During yesterday’s “Dragon Ball DAIMA Special Panel” at New York Comic Con, various announcements were shared regarding the show’s production, English dub, as well as integration into ongoing video game content.
Moderator Monica Rial (current English voice of Bulma) first led the audience through materials and experiences available at the Dragon Ball booth there at New York Comic Con, followed by updates for specific video games.
A short trailer for the recently-released Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO confirmed Vegeta: Mini and Glorio as playable characters in the forthcoming second downloadable content pack.
Goku: Mini will make his way to Dragon Ball XENOVERSE 2 as a playable character within the “Future Saga: Chapter 2” downloadable content pack. A free trial will also be available to players to give him a spin.
The previously-teased additional content coming to Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot will be Dragon Ball Daima-focused as well, with an all new “Daima: Adventure Through the Demon Realm” expansion coming across two packs.
Lip service was also paid to the two primary mobile video games. Dragon Ball: Dokkan Battle has new campaign to recruit Goku and Vegeta through an ongoing login bonus, and these can be “awakened” into Goku: Mini and Vegeta: Mini by clearing the missions that start on October 21. There is likewise a Daima-focused campaign in Dragon Ball Legends right now celebrating the start of the anime, with its own special login with bonus items, as well as Goku: Mini for players to score.
The new “Fusion World” version of the Dragon Ball Super Card Game likewise has Daima cards entering the mix. Cards showcased include (NOTE: English spellings and character name changes presented as-is here): Son Goku (Mini): DA, Chi-Chi (Mini): DA, Krillin (Mini): DA, Son Goten (Mini): DA, Android 18 (Mini): DA, Vegeta (Mini): DA, Bulma (Mini): DA, Trunks (Mini): DA, Hercule (Mini): DA, Majin Buu (Mini): DA. Starter decks (FS06 and FS07) are on their way November 8th, and another booster pack is coming in February 2025 set to include Glorio: DA and Panzy: DA cards.
To wrap up the video game announcements, next year’s Dragon Ball Games Battle Hour 2025 will be held January 18-19, 2025 at the Shrine Hall in Los Angeles, California.
At this point Dragon Ball franchise Executive Producer Akio Iyoku was welcomed to the stage, where he noted it’s been a full year since New York Comic Con last year (where Dragon Ball Daima was officially announced), and that it was great to be back.
Stephanie Nadolny was also introduced and officially confirmed as the English dub voice for Goku: Mini in Dragon Ball Daima. Nadolny took over the role from Saffron Henderson (Vancouver cast) and Ceyli Delgadillo (Texas cast) before her to voice young Goku in FUNimation English dub productions including the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT television series, the third Dragon Ball movie, and the 10th anniversary Dragon Ball movie. In the time since, young Goku has been played in video games, flashback material, etc. by Colleen Clinkenbeard.
The forthcoming theatrical debut of Dragon Ball Daima‘s first three English dubbed episodes was promoted, running in the US and Canada from November 10th to 12th.
Production materials from original franchise author Akira Toriyama were then shared with the audience. Iyoku confirmed that the Demon Realm is a world that was specifically designed for Daima by Toriyama, and that they paid a lot of attention to how Toriyama illustrated it as they produced the show. A particular troll that lives in the Demon Realm was highlighted, and it was explained that Toriyama didn’t just do the backgrounds, but the creatures and people who live in this world. An illustration of the troll specifically was then shared, followed by Glorio’s vehicle from the main key visual. Toriyama’s details including the inside layout and how it’s propelled. The audience was told to be on the lookout for this kind of detail in the show, as Toriyama was very particular about mechs, and thought a lot about how they move, and even how they are propelled in a different way because of being in the Demon World. An illustration of Glorio himself was then shown; Iyoku didn’t go into detail on his character, but just laughed and noted that he is indeed mysterious.
Alongside this design showcase, voice actor Aaron Dismuke was welcomed to the stage and confirmed as the English voice of Glorio.
A video message from opening and ending theme song artist Zedd was then shared:
What’s up New York Comic Con? This is Zedd, and I wanted to drop by and say hello, and I also wanted to share how excited I am for Dragon Ball Daima. I got to work on the theme song and end title with C&K and Ai, and it’s a dream come true. It was on the list of things I’ve dreamed of doing in my live because I grew up with Dragon Ball, and it’s been a huge inspiration for me, not just because I love the show, but the theme songs have been amazing and they’ve inspired me musically. So for me to get to work on these songs and hopefully inspire other people is… is a dream come true! So anyway, I just wanted to share how excited I am, and I hope you’re having an amazing time over there at New York Comic Con, and I’ll see you soon. Peace.
Rial, Nadolny, and Dismuke all reflected on the panel and Zedd comments before Iyoku wrapped things up with closing comments of his own, noting the series’ attractive characters, unpredictable story, and great action.
The panel closed with a group photo, and a transitioned into a screening of the (original Japanese language) first episode of the series.