Doraemon

Doraemon


Doraemon (ドラえもん, Doraemon?) is a Japanese manga series created by Fujiko F. Fujio (the pen name of Hiroshi Fujimoto) 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. 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, Tentōmushi?) manga brand, extending to forty-five volumes. The volumes are collected in the Takaoka Central Library in Toyama, Japan, where Fujio was born.
Doraemon was awarded the first Shogakukan Manga Award for children's manga in 1982, and the first Osamu Tezuka Culture Award in 1997.
In Vietnam, Doraemon has become the series with largest amount of publishing to date (totally 40 million) and is continually printed and released.

History

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) to Shogaku Yonnensei (fourth grade). By 1973, the series began to appear in two more magazines, Shogaku Gonensei (fifth grade) and Shogaku Rokunensei (sixth grade). 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 volumes.

Plot summary

The first appearance of Doraemon, via the time machine.
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's failures in school and subsequently, his career, have left his family line beset with financial problems.
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 or the local neighborhood. After Nobita's pleading or goading, Doraemon produces a futuristic gadget to help Nobita fix his problem, enact revenge, or flaunt to his friends.
Nobita usually goes too far, despite Doraemon's best intentions, 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 lesson is taught.

Characters

Main characters
Fujiko's friends say that every main character represents elementary school student archetypes Fujiko noticed in his own school days.
Doraemon (ドラえもん, Doraemon?)
Doraemon is the robotic cat sent back in time by Sewashi to aid Nobita. He possesses a fourth-dimensional pocket from which he can produce all manner of futuristic tools, gadgets, and playthings from a future department store. Doraemon originally had ears but they were bitten off by a robotic mouse in the 22nd century. As a result, he developed a morbid fear of mice despite being a robotic cat. He also has the tendency to panic during emergencies, characterized by him frantically trying to pull out a very much-needed tool from his pocket, only to produce a huge assortment of unrelated household items.
Doraemon's physical appearance changed as the manga progressed. At first, he was predominantly blue, with a blue tail, a white stomach, and flesh-coloured hands and feet. He also stooped, and had a body much larger than his head. In later issues, he sported a smaller body, white hands and feet, and a red tail--the appearance most identify him with today.
In "The Doraemons" story arc, it is revealed that Doraemon's original paint color was yellow. After getting his ears gnawed off by a robot mouse, he slipped into depression on top of a tower, where he drank a potion labeled "sadness". As he wept, the yellow color washed off and his voice changed due to the potion.
Doraemon weighs 129.3 kg (285 lbs) and measures at 129.3 cm (4'3") tall. He is able to run at 129.3 km/h (80.3 mi/h) when scared and jump 129.3 m (424.2 ft) when threatened. He is manufactured on September 3, 2112 (12/9/3), at the Matsushiba Robot Factory (マツシバロボット工場, Matsushiba Robot Factory?). Doraemon is considered a failed product because many of his robotic features (ie. radar whiskers and cat-calling bell) malfunctioned after production.
Doraemon's favourite food is dorayaki (どら焼き, dorayaki?), a Japanese treat filled with red bean paste. Speculations led to dorayaki being the origin of his name. However, it was revealed in one of the manga chapters that his name originates from the Japanese word for "stray cat", dora neko, and the -emon ending which is part of traditional Japanese names, as seen also in, for example, Ishikawa Goemon.

Nobita Nobi (野比 のび太, Nobi Nobita?)
Nobita is the other major character of the series. He is a fourth grader[2] in Tokyo and an only child. He wears glasses, a red or yellow polo shirt with a white collar, and blue shorts. Nobita's character flaws are endless: he is lazy, uncoordinated, dim-witted, frail, plain-looking, unlucky, and bad at sports. Nobita's typical day consists of arriving late to class, scoring zeros on his exam, getting lectured by his teacher, being bullied by classmates Jaian and Suneo, falling into curbside rain gutters, being chased by dogs, and getting yelled at by his mom for refusing to do his homework. However, his everyday struggles are what drive the storyline.
Despite his flaws, Nobita does possess unique talents such as his unrivaled marksmanship and ability to weave intricate string figures. Although Nobita is frequently portrayed as being cowardly, he has a strong sense of justice and will often risk his life to help save others or even entire civilizations (as seen in full-length stories).

