Review: Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Earth Symphony plays a catchy tune

August Rush could never. 

This one goes out to the girlies like me who had to learn to play Flutophone or other similar instruments in elementary school. I remember doing okay playing mine, but I was hopeless at reading music. So I would write the name of the note above the staff, and then I could play with ease. When my music teacher -- Mrs. Phillips, a truly amazing woman -- saw that and asked me about it, she smiled through it, but I could tell she was disappointed. When I started playing saxophone in middle school, I learned to properly read music. 

All this to say, I empathize with Nobita (or Goofy Glasses, as he's occasionally called in Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Earth Symphony). This kid is so bad at playing the recorder that he uses a future diary (what you write in it comes true) to do away with music class. But because he's a bit of a doofus, he actually ends up ridding the earth of music as a whole, much to the chagrin of, well, pretty much everybody. Once Doraemon, Nobita's robotic cat friend/pet(?) fixes things, adventure begins! 

Doraemon is one of the longest running shows in anime history, like the kind of show you could probably never catch up on unless you made it your full-time job to watch it. It doesn't seem like it's a particularly popular one in the US. Like, this show has spawned almost fifty movies now, and I've never had the chance to see one in theaters (though a few are on Netflix). This is only my second brush with the series. Basically, whenever I go to Japan, I watch the most recent movie on the plane over. It's a nice little tradition, and I like spending time with these characters. 

But because my knowledge is limited, I don't know why exactly Doraemon lives with Nobita. But I think he came from the future, and he has this pouch that's like a Mary Poppins bag, always with another helpful gadget just waiting to be popped out. Nobita is usually struggling to help up with his friends (including some friends that seem more like enemies), but he always pulls through, always with Doraemon's help, always on a larger scale than you'd expect at the start of the adventure. (Why do I keep saying "always" when I've only seen two of these movies?)

Here, because of Nobita's little diary stunt, Earth becomes susceptible to an alien force called Noise. These little spores look like slime blobs, and want to put an end to music. But an alien girl shows up to recruit the gang -- whom she takes to be the legendary five virtuosos of earth -- to help her put a stop to the Noise while also rescuing the remnants of her world, which includes a bunch of musician robots. 

This movie runs almost two hours long, which seems like a lot for such a simple plot, but it kept my attention throughout. The character designs are really great, especially all the robot characters, who have some really strong features and voicework. It's fun watching Nobita's friends all level up their musicianship while he struggles to help up (they all get cooler instruments than his humble recorder), and Doraemon looks adorable in his conductor getup. 

For a movie that starts in prehistoric times and climaxes in space (Muppet Show announcer voice: Climaxes... in... SPAAAAACE), all the pieces for together so nicely here. I had an a-ha moment right alongside the cast, which is always a nice place to be. And, fittingly, the music is great throughout, and I especially loved the theme song that plays over the end credits. 

If you have a chance to watch this, it seems as good a place as any to meet Doraemon (whose voice actress recently passed away -- RIP to a legend). If not, pop on one of his movies on Netflix. He's a cool cat.