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3,752 Posts & 2,349 Pages Documenting Dragon Ball, since 1998. We've got you covered!
Published by 26 November 2012, 9:22 AM EST2 Comments

Now that the Kanzenshuu staff have recovered from their food-induced comas over the holiday weekend, we thought we would bring you one more special gift: the other seven “Dragon Ball Children” essays. Like the first ten, they were included in special “Dragon Ball Information” pamphlets with odd-numbered volumes of the Kanzenban manga’s initial release, but these were never reprinted. Luckily, through the magic of Internet collaboration, we have rescued them from oblivion and are pleased to be able to present them to you here, in English translation.

The content is eclectic, ranging from shōjo artist Arina Tanemura (Full Moon wo Sagashite) to seinen (and mostly non-Shueisha) names Kōshi Rikudō (Excel Saga) and Kōta Hirano (Hellsing). A simple description really does not do them justice, so why not check them out for yourself? You will be thankful you did.

Stick around later today for this week’s podcast episode, which will dive into all seventeen of these “Dragon Ball Children” essays a little more, along with fun stories from Japanese movie ticket purchasing adventures!

Published by 23 November 2012, 7:55 AM EST1 Comment

For our American visitors, as well as the staff here at Kanzenshuu, yesterday was Thanksgiving: a day when we give thanks for what we have. We at Kanzenshuu are thankful for our family, friends, and site visitors, as well as the international continuation of Dragon Ball Kai, the upcoming film “Battle of Gods“, and the “Collaboration Tickets” for the film that we snagged this morning in Japan.

It is now Black Friday in the United States, where people jostle and trample each other in the name of things they do not yet have. To help keep the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday alive a bit longer, we thought we would bring you the reflections of some people who are thankful… for Dragon Ball. We have now added the first 10 “Dragon Ball Children” essays to the “Translations” section; these are written by popular manga artists such as Eiichirō Oda (One Piece) and Masashi Kishimoto (Naruto), who grew up with Dragon Ball and were greatly influenced by it. They were first published in special pamphlets with the initial Kanzenban manga release in Japan, and later reprinted in the guidebook “Dragon Ball Landmark“.

Whether you live in the US or not, we hope that you will take a moment to sit back, read these columns, and think about what you are thankful for. Enjoy, and thank you!

Published by 21 November 2012, 2:14 PM ESTComment

The past week has been full of news, so we wanted to make sure we had a chance to hit it all up on the podcast before moving into our upcoming Thanksgiving spectacular. This time around long-time friend of the website and podcast Kirbopher jumped in to shoot the breeze, bringing along his own perspective on video games and international dub productions. Enjoy!

SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0314! VegettoEX and Kirbopher dive in to the last week’s backlog of news including confirmations for “Battle of Gods”, the upcoming Nintendo 3DS port of “Dragon Ball Heroes”, and much more. A quick wrap-up on “Dragon Ball Z for Kinect” and “Dragon Ball Z: Budokai HD Collection” rounds out the episode!

REFERENCED SITES:

Enjoy! Discuss this episode on the Kanzenshuu forum.

Published by 20 November 2012, 8:58 AM EST1 Comment

The January 2013 issue of V-Jump hits shelves in Japan today (21 November 2012) with lots of great details about the upcoming Nintendo 3DS gameDragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission, including its release date: 28 February 2013 for ¥5800.

The information reveals that the game will be a “complete recreation” of the interface of the Dragon Ball Heroes arcade game via the touch panel, and that the actions (such as the “Charge Impact”) are done so that you can intuitively do them with your hands on the portable device.

“Your heroic tale begins in your hands” continues the splash, with the player able to experience the story from the Saiyan arc up through Dragon Ball GT. If you are able to stand against powerful enemies together with Son Goku and win all of the battles, you will have grown into a true hero! The player is able to move around the “ultimate map” (what appears to be a sort of overworld) with famous scenes that have been “recreated perfectly for the game”.