Shizuka Minamoto (源 静香, Minamoto Shizuka?)
Shizuka, usually called Shizu-chan or Shizuka-chan, is the smart, kind, and pretty neighborhood girl who is the object of Nobita's affections. She takes baths several times a day. Somehow, Nobita always seem to unintentionally walk in on her (via the Dokodemo Door) while she is still in the bathtub. She is also known for taking piano lessons unwillingly, which is sometimes used as an excuse for declining to hang out with Nobita. Her true passions are sweet potatoes and the violin, in which her playing is as atrocious as Gian's singing. Due to Doraemon's intervention, Shizuka becomes Nobita's wife in the future timeline.

Takeshi Goda (剛田 武, Gōda Takeshi?)
Takeshi, usually known by the nickname Gian (ジャイアン, Jaian?) (Giant), is the big, strong, and quick-tempered local bully. His nickname may be derived from giant. He is known for his confidence in his terrible singing voice. He regularly subjects the neighborhood children to horrendous singing recitals, which is sometimes combined with his equally bad homemade dinner. Several of the stories revolve around Nobita and his friends' efforts to avoid Gian's concerts.
He also frequently steals other children's toys and books under the pretext of "borrowing" them, unless the toy is damaged. However, he still has a strong sense of comradeship, and will not hesitate to help Nobita and his friends when they are in real trouble, which often occurs in the movies. Although he bullies the other children (mostly Nobita), he is terrified of his mother, who runs the local grocery store. He founded his own baseball team named after himself. Although Nobita is often blamed for the losses against the baseball team's rival, the "Tyranos", Gian and Suneo still force Nobita to play because they do not have enough players.
Gian has a younger sister named Jaiko, whom he adores.

Suneo Honekawa (骨川 スネ夫, Honekawa Suneo?)
Suneo is the fox-faced rich kid who loves to flaunt his material wealth before everyone. He is often seen with Gian, serving as Gian's lackey while they bully Nobita together. Some of the stories start with Suneo showing off some new video game or toy which evokes Nobita's envy. He has an extensive knowledge of science, and is a talented artist and designer. He also has a younger brother Sunetsugu (スネツグ, Sunetsugu?), who was adopted into his uncle's family in New York.
In some scenes, Suneo is seen as a narcissist who loves to stare at himself in the mirror while telling himself that he is the most handsome guy in the world. He is still a bed-wetter and needs to wear diapers when he sleeps, despite being in the fourth grade. He considers this humiliating habit his secret weakness. Suneo is also very self-conscious about his height, being the shortest kid in his class.

Minor characters
Jaiko (ジャイ子, Jaiko?)
Jaiko is Gian's younger sister who would have been Nobita's wife in the future had Doraemon not intervened. She appears in the very first chapter of the manga, even before the introduction of Gian. Her name Jaiko is usually considered a nickname, but Fujiko never gave her a real name. An aspiring mangaka, Jaiko goes by her amateur mangaka pen name Christine Goda (クリスチーネ 剛田, Kurisuchīne Gōda?), and sometimes submits her mangas to publishing companies for prizes.

Hidetoshi Dekisugi (出木杉 英才, Dekisugi Hidetoshi?)
Hidetoshi is Nobita's classmate and rival for Shizuka's affections. He always gets perfect scores on his tests, but never shows off his abilities. He willingly helps Nobita whenever he has philosophical or scientific questions. His name literally means "brilliant over-achiever", and his last name is a pun on dekisugiru, which means "over achieving". Unfortunately for Nobita, Shizuka tends to prefer the company of Hidetoshi, who is more of her intellectual equal.

Dorami (ドラミ, Dorami?)
Dorami, also known as Dorami-chan, is the younger sister of Doraemon. Strangely enough, they are siblings due to the fact that they shared half of the oil from a can. She lives in the 22nd-century Tokyo with Sewashi, Nobita's great-great-grandson. She is yellow and has ears that resemble a large red bow. She likes melonpan and is afraid of cockroaches. She is also shown to be a more advanced robot than Doraemon. She sometimes visits Nobita with a time machine when Doraemon is "off-duty."

