Doraemon (2005)
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 Robot Cat from the future!
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Doraemon (ドラえもん, Doraemon) is the most recent anime TV series based on Fujiko F. Fujio's manga of the same name. Produced by Shin-Ei Animation and Asatsu-DK, it began airing on TV Asahi on April 15, 2005. It also airs in over 50 countries worldwide.
Production
Although the series is more faithful to the original manga, some changes were made. Many of the episodes that adapted chapters from the manga were extended to have a better conclusion or a good moral to the story. In addition, some elements from the manga were toned down. Some examples include all of Doraemon's gadgets that resembled medicine being changed to different appliances, and Nobita's dad (who smoked often in the manga) rarely smoked.
The voice actors to the five main characters, Doraemon, Nobita, Shizuka, Gian, and Suneo, were chosen from a pool of 590 applicants. TV Asahi stated in 2005 that they chose voice actors who sounded similar to the voice actors of the predecessor, so that there would not be a significant change from the original cast to the new cast.
All mini corners, partners, and next episodes previews in all episodes are cut to fit for the 30-minute block in international versions, except for Hong Kong, which are cut to fit for the 15-minute block in its time-slot. Since May 1, 2009, the series airs in high definition. In July 2017, the show got overhauled visually to use more vivid colors, which includes the use of poster artwork. As of 2019, the show now airs on Saturday nights alongside a new theme song.
US English dub
A US English dub of the 2005 series produced by Fujiko F. Fujio Pro, TV Asahi, Bang Zoom! Entertainment, and distributed by Viz Media began airing on Disney XD on July 7, 2014 under the name Doraemon: Gadget Cat from the Future. In Australia, it started airing on 26 January 2015 on Network Ten. Later it moved in Australia to Cartoon Network and Boomerang. In Canada, it briefly aired on Disney XD's Canadian feed before being re-branded as Family CHRGD. The dub features veteran anime voice actress Mona Marshall in the title role of Doraemon and Johnny Yong Bosch as Nobita (known in the dub as "Noby").
The English dub has been heavily modified to meet American broadcasting guidelines, censoring content deemed inappropriate for American children, as well as replacing many Japanese cultural elements with American cultural elements. Some modifications include Americanized character and gadget name changes from the English version of the manga, an episode order completely different from the Japanese episode order, nudity being heavily censored by adding steam, cloud effects, or clothing, and some episodes having several minutes of footage cut. However, certain uniquely Japanese characteristics - such as house structure, kneeling on the floor to eat, the side where cars drive, and Nobisuke Nobi (Toby Nobi)'s kimono - remain. Japanese food featured throughout the series were also localized: while Doraemon's favorite food, dorayaki, was kept in but referred as "yummy buns", others were edited out and replaced with Western equivalents, such as omurice becoming pancakes. All the background music and sound effects were replaced with new background music and sound effects deemed "easier for American children to emphasize with".
At least one character's personality was also partially rewritten. Shizuka (renamed Sue in the English dub) is portrayed as more tomboyish and athletic than the Japanese version, although her sweet nature and kind personality were not changed. This is reportedly because her traditionally Japanese habits were perceived as being difficult for American children to understand in test viewings of the Japanese version.
It was announced that reruns of the American version would be re-imported to Japan and aired on Disney Channel Japan starting on February 1, 2016. The network also provides a Japanese dub of the version as a secondary audio feed.
UK/HK English dub
Doraemon began broadcasting in the United Kingdom on August 17, 2015 on Boomerang, but finished its run sometime in January 2016 and has never been broadcast since.
Despite this dub being made for and to be broadcast in the UK only, it was produced in Hong Kong. The dub is also more faithful to the original Japanese dub than the US English dub, with lack of censorships. The names of the characters are borrowed from the US English dub. It is thought that only 26 episodes are dubbed, with some of these episodes being lost
Plot
Doraemon is a cat-like robot from the future who appears in the present to steer Nobita Nobi, an unintelligent, naive and clumsy boy, on the right path in order to secure his future. Nobita's best friend and love interest is Shizuka Minamoto. His frenemies are Takeshi Goda and Suneo Honekawa.
Why It Still Deserve A Take-Copter
Note: Some of the pointers are from the 1979 series, same for the Bad Qualities
- Despite having fewer episodes than the 1979 series, it's still one of the longest-running anime of all time, next to Kamen Rider, Naruto, One Piece.
- While some of the characters have been slightly redesigned, most notably Shizuka, Doraemon, and Dorami, they still have great and cute design, despite some of them not being as good or memorable as the 1979 series.
