Kanzenshuu

“Dragon Ball Super” Manga Collected Edition Vol. 2 Price & Pre-Order Updates

Published by VegettoEX27 October 2016, 8:47 AM EDTCommentDragon Ball Super

The slow drip of information for the upcoming second collected print volume of Toyotarō’s Dragon Ball Super manga continues. Following a timeframe and later specific release date announcement (02 December 2016), Shueisha’s book listing website has updated with a price: ¥420 + tax, a tiny ¥20 increase over the first volume.

In addition to listing pre-orders for the print edition, Amazon Japan has also indicated an 04 January 2017 release for the digital edition. The staggered release between print and digital editions has become common with Shueisha’s collected editions.

Neither Shueisha nor Amazon list a page count for the volume yet.

The first collected edition was announced back in February and saw its release in April covering the series’ first nine chapters, one spin-off chapter, and a special interview between Toyotarō and original author Akira Toriyama. Since this volume’s release, another eight regular chapters and one more spin-off chapter have been released, with one more regular monthly chapter set to hit V-Jump by this second volume’s December release.

The Dragon Ball Super manga began in June 2015 as a promotional tie-in for the television series. The manga runs monthly in Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine, with the series’ seventeenth chapter printed last week in the magazine’s December 2016 issue. Illustrated by “Toyotarō” (in all likelihood, a second pen-name used by Dragon Ball AF fan manga author and illustrator “Toyble”), the Dragon Ball Super manga covered the Battle of Gods re-telling, skipped the Resurrection ‘F’ re-telling, and “charged ahead” to the Champa arc to act as further promotion for the television series. Viz is currently releasing free digital chapters of the series, and will release their own collected print edition beginning in May 2017.

News

New Interviews: Kazuhiko Torishima (Forbes) and Toyotarō (Anime News Network)

Published by VegettoEX26 October 2016, 12:22 PM EDTComment

It is rare for Japanese production staff to grant major interviews to foreign press, particularly deep-dive conversations devoid of excessive oversight from management behind the scenes. Two interviews have recently been published on other websites that are very much worth your time:

Kazuhiko Torishima
(Ollie Barder / Forbes)

In an interview with former Shueisha heavyweight Kazuhiko Torishima, the Weekly Shōnen Jump editor discusses his entry to the workforce and multiple (sometimes frustrating!) project collaborations with original Dragon Ball author Akira Toriyama.

Around that time, I met and started working with Akira Toriyama. So when he started he was obviously a newcomer as a manga author but I was also a relative newcomer as an editor as well. While I felt I had a very good grasp and skill on pane layout, we’d often argue and there was a lot of trial and error.

In addition to the standard stories regarding the move from Dr. Slump to Dragon Ball, Torishima also specifically addressed the challenges of having the manga adapted into a television series combined with evolving character designs and storytelling styles.

Around the same time, Saint Seiya was a very popular anime. This was interesting because the Saint Seiya manga was rather average but the anime by comparison was a lot better. So I wanted to know why the Saint Seiya anime was doing so well and we did some research on that. We found that there were two key figures. The first was Kouzou Morishita, who was the director, and the second was Takao Koyama, who wrote the script. So I visited these two guys and asked them if they’d help me reboot Dragon Ball and they both agreed.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW

Toyotarō
(Todd Ciolek / Anime News Network)

In an interview conducted at this month’s New York Comic Con, Toyotarō (of the Dragon Ball Super manga currently serialized in Shueisha’s monthly V-Jump magazine) discusses his gratitude at the opportunity to work on the franchise in an official capacity as well as his collaborations with original author Akira Toriyama.

What I receive from Toriyama is literally words on paper, without drawings or anything. So when I’m reading it, I have to fill in the blanks as far as the specifics are concerned. I think of what kinds of expressions the characters wear, which way they’re looking when they say a certain line. Many times, Toriyama-sensei doesn’t give me specific feedback on the details that I fill in, so I put a lot of thought into those aspects, knowing that my interpretation is what the readers will see.

Toyotarō also seems to confirm that the Dragon Ball Super manga will once again charge ahead of the TV series’ continuity, something previously done in debuting the Champa arc ahead of the TV series:

At this point, I’m not very involved with it. I think going forward, I’ll be more involved, but at this point in time, I actually receive more information from the anime team than I give to them. The anime is a little bit further along than I am, but in the near future I’ll be ahead, so the information will be going back to them. Regardless, we’ll continue to support one another as we go forward.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW

Toyotarō currently works on the Dragon Ball Super manga adaptation, which runs monthly in Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine, having previously contributed the Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission series and a three-chapter Resurrection ‘F’ introduction. “Toyotarō” is, in all likelihood, a second pen-name used by Dragon Ball AF fan manga author and illustrator “Toyble”.

