King & Prince’s Ren Nagase makes voice acting debut as Sonya
The official website for Eiga Doraemon: Nobita to Sora no Utopia (titled Doraemon the Movie 2023: Nobita’s Sky Utopia in English), the 42nd film in the Doraemon franchise, began streaming a trailer on Friday. The video reveals that the film will open in Japan on March 3, 2023. The trailer also reveals that Ren Nagase of the idol group King & Prince will make his voice acting debut as the “perfect cat robot” Sonya.
The film will be set in a perfect, utopian world in the sky, where everyone lives happily. Adventurers have equated the land with other mythical cities, such as Atlantis or Ryūgū-jō. Doraemon and Nobita set out on an adventure to find the utopia with the help of a gadget that is brand-new for the film, the time zeppelin equipped with a time warp function.
Takumi Dōyama (Genbanojō, Doraemon episodes) is directing the film. Ryota Kosawa (Always: Sunset on Third Street, Great Pretender) is penning the script — his first for a Doraemon film. The television anime’s current cast members are reprising their roles for the film.
Doraemon: Nobita’s Little “Star Wars” 2021, the franchise‘s 41st anime film, opened in Japan on March 4 after a yearlong delay due to COVID-19. It ranked at #1 in its opening weekend, and sold 350,000 tickets for 440 million yen (about US$3.81 million) in its first three days. The film is a remake of the 1985 Doraemon film of the same title.
Sources: Eiga Doraemon: Nobita to Sora no Utopia film’s website, Comic Natalie