- Later in 2017, the series got a new art style and recolor, which look even better than the original 2005 version, with it being extremely colorful to the point of making you want to watch these episodes over and over, and some of them in that era are even more fun and funny than the original 2005 version.
- This is also a very original concept for a long-running show, as instead of doing like Family Guy with it making the art style (and animation) more bland than before, this version of Doraemon instead improves it in nearly every way.
- It's also given some recolors for some characters and some differences, such as Gian's eyes, which look bigger than they were before, and most of the characters outfits, most notably with Suneo and especially Shizuka.
- This would especially be true in some episodes that we're remaking in the recolored version, as while they mostly are rehashes, they will still be fun to watch and be even more visually appealing, thanks to how great this change is.
- This is also a great change for some characters, with them having a much more colorful design and making them look even better than in the episodes before 2017, such as Dorami, Shizuka, Gian, and even Doraemon and Nobita.
- Some of the characters that didn't get much screen time in the 1979 series have been given more screen time in this version, most notably Dorami, who wasn't as present in the 1979 series.
- Lot of funny moments and great humor, such as some quotes, Doraemon and Dorami being angry at each other or one of them chasing chased in funny ways, some moments where Doraemon had to do a checkup but he refused, which made Dorami mad at times (again in a funny way), or when Doraemon and mostly Nobita make trouble, which resulted in some great and funny stories, much like the 1979 series.
- Also, when Nobita makes trouble or has a funny but yet bad situation or an episode where Dorami appears and does some funny things, you can be assured to get a funny episode and some lauch (at least it's for the most parts).
- In fact, if you understand the Japanese, you can get even more lax with the show, similar to the 1979 series.
- Being a similar case to South Park and the 1979 series, unlike the television programs of the United States or the most emblematic animes of Japan, Doraemon has been one of the few series that have never suffered a notable or cancerous decline within its history, demonstrating that the creative team that works on the series cares about the quality of the show. At the same time, there have only been very few cases where fans have been disappointed with the episodes, the specials, or the movies during its 19 years of broadcasting.
- It paved the way for the Japanese anime industry to be able to compete against the American cartoon industry, mainly due to its simplistic and enjoyable story.
- All of the characters are likeable and have distinct personalities.
- Nobita portrays a weak, lazy boy who has a crush on a pretty girl and wants to improve himself. Here he's even more relatable than in the 1979 series, considering how hard it can be to study and how many people dislike studying, just like Nobita.
- Shizuka is a girl who is often seen protecting Nobita from bullying and is friendly and kind but gets mad if Nobita enters while she takes a bath, which is something relatable for some.
- Gian and Suneo, although usually portrayed as bullies and rich, flamboyant boys, respectively, usually help Nobita and friends in many episodes, including the movies, making them still likable and being jerk characters done right.
- While it's not as good or as memorable as the original theme song, it's still had some very good opening and outro, especially some of the first before 2017 and after 2017, which had some very stylish opening with a great art style and some great songs.
- Much like the 1979 series, the show can be considered a harsh criticism of how human beings should not cling to a dream or how the tools capable of solving life in a minute will not guarantee happiness. This is even more evident in the 2005 series.
- The animation is much improved from the early 1979 series (along with the later 1979 series, but not as much), with fewer animation errors than the 1979 version, and it actually has an even better animation when it's recolored. This also helps with the even better art style than before.
- Great pacing for a lot of episodes.
- The movie adaptations, with the exception of some movies that have poor pacing, are very entertaining, especially the Stand by Me duology and the 2007 remake movie.
- It even spawned a CGI animated movie in 2014 called Stand By Me Doraemon, which was just as great as the show and was a beautiful and amazing way to celebrate the creator's 80th anniversary, as it was much sadder than the show and has very beautiful CGI animation akin to that of The Peanuts Movie. It was released in Japan on August 8, 2014, and received acclaim from critics, audiences, and the fans of the show. A sequel was made in 2020, and it's even better than the first one.
- There's more variation of outfit for some characters, most notably Nobita and Suneo, where Nobita can also get a red or green shirt, as in the 1979 series we mostly see him with only his iconic yellow shirt, which still stays in this version.
- The gadgets that Doraemon uses have various creative characteristics, ranging from simplistic stuff such as a bamboo copter to even powerful gadgets such as a telephone booth that are able to change the world as the user wishes. Speaking of that...
- Some gadgets are very useful and make the viewers want them in real life, such as a door that makes the user travel everywhere.
- Like the 1979 series, it pokes fun at family and teacher stereotypes in a rather comedic way, maybe even better than the said version.
