Hello, Doraemon

The English-language ebook editions of Fujiko F. Fujio's classic manga "Doraemon" have started coming out. AltJapan translated it for Voyager Japan in association with Fujiko Productions - some 12,000-plus pages over the course of last year, easily the biggest manga localization with which we have ever been involved. It's finally being released in 3-episode chunks: volumes one through ten have come out via the Kindle Store as of this posting. (Apologies if you can't see them - they're only available for download in North America at present.)

This release is a really big deal. Doraemon is Japan's single most popular character, yet the comic has never been officially released in English. There have been a handful of bilingual editions created for students of English, but never a truly localized edition intended purely for enterainment's sake.

If you've never read Doraemon, you can't truly call yourself a connosieur of manga. I challenge anyone to find a middle-aged or younger Japanese person, otaku or not, who hasn't read at least a few pages (and probably a lot more than that.) It is the first sci-fi most Japanese read. It's part of the fabric of Japanese life in the same way that classic Disney films or Peanuts are in the West. The cast of characters are archetypes: Nobita the nerd, Sneech the rich kid, Big G the bully, Shizuka the neighborhood idol. They are given homage in countless other works, parodied in nationwide advertising campaigns for car companies. People casually drop references to them in daily conversations in the same way an American might refer to Homer Simpson's love of donuts or Lucy yanking the football away from Charlie Brown. 

So why hasn't it ever come out in English before? It's hard to say. Perhaps because manga and anime are often associated with dark, edgy imagery in America, and that's the last word anyone would ever apply to Doraemon. It is kids' entertainment par excellence, but quintessentially Japanese kids' entertainment, meaning it's filled to the brim with subtle cultural references, occasional nudity, and inevitable toilet humor of the sort that sends certain types of parents into a tizzy. And simply due to the age of the series - it debuted in 1969 - modern-day analogues of many of Doraemon's "22nd century" gadgets are available to anyone with a credit card. The Asahi Shimbun quotes a "former industry ministry official" theorizing that Americans can't sympathize with a passive loser like Nobita, but that can't be right - Charlie Brown is an even gloomier protagonist, minus any hope of salvation from a pal like Doraemon.

Whatever prevented Doraemon from getting an English release didn't stop it from being translated into many European and Asian languages, where it retains a huge following (particularly in SE Asia.) The English-speaking world is simply behind the curve on this one, and it's been our loss - until now. Doraemon is a cornerstone of Japanese pop culture, and it has been an honor to be part of the team that is bringing it out in English for the very first time.

Comments

[Dave Shadoff]

Great news to be sure, but there actually was a previous English translation for some of this... although there was never an American release.

In 2002, "Shogakukan English Comics" in conjunction with Viz Communications Inc. had a bilingual edition of volumes 1 through 10, which included English and Japanese text. These went through a prolific reprint cycle for a while (my 8th-pressing copy of volume 1 was pressed in 2004), then abruptly disappeared - so I think my set is now somewhat of a collector's item.

Granted, the English in these was not quite idiomatic as the translation was a literal one rather than properly localized for an "English as a first language" audience. I suppose this choice of translation was based on the idea that these might be used as English study aids for a Japanese audience, rather than actually read by English-speakers.

Glad to hear that it's finally getting a proper English release, and I hope the whole manga corpus is part of the master plan !

Dave

[Yokohamama]

Am thrilled to see this. My 11 year old is too. Unfortunately I switched my Amazon account over to the Japan store for my Kindle stuff, so I'm unable to buy these. Please Tweet when they're available in the Japan store, or through another source. Kobo?

[mattalt]

Dave: Thanks for the comment! Yes, I remember those comics; they're the "bilingual editions" I mention in my post. They were intended, as you mention, as educational materials for Japanese speakers, not for entertainment or export. (The English is written in the margins, if I recall.) There is actually quite a bit of that sort of thing around - the late Kodansha International released bilingual editions of "Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro," "Princess Knight," and "Ghost in the Shell," among others. It's always cool to see translations, but I believe this edition of Doraemon lays claim to being the first true localization of the material. Apologies for not being clearer.

Yokohamama, I will definitely tweet if/when they're available in other regions!

[Bluemarvin]

The first 10 english print volumes are still available at Kinokuniya. The english is in the word bubbles with the original text in the margins. My 4 yo daughter thinks Doraemon is awesome and loves playing with my Gacha Gacha Doraemon.

-Randall

[mattalt]

I love the Gacha Gacha Doraemon too!
http://www.bandai.co.jp/catalog/item/4543112396778000.html