Doraemon & Dorami
Sensei (先生, Sensei?)
Nobita's homeroom teacher. He is a strict taskmaster who often punishes Nobita for failing to do his homework. The punishments range from standing in the hallway to sweeping the classroom after-school. His real name is unknown and he is only referred to as "Sensei", but in the NTV anime his name is given as Ganari (我成, Ganari?).

Kaminari (神成, Kaminari?)
An old man who lives next to the vacant lot where Nobita and the gang play baseball. They sometimes accidentally throw baseballs, rocks, or even one of Doraemon's gadgets through his window, breaking it and knocking over his prized bonsai. The children refer to him as Kaminari-oyaji (雷おやじ,, Old Man Thunder?), because he shouts so loud that they scatter. Kaminari is his surname.

Tameru Kaneo
Tameru tends to accompany Suneo and Jaian. He has a friend whose name is never mentioned, and the two of them are always seen together. Kane wo tameru, the way his name is read in Japanese, means "to save money" in Japanese.

Mini-Doras (ミニドラ[たち], Mini-Doras?)
Mini-Doras are actually gadgets of Doraemon. They are mini versions of Doraemon, each with a different color. They can think and feel for themselves, and communicate with Doraemon through the "Mini-Dora" language. They act as helpers for all sorts of tasks, such as repairing the internal mechanism of Doraemon.

Nobita's family
Tamako Nobi (野比 玉子, Nobi Tamako?)
Nobita's mother. She is usually seen scolding Nobita or sending him on errands. She actually loves his son very much but is disappointed by his academic failures
Nobisuke Nobi (野比 のび助, Nobi Nobisuke?)
Nobita's father and laid-back salaryman. He is very considerate of Nobita, often seen arriving home from work to placate Tamako's anger towards Nobita. He has trouble quitting smoking and is self-conscious about his inability to pass the driving test. He also has a poor memory and sometimes arrives home drunk from nightly business meetings. He was once an aspiring art student.

Sewashi (セワシ, Sewashi?)
Nobita's great-great-grandson. He is the one who sends Doraemon back to the past to look after Nobita. Sewashi first bought Doraemon in 2112 when Doraemon still had ears and his original factory paint. He is also the owner of Doraemon's sister, Dorami. He figures very prominently in the first few stories but is rarely seen later on.
Nobisuke (ノビスケ, Nobisuke?)
Nobita's son. He is named after Nobita's father. He is a better athlete than Nobita and far more clever. In one of the stories, he did not hesitate to beat up young Nobita when young Nobita tried to stop him from running away from home.

Dōgu

Doraemon can take out various devices known as dōgu (道具, dōgu? lit. gadget) 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. It is this constant variety which makes Doraemon popular even among adult readers/viewers.

Recurring Dōgu
Fourth-dimensional pocket (四次元ポケット, Fourth-dimensional pocket?)
The inside of this pocket connects to the fourth dimension and acts like a wormhole. It is usually shown attached to Doraemon's abdomen. Doraemon has a spare pocket which connects to the same location.


Time machine (タイムマシン, Time machine?)
The entrance to Doraemon's time machine is in Nobita's desk drawer. The time machine looks like a simple platform with a control console, and a clock with five hands overhanging the console. Doraemon is often seen piloting the time machine. Dorami has her own time machine shaped like a tulip, suggesting a variety of models available in the future. The time machine can create an exit in a specific place spatially as well as temporally. An alternative to the time machine is the time belt, which does not change the wearer's location relative to Earth. The presence of this machine is not known by Nobita's mother.