In terms of in-game cards, they include the complete collection from Dragon Ball Heroes Series 1 up through “Galaxy Mission 4“. By completing your missions, you are able to obtain more cards in the game.

Perhaps most exciting is the high-quality, brand new opening sequence that has been created exclusively for this game. The game with also come with an initial (physical) bonus card set for use at the arcade version of Dragon Ball Heroes, a “Hero Avatar Card”, as well as a “Trial Hero License”. You will also get the first look at the Future Gohan and Future Trunks cards.

So far, Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission for the Nintendo 3DS has only been announced for release in Japan.

UPDATE: Namco-Bandai has released their first trailer for the game, which showcases a little bit of the new opening animation, gameplay footage, and more.

Published by 20 November 2012, 8:47 AM ESTComment

The January 2013 issue of V-Jump hits shelves in Japan today (21 November 2012) with confirmations that both Videl and Zarbon will be added as playable characters in the Japanese arcade game Zenkai Battle Royale.

Videl has a fighting style that appears to be waiting for her opponent to attack, then using their own strength against them in a dodge or counter and playing on their momentum.

Zarbon was previously hinted at in last month’s issue, but has now been fully confirmed. His specialty in-game will involve charging at high speed from afar, which he can then follow up with a hit (such as a kick), or by going straight into his power-type form and using grabbing-type moves.

These updates come on the heels of multiple rounds of other character additions and the major “Super Saiyan Awakening” update. No home release of Zenkai Battle Royale has been announced.

Published by 20 November 2012, 8:10 AM EST1 Comment

A news post on Toei Animation’s website reveals that Dragon Ball Kai (under the standard international name of “Dragon Ball Z Kai”) will be coming to UK television this month:

The English media group CSC Media just acquired the TV rights for 53 episodes of Dragon Ball Z Kai. The English dubbed version should start airing this month in the UK.

The Dragon Ball Z series is currently published on DVD by Manga Entertainment in the UK where the 4th box is released this month.

The announcement does not state which English dub will actually be aired. It is a far more interesting situation than one might at first think — while the entirety of the Dragon Ball Kai series has already been dubbed into English by FUNimation for their audiences (which does include areas such as Australia), an alternate English dub produced using what has traditionally been referred to as the Ocean Studios cast has been rumored/confirmed/denied/reconfirmed/etc. for years now. Actors have swayed between offering straight-out confirmations to cagey avoidances, but it seems likely that all of this news together creates a more complete picture.

This past March, Toei (seemingly preemptively) announced a DVD release of the Dragon Ball Z TV series for the UK via Manga Entertainment, a product that had been hinted at and all-but-confirmed for months on end, but had not yet been officially revealed by Manga UK themselves. Speaking with Jerome Mazandarani, Manga Entertainment’s Head of Marketing and Acquisitions back on Episode #0296 of our podcast in April of this year, we learned that Kai was always of interest to Manga UK and audiences over there, but that Toei was insistent on starting with “Z”-proper (via sublicensing FUNimation’s orange bricks) to somewhat rebuild and reconfirm the enthusiasm and installed base across the pond.

Published by 19 November 2012, 10:39 AM ESTComment

Glénat is hard at work with the Dragon Ball franchise over in France. Volume 23 of their kanzenban release is due out in January taking them into the Artificial Humans and Cell arc, while their concurrent release of the “TV Anime Comics” seems to be taking a break — finishing up the Cell arc on its own last August — in favor of the “Film Anime Comics“.

