As part of another round of interest in the Dragon Ball franchise — primarily tied in with the then-upcoming new film Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods — a new series of guide books was announced for 2013: the four Chōzenshū. The books were revealed to be refreshed versions of the previously-released Daizenshuu from the 1990s, also packed with additional information and reference material from the various productions created since the prior books’ release. As a complement to the Chōzenshū, one additional book was also announced: the Chōgashū, which would be a new illustration and artwork collection.

The final Chōzenshū (#4, “Super Encyclopedia”) and the Chōgashū (“Super Art Collection”) are available today (09 May 2013) in Japan. Our own Julian / SaiyaJedi already has them in-hand and has begun the documentation process. Stay tuned for our regular overview pages for the books in our “Databook Guide” — we will have complete breakdowns of both books in the coming days.

For those of you that need that quick-hit to your information-bloodstream, here are a few key details:

• The Chōgashū — with the official English translation of “Super Art Collection” within the book — does indeed contain material from the first Daizenshuu (though not necessarily printed at the same size as before), along with a wealth of new content — such as the Kanzenban cover illustrations — and a new interview with original manga author Akira Toriyama (“Akira Toriyama Super Interview: Latest Edition”) alongside the original one from the first Daizenshuu. Some of the new artwork content includes Toriyama’s Hoko×Tate illustration, Tōhoku earthquake/tsunami support image, and “Super Collaboration Ticket” drawing of Goku.
• Chōzenshū 4 does indeed contain the majority of material from the seventh Daizenshuu (such as the timeline), and most of it has been re-set in a new layout instead of being directly re-printed as-is; only 30 pages or so out of 352 are straight-up reproductions of the originals. Also included is an essay by Masako Nozawa (Son Goku, et al.) and an interview with Akira Toriyama looking back on the series at different points in time.

Both books are available today (09 May 2013). Chōzenshū 4: Super Encyclopedia runs ¥2,300 and can be purchased online at CDJapan and Amazon Japan. The Chōgashū runs ¥3,800 and can also be purchased online at CDJapan and Amazon Japan.