Stand By Me Doraemon

Stand By Me Doraemon is a 2014 Japanese 3D animated film based on the Doraemon manga series and directed by Ryūichi Yagi and Takashi Yamazaki. This is the highest-grossing film of the Doraemon franchise. Bang Zoom! Entertainment premiered an English-dubbed version of the film at the Tokyo Internation Film Festival on 24 October 2014 with the cast from the Disney XD show Doraemon: Gadget Cat From the Future. A different English version with local actors was distributed by Multivision Pictures Entertainment and VIVA International Pictures for a Filipino audience in 2015. It is therefore the first of 2 Doraemon films to be dubbed into English.

Plot
Fourth-grader Nobita Nobi tries to improve his present life so that his loyal cat robot, Doraemon, can return to his home in the future.

Why It Isn't Too Reliant On Doraemon's Gadgets

 * 1) The CGI animation here looks gorgeous and is a lot faithful to the art style Doraemon uses in its media. You can just compare that animation to something in the lines of The Peanuts Movie or Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie due to how CGI and the original source material's art style end up mixing well. Also didn't we forget the backgrounds and the effects!
 * 2) *And who could not forget scenes where characters get to use the Take-Copter which looks so atmospheric.
 * 3) The story is simple to understand. The summary of the Doraemon series is basically about a robotic cat who aids a boy named Nobita. The movie here presents it as well. Keep in mind that the story here combines elements from the short stories "All the Way from the Country of the Future", "Imprinting Egg", "Goodbye, Shizuka-chan", "Romance in Snowy Mountain", "Nobita's the Night Before a Wedding" and "Goodbye, Doraemon..." into a new story.
 * 4) You don't need to be a Doraemon fan to like this film. The film here presents a premise that is easy to grasp.
 * 5) The characters here are either likable or funny in a way. No matter if it was the average joe (as in characters like Charlie Brown, Greg Heffley, Arnold Shortman, Arthur Read, etc.) Nobita, the comedic bullies Suneo and Gian, the adorable Shizuka, or the pleasant Doraemon, you would find someone that is just unforgettable.
 * 6) The tone of this appears to be a slice-of-like-Esque film complete with an imaginative concept. The movie knows when to be down to Earth and when to be funny. The imagination comes from the fictional world where you have a cat who is from the future as well as Doraemon and Nobita traveling to the future.
 * 7) Nobita gets character development. After learning about his bad future from his great-great-grandson, he ends up living with Doraemon who helps him out with his gadgets despite Doraemon warning Nobita not to use them a lot. Nobita has gone through many things including failing a test yet he was able to go to the future and find out that an adult Shizuka accepted an adult Nobita's proposal. He went back to the present only to tell Shizuka that he will always keep her happy. There was also a scene where he wants to prove his independence by participating in a fight against Gian. He's by far the most sympathetic character.
 * 8) Doraemon is a moving force for Nobita as in a best friend. He has great chemistry with Nobita and is always there when Nobita feels like he is the need of doing so. He's like a good friend to Doraemon that he was able to return to the 20th century by permission. He also has some imaginative gadgets including a timekercheif, a propeller hat, and a magical door.
 * 9) There are some moments that are emotional like when Shizuka saves Nobita from a poisonous gas after drinking Doraemon's potion, an adult Nobita helping out an adult Shizuka during a snowstorm, Doraemon leaving, an older Yoshino explaining why he's glad for an adult Shizuka for marrying an adult Nobita, Gian's and Nobita's fight, and Nobita and Doraemon reuniting together.
 * 10) Good voice acting as usual. What else do we need to say about that?
 * 11) Compared to most films that Doraemon has, this one happens to be a special film making it distinct from others. In other words, this movie isn't afraid to do something different.
 * 12) Great comedy like when Gian accidentally got into an egg gadget, Nobita learning how to fly, Nobita getting revenge against Gian and Suneo, Nobita using the Invisible Cape, and of course some laughs from characters like Gian's and Doraemon's antics and scenes.
 * 13) It's a beautiful way to celebrate the creator's 80th anniversary (as in the creator of the franchise Fujiko F. Fujio). Also pretty well done to the point where even fans of Doraemon would appreciate the film.
 * 14) Believe it or not, this is much sadder than the anime series. Even if you are not a fan of the franchise, you know you are gonna cry seeing this movie due to its well-crafted premise. Despite its sadder approach, it does still respects Doraemon as a whole.
 * 15) Beautiful music score. Many of the music played in the film fit well with certain scenes giving off that atmospheric vibe. Then we got the ending theme called Himawari no Yakusoku y Motohiro Hata and boy those that song sounds lovely.
 * 16) There is some metaphoric idea behind this film. During moments where Doraemon uses his gadgets to help out Nobita, this could serve as symbolism to how kids think that problems can only be solved with magic. As the film progresses, you then start to realize that "magic" isn't the answer to everything. Then there is time travel which means that going back in time can cause some consequences.
 * 17) There are great messages in the film. First off, the power is in your hands as you don't want to be too dependant on someone and instead learn to be independent. The second one happens to be loving your friends because ditching them isn't gonna work out well. The third one would be never giving up and building your future to the brightest it can be not to mention that life should be observed in a different way with great blessings.
 * 18) Believe it or not, this movie had a cultural impact. The movie was able to ease diplomatic tensions between China and Japan. Even Kawamura Noriyuki of Nagoya University said that the film was able to help the Chinese people have a better look at the Japanese people. Without this film, none of this wouldn't exist.
 * 19) During the credits scene. You get those outtakes similar to that of Pixar's older movies.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) While the animation is good, it's also pretty uncanny due to some characters looking off (like Suneo being a great example of this) as well as some of the facial expressions (Nobita's facial expressions being a notable offender).
 * 2) *Depending on your view, Shizuka's design can be a little creepy for some. You see, the movie makes her look like a creepy doll.
 * 3) Though still likable, Nobita can also be a big simp towards Shizuka albeit it is intentional. Also, another thing is that he often overreacts/cries in the film which can get annoying.
 * 4) *Even Gian and Suneo can still be unlikeable as well due to them treating Nobita badly. Even though this is intentional as well.
 * 5) For some reason, during the scene where Nobita and Doraemon are in the future, there are some uses of product placements for Toyota and Panasonic, albeit it's for a brief moment.
 * 6) The English due (though not bad) had the movie got Americanized including renaming characters like Nobita into Nobi and Shizuka into Sue, although the voice acting is still great.
 * 7) The infamous scene where Nobita distances himself from Shizuka to the point where there was one scene where he lifted up Shizuka's skirt out of anger.
 * 8) While it's a good thing, the movie's sad and depressing tone can turn off some fans who are used to the more comedic and light-hearted tone of the anime.
 * 9) Despite the good story, the pacing is pretty bad. Sometimes it goes fast while other times it goes slow.
 * 10) The filipino english dub is mostly lost at the time the dub was screened.

Reception
IMDb gave the movie a 7.5/10 while MyAnimeList gave the movie 8.1/10. All of which indicated positive reviews. The movie overall became a critical and commercial success in Japan.

Reviews
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