Doraemon Movie 41: Nobita no Little Star Wars

Doraemon's movie is back for the first time in a year and a half!
After Doraemon's voice actor changed, Doraemon's movies are sometimes new and sometimes remakes of old ones.
This year's work is a remake (Doraemon Movie 06: Nobita no Little Star Wars[Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Little Space War].

My first impression and summary.
"The old work is the best movie with lots of ideas from Fujiko F Fujio. However, in this remake, the illustrations have been brushed up in a contemporary style, and the script is perfect. I felt friendship, courage, strong wishes, and honesty."

- Remake of the old work
In the case of a remake of an ... old work, it is inevitable to compare it with the old work. In other words, a discussion about the new elements added. There were various new elements, but they did not break the main story and were used effectively. However, I felt that the final phase (a place that impressed me and made me feel radiant) was a different place from the original.

- The small episodes overlapped and finally impressed me
The director of the Doraemon movie changes every time. This year's director is Susumu Yamaguchi(Keroro Gunso Movie Director). He commented in a public day greeting.
"If the character says the words courage and love, is it real? I believe that if a character can express his honest feelings honestly, I will move the audience. "
I realized that by repeating small episodes, not words, the episodes finally gathered in an impressive final scene.

- Guest voice actor
In the Doraemon movie, famous actors and comedians participate as guests to promote the business. The pros and cons are divided every year, but I felt familiar with it without feeling any discomfort.
However, I felt uncomfortable with the acting of a voice actor who was not a guest voice actor and was not given a role name.

- Movie insert song. End roll song.
Popular singers are often used here for business promotion. I felt it didn't match the movie this year. (Most of the recent Japanese movie animations have insert songs in the movies. Why ?)

- I'm curious about the children's impressions.
Doraemon will broadcast a new TV episode every week. There are many fun episodes these days. Doraemon's movie is a movie in which Nobita and his friends adventure once a year. I can't write a review because I don't have kids, but I felt like there weren't many fun scenes. Fujiko F Fujio said he wanted to make a movie that children would never get tired of before he died.

To summarize the final impression, "It was a wonderful remake. It was a perfect movie that gave a new impression while reproducing the original."

I watched a movie in a crowded movie theater where children and adults who love Doraemon gathered and participated in the stage greeting on the public day (Doraemon and Nobita, Shizuka, Suneo, Gian greeted me on the stage realistically!).

The release date is Mar04, 2022. The title of this movie is "Nobita no Little Star Wars 2021". Today, the world is in a real battle state and it is confusing. I am angry with the dictator and wish for peace. It was a movie that showed that.

My overall take: A solid remake that capitalizes on the original's strengths.

This is a remake of Nobita's Little Star Wars (1985), in which Nobita and his friends meet some tiny aliens and help them overthrow a dictatorship. I think this version does a decent job of not only retaining but expanding on the strengths of the original, such as giving all the main characters active roles in the story. There are even more scenes here focusing on Suneo and how he feels about being dragged into yet another dangerous adventure. The protagonists also get to spend more time with Papi, their most prominent new ally ... in this story, and learn more about what makes him tick. Furthermore, this version dives into the main plot much more quickly, eliminating much of the setup in the original that ultimately did not end up mattering a whole lot.

As with the original, Doraemon's Big Light (a recurring gadget in the franchise) could have easily resolved the main conflict of this movie, and that discrepancy is not directly addressed here either. However, in this version Doraemon does mention at one point that he doesn't have any gadgets on him that can solve the heroes' problem, so one can probably assume that the Big Light happened to be under maintenance or was otherwise unusable during the events of the film.

There are a few changes that I felt lukewarm about. The entirely new character of Papi's sister, Piina, seemed like an unnecessary addition that did not affect the story much. I also thought that the voice direction on Papi's flying dog sidekick, Rokoroko, was more effective at getting across his "motor-mouthed" personality in the original. At the same time, I don't think these elements harm the quality of this film substantially.

One other noteworthy edit here is the removal of the many homages to classic movies in the original. Those were fun, but I'm also not especially attached to them, so this was a change that I didn't particularly mind.

For me, the pros and cons of both versions largely even out relative to each other. If I had to pick one though, the remake might actually come out just ahead. The fact that it built upon some of the best qualities of the original was a strong creative decision, I feel.