The Dragon Ball Rights Dispute: Shueisha, Capsule Corp Tokyo, and the Toriyama Estate

[JulieYBM]

Something I'm confused about is how this Iyoku guy got the anime rights. From what I read he was an employee at Shueisha, then he pulled this coup when they hanged his position in the company.
So by that logic after leaving the company wouldn't corporate still have the anime rights? Where exactly did he get his hands on them?

It is my understanding that these things are typically held by the creator of the original work. Iyoku probably asked Toriyama and then if Shueisha had any way of resisting it didn't work out and the licensing rights went to CCT. Games and anime are where the money is at, not the comics, and as others have mentioned, publishing a comic would just be a hassle with no real reward, so he might as well work with Shueisha on comics.

[ObnoxiousNamek]

If Dragon Ball becomes embroiled in a rights war and ends up like Candy Candy, Toei must be thanking their lucky stars or God that they redubbed and relaunched One Piece when they did or they would be TOAST now.

But it begs the question if Toei is aware of all the issues going on why in the hell would you be in deals to build a theme park thats a lot of risk to invest money in something that could be shut down soon. I feel they are gonna be dirty & play both sides and will go with whoever "wins" in this feud.

[Cure Dragon 255]

If Dragon Ball becomes embroiled in a rights war and ends up like Candy Candy, Toei must be thanking their lucky stars or God that they redubbed and relaunched One Piece when they did or they would be TOAST now.

But it begs the question if Toei is aware of all the issues going on why in the hell would you be in deals to build a theme park thats a lot of risk to invest money in something that could be shut down soon. I feel they are gonna be dirty & play both sides and will go with whoever "wins" in this feud.

I know I cant exactly expect people to know a 70's Shojo Franchise's history, but with Candy Candy, no one ever won. To this day Toei cant reanimate it, comercialize the old anime or redub it, they cant do squat. However, this loophole allowed pretty much anyone to air the Candy Candy anime in Latin America, without actually being a licensee. I cant wait to see if this happens with Dragon Ball.

[YMK_8000]

If Dragon Ball becomes embroiled in a rights war and ends up like Candy Candy, Toei must be thanking their lucky stars or God that they redubbed and relaunched One Piece when they did or they would be TOAST now.

But it begs the question if Toei is aware of all the issues going on why in the hell would you be in deals to build a theme park thats a lot of risk to invest money in something that could be shut down soon. I feel they are gonna be dirty & play both sides and will go with whoever "wins" in this feud.

I know I cant exactly expect people to know a 70's Shojo Franchise's history, but with Candy Candy, no one ever won. To this day Toei cant reanimate it, comercialize the old anime or redub it, they cant do squat. However, this loophole allowed pretty much anyone to air the Candy Candy anime in Latin America, without actually being a licensee. I cant wait to see if this happens with Dragon Ball.

Damn! Ok hypothetical question so if this same thing would happen to Dragonball & if later somone a third party to say made their own dragonball anime with no involvement of either CCT or Shueisha would they get away with doing so since essentialy the rights to the anime licensee will be in a deadlock per say?

[BootyCheeksJohnson]

Something I'm confused about is how this Iyoku guy got the anime rights. From what I read he was an employee at Shueisha, then he pulled this coup when they hanged his position in the company.
So by that logic after leaving the company wouldn't corporate still have the anime rights? Where exactly did he get his hands on them?

It is my understanding that these things are typically held by the creator of the original work. Iyoku probably asked Toriyama and then if Shueisha had any way of resisting it didn't work out and the licensing rights went to CCT. Games and anime are where the money is at, not the comics, and as others have mentioned, publishing a comic would just be a hassle with no real reward, so he might as well work with Shueisha on comics.

That would explain how this guy got the leverage that he did, Toriyama giving him his share of the rights directly. Also another person quoted me that Iyoku had been friends with Toriyama since he began design work on Dragon Quest. I didn't realize how deep this relationship went because I had no understanding of who Iyoku was before today.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Something I'm confused about is how this Iyoku guy got the anime rights. From what I read he was an employee at Shueisha, then he pulled this coup when they hanged his position in the company.
So by that logic after leaving the company wouldn't corporate still have the anime rights? Where exactly did he get his hands on them?

I'm no legal expert but I'd have to imagine it wouldn't be that difficult if you had been around the block as Iyoku had, knew the right people, etc. Having Toriyama's complete trust would be like the cherry on top with the clout and bragging rights that comes with it.

Of course we can ask was it misplaced trust on Toriyama's part. We know bringing back Broly was one of several pitches Iyoku offered that Toriyama ultimately agreed to write a story for. Basically Iyoku listens to fans, but that includes the people who want fan service. We were told the Future Trunks arc was an idea from "the editorial room", which may have included Iyoku because that was his role.

