Doraemon
To call Doraemon a Japanese cultural icon is a bit of an understatement. This cartoon cat has had a lengthy career. His long-lasting legacy as a staple in the Japanese entertainment world began in 1969, when a pair of manga artists, known collectively as Fujiko F. Fujio, began publishing their stories of the loveable Doraemon in six separate magazines. Since then, Doraemon has spawned off countless video games, several anime series (the second of which lasted 1,787 episodes), a musical, theatrical movies every year beginning in 1980, among other Doraemon productions. Doraemon was even appointed as Japan’s first “anime ambassador” by the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
Doraemon is a mechanical cat. He used to have ears, like any other cat, until a mouse ate them (which is why Doraemon is afraid of mice).
Doraemon is from the future and was sent back in time to help a kid named Nobita make better life choices, so that his family can have a better future. Nobita will usually come to Doraemon with his problems. Although Doraemon offers Nobita sound advice, it is usually not enough for Nobita, who likes to take the easy way out of problems. This causes Doraemon to pull out a gadget from his fourth dimensional pouch. Often times the cure is worse than the problem, since Nobita will end up misusing the gadget provided by Doraemon. The comedic adventures of Doraemon and Nobita often end in a life lesson, such as perseverance, courage, or even environmental issues, for the protagonist and the kids reading/watching Doraemon.
In 2011, Bandai honored the long-running series by releasing toys of the main characters. Nobita was released as a part of the S.H Figuarts line. Bandai released Doraemon as part of Robot Spirits line, since Doraemon is a robotic cat.
Doraemon comes in a lively box, which is adorned with panels from the famous comic book strip.
As mentioned earlier, in the show, Doraemon has a pouch on his tummy from which he can pull out a vast amount of gadgets. There have been approximately 4,500 gadgets featured in the many incarnations of the Doraemon series. Bandai has equipped Doraemon with some of his most memorable gadgets.
One such gadget is the Shrinking Torch (light).
Doraemon flexes as he readies himself to pull out the next gadget from his pouch.
The Dokodemo (Anywhere) Door, which, as the name implies, can take Doraemon and Nobita anywhere.
Whew… taking the Dokodemo Door out of the pouch made Doraemon hungry. Time for some dorayaki (a Japanese confection filled with red bean paste).
What a happy moment for Doraemon… hope nothing spoils it… like a mouse.
Doraemon is back with another one of his gadgets, the Kukihou (air cannon). Time to blow that mouse away!!
No revenge for Doraemon… first his ears and now his dorayaki… so sad.
Maybe a little flying with his Take-copter (bamboo-copter) will cheer him up.
Note: Doraemon does not actually fly. As much as my inner child wanted to wish him the ability of flight, I ended up using a piece of string, a little tape and a some photoshop.
Now that Doraemon is back and in a better mood , we can get into the technical aspects of this figure.
The design and articulation of this figure are simple, as they should be with such a simple character. His feet can move forward and back. They can also extend out thanks to a hinge joint hidden above the feet.
The arms are on a switch, so they can be positioned toward the front or back or Doraemon’s body.
The shoulder can rotate 360 degrees and the arm can bend at the elbow.
The head can rotate a full 360 degrees, as well as tilt back.
The figure will not stand up with the head tilted back, however, unless there is something to help counter the weight imbalance, like the Dokodemo door.
Other than the gadgets, his cat ears, the dorayaki and the mouse, Doraemon comes with three interchangeable face plates and five sets of swappable eyes, to mix and match for whatever emotion you want Doraemon to experience.
The face attaches to the head of Doraemon and then the eyes pop into the holes in the faceplate.
The top of the head, and the hands of Doraemon have little magnets hidden under the plastic, so you can attach their respective accessories to them. This is the only thing that I thought Bandai could have improved. The magnets are a bit on the weak side, and this can sometimes cause the items to fall from Doraemon’s hands. This is not an issue for the head magnets, since gravity compensates for the strength of the magnets.
I really loved this toy. Although I have only just recently watched a little bit of Doraemon, I can really appreciate Doraemon as the iconic character that won over the hearts of many children in Japan and Asia. I had a blast reviewing this toy. Doraemon tapped deep down into my inner child , even past the ages when I would watch Saint Seiya and Mazinger Z, into time of in my childhood when I watched simpler cartoons.
