Anyone can change the future. Even Nobita.
The Doraemon franchise, being a manga long-runner, doesn't seem to have a solid ending. Especially more so with the passing of series creator Fujio F. Fujiko (the half of the Fujiko Fujio behind the series) in 1996, before the series itself have anything close to a conclusion.
Or so it seems...
At some point after Fujiko's death, a Doraemon comic - one which doesn't appear in any of it's publications - started circulating online, rumored to be the "actual" final Doraemon manga and a Lost Episode tucked somewhere in Fujiko's archives.
In said story, Doraemon unexpectedly runs out of batteries, just as future law enforcement agencies started imposing restrictions on Time Travel. Nobita, unable to deliver Doraemon to a factory in the future, had two alternatives remaining - replace Doraemon's batteries and risk erasing all of Doraemon's memories to start anew, or wait for technology to advance several years later until it's possible to fix Doraemon without the aid of future technology.
Nobita eventually comes up with an ultimatum - to study hard, excel in the future, and become that robotic researcher capable of fixing and resurrecting Doraemon.
As good as the story is, however, unfortunately it was later proven a hoax - specifically, it was the work of a mangaka named Nobuo Sato and more or less a Fix Fic to the series. It's still well-received by longtime fans of the comic, while the franchise itself really isn't stopping anytime soon.
The comic is available online
, but note that you might want to keep a pack of tissues nearby.
Doraemon's Last Episode contain examples of:
- Art Shift: Scenes from the future (35 years later from the present timeline) are purposely drawn in semi-grayscale and with pencil instead of pen, to reflect the distance between the current timeline.
- Broken Tears: While Nobita in canon have been portrayed as a crybaby just for laughs, this time the bitter tears following his breakdown after Doraemon's deactivation? Absolutely real.
- The Chosen One: As noted by Dekisugi in the future, the world seems unable to reach the bright, optimistic future which Doraemon comes from, because our civilization is moving towards a dead end until a robotics genius from the present can propel humanity into proper technological advancement. Said genius is none other than Nobita himself.
- Continuity Snarl: Part of the reason why Nobita couldn't use the Fourth Dimensional Pocket to find a gadget capable of reviving Doraemon is because said pocket couldn't be accessed while Doraemon is deactivated. Except a few manga episodes and movies would show Nobita doing exactly that - notably in Doraemon: Nobita and the Tin Labyrinth where the pocket can reach the deactivated Doraemon who's on another planet.
- Crush Blush: During the first time skip depicting the characters as high-schoolers, Shizuka visibly blushes in one panel while talking about how concern she is over Nobita, hinting at her developing feelings on him. Proven true in the next skip - 30 years later they're a married couple.
- Deep Sleep: Due to running out of batteries, Doraemon has been sleeping for over three decades until the final scene where he's fixed and revived by the then-adult Nobita.
- Demoted to Extra: The two regular characters, Gian and Suneo, doesn't even appear for the first half of the story which is set in the present. They do show up, in their adult selves in the Distant Finale when they're having a reunion with Dekisugi.
- Distant Finale: The second half of the story has two Time Skips - five years later from the present, where Nobita is an A-star student surpassing even Dekisugi, and thirty years after that when he's the renown robotics professor known as Dr. Nobi.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: The main theme of this story - Nobita must turn his own life around himself, without relying on Doraemon's various gadgets and inventions this time, in order to revive his friend. And in the process, bring technology a few centuries into the future. And he succeeds that in flying colours.
- Empty Eyes: Because of his malfunction, Doraemon spends the entirety of the story with his eyes as blank ovals, until his eventual resurrection.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Avoiding this trope is what drives the story along - replacing Doraemon's batteries immediately will cause his memory to be blanked, and all the happy times he spent with Nobita and gang will be lost forever.Doralin: If you replace his batteries, his memory will be lost. All the memories of Nobita will be erased forever!
- Locked Out of the Loop: It seems like none of Nobita's friends are informed of Doraemon's malfunction and deactivation, and was kept in the blank for the next 35 years.
- Match Cut: The final page has the manga equivalent, where Doraemon, regaining consciousness for the first time in 35 years, sees adult!Nobita and adult!Shizuka - before match-cutting to their younger selves.
- Oh, Crap!: Nobita's expression after hearing from Dorami where Doraemon could lose his memory by replacing his batteries.
- Stable Time Loop: The second half of the story. Mankind and technology is at a dead end despite the future being depicted as bright and optimistic, and the future Doraemon is from seems unlikely. Until Nobita, in his attempt to bring back Doraemon, became a successful robotics expert capable of reviving his friend - and in the process, ensure humanity is on the right path towards that future.
- How about some Yume wo Kanaete to cheer you up?
- AN AN ANtottemo daisukiDORAEMON!
