Doraemon: Gadget Cat from the Future

Doraemon: Gadget Cat from the Future
Studio	Shin-Ei Animation TV Asahi Bang! Zoom Entertainment
Network	Disney XD
Original run	July 7, 2014 - September 1, 2015
Total episodes	52 episodes

Doraemon: Gadget Cat from the Future is the US English adaptation of the 2005 anime that has been airing since July 7, 2014 and has aired a total of 52 episodes as of 2015. Since February 1, 2016 the US adaptation airs bilingually in Japan on Disney Channel Japan.

This dub takes many liberties from the original Japanese version. Besides using the name changes that were used in AltJapan's English adaptation of the original manga, other changes and edits have been made to make the show more relatable to an American audience, such as Japanese text being replaced with English text on certain objects like signs and graded papers, items such as yen notes being replaced by US dollar bills, and the setting being changed from Tokyo to a small town located somewhere in the United States.

Production

TV Japan aired the original Japanese version of Doraemon (2005 anime) with no English subtitles in the United States and Canada every Friday at 6:30 PM. In March 2014, it was taken off the network's schedule and replaced by the Anne of Green Gables anime, as The Walt Disney Company acquired the rights of the show.

On May 9, 2014 Nikkei announced that The Walt Disney Company would begin running an English dub of the 2005 anime on Disney XD in the United States starting in July 2014. The network would run a total of 26 episodes. Fujiko Fujio Productions (Fujiko-Pro), TV Asahi, and Shin-Ei Animation produced the English dub together with Bang! Zoom Entertainment. The dub is currently licensed and distributed by Viz Media.

The dub has been edited to appeal more to American audiences and its strict guidelines of violence, depictions of discrimination, and depictions of sexual content. There were name changes that were also used in the Amazon Kindle English adaptation of the original manga, other changes and edits have also been made to make the show more suitable to an American audience, such as Japanese text being replaced with English text on certain objects like signs and graded papers, and items such as yen notes being replaced by US dollar bills. The edits were done by Fujiko Pro and TV Asahi and not by Disney. The dub focuses heavily on episodes that feature more action rather than those that focus on "heartwarming relationships". The animation edits were done by the South Korean animation studio, Studio Mir, who also did the animation edits for the now-infamous Korean dub.

On June 17, 2014 Fujiko Fujio Productions and Viz Media opened an English website for the anime. The website features character info, a gadget list, a free preview of the manga, a link to the Doraemon Repair Shop app, and a trailer that shows the intro of the dub. The intro was later replaced by a video of the full episode "Big G: Master Chef".

On June 19, 2014 Japan Plus Inc., announced that the first episode of the dub would make its US premiere screening at the Japan America Theater during the Anime De Summer Festival on July 5, 2014.

The dub premiered on July 7, 2014. Episodes aired every weekday at 12:30 PM ET/11:30 AM CT, and on August 18, 2014 was moved to an earlier time slot, at 11:00 AM ET/10:00 AM CT. In March 2015, Brian Beacock, the voice of Sneech, noted on his Twitter account that he was doing further dubbing work for the dub. It was believed to be a sign of further English airings being scheduled. On June 3, 2015 a second season was confirmed by Disney. It later premiered on June 15, 2015 at 1:00 PM in the US and ended on September 1.

The dub later premiered on the Canadian version of Disney XD in August 2015, with episodes airing at 12:00 PM. For unknown reasons, the network aired only 9 episodes before eventually being removed from their schedule. In Australia, it started airing on 26 January 2015 on Network Ten. Later it moved in Australia to Boomerang, which is also available in New Zealand. This dub was never aired in the UK due to the alternative English dub were made (by LUK Internacional).

Since February 1, 2016 the US adaptation airs bilingually in Japan on Disney Channel Japan, making the only country that adapts this adaptation to the different language.

As of 2020, Bang Zoom! Entertainment has stated that there are currently no plans for a third season of the dub.

The reruns of the Bang Zoom! dub of the Doraemon were canceled in Disney XD in 2017, and plans for DVD and Blu-Ray releases have not been announced. The U.S. English dub is the highest of all expenses, and the production fee + copyright fee is one set of 100 million yen. It is the most expensive dub than any International dubs.

