Official On-Going DBZ 2013 Movie Thread: "Battle of Gods"

[Dorexx]

It's unlikely that the screenshot is an in-between frame. The characters are just standing still.

I'm one of the people who hoped this time they might try to impress us with something really cool in both animation and plot. Not only it didn't happen like I hoped, they didn't even try. The "true and hardcore" fans don't exist for Toei. I'm sure this is entirely made only to impress young children who don't really know much about DB other than it's about a bunch of strong guys who fight a bunch of bad guys. And the writers of this movie aren't far above them in knowledge. So what if Toriyama is involved? All he'd do at this point is ruin the story. His drawing isn't ANYTHING like what it used to be, not to mention his knowledge. His new character designs are just circles and dots. Birusu may be a little more detailed, but it still looks stupid.

As for Toei's animation, it's terrible, just like the other newest specials. Everything they're doing is bad and they should be ashamed of themselves for ruining such a beautiful franchise with such a lack of effort in everything they're doing.

[AnimeMaakuo]

.

[penguintruth]

How dare they ruin an anime known for shitty art and animation with MORE shitty art and animation!

Guys, it's DBZ. This is Toei, not Studio Bones.

[JulieYBM]

It's unlikely that the screenshot is an in-between frame. The characters are just standing still.

Pay attention to Shen Long's hair and face. It looks like it could be in motion.

As for Toei's animation, it's terrible, just like the other newest specials. Everything they're doing is bad and they should be ashamed of themselves for ruining such a beautiful franchise with such a lack of effort in everything they're doing.

Hardly. Episode of Bardock and the 2008 special made use of very talented animators, to say nothing of the effort that went into the opening of Ultimate Blast or Dragon Ball Kai.

[Chuquita]

I should've asked before, but near the end of the 2nd paragraph where the plot summary is I see Vegeta's name; is it just there in a "Goku, Vegeta, and everyone else" way, or does it say something about what happens to Vegeta himself?

Yep, it's being used in the general "Vegeta, Gohan, and all the other regular Z warriors..." sort of way. So no details yet on what specific roles any of the other characters besides Gokuu are going to have. But it should turn out to be something fun, especially with that adorable Vegeta figure we've seen pictures of ^_^

Thank you so much! That figurine's got me so curious about what happens to Vegeta that when I saw his name in the paragraph I was wondering what it said there; and I agree, it looks like it'll be something fun. OuO

[Dorexx]

Pay attention to Shen Long's hair and face. It looks like it could be in motion.

That's obviously in motion. It's the characters that aren't.

[B]

So what if Toriyama is involved? All he'd do at this point is ruin the story. His drawing isn't ANYTHING like what it used to be, not to mention his knowledge.

Forgive me if I'm misinterpreting this, because a part of me feels you're joking, but he hasn't exactly drawn a whole lot of professional manga in the last few years. There's pretty much only Kintoki. We've seen sketches here and there that were basically autographs and covers for guidebooks. To say his art "isn't anything like what it used to be" sounds extremely harsh and premature.

[Jackal puFF]

Wow this thread just exploded with posts haha!

I'm surprised that Ox King is with the group.. Where's Buu and Satan? Aw and no Yaj. Really like the background though, clouds and colors look great! Trailer is bound to come soon!

[kei17]

Every time I see the official artwork, I get super excited, but at the same time, I'm disgusted at Yamamuro's current ugly style. It's not that he is technically bad. It just doesn't look DB-esque at all. I don't know why, but even Uchiyama's awful art feels more DB-ish. They have replaced most of the other main staff members for this movie, so they should have hired a new, more talented animation supervisor, too. I'm enough of Yamamuro.

[Chuquita]

I feel like everyone's faces are too wide with Yamamuro and that's part of why everyone looks "off" compared to Toriyama's art, where the characters have slimmer (more streamlined?) body proportions. I mean, Vegeta's got more of a wider face in general so Yamamuro fits him ok, but when you bring Goku and Bulma in, for example, it's more noticeable how different their art styles are.


23rd Budoukai ~ mid-late Freeza is my favorite era of Toriyama's art style, but I feel like I probably won't ever see any more of that again.