- Although Doraemon focuses especially on children, it is no stranger to showing serious themes such as death, long-distance friendship, self-esteem, existential crises, the damage of the human being to the world, clinging to a dream, slavery, child abandonment, and clinging to the past, among many others.
- At the same time, when he combines his main story with mature themes, it doesn't feel anticlimactic or forced.
- Despite not having as many tie-in video games as the 1979 series, it's still had some great tie-in games, such as Doraemon Wii and the Story of Season games, although most of them aren't as great as the tie-in games of the 1979 series.
- It's spawned a lot of memes,
- Much like the 1979 series, it's had a lot of great to amazing episodes to the point of barely having bad episodes; in fact, it might have fewer bad episodes than the 1979 series.
- I Got 100%, For Once in My Life...
- Goodbye, Shizuka
- Nobita's Underground Country
- I Love You, Roboko
- Jaiko's Boyfriend= Nobita
- The Dream Channel
- Creating the Earth
- Eight Days in the Palace of the Dragon King
- Ah, Love, Love, Love! (Not to be confused with the 1979 series.)
- Suneo is the Ideal Big Brother
- The Word Game Transformation Egg
- The Big Fossil Discovery
- Big Problem With the X-Ray Stickers
- Aren't you Nobita, the cat?
- Fever! Gian Fanclub
- Goodbye, Nobita! Doraemon Goes Back to the Future (the first special of the show)
- Winning Back Shizuka-chan (Both parts 1 and 2)
- Doraemon and Dorami-chan
- Oh, Lovely Mii-chan!
- Magical Girl Shizu-chan
- The Horrors of Gian's Birthday
- Would You Like to Adopt Doraemon?
- Gian is Beaten!?
- Shizuka-chan, in an Egg
- I'm Mini Doraemon
- Doraemon vs. Dracula (Both Parts 1 and 2)
- The Horrors of Gian's Birthday Return
- The Day Doraemon is Reborn
- To Miss Yumeko Nijitani
- Gian is a Big Star!?
- Once in a While, Nobita Can Think, Too
- Doraemon's Long Day
- Shizuka-chan Disappeared!?
- Doraemon's Design Colored
- The Beautiful Girl That Nobita Loved
- Doraemon's Blue Tears
- The Nobita in Nobita
- Goodbye, Doraemon (One of the saddest and most heartwarming episodes of the show.)
- A Black Hole in Nobita's Town
- Nobita's Proposal Strategy
- Dorami's Worst Day Ever
- Doraemon's on a Diet!?
- Doraemon Takes a Day Off!!
- Nobita Claus on Christmas Eve
- Dorami the Match Seller
- The Wish Realizing Machine Has Gone Too Far!
- Doraemon Becomes a Cat
- Doraemon Is An Exam Student Now!?
- Goodbye, Suneo...
- Doraemon and Perman's Close Call
- Great soundtrack, as they are very catchy for a kids show and some of them are funny.
- There are good morals such as taking care of your friends, never cheating on your girlfriend (to an extent), doing homework to get the best score at school, and many others.
- It's still enjoyable to the teen and adult public, much like the 1979 version.
Bad Qualities
- There aren't as many tie-in video games for the 2005 series as the 1979 series did, mostly due to Epoch stopping developing Doraemon games; the only notable one is Doraemon Wii (if you don't count the games based on the movies for the Nintendo DS).
- Despite the fact that there are some Japan-only games for the Nintendo Switch, some of them aren't like the older Doraemon games and will mostly be educational or party games, which can be seen as hit or miss for some people.
- Despite the older episodes having a very good art style, it's color palette can look off if you're more used to the more colorful art style after 2017. This is made even worse since for some it's possibly hasn't aged well to some viewers.
- While the Disney XD US dub is pretty funny for the most part, there are some issues, such as annoying voice acting and flanderizing some characters, especially Doraemon himself.
- Both Nobita and Shinzuka suffered from flanderization as the series went on.
- Nobita went from a clumsy, slow, unforgettable, average child who relies on Doraemon most of the time but still tries his best to be good most of the time and is sometimes caring to his friends and even Doraemon into an absolute jerkish inmature kid.
- Shizuka went from a simple character who was a love interest for Nobita into a flawless character who is perfect in every way possible, though not as bad as Nobita's.
- A huge problem with the series is that it tends to limit the abilities too much or alter the personalities of the characters.
- In fact, Doraemon can be considered a god, or more specifically, "the 6 Gems of Infinity," since he has artifacts capable of creating life, manipulating time, space, reality, the soul, the mind, and the life of the planet. However, even if Doraemon is limited in many of those aspects when they face a problem,.
