But this is not a thread just to celebrate its debut and the introduction of new characters and new content, but also a look back over the last decade and how Dragon Ball has grown so far. After all, one decade later, from that 34-minute OVA that was simply made to celebrate Shonen Jump's anniversary, we are now getting a new movie, the third one! Much has happened in the mean time. Let's take a brief look:
• 2008: The OVA was made in honor of Weekly Jump’s 40th anniversary, Shueisha’s annual Jump Festa hosted a tour to 10 cities across Japan entitled the “Jump Super Anime Tour - The Jump Heroes Great-Gathering”. The tour screened seven newly-animated specials or shorts from popular series serialized in various Jump anthologies, one of which was Dragon Ball. Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! not only would bring back the old and beloved cast, as well as introduce new characters, two of them were villains that, as the narrator says at the end of the animation, weren't strong enough to oppose our heroes to ever be remembered. In contrast, what appeared to be a new support to the main cast would shock the entire world, the fans of Dragon Ball would see the arrival of a new survivor of the planet Vegeta's destruction, a Saiyan... Vegeta's younger brother!
• 2009: Following the debut of the OVA in 2008, Ooishi Naho would adapt it into a manga format. The manga adaptation was divided in half, the first one being released on March 21st, 2009 and the second on April 21st, 2009 in two separate issues of V-Jump. The manga sees some differences from its anime counterpart: Tarble's hair is similar to Vegeta's instead of Gohan's, for instance. Still, it was a very close adaptation and a new way to see Dragon Ball, as Ooishi Naho's art style significantly differs from what we were used to see back in the day. This year also marks the release of Dragon Ball Evolution, a live-action movie from Hollywood.
• 2010: We see the release of what it took for Akira Toriyama approximately five years working in its development, the MMORPG game called Dragon Ball Online launched on February 5th. As the game barely made its way to other countries, many people does not know about it and did not have the chance to play while it was alive, the game was closed in September 2013, however, despite its short-lived running, it added a mine of gold content to the franchise and it graciously lives through Dragon Ball Heroes and Dragon Ball Xenoverse.
• 2011: It was announced that a short manga would be drawn by Ooishi Naho and would focus Goku's father, Bardock, achieving a new Super Saiyan transformation. This manga was entitled Episode of Bardock and was set as a new “sequel” story to the original TV special. The story was released in three parts over the course of August, September, and October 2011’s V-Jump issues. Although Akira Toriyama had no involvement with the story’s plot development, he did provide the character design for Chilled, the manga’s main villain and for planet Plant's inhabitants. At the 2012's Jump Festa event, an anime adaptation would be presented, featuring an all-new animation and quality, reflecting a new era that Dragon Ball was about to enter.
• 2013: The first theatrical movie for the Dragon Ball franchise in 17 years, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, was premiered nationwide in Japan on March 30, 2013, and unlike the franchise’s previous movies it is a singular film not associated with any seasonal event hosted by Toei. It was the very first time the author himself, Akira Toriyama, would be heavily involved with its production, from designs to the actual story, also unlike previous movies, where Toriyama would only provide some designs and check the already set story by Toei. This year also marks the release of Jaco the Galactic Patrolman, an 11-chapter new series from Akira Toriyama that was published via Shueisha. “Jaco the Galactic Patrolman” (銀河パトロールジャコ; Ginga Patorōru Jako) was teased as having possible connections with Dragon Ball, and was soon-after described as the “shocking revival of Dragon Ball!!”.
• 2014: One year later after the conclusion of the new manga drawn by Akira Toriyama, a new extra chapter to Jaco, the Galactic Patrolman manga that was also drawn by the author was released; Dragon Ball Minus: Castaway Child of Destiny. In it, we get to know Toriyama's version of how Goku came to Earth and the very first appearance of Goku's mother, Gine!
• 2015: Following the success of the previous movie, the franchise’s first film in 17 years, a sequel was announced in mid-July 2014 to debut during the 2015 “Golden Week” holidays nationwide in Japan, Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’. Freeza would turn out to be responsible for the tagline: "the worst wish in history. That is the beginning of despair". On April 28, 2015, Toei Animation officially announced that production was underway on the all-new TV series for the Dragon Ball franchise in 18 years. The series was later announced for a July 05, 2015 debut on Fuji TV, taking over the Dragon Ball Kai time slot. Dragon Ball Super begins by retelling the last two movies before adding new characters and adventures to the main cast.
• 2018: All of a sudden, a new Dragon Ball movie was announced at 2017 Jump Festa due to see its release in December 2018 in the Japanese theaters. The story revolves around the origin of the Saiyans. It is be the third movie of 2010s time period, in which the author, Akira Toriyama, once again provides the script and character designs.
What do you think about Dragon Ball's journey over the last decade? It started with an OVA and will end with a new movie to hopefully continue to put a smile on the face of every Dragon Ball fan for the next years that have yet to come!
Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!'s actual commemorative date is on September 21st, but we do not have to wait for it, do we? This is its year, so happy anniversary!
It was just a mention and that's it. It seems the OVA only lives through the ones who consider the movies canonical over the retellings. It makes me sad that the first piece of material that originally brought back the franchise back has been reduced to nothing these days.
*facepalm*
).
