Beginning 07 February 2013, heading down to your local KFC in Japan and purchasing a “Smile Chicken Set” or a “Smile Crispy Set” (¥500 yen each) will allow you to choose one of three “Parents and Children Play Together! Mightiest Battle Goods, Round 1” (第１弾　親子で遊ぼう！最強バトルグッズ Dai-ichi-dan Oyako de Asobō! Saikyō Batoru Guzzu) items: “Battle Reversi”, “Battle Playing Cards”, or “Sugoroku Battle”.

There are, of course, the usual caveats that some locations may not participate, and the promotion is while supplies last.

The promotion was also mentioned in the March 2013 issue of V-Jump:

The magazine description mentions only that you can “receive” one of the three items — the KFC website itself, as noted above, goes into much more detail. V-Jump‘s March 2013 issue also contained a wealth of new information about the movie’s plot and on-going promotions.

The March 2013 issue of V-Jump provides some additional details for the upcoming Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods theatrical film in terms of its plot, preview screenings, pre-order materials, and video game inclusions.

A shot of “Birusu”, the God of Destruction, showcases the deity slamming Majin Boo and Super Saiyan Gohan into each other. Another scene showcases #18 going up against the god (who is holding chopsticks), as well. Fans’ questioning over the comparative-size of Pilaf and his minions seems to be addressed (which is quite interesting considering how things start in Dragon Ball GT), and Vegeta may possibly be playing the exposition role yet again by potentially knowing of and meeting Birusu in the past.

Taking Boo and Gohan by the hair, this is Birusu’s overwhelming power!! Can Goku possibly win against such a foe?

God of Destruction and Artificial Human?! Super battles between Birusu and the warriors of Earth will be made a reality one after another!!

What’s this?! That Pilaf gang has been turned into children…?!

Vegeta has met Birusu before?!

Even Vegeta is no match before Birusu!! At any rate, it appears that Birusu has an interest in the Saiyans…?!

Who is the warrior that the God of Destruction seeks?!

By pre-ordering a ticket to the movie, you will get a set of three Dragon Ball pens. Set A includes the Liu Xing Qiu (Six Star Ball, Pink), Qi Xing Qiu (Seven Star Ball, Orange), and Yi Xing Qiu (One Star Ball, Black), while Set B includes the Er Xing Qiu (Two-Star Ball, Purple), Wu Xing Qiu (Five-Star Ball, Green), and San Xing Qiu (Three Star Ball, Light Blue) — no Four Star Ball, it seems. In terms of actual ticket prices, adults and “students” (high school and university) are ¥1,300, junior high students and children (age 3 and up) are ¥800, and parent-child pairs are ¥2,000 for both of them.

Weekly Young Jump had previously announced a special preview screening of the movie scheduled for 12 March 2013, but this issue of V-Jump dives into some of the specifics. The preview screening will be a cross-promotion between 22 different Shueisha magazines. In total, 884 pairs, or 1768 people in all, are invited. The screening will be at 6:30 p.m. on the aforementioned 12 March 2013 (a Tuesday), with doors opening at 6:00 p.m. There will be a live greeting by castmembers at the Tokyo venue, which will be beamed live to the other locations. The five locations are as follows:

1. Tokyo: Shinjuku Wald 9 (214 pairs, 428 total)
2. Osaka: Umeda Burg 7 (220 pairs, 440 total)
3. Nagoya: 109 Cinemas Nagoya (128 pairs, 256 total)
4. Fukuoka: T-Joy Hakata (161 pairs, 322 total)
5. Sapporo: Sapporo Cinema Frontier (161 pairs, 322 total)

To apply for the drawing, you have to cut out and paste the ticket on the page to the back of a postcard, write “Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods Preview Screening” and the number of the venue you want, then your postal code, address, name, age, occupation (or school year), and phone number — send it to the address printed, with everything postmarked by 20 February 2013 (Wednesday).

A second preview screening has also been scheduled, this one at Differ Ariake (not far from Tokyo Big Sight) on 16 March 2013 at 3:30 p.m. (doors open at 3:00 p.m.). This promotion is occurring across V-Jump, Weekly Jump, and Saikyō Jump — 250 pairs (500 people in all) will be invited. To enter for a chance at this one, you must cut and paste the ticket on the page onto the back of a postcard, write “Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods DIFFER Preview Screening”, your postal code, address, name, age, occupation / school year, and phone number, and send it to the address in the section by 22 February 2013. At this preview screening event, there will be an on-stage greeting and a special guest!

FLOW’s involvement with recording the main theme to the movie — a cover of “CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA” (the first opening theme to the Dragon Ball Z TV series) — is noted, though no actual new information is included. Interestingly, the title is written out as “CHA-RA HEAD-CHA-RA”, a swap in L/Rs that we have never seen before with this particular song.

As previously revealed, “Birusu” will be making an appearance in the arcade version of Dragon Ball Heroes as a “super boss battle” in the new “Galaxy Mission 6” update. It has also been revealed that there will be a Battle of Gods-specific update in “Galaxy Mission 7” which will be formally unveiled in the April Special Big Issue of V-Jump.

The magazine also contains a two-page spread dealing with upcoming events relating to the movie:

First up is the art exhibition, titled “Akira Toriyama: The World of DRAGONBALL”, which will be held across three major cities in Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya) and will display not only Toriyama’s manuscripts, but an “Age” timeline of the Dragon Ball world and an original video. There will also be a corner selling special merchandise.

