Doraemon: Nobita and the Legend of the Sun King

Nobita passes through a hole in time and arrives in a lost civilisation called Mayana, where he meets a boy who looks exactly like him: Tio, the country's young king. The two decide to swap places. Nobita likes life in the palace, while Tio is curious about a world with school and mothers in it. But there is a threat in Mayana, and the joke turns into real danger. Tsutomu Shibayama's film follows the familiar structure of the Doraemon features: time travel, a lost civilisation, and a rescue the friends attempt together. The design of Mayana draws on Mayan architecture and builds one of the most striking visual worlds in the series. The narrative does not use the swap only for comedy; the two boys noticing their own lives while living each other's is the film's emotional axis. Who it's for: Doraemon viewers, and anyone who likes children's adventure animation and time-travel stories. Who it's not for: The structure is the same template repeated across the series and there is little surprise. The narrative also stays simple for an adult viewer.