Doraemon: Talent

----(NOTE RELATING TO THE STORY IN QUESTION: This story is actually an existing urban legend regarding an episode of the 1979 Doraemon series. The story is pretty known in the Japanese online community and it started back in the early 2000s, though it's not widely known outside of Japan. So this article aims to explain the story in English for recognition and archival reasons. If you'd like to know more details about the legend itself, I highly recommend going to the "official" Pixiv Dictionary site (it's written in Japanese tho): https://dic.pixiv.net/a/%E3%82%BF%E3%83%AC%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88%28%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%81%88%E3%82%82%E3%82%93%29)
----Doraemon: Talent (タレント) - An Odd "Phantom Episode" from 2ch
In the early 2000s of the Japanese site, 2ch, users have been discussing a rather strange episode of Doraemon (1979) that they had seen back in their childhoods, but said episode only broadcasted once and never again. This supposed episode is called "タレント" ("Tarento" - translated as "Talent"). The earliest known archive of the discussion took place in March 2005 (can be found here in the "「タレント」の初出はどこか / Where did "Talent" first appeared" section: https://sayoko-bunko.hatenablog.com/entry/doraemon_talent).
According to users, the episode is rumored to be broadcasted on a Friday, July 20th 1984, 7PM JST. It was said that the episodes "のび太の童話旅行 (Nobita's Fairy Tale Trip)" and "四次元ポケットのスペア (I Got A Spare 4th Dimensional Pocket)" were scheduled to air on the time slot, however what they were greeted by instead is an ominously strange episode. The episode itself is described to be "poorly drawn like the characters would squish and squash", and that the "characters' faces were looking uncannily off from how they were usually designed/drawn". The episode also had poor voice acting and users have pointed out that they don't sound like the original voice actors at the time. It is highly regarded that despite the episode not having anything overtly scary or frightening, due to it's odd visuals, dark themes and confusing plotline, it has traumatized a generation of Japanese youths who grew up watching it during that time. 
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The following is the synopsis of the episode they have witnessed: 
After the title card (showing the name "タレント"), the episode begins with Doraemon and Nobita standing outside of their schoolgrounds on a rainy day with umbrellas to shelter them both. Nobita, in a bored state, asked Doraemon if they could "go to the underground's shopping strip" (Quote from Nobita: "地下世界の商店街に行きたい! / I want to go the Shopping Strip of the Underground!"). Doraemon then pulled a device from his pocket that resembled one of his iconic items, the Pass Loop (though Doraemon didn't say anything about the item like how the other episodes would go). He placed it on the ground and it expanded to form a dark hole. Excited with an adventure to behold, Doraemon and Nobita jumped into the hole, which is then followed by the sound of them landing on the floor below.
After getting up to check their surroundings, they found themselves in a small room covered in brick walls. Confused, they walked around in the room for a bit when a girl with a beret appeared out of nowhere. The girl is described to be "not so cute looking" and "the colors on her seemed to be washed off". Without explanation, the girl hands Nobita an envelope, an ink bottle, and a pencil. The girl then runs away and phase through a nearby wall. Seeing as their only way out, Doraemon and Nobita followed the girl's steps and phase through the same wall.
Getting to the other side, the girl is nowhere to be seen, instead, there was a police officer and a young boy who wears a school uniform colored with yellow and white stripes. The boy is seen in the corner, sitting and sobbing, while the police officer stands in front of a hallway with floorboards that are lined like xylophone keys. The police noticed Doraemon and Nobita, and then exclaimed, "Are you guys filming here? You should film this way..." (Original Japanese line: "君たちは撮影か? 撮影ならアチラだ"). The police officer led Doraemon and Nobita through the hallway until they entered a small dark room with a miniature globe in the middle. 
The police officer leaves them be as Doraemon and Nobita stared at the globe, noticing that it started to form a crack. The crack then grew larger until an ominous dark liquid started to leak out. Confused and scared, Doraemon and Nobita is seen shivering while hugging each other in fear. The episode ends abruptly from there.
----Users have come up with multiple theories as to how the episode is conceived and why do so many people remember it. Some have suggested that the episode might have been a "false memory" phenomenon in which it probably come from remembering past episodes of the series. Some have also suggested that it could be misremembering modified tape recordings (Bootlegs/MAD) that can be found in rental stores, which mashed up existing episodes. Though there is also a darker suggestion that stuck out from the rest.
Some users have suggested that the name "タレント" might not be the true name of the episode, as they have pointed out about how distorted the episode looked, and that when viewing the name in a different way (with the context of the distortion), it looked like a butchered up spelling of "死ネ", which means "death/die".
----Video recreation of the episode (starts at 0:24):
File:【ドラえもん都市伝説】幻の回”タレント”再現してみた|By hapi_studio on YouTube
----Extra Chapter: "I've Got To Go" (行かなきゃ)
In 1996, there were some Japanese viewers who reported seeing an "unannounced" episode of Doraemon, specifically on a late Monday night of September 23rd. There were many witness accounts of the event however, there were no public records or schedules that indicated the existence of this episode. While details of the episode can vary based on eyewitness accounts, the most general consensus of the details goes as follows:
On a midnight of September 23rd 1996, an episode of Doraemon would be broadcasted. Without the show's intro and the title card, it cuts straight to Nobita walking down some form of a street lot, be it either the usual neighborhood or a town. The scene itself looks to be around an evening or a night setting, and the camera was shown from behind Nobita. Nobita walks the pathway in a slumped position for 10 minutes straight until, at the very end, Nobita faces the viewer and says "I've got to go..." (original Japanese line: "行かなきゃ"), before the episode abruptly ends. While there are conflicting details on how Nobita said the line, the most agreed upon was the fact that Nobita's voice isn't of the actual voice actress play him, but rather the creator and author of the original Doraemon manga series, Fujiko F. Fujio.
The unsettling detail about this particular broadcast was that the author, Fujiko F. Fujio (Hiroshi Fujimoto), passed away on that day at age of 62. It has been speculated that either the episode was premade for the broadcasting station to air (as a memorial program, also the most accepted theory), or it was some form of "supernatural force" that hijacked the station, with Nobita saying the line when Fujiko F. Fujio have just passed away.
(Based on: https://dic.pixiv.net/a/%E8%A1%8C%E3%81%8B%E3%81%AA%E3%81%8D%E3%82%83)
----Written by HoodyP / HoodyPisDed
Based on links provided above in the article. 
Special thanks to akidearest and her video "5 Anime Urban Legends and Myths" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itqNiGL4TFs) to highlight briefly of the urban legends and spark interest in me to research about them!
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Category:Lost Episodes
Category:Weird
Category:Japan
Category:Historical Archive
Category:Doraemon
Category:Anime