[JeffJarrett]

Each one was represented and created by one of the 7 wishes they made over the course of Dragon Ball though, this would be the 8th wish

Several additional wishes were made in movies. Also, a few manga wishes didn't spawn Shadow Dragon:
- At the end of the King Piccolo Saga: revive those killed by King Piccolo and his sons.
- In the Cell Games Saga: those killed by Cell revived + Android Bombs removed.

[Blade]

Interesting developments!

I have no problem with the fact that Birisu is stronger than Majin Buu and, supposedly, Goku. I mean, to those who say that it's not "believable" I think it's rather absurd that out of everything in the world of Dragonball Z with its 7 magic balls, golden haired transformations and flying cats that you take issue with the strength of an opponent.

The problem with this movie and for that matter any continuation of the Dragonball Z storyline is that as the series has progressed the opponents have been stronger and stronger, meaning that Goku has become stronger and stronger with each passing saga in order to defeat them. This endless snowballing of power levels is perhaps one of the reasons why Dragonball GT tried, and rather failed actually, at bringing Goku down to size.

The fans of the show want a spectacle, the audience wants a big battle where everyone gets the snot kicked out of them and all hope is lost only for Goku to save the day against the odds. It's the tried and tested formula, and the fact that the movie is set after the Majin Buu saga means that whatever opponent Goku has to fight will need to be incredibly powerful.

I think the fact that they have chosen to make the opponent a 'God' is probably the most credible decision they could probably have made.

[Tzigi]

I feel like everyone's faces are too wide with Yamamuro and that's part of why everyone looks "off" compared to Toriyama's art, where the characters have slimmer (more streamlined?) body proportions.

That's also the problem with Shenlong in this image - his head is way too wide. It does not look like him but rather like the red (Ultimate?) Shenlong from GT i.e. the one Kaboom calls in GTR Xuenlong.
Just compare (anime pics only):
"Standard" Shenlong

"Battle of Gods" Shenlong

red Shenlong from GT (rotated to make the comparison easier)


Which two look the most familiar?

BUT: even in manga Shenlong has changed considerably:

Just three images - where I could find Shenlong "en face". Toriyama sure did have some variety to his style

[Michsi]

How dare they ruin an anime known for shitty art and animation with MORE shitty art and animation!

Guys, it's DBZ. This is Toei, not Studio Bones.

That's unfair. Toei is more than capable of producing good animation and they do seem to try when it comes to the recent One Piece movies, so I really hope they will do the same with this one.

I'm going to wait until the trailer to say something about the animation.

I'm also not a big fan of the drawing style used for the anime nowadays but this is something I've come to accept from the beginning as one of the things I probably won't like in the movie .

[Dorexx]

So what if Toriyama is involved? All he'd do at this point is ruin the story. His drawing isn't ANYTHING like what it used to be, not to mention his knowledge.

Forgive me if I'm misinterpreting this, because a part of me feels you're joking, but he hasn't exactly drawn a whole lot of professional manga in the last few years. There's pretty much only Kintoki. We've seen sketches here and there that were basically autographs and covers for guidebooks. To say his art "isn't anything like what it used to be" sounds extremely harsh and premature.

I'm mainly just thinking of some of his latest character designs, such as the villains from the 2008 special, or his Yardrat design in DB Online. From this and all the other stuff he's done recently you can sort of imagine how much he's lost it. I didn't mean "anything" literally, because he probably just doesn't care enough to put a lot of effort these days and maybe if he would, he could still make something we'd all love again.

[JeffJarrett]

Now that you mentioned it , hasn't C-16 been revived as well ?

The arcade game Dragon Ball Z 2: Super Battle shows that Android 16 went on to live in the forest after Cell's defeat, protecting animals from poachers and other dangers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPms6KiNPo8&t=2m25s).

[Daimakku]

I feel like everyone's faces are too wide with Yamamuro and that's part of why everyone looks "off" compared to Toriyama's art, where the characters have slimmer (more streamlined?) body proportions.

