Doraemon - Significance of Icons
Uploaded by MinakoB on Oct 11, 2002
There is no doubt that Doraemon is absolutely best-known and a hero as an animation character not only in Japan, but also in other countries. Doraemon was created as a robot, sent to assist a fourth-grade knucklehead named Nobi Nobita from 22nd century, and has captured the hearts and inspired the dreams of children around the world 30 years ago by the author, through comic books, televisions and movies. The author of Doraemon, Fujiko Fujio, passed away in September 1996 and became an award-winning writer later on. Doraemon is still remained as the best superstar in this world and our minds. The secrets of his fame for the Japanese are: history, global activities which Doraemon?fs production company deals with, fascination of the tool from his four-dimensional pocket on his stomach and educational aspects of the stories.
Sales of the Doraemon comic series have been extremely increasing from the beginning, but still. As of December 1999 forty-five volumes of the Doraemon comic series had been published, as well as 19 full-length books, which were the basis for the Doraemon movies. Today, from 1.5 million to 2 million copies are sold each year, and total sales of some 100 million makes the series one of Japan?fs all-time best sellers. There have been 1,700 episodes of the ?gDoraemon?h animated television series, which began in 1979, and 21 ?gDoraemon?h movies have drawn a total audience of close to 63 million. A new film was scheduled to be released in March 2000. Several years ago, a final episode to the Doraemon series was posted on the Internet and caused a huge commotion all over Japan.
The producer of Doraemon always keeps eyes open to the issues of the world, not only Japan. Doraemon has been popular all over the world. The comic series has been published officially in nine languages in 10 coutries and regions, including South Korea, China, Thailand, and Spain. In 1993, a pirated edition published in Vietnam proved popular. Moreover, when the official version was published in October 1998 it sold over 10 million copies and became a bestseller, the animation series made its overseas debut in Hong Kong in 1981, and has since been broadcast in numerous countries, including Italy, Brazil, and Singapore. In 1992, it was shown in Russia as a part of a joint Japan-Russia friendship and exchange program. Doraemon has transcended books and television to become one of Japan?fs...