Doraemon

***Doraemon*** (Japanese: ドラえもん [doɾaemoɴ]) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiroshi Fujimoto under the pen name of Fujiko F. Fujio. The manga was first serialized in December 1969, with its 1,345 individual chapters compiled into 45 *tankōbon* volumes and published by Shogakukan from 1970 to 1996. The story revolves around an earless robotic cat named Doraemon, who travels back in time from the 22nd century to aid a boy named Nobita Nobi.

The manga began was publicized into many of Shogakukan's children's magazines. This was the public introduction of Doraemon along with many of the franchises' other main characters. The comic would go on to become successful enough to start a full franchise after an extremely successful anime series began to broadcast, which then led to the character of Doraemon himself to come to be considered as a cultural icon of Japan. As of 2020, the tankobon copies of the manga have gone on to sell more than 100 million copies, making it one of the best-selling manga of all time.

## Core Plot

Nobita's failures in school and subsequently, his career, have left his family line with endless financial problems. Thus, his great-great-grandson, Sewashi (a clumsy and very unlucky fourth grader), sends a blue robotic cat called Doraemon to Nobita's generation to help improve Nobita's circumstances. In doing so he hopes that Nobita and all of his descendants will be able to enjoy a better future.

The stories in the manga are formulaic, usually focused on the everyday struggles of Nobita himself as the protagonist of the story. In a typical chapter, Nobita comes home upset about a problem he faces in bed or in the local neighborhood. After Nobita's pleading or grinding to Doraemon, he then 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 Gian) even 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 the gadgets and a moral, although sometimes cautionary lessons are taught.

## Production

Since the debut of *Doraemon*, the stories have been selectively collected into 45 individual books called *Tankōbon* (単行本), which were published under Shogakukan's *Tentōmushi Comics* imprint, from 1974 to 1996. The complete collection compiles 823 stories of the 1,345 that exist in total. However, since the number of pages of each story at the time run in the magazine is different and it does not always fit neatly in the specified amount of one book, the remaining pages are used to make corrections and supplement the missing panels.

## Genre/Audiences

As with the 1979 anime episodes, the majority of Doraemon stories are comedies with moral lessons regarding honesty, perseverance and courage to name a few. The manga series is also aimed towards children generally, hence why the manga has been published simultaneously onto many children's magazines.

The majority of these ending suggestions were fictional, except the third ending. The third ending was actually meant to be the official ending to the series due to the Fujiko Fujio duo was busy with other works. But the duo changed their minds as they were still firmly thinking about Doraemon and from then they restarted from next month's issue.

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 anime 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.

## Awards

* *Shogakukan Manga Award* for Children's Manga, 1982
* The first *Osamu Tezuka Culture Award* in 1997

## Publications

* Yoiko: January 1970-April 1971, February-October 1973. 27 volumes.
* Yōchien: January 1970-March 1971, October 1972-March 1973, December 1973. 26 volumes.
* Shōgaku Ichinensei: January 1970-March 1974, March 1975, September-August 1986, April-May 1987, April 1990. 187 volumes.
* Shōgaku Ninensei: January 1970-March 1974, April-May 1987. 203 issues.
* Shōgaku Sannensei: January 1970-August 1986, January-May 1987, April 1989-April 1991, July-September 1994. 234 issues.
* Shōgaku Gonensei: April 1973-July 1986, April 1987-April 1989, February 1991, July-September 1994. 184 issues.
* Shōgaku Rokunensei: April 1973-July 1986, April 1987, April 1989-February 1991. 161 issues.
* Terebi-kun: December 1976-August 1977, May 1979-March 1983. 54 issues.
* Weekly Shōnen Sunday: September 5, 1975, extra issue; June 15, 1976, extra issue.
* Shogakusei Book: January-March, May-September 1974. 8 issues.

## Spin-offs

* The Doraemons: a spin-off about Doraemon and his friends from Robot School.
* Dorabase: a spin-off about robot cats, identical to the ones in both Doraemon and The Doraemons, who play on a baseball team.
* Daichōhen Doraemon, Doraemon Long Stories

## Movie manga

* Doraemon the Movie Story: Nobita and the Green Giant Legend
* Doraemon the Movie Story: Nobita's New Great Adventure Into the Underworld - The Seven Magic Users
* Doraemon the Movie Story: Nobita's Great Battle of the Mermaid King

## Sources

* Wikipedia
* Doraemon Wiki
* Overview of published Doraemon manga