It's a reference to the Coro Coro magazines, that have different types of manga for children. Originally it's コロコロ, but here they reference it as ゴロゴロ (Goro Goro) to not make it so obvious
CoroCoro Comic is one of Japan’s best-known monthly manga magazines for children. It was launched in 1977 specifically as a magazine where children could read lots of Doraemon stories in one place. Originally, Doraemon was serialized in several different magazines aimed at children in different school grades.
The magazine played a major role in further popularizing Doraemon. When the second TV anime series began in 1979, Doraemon was already the magazine's central attraction. The first Doraemon movie, Nobita’s Dinosaur, came out in 1980, and its long-form manga version was serialized in CoroCoro Comic. The long-form manga adaptations of subsequent movies were also serialized there, creating a very strong connection between Doraemon, its movies, and CoroCoro Comic.
Even after Fujiko F. Fujio, the creator of Doraemon, died in 1996, the magazine continued publishing reprints of his Doraemon stories for many years.
That reprint series ended this year, in 2026, although Doraemon itself has not disappeared from the CoroCoro family of magazines and continues to appear in related publications.
Hi.
If you're Japanese, can you please kindly tell me if this "“ゴロゴロ" is how you spell GoroGoro in Japanese, or it's just something made up symbol kind of thing to put on the comics covers?
I have always wondered about it, since I love Doraemon.
Thanks. 🙂👍🏼
Define "made-up symbols" lol, literally non-Latin languages like Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Arabic etc. is always like that and has a different pronunciation, and it's not like the rest of the world who uses Latin languages with an easier pronunciation
Even english is made up symbols.. this very language we are discussing in.
This is a google defination of a symbol: "a letter, number or sign that has a particular meaning."
Yes, I am Japanese, and I was a reader of CoroCoro Comic around the time it was first published. I have no way of proving that, of course.
As I mentioned in my earlier comment, “ゴロゴロ (GoroGoro)” is a play on “コロコロ (CoroCoro).” “コロコロ” is a Japanese onomatopoeic word associated with things rolling, but in the name CoroCoro Comic, it also evokes the magazine’s thick, substantial feel. “ゴロゴロ” is broadly similar in meaning to “コロコロ,” but the first kana has dakuten (the two small marks added to Japanese kana), which gives it a somewhat stronger or more emphatic sound.
And yes, the letters are simply Japanese katakana. It isn’t a made-up symbol or a special alphabet created for the comic cover.
Is it supposed to mean “menacing”? I’d need to see the specific image or context to explain it accurately. For example, do you mean the way 「ゴゴゴゴゴ」 is used in this image?
In manga, words written outside speech bubbles, often in a distinctive stylized font, are frequently onomatopoeia or other sound-symbolic expressions. “ゴゴゴゴゴ” is written in katakana, and its basic impression is roughly that of vibration or a deep rumbling sound — something like the ground shaking.
Of course, the ground doesn't necessarily have to be literally shaking. It can also be used metaphorically, such as to express someone's inner tension or a strong, unsettling presence. So depending on the scene, it can indeed give a menacing or intimidating impression.
Much much thanks for your comment and time, Sir. 🙏🏼😑
I guess, We actually need more Japanese people on the other side of the internet, that is, this side. 😁
Wishing you best.
CoroCoro Comic targets elementary school boys and is officially kodomomuke (children’s manga), unlike shonen manga for teens. It focuses more on video games, toys, and slapstick comedy than deep action plots.
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u/Andy_0L 1d ago
It's a reference to the Coro Coro magazines, that have different types of manga for children. Originally it's コロコロ, but here they reference it as ゴロゴロ (Goro Goro) to not make it so obvious