Doraemon: Nobita the Gladiator

Doraemon: Nobita the Gladiator (Japanese: ドラえもん: 剣闘士のび太, Hepburn: Doraemon: Ken tōshi Nobita) is a 1974 Japanese animated short parody film directed and animated by Moshi Kawara while he was a student at Kyoto Seika University. The short was done entirely in black-and-white and has a rough, crude-looking style.

Background
According to sources, the film is about Doraemon and Nobita time-traveling to Ancient Rome to find some hidden treasure, however when they arrive, things go south as Doraemon is destroyed by Roman centurions and Nobita is captured, he is then thrown into a Gladiator arena where he faces off against a helmeted gladiator. Despite his best efforts, Nobita's arms get dismembered before his head is mashed into a pulp by a mace with ludicrous amounts of blood guzzling, the short ends with Japanese text that translates as "THE END... FOREVER".

Lost Film status
The short was screened at various college campuses throughout 1974 before Kawara pulled it from circulation after Doraemon creators Fujiko Fujio threatened him a cease and desist. The film remained obscure for years until 2004 when screenshots and a description showed up on a book about underground cinema in Japan. As of 2023, no full copy has surfaced and is considered a lost film, It was cited among the most sought-after lost anime media by Anime News Network.

Kawara himself has stated the short was indeed real and that he directed it, but has admitted that he does not own a copy himself as he gave up all copies to Fujiko Fujio to prevent future circulation and likely have them destroyed. He does however feel it's possible copies still exist in the hands of private collectors or former KSU alumni, as he often gave away copies of his student short films to friends and collegues. When interviewed on TV Asahi in 2019 durring Doraemon's 50th anniversary, Kawara stated "I was a young and edgy student filmmaker when I made that, I wanted to be the Ralph Bakshi of Japan, nowadays I'm an older and more professional man, I would never make those shorts today, not because you can't, but because I'm a much different person than I was 50 or so years ago. I did what I could to not get in trouble by selling my remaining copies to the Fujiko duo, It was simply too much for me to handle and I obviously hold no ill will towards the duo and their creations, they are still endearing to this day".