As we reported at the beginning of the month, the upcoming broadcast of Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods on Fuji TV’s “Premium Saturday” will contain exclusive new scenes not included in the film’s original theatrical run or any of its home video releases. While voice actress Eiko Yamada (Mai) let slip the initial news, Toei Animation producer Gyarmath Bogdan has now confirmed via Twitter that an additional 20 minutes of footage has been added to highlight characters without much of a role in the original film.
The movie “Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods”: 85 minutes.
The special edition airing from 9 p.m. on the 22nd: 105 minutes.
We’ve added 20 minutes of footage. The relationship between Whiz and Beeruz [sic], and gag-action with the Pilaf Gang; it’s full of characters who didn’t play [much of] a role, such as Oolong and Mr. Satan.
@Bogdan_Gyarmath (12:00 PM JST – 20 March 2014)
This morning, the footage for Premium Saturday was completed without incident. Adding in 20 minutes, it’s become something incredible. It’s named a “special edition”, but perhaps it would be better to call it a director’s cut, or rather, a creator’s cut. It’s a must-see! #fujitv
@Bogdan_Gyarmath (12:06 PM JST – 20 March 2014)
As author Akira Toriyama mentioned in his interview published in the “Official Movie Guide”, his original scenario “was actually so long that it had to be cut down”. According to Toriyama, the film would have been around 120 minutes based on these initial storyboards. Director Masahiro Hosoda also noted in the “Official Movie Guide” that the film had “gone very much over [the intended length]”, citing a few examples, such as:
In the scenario, the Z-Warriors played a larger role, so I would have liked to put more of that to video, if possible. Each of them has their fans, after all, and I think they’ve all trained and gotten stronger.
— Masahiro Hosoda, Battle of Gods Official Movie Guide
So it appears that Akira Toriyama, Masahiro Hosoda, and many fans around the world will be getting their wish granted. The TV broadcast is set to air 22 March 2014 on Fuji TV at 9:00 PM.
4 Comments
Splendid news! I can’t wait to see how Beers and Whis interact in this new footage.
20 whole minutes? Holy crap!
Now all that remains is for someone to actually release the creator’s cut on DVD, namely in the West.
Maybe the US will get this version instead of the theatrical cut. 🙂
I am elated to see this news!