Despite never any countries to based off this dub (due to the dubs were based off the original Japanese dub first), Brazilian Portuguese dub of the 2005 anime series based off the original Japanese dub with the names from USA English dub, marking the first dub to be partially based off the USA English dub.

Changes

• Most any kind of Japanese element and culture were Americanized. However, those changes were supposed to be ruining any Japanese element pointed out by viewers and fans:
  • The setting has been changed from Tokyo, Japan to a fictitious place in a small town in the southern US state of South Carolina.
  • Omurice are called "pancakes". This likely because several Japanese foods are didn't appear in America, even kids didn't know all about more Japanese food. This was carried into some English dub of the other animes (The more known being the English 4Kids dub of the Pokemon).
    • However, Omurice and pancakes are very different.

      

  • Japanese yen notes are replaced by US dollar bills as the setting were in America.
  • Most Japanese signage and Japanese text were removed and has been translated into English. (Example: the sign of Gouda's Goods was translated into English.)
    • However, Japanese signage and Japanese text remain untranslated in other International dubs.
  • Japanese check marks have been replaced by "X" marks along with an "F" letter grade added on test papers. This likely because in US, the system grade score is based in a letter instead of numerals
    • In USA and some international countries, check mark is mean "correct" in most western countries.
  • Chopsticks are replaced by forks. This likely because in western habit including American are usually eating with forks and spoons rather than chopsticks although some westerners eat using chopsticks if they eat East Asian food.
  • Ishiyaki imo stands have been replaced by popcorn stands. This likely because some Japanese foods are not appearing in America and popcorn is more common for children, as stated above.
  • All scenes showing Nobisuke lying on a tatami mat have been removed. This likely because tatami mat isn't part of American culture.
  • Doraemon is mistaken for a seal instead of a tanuki/raccoon. This likely because Japanese tanuki and western raccoon look different.
    • In the manga publications by Take Minutes (Malaysian manga publication company), Doraemon was often confused as a "fox" and sometimes a "jungle cat". It is due to the confusion because Malay language lack distinction to the species.
      • Interestingly, in the movies, it has become a running gag where most antagonists notoriously confused Doraemon as a fox-like robot which so notorious that he became angry to call as such.
      • And finally, when Tora Aman republished the manga in the Chinese language, he was mistaken by tankooni or "fat guy".
• Most snacks are replaced by fruits due to a guideline encouraging the promotion of healthy eating. This rule was put into use by the Federal Communications Commission (the US telecommunications regulator, who also oversees the regulation of television broadcasting in the country).
  • It suggested that several snacks are not good at all and not good to often consume due to ingredients and what they contain. It also prevented any diseases such as diabetes and obesity of children. This was not done outside of the USA, especially Japan and most International countries.
  • However, this is the reason why "Adventures in Candy Land" was never dubbed into English.
• Shizuka's character has been partially changed to reflect a more tomboyish personality, although her sweet and kind personality were retained. This was done because, in test viewings of the Japanese version, most of the American children requested for her character to be changed since her traditionally Japanese habits were difficult to understand. In addition, her love for bathing and sweet potatoes aren't seen or mentioned until Season 2.
  • The tomboyish character of Shizuka has appeared in a few episodes in original Japanese before it was broadcast in America.
• There is no theme song leading towards the episode. Instead, Doraemon provides his own synopsis narration about how he was sent back to the future to aid Noby, and the troubles that he encounters. The background music during episodes has also changed from the original Japanese version as well.
  • During the American version airing in Japan on Disney Channel Japan, it has been translated and dubbed again by their Seiyu but the background music was retained.
  • The ending/credits song of the American dub was the second version of Yume Wo Kanaete video with minor editing.
• Dorayaki are referred to as "Yummy Buns" instead "Fudgy Pudgy Pies" in American Manga.
• The episodes are re-ordered instead of dubbing the Japanese episode order chronologically, unlike Italy.
  • However, most of the International countries are ordered in Japanese episode order.
• All the Japanese background music has been replaced by original compositions in order to appeal more to American audiences, and to get around TV Asahi's restrictions on Japanese soundtrack export.
  • However, in the UK English dub, the Japanese background music was retained as the other countries also the same as in Japan.
  • Most international dubs retain Japanese background music such as Indonesia and Spain.
• The episode title card sequence is excluded from dubbed episodes. The episode title is instead shown as an overlay at the beginning of the episode unlike most International countries such as India, Indonesia, Italy, etc.
  • In the Indonesian version, it used a translated title card placed in the Japanese title card.
  • Several international version retains the Japanese title card sequence, and some of them were translated by dubbing.
• Fade to black transitions have been added to most of the episodes.
  • In the original Japanese version, most of the episodes are not always fade to black transitions.
• Some episodes have several minutes of footage cut due of time constraint and some content were not related in American or inappropriate for children. Examples include All the Way from the Future World, The Galaxy Grand Prix, and Moving to a Haunted Castle.
• Nudity has been heavily censored by adding computer-generated steam (as seen in Transformade), as well as adding clothing, such as a tank top (as seen in The Horizon in Nobita's Room).
  • However, nudity were not censored in other international dubs, unlike in India (Despite this, India has cut or edited out the nudity scenes because of the tight censorship rules.)
  • In Indonesia and Thailand, the nudity had different censoring ways, like blurring or cutting the nudity scenes instead of adding computer-generated steam.
• All scenes showing Nobisuke smoking have been removed due to unhealthy and inappropriate.