The first book, covering the first Dragon Ball Z movie with Garlic Jr., is due out 23 January 2013 for 7.60 €, with a note to expect a new book for an individual film every two months after that:

Vous croyez avoir lu tout Dragon Ball Z ? Découvrez 15 nouvelles aventures  des Super Guerriers, inédites en manga, des méchants toujours plus puissants et des combats toujours plus impressionnants !
Garlic Junior est un démon exceptionnel, à l’instar du Tout Puissant. Jaloux de son aîné, il décide de réunir les 7 boules de cristal afin d’acquérir l’immortalité. Mais l’une de ces boules orne le chapeau du fils de Son Goku, précipitant le rapt de ce dernier par les mercenaires de Garlic. Piccolo et Son Goku se lancent alors à l’assaut du palais, alors que Garlic appelle le dragon Shenron.
L’histoire de ce 1er film se situe entreDragon Ball et Dragon Ball Z, peu avant l’arrivée des Super Guerriers (Raditz et Vegeta) sur Terre. Elle révèle pour la première fois toute l’étendue des pouvoirs de Son Gohan.
Les éditions Glénat sont fières de pouvoir mettre enfin à disposition des lecteurs français les anime comics tirés des films deDragon Ball Z et Dragon Ball. Chaque ouvrage reprend l’entièreté de la trame d’un film et fonctionne ainsi en one-shot. 1 film = 1 histoire complète = 1 manga ! À partir de février 2013, retrouvez tous les deux mois un nouveau one-shot, présentant des méchants inédits et de nouveaux combats dantesques !


For the first time in France, all the unseen adventures of DBZ as a manga!

Think you’ve read all about Dragon Ball Z? Discover 15 new adventures for the Super Warriors, never seen before as a manga, bad guys getting more and more powerful and fights getting more and more impressive!
Garlic Junior is an exceptionnal demon, on par with the Almighty One. Jealous, he decides to reunite the 7 Dragon Balls to obtain immortality. But one of the balls is located on the hat of Son Goku’s son, which leads to the young boy being kidnapped by Garlic’s mercenaries. Piccolo and Son Goku rush for the palace while Garlic calls the dragon Shenron.

The story for this first movie occurs between Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, a little before the Super Warriors’ arrival (Raditz and Vegeta) on Earth. It reveals for the first time the whole extent of Son Gohan’s powers.
Glénat is proud to finally be able to offer the movies’ anime comics from Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball to French readers. Each tome covers a whole movie plot and works as a one-shot. 1 movie = 1 complete story = 1 manga! From February 2013 on, you’ll have a new one-shot every two months, presenting unseen-as-of-yet bad guys and new gigantic battles!

Big thanks to forumite Cold Skin for all the details on this one!

Published by 19 November 2012, 9:21 AM EST2 Comments

Initially leaked a week ago and further revealed in the pages of Jump, the title for next year’s theatrical Dragon Ball movie in Japan has been confirmed by its own official website as “Battle of Gods” in English with a Japanese title of “Kami to Kami” (“God and God”):

The website includes a news post that goes on to restate the information previously revealed about the special “Collaboration Ticket” being produced between Dragon Ball author Akira Toriyama and One Piece author Eiichiro Oda:

尾田栄一郎先生と鳥山明先生が、12月15日(土)『ONE PIECE FILM Z』と3月30日(土)『ドラゴンボールZ 神と神』の公開を記念して描き下ろしたビジュアルが、コラボチケットとして8989枚限定発売!シリアルナンバー入りの劇場鑑賞券が封入された額装式となっており、完売必至の超プレミアムチケットだ!


Eiichiro Oda and Akira Toriyama, in commemoration of the release of “One Piece Film Z” on Saturday, 15 December, and “Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods” on Saturday, 30 March, have drawn new visuals that will appear on a collaboration ticket limited to 8989 copies! The ticket with its serial number is enclosed picture-frame style, and it is a super-premium ticket that’s sure to sell out!

The same image from Jump is repeated along with a list of participating cinemas:

At this point, the only outstanding tidbits that have not been officially confirmed are the two new characters showcased on the leaked poster.

Published by 14 November 2012, 9:11 PM EST12 Comments

In addition to a complete musical score replacement (almost certainly due to Kenji Yamamoto’s involvement), several other elements of the recently-released Dragon Ball Z: Budokai HD Collection — a port of Budokai and Budokai 3 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 — have been altered: some of the more graphic visuals.