That's also the problem with Shenlong in this image - his head is way too wide. It does not look like him but rather like the red (Ultimate?) Shenlong from GT i.e. the one Kaboom calls in GTR Xuenlong.
Just compare (anime pics only):
"Standard" Shenlong

"Battle of Gods" Shenlong

red Shenlong from GT (rotated to make the comparison easier)


Which two look the most familiar?

BUT: even in manga Shenlong has changed considerably:

Just three images - where I could find Shenlong "en face". Toriyama sure did have some variety to his style

Looks like Shenlong has been eating a little bit too much inside those dragonballs. Poor guy can't burn those carbs off.

[Titan]

But still, taking his growth into account and things like Super Saiyan 2 and 3 on top of it, even Goku's probably capping out at a few hundred times stronger than Freeza now. So Billy must be REALLY something if Goku's not even a challenge for him.

Which, and I can't help but think this way at least a little, would explain this guy being a threat to guys like Gohan and Gotenks, too.

Who knows if Goku will even be able to go all out against him? Maybe he'll only fight him in SSJ and that's why they say "Bils completely overpowered him". I wouldn't hold my breath.
And if Bils has some fucked up magical powers that prevent Goku from transforming or going max power, then that's also kinda disapointing.

Looking at the poster it seems that Goku won't use SSj3.

I also don't have a problem with new villains who for some reason are stronger than the ones before. But it has to be believable in-universally so to speak.
At some point there needs to be a final guy, though for me. It's ridiculous to always say "Wow I have never sensed such a high ki and power before...that guy must be the strongest in the universe" and then forget about him and move on to the next one who does the same but only stronger.

Toriyama does the same thing over and over again.

Characters are getting too powerful to even exist in a physical universe.

Like, just their very existence warps reality itself. They could fart out a galaxy.

Toriyama just couldn't stop overpowering his characters and it seems he is going to the cheaper
power-up in the business, ie, a fusion to solve the situation.

It's unlikely that the screenshot is an in-between frame. The characters are just standing still.

I'm one of the people who hoped this time they might try to impress us with something really cool in both animation and plot. Not only it didn't happen like I hoped, they didn't even try. The "true and hardcore" fans don't exist for Toei. I'm sure this is entirely made only to impress young children who don't really know much about DB other than it's about a bunch of strong guys who fight a bunch of bad guys. And the writers of this movie aren't far above them in knowledge. So what if Toriyama is involved? All he'd do at this point is ruin the story. His drawing isn't ANYTHING like what it used to be, not to mention his knowledge. His new character designs are just circles and dots. Birusu may be a little more detailed, but it still looks stupid.

As for Toei's animation, it's terrible, just like the other newest specials. Everything they're doing is bad and they should be ashamed of themselves for ruining such a beautiful franchise with such a lack of effort in everything they're doing.
I'm mainly just thinking of some of his latest character designs, such as the villains from the 2008 special, or his Yardrat design in DB Online. From this and all the other stuff he's done recently you can sort of imagine how much he's lost it. I didn't mean "anything" literally, because he probably just doesn't care enough to put a lot of effort these days and maybe if he would, he could still make something we'd all love again

That's an excellent post.
Toriyama's latest designs are awful and his involvement will make things worse.
I feel that he hasn't anything to offer anymore. It is the old ... i'm a SSj and i'm going to win, because,
you know, i'm a SSJ and nobody can keep up with me.
I imagine that the other characters aren't going to do anything unless slash some rocks like in the last
special.

The animation looks exactly like the one used in the 2008 special.

[TRL]

Wow what a couple of bundles of joy!

Toriyama hasn't lost anything. It's his right to experiment with designs. And yes those circular heads are pretty simplistic, but how do you even relate thse to Bils and whis? There's a lot of designs in dbo that are kickass awesome. Not to mention the excellent monster designs he keeps doing for the dragon quest games. If anything Toriyama's designs have overall become more detailed.

And yes Toriyama's involvement in the script is the best thing we could've hoped for, I don't want another GT storyline.

[CaBrPi]

Reviving Cell's victims and removing the androids' bombs happened during the same summoning.

But yeah, I always took it as being that the Shadow Dragons were created by particularly significant wishes. The reason the panties got a specific mention was because it was the first wish in a very long time.