Japanese Re-dub changes

While the Japanese Re-dub kept the changes from the USA English dub, however, there's an few exceptions.

• Character names were retained as the original Japanese one. However, a few times the English name of an character onscreen is unchanged.
• While the episode name were kept untranslated, the subtitles were provided instead.

Character name changes

• Nobita - Noby Nobi (Although the official website still says his full name in Nobita)
• Suneo - Sneech
• Gian - Big G (His name were changed because Disney thought that "Gian" name was too ordinary. Although his last name, Goda, is kept in-tact, and the website says his real name is still Takeshi)
• Jaiko - Little G
• Sewashi - Soby
• Shizuka - Sue
• Dekisugi - Ace Goody
• Tamako - Tammy Nobi
• Nobisuke - Toby Nobi
• Sensei - Mr. S
• Kaminari - Mr. Rumbleton
• Tsubasa Ito - Sera Ivy
• Mii-chan - Mimi

Voice cast

• Doraemon - Mona Marshall
• Noby - Johnny Yong Bosch
• Big G - Kaiji Tang
• Sneech - Brian Beacock
• Sue - Cassandra Morris
• Tammy - Mari Devon
• Toby - Tony Oliver
• Soby - Max Mittelman
• Little G - Minae Noji
• Ace Goody - Spike Spencer
• Mini-Doras - Cristina Valenzuela
• Big G's mom - Jessica Gee
• Big G's dad - Kirk Thorton
• Sneech's mom - Dorothy Fahn
• Mr. S - Keith Silverstein

Episodes

Main article: List of Doraemon (Disney XD version) episodes

Videos

Welcome To Doraemon Doraemon USA

Doraemon trailer on Disney XD

Intro Doraemon US

Doraemon opening intro

List of cuts and censors from certain episodes (All episodes have edits)

All The Way From The Future

• All scenes outside of the flashback itself are cut. This was done to act as if this is the first time Nobita meets Doraemon, happening as the episode progresses, as it was the dub's first episode.
• Noby mistakes Doraemon for a seal instead of a raccoon, as Western raccoons look very different from the Japanese tanuki.
• Noby's face is painted green instead of black to avoid creating a racially insensitive image (known as blackface or minstrel).
• The scene of Noby looking at his wedding book alone is cut. This was likely done because due to him "too young to know about marriage".
  • Although this scene is not in the dubbed episode, a brief snippet of the cut footage, of an upset Noby throwing his wedding book across the room, made it into the U.S. opening sequence.
  • Despite this, some 1979 anime episodes and a few 2005 anime episodes has been focusing on Nobita "too young to know about marriage" with Doraemon's help.
• The scene of Soby explaining to Noby that there are four ways to get to Osaka is cut due to the main setting in the dub being in America, and not in Japan.
• The episode ends right before the scene of Noby noticing that everyone, including Sue and Little G, is staring at him in his underwear, and then runs away in humiliation. This was likely cut due to sexual themes.

