension pocket.
Although he can hear perfectly well, Doraemon has no ears: his robotic ears were eaten by a mouse, giving him a series-long phobia of the creatures.
The stories are formulaic, usually focused on the everyday struggles of fourth grader Nobita, the protagonist of the story. In a typical chapter, Nobita comes home crying about a problem he faces in school and/or the local neighborhood. After hearing him out, Doraemon always offers helpful advice to his problem(s), but that's never enough for Nobita, who is consistently looking for the "quick, easy" way out (which offers insight to the viewers as to why Nobita's life turned out the way it did). Finally, after Nobita's pleading and/or goading, Doraemon produces a futuristic gadget out of his aforementioned pouch to help Nobita fix his problem, enact revenge, or flaunt to his friends.
Nobita usually goes too far, despite Doraemon's best intentions and warnings, and gets into deeper trouble than before. Sometimes, Nobita's friends (usually Suneo or Jaian) steal the gadgets and end up misusing them. However, by the end of the story, there is usually retribution to the characters who end up misusing them, and a moral is taught.
There are three current and often quoted urban legends that started spreading in late 1980s of an ending to the Doraemon series.
The plausibility of these issues was discussed here and it was concluded that there is no ending to Doraemon. [7]
There are three official endings to Doraemon that were made. Doraemon was discontinued in two media because readers were advancing in grades and an ending was believed to be needed. These two are not reprinted.
The third ending was actually meant to be the official ending due to low TV ratings and the Fujiko Fujio duo was busy with other works. But Doraemon did not leave their minds and restarted from next month's issue. In 1981, this episode was made into anime (called "Doraemon Comes Back"), and in 1998, this was released as an anime movie.
When the Fujiko Fujio duo broke up in 1987, the very idea of an official ending to the series was never discussed. Since Fujiko F. died in 1996 before any decisions were reached, any "endings" of Doraemon are fan fiction. However, it is apparent from many episodes and movies where Nobita travels to the future that in the end he does marry Shizuka, leads a happy life and separates with Doraemon, although Nobita and his friends fondly remember him. [9]
The only main female character is Shizuka Minamoto (源 静香 Minamoto Shizuka?), who serves as a semi-romantic girlfriend of Nobita, but otherwise a supporting, minor character. Nobita's main human friends include Gian, a known bully, and Suneo, a gloating spoiled wealthy kid. There are many recurring supporting characters, such as Dekisugi, Nobita's parents, his school teacher, his descendants from the future, and Doraemon's sister, Dorami.
Doraemon can take out various devices known as dōgu (道具 lit. tool?) from his fourth-dimensional pocket. Some of the gadgets are based on real Japanese household devices with fanciful twists, but most are completely science fiction (although some may be based on folklore or religious stories).
Thousands of dōgu have been featured in Doraemon. Some have placed the number of dōgu at approximately 4,500.
Doraemon is a cultural phenomenon in Japan and can be seen in many places. For example, Doraemon is used as a promotional character by Art Hikkoshi Center (アート引越センター Āto hikkoshi sentā?), by a removals company, and by Cocos, a restaurant chain. Doraemon also appears in appeals for charity, the "Doraemon Fund". Doraemon toys and novelties are also often found in Japan, with literally thousands of items for sale.
Doraemon, Nobita, and the other characters also appear in various educational manga. Doraemon is also mentioned in several anime and manga by other mangakas.
Doraemon is referenced in the current Blue Man Group show running in Tokyo. The Blue Men play a short snippet of the show's theme song, and one dons Doraemon's beanie.
There are nearly 50 Japanese-only video games ranging from Action Adventure, to RPG games, that began with the Emerson's Arcadia 2001 system. For a complete list of these games see List of Doraemon media.
Doraemon was awarded the first Shogakukan Manga Award for children's manga in 1982, and the first Osamu Tezuka Culture Award in 1997.
After a brief and unpopular 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. This series became incredibly popular, and ended with 1,049 episodes on March 25, 2005.
Celebrating Doraemon's anniversary, Studio Pierrot produced a new Doraemon series which began airing on TV Asahi on April 15, 2005 with new voice actors and staff, and updated character designs.