Fans began picking up on some of the edits shortly after release in the first game’s cutscenes. Goku and Raditz’s death from Piccolo’s Makankōsappō has its bloody chest hole colored dark:

Interestingly, this is an edit similar to what happened in 2009’s “refreshed” version of the Dragon Ball Z TV series, Dragon Ball Kai.

UPDATE: Many of our European fans have told us that the above Raditz edit has always existed in their PS2 version; it, however, was obviously not present in the North American original (see above), and yet is indeed present in the North American HD Collection (also see above)! Despite the European and North American versions of the first Budokai game in this collection having branched developments at some point — as seen by the different language options (Japanese-only versus English-only, respectively), the same as back in its original PS2 release — it seems at least some of the graphical changes made their way into both regions this time around.

Edits extend even to in-game fights in the third game, with Broli’s ultimate attack flashing to a white screen as he pummels his opponent into the ground.

Which other examples of censoring have you seen crop up in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai HD Collection? Does this, especially combined with the complete music replacement, affect your decision to pick it up?

Published by 14 November 2012, 9:52 AM EST3 Comments

Earlier this morning, scans from one of Shueisha’s “Jump” magazines (we have yet to confirm the specific magazine, though it is likely Ultra Jump, or possibly Weekly Shōnen Jump or V-Jump), promoting the upcoming 2013 Dragon Ball Z movie, were leaked in a 2ch thread. The pages confirm quite a lot about the movie, including Akira Toriyama’s actual involvement with its production. It notes that he not only came up with the movie’s original concept, but also the actual story and character designs. In addition, the page confirms the movie’s title as “Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods”, written as “神と神” (Kami to Kami) in Japanese.

The main tagline at the top of the page reads:

「神」のバトルが幕を開ける!!!


The curtain rises on the battle of “God(s)”!!!

The “神” character in the tagline is quite intriguing because it is written with the pronunciation “shin“, as opposed to “kami” which is used in the movie’s title. While both can mean “God”, the “shin” pronunciation is not normally used with the kanji by itself, and may be punning on “true” (as in, “The true battle begins”). Following that is a little tease about the movie itself, and its mysterious title:

謎に包まれたタイトル「神と神」とは…!?
発表された映画のタイトルは「神と神」!!これまで「DB」には様々な神様が登場したが、もしかして彼らと関係が…!?続報に期待大だッ!!


What is this title surrounded by mystery, “Battle of Gods (Kami to Kami)”…?!
The film’s title has been announced as “Battle of Gods”!! Up to now, a variety of gods have appeared in Dragon Ball, but could it be that there’s a connection to them…?! Be on the lookout for further information!!

The ad goes on to announce a special pre-sale “Collaboration Ticket” with the upcoming One Piece movie, “One Piece Film Z”, which is a dual-ticket good for both films. The tickets will go on sale 23 November 2012 (Labor Thanksgiving, a national holiday in Japan) and cost ¥2,600 apiece. These tickets will be limited to 8,989 (“waku-waku“, meaning “excitement”) across Japan. The ticket itself will have a special new illustration by both Eiichirō Oda (author of One Piece) and Akira Toriyama to commemorate the release of the two films. A partial list of participating theaters is given at the bottom, with the fine print noting that tickets for “Battle of Gods” alone will go on sale on Saturday, 15 December 2012.

And so, our first apparently-solid confirmation of the 2013 film’s title and subject-matter has arrived. As the new year approaches, the pace of new information and product promotions is sure to increase, so hold on to your hats…!

Update: It has been confirmed that the above page comes from the December issue of Ultra Jump, which will be officially available on 19 November 2012. It does appear that the upcoming issues of Weekly Shōnen Jump and V-Jump will also have similar, if not identical, ad pages for the film.