Doraemon Film Brings Nobita's Undersea Adventure to Indian Cinemas

"Doraemon the Movie: New Nobita and the Castle of the Undersea Devil" opens across India on Oct. 2 in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, with Japan's TV Asahi and India's PVR Inox Pictures leading the theatrical release. The film marks a milestone for a franchise that has run on Indian television for 21 years — long enough, by TV Asahi's reckoning, to pass from one generation of viewers to the next.

Licensing and brand consultancy Black White Orange (BWO) is handling fan engagement, consumer experiences and promotional activations, while Happening 365 Synergies advises on strategy and the market.

Ahead of the release, TV Asahi; Shin-Ei Animation, which produced the film; and Fujiko Pro, the office representing creator Fujiko F. Fujio — the pen name of Fujimoto Hiroshi — spoke about the franchise's trajectory.

"The success in India for TV Asahi is longevity," says Sumida Maiko, head of animation and sales in TV Asahi's international business department. "We have had 'Doraemon' for 21 years now but we are looking at 50 and 100 years… To achieve that, we are planning to expand the 'Doraemon' brand in a 360 degree approach."

Sumida says TV Asahi waited until Indian audiences were ready to embrace animated features on the big screen, and calls the undersea adventure "a very powerful title that would match with the Indian fans." The trilingual release mirrors television, where the series has long reached what Sumida calls "our little 'Doraemon' fans" in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. "We wanted to keep it that way for the theater release," she says.

India's anime market has grown fast, driven largely by younger, intensely engaged fandoms. "Doraemon" draws from a wider pool of children, parents and adults who grew up with the show, and Sumida says the current anime surge will not alter the broadcaster's approach.

"'Doraemon' was born as a manga comic dedicated to the children and we are proud to have the animation to be accepted as a kids and family content," she says. "It will be passed on from kids who watch 'Doraemon' to those who grew up watching 'Doraemon' and then back to the kids of those who watched 'Doraemon.' It transcends the generations."

In Japan, a new "Doraemon" film opens almost every year. "There will always be a possibility for doing something like that here in India in the coming years," Sumida says, adding that India ranks among TV Asahi's most important markets.

The film reworks a story that first reached Japanese cinemas in 1983. "I wanted to do it because the original is exactly the same age as I am. Just kidding," says Nakajima Susumu, chief producer of the film at Shin-Ei Animation.

The studio has remade several "Doraemon" stories, but Nakajima says this one stood out as an early feature-length entry and a favorite with audiences. "This applies to all our remakes, but I am firmly convinced that Fujimoto-sensei's works remain entertaining no matter how many years have passed," he says. "I believe that when children today watch it, they will feel the same sensations and enjoyment that children back then experienced."

Some things remain off-limits. The team leaves the original's fun, narrative structure and afterglow untouched. "Since the original is a manga, we translate the 'post-reading feeling' into a 'post-viewing feeling' for the movie, and we place great importance on whether that feeling remains unchanged," Nakajima says. "Just because it's a remake, we don't intentionally think, 'Let's change things from the original.'"

The visuals are another matter. Audiences have grown more discerning over 40 years, and the production leans on CG and compositing. Yet Nakajima says that "it might sound counterintuitive, but we also cherish the charm of hand-drawn animation – that sort of 'fluctuation' or analog warmth."

The story's premise sets its undersea world apart: Nobita, a human, ends up beneath the waves because he was bathed in the glow of the Adaptation Ray. "We aimed to create visuals that consciously differentiate our work, particularly in how the underwater world looks and the colors used from the moment he is bathed in the ray and thereafter," Nakajima says.

Scale brings its own challenge — a film must exceed a television episode without losing the characters audiences know. "'Doraemon-ness' is very important, isn't it?" Nakajima says. "Even if it's a movie, having Nobita and the gang act like their usual selves, and depicting them that way, is exactly what leads to that sense of intimacy." For the Indian versions, Shin-Ei checks whether gadget names and other proper nouns suit the local context, coordinating localization through its international team.

At Fujiko Pro, everything begins with Fujimoto himself. "Even if times change, the essence of children remains unchanged," says Yoshida Kenji, a corporate officer at the office. Adults, he says, drift away from a child's heart and end up depicting their idea of what a child should be. "That is why Fujimoto-sensei confronted the child's heart within himself and brought that child into his works."

The office does not intend to "evolve" the creator's work. "That is because we believe the world he created has universal value – one that is loved across eras and borders," Yoshida says. What must be protected first, he adds, is that "Doraemon" was created for children.

Children today grow up around AI, robots and devices that once belonged to science fiction, and Yoshida concedes reality has caught up with some of Doraemon's gadgets. "I don't believe Fujiko F. Fujio-sensei was trying to predict the future when he drew those ideas," he says. "No matter how much times change, the world of 'Doraemon' will continue forward just as it always has."

If the Oct. 2 release performs, a Japan-style cycle of annual theatrical "Doraemon" films in India — a possibility Sumida explicitly leaves open — could follow.