Filipinos became nostalgic following the announcement that classic Japanese anime Doraemon will air once again on local TV.
ABS-CBN made the announcement on Facebook that Doraemon will premiere again on May 27, more than a decade since it first aired in the Philippines.
It will be shown via its anime channel called Yey channel that is only available on ABS-CBN TVplus, a television provider of the Kapamilya network.
The local network said it was able to strike a deal with General Manager Tim Kondo of Animation International, the distributor of Doraemon, at a trade event, according to ABS-CBN’s Facebook post.
“Doraemon is now a Kapamilya,” it said.
Amid the delight of its fans, some Filipinos quipped that ABS-CBN acquired the program from its rival network.
Pati si Doraemon Kapamilya na. Si Mareng Jessica na lang yata kilala ko sa GMA.
Posted by Senyora on Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Doraemon was first aired in the Philippines at GMA-7, which made Tagalog and Cebuano adaptations of it, in 1999.
It tells the story of an adorable robot cat of the show’s namesake who came from the future to help a young boy named Nobita with his daily misadventures using his array of remarkable gadgets.
Doraemon is based on a Japanese comic book or manga written by Fujiko Fujio, the pen name of two Japanese artists Hiroshi Fujimoto and Motoo Abiko, in 1969.
It was later adapted into an award-winning series with valuable life lessons and eventually gained popularity around the world.
