We are lucky enough to be able to share some new information to you all regarding FUNimation’s upcoming work on the franchise — Adrian Saavedra has been more than kind enough to pass on an e-mail response from a contact at FUNimation who goes by “Agent Mai”. We know that more episodes are in the works in terms of their English dub, but additional tidbits are revealed in this short Q&A session:

Adrian:
1. Is this for real?

Agent Mai:
Yes. That’s the bulk e-mail I sent out the last couple of days.

Adrian:
2. Who made this possible? FUNimation? Pioneer? Cartoon Network?

Agent Mai:
Pioneer doesn’t have anything to do with it. We have a deal with Cartoon Network. I’m not sure if the contract is ironed out completely or not.

Adrian:
3. Was this financed entirely by you or an outside party?

Agent Mai:
I don’t know.

Adrian:
4. Are the videos that will be released Pioneer or your own like the recent DB movie?

Agent Mai:
We will be releasing them ourselves.

Adrian:
5. Will the same voice actors from the previous episodes be used, or will new voice actors be used (please don’t say there’s going to be a new Vegeta)?

Agent Mai:
All the characters will be recast. We are doing the voices in-house now. Episodes 1-53 were recorded in Canada. The first project we tried this on was the DB Sleeping Princess movie.

Adrian:
6. When can we expect to see the first video in stores?

Agent Mai:
??Too soon to know. I would think summer at the latest.

Adrian:
7. Is this it for FUNimation, or will FUNimation finish the rest of DBZ (Android, Cell, Majin Boo series) and plan on going back to finish Dragon Ball (Red Ribbon and Piccolo series)?

Agent Mai:
I’m sure it depends how these next episodes go.

Adrian:
8. What about more DB and DBZ movies? Will there be any soon?

Agent Mai:
We are working on DB Mystical Adventure.

Adrian:
9. Just out of curiousity, how big was fan out cry for the rest of the series to be done? Did CN cave in?

Agent Mai:
I’m sure the fan out cry was just as tremendous for Cartoon Network as it was for us. I am glad that people hung in there and kept e-mailing for new episodes. I know the rumor was starting to go around that DBZ in America was over.

Adrian:
10. Speaking of the new episodes, will they be uncut, less edited, or the same as when SABAN was calling the shots? Also, will the original Japanese music be left alone?

Agent Mai:
There will definately be less censorship than 1-53. I know it can’t be that extensive because we would not be able to keep up with the schedule. There will most likely be an uncut and cut of each episode. I hope the original music is left on the uncut versions.

Adrian:
Once again, thank you for everything. I really appreciate the time and effort you take to answer these questions. It shows you are a wonderful and dedicated person. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,
Adrian Saavedra
asaavedr@brill.acomp.usf.edu

Agent Mai:
Hope this answers some of your questions.

By the way I’ll be totally redoing the dragonball z section of the site to make it actually informative and fun. I’ll be grabbing all images from the new episodes ( once we get the tapes from Toei ). I might work on it for a couple of months in my off time and then launch it when it’s completely done.
–Agent Mai (note* not real name)