Doraemon Movie 03: Nobita no Daimakyou

Doraemon the Movie: Nobita and the Haunts of Evil

映画 ドラえもん のび太の大魔境

Adventure
7.21 episodesFinished Airing

Studio: Shin-Ei Animation

Synopsis

Nobita finds an stray dog and brings him home, little does he knows that the dog is actually a prince in his homeland, a world appart deep in the african "Smokers Forest" were the dogs evolved and have their own empire, so he and his friends take on a journey to take back the young prince to his homeland but when they get there things have changed... (Source: ANN)

Characters & Voice Actors

Doraemon

Doraemon

Main

VA: Ooyama, Nobuyo

Gouda, Takeshi

Gouda, Takeshi

Main

VA: Tatekabe, Kazuya

Honekawa, Suneo

Honekawa, Suneo

Main

VA: Kimotsuki, Kaneta

Minamoto, Shizuka

Minamoto, Shizuka

Main

VA: Nomura, Michiko

Nobi, Nobita

Nobi, Nobita

Main

VA: Ohara, Noriko

Dekisugi, Hidetoshi

Dekisugi, Hidetoshi

Supporting

VA: Rossiello, Francesca

Nobi, Nobisuke

Nobi, Nobisuke

Supporting

VA: Cattaneo, Bruno

Peko

Peko

Supporting

VA: Rossiello, Francesca

Reviews

InfinityDude88InfinityDude886

Doraemon, Nobita and friends are back once again, this time determined to explore uncharted lands and discover the mysteries of the world. Firstly, be warned that the synopsis listed above does spoil the first two thirds of the film, though that is largely because the first hour of the film is lacking in a great deal of plot. Instead, the majority of the runtime is spent showcasing the fun adventure of our heroes through the dangerous African landscape (specifically around central Africa in the area now known as DRC), encountering a variety of wild animals and people which threaten them with peril. I had acontinuously fun time throughout this section of the movie enjoying the variety of charming and childish encounters and scenarios. At the one hour mark though, the film takes a sudden and drastic shift in style and tone, switching focus to a hidden kingdom and the ongoing troubles there. As a result, the film comes across as extremely disjointed, feeling almost like two films in one. Though this isn't necessarily deal breaking, the extreme contrast can easily leave viewers bored during one half or the other depending on their preferences in film. Personally, I found the whimsical adventure of the first two thirds to be more entertaining than the exposition and plot heavy final act, though again one's enjoyment will largely come from whether you enjoy plot or adventure more in movies. I also found the villains to be rather weak as usual for these Doraemon films, further cementing my preference for the light-hearted side of Doraemon. To summarise, Doraemon the Movie: Nobita and the Haunts of Evil is another adequate entry in the series, however the drastic divide between the two parts of the movie make me hesitant to recommend it to everyone.

Mixed Feelings
albertonykusalbertonykus6

My overall take: A very solid family adventure film... that I cannot honestly recommend. In this movie, Nobita and his friends explore Central Africa and discover a hidden civilization. This is a film that establishes (or at least solidifies) many recurring elements of future Doraemon films. The main characters go on an adventure in an exotic setting, using Doraemon's gadgets to live and travel comfortably. They come across an isolated society that is being menaced in some way, and team up with newfound allies to overcome the threat. However, even with the reuse of this formula and overlapping themes in later films, I think Nobita andthe Haunts of Evil does a good job at maintaining its own identity and balancing the character focus among its main characters. This movie and its remake both have very ominous-sounding English titles. Based on my limited understanding of Japanese, "Haunts of Evil" is not exactly an inaccurate translation, but in the context of the story, the intended meaning seems closer to "unexplored realm". (The Doraemon movie where they actually encounter demons comes later...) That being said, this probably is one of the darkest Doraemon films, with multiple instances in which one or more of the main characters almost certainly would have died without sheer luck or third-party intervention. It certainly makes for an exciting adventure narrative, if nothing else. If I were grading based solely on the story, I'd probably be willing to give this eight stars. However, there is something that I think audiences should be made aware of before they watch it. There is a scene in this movie that features Indigenous African people, who are depicted with, shall we say... highly caricatured character designs. While acknowledging that a star-based scoring system cannot fully encapsulate issues like this, the least I can do is shave a couple of stars off my intended rating.

Mixed Feelings