In 1980, Toho released the first of a series of annual feature length animated films based on the lengthly special volumes published annually. The films are more action-adventure oriented and unlike the anime and manga, they 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 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 such as Journey to the West and Arabian Nights. Some films also have serious themes, especially on environmental topics and the use of technology.
The most recent Doraemon film is The New Record of Nobita: Spaceblazer, slated for a 2009 release.
From 1979 to April 2005, the same five voice actors provided the main voices in Doraemon. However, they retired in April 2005 partially due to the 25th anniversary of the Doraemon television series. On March 13, 2005, TV Asahi announced the new voice actors for the five main characters:[10]
Character | Voice actor for April 1979 - March 2005 | Voice actor for March 2005 - Present |
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Doraemon | Nobuyo Ōyama | Wasabi Mizuta |
Nobita/Bobita | Noriko Ohara | Megumi Ōhara (大原めぐみ?) |
Shizutka | Michiko Nomura | Yumi Kakazu |
Jaian | Kazuya Tatekabe | Subaru Kimura (木村昴?) |
Suneo/Sodeo | Kaneta Kimotsuki | Tomokazu Seki |
Dorami | Keiko Yokozawa | Chiaki |
Hidetoshi | Sumiko Shirakawa (白川澄子?) | Shihoko Hagino (萩野志保子?) |
Nobita's Mama | Sachiko Chijimatsu | Kotono Mitsuishi |
Nobita's Papa | Yōsuke Naka (中庸助?) | Yasunori Matsumoto |
Sewashi | Yoshiko Ōta (太田淑子?) | Sachi Matsumoto |
Sensei | Ryōichi Tanaka | Wataru Takagi |
Kaminari | Takeshi Watabe | Katsuhisa Hōki |
Shizuka's Mother | Masako Matsubara (松原雅子?) | Ai Orikasa |
Suneo's Mother | Mari Yokoo (横尾まり?) | Minami Takayama |
Suneo's Father | Osamu Katō (加藤治?) | Hideyuki Tanaka |
Jaian's Mother | Kazuyo Aoki | Miyako Takeuchi (竹内都子?) |
Jaiko | Kazuyo Aoki | Banira Yamazaki (山崎バニラ?) |
Dekisugi |
Character | Voice actor |
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Doraemon | Kousei Tomita (episodes 1 ~ 13) Masako Nozawa |
Nobita | Yoshiko Ōta (太田淑子?) |
Shizuka | Masako Ebisu |
Jaian | Kaneta Kimotsuki |
Suneo | Shun Yashiro |
Nobita's Mama | Noriko Ohara |
Nobita's Papa | Ichirou Murakoshi |
Suneo's Mama | Kazue Takahashi |
Gatchako | Junko Hori |
Sewashi | Keiko Yamamoto |
Sensei | Osamu Katō (加藤 治 Katō Osamu?) Masashi Amenomori |
The opening theme used for the weekly Doraemon series airing between 1979 and 2005 was Song of Doraemon (ドラえもんのうた doraemon no uta?), which was performed by five different performers over the course of its years:
Performer | Starting date | Ending date | |
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1. | Kumiko Ōsugi (大杉久美子?) | April 2 1979 | October 2 1992 |
2. | Satoko Yamano (山野さと子?) | October 9 1992 | September 20 2002 |
3. | Tokyo Purin (東京プリン?) | October 4 2002 | April 11 2003 |
4. | Misato Watanabe | April 18 2003 | April 23 2004 |
5. | AJI | April 30 2004 | March 18 2005 |
In the New Doraemon Series (2005), new opening themes songs were used, except for the first one.
Performer | Song Title | Starting date | Ending date | |
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1. | 12 Girls Band (女子十二楽坊?) | "Doraemon no Uta" (ドラえもんのうた?) | April 15 2005
(episode 1) |
October 21 2005
(episode 24) |
2. | Rimi Natsukawa | "Hug Shichao" (ハグしちゃお?) | October 28 2005
(episode 25) |
April 20 2007
(episode 86) |
3. | mao | "Yume wo Kanaete Doraemon" (夢をかなえてドラえもん?) | May 11 2007
(episode 87) |
present |
Two songs were used for a separate weekday Doraemon series which is a part of Fujiko Fujio Theater (藤子不二雄劇場, Fujiko Fujio Gekijoo), the first song being the same as the first song of the weekly series.
