The latest additions to our “Translations” archive come from a two-page spread in last month’s January 2019 issue of Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine as part of the promotional lead-up to the Dragon Ball Super: Broly theatrical film.
First up, the magazine conducts a brief interview with film director Tatsuya Nagamine chatting up the end of the Dragon Ball Super television series, and looking ahead to the film’s depiction of the Saiyans:
I think this movie starts after they’ve lost their original pride as a warrior race. During the flashback scene, Bardock is really the only pure warrior race Saiyan. The others have all been tamed by Freeza’s army. Despite being from a warrior race, even King Vegeta doesn’t challenge Freeza to a fight or anything like that. Instead he just bows and scraps before Freeza and uses underhanded tactics against his own subordinates. Rather than a warrior race’s pride per se, I think Bardock maintains something of their pure nature. Broli, Goku, and Vegeta left Planet Vegeta as children, so they’ve gone on living with that pure Saiyan aspect intact. Vegeta lived on Planet Vegeta from his earliest memories, so he has princely pride that interferes a bit, but I consider Goku and Broli to be truly pure Saiyans and have depicted them as such. In the original manga Goku may call himself a “Saiyan raised on Earth”, but I think that by meeting and battling the truly pure Saiyan Broli, he feels a renewed sense of Saiyan pride. For me, a pure Saiyan is a beautiful thing, or perhaps I should say it’s invigorating. I think Broli is truly beautiful. That’s why I think this movie might tell the story of the Saiyans’ rebirth.
The two-page spread wraps up with a new illustration and comment from Dragon Ball Super manga author Toyotarō:
I think Broli is appealing because he looks cool, is overwhelmingly strong, and is saddled with a tragic fate. This time around that tragic element of Broli has been deepened and made more dramatic, resulting in a totally different Broli than before. Of course the extremely intense battle scenes and beautiful animation are highlights, too! I hope everyone sees this grand story of the Saiyans’ roots on the big screen!
These items have been archived in our “Translations” section.