The Doraemons (ザ☆ドラえもんズ) is a Japanese manga series that is a spin-off of the long-running Doraemon series. The subseries originated from a video game released in 1995, which featured the six characters that had previously appeared in the 1995 short film 2112: The Birth of Doraemon. It included two versions of the manga by Michiaki Tanaka (田中 道明) and Yukihiro Mitani (三谷 幸広) from 1995 to 2003, as well as a series of animated short films from 1996 to 2002.

Synopsis

The Doraemons, or Dora Dora Seven DD7, is an old boys' association of the Robot School (ロボット学校) that Doraemon attended. All of the seven male members are cat-like robots of the same type; they enjoy dorayaki, but usually add their own seasoning. They have rock-hard heads that they can use as a weapon or to break things. Doraemon has an especially hard head, since he has no other special weapons, and has no ears or hat to get in the way when using this mode of attack. The gadget that can connect them is the Friendship Telecard. They can call each other with the card from anywhere when one of them is in need. The original author of the Doraemon series, Fujiko F. Fujio, agrees with the spin-off's existence and added settings from the series to the original Doraemon series, however they would not appear in any of the original manga and anime adaptations.

Characters

The Doraemons

The main characters of the series. The group consists of seven robotic cats based on Doraemon, each with their own nationalities and personalities. One or more of them has played a prominent role in several manga volumes as well as the anime short films.

Doraemon

Dora-the-Kid

Wang Dora

Dora-med III

Dora-nichov

El Matadora

Dora-rinho

Allies

Dorami

Principal Teraodai

Noramyako

Dorapin

Jaidora

Ed

Nobita Nobi

Enemies

Dr. Achimoff

Jerry

Daddy 13

Cursya

Jafar

Black Shark

Supporting characters

Throughout the whole of the manga and anime series of The Doraemons, there has been a significant number of characters that play as supporting roles for The Doraemons. Several characters in this list includes significant real and famous figures. In both the Original and Special manga series, cultural connection and historical legitimacy are highly noticed.

Princess Honey

Carmen

Nobinho

Mimimi

Jaitonio

Rose DeWitt Bukater

Momo

Jasmine

Mimiko

Nina

Ali

Robin

Dora Leonardo da Vinci

Cleopatra

Spica

Raúl and Riril

Mr. Geppetto

Pinocchio

Carlo Collodi

Pino

Manga

There were three versions of volumes in The Doraemons manga:

Original

The Doraemons (main): The original main series of The Doraemons, created by Michiaki Tanaka (田中 道明), who was the character and story designer of the 1995 3DO game. First published in December 1995, the series follows on the life and adventures of the Doraemons, with some of the chapters adapting the short film anime stories.

Special

The Doraemons Special (ザ☆ドラえもんズ スペシャル): A 12-volume spin-off of The Doraemons manga series, written by Masaru Miyazaki and illustrated by Yukihiro Mitani. First published in December 1996, the series has a similar premise to the original The Doraemons, albeit they are more action-oriented with a much darker, more serious and dramatic tone. It focuses on Nobita Nobi's adventures with the Doraemons. The adventures involve many fictional (such as Arsene Lupin, Pinocchio, etc...) and real-life historical figures (Cleopatra, Nostradamus, etc...), as well as events that have happened in real life.

Robot School Memories

The Doraemons Special: Robot Training School: A 3-volume spin-off of The Doraemons manga series focusing on The Doraemons' past journeys in the Robot School, created by Yukihiro Mitani. The first volume of the series was published in May 1999.

Anime

The Doraemons characters first made their debut in animated form in the 1995 short film 2112: The Birth of Doraemon. From 1996 to 2002, there were several short animated films that featured The Doraemons (as well as Dorami in some short films), released alongside the Doraemon theatrical movies.

Video game

The Doraemons were prominently featured in the 1995 Japan-only Doraemon video game Doraemon Yuujou Densetsu, released on April 7, 1995 for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer.