'Zindagi sawaar du, ik nayi bahar du...', hearing this song instantly takes one back to childhood. For several generations, childhood meant Sunday mornings with 'Doraemon', from whose pocket emerge thousands of magical gadgets. But this colorful journey is now coming to an end.
After a long journey of 35 years, it's now coming to a close. The cartoon of the blue robot cat and his friend Nobita will no longer be broadcast on Indonesia's popular TV channel RCTI. This show first started in Indonesia in early 1990, which has now made its mark in the pages of history.
Doraemon's name was not in RCTI's program schedule published in late 2025. Then on January 4, 2026, it was announced that Doraemon would no longer be broadcast. As soon as the news spread, there was an uproar on social media.
An Indonesian cinema-related organisation announced the news of Doraemon being discontinued on social media. The statement said that Doraemon had disappeared from the RCTI channel's schedule list.
RCTI channel authorities have remained tight-lipped about why Doraemon's broadcast was stopped. Viewers are extremely upset as no written statement has been issued regarding this matter.
Netizens have raised a storm of protest on social media over their favorite show being discontinued. Thousands of fans have asked RCTI why Doraemon was removed. At the same time, demands have been made to bring it back.
Many fans have emotionally written, 'Sundays no longer feel colorful without Doraemon.' Some have claimed that they used to watch that particular channel solely to see this cartoon.
Doraemon first aired on Japan's TV Asahi in 1979. However, after this show came to Indonesia, it didn't remain just a cartoon. Doraemon became one of the primary means of teaching children about friendship, responsibility, and courage.
With Doraemon, the childhood hero of several generations, bidding farewell in this manner, households across Indonesia are now filled with nothing but reminiscence. The magic pocket may remain forever in the pages of memory. But that familiar magic door seems to have closed forever. Will the Nobita-Doraemon duo return to Indonesia on some other platform? Fans are counting the hours waiting for that answer.
