Doraemon: Nobita’s Three Visionary Swordsmen 1994

Nobita Nobi, Noriko Ohara drifts into a vivid dream that clashes with his waking world when his mother calls him back to reality. He begs Doraemon to bring a Dream Machine, but Nobuyo Oyama as Doraemon initially scolds him and lectures him, making Nobita angry enough to run away from home. Yet, after a moment of stubborn resistance, Doraemon relents and hands over the device, unlocking a realm where Nobita can conjure anything his heart desires. The opening dream tries to conjure Atlantis, but the tale quickly pivots to something more adventurous: a variant of The Three Musketeers, inspired by a real-world figure named Toriho who persuades him to stay with the idea. In this new world, Nobita meets a benevolent fairy who whisks him to a city within the Kingdom of Yumirume, gallantly besieged by the fearsome army of Emperor Odrome.

In the heat of battle, the fairy’s magic saves Nobita, and a daring act—she plucks a piece of the moon—lets him soar. When he lands, he finds himself in a forest where the swordsman Sunemith, Kaneta Kimotsuki in this tale, takes him under his wing and makes him a servant. Along his journey, Nobita lends a hand to a baby bear trapped by danger, setting a tone of mercy that threads through the voyage. The forest darkens as Nobita is ambushed by another swordsman named Gitos, known to the real world as Gian. To protect him, Sunemith confronts Gitos, but loses the skirmish and is forced to retreat. The two swordsmen press deeper into the forest, seeking a legendary silver sword and a noble suit of armor rumored to reside in the hidden depths.

Ascending a sky-reaching tree in their quest, the trio climbs toward the treasure, yet Nobita, guided by an unlikely gleam, discovers a fragment of the moon and uses it to reach the treetop and claim the silver sword. With this prize, Nobita is enthroned as the silver swordsman in their legend. Just as triumph seems within reach, Nobita’s mother awakes him from the dream, leaving him to process the remarkable revelation once back at school, where he notices that Sunemith and Gian (Ginos) appear wearied by their experiences in the dream.

That night, Nobita longs to expand the dream by inviting his friends to join. Doraemon, Nobuyo Oyama again stepping into the action, receives an antenna to his friends’ heads and, once asleep, Nobita finds that Gian and Suneo have joined the fantasy of their own accord. The group now faces a fearsome dragon as all four of them travel toward its lair, only to be intercepted by a bear who guides them to the dragon’s cave. The dragon, awakened from slumber, uses fire to petrify the group—Gitos and Sunemith are turned to stone, and Nobita and Doraemon barely escape the same fate.

In a tense moment, Nobita and Doraemon reunite with Princess Shizukaru, and the pair disguise themselves by blending into their surroundings, a ruse Doraemon suggests could keep the dragon from recognizing them. They slip into the dragon’s inner cavern, witnessing the petrified friends and the dragon’s awakening. Nobita fights bravely, protecting himself with his sword and managing to sever the dragon’s mustaches, which momentarily weakens it. Rather than delivering a fatal blow, Nobita feels empathy for the creature and learns that the dragon simply yearns to protect itself, not to harm others. The dragon grants them one last life by exposing its own sweat, and it helps restore Gitos and Sunemith to life.

With their numbers restored, the group moves toward an assaulted city where the enemy’s forces are being dissolved with water—an army made of sands dissolving in liquid. Odrome rages at the unexpected counterattack, and a second assault unfolds. Toriho seizes Doraemon’s pocket to present it to Odrome, who chooses to confront Nobita directly. A fierce duel ensues, and Odrome seems to gain the upper hand, threatening to claim Nobita’s friends as well. Just as the peril peaks, Nobita’s waking world intrudes once more—the Dream Machine is returned, and the dream begins to unravel. Nobita carefully removes the antenna from his friends’ heads, sparing Shizukaru, who is momentarily distracted by a bathing scene.

Seeking a proper ending, Doraemon and Nobita decide to finish the dream in a quieter, more intimate moment. They quietly slip into Odrome’s castle, where Shizukaru makes a final appearance and is briefly killed, only to be revived by the power of the legend and the Big Light. In a climactic clash, Nobita and Odrome trade blows, and just as defeat seems certain, Shizukaru arrives to strike the decisive blow, using the Big Light to vanquish Odrome. The dream concludes with Shizukaru accepting Nobita’s company and the promise of a future union, though the Dream Machine must be returned.

Back in the real world, Nobita and Shizuka Minamoto go to school, still buzzing from yesterday’s incredible journey. Nobita hurries to catch up with Shizuka as she tells him he looked remarkable in a dream she won’t reveal to him, leaving him with a mixed sense of wonder and affection for the awakenings that only dreams can provide.