Granted not all fan service is bad, but Super Broly showed you can make a solid movie out of ideas that sound like trashy pandering garbage on paper. Sadly we no longer have Toriyama as he had a knack of being able to execute these ideas well. It was a rare skill that will be hard to replicate. We've seen that with GT, which is widely agreed to have great ideas with poor execution.

[JulieYBM]

Something I'm confused about is how this Iyoku guy got the anime rights. From what I read he was an employee at Shueisha, then he pulled this coup when they hanged his position in the company.
So by that logic after leaving the company wouldn't corporate still have the anime rights? Where exactly did he get his hands on them?

I'm no legal expert but I'd have to imagine it wouldn't be that difficult if you had been around the block as Iyoku had, knew the right people, etc. Having Toriyama's complete trust would be like the cherry on top with the clout and bragging rights that comes with it.

Of course we can ask was it misplaced trust on Toriyama's part. We know bringing back Broly was one of several pitches Iyoku offered that Toriyama ultimately agreed to write a story for. Basically Iyoku listens to fans, but that includes the people who want fan service. We were told the Future Trunks arc was an idea from "the editorial room", which may have included Iyoku because that was his role.

Granted not all fan service is bad, but Super Broly showed you can make a solid movie out of ideas that sound like trashy pandering garbage on paper. Sadly we no longer have Toriyama as he had a knack of being able to execute these ideas well. It was a rare skill that will be hard to replicate. We've seen that with GT, which is widely agreed to have great ideas with poor execution.

Iyoku is an editor by training, and editors for JUMP are drilled to always push for attracting the audience. This is a big part of why I've expressed caution with just blindly trusting Iyoku or Toriyama—which is not to say that I trust Shueisha or Toei Animation, either. Iyoku's job as an editor of a manga magazine was to sell magazines and push creators to create stuff that would sell. This mentality absolutely translates over to Iyoku now heading the licensing deals for Dragon Ball, which obviously include television and theatrical anime. This is why we got Broli, after all.

[YMK_8000]

Something I'm confused about is how this Iyoku guy got the anime rights. From what I read he was an employee at Shueisha, then he pulled this coup when they hanged his position in the company.
So by that logic after leaving the company wouldn't corporate still have the anime rights? Where exactly did he get his hands on them?

I'm no legal expert but I'd have to imagine it wouldn't be that difficult if you had been around the block as Iyoku had, knew the right people, etc. Having Toriyama's complete trust would be like the cherry on top with the clout and bragging rights that comes with it.

Of course we can ask was it misplaced trust on Toriyama's part. We know bringing back Broly was one of several pitches Iyoku offered that Toriyama ultimately agreed to write a story for. Basically Iyoku listens to fans, but that includes the people who want fan service. We were told the Future Trunks arc was an idea from "the editorial room", which may have included Iyoku because that was his role.

Granted not all fan service is bad, but Super Broly showed you can make a solid movie out of ideas that sound like trashy pandering garbage on paper. Sadly we no longer have Toriyama as he had a knack of being able to execute these ideas well. It was a rare skill that will be hard to replicate. We've seen that with GT, which is widely agreed to have great ideas with poor execution.

Iyoku is an editor by training, and editors for JUMP are drilled to always push for attracting the audience. This is a big part of why I've expressed caution with just blindly trusting Iyoku or Toriyama—which is not to say that I trust Shueisha or Toei Animation, either. Iyoku's job as an editor of a manga magazine was to sell magazines and push creators to create stuff that would sell. This mentality absolutely translates over to Iyoku now heading the licensing deals for Dragon Ball, which obviously include television and theatrical anime. This is why we got Broli, after all.

But if its as you said in a earlier post that DragonBall is no longer a creative driven franchise and more of a profit driven one is Iyoku wrong for that line of thinking if the goal is butts in seats,dokkan cards,toy/game sales etc shouldnt u make fans happy ? I mean lets be honest Dragonball crossed that line of adhering to a level of artistic integrity YEARS ago before Super & has not looked back since

[JulieYBM]

I'm no legal expert but I'd have to imagine it wouldn't be that difficult if you had been around the block as Iyoku had, knew the right people, etc. Having Toriyama's complete trust would be like the cherry on top with the clout and bragging rights that comes with it.

Of course we can ask was it misplaced trust on Toriyama's part. We know bringing back Broly was one of several pitches Iyoku offered that Toriyama ultimately agreed to write a story for. Basically Iyoku listens to fans, but that includes the people who want fan service. We were told the Future Trunks arc was an idea from "the editorial room", which may have included Iyoku because that was his role.

Granted not all fan service is bad, but Super Broly showed you can make a solid movie out of ideas that sound like trashy pandering garbage on paper. Sadly we no longer have Toriyama as he had a knack of being able to execute these ideas well. It was a rare skill that will be hard to replicate. We've seen that with GT, which is widely agreed to have great ideas with poor execution.

