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Doraemon Gets 1-Hour Special to Celebrate 40th Anniversary
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
TV Asahi's official website for the current Doraemon television anime announced on Friday that the anime will have a one-hour special with three new episodes on July 19 to celebrate the anime's 40th anniversary.
The first episode is titled "Irogara Doraemon" (Color-Patterned Doraemon). The episode's story begins when Doremon receives a special wax from Dorami that allows him to change his color and design pattern, including heart patterns, polka-dots, and even patterns from Gian's clothes. It will be the first time Doraemon will appear in different colors and patterns.
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The second episode is titled "Umi ni Hairazu Kaitei wo Sanpo suru Hōhō" (A Way to Walk on the Ocean Floor Without Going to the Ocean), which centers on Nobita and Doraemon exploring the ocean floor. The third episode is titled "22-seiki de Natsuyasumi" (Summer Vacation in the 22nd Century), which shows Doraemon returning to the future.
The anime previously aired a remake of the anime's first episode on April 5 to celebrate the 40th anniversary (the original episode aired on April 2, 1979).
The manga creator duo Fujiko Fujio debuted their famous robot cat manga in 1969. The manga inspired three television anime series that have collectively lasted over four decades, television specials, and yearly anime films. The third series, which debuted in April 2005 with a new main voice cast, is regularly among the highest rated animation programs in Japan every week. (The anime is celebrating its 40th anniversary by also counting the 26-year run of the second anime series. The second series premiered in April 1979 and ended in March 2005, one month before the third series premiered.)
Eiga Doraemon no Nobita no Getsumen Tansaki (Doraemon the Movie: Chronicle of the Moon Exploration), the franchise's 39th film, sold 645,000 tickets for 757 million yen (about US$6.77 million) to top the Japanese box office in its opening weekend. The film opened on 382 screens in Japan on March 1.
Sources: TV Asahi, The Mainchi Shimbun's Mantan Web
