The Daizenshuu guide books

[dprez]

I plan on purchasing the Daizenshuu guide books online. I'll start with the Complete Illustrations, for I recently learned it is the only one Viz printed in English ( yea, good job, print in english the complete illustrations, a lot of work that must've been ), and it's also the cheapest. I also plan on getting 1-7, plus the TV animation part 3 guide.

So who here has any of these guide books? When did you get them? How did you get them? Them being only in Japanese, and aside from there collectors appeal, are you still satisfied going through them, and did you gain any previously unknown knowledge afterwords?

Let's discuss the Daizenshuu guide books here!

[Jawdrahb]

At present, I've only acquired Viz Media's 'Dragon Ball: The Complete Illustrations' a year or so ago from an online carrier within the UK.

To be brief, I'm utterly overwhelmed with the release; I believe it's almost verbatim to the original incarnation. I would've by no means imagined or expected to own an efficiently handled, 'translated' Daizenshuu. It's essentially all I could've wanted from this kind of product, especially viewing a collection of images I'd never seen or only ever discovered online towards the beginning of my fandom in immaculate form. How often do I refer to it? Rarely. Although, as an instinctive collector and itching fiend for Dragon Ball illustrations, I couldn't imagine being without it. My attachment towards it could be compared to the majestic Muten Rōshi and a dirty mag, minus the 'indecent' content and supposed post-guilt.

Aside from my hoarding ways, an admiration of the presented visual aesthetic, the purpose of these databooks and personally advocating the Japanese rendition of the franchise are persuasive enough to purchase the entirety of the initial Daizneshuu volumes. There's a captivating, satisfyingly uncommon enigma from collating being incapable of reading the books with the aforementioned reasons to own 'em (assumably adjacent with my current fascination of the movie laserdiscs). Where to get them? There's eBay, online anime specialists & of course, Yahoo! Auctions.

Thanks to this thread, I think I'm going to have an overdue flick through Complete Illustrations now!

[dprez]

That's awesome.

I wish they would release the rest of them in english, but I'm sure that is one monumental task, and will probably never happen...At least we have Complete Illustrations, and the way you describe it, it seams like one of the best!

[StarRot]

http://www.mandarake.co.jp/en/shop/

I got mine from there, very good prices.

I don't really care that they're in Japanese ... I bought them purely to view them as art books, anyway. I have many Japanese language books, it doesn't bother me.
Of course, I'd love it if there was English versions for sale!

What has been translated and shared on this website already is very interesting. I'm grateful that people took the time to do that.

[dprez]

True. It doesn't bother me at all that they are in Japanese. If anything, I would almost prefer the original books if there were an english release out there as well. I've recently decided to begin growing my Dragon Ball collection after viewing the rooms of a few members here, like Beji, so aside from the manga and Dragon Boxes, these will be the next piece I put on my shelves.

These guidebooks are so cool, I must have them!

[TripleRach]

I bought 1-7 from eBay in late 2007, and TV Animation 3 from Yahoo Auctions in early 2008.

Not that my Japanese is perfect (and definitely wasn't back then), but I don't have much trouble actually reading them. I've skimmed through them quite a bit, certain sections more than others, but I've never sat and properly read them all cover to cover. The original plan was to read through them as I translated them, but that project has been on hiatus for a few years now. Which kind of sucks, because that was the original reason I bought them. Chat room conversations gave me the idea to translate them all, since it hadn't been done before at the time, and then I grabbed them all once I had the spare cash. But stuff happens. I at least owe it to myself to finish going through them one day, sooner or later.

Anyway, enough of my life story. The books are a pretty amazing resource, compiling lots of data from the series, along with adding some new things that weren't explained in the series. I'm glad Herms was able to do what I couldn't, because I'd love for everyone to have access to all this info.

[Beji]

I've recently decided to begin growing my Dragon Ball collection after viewing the rooms of a few members here, like Beji, so aside from the manga and Dragon Boxes, these will be the next piece I put on my shelves.

*Achoo!*
Well I am glad you would like to buy the Daizenshuus! And if I could put in my 2 cents the best way to get Daizenshuu is to spell them the wrong way. Or to not have the name of them at all!. Dazenshuu some times comes up with results on ebay and better yet Dragon Ball art book, also works wonders.

I go so far as to type in "Dragon Ball book" and you would be surprised the great prices you can get. The key is patience and getting the books (aside from a few) will become very very inexpensive. 1-5 can be easily bought on ebay for around 10-20$ shipped.

*Prime example within one day.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... true&rt=nc

Can you name all the mislabeled names of these books? I could So after waiting for it to end and a 20$ paypal transaction later I was able to get these three for my friend for $6.66 each shipped

[VegettoEX]

I definitely have to vouch for using all sorts of search terms and phrases -- specifically vague ones -- to get what you want. There have been tons of times that people put up these items and don't actually know what they are or what to call them, so it'll just be "Dragon Ball Book" or "Dragon Ball Soundtrack" or "Dragon Ball Video Game".

It's a pain in the rear, and you have to be very diligent about it and expect to not find anything perhaps for years on end, but it's worth it sometimes.

[dprez]

Is there a difference between these two? I've noticed some have the colored bar on the bottom of the front cover, and others like the images on Kanzenshuu don't. Is one a hard cover and the other soft? I doubt this is a big deal but just curious if there is any difference.

[Beji]

One has an Obi, and one doesn't.
*EDIT* sorry for the bad/lack of post
Big Brother is always watching
If you do not know what an Obi is, it is the piece on the Daizenshuu picture you see. It is not stuck on there and can be taken off. It is like a sleeve. There aren't 2 versions of the book.

Obi

No Obi


The Kanzenban are the Obis that I take care of they actually have the artwork carry over on top.
Obi

No Obi

[dprez]

Like a little sleeve thing on it?

[Hujio]

Like a little sleeve thing on it?

Yeah, basically. An obi is a small paper ad that is put around the bottom of books in Japan. It can easily be taken off, just like a book's dust cover. Some fans keep them, while others choose to throw them away. Most used books don't come with their original obi slips, but you do find some every once in a while. On Kanzenshuu we don't show the obi in our images because they're not part of the actual cover.

Just for some additional clarification, the first seven daizenshuu volumes are hardcover, while the three supplemental daizenshuu are all softcover.

[dprez]

Thanks for the info. Yea I've done a lot of research today, and found a perfect site that sells them used in very good condition with the posters. A "new" Complete Illustrations is super cheap and in english so I'll get it first.

All this has made me want to pick up more stuff. I'm gonna order the steel book double feature: History of Trunks/ Bardock, the Father of Goku, the GT green brick, and the Dragon Ball movie pack in the next few weeks. I'm gonna hold off for about 6 months or so on buying the Blue bricks and the Z movie packs. The first time I watch these all in japanese, I would prefer them in Dragon Box form. I don't see an american Dragon Box release for GT, the Dragon Ball movies, or the two specials any time soon, so I'll get those for sure.

[Fizzer]

How much should I expect to pay for a full set of 7? What is a good price?

[Beji]

How much should I expect to pay for a full set of 7? What is a good price?

A good price for all 7? Imagine 20+20+20+20+20+30+35 shipped easily makes around 165 for all 7 after shipping imo. I got mine all for around 100$ and I'm sure people on here got them for even cheaper than that.

[dprez]

How much should I expect to pay for a full set of 7? What is a good price?

A good price for all 7? Imagine 20+20+20+20+20+30+35 shipped easily makes around 165 for all 7 after shipping imo. I got mine all for around 100$ and I'm sure people on here got them for even cheaper than that.

Hmm... the site I found charges a bit more than that...maybe I should hunt some more...