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Doraemon: Nobita's Great Adventure into the Underworld (ドラえもん のび太の魔界大冒険)

Doraemon: Nobita's Great Adventure into the Underworld (ドラえもん のび太の魔界大冒険, Doraemon: Nobita no Makai Daibōken) is a 1984 Japanese animated film, the fifth entry in the Doraemon theatrical film series, in which Nobita uses the gadget "Moshimo Box" to turn the world into one where magic works and must then battle the demons of a nearby "Demon Realm" (魔界). It was directed by Shibayama Osamu with a script by Fujiko F. Fujio, adapted from Fujiko's own manga, and was distributed by Toho on March 17, 1984 with a running time of 98 minutes.1 • 2

Key factDetail
ReleaseMarch 17, 1984 (Japan), distributed by Toho1
Running time98 minutes1
Director / scriptShibayama Osamu (director); Fujiko F. Fujio (script and original manga)1
Manga sourceThe fifth "Daichohen Doraemon" story, serialized in Monthly CoroCoro Comic from the September 1983 to February 1984 issues3
Theme song"Kaze no Magical" (風のマジカル), sung by Koizumi Kyoko2
Main castŌyama Nobuyo (Doraemon), Oohara Noriko (Nobita), Koyama Mami (Miyako), Nakamura Tadashi (Dr. Mangetsu), Wakayama Genzō (the Great Demon King)1
RemakeNobita's New Great Adventure into the Underworld: The Seven Magicians, released March 10, 2007, 112 minutes4

Spoilers

Premise and story

Nobita dreams of using magic after living out a wizard fantasy in a dream, and persuades Doraemon to use the "Moshimo Box", a gadget that alters reality to match a wish. The wish turns the real world into one where magic is ordinary: brooms and flying carpets fill the skies, Nobita's mother cooks with light from her fingertips, and the school teaches levitation.2 • 5 The wish backfires in the familiar way: even in a world of magic Nobita remains a poor student who cannot levitate a pebble, and when he decides to undo the wish, his mother throws the Moshimo Box away, leaving the two stranded in the magical world.2

In this world the pair meets Dr. Mangetsu, a researcher of magic, and his daughter Miyako, who warn of the "Demon Realm approach theory": the demons' world, 魔界, is drawing near the Earth to destroy or invade it.1 • 5 When the doctor's house vanishes overnight and a strange cat that has followed the children turns out, in moonlight, to be Miyako transformed by the Great Demon King's minions, the group rides a flying carpet to the Demon Realm star itself.2

The climax turns on a distinctive plot mechanic. A silver dart driven into the Great Demon King's heart fails, and the party learns that changing the past with the time machine does not undo the magical world, because events in the parallel world continue on their own.2 After Nobita and Doraemon are turned to stone by Medusa, sent by the Demon King, Dorami helps restore them; they then return to the Demon Realm star, rescue Dr. Mangetsu, Miyako, Shizuka, Gian, and Suneo, and Gian drives the silver dart into the giant Demon King's heart floating in the Devil star region, destroying it with a great roar. Nobita bids Miyako farewell and returns to the original, nonmagical world using the Moshimo Box (What-If Phone Booth).1 • 12

Viewer commentary gathered by Filmarks highlights the parallel-world premise as fresh for the series, Dorami taking an unusually active role, and the inversion of a world in which magic is commonplace and science is treated as superstition.6

Production

The film was the fifth theatrical Doraemon feature.3 Shibayama Osamu directed; his staff included Kusube Daikichirō as supervisor, Tominaga Sadayoshi as animation director, Kikuchi Shunsuke as composer, and Honda Toshiyuki on layout, with production by Shin-Ei Animation, Shogakukan, and TV Asahi.1 • 2 The screenplay was written by Fujiko F. Fujio himself, an arrangement of the Daichohen manga he had been serializing alongside the film's production.1 • 3 The collected manga volume, Daichohen Doraemon 5: Nobita's Great Adventure into the Underworld, was published by Shogakukan on September 28, 1984, 192 pages, ISBN 9784091406040.5

An essay by an assistant director on the film, published by Ritsumeikan University's archive, records that 1984's Great Adventure into the Underworld was that animator's first assignment as assistant director under Shibayama, whose storyboards the writer recalls as a striking introduction to his craft.7

2007 remake

The story was remade as Eiga Doraemon: Nobita's New Great Adventure into the Underworld: The Seven Magicians (映画ドラえもん のび太の新魔界大冒険 〜7人の魔法使い〜), released March 10, 2007 with a 112-minute running time. It starred the recast voice cast led by Mizuta Wasabi as Doraemon, with actress Aibu Saki as Miyako and comedian Kawamoto Jun'ichi as Father Mangetsu, and was directed by Teramoto Yukio, the first woman to direct a Doraemon film, with Kusuba Kōzō as chief director and Shimbo Yuichi as writer.4 The remake added the premise that the heroes are the "seven legendary warriors" destined to defend the Earth.4 A comparative study of the old and new films notes that Dorami's introduction scene and other details differ between the two versions.8

Reception and availability

On Filmarks the film holds a 3.7 average from 11,511 user ratings, with 68 percent of reviewers giving it between 3.1 and 4.0.6 Allcinema users score it 7.2 out of 10 from 17 votes, and the same database calls the screenplay, by the original author, a source of the film's high regard; a fan wiki notes that in manga form it ranks a step behind Nobita's History of Space Exploration while praising the story's completeness.2 • 9 In a 217-person ranking of Doraemon films on Ranking.net, it received the highest average score in the survey, 64.4 points.3

The film is available on Japanese streaming services including U-NEXT, Hulu, Netflix, and ABEMA, and on DVD through Shogakukan's film collection.10 • 11

References

  1. 映画ドラえもん のび太の魔界大冒険, 映画.com
  2. ドラえもん のび太の魔界大冒険 (1984), allcinema
  3. 映画ドラえもん のび太の魔界大冒険 ランキング・評価, ranking.net
  4. 映画ドラえもん のび太の新魔界大冒険 ７人の魔法使い, KINENOTE
  5. 大長編ドラえもん ５ のび太の魔界大冒険, 小学館コミック
  6. ドラえもん のび太の魔界大冒険, Filmarks映画
  7. Ritsumeikan University archive, interview document
  8. 「のび太の魔界大冒険」リメイクとの違い一覧, Hiroshima Jogakuin University repository
  9. ドラえもん のび太の魔界大冒険, atwiki
  10. 映画ドラえもんの配信はどこ？, マイナビニュース
  11. Shibetsu City library DVD catalog
  12. Doraemon: Nobita's Great Adventure into the Underworld - Box Office Mojo

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026

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