Iyoku is an editor by training, and editors for JUMP are drilled to always push for attracting the audience. This is a big part of why I've expressed caution with just blindly trusting Iyoku or Toriyama—which is not to say that I trust Shueisha or Toei Animation, either. Iyoku's job as an editor of a manga magazine was to sell magazines and push creators to create stuff that would sell. This mentality absolutely translates over to Iyoku now heading the licensing deals for Dragon Ball, which obviously include television and theatrical anime. This is why we got Broli, after all.

But if its as you said in a earlier post that DragonBall is no longer a creative driven franchise and more of a profit driven one is Iyoku wrong for that line of thinking if the goal is butts in seats,dokkan cards,toy/game sales etc shouldnt u make fans happy ? I mean lets be honest Dragonball crossed that line of adhering to a level of artistic integrity YEARS ago before Super & has not looked back since

Dragon Ball has always been a profit-driven property. A big issue that it suffers from now is this idea that only Toriyama—or following Toriyama religiously—can create good work. I have a problem with this mentality, and I think anyone in the role of overseeing a property like Iyoku seemingly now is should support and push new creators to create their Dragon Ball projects with their own flair.

[BootyCheeksJohnson]

Iyoku is an editor by training, and editors for JUMP are drilled to always push for attracting the audience. This is a big part of why I've expressed caution with just blindly trusting Iyoku or Toriyama—which is not to say that I trust Shueisha or Toei Animation, either. Iyoku's job as an editor of a manga magazine was to sell magazines and push creators to create stuff that would sell. This mentality absolutely translates over to Iyoku now heading the licensing deals for Dragon Ball, which obviously include television and theatrical anime. This is why we got Broli, after all.

But if its as you said in a earlier post that DragonBall is no longer a creative driven franchise and more of a profit driven one is Iyoku wrong for that line of thinking if the goal is butts in seats,dokkan cards,toy/game sales etc shouldnt u make fans happy ? I mean lets be honest Dragonball crossed that line of adhering to a level of artistic integrity YEARS ago before Super & has not looked back since

Dragon Ball has always been a profit-driven property. A big issue that it suffers from now is this idea that only Toriyama—or following Toriyama religiously—can create good work. I have a problem with this mentality, and I think anyone in the role of overseeing a property like Iyoku seemingly now is should support and push new creators to create their Dragon Ball projects with their own flair.

Probably the best approach to take. Let new creators leave their stamp. Now how good they'll do will vary from creator to creator, but it's your only option after the original mind behind the project is gone. To give a familiar example, Stephen Hillenberg left SpongeBob in 04 after the release of the first SB movie, and gave his blessing to take the show in any creative direction his old team felt fit because he knew it wasn't solely his anymore. Now how good a job they did is subjective, but they did the only thing creators carrying on a legacy franchise can do, their best work. See any old superhero comic book for another example.
Allegedly, (the only video I've seen on this guy is an old TotallynotMark YT short from when Iyoku first split, so grain of salt) Iyoku was kicked from the Dragon Room by Shueisha for being a bit tyrannical as an editor/leader and for over reliance on nostalgia.

[nato25]

If you think about it, there are plenty of examples of Dragon Ball without Toriyama already. GT, the Yamcha spinoff manga, Dragon Ball SD and Episode of Bardock, the countless video game original stories (which have gotten better over the years in my opinion). Factor in Super having a skeleton script written by Toriyama and the more I think about it, he's been out of the game for a long time already.

They splash his name around in all the marketing and as far as I know he is mostly responsible for the big 4 recent movies, but yeah he has been fairly absent from the series for a while.

However with his sad death and now this power struggle over the franchise, I do kind of worry about the future here. We are in unprecedented times. I wonder if this dispute is why literally zero manga references have made it into the games.

[dbgtFO]

I don't understand how Iyoku can just open a company and somehow get the rights to DB anime and games willy nilly...
How is it not Shueisha deciding who has the rights to that?
All this time Toriyama could have done the same???
I was under the impression Toriyama and Shueisha held the rights to the entirety of the franchise with Shueisha then granting Toei Animation and Bandai Namco the licenses to produce animes and games respectively with Toriyama having mostly nothing to do with that process legally.

[Rinsankajugin]

I don't understand how Iyoku can just open a company and somehow get the rights to DB anime and games willy nilly...
How is it not Shueisha deciding who has the rights to that?
All this time Toriyama could have done the same???
I was under the impression Toriyama and Shueisha held the rights to the entirety of the franchise with Shueisha then granting Toei Animation and Bandai Namco the licenses to produce animes and games respectively with Toriyama having mostly nothing to do with that process legally.

