Chinese netizens praise new manga anime film

Chinese netizens have applauded the latest new episode of animation of the Japanese manga Doraemon series in which the leading characters hooray for the defeat of Japan in World War II, calling it “brave and a just view of history.”

In the new Doraemon animation episode, Uncle and His Elephant, the main characters Nobi Nobita and Doraemon, the robotic cat, travel in their time machine back in time, right before the end of WWII. The purpose of their journey is to save zoo animals from being poisoned to death, since there would not be enough time to take care of these animals during the war.

“Do not worry about the war, it is going to end soon anyway,” Nobi and Doraemon said when trying to persuade the general- like villain in the episode to stop killing an elephant. “Japan was defeated,” they cheered, with their arms happily thrown in the air.

The cheering gesture and the scripts have triggered widespread discussion online.

A Chinese Doraemon fan named Buhuitan mentioned in an article that some extreme rightwing Japanese have accused the film of brainwashing people, while some others have tagged the work “anti- Japan,” and “insulting to Japan.”

And some Japanese have raised questions, including “Is it funny to say Japan was defeated? Is it right to expose the children to such a plot in an animation work?” said Buhuitan’s article.

The article was later reposted by many Chinese media platforms including the People’s Daily’s WeChat public account on Thursday.

The article also noted that the script of the animation “is closer to the original work by Fujiko F. Fujio,” compared to the previous productions of the same episode where Nobi and Doraemon only moderately smile with the speech.

“This is why we love Doraemon, this is why Doraemon is the best manga,” wrote “duanmu” on Sina Weibo, who is among hundreds of Chinese applauding the “bravery” of the work.

“I have watched every movie adaptation of the Doraemon series … I love it very much and I sometimes forget which country it is originally from, because the theme of great love is universal, beyond any boundaries in the world,” wrote another Net user “laoshicongming.”

“We Chinese should also appreciate and treat Japanese friends reasonably, as there are Japanese who have a just view of the history and love peace as much as we do,” wrote “laoshirensongyuwu.”