Should the next DBZ movie be 2D or CG Animation?

[Vijay]

Frankly, just give as film which has the quality of DBZ Movie 8~13. (Detailed, though may not be glossy has its charm & fluid). Nothing much for TOEI I guess.

[Mewzard]

I never know with Toei if animation is going to be decent or not. Sometimes, they really drop a series' budget and it shows (and hurts). I suppose I'm more open to CG since I've seen more and more good examples from them of it, whereas their 2D Animation has been lacking lately.

[Kuwabara]

That Dragon Ball Online video someone posted looks much better than I expected, I wouldn't mind a feature film that looked even better than that.

[Mewzard]

Apparently, Netflix is streaming the Captain Harlock movie starting on August 1st, so we'll be able to see how a Toei CG movie looks in person:

http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2 ... ock-moview

Looking at their work in CG thus far, I still honestly feel more confident in it than their 2D animation (which has been rather low quality in recent years).

I don't know exactly why, but I've found Toei's live action work (and now their CG work with the Captain Harlock and Saint Seiya movies) to be better than their traditional animation work. Maybe it's just due to how they do ongoing works (especially with animation).

[dbzfan7]

No 3D please. I'd rather they just save that money and enhance the 2D even further with cooler effects.

[JulieYBM]

I'm watching Yozakura Quartet: Hoshi no Umi (a story that takes place in-between Episodes #8 and #9 of Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta) and am really in love. These three OVA episodes are all higher-quality than Battle of Gods, with directing and animation that really blows the mind. Each episode is about twenty-eight minutes, so when you consider that these episodes are essentially the same length as the original theatrical cut of Battle of Gods its pretty sad. Here is one of my favorite cut scenes from Episode #2, key animation courtesy of Yamashita Shingo. Yamashita is the man recognized as the forerunner of digital/flash animation. He and Series Director Ryoo-Chimo (another flash animator) are both young, but also supremely talented. With Ryoo-Chimo's character design abilities and his love of fan service I think he would make for an absolutely spectacular director of a Dragon Ball film that returns to the franchise's more naughty roots.

You can check out more clips from Hana no Uta and the Hoshi no Umi OVAs on Sakugabooru. If the Webm files don't load in your browser try downloading them and then playing them in a video player.

[BurakkuForesuto]

Even though I'm a casual DBZ fan, DBZ has ALWAYS looked sub-par. The TV show looks cheap and the "movies" are horribly animated and have no detail to them. Many TV shows such as Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop and Turn A Gundam have better animation and art than all the DBZ movies. I want DBZ to look closer to Ghost in the Shell Innocence, look wise, visual wise and movement wise. So it should be 2D, but make it look GOOD. Innocence looks WAY better than BOG, even though Innocence was from 2004 and BOG was from 2013. It's not as if they didn't have time. ADR was completed 3 whole months before the film ended. They stated they were working on the film during July 2012, so that's at least 1 year plus of production. GITS 1 only took one year to make and it moves and looks REAL good. DBZ needs to have longer production schedules.

[Mewzard]

I'm just not sure Toei still has the good talent left for quality drawn animation. A lot of what I've seen from them in recent years has been lacking at best. Toei's just not going to sink a lot of money into that animation style. They only would in CG because A. It's popular right now, and B. It costs a lot of money to get good looking CG in the first place. That said, they seem to have the talent that can do it with the right budget.

I just want an awesome DBZ movie down the line, regardless of the style used. I think we can all agree there.

[Hellspawn28]

Disney did a good job on making their 2D movies look good in 3D. Imagine if Toei did something similar to Lion King 3D or Beauty and the Beast 3D.

[JulieYBM]

I'm just not sure Toei still has the good talent left for quality drawn animation. A lot of what I've seen from them in recent years has been lacking at best. Toei's just not going to sink a lot of money into that animation style. They only would in CG because A. It's popular right now, and B. It costs a lot of money to get good looking CG in the first place. That said, they seem to have the talent that can do it with the right budget.

I just want an awesome DBZ movie down the line, regardless of the style used. I think we can all agree there.

