is a Japanese anime television series based on 's manga of the same name and is the successor to both the 1979 anime and 1973 anime of the same name, serving as the third adaptation in the franchise. The series, produced by Shin-Ei Animation, TV Asahi and ADK Emotions, premiered on TV Asahi and its affiliates in Japan on April 15, 2005, and currently airs in over fifty countries internationally. Since its premiere in 2005, Doraemon has aired 892 episodes, multiple holiday specials and 20 feature films, with a 21st film slated to release in theaters March 2027. This Doraemon anime series is referred to in Asia as the Mizuta Edition (水田版), after Wasabi Mizuta, the voice actress who voices Doraemon in this series.
Over the course of its run, the show has had three English dubs, with a fourth in development. The first one was licensed by Viz Media for North American broadcast exclusively, and developed by Bang Zoom! Entertainment and aired on Disney XD in the United States as Doraemon: Gadget Cat From the Future from July 7, 2014, to September 1, 2015, with reruns lasting up until 2018. The second dub was licensed by LUK Internacional and produced by Red Angel Media in Hong Kong, and began running on Boomerang in the United Kingdom on August 7, 2015, but ended its run not long after in January 2016. The third dub was licensed by Spacetoon India and produced by EarCandy in South Africa, and aired on Disney Channel in India on February 4, 2020, and on Disney Channel HD from August 14, 2023, to May 10, 2025, although episodes of the dub are still occasionally broadcast. The fourth dub is licensed by Cake Entertainment, and was announced in June 2026, with a release date not yet given.
As of 2026, TV Asahi holds the distribution and licensing rights to the series, as well as the previous television adaptation and all the feature-length movies.
Premise Doraemon is a cat-like robot from the 22nd century future who's sent to the present time (21st century) in Tokyo to steer a 10-year-old elementary boy named Nobita Nobi, an unintelligent, naive and clumsy boy, on the right path in order to secure his future, set him on the right path, and improve his life. Nobita's closest friend and love interest is the kind, sweet, and caring Shizuka Minamoto, while his frenemies who bully and tease him are rich kid Suneo Honekawa and neighborhood bully Takeshi Gōda, also known as "Gian".
Cast and characters
CharacterVoice actorRef(s)JapaneseEnglishUS (Bang Zoom!/TV Asahi)UK/Hong Kong (Red Angel Media)India/South Africa (EarCandy)DoraemonWasabi MizutaMona MarshallSarah HauserDamon BerryNBC NewsNobisuke Nobi (Toby Nobi)Yasunori MatsumotoTony OliverRussell WaitHidetoshi Dekisugi (Ace Goody)Shihoko HaginoSpike Spencer rowspan="6" Yoshio Minamoto (Mr. Minamoto)Aruno Tahara Tōru ŌkawaSteve Blum Travis WillinghamMr. Kaminari (Mr. Rumbleton)Katsuhisa HōkiTodd HaberkornSunekichi HonekawaTakumi YamazakiDerek Stephen PrinceTeacher (Mr. S)Wataru TakagiKeith SilversteinNobirō Nobi (Chester Nobi)Kōichi HashimotoNobita Nobi (Noby Nobi)Megumi ŌharaJohnny Yong BoschMuriel HofmannChristine van HeesMrs. GōdaMiyako TakeuchiJessica Gee-GeorgeTulla EckhartTakeshi "Gian" Gōda ("Big G" Gōda)Subaru KimuraKaiji TangDave BridgesChristine van HeesMrs. HonekawaMinami TakayamaDorothy Elias-FahnJaiko Gōda (Little G)Vanilla YamazakiMinae NojiMuriel HofmannTsubasa Ito (Sera Ivy)Masayo KurataMela LeeShizuka Minamoto (Sue Minamoto)Yumi KakazuCassandra Lee MorrisCatherine FuTamako Nobi (Tammy Nobi)Kotono MitsuishiMari DevonTulla EckhartSuneo Honekawa (Sneech)Tomokazu SekiBrian BeacockBen Margalith DoramiChiakiWendee Lee rowspan="17" Christine van HeesMichiko MinamotoAi OrikasaTulla EckhartSewashi Nobi (Soby Nobi)Sachi MatsumotoMax Mittelman Mr. HonekawaHideyuki TanakaJoe J. ThomasDamon BerryMini-Dora (Mini Doraemon)Tomato Akai (2005–2009)Hisako Kanemoto (2017–present)Cristina Valenzuelarowspan="2" Mii-chan (Mimi)Mari MarutaStephanie ShehMr. GōdaShinpachi TsujiKirk ThorntonDamon Berry
Production and broadcasting Beginning in 2004, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the then-ongoing 1979 anime and the release of Doraemon: Nobita in the Wan-Nyan Spacetime Odyssey, a significant revival of the Doraemon series began development, which would become the third series produced in the franchise. A trailer for the new Doraemon series was previewed for the first time on March 25, 2005, at the end of the first television broadcast of Doraemon: Nobita in the Wan-Nyan Spacetime Odyssey. A week after the 1979 anime finale broadcast on March 18, the television broadcast of the film contained goodbye messages from the 1979 anime voice actors Nobuyo Ōyama, Noriko Ohara, Kazuya Tatekabe, Michiko Nomura and Kaneta Kimotsuki, respectively. The anime officially premiered as a one-hour special on April 15 of that same year, less than a month after the 1979 anime had ended.
