Doraemon

I grew up with Doraemon (dubbed in my language), and now that I have kids of my own, I attempted to revisit the series. It's a fun show that engages kids' creativity with "what if" gadgets. The show teaches kids NOT to be in Noby's shoes. The show follows a formula, starting with Noby's problems (usually caused by himself); Doraemon's gadget solving the problem, but is then misused and thus causing another problem. Every once in a while, the show will break out from the formula, and teach deeper, more emotional values. I remember a couple episodes about Noby dealing with loss, or going back in time to meet his late grandma, or the one where Doraemon is going back to the future. I didn't like these episodes when I was a kid. As an adult now looking back, however, I appreciate what the author has done. These are the really weighty episodes with complex emotions. Unfortunately the show doesn't offer much teaching in handling real life problems, as we don't have futuristic gadgets in real life. However, it does teach friendship. All the main characters have flawed personalities, but the group of friends have learned to accept each other regardless. Noby is a whiny, lazy kid, and Doraemon is a good buddy who bails him out in most cases. The show has entertaining story plots. However, I find the English dub to be weird. The dub makes all the characters sound whiny, as if everyone's trying to speak too much.

Doraemon is not "weird"; it's the English dub version that makes it weird. They cut a bunch of things and change the dialogue to the point where the characters lose their originality. The original Japanese version has the best voices and nothing is cut. However, if you plan on watching that version, just be aware that there are some things that you may not want exposed to your child (image of gun, light swearing).