Doraemon

Genre: Children's / Comedy
General Audience
1979. Fujiko F. Fujio (Hiroshi Fujimoto) (creator). TV Asahi

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Cover Description:
Plot described below.

(The 1979 version reportedly has 850+ episodes)
Our guest writer Fort Reeves is part of an anime licensee group, marketing arm and has coordinated with various Japanese studios for licensing in the Philippines.

An anime with appeal lasting 30 years. >>> by Fort Reeves
Take this for a plot: a robot cat from the future travels back to the present to help a hapless little boy overcome his shortcomings and save his descendants from imminent poverty. This robot cat carries with him a huge array of gadgets to accomplish his objective. But as these magical gadgets were all meant for good intentions, they never fail to lead the boy into further disaster.

Though the story of Doraemon is basically a sick cycle of bad luck, it does not fail the catch the viewers' attention. And we're not singling out a particular age group. This animation series has captured generations. It's pretty rare to have a cartoon run for 30 years. Its appeal can be attributed to two factors: being funny and simple.

Doraemon's simplicity is also manifested in its art. The series is plainly illustrated with a lighter hue and doesn't collaborate with more recent anime series wherein figures are more complex and colors are much brighter. This is to be expected in a series, which started three decades ago. But still, even as the producers have maintained their simplistic approach on the artwork, the appeal of Doraemon hasn't wavered.

Doraemon's soundtrack is classical in some respect. But again, what we're watching now on our local television was aired in Japan 30 years ago. But the manifestation of Doraemon's universal appeal is its successful Filipino adaptation. Dubbed in Filipino, Doraemon has demonstrated its strength in terms of respectable TV ratings.

Individual Rating: Art: 9; Story & Plot: 9; Characters: 9; Sounds: 9