‘Stand by Me Doraemon’ Review: Guiltlessly delightful

MANILA, Philippines – At first glance, it would seem that the core of the success of Fujiko F. Fujio’s Doraemon is the titular robotic cat. Doraemon, with his gargantuan sphere of a head that gives ample room for two large eyes, an adorable red nose, and a mouth that twists and turns expressively, is quite a bundle of fun. His purpose in life is to deliver to his hopelessly helpless ward various inventions from the future to help him.

However, the heart of the popular anime clearly belongs to Noby. See, Noby is not your typical boy. He is absent-minded, lazy, gutless, and possesses various other qualities that would ensure him an adult life full of dread and misery. This is the reason why Doraemon, at the bidding of his masters who turns out to be Noby’s descendants several generations into the future, went back to the past to correct his mistakes, which all boils down to him finding happiness.

The loser is a hero

Noby is everything that no child would want to be like. He flunks every exam. He gets bullied on a daily basis. He fails in all kinds of sports. He is too cowardly to tell the girl he likes about his feelings.

In other words, the character, unlike Astro Boy or other superheroes who have personalities one can only aspire to have, is that perfectly dull kid whom a fantastic element in the form of Doraemon, created to be that convenient cross between a genie in a bottle and a trusty pet Labrador, will transform.

Interestingly, despite the repetitive deus ex machina Doraemon provides, Noby never really turns into the aspirational cool kid and instead fails harder. This is the heart of the comedy. This is also its most poignant truth. Doraemon does not celebrate grandiose successes fueled by acts of luck and fortune. It instead champions all the virtues that are highlighted by childhood’s fragility.

Updating a classic

Ryuichi Yagi and Takashi Yamazaki’s Stand by Me Doraemon, which updates the decades-old anime by abandoning traditional hand-drawn animation for the crisper and more detailed computer-generated one, is careful to retain the look and the spirit that the series’ fans have gotten used to. Instead of rendering everything as close to reality as possible like a lot of CG animators would prefer to do, Yagi and Yamazaki favored the original caricature-like renditions of suburban Japan by Fujio, rendering everything familiar even with the obvious overhaul.

Yet Stand by Me Doraemon is not without the standard-issue spectacles of 3D animation. As soon as Doraemon procures for Noby a wearable propeller, Noby starts to deliriously fly and fall, with all the razzle-dazzle Yagi and Yamazaki can conjure out of the comedic circumstances. A more elaborate ride is featured in the middle of the film where Noby and Doraemon excitingly breeze through the labyrinthine skyscapes of futuristic Tokyo. 

Yagi and Yamazaki attempt to marry old and new, resulting in a film that resonates everything that was loved from Fujio’s classic, even if it dabbles with a little bit of spectacle that seems strange to find in a product from very humble beginnings. There is something for everyone. There is old-fashioned comedy and a lot of adorable eye candy for the young ones. On the other hand, there is precious nostalgia for the young ones’ accompanying adults.

Doraemon to the core

Despite the facelift, Stand by Me Doraemon resonates the same simplistic charm that the series carried with it through the years and for several generations of viewers.  In fact, the film is structured like a medley of episodes, with Noby trying out Doraemon’s gadgets to help him win the heart of Sue. Predictably, Noby’s attempts fail hilariously, leading to him learning life lessons. 

Intriguingly, Stand by Me Doraemon, even with its very blatant loopholes, is guiltlessly delightful even with the very melodramatic manner it preaches about pure love and friendship. It is refreshing in the way it despises cynicism, allowing you to get teary-eyed with its not-so-original portraits of childhood dedication in the midst of a universally relatable propensity for failure. – Rappler.com 

Francis Joseph Cruz litigates for a living and writes about cinema for fun. The first Filipino movie he saw in the theaters was Carlo J. Caparas’ ‘Tirad Pass.’ Since then, he’s been on a mission to find better memories with Philippine cinema. Profile photo by Fatcat Studios