Doraemon (2005 TV series)

Doraemon (ドラえもん) is the most recent anime television series based on Fujiko F. Fujio's manga of the same name. Produced by Shin-Ei Animation, TV Asahi and ADK Emotions, it began airing on all ANN stations on April 15, 2005. It also airs in over 50 countries worldwide.

This Doraemon anime series is sometimes referred to in Asia as the Mizuta Edition (水田版), after Wasabi Mizuta, the voice actress who voices Doraemon in this series.

The anime was licensed by Viz Media for North American broadcast rights only. An English dub produced by Bang Zoom! Entertainment aired on Disney XD in the USA as Doraemon: Gadget Cat From the Future from July 7, 2014 until May 12, 2017. A second season of the English dub premiered on Disney XD on June 15, 2015 and ended on September 1 of the same year.

As of 2024, TV Asahi holds the distribution and licensing rights to Doraemon, as well as its previous adaptations.

Production
Although the series is more faithful to the original manga, some changes were made. Many of the episodes that adapted chapters from the manga were extended to have a better conclusion or a good moral to the story. In addition, some elements from the manga were toned down. Some examples include all of Doraemon's gadgets that resembled medicine being changed to different appliances, and Nobita's dad (who smoked often in the manga) rarely smoked.

The voice actors to the five main characters, Doraemon, Nobita, Shizuka, Gian, and Suneo, were chosen from a pool of 590 applicants. TV Asahi stated in 2005 that they chose voice actors who sounded similar to the voice actors of the predecessor, so that there would not be a significant change from the original cast to the new cast.

All mini corners, partners, and next episodes previews in all episodes are cut to fit for the 30-minute block in international versions, except for Hong Kong, which are cut to fit for the 15-minute block in its time-slot. Since May 1, 2009, the series airs in high definition. In July 2017, the show got overhauled visually to use more vivid colors, which includes the use of poster artwork. As of 2019, the show now airs on Saturday nights alongside a new theme song.

US English dub
A US English dub of the 2005 series produced by Fujiko F. Fujio Pro, TV Asahi, Bang Zoom! Entertainment, and distributed by Viz Media began airing on Disney XD on July 7, 2014 under the name Doraemon: Gadget Cat from the Future. In Australia, it started airing on 26 January 2015 on Network Ten. Later it moved in Australia to Cartoon Network and Boomerang. In Canada, it briefly aired on Disney XD's Canadian feed before being re-branded as Family CHRGD. The dub features veteran anime voice actress Mona Marshall in the title role of Doraemon and Johnny Yong Bosch as Nobita (known in the dub as "Noby").

The English dub has been heavily modified to meet American broadcasting guidelines, censoring content deemed inappropriate for American children, as well as replacing many Japanese cultural elements with American cultural elements. Some modifications include Americanized character and gadget name changes from the English version of the manga, an episode order completely different from the Japanese episode order, nudity being heavily censored by adding steam, cloud effects, or clothing, and some episodes having several minutes of footage cut. However, certain uniquely Japanese characteristics - such as house structure, kneeling on the floor to eat, the side where cars drive, and Nobisuke Nobi (Toby Nobi)'s kimono - remain. Japanese food featured throughout the series were also localized: while Doraemon's favorite food, dorayaki, was kept in but referred as "yummy buns", others were edited out and replaced with Western equivalents, such as omurice becoming pancakes. All the background music and sound effects were replaced with new background music and sound effects deemed "easier for American children to emphasize with".

At least one character's personality was also partially rewritten. Shizuka (renamed Sue in the English dub) is portrayed as more tomboyish and athletic than the Japanese version, although her sweet nature and kind personality were not changed. This is reportedly because her traditionally Japanese habits were perceived as being difficult for American children to understand in test viewings of the Japanese version.

It was announced that reruns of the American version would be re-imported to Japan and aired on Disney Channel Japan starting on February 1, 2016. The network also provides a Japanese dub of the version as a secondary audio feed.

UK/HK English dub
Doraemon began broadcasting in the United Kingdom on August 17, 2015 on Boomerang, but finished its run sometime in January 2016 and has never been broadcast since.

Despite this dub being made for and to be broadcast in the UK only, it was produced in Hong Kong. The dub is also more faithful to the original Japanese dub than the US English dub, with lack of censorships. The names of the characters are borrowed from the US English dub. It is thought that only 26 episodes are dubbed, with some of these episodes being lost.

