Philippine media conglomerate ABS-CBN has started streaming the popular comedy anime series Doraemon on iWant.
The 2005 television adaptation of the popular anime series will be available on the company’s streaming service within an hour after its television broadcast, which has started airing on its digital terrestrial channel YeY! on Monday
The anime series will be streaming in High Definition on the streaming service, in contrast to its TV broadcast which is only in Standard definition.
This will be the second Japanese anime title that has been made available on the streaming service, following the addition of the popular anime film your name. (Kimi no Na wa.) in February last year.
You may watch the show through the iWant app on your mobile device, or through desktop on this link: bit.ly/iWantDoraemon.
Doraemon was a Japanese manga series created by Fujiko Fujio, which is the pen name of the mangaka pair Hiroshi Fujimoto and Motoo Abiko, and published in several Shogakukan’s kids magazines from from December 1969 to June 1996.
The popular comedy franchise tells the story of a robotic cat named Doraemon, who was sent by the grandson of the lead character Nobita from the future to help his woeful grandfather. The running theme of the series is Doraemon’s numerous devices, which should supposedly save Nobita from his everyday troubles, but eventually make things worse for the bespectacled boy.
The series has three television anime adaptations, the 26-episode 1973 series, the much-successful 1979 series & the most recent 2005 series, as well as several feature films, video games, a musical and a very popular merchandise line.
GMA Network, the main competitor of ABS-CBN, first aired the 1979 anime adaptation of Doraemon in Filipino dubbing on its flagship free-to-air channel in late-December of 1999. The show was aired on a seasonal basis, with its last run on the network from mid to late-2016.
The broadcaster had also aired several film adaptations of the franchise, starting with the 11th feature film, Doraemon: Nobita and the Animal Planet, in 2012.
The latest film aired on the channel was the 33rd film, Doraemon: Nobita’s Secret Gadget Museum, in 2015, while the last film aired was the 29th film, Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s Spaceblazer, in March last year.
ABS-CBN previously aired the franchise’s 3D movie, Stand by Me Doraemon, for the first time in Filipino dubbing in March of 2016.
ABS-CBN has announced in March that they have acquired the popular comedy franchise after almost a decade airing on GMA Network.
The 2005 version of the anime series was aired on Philippine television for the first time.
