I know this manga was waaaay before my time, but I actually grew up with it and, believe it or not, I didn't know it was manga for the longest time. See, around the time I was in fourth or fifth grade, I went to the library, and one book in particular caught my attention. The first volume of Doraemon. I checked it out, read it, and loved it, and proceeded to check out a bunch of other volumes...that I then proceeded to forget to return and actually ended up keeping until I unfortunately lost them...oops. Anyway, earlier today I started to go back and reread it, and...I'm actually fairly surprised at how much I'm enjoying it, lol, it's pretty dang good!

I mean for starters, it takes place in the early 70s! I had NO IDEA it was set in the 70s as a kid! That just goes to show you how timeless this manga is, or at least it does imo. I mean, seriously, other than the fact that a lot of the character's names are pretty outdated, it's pretty timeless. It could take place anytime, really. Well, anytime before 2009, anyway. This might sound negative, but if there were to be a modern day retelling of Doraemon, all the characters would probably be sitting indoors texting or eating Tide Pods or something instead of playing outside and stuff, lol.

The overall premise is a little loose, but it's primarily a comedy series, so I think that's fine. From what I remember, we do get a few glimpses into Nobita's future in later chapters, so it's like it totally lacks in overarching plot. It's just pretty episodic in nature for the most part, which is fine, because again, comedy.

Anyway, I'm pretty much just rambling and going into pointless personal anecdotes at this point, so I'm just gonna wrap it up, here. Is this manga perfect? No. Is it fun? Absolutely, it is! Like I said, I THOROUGHLY enjoyed it as a child, and I wasn't even a fan of anime and manga back then. If you're a fan of light-hearted, slice of life stories with likable characters and a childlike sense of wonder and whimsy, definitely give it a read. While reading it as a child, I found it extremely relatable, and it got me through some hard times. Rereading it now as an adult, it gives me a lot of nostalgia, and not only reminds me of when I was a kid, but it takes me back to the time when I was first reading it, and when life was just simpler. Just read it, okay? You wont regret it. Don't let it's age or the simplicity of the premise stop you, just read it.