| Doraemon the Movie: The Record of Nobita's Parallel Visit to the West | |
| Director: | Tsutomu Shibayama |
| Producer: | Fujiko F. Fujio Pro |
| Starring: | |
| Music: | Shunsuke Kikuchi |
| Studio: | Shin-Ei Animation |
| Runtime: | 90 minutes |
| Country: | Japan |
| Language: | Japanese |
| Gross: | $21.1 million[1] |
, also known as Doraemon's Parallel Journey to the West,[2] is a 1988 Japanese animated science fantasy film which premiered on March 12, 1988 in Japan. It is loosely based on the 16th-century novel Journey to the West. It is the 9th Doraemon film, last Showa-era Doraemon film and is the only 1979 series film to not have its own official manga version.
The film begins with Nobita waking up after seeing a dream where he impersonates the Monkey King and Doraemon, a traveler from the Western dynasty. He wakes midst his friends practicing a school play, Journey to the West. Nobita tries to impersonate Sun Wukong first, but he had to play the role of A travelling villager. When Gian and Suneo teased Nobita, he said that the best way to find someone to portray the character would be to find someone who has met Sun Wukong. Everyone teased, claiming that while the journey of Tang Sanzang was real, Sun Wukong and other characters were later added. At the end, Nobita promises to find the actual Sun Wukong and if he is unable to do so, Gian can use any gadget of Doraemon. At home, unable to find Doraemon, who is enjoying a virtual video game, Nobita travels to 645 AD where he notices Sun Wukong resembling his face and later helping a starving kid whom he seemingly had helped before. Hours later, he also brings along his friends with Doraemon after which they are prevented by uprising cavalry. They later spot Tang Sanzang after which Doraemon disguises Nobita as Monkey King. During some talks, a monster secretly cradles out of the game.
Nobita and his friends return home after Nobita is found out to be pretending to be the Monkey King. Gian asks for the video game and the group starts playing it, but there were no monsters in the game. Doraemon says that there might be a problem in the functioning and Gian, Shizuka and Suneo return to their homes. They find the atmosphere to be extremely dark. At night, Nobita sees that his father has horns but he thinks that he is just seeing things.
The next day, when they were rehearsing, Dekisugi says that Shizuka (playing the role of Tang Sanzang) will be eaten by the monsters. The group opposes him saying that this is not the story. But slowly, Dekisugi gets angry and develops horns, seeing that the group gets shocked. Their teacher arrives, and when the group complains about the matter, the Teacher gets angry and turns into a monster. As soon as Nobita reaches home, he and Doraemon, using Bamboo Copters, set out to survey the city and they find a huge Chinese-styled building and Doraemon realizes that the monsters from the game came out when they left the machine open, yesterday, when they went to 645 AD, where the monsters came out from the machine and the course of history changed. To stop the growth and rule of monsters, the friends decide to travel back to fix things. They disguise as their respective characters and travel back in time.
Upon reaching, the camera pans upon to Tang Sanzang along with the kid, resting in a temple. After two monsters and their pets attack Tang Sanzang, Nobita disguised as Stone Monkey defeats them along with Doraemon and his friends. Tang Sanzang leaves them for his journey and the friends head forward to eliminate all monsters in Tang Sanzang's way but they get exhausted and open a camping capsule during the route where they relax. At night, Tang Sanzang awakes to peep on the kid whispering to a monster, but ignores and falls asleep.
The next dawn, a flock of monster-bats carry Tang Sanzang towards the castle whereas the kid lives. Gian advises Nobita to take a look at Tang Sanzang. As he moves, he passes by a past Nobita who identifies him Sun Wukong. He stops by a lake and notices the castle hosting Tang Sanzang. After trying to save Tang Sanzang, he is attacked by the monsters of the castle. Back at the desert, the friends help defeat Silverhorn but Shizuka is secretly kidnapped by a monster underground. The kid apologizes and leads the friends inside the castle. While reaching the main gate, the friends fall off in a hole behind the kid. They wake up and are reunited with Shizuka and Tang Sanzang but tied with ropes.
Though Tang Sanzang forgives the kid, who is actually the son of the Monstress of the Castle, the Monstress orders the King of Monsters to eat the group. However, before dipping Doraemon in acid, Dorami arrives to rescue him and the kid secretly releases all the friends. Nobita struggles initially, but later, magnifies his stick which pierces through the Monster King, leading to the Monster's death and so the magic fades off while the Montress also falls in the lava. As the volcano begins to shake, the friends take the help of Anywhere Door which directs them to a nearby land as they watch the volcano erupt. Nobita secrets his original identity as the friends bid farewell to Tang Sanzang who heads for his further journey.
Upon returning home, Nobita suspects his mother, but is relieved when he finds no horns. The friends smile as Nobita and his mother embrace. As the credits roll up, the theme song plays, while the friends happily reunite with their mothers.
| Doraemon | Nobuyo Ōyama |
| Nobita Nobi | Noriko Ohara |
| Shizuka Minamoto | Michiko Nomura |
| Suneo Honekawa | Kaneta Kimotsuki |
| Jian Gōda | Kazuya Tatekabe |
| Tamako Nobi | Sachiko Chijimatsu |
| Nobisuke Nobi | Masayuki Kato |
| Hidetoshi Dekisugi | Sumiko Shirakawa |
| Sensei | Ryoichi Tanaka |
| Dorami | Keiko Yokozawa |
| Time Machine | Yuji Mitsuya |
| Tang Sanzang | Masaru Ikeda |
| Linley/Red Boy | Yuko Mizutani |
| Bull Demon King | Hidekatsu Shibata |
| Princess Iron Fan | Yōko Kuri |
| Golden Horn | Takko Ishimori |
| Silver Horn | Seizō Katō |
| Motohira-kun | Keiichi Nanba |
| Hero Machine Computer | Toshio Ishii |
| Princess Peach | Eriko Hara |
| Tengu Bats | Yuu Shimaka Aruno Tahara |
The film was released in Japan on 12 March 1988.