Name | Song Title | Starting date | Ending date | |
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1. | Kumiko Ōsugi (大杉久美子?) | "Doraemon no Uta" (ドラえもんのうた?) | April 2 1979 | September 29 1979 |
2. | Nobuyo Oyama, Koorogi '73 (大山のぶ代, こおろぎ'73?) | "Boku Doraemon" (ぼくドラえもん?) | October 1 1979 | September 26 1981 |
The ending themes used for the weekly Doraemon series airing between 1979 and 2005 were:
Song Title | Performer | Starting date | Ending date | |
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1. | "Aoi Sora wa Pocket sa" (青い空はポケットさ?) | Kumiko Oosugi (大杉久美子?) | April 8 1979 | September 27 1981 |
2. | "Maru-gao no Uta" (まる顔のうた?) | Nobuyo Oyama (大山のぶ代?) | October 2 1981 | March 30 1984 |
3. | "Santa Claus wa Doko no Hito" (サンタクロースはどこのひと?) | Nobuyo Oyama (大山のぶ代?) | November 18 1983 | December 30 1983 |
4. | "Boku-tachi Chikyuu-jin" (ぼくたち地球人?) | Mitsuko Horie (堀江美都子?) | April 6 1984 | April 8 1988 |
5. | "Aozora-tte Iina" (青空っていいな?) | Mitsuko Horie (堀江美都子?) | April 15 1988 | October 2 1992 |
6. | "Ashita mo Tomodachi" (あしたも♥ともだち?) | Yui Nishiwaki (にしわきゆい?) | October 9 1992 | April 7 1995 |
7. | "Boku Doraemon 2112" (ぼくドラえもん2112?) | Nobuyo Oyama, Koorogi '73 (大山のぶ代、こおろぎ'73?) | April 14 1995 | September 20 2002 |
8. | "Mata Aeru Hi Made" (またあえる日まで?) | Yuzu (ゆず?) | October 4 2002 | April 11 2003 |
9. | "Tanpopo no Uta" (タンポポの詩 歌?) | The Alfee (ジ・アルフィー?) | April 18 2003 | October 4 2003 |
10. | "YUME Biyori" (YUME日和?) | Hitomi Shimatani (島谷ひとみ?) | October 10 2003 | May 28 2004 |
11. | "Aa Ii na!" (あぁ いいな!?) | W (ダブルユー?) | June 4 2004 | March 18 2005 |
Since the 2005 series incorporated all the credits into the Opening Sequence, these three themes were used as the Ending Theme.
Song Title | Performer | Starting date | Ending date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Odore Dore Dora Doraemon Ondo 2007" (踊れ・どれ・ドラ ドラえもん音頭2007?) | Wasabi Mizuta (水田わさび?) | June 29 2007 | August 10 2007 |
2. | "Odore Dore Dora Doraemon Ondo 2008" (踊れ・どれ・ドラ ドラえもん音頭2008?) | Wasabi Mizuta (水田わさび?) | July 18 2008 |
Three songs were used for the separate weekday Doraemon series.
Song Title | Performer | |
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1. | "Doraemon Ekaki-uta" (ドラえもん・えかきうた?) | Nobuyo Oyama (大山のぶ代?) |
2. | "Doraemon Ondo" (ドラえもん音頭?) | Nobuyo Oyama (大山のぶ代?) |
3. | "Dorami-chan Ekaki-uta" (ドラミちゃんのえかきうた?) | Keiko Yokozawa (横沢啓子?) |
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 cartoon character selected, Doraemon was described as "The Cuddliest Hero in Asia".
In 2005, the Japan 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. In Murakami's analysis, he states that Doraemon's formulaic plotlines typified the "wish fulfilment" mentality of 1970s Japan, where the electronics revolution glamorized the idea that one could solve their problems with machines and gadgets rather than hard work or individual intelligence.
In 2008, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan) appointed Doraemon to be as the first anime cultural ambassador[3][4].
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