Our community member Saiyan Prince Vegeta just got in their copy of the first “3-in-1” for Dragon Ball — due out from Viz 04 June 2013 — and posted up a few quick points, notably that the translation is the same as before and the artwork is still censored.
A Viz representative had previously stated on Twitter that the new 3-in-1 releases would be “unedited”.
Despite the censoring and lower-quality paper stock being used for the Viz release, the cover art is that of the kanzenban release in Japan, a re-release of the manga on much higher-quality paper and a condensed volume count (down to 34 from 42).
The on-going “Full Color Edition” of the Dragon Ball Z portion of the manga continues its release each Monday as a part of the digital Weekly Shonen Jump from Viz. The translation used in this edition is also the same as all previous editions, though its artwork — with the exception of Mr. Popo’s lips — has remained unedited from its Japanese version.
Stay tuned to Kanzenshuu for additional thoughts and reviews on all versions of the Dragon Ball manga currently being released in both North America and Japan.
UPDATE: A response from Viz to at least one fan inquiry on Twitter notes that the censored pages in the new 3-in-1 “slipped by” and will be fixed “on reprint”.
6 Comments
Using the Kanzenban cover art for the most un-Kanzenban-like release yet. Thanks for the kick in the balls, Viz.
This makes me not want to support Viz. At least for DB.
Are they the same as the previous VizBig release? Or do they contain more colour pages?
Regarding the update: Well, at least this is official confirmation that Viz no longer does censorship (unless lips thicker than usual are involved :?). Their last few manga have been pretty much clean, but their older ones, like Naruto and Dr. Slump, are unfortunately stained forever…
Glad they finally realized that censorship was the main reason so many people oppose to their manga.
@oxdanxo: They’re the same as the regular tankoubon (which means no color pages), just clumped together in packs of three and with cheaper paper and print.