Doraemon films slay Godzilla in box-office popularity

By TETSUO IWAMOTO/ Staff Writer

Even Godzilla is no match for a robotic cat from the future, as the "Doraemon" film series surpassed the 100 million mark at the domestic box office since the first film was released some 30 years ago, according to Doraemon distributor Toho Co.

Toho said March 25 that the combined audience of all 34 Doraemon movies has reached a record 100.3 million viewers, breaking the previous mark of 99 million held by the 28 "Godzilla" films.

"I'm glad," Masako Fujimoto, widow of the late Doraemon cartoonist Fujiko F. Fujio, commented through Toho. "Doraemon is happy because so many people love him. He has become 'Dora-chan' for you, for us and for them."

The latest film adaptation of the Doraemon comic series, titled “Nobita no Himitsu Dogu Museum" (Nobita and the secret tools museum), has largely contributed to the remarkable accomplishment, according to Toho. It was released on March 9, and had attracted 1.81 million viewers by March 24.

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