- Not to mention that some episodes position him as someone of great strength and endurance capable of withstanding blows, explosions, and attacks from wild animals, but in several episodes he is unable to withstand blows from giants or cardboard boxes.
- Nobita also suffers from these problems, where he is shown as someone who is almost unable to move a ball or write his name well when there is a time when he can deal with problems of titanic magnitude.
- Gian and Suneo exaggerate their personalities by being mean to Nobita, even though he is one of their best friends.
- Dekisugi can be defined as a Gary stu par excellence, being able to get 100 in everything, or being able to solve any problem without any inconvenience.
- Shizuka is somewhat way too perfect, which was fixed by the American version by giving her a tomboy streak for this series.
- Even Ace himself is also very perfect, as he always gets high scores and is better at everything than Nobita.
- Nobita's mother can be a jerk sometimes, though this is justified since Nobita is close to being uneducated due to having a dislike for studying.
- In fact, this led to her flanderization in the 2015 English dub of the same name.
- Gian's mother, towards him, is strict and far too stern than Nobita's mother; in fact, she is even worse in this series than in the 1979 series.
- In fact, Doraemon can be considered a god, or more specifically, "the 6 Gems of Infinity," since he has artifacts capable of creating life, manipulating time, space, reality, the soul, the mind, and the life of the planet. However, even if Doraemon is limited in many of those aspects when they face a problem,.
- Some of the movies can be very boring and confusing for everyone, as the creators often rip off the old stories. Especially Nobita and the Island of Miracles and Nobita's Space Heroes, though they aren't bad and they have been improving throughout the years, like Nobita and the Birth of Japan 2016.
- While not bad, the Amazon Kindle version of the manga & the American English dub were heavily Americanized, such as renaming every character with American sounding names (Noby instead of Nobita, Sue instead of Shizuka, etc.), and changing the setting from Tokyo to a town in the USA, and also replacing chopsticks with western eating utensils.
- While Doraemon was dubbed in many countries, some dubs are mixed in many ways.
- The Asian Speedy dubs are terrible.
- The Hindi dub, while passable and faithful to the Japanese version, can have very annoying voice actors (however, some of the voice acting, particularly Doraemon, is good).
- Quantity over quality: With 1000+ episode, it can be repetitive or even rehashing from previous episodes that you're watched.
- While some innapropriate things, such as smoking, are stopped for the most part, there are still innapropriate moments, and they are even worse than in the 1979 series, such as:
- Nobita can sometimes enter the room where Shizuka takes a bath, and while it's not intentional for the most part, there are still some pervert moments, and to make matters worse, sometimes he even does this on purpose, even in the 1979 series he doesn't do this on purpose.
- Even worse, Doraemon sometimes even does this (although not as much as Nobita), as there was one moment where he and Nobita taking a gadget to see Shizuka being naked and taking a bath, which not only is an extremely perverse move but they're also in Shizuka's house, as when she comes, they're still watching, and before she sees it, Nobita has to throw it at Doraemon (which might possibly be the intention of making him grab the gadget), which took Nobita's love for Shizuka to an extreme, not helping the fact that they are both below the age of 18, and possibly Doraemon since he was involted in that scene.
- Nobita and his friends can also be naked (due to Japan's different laws on what's considered child-friendly).
- Fortunately these inappropriate moments are censored in a lot of dubs.
- Nobita can sometimes enter the room where Shizuka takes a bath, and while it's not intentional for the most part, there are still some pervert moments, and to make matters worse, sometimes he even does this on purpose, even in the 1979 series he doesn't do this on purpose.
Reception
Until 2015, more than 100 million copies of the manga have been sold and the animated series is available in over 30 countries.
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. In 2008, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs appointed Doraemon as the first anime cultural ambassador.
On April 22, 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". 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.
Jason Thompson praised the "silly situations" and "old fashioned, simple artwork", with Doraemon's expression and comments adding to the "surrounding elementary-school mischief".
On September 3, 2012, Doraemon was granted official residence in the city of Kawasaki, one hundred years before he was born.
With the 2013 film, Doraemon: Nobita and The Gadget 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. It also became the largest franchise by the number of admissions in Japan.
Episodes with their own pages
Trivia
- Doraemon is the most aired show in India on Hungama and Disney Channel India.
- Starting from episode 557, the second segment is now airing past episodes.
- This version of Doraemon is also the first version to be broadcast in North America, Australia, New Zealand and the British Isles, also being the first version that had an official English dub.
- This is the first version of the anime to be produced and broadcast in a 16:9 widescreen format.
- It is known as New Doraemon in India.
- The first opening seems to frequently call the series Doraemon - New Generation.