Earlier this month it was announced that the anime adaptation of Fujiko Fujio's beloved Doraemon manga will be coming to the US on the Disney XD channel this summer. Following up on that, Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions Co., Ltd. (ShoPro) announced an agreement with their subsidiary, Viz Media, for merchandise rights for the Americas.
ShoPro and Viz will be highlighting Doraemon at the Licensing Expo, which takes place June 17-19 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
We'll have to wait to find out what kind of goodies we can look forward to as far as Doraemon merch goes. It's nice to see his presence growing in the states, with the manga available digitally via Amazon Kindle and an English-dubbed version of the anime on the way.
More on Doraemon from the press release:
DORAEMON is one of the most beloved character properties worldwide and started as a manga (graphic novel) series created by Fujiko F. Fujio in 1970. It later became a popular anime series in Japan and product franchise that continues to be smash hit worldwide, especially in Asia. The comedy series depicts the adventures of Doraemon, a blue cat-type robot from the 22nd century traveling back in time to help a boy named Noby using various secret gadgets that comes from his Four-Dimensional Pocket. Episodes often offer simple lessons to young viewers about honesty, cooperation, courage, and respect.
DORAEMON marks its 45th Anniversary in 2015 and continues to be a major worldwide franchise with over $500 million in annual global retail sales and over 600 active licensees. Over 140 million copies of the manga have been published, and DORAEMON also holds the largest box office attendance record in Japan of any movie franchise, toppling Godzilla, with 34 feature films released to-date and over 100 million tickets sold last year alone. The property’s first 3D feature film, Stand By Me Doraemon, is set for release in Japan in August. The Doraemon character is also Tokyo’s bid to act as its Special Ambassador for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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Joseph Luster is the Games and Web editor at Otaku USA Magazine. His blog can be found at subhumanzoids. Follow him on Twitter at @Moldilox.
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