Forum - View topicNEWS: Classic Kids' Manga Doraemon Coming to N. America Digitally
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Gyt Kaliba
 Posts: 712 Location: Arkansas |
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Whoa. Never would have seen this coming.
I hope a print version ends up coming out as well, I've always wanted to give Doraemon a go, given how big a deal it is in classic anime/manga apparently. I'm extremely interested in seeing how good it actually is. |
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chichiriNoDa
 Posts: 531 |
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Wow this is a great news! I just wish it gets printed version as well! I would love to have the physical form. I love Doraemon! It's one of my childhood cartoons while growing up. I always came rushing home from school just to catch the afternoon episodes!
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Tenchi
 Posts: 4469 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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Hmm, I saw that Deb Aoki post on Monday. Surprised it took nearly a week to get here.
Umm, that's a bit of hyperbole. I can describe Doraemon better as being kind of like a cross between Small Wonder, if V.I.C.I. ("Vicky") were a blue cat robot, and Muppet Babies, if Bunsen Honeydew gave them a time machine and all the gadgets they needed so as to experience everything literally rather than using their imaginations. Granted, I've only been exposed to tiny fansubbed dribs and drabs of Doraemon over the years, and I don't begrudge Doraemon's enduring popularity in Japan and some other parts of the world, but comparing it to the ingenious, inventive, and intelligent Calvin and Hobbes and the undeniable greatness of Peanuts (I'm gonna presume this is talking about peak-level Peanuts, like maybe the 1960s, once Schulz evolved out of the weird early character designs like squashed-head Charlie Brown) is kinda overselling it and could lead to disappointment, like if someone heard that Sazae-san is kinda like classic Simpsons mixed with Arrested Development and then they actually watch/read it and find it to be about as cutting edge as Hi and Lois. |
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The Mad Manga Massacre
Posts: 1166 |
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Very cool news!
 I will definitely be purchasing it once it comes out.
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Kikaioh
 Posts: 1205 Location: Antarctica |
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I can sort of see why Deb Aoki compared Doraemon to Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes --- it revolves around the humorous mis-adventures of a boy and his friend cat (Calvin and Hobbes) along with their neighborhood friends (Peanuts).
That said, I'd actually say that the Doraemon manga is spiritually a bit more like Dexter's Laboratory (gadget-driven, light-hearted, and often capped with silly, schadenfreude-ish endings due to the flaws of the main characters). The format is similar as well (a short, well-defined story), which is sort of what makes the newspaper comic strip comparison a bit weaker in my opinion. I was a huge fan of Calvin and Hobbes when I was younger, but the older I've gotten the more I've noticed a certain degree of cynicism and author intrusion into the work that's softened my joy for it a bit. I also used to be a huge fan of Peanuts when I was growing up, but I've also grown to find it somewhat depressing, largely due to Charlie Brown's perpetually grief-stricken character. From what I've read of Doraemon (about 6 or so volumes), I find it to be a very lovably funny work, that manages to be endearing and imaginative without being preachy. In that respect I think its popularity in Asia is well-deserved, and I'm very excited to have a chance to read much more of the series with this new digital offering. |
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zeo1fan
Posts: 1016 |
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"It depresses me therefore it's bad." |
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Kikaioh
Posts: 1205 Location: Antarctica |
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I never said that Peanuts is bad. I still read it every day, with the newspaper at breakfast, and still enjoy it. As I grow older, though, I've found that I really enjoy light-hearted and positive entertainment, and so Charlie Brown's somewhat down-on-his-luck character makes the comic less appealing for me (though I must emphasize, I do think it's a great comic, it's just that for me specifically it sometimes feels like a downer, which I don't always find enjoyable). |
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CastMember1991
 Posts: 858 |
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I hope they team up with Viz Media to publish this manga in print form. I also hope Saban Brands acquires the rights to the 2005 anime soon.
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Aura Ichadora
 Posts: 2284 Location: In front of my computer |
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While I'm not too interested in Doraemon, I have to admit it's cool that a series as long and old as this is even coming out in North America, digitally or in print. I hope it turns out to be a successful venture, so maybe some other older and/or lengthy manga could be released here. Like Glass Mask; although I'd love to own the series in print, if I could get that somehow in English, it'd be just as fantastic.
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Genet
Posts: 261 Location: USA |
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This is really great. I do hope they release it in a print edition- maybe something similar to Shogakukan's new re-release of it (The Complete Works of Fujiko F Fujio) because it is -gorgeous-. I read the first 25 or so original volumes before I decided to re-collect the new reprint versions.
Doraemon is a fun manga- I agree, Kikaioh, it's a bit more like Dexter's Lab in the way that you described. I like it, personally, it's my kind of manga. I like all the gadgets and the characters are fun- it has lessons without coming off as really over-the-top and preachy. |
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CastMember1991
Posts: 858 |
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Call me crazy, but I think if the Doraemon anime were to come to the US if the manga proved to be successful here, Toonami would probably be a good fit. Imagine the catchphrases that would be used by the announcer or TOM.
"The gadget cat from the future has finally arrived. Only Toonami on Adult Swim." or this... "Get ready for some frisky business. Only Toonami on Adult Swim" Could you see this happening? I see it because I remember Hamtaro (another non-action oriented anime) airing on Toonami's original incarnation on Cartoon Network once. |
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Polycell
 Posts: 4623 |
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Executive meddling got Hamtaro on Toonami.
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Tenchi
Posts: 4469 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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Oh, sure, Toonami would be a great fit for Doraemon, but Toonami will never run Doraemon because it would be ratings suicide, sorry. (Hamtaro at least looked like a "modern" (as in Pokemon-era) anime, Doraemon's visual style is stuck in the 1970s.) |
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vashna
Posts: 1313 |
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I actually figure that Doraemon would work there, simply because it would attract hardcore fans who are probably already watching some of the series on that programming block. Yes, I realize that Doraemon has a dated animation style. However, I don't necessarily believe that would relegate it off the air considering that in-the-know fans would recognize what the series is. If anything, I'd have to say that the animation style to me at least is somewhat endearing. I've only ever seen still images, but I think I could pick up the show and watch it.
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Tenchi
Posts: 4469 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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^ Eh, the fact that so little of Doraemon has been fansubbed, other than some of the movies (i.e. the Star Wars parody) and the occasional big event special (like the Pirates of the Caribbean episode) is a decent indicator that even hardcore anime fans in the United States aren't all that interested in Doraemon and, as such, the chances of it attracting a more casual anime fan audience on Toonami are miniscule. They tried Shin-chan with a similarly primitive animation style without much success, and Shin-chan's a relatively easy sell because of the adult comedy, while Doraemon is unambiguously a kid's show.
I don't know how the digital release of the Doraemon manga will do, but, if it is a success, it'll only be because the "success" bar for a digital-only manga release is much, much lower than the "success" bar for showing anime on television. |
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