Once again, Adrian Saavedra passes on the latest news from “Agent Mai” at FUNimation. Fans and non-fans alike of their English dub works should find some interesting tidbits in this one:

*Hey everbody! It’s that time of the month again. It’s been a while, but here it is. The latest FUNimation Q & A session with Agent Mai. I can’t even remember what number this is. Oh well, enjoy*

03/05/99

Dear Agent Mai,

How are you today? First let me say thank you for your latest response. It was both informative and well thought out. I believe you are a wonderful person to continue this correspondence.

Agent Mai:
I apologize about the long wait for me to reply. It’s a nightmare around here as far as job assignments go.

Adrian:
1. I’ve been informed that 50 episodes are planed for Season 3. Is this true?

Agent Mai:
This is true, there are exactly 50.

Adrian:
2. Since episode 53 ended in the middle of Japanese episode 67, I am guessing that you will continue from that point. Now here is the question. Just how many cuts will you make or will FUNimation keep the English episodes in line with the Japanese ones? What I’m asking is the new fifty would end around Japanese episode 117, which would relate to English episode 103. Is this a correct assumption?

Agent Mai:
We do end at the Japanese 117.

Adrian:
3. Now for part two of the question, if you don’t make any edits, that will mean that English DBZ will end right at the end of the Garlic Jr. saga, and right before the arrival of Trunks. Is this assumption correct?

Agent Mai:
We do begin at the Japanese 68 and end at the Japanese 117. I don’t know exactly where that gets us in the story line.

(Footnote* Did you notice what Mai said. She said that the new episodes start at Japanese episode 68. Therefore, since English episode 53 ended right in the middle of 67, FUNimation decided not to bother with the rest of what happens in 67 and just skip to 68. This means that perhaps FUNimation may go back and re-dub the 53 English (67 Japanese) DBZ episodes in the future)

Adrian:
4. Just out of curiosity, how far is FUNimation along with the new episodes? If they’re not to far ahead, then perhaps you could skip the Garlic stuff, and just get to the Trunks section where he finishes Frieza and his Dad for good, but before the Androids arrive. This would make for a better cliffhanger. Having left season two where it ended, is probably the biggest reason people were outraged. It was in the middle of the story, and since DBZ is a cartoon soap opera, it made many angry with DBZ withdrawal.

Agent Mai:
We are working on several at once, the scripts are written while others are being recorded and others are being mixed. We are just at the beginning, though. We will release them to video as they are finished, so you’ll be able to keep up with how far along we are. We don’t have any intention of skipping episodes, especially now that we are releasing them uncut and trying to keep the censorship down to a minimum.

Adrian:
5. Is your deal with Pioneer over? Was that it for them? 17 volumes of the TV show, and the first 3 DBZ movies.

6. If not, a while back you told me Pioneer had permission to subtitle DBZ. Is this still true? Or is this only true for the 53 (67 Japanese) they already have? Either way, what I am asking, is whether Pioneer cansubtitle DBZ? Even if they can only do the episodes already released.

7. Here’s the problem, if FUNimation doesn’t attempt to subtitle the series, will you let Pioneer at least have the subtitling privileges. It would save you the time and money, if you put Pioneer in charge of subbing DB and DBZ.

Agent Mai: (Answer to 5, 6 & 7)
We’ve had some legal problems with Pioneer. I have no idea where we stand with them now, or whether we’ll have any dealings with them in the future.

Adrian:
8. Last question, how does FUNimation feel about subtitling DB and DBZ? I’m just curious, because, while I enjoyed the second DB movie in all its unedited glory, I was slightly disappointed that FUNimation made no attempt to release a subbed version.

Agent Mai:
There are no plans to subtitle.

Adrian:
9. One last suggestion, most people are in no hurry to see DBGT. It’s the least popular of the three series, mainly because Akira Toriyama didn’t write it. I would hope that FUNimation gets through DB and DBZ before evenattempting the TOEI spawn called DBGT.

Agent Mai:
We have no plans to do DBGT. We are open to lots more DB and DBZ.

Once again, thank you for everything. I hope to hear from you soon. Takecare and good luck on FUNimation’s newest revival.

Sincerely,
Adrian Saavedra

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*Now for my second email interview*
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03/26/99

Dear Agent Mai,

It’s been a while. I pressume that things are still going well and that you are to busy too answer my questions. No pressure, but if you find the time could you answer them? Thank you.I have some more questions to add to the previous ones. When you can, I would appreciate it if you could answer these with the previous ones.

Adrian:
1. When do you expect the new episodes to come out?

Agent Mai:
We still do not know an air date on Cartoon Network, but the first uncut/uncensorred video will be released April 15th. The video will at first only be available on our website because it takes time to distribute it to stores. We will continue to release them as the episodes are completed.

Adrian:
2. When will the new Dragon Ball movie come out?

Agent Mai:
I’m confused about this one. If you are asking about the Sleeping Princess movie, it is working it’s way into retail stores now. If you are talking about Mystical Adventure, we are currently paused on that because the DBZ episodes are taking up all of our time.

Adrian:
3. What other future plans does FUNimation have for DB and DBZ? (DB episodes? More DB & DBZ movies? DB & DBZ on DVD?)

Agent Mai:
We hope to do as much as we can as the demand grows. We are up to doing anything with DB and DBZ as far as more episodes and movies go. I don’t think we are planning the DBZ eps to be on DVD, but maybe a licensee will step in and want to do it, who knows. There are more and more requests for Dragon Ball, maybe we will show it again if the hype keeps going up. We would like to show it now, but we don’t have any interested TV stations.

So there you have it. I look forward to hearing from you when you can.Thank you for everthing. Good luck.

Sincerely,
Adrian Saavedra

*Okay. There it is. This is the most recent news I’ve received. I hope you all enjoyed it.*

**remember–I’m open to any questions from you all. Just be honest. I’d like it if you gave me your real name and age or whether you are male or female because I’m sure Mai and her fellow colleagues would be interested in the fan demographics of DBZ. Also, kid questions for some reason get more love than questions from adults. So send your questions to adriansaavedra@hotmail.com instead of my University email account**

-The End?-