Plot and characters
Doraemon is a cat-like robot from the future who appears in the present to steer Nobita Nobi, an unintelligent, naive and clumsy boy, on the right path in order to secure his future. Nobita's best friend and love interest is Shizuka Minamoto. His frenemies are Takeshi Goda and Suneo Honekawa.

Cast and crew
These include three dubs. So far, there are two notable English dubs: Bang Zoom's American English dub and Red Angel Media's British/Hong Kong English dub, which aired on Boomerang. However, the British/Hong Kong English dub didn't receive any proper distribution.

Original cast

 * Wasabi Mizuta - Doraemon
 * Megumi Ōhara - Nobita Nobi
 * Yumi Kakazu - Shizuka Minamoto
 * Subaru Kimura - Takeshi "Gian" Goda
 * Tomokazu Seki - Suneo Honekawa
 * Chiaki Fujimoto - Dorami
 * Mari Maruta - Mii-chan
 * Kotono Mitsuishi - Tamako Nobi
 * Yasunori Matsumoto - Nobisuke Nobi
 * Shihoko Hagino - Hidetoshi Dekisugi
 * Wataru Takagi - Sensei
 * Sachi Matsumoto - Sewashi Nobi
 * Ai Orikasa - Mrs. Minamoto
 * Mahito Oba - Mr. Minamoto
 * Aruno Tahara - Mr. Minamoto
 * Minami Takayama - Mrs. Honekawa
 * Hideyuki Tanaka - Mr. Honekawa
 * Miyako Takeuchi - Mrs. Goda
 * Vanilla Yamazaki - Jaiko Goda
 * Tomato Akai - Mini-Doras
 * Rie Kugimiya - Lulli (ep 228)
 * Yukari Tamura - Lapis Espinela
 * Koki Miyata - Goro

US English cast (2014-2015)

 * Mona Marshall - Doraemon
 * Johnny Yong Bosch - Noby Nobi (Nobita)
 * Cassandra Lee Morris - Sue Minamoto (Shizuka)
 * Kaiji Tang - Takeshi "Big G" Goda (Gian)
 * Brian Beacock - Sneech (Suneo)
 * Cristina Valenzuela - Mini-Doraemon
 * Mari Devon - Tammy Nobi (Tamako)
 * Tony Oliver - Toby Nobi
 * John DeMita - Mr. Simmons
 * Dorothy Elias-Fahn - Sneech's Mom
 * Jessica Gee-George - Mrs. Goda
 * Anthony Hansen - Pork Chop (Muku)
 * Max Mittelman - Soby Nobi (Sewashi)
 * Minae Noji - Jaiko "Little G" Goda
 * Keith Silverstein - Mr. S
 * Spike Spencer - Ace Goody (Dekisugi)
 * Wendee Lee - Sue's Mom, Lady of the Lake, Dorami
 * Joe J. Thomas - Mr. Saucer, Sneech's Dad
 * Kirk Thornton - Mr. Goda
 * Dave Wallace - George
 * Derek Stephen Prince - Stan, Additional voices

Crew

 * Wendee Lee - Additional Voice Director
 * Kristi Reed - Voice Director

UK/Hong Kong English cast (2015-2016)

 * Sarah Hauser - Doraemon
 * Muriel Hofmann - Noby (Nobita), Little G (Jaiko Goda)
 * Catherine Fu - Sue (Shizuka), Tammy Nobi (Tamako)
 * Dave Bridges - Takeshi "Big G" (Gian AKA Takeshi Goda)
 * Ben Margalith - Sneech (Suneo)
 * Russell Wait - Toby Nobi

Crew

 * Carina Reeves - Additional Voice Director
 * Russell Wait - Voice Director

Opening themes
The series features new opening themes, except for the first one. Most of the international versions of the series only use the third opening theme and their own endings.

The American dub uses its own unique opening sequence that compiles footage from the Japanese version. To explain the premise of the story, a narration by Doraemon about "why he came from the future" is utilized rather than an actual opening theme. The ending theme is an instrumental played over scenes from the third Japanese opening theme.

Ending themes
Since the series incorporates all the credits into the opening theme, an ending theme is primarily absent. However, some episodes use an ending theme.