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.
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.