Long story short, Iyoku (one of Toriyama's long-time friends and business partners, who was also head of Shueisha's Dragon Room) didn't want to follow along with Shueisha's plans of using AI and Metaverse on Dragon Ball, so they demoted him. That, on top of Shueisha not wanting to do much with the license aside from Dokkan profits and the occasional movie, caused Iyoku and a select few from the Dragon Room to quit Shueisha and start up Capsule Corp Tokyo with Toriyama's permission. Iyoku was pretty much THE middle man between Shueisha and Toriyama, so they went to Toriyama's home to ask him to tell Iyoku to reconsider, but Toriyama himself wouldn't budge. It seems that whatever grudge Iyoku had with Shueisha, Toriyama probably shared the same sentiment, which is why Capsule Corp Tokyo has the leverage of the anime and game license.

The problem is that Bamco has no idea what to do in terms of licensing stuff, which is why characters like Moro and Granola aren't in any games yet. It's NOT that they can't use the characters, it's mostly them wondering how to handle such characters if an anime adaptation is not in the pipeline for the foreseeable future. And that right there is the major issue, it's pretty obvious Shueisha's going to be overprotective over the manga rights (even if they've been fumbling the marketing lately), so the only way I could see any of this being resolved is if Shueisha and Capsule Corp Tokyo come to an agreement in terms of licensing, that way companies like Toei and Bamco won't have to be confused about anything pertaining to the manga.

[sangofe]

I don't understand how Iyoku can just open a company and somehow get the rights to DB anime and games willy nilly...
How is it not Shueisha deciding who has the rights to that?
All this time Toriyama could have done the same???
I was under the impression Toriyama and Shueisha held the rights to the entirety of the franchise with Shueisha then granting Toei Animation and Bandai Namco the licenses to produce animes and games respectively with Toriyama having mostly nothing to do with that process legally.

Long story short, Iyoku (one of Toriyama's long-time friends and business partners, who was also head of Shueisha's Dragon Room) didn't want to follow along with Shueisha's plans of using AI and Metaverse on Dragon Ball, so they demoted him. That, on top of Shueisha not wanting to do much with the license aside from Dokkan profits and the occasional movie, caused Iyoku and a select few from the Dragon Room to quit Shueisha and start up Capsule Corp Tokyo with Toriyama's permission. Iyoku was pretty much THE middle man between Shueisha and Toriyama, so they went to Toriyama's home to ask him to tell Iyoku to reconsider, but Toriyama himself wouldn't budge. It seems that whatever grudge Iyoku had with Shueisha, Toriyama probably shared the same sentiment, which is why Capsule Corp Tokyo has the leverage of the anime and game license.

The problem is that Bamco has no idea what to do in terms of licensing stuff, which is why characters like Moro and Granola aren't in any games yet. It's NOT that they can't use the characters, it's mostly them wondering how to handle such characters if an anime adaptation is not in the pipeline for the foreseeable future. And that right there is the major issue, it's pretty obvious Shueisha's going to be overprotective over the manga rights (even if they've been fumbling the marketing lately), so the only way I could see any of this being resolved is if Shueisha and Capsule Corp Tokyo come to an agreement in terms of licensing, that way companies like Toei and Bamco won't have to be confused about anything pertaining to the manga.

It seems to me you're interpreting things here. Or have you got additional information that's not known to others?

[Grimlock]

What we can say is that even if there wasn't any dispute happening, Moro and Granolah would still not appear in games. Not before their appearances in the anime at least. And considering they are both major characters to their respective sagas, them joining the list of exceptions (that includes Gine, Neko Majin and Jaco basically, off the top of my head) is out of the question.

[Bardock God of Time]

It'd be really disappointing if Moro & Granolah are never animated

[JulieYBM]

It'd be really disappointing if Moro & Granolah are never animated

You'll be alive long enough to see them in animation, don't worry.

[TechExpert2021]

It'd be really disappointing if Moro & Granolah are never animated

They'll get their chance to appear in Dragon Ball anime (and video games) once the dispute has been resolved.

Looks like SupaChronicles translated the article, there's a LOT to unpack here...

Not here to derail the thread, but regarding the planned Dragon Ball theme park, why is it being constructed in Saudi Arabia? Saudi Arabia is not a good place for vacations or special trips. I wish this would be constructed in my state (Florida), Japan, or even France.

[HarveyPlissken]

Where do the home entertainment rights factor into this dispute? I wonder if this is why we haven't received any announcements for English Blu-Ray releases of the original Dragon Ball and/or GT (even a new release of DBZ original/Kai)?

[JulieYBM]

Where do the home entertainment rights factor into this dispute? I wonder if this is why we haven't received any announcements for English Blu-Ray releases of the original Dragon Ball and/or GT (even a new release of DBZ original/Kai)?

They would be through Toei Animation, but the lack of Blu-rays in the US would be due to Crunchyrolly simply having no use for Blu-ray releases fo those series.