The Mecha Maker

• There is a scene removed from this version where Toby asks for somebody to get a lighter for his cigarette with Noby activating the laser on the USS, Noby causing the cigarette to explode on Toby's face. This scene was removed due to smoking references.

My Best Friend Doraemon

• Noby dubs the Sumo Wrestler the "Famous Wrestler Sumo Guy", though his name is unknown in the other International dubs.

Livin' The Dream

• In the USA English dub, some scenes were changed out of original Japanese order, and the manga continuity (not knowing the episode were adapted from the manga chapter).
• "Suneo" were replaced with his English name, "Sneech".
• 2019 were replaced with 2017 (the year where the reruns of USA English dub taken off from Disney XD USA) on the poster.

Experimental Dream Schemes

• Unrevealed disks names, as well as used disks names, were changed.

• In all of the dubs (including the original Japanese one), Shizuka calls Nobita to escape, but he asks what he escapes to. But in the USA English dub, Sue just calls Noby to run to the sun again and he asked what's happened. Not only this, G-Beard says he will get revenge (or he scolds Nobita for being more angry to him) in original and all of the International dubs, but in the USA English dub, he says that Noby hid from him. (Likely an escape)
• Untranslatable puns were on classroom blackboard in the original and all of the International dubs, which is translated to Korean. In the USA English dub they changed it to "Monkey + Dog - Cat", "ABC + DEFG =", and "Sunflower X Watermel (on)".

The Galaxy Grand Prix

• The beginning of the original Japanese version was cut out. The episode starting with Noby, Sue, Sneech and Big G entering the House for unknown reasons.
• Dorami and Pawaemon's appearances in the dub were cut out due to unknown reasons but maybe due to a romantic scene.
• Doraemon's first encounter with Devlin was cut out due to time restraints, and has been moved to when Doraemon, Noby, Sue, Sneech and Big G arrive at the Galaxy Car Race stage.
• The restaurant scene was cut out for an unknown reason.
• Everyone struggling to find a car was cut out. This likely to prevent confusion or wasting time. This scene was kept in the original Japanese version.
• Noby telling Sue about the story about Doraemon's ears was cut out. This was likely cut to prevent any fear of mice among American children leaving they didn't know about the real reason why Doraemon's lost its ears.
• The Lava Course (Stage 3 of the Prix) was cut out from the end of Stage 2, and cut to a commercial break, with Stage 4 starting right after the commercial break. This likely due to time constraints or other reasons.
• The scene where Big G jumping into Devlin's Car to attack him was cut out due to violence.
• The scene in which everyone was cheering and clapping to Noby and Doraemon for winning the race was cut to the Galaxy-Grand Prix Announcer saying "Now, time to hand this over to our winners!". This likely because the scene was being too overzealous and too long. This scene was kept in the original Japanese version.

Transformade

• Clouds were added to the scenes where he accidentally changes into himself and Sue when he falls from the sky for more censorship because it prevents any kind of nudity, as stated above.

Noby, The Great Illusionist

• Phantom Thief is changed to illusionist. This likely because illusionist is more popular than Phantom Thief in North America. This was not in the case in another Japanese anime Yu-Gi-Oh!
• In the original dub, Sneech's mother and Little G use their own voices, however, in the U.S. dub, Noby's voice is used like an undubbed episode did, or some reason.

Big G: Master Chef

• Pork Chop's scene was cut from the U.S. English version for unknown reasons.

Escape from Score Zero

• The pause scene where Tammy before open the door were slightly longer than the original version for some reason.
• The scene where Noby lets out a small moan of fear is cut and skip to the next scene.
• Noby stalling is significantly longer than the original dub.
• Two extra lines of Noby were added before he leaves.
• The scene where Noby punched is edited into a white background. This likely because of a violent scene.
• The scene of Noby's good chunk dialogue is removed before and after Noby arrives at Ace's for an unknown reason.
• The scene where Noby punched second time is edited. This is also likely because of a violent scene.

