Doraemon: Shining a Light on a Neglected Neko
Despite having no mouth Hello Kitty has taken a huge bite out of America, yet most mundanes have no clue who Doraemon is! Example: When I came across this cute Doraemon flash light it was sadly listed as a “Space Kitty Rechargeable Flash Light”. Now looking at this site it’s clear to me that I’ve committed the crime of just shining the light on all things Sanrio — so here’s a quick intro to Doraemon, the other Japanese kitty you should know:
Well I guess for starters it’s somewhat unfair to put Doraemon in the category as Hello Kitty as Doraemon actually isn’t a real cat but rather a robotic cat sent from the future (and no this has nothing to do with Schrödinger’s cat). Any way our blue robotic feline friend first appeared in a manga in 1969 and has conquered generations of Japanese school children over the years. In fact the manga series ran until 1996, but sadly Doraemon has never done well in the United States. For example Viz started to published the manga here and cancelled the run. However in Japan there have been over 1,700 episodes made for the anime series based on the manga — and there have been at least three studios working on the series in one form or another since 1973 (although the main series didn’t get started until 1979).
To give you a taste of just how popular Doraemon is in Japan, here’s a local McDonald’s spot which features a happy meal based on the blue robotic cat (by the way notice how cool the toys are):
And here’s a recent toy based on Doraemon, which is proof that he’s at work inspiring the next generation of anime fans: