Chapter 1: The Magic Mallet

"Doraemoooon!"

Today, just like any other day, Nobita returned to his room screaming Doraemon’s name. He flung the door open and looked for his reliable roommate, but the round, blue figure was nowhere to be found.

"What, is he out?"

Doraemon was usually in Nobita's room, but he often went out for errands or dates, so there were surprisingly quite a few times when he wasn't around. Figuring he'd be back in a while, Nobita took off his school bag, planning to just take a nap in the middle of the room and wait. That's when he noticed an unfamiliar box right in front of the desk drawer.

"Huh, what's this?"

He picked up the silver box and saw a nameplate on the front addressed to "Mr. Doraemon." It was obviously a package for Doraemon, and he couldn't just open it without permission, so he decided to leave it alone. He lay down to take his usual nap, but the box sitting there so conspicuously was bothering him. Once something caught his curiosity, he just had to see what was inside, so Nobita secretly opened the box.

"What's this? It looks like a hammer."

It was a small, round mallet, and he felt like he recognized the design. There was a letter enclosed in the box, which he decided to read.

"Let's see here... 'Dear Mr. Doraemon, thank you for always shopping at the Future Department Store. We invite you to try out this sample of our latest Secret Gadget, which has been upgraded to the next level of performance...' Oh, it's just a sample from the Future Department Store."

The Future Department Store was where Doraemon bought his Secret Gadgets. Sometimes, they would deliver sample items all the way to the 20th century where their customer, Doraemon, lived. They could have at least handed it to Doraemon directly, but casually leaving it in Nobita's room showed how sloppy their delivery service was.

"Oh right, I remember now! It's the Magic Mallet! If I recall correctly, when you shake it and make a wish, the wish comes true, but in a really weird way."

Seeing the name 'Upgraded Magic Mallet' in the letter, Nobita recalled exactly what kind of gadget it was. When he had used it before, he wished to eat dorayaki and ended up getting them as a reward for being forced to help someone move. When he wished for an allowance of a thousand yen, a classmate lost his precious stamp collection album and gave him the money as an apology. In both cases, his wishes technically came true, but looking at the results and the process, it wasn't exactly something to celebrate. It couldn't really be called a useful gadget.

"'This time, we have made improvements to create the Upgraded Magic Mallet, allowing it to grant even greater wishes. Furthermore, while the conventional product sometimes brought disadvantageous results to the user, we have made it so that wishes can be granted without affecting your own causal relationships...' What's a causal relationship?"

Nobita didn't really understand the terminology, but he figured it meant the gadget was improved so he wouldn't suffer any negative side effects when making a wish. Tossing the letter into the trash can, he rejoiced at what perfect timing it was for this sample to arrive.

"Awesome! With this, I can make Dekisugi eat his words without even relying on Doraemon!"

Actually, the reason Nobita wanted to rely on Doraemon today had to do with Dekisugi. It was nothing major—Nobita had just made a clumsy blunder during P.E. class, and Dekisugi smoothly covered for him. However, Nobita was mocked and turned into a laughingstock by Gian and Suneo, while Dekisugi smartly boosted his own reputation, receiving cheers from Shizuka and the other girls. This contrast made Nobita feel unbelievably miserable.

It felt as though Nobita had been used just to make Dekisugi look better, and he was so incredibly frustrated. Of course, he knew Dekisugi had no such intentions and had genuinely just tried to help him out. But human nature is such that even when you understand something logically, it can still be hard to swallow.

"Still, I'd feel bad doing something really awful to him..."

At first, he wanted to make Dekisugi suffer, but thinking it over, Dekisugi hadn't actually done anything wrong. And it felt wrong to do something terrible to someone who had been so kind and helpful. Nobita's heart wavered between logic and emotion, but even after obtaining a wish-granting Secret Gadget, he didn't lose his fundamental warmth and kindness. He thought for a moment, deciding to confront the jealousy inside himself.

"I know! If I wish, 'Make it so I won't be jealous of Dekisugi anymore,' then nothing terrible will happen to him, right?"

In the end, as long as he didn't feel miserable, that was all that mattered. There was no need to force misfortune upon Dekisugi. All Nobita needed was an event to help him come to terms with the issue. Grabbing the mallet, Nobita chanted his wish like a prayer as he shook it.

"Make it so I won't be jealous of Dekisugi anymore!"

He gave the mallet a single swing with one hand. Nothing in particular seemed to happen.

"Alright, that should make my wish come true."

As he waited excitedly to see what would happen, he heard footsteps running up the stairs. Judging from the rhythm, he figured Doraemon was home, so he quickly slipped the mallet back into the box and put it on the desk so he wouldn't get caught.

"I'm back, Nobita-kun! Look at this!"

"Whoa, that's a ton of dorayaki! How did you get so many?"

Doraemon opened the door and walked in, clearly in a great mood, carefully hugging a paper bag stuffed to the brim. Dorayaki peeked out from the top of the bag, wobbling with every step Doraemon took.

"Actually, the traditional sweets shop in the shopping district had a dorayaki sweepstakes. I entered, and I won first prize—twenty sets of dorayaki! Let's eat them together!"

Twenty sets of dorayaki was more than enough, even split between him and Nobita. Nobita thought it was like a dream for such good luck to drop into his lap without him doing anything. However, as his eyes happened to fall upon the box on the desk, he deduced that this might be the power of the gadget.

(Aha! With something this great happening, it really does seem stupid to be jealous of Dekisugi. Doraemon looks happy too, so I'll just keep quiet about the gadget and enjoy the dorayaki.)

He felt the granted wish was a bit twisted in its execution, but in the end, if it meant eating a bunch of delicious dorayaki without doing any extra work, it was a trivial detail. For a wish granted without any weird trouble, it was certainly a fantastic result.

"What's wrong, Nobita-kun?"

"No, it's nothing. Let's eat!"

The two of them happily ate the dorayaki together, smacking their lips at the delicious flavor and spending a wonderful time. They shared their thoughts on the taste, naturally finding themselves in a strangely cheerful mood. Doraemon was having a blast, and his stories—about how good the dorayaki was, how things were going with Mii-chan lately, and so on—seemed endless. Time flew by as they enjoyed their fun conversation, and the day eventually ended with neither Nobita nor Doraemon giving a second thought to the box on the desk.

The next day, waking up at the last possible minute as usual, Nobita burst into his classroom. Bracing himself to be yelled at by his homeroom teacher, he immediately bowed his head, but all he heard were chuckles.

"Nobi-kun, the teacher is actually running late today, so you should take a seat while you still can."

It seemed that, for once, the teacher was late for morning assembly. With staff meetings running long or emergency announcements, these things happened occasionally. Relieved that he'd avoided a scolding, Nobita looked at the girl who had kindly spoken to him, and tilted his head in confusion.

(Huh? Was there a girl like this in our class?)

Nobita had no memory of seeing the girl who spoke to him in class before, yet she seemed far too blended in to be a transfer student. They'd had transfer students before, but they were usually bombarded with questions from everyone due to the sheer novelty of it. Plus, even to Nobita's eyes, she was incredibly beautiful. If his crush, Shizuka, was a cute girl, the girl who had just spoken to him was a tall, elegant beauty, making Nobita feel a bit intimidated. Of course, Shizuka was easily one of the prettiest girls in class, but the girl in front of him exuded a stylish yet composed aura.

He overthought it for a moment, but figuring it would be rude not to greet such a beauty when spoken to, he managed a smile and bowed his head.

(Wait, how does she know my last name?)

He wondered why she knew his name, Nobita Nobi, when they were supposedly meeting for the first time and he didn't even know hers. Yet, she treated him entirely naturally. For some reason, the intonation and nuance of how she called him "Nobi-kun" felt familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on who it was. However, since the girl immediately turned back to her desk after speaking to him, they couldn't talk further. Oddly enough, he didn't feel bad about it.

Right after Nobita took his seat, the teacher walked into the classroom, offered a brief apology for being late, and started taking roll.

(Oh right, I'll figure out her name when roll call reaches her!)

Come to think of it, it was strange for a transfer student to already be at a desk before being introduced by the teacher, but maybe she was going to be introduced after attendance. Being late every single day, it had been a while since Nobita got to experience the tension of having his name called during attendance—a true testament to his laziness.

This time, however, the tension worked in his favor. It kept him from acting completely shocked when he heard a clear, ringing voice just before his own turn.

"Dekisugi."

"Here!"

Sitting two desks ahead and one to the right of Nobita, the girl answered energetically. What name had she just responded to? And wasn't the person sitting at that desk supposed to be his long-time male classmate?

He hurriedly looked around, but no one else seemed surprised. It was a perfectly normal morning scene; everyone was going through the usual roll call. Sitting right in the middle of the classroom, Nobita craned his neck to look around, but still, no one showed any reaction. Nobita's confusion only grew. No matter where he looked in the classroom, the Dekisugi he knew until yesterday was nowhere to be found. An honor student like him would never be late, and to begin with, the number of desks in the room didn't add up for an extra person.

The male Dekisugi had vanished, replaced by a beautiful girl Dekisugi sitting in his usual seat. Was no one else aware of how abnormal this was? Was he the only crazy one? Had his male classmate, Hidetoshi Dekisugi, never existed in the first place?

(That can't be right! Just yesterday, Dekisugi and I were on the same team during P.E.!)

They had played dodgeball in yesterday's P.E. class. In the end, only Nobita and Dekisugi were left on the court. Nobita happened to get the ball and, wanting to show off to Shizuka, threw it at Gian with all his might. Somehow, instead of throwing it forward, the ball slipped and flew straight backward, sending everyone into fits of laughter. While Nobita was being mocked for his usual terrible athletic skills, Dekisugi, who was backing him up, caught the stray ball perfectly and delivered a finishing blow to a laughing Gian.

(Dekisugi was definitely there! Suneo even teased me, saying Dekisugi was such a reliable guy compared to me!)

Looking back at his memories, Nobita felt confident in his conclusion. Something weird was definitely going on. If no one else noticed, he'd just have to rely on Doraemon and ask for his help. Worrying for the vanished Dekisugi, Nobita swore to find him, but then he heard someone shouting his name.

"Nobi! Nobi! Answer me if you're here! I thought you finally made it on time for once, but now you're sleeping in your seat?!"

Before he knew it, the roll call had reached his name, and the teacher had apparently been calling him repeatedly.

"H-Here!"

As Nobita answered in a panic, the teacher let out a heavy sigh before continuing the roll. He had been so wrapped up in worrying about Dekisugi that he completely missed his name being called.

Everyone turned to laugh at Nobita, but the girl sitting in Dekisugi's seat looked at him and giggled modestly, hiding her mouth. It wasn't a mocking laugh at Nobita's expense, but rather a gentle smile, as if she were looking at something endearing. That smile left Nobita feeling a bit flustered, but the next name was called right after, and the morning assembly ended without any further incident.

Author's Notes:

In the afterword, as is customary for my works, I’ve included a collection of settings. This time, in connection with Doraemon, I’ll go over the original canon elements incorporated into the main text, while casually writing down my memories, impressions, and the various hypotheses that came to mind.

As usual, this will likely turn into a dense and somewhat chaotic column, so feel free to skip it if you’d like. Although the story itself is short, I hope it serves as an opportunity to once again reflect on the wonderful world of Doraemon.

The main story was written based on my own memory, and I did my best to re-research things each time. However, the world of Doraemon is incredibly deep, so there may be occasional inaccuracies or omissions. This is not meant to be a serious or rigorous analysis, but rather a relaxed column expressing the fun of Doraemon and my own nostalgia, so I hope you’ll read it with that in mind.

“On the Depth of the World of Doraemon”

The amount of effort required for research was unbelievable—this was the toughest material-gathering phase I’ve ever had.

First of all, when it comes to the manga, the Tentōmushi Comics edition is the most well-known. However, this is actually a selected collection, containing 821 episodes out of over 1,345 in total (which is still about 60%). This is probably the version of Doraemon manga most people are familiar with.

Next is The Complete Works of Fujiko F. Fujio: Doraemon, a project intended to compile all the manga drawn by Fujiko F. Fujio into volumes. The Doraemon-only portion alone spans 20 volumes. For this afterword, I’ll be introducing the referenced material based primarily on these two editions.

What makes things even more complicated are the titles and names of the gadgets! In fact, some names differ between their original magazine publication and their later volume releases. (For example, the well-known Take-copter was originally called “Helicopter Dragonfly.”) For consistency, I’ll be using the names from the compiled volumes.

As for the anime, most people are familiar with the Ōyama version and the Mizuta version, but before those, there was also the Nippon TV version. Covering the ever-expanding Doraemon world—including current anime and films—is an extremely difficult task, and far beyond what a fan like myself can manage. (I call myself a Doraemon fan, but knowing even a fraction of its depth, I could never bring myself to claim I’m a true maniac or otaku.)

“Future Department Store”

A department store in the 22nd century—though it’s called a department store, it also operates its own research facilities where Secret Gadgets are developed.

Most of the gadgets Doraemon uses are purchased from here, with only a few exceptions. While they do offer mail-order services, some items are only available in-store, which is why Doraemon often travels to the future to shop in person. In fact, there are frequent bargain sales at the store, and it’s often cheaper to buy directly than to have items delivered—one of the reasons Doraemon makes frequent trips to the future.

They regularly send Doraemon samples and advertisements, but their methods are quite aggressive—sending items large enough to fill an entire room or dispatching robot salesmen. You can’t help but wonder how busy the future’s consumer protection agencies must be.

The problem is that they also sell dangerous gadgets that later get banned, as well as defective products, which often lead to trouble. Even worse, they sell products to customers who lack the ability to pay and do not accept returns—a completely lax system. Although they sometimes recall defective products, there are ethically questionable practices, such as making the item free in exchange for silence.

Most of Doraemon’s gadgets—like the Take-copter, Anywhere Door, the movie-favorite Hirari Cape, and the Shock Gun—are purchased here. There are also competing stores such as the “22nd Century Department Store” and the “New World Department Store.”

That said, the most well-known name is still the Future Department Store, and the official Doraemon shop is also called “Doraemon Future Department Store.” Fortunately, that one doesn’t make delivery mistakes or force mysterious gadgets on you. It’s a shop that anyone who loves Doraemon—from children to adults who grew up with it—can enjoy. It also offers online sales, so if you’re interested, I recommend checking out its website.

“Magic Mallet (Uchide no Kozuchi)”

To make things more confusing, there are actually two different gadgets with the same name but different effects. (This kind of pattern is surprisingly common—there are also cases where different gadgets have similar effects.)

One appears in Tentōmushi Comics Volume 8 and Complete Works Volume 6, and this is the version most people think of. As explained in the story, it grants wishes—but in a twisted, indirect way, making it a rather troublesome gadget (similar to the Wishing Star). The “Kai (Modified)” version is original to this novel and can be thought of as a powered-up version.

The other appears in Complete Works Volume 5 and functions similarly to the mallet from the Issun-bōshi folktale—it increases height when used. At first glance, it seems useful, but there’s a catch: while height increases, volume remains the same. In other words, stretching vertically makes the body thinner horizontally. Some people might actually appreciate that effect.

Interestingly, the direction of the strike matters—hit with the front, and it works as described above; hit with the back, and the opposite happens: the user shrinks in height while becoming wider.

“Dorayaki”

This probably needs no explanation, but for completeness: it’s Doraemon’s favorite food—a slightly domed, round sponge cake filled with sweet red bean paste.

In real life, it’s often featured in collaborations, with the most famous example being the one sold by Bunmeido.

Within the series, the name isn’t consistent, appearing as “Dorayaki,” “Dora-yaki,” or “Dora-yaki” in different forms. However, judging from the game Doraemon Dorayaki Shop Story released by Kairosoft, it seems that “Dorayaki” is closest to the official spelling.

In this management simulation game, Doraemon runs a dorayaki shop rather than eating them. It’s overflowing with love—not just for Doraemon, but for all of Fujiko F. Fujio’s works. It includes references ranging from one-panel gags in the original manga to relatively obscure works, making it an irresistible gem for hardcore fans.

“Nobita’s Homeroom Teacher”

The teacher famous for scolding Nobita—you probably know the iconic line, “Stand in the hallway!” However, due to changing times, that line is no longer heard.

Even after the voice cast changed, in my mind, the teacher is still voiced by Ryōichi Tanaka.

In the original manga, the teacher’s name was never established. In the TV Asahi version, he was called Eiichirō Senjō (kanji unclear), while in the Nippon TV version, he was given the surname Ganari (first name unknown). Even official descriptions after the voice actor change simply referred to him as “the homeroom teacher,” leaving his name unknown for a long time.

…However, during the online screening project “Nobi Family & Minamoto Family Wedding,” held alongside the film STAND BY ME Doraemon 2, the full name “Ganari Eiichirō” appeared in the guest list. This is currently the most plausible full name, though it’s also possible it was simply chosen to avoid the awkwardness of writing “Teacher” on the list.

He also appears in the film Nobita’s Wedding Eve, which contains a famous emotional scene—one I always recommend people rewatch as adults.

“Seating Arrangement in Nobita’s Class”

In the film Nobita’s Chronicle of the Moon Exploration, the seating arrangement of Nobita and his classmates is shown, so I used that as a reference this time.

Although a recent anime episode also featured a seat rearrangement, I chose the movie version because it’s easier for readers to understand.

The classmates appearing in Moon Exploration are all characters who originally appeared in the manga, making it a fan-service-filled production.