They have the talent. Shida Naotoshi, Oonishi Ryou, Itaoka Nishiki, Hamano Yuu'ichi, Satou Masayuki, Ishizuka Katsumi, Kawamura Atsuko, freelancer Sugie Toshiharu, Director Nagamine Tatsuya, Director Ootsuka Takashi, Tate Naoki, et cetera. Hell, Ootsuka Takashi is perhaps the best director Toei has close ties with. Allow Ootsuka to direct the next movie with enough time to properly schedule talented animators to work on it and we would have a really wonderful film. Ootsuka even managed to get Hisada Kazuya to return to his Kanada-style roots recently with One Piece. They don't have connections with geniuses like Matsumoto Norio, Wakabayashi Atsushi, Ryoo-Chimo, or Yamashita Shingo, but Toei Animation still has some talent. Toei simply does not use their staff particularly well. Ootsuka could probably ask Tanaka Hironori (whom was given near total freedom for Yes PreCure 5 GoGo Episode #4 by Ootsuka) to work on a Dragon Ball film. Kameda Yoshimichi would probably do it if he didn't have to follow Yamamuro Tadayoshi's character designs, given how much he hates them.

Of course, not everyone wants to work on Dragon Ball, so some talented animators might be impossible to recruit since they could pick and choose their projects.

I'd love to see Ishizuka Katsumi provide key animation for a Dragon Ball battle. These cuts from One Piece were pretty good.

EDIT: Toei also employs two good key animators at Toei Animation Philippines, Francis Caneda and Paul Ano-nuevo (directed by Ootsuka Takashi).

[Mr.Judge]

Has Toei new endeavor with Saint Seiya proved successful? if yes, then DB has better chance to collect more than Saint Seiya due to much bigger market.

[Super Sayian Prime]

Has Toei new endeavor with Saint Seiya proved successful? if yes, then DB has better chance to collect more than Saint Seiya due to much bigger market.

Not yet. It still has to open in South America, though.

Harlock was probably seen as a disappointment too.

[Tatakae!!Ramenman]

There was a time where I would immediately say no to any 3d because I loved the old art style so much, and they did areally good job with Jump anime tour special in 2008, but if it's between the animation we saw in "Battle of Gods" and CGI, I think I would prefer CGI, which makes me really sad because I prefer 2D animation over CGI.

[Black_Liger]

Just give Dragon ball to Mad House, and make the 2D look stunning.

[Bullza]

They should keep it 2D.

For one it is what people are familiar and happy with and people don't like change and most importantly is the cost. You want the movie to do well because it allows for the possibility of sequels. If the movie was CG it would cost a lot more making it far more difficult to get it's money back.

It's a lot of risk for essentially nothing.

This next DBZ movie should have twice, maybe even thrice the budget of the last one and it would look just fine.

[Attitudefan]

3D should be placed in the trash where it belongs. Okay, a little harsh, but I just hate the fact that most animation companies are solely 3D since, "omg graphics, future, cheaper!!!!!111!!!".

[NitroEX]

3D should be placed in the trash where it belongs. Okay, a little harsh, but I just hate the fact that most animation companies are solely 3D since, "omg graphics, future, cheaper!!!!!111!!!".

I totally agree with you for the most part. I was a fan of some 3D stuff as a child but now I have so much more respect for drawn animation and I wouldn't care if I never saw another CGI film from Disney ever again. I'de hate it if the shallow western mentality of "CGI is better" somehow rubs off on the Japanese who remain one of the few countries still putting out quality drawn films. I hope that someday Disney will come to their senses and bring back 2D again but until then I at least want my anime to remain drawn.

[Valerius Dover]

I think CGI is overused. I don't hate it, but I get the feeling many companies choose it simply because it'll appeal to all ages better. Too many people these days have the mindset saying that 2D animation is for kids.

Dragon Ball however, I'm sure they know to keep in 2D. Just like their other franchises. Actually, didn't Toei experiment with a CGI One Piece movie? It's only 30 minutes apparently. How does that look?

[Supreme Stephan]

Perhaps if it looks something like this:

[Daimakku]

Oh God, what did they do to Saint Seiya?! Sure, the CGI doesn't look too bad, but I'm still not feeling it.

I would not watch a 3D CGI DBZ movie.. count me out. It's either 2D traditional animation, or nothing at all for me.