With the shift, the majority of the personnel from the 1979 anime stepped down, and were replaced by a new team for the new series, as well as the original voice actors. Sōichirō Zen, who had previously worked on the 1979 anime, served as the director of the 2005 anime for more than 12 years, from 2005 to 2017. Ayumu Watanabe had previously worked on the 1979 anime, beginning in the late 1980s, and after the transition, he was tasked with developing character designs for the series, where he worked for eight years.
The new series features updated versions of the characters, different settings, and a new soundtrack. Although the anime is more faithful to the original manga and volumes, some changes were made. Many of the episodes that adapted chapters from the manga were extended to either 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 smoking in the new series. 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. The episodes are recorded at APU Meguro Studio.
First revealed in June 2017, starting on July 28, 2017, with the episodes "I'm Mini Doraemon" and "The Elephant and the Uncle", the show got overhauled visually to use more vivid colors, which included the poster artwork. The characters were altered to closely resemble their original designs. Shinnosuke Yakuwa, who directed several of the Doraemon films, joined the production team as head director for the anime in 2018, and was succeeded by Hirofumi Ogura in 2020. By 2023, the series' production staff had been divided into two groups.
Originally, the show aired on Fridays at 7:00 pm from its premiere to September 29, 2017, the same network timeslot that the 1979 anime aired on from 1981 up until its conclusion in 2004. As of October 5, 2019, the anime now airs Saturday afternoons at 5:00 pm on TV Asahi and other ANN stations.
The series has paid respect to past cast members, such as Nobuyo Ōyama, the voice for Doraemon for the 1979 series who died on September 29, 2024. The episode "Emperor's New Clothes!? Ultra Yoroi" was scheduled to be rebroadcast, but it was replaced with a montage of clips from the 1979 anime honoring Ōyama's contributions to the series and a rerun of the episode "Wolfman Cream".
Casting On November 22, 2004, The Asahi Shimbun revealed in an exclusive article that the series' five voice actors were considered by the production team to be replaced by a group of newer, younger voice actors, with their roles slated to begin in April of the following year, Alt URL which was met with confusion and great public interest as the news of such a big change was very abrupt; many employees from TV Asahi learned about the news from the article, while the staff that worked on the anime were previously briefed.
One of the reasons for the new casting was because Nobuyo Ōyama, the original voice actress for Doraemon in the 1979 anime, wanted to step down since 2001 due to health issues she faced in July of that year. Furthermore, Michiko Nomura, who voiced Shizuka in the 1979 anime, decided to step down from the longest-running series Sazae-san to focus on her management position duties at her husband's Ken Production studio and left alongside the original cast. It was also due to the fact that most of the original cast members by that time were in their mid 60s. The voice actors to the five main characters, Doraemon, Nobita, Shizuka, Gian, and Suneo, were chosen from a pool of 590 applicants. Auditions for the series were held to select a voice that would best fit the original anime's atmosphere, starting in December 2004. TV Asahi stated in March 2005 that they chose voice actors who sounded similar to the predecessors, so that there wouldn't be a significant change from the original voice actors to the new voice actors. The new voice actors for the new series were officially announced on March 13, 2005, and were also revealed on March 28 of that year during a news conference in Roppongi Hills.
Subaru Kimura, the voice of Gian in the anime, was the youngest member of the new cast that was confirmed, as he was 14 years old at the time. Subaru was formerly a member of a children's theater group, but he had no experience as a voice actor, and one of the reasons he auditioned for the job was just to gain popularity in class. Subaru was initially terrified at the auditions, but he finally landed the role of Gian. Wasabi Mizuta was chosen to play the title character and was approached by Kazuya Tatekabe, who had previously voiced Gian in the 1979 anime, to audition for the series. Mizuta was initially concerned about being fired, due to the negative criticisms about the sudden change in voice actors, but after Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur 2006 released, she continued with the role. Yumi Kakazu acquired the part of Shizuka, after previously having auditioned for the roles of Doraemon, Suneo, Nobita and Gian.
English dubs
There are three notable English dubs that were produced: Bang Zoom's American English dub, Red Angel Media's British/Hong Kong English dub (which aired on Boomerang), and EarCandy's South African English dub (which aired on Disney Channel). An upcoming fourth dub by Cake Entertainment is currently in the works.
In the United States, Doraemon: Gadget Cat from the Future was first announced in May 2014. Produced by , TV Asahi and Bang Zoom! Entertainment, Gadget Cat from the Future aired on Disney XD from July 7, 2014, to September 1, 2015, for a total of two seasons and 52 episodes. The dub features veteran anime voice actress Mona Marshall in the title role of Doraemon and Johnny Yong Bosch as Nobita, who is known in the English dub as "Noby". In Canada, Gadget Cat from the Future briefly aired on Disney XD's Canadian feed, before being re-branded as Family CHRGD. In Australia, the series started airing on 26 January 2015 on Network Ten, before moving to Boomerang. 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.