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Doraemon, Crayon Shin-chan Anime Move to Saturdays After 15 Years on Fridays

TV Asahi announced on Wednesday that, beginning on October 5, the Doraemon and Crayon Shin-chan anime series will move to Saturdays. Both anime will be part of a new Saturday programming block named "Anime Time," which will air every Saturday at 4:30 p.m. According to TV Asahi, the new Saturday timeslot will make it easier for children to watch these two programs.

In addition to the new timeslot, Doraemon will have a new opening, as well a new unspecified segment. Crayon Shin-chan will have new collaborations, in the vein of the crossovers it has had in the past with Aibou, Kamen Rider, Terminator, Pirates of the Carribbean, and other popular franchises. To commemorate the move, Doraemon will have a birthday special on September 6, and Crayon Shin-chan will have a "moving" special on September 13.

Currently, both anime air on Friday evenings, with Crayon Shin-chan airing at 7:30 p.m and Doraemon airing at 7:00 p.m. Doraemon has been airing on Friday evenings for 38 years since October 1981, shortly after premiering in a different timeslot in April 1979. Crayon Shin-chan premiered in April 1992, and moved to Friday evening in October 2004, 15 years ago.

These two anime titles are regularly among the highest rated animation programs in Japan every week, usually behind Sazae-san and Chibi Maruko-chan.

The manga creator duo Fujiko Fujio debuted their famous Doraemon robot cat manga in 1969. The manga inspired three television anime series that have collectively lasted over four decades, television specials, and yearly anime films. The third series debuted in April 2005 with a new main voice cast.

TV Asahi has been airing the Crayon Shin-chan anime based on the late Yoshito Usui's manga of the same name since 1992. The anime also has a series of 27 films.

Sources: Doraemon website, Crayon Shin-chan Twitter account, The Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web

Update: The titles' Friday times corrected. Thanks, xScar