Take-copter (タケコプター, Take-copter?)
One of the main modes of transportation for the various characters is the take-copter, which combines the words taketombo (竹とんぼ, taketombo? lit. bamboo dragonfly, the Japanese name for the bamboo-copter), and part of the word herikoputā (ヘリコプター, herikoputā?), which means helicopter. The take-copter was also called the heri-tombo (ヘリトンボ, heri-tombo?) in early stories. The device is a propeller attached to a tiny suction cup which can be attached to enable flight. Ever since the first few Doraemon stories, the take-copter is seen attached to the head instead of the waist, similar to a propeller beanie, due to a mishap with Nobita's shorts. The take-copter has also been attached to objects to enable its flight. One of its disadvantage is its short battery life.

Moshimo-box (もしもボックス, Moshimo-box?)
The moshimo-box is a pun based on the Japanese greeting used on the telephone moshi moshi, and the phrase meaning "what if", or moshimo. The device is a telephone booth where the characters dial a number and propose a "what if" scenario which alters the world. Nobita has wished for a world where money was not necessary, and purchasing an item meant receiving cash, and being robbed meant being forced to take cash, causing store clerks to force cash onto his hands upon attempting to purchase toys. Nobita has also wished for a world without mirrors, and for a world where lazy people who napped would be hailed as celebrities. But any situation caused by using this telephone booth may be reverted by using this telephone to make a phone call to request for "Reverting/Restoring to the original situation". This uses to be the ending of the story that mentions about the telephone booth.

Dokodemo door (どこでもドア, Dokodemo door? lit. anywhere door)
One of Doraemon's most commonly used gadgets is the dokodemo door, a door which allows travel to anywhere by simply going through the door. In an early story, the door is able to travel to the end of the universe, but in later chapters, the door is said to only be able to travel a maximum distance of 100,000 light years and cannot access other dimensions. Another limitation of the door is that it can only safely connect two known locations in its mapping computer, which also has a limited range of information based on Time as shown in the movie "Nobita's Dinosaur."

Time Furoshiki (タイムふろしき, Time Furoshiki? lit. Time wrapping cloth)
Another frequently used gadget, the time cloth has the ability to advance or reverse time depending on which of its two different colored sides are used. When an object is wrapped around with one face outward, the flow of time reverses, causing the object to become newer. When wrapped around the other way, time moves forward, causing the object to become older. It was first used by Nobita to turn old appliances to new appliances to make money, but its uses extend to many other things, such as converting an object back to its starting material, repairing broken machinery, aging or de-aging people, and restoring millions-of-years old fossils.
Small light (スモールライト, Small light?)

Small light, is a lamp similar to a flashlight that will shrink objects and people to minuscule sizes. Its opposite is the big light (ビッグライト, big light?), which enlarges objects and people. Another tool that is used in a similar capacity is "Gulliver's Tunnel (ガリバートンネル, Gulliver's Tunnel?)", which causes a person to grow or shrink depending on which entrance he takes, however its ratio of shrinking and enlarging is fixed.
Pass Loop (通り抜けフープ, Tōrinuke Fūpu?)
A loop which creates a passage through a solid object such as a wall when placed upon it.

Air cannon (空気砲, Kūkihō?)
A gun barrel worn on the arm used to fire a powerful burst of air which can knock out the victim when the user says "bang". Later models, featured in the long manga and movies, are fired with a trigger.

Translation konjac (ほんやくコンニャク, hon'yaku-konnyaku?)
A piece of konjac jelly which enables a person to understand and speak any known language in the universe. The effect begins after the person ingests the jelly, but the duration of the effect is unknown. While the ones Doraemon uses are usually unflavored, in the story Nobita's Birth of Japan (のび太の日本誕生, Nobita's Birth of Japan?), he used one labeled to be miso flavored, suggesting the existence of various flavors, which are more expensive.
Dress-Up Camera (着せ替えカメラ, Kisekae kamera?)


A camera that uses a picture of clothing instead of film, and changes the clothes of the person in the viewfinder to the clothing in the picture. It may also be used with no picture or an incomplete picture, with embarrassing results. The story about Doraemon's four-dimensional dustbin shows that the damaged camera will make the person naked (ie. when Shizuka used the damaged camera on Nobita, he turned naked). The camera is often used in the long stories and movies, where the gang must disguise themselves in unfamiliar places to avoid attracting undue attention, or to provide with a second change of clothes such as bathing suits.