Go to the Doctor, Doraemon!

• Dorami, Sue, Big G, Sneech and the professor are removed from the U.S. English dub for unknown reasons.
  • This was done to avoid plothole that was not done outside U.S.

Transform with the Dracula Set!

• In the original Japanese broadcast, Doraemon puts two bandages in the shape of a cross on his nose, creating a crucifix that frightens Nobita. To avoid religious and unrelated cartoon references, the bandages and first aid kit are removed and a garlic pizza is used to scare Noby out of his bat form.

The Time Cloth

• The flyer that Noby's dad has its Japanese text painted out.
• Noby and Doraemon glancing at the viewer upon creating their plan was taken out due to an overzealous scene.

A Visitor from the Country of the Future

• When Big G's mom hits the thief with a radish, what comes out of his gun is a white flag instead of the flag of Japan, representing his surrender. This is likely because the main setting in the dub being in America, and not in Japan.

Doraemon and the Space Shooters

• This English dub of the episode is almost not related to events in the original version, since the series is set in the US instead of Japan. All of the texts were translated or blurred, and some English text (for example: "You Win!") was kept intact.

Deluxified

• The scene where Noby's tears were cut out because too over-dramatic. However, it was kept uncensored in other International broadcasts since the other countries which broadcast Doraemon anime series aren't thinking so.

When the Last Leaf Falls

• In the original Japanese version, Little G is eating sweet potatoes while she's reading her book, but in the U.S. English version, she's eating popcorn. This likely because popcorn is more common than sweet potatoes in America. All Japanese text in the book were removed.

Gorgon's Spell

• In the Japanese version, when Sue gets petrified by the Gorgon Head, Noby rushes to her and cries over her petrified body. This was taken out in the US version. The reason is that the scene was too traumatic and makes American viewers afraid about it. But this was never happened in other International dubs, as leaving this episode was uncensored.
  • Similarly, after Noby pulls the snake and undoes the spell, the scene where he shows relief that Sue returned to normal was taken out in the US version.

It's The End Of The World As We Know It

• In the original episode, Nobita drinks tea to try and stay up, but falls asleep and wets himself instead. The dub changes this to him accidentally kicking over the teapot he poured the tea from in his sleep.

See You Go Round

• Sue does not appear in the U.S. version. Hence, the number of times the gadget being used is reduced from 11 in the original version to 10. The episode plot was rewritten for the U.S. version due to the likelihood of showing Sue bathing being inappropriate for kids.
  • The same thing happened in Indonesia, where the scene where Nobita witnessing Shizuka in her bathtub was also cut because the scene was inappropriate , leaving the number of times the gadget can be used to be reduced from 11 in the original version to 9. Thus the episode plot was heavily rewritten.

The Puppet Master's Camera

• In the American version, Big G and Sneech get drenched in pouring water instead of having their pants wet. This likely because viewers could think that they're wetting on their pants.

Noby's Tough to Stomach

• In the U.S. English dub, the opal is part of Sue's mom's $500,000 wedding ring. But this never happened in the other international releases.

What's on the Robo-Catwalk?

• In the original Japanese version and the U.K. English version, Gian is naked. but in the American English version, he's in his boxers/panties, thus Dress-Up Camera nerved a bit.
  • Meanwhile, in the U.K. English version, the nudity scene was uncensored, as stated above.
  • This episode is still unknown that this episode had ever broadcast in Indonesia and dubbed in Indonesian due to this. In the Philippines, this episode was rated as SPG (Strong Parental Guide) due to this.

Mystery of the Haunted Castle

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• Some scenes have been cut due to time constraints.

Big G's Big Show

• The U.S. English dub features Lucas Grabeel of High School Musical and Switched at Birth fame as the singing voice of Big G (after eating the mints). But in other International broadcasts, it features a different voice cast and different songs for Gian after eating the mints.

See also

• Doraemon in North America