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» Language and Genitalia Controversies Beleaguer Japan’s Lovable Robot Cat Doraemon

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Language and Genitalia Controversies Beleaguer Japan’s Lovable Robot Cat Doraemon

Master Blaster Feb 22, 2013
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The blue robot cat from the future known as Doraemon has long entertained generations of Japanese people for decades.

Despite becoming an entrenched cultural icon in Japan, people in some parts of the world might not be familiar with the franchise. The story is centered on a young boy named Nobita who through various mishaps lands himself in trouble. However, an anthropomorphic robot cat had been sent from his descendant in the future to prevent him from becoming a total screw-up. Doraemon is equipped with a pocket on his stomach from which he can pull a seemingly endless array of tools to help his young friend. Usually the tools are misused by Nobita which comically worsens the situation.

In real life though it seems the formula has reversed for Doraemon as he is tangled in two awkward situations at once, involving the languages of Bangladesh and what (if anything) exists between his legs.

First, in Bangladesh the animated version of Doraemon was pulled from the airwaves for being dubbed in Hindi rather than the native language of Bengali. It appears the government and various media outlets in the country feared that the kids were getting so infatuated with the show that they were beginning to prefer speaking Hindi, and that simply wouldn’t do.

According to the AFP, Minister Hasanul Haque Inu, whose Ministry of Information ordered the removal of the show, was quoted as saying; “The government doesn’t want children’s educational atmosphere to be hampered by Doraemon.”

While this pickle can be rather easily fixed by a Bengali audio track pulled from the bottomless pocket of Doraemon, it’s not the end of scrutiny for the poor felinoid. Meanwhile, in Japan, the Internet debate rages on over the existence of genitalia on Doraemon. The controversy was reignited when panels from a Doraemon print comic surface depicting him using a toilet.

In this scene, Nobita is desperate to use the toilet, but when he gets there he finds Doraemon already using it. “Hey, I was here first,” proclaims the robot. In the next panel Nobita can be seen running for another place to pee saying “What a heartless guy.”

Ha ha ha!

But seriously, what was Doraemon doing at the toilet?

“Prehaps he is equipped with a urea cycle” and “He’s just draining old oil” were suggestions put forth by the Internet’s top Doraemon experts. This group also happens to be the people with the most time on their hands.

The oil theory complicated matters further, drawing concern such as “Would the oil be safe to enter into the sewage system?”

“It’s got to be environmentally friendly bio-oil, dur,” retorted another Doraemon scholar.

Then this image arose showing Doraemon standing in a bathroom with disdain saying “I have no reason to be standing here. It’s silent and empty.”

With the evidence at hand the debate remains at an impasse. We do know that despite being a robot Doraemon does consume food – usually in the form of dorayaki – so we would logically have to expel that matter and, judging by that first image, it’s in a similar fashion to a human male.

On the other hand, the inner workings of Doraemon also seem to defy our current knowledge of time and space. I once saw that cat pull an entire row-boat out of his pocket.

Perhaps we’ll know the true answer when Doraemon pulls out the “pee baton” in an upcoming episode…

Source: Japan Times (English), IT Media, Katsubushi News (Japanese)
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