In Tokyo, it will be held in the event space on the eighth floor of the Nihonbashi Takashimaya Department Store from 27 March 2013 (Wednesday) to 15 April 2013 (Monday). In Osaka, it will be held in the event space on the eighth floor of the Hanshin Department Store in Umeda, from 17 April 2013 (Wednesday) to 23 April 2013 (Tuesday). In Nagoya, it will be held in the Matsuzakaya Museum, which is on the seventh floor of the South Wing of the Matsuzakaya Department Store in Nagoya from 27 July 2013 (Saturday) to 01 September 2013 (Sunday) Admission is not free, though the price is not yet determined.

There will also be a “Dragon Ball Z Festival” in commemoration of Battle of Gods at Toei Kyoto Studio Park (Tōei Uzumasa Eigamura). There will be an interactive video corner where you can shoot a Kamehameha and partake in a “Super Saiyan Quiz”. There will also be an archive where you can view all the battles Goku’s had. This exhibit will be held in the event space on the first floor of the Padios Hall, from 16 March 2013 (Saturday) to 08 September 2013 (Sunday). Admission is free with entry to the theme park, which is ¥2,200 for adults, ¥1,300 for junior- and senior high school students, and ¥1,100 for children 3 and up.

The last “event” is the release of the Full Color Comics and the Chōzenshū, which is obviously not an in-person “event” but a standard product launch.

The March 2013 issue of V-Jump is currently available via CDJapan, Play-Asia, and Amazon Japan. Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods — the first new theatrical presentation for the franchise in seventeen years — will formally open in Japanese theaters 30 March 2013.

Olympic gold-medalist jūdō-ka Kaori Matsumoto and voice actress/singer/TV-personality Shōko Nakagawa will both be providing voices to the upcoming Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods theatrical film, due out nationwide in Japan on 30 March 2013.

Matsumoto will play a female motorcycle police officer modeled on her appearance who appears during a party scene, while Nakagawa will play the “oracle fish” (予言魚) that first brings the God of Destruction “Birusu” to seek out Son Goku. Both provided statements of excitement to Japanese entertainment site Natalie regarding their contributions.

Matusmoto’s remarks are as follows:

今回、「ドラゴンボールZ～神と神～」の白バイの女性隊員役にキャスティングしていただき本当にありがとうございます。子供の頃から大好きなアニメ作品に出演できることはとても嬉しいですし、一生忘れることのできない宝物になります。でも、人生で初めての経験で、多分柔道よりも緊張しますし、ちゃんとできるのか不安だったりでまだ夢なんじゃないかと思っています。今回の出演をキッカケに孫悟空に少し近づくことができるので、一生懸命役に入り込んで、楽しみつつ頑張りたいと思います。

---

I am truly grateful to have been cast as a member of the police motorcycle squad for Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods. I am very glad to be able to perform in an animated work I’ve loved since I was a child; it will be a treasure I’ll never forget as long as I’m alive. However, it’s my first such experience in my life, and I’m probably even more nervous than with Judo, so I’m unsure whether I’ll be able to do it properly, and still wondering whether this is a dream. Through this performance, I’ll be able to get a little closer to Son Goku, so I’ll throw myself into the role earnestly, and do my best while also enjoying myself.

Meanwhile, “Shoko-tan” (as she is “cutely” referred to as by her fans) stated:

ドラゴンボール新作映画の予告をジャンプで見て感動にうち震えていたら、まさかのゲスト出演決定の知らせが！ 生涯最大のミラクルキターー！アルティメット感激です。ありがとうございます！全ての全世界・宇宙が待ち望んでいた待望の新作ということで、ドラゴンボールへの溢れる気持ちをこめて、全身全霊で挑みました。トランクスや悟空、ベジータたちにまた会えると思うと、ここまで生きていてよかったと心から思います。本当に、どんな言葉を持ってしてもこの嬉しさと感激を表せません！

---

When I saw the preview of the new Dragon Ball movie in Jump, and trembled with excitement, I had no idea that news would come of me being set to do a guest role! The greatest miracle in my life is here — ! I’m ULTIMATE moved. Thank you so much! It’s the long-anticipated new work everybody in the whole world, and universe, has been waiting for, so I took my overflowing passion for Dragon Ball, and tackled it with my whole body and soul. When I think I’ll be able to see Trunks, Goku, Vegeta and the others again, I feel from the heart that I’m glad to have lived this long. Really, whatever words I use, they can’t express my happiness and deep emotion!

Nakagawa is no stranger to Dragon Ball — the personality began a series of anime song cover albums back in 2007, and kicked things off with a full rendition and music video for the opening theme to the first TV series (“Romantikku Ageru yo”). A few years later she continued with the franchise on her third cover songs release with the first closing theme to the Dragon Ball Z TV series (“Detekoi Tobikiri ZENKAI Pawā”) and a TV-sized version of the Dragon Ball GT opening theme (“DAN DAN Kokoro Hikarete ‘ku”).

Thanks to forumite DragonBoxZTheMovies for the heads-up!

Toei Animation’s official “Battle of Gods” website has posted their first “Special Contents” page, a logo maker based on the Dragon Ball Z logo. Simply enter your name into the “Moji Maker Z” form, choose your preferred background, and hit the “GO!” button. You can then post your personalized logo on either your Facebook or Twitter account, which is a rather genius and inexpensive advertising move by Toei for the upcoming “Battle of Gods” movie. The logo maker gets its name from the Japanese word moji (文字), which means “character”, as in the letters of the alphabet. Now go make your own Dragon Ball Z-style logo!