News

“Dragon Ball Fusions” (3DS) Japanese 12th Week Sales Figures

Published by VegettoEX26 October 2016, 10:47 AM EDTCommentProject Fusion

Dragon Ball Fusions continues to push new copies to players a full three months into its release on the Nintendo 3DS in Japan.

Though the game has fallen off the Media Create sales list, according to the Famitsu sales list for the reporting period of 17 October 2016 to 23 October 2016, the game pushed another 2,382 copies, which brings the game’s sales up to 164,309 total copies. This number trends lower than Media Create‘s reporting, which pegged the game at 177,592 total copies last week (while Famitsu‘s own reporting pegged the game at 161,927 total copies at that same point in time).

Fusions‘ twelve week sales far exceed last year’s Extreme Butōden (also on the Nintendo 3DS), which fell off the sales chart after ten weeks with a confirmed 124,982 copies sold by that point. Fusions is also currently trending higher than 2014’s Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission 2, which (according to Famitsu) sold 152,076 copies by its own tenth week, after which point it, too, fell off the sales charts.

Dragon Ball Fusions, developed by Ganbarion for Bandai Namco, is the latest Dragon Ball franchise video game and is exclusively available on the Nintendo 3DS in Japan. A second major update is due next month, bringing with it new playable characters and fusions. The game is scheduled for an international localization, hitting North America in December and Europe in February 2017. Check out Episode #0409 of our podcast for our first impressions with the game.

News

Bandai Namco Acknowledges Late “Dragon Ball XENOVERSE 2” Collector’s Edition Shipments in North America

Published by VegettoEX25 October 2016, 2:14 PM EDT2 CommentsXenoverse 2

In an update posted to the company’s social media accounts this afternoon, the North American branch of Bandai Namco acknowledged that due to “logistical difficulties” many shipments of the Dragon Ball XENOVERSE 2 collector’s edition — released today — are late en route to retailers.

Due to unforeseeable logistical difficulties, some Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 Collector’s Editions are arriving later than anticipated at certain retail outlets. While BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. is working diligently to expedite delivery of Collector’s Editions units to those stores; there may be a one to two day delay of availability of the Collector’s Edition in some areas. We want to thank all of our fans for their patience.

Anecdotally, it appears that pre-ordered shipments may ultimately end up in players’ hands today through Thursday depending on where it was ordered.

Dragon Ball XENOVERSE 2 is available worldwide this week for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. In North America, the game will launch for consoles 25 October 2016 with a PC release following 28 October 2016. In Europe, the game will launch across all platforms 28 October 2016. In Japan, the game will exclusively launch on the PlayStation 4 console 02 November 2016.

News

“Dragon Ball Super” Manga Collected Edition Vol. 2 Scheduled For December 2 Release

Published by VegettoEX25 October 2016, 8:50 AM EDTCommentDragon Ball Super

Following a brief announcement earlier this month in Saikyō Jump, last week’s December 2016 issue of V-Jump has revealed an 02 December 2016 release date for the “long awaited” second collected print volume of Toyotarō’s Dragon Ball Super manga.

Unfortunately, there are still no specifics — such as a page count or chapter listing — provided in the announcement beyond the release date.

Since this volume’s release, another eight regular chapters and one more spin-off chapter have been released, with one more regular monthly chapter set to hit V-Jump by this second volume’s December release.

News

Bandai Namco Releases First Batch of “Super Dragon Ball Heroes” Promotional Videos

Published by VegettoEX24 October 2016, 9:25 PM EDTCommentDragon Ball Heroes

Following yesterday’s sixth-anniversary live stream celebration, Bandai Namco has released official versions of their first Super Dragon Ball Heroes promotional videos.

In the special movie that serves as the update’s opening video, the player’s avatar character enters the new game world alongside Time Patrol Trunks to interrupt the powered-up “Freeza: Xeno” and his attack on Goku. Towa appears in her own new form, only to be thwarted by Chronoa, the Kaiōshin of Time, who has brought Vegeta and Goku in their own new forms. Trunks and Vegeta fuse via the Potara earrings into “Vegeks” as the team assembles! Meanwhile, Zamasu and Goku Black merge to battle with Goku in the future timeline!

The game-engine CG world introductory video showcases Towa’s assault as the time patrol heroes fight back, while the powered-up “Freeza: Xeno” (along with henchmen Zarbon and Dodoria) also make an appearance:

The game’s “how to play” video showcases new cards and characters coming to the game, the major hardware improvements coming alongside the upgrade, and more.

Over 500 million cards have been shipped for the Dragon Ball Heroes arcade game over the course of its six years thus far. The game will transition to new hardware (while remaining backward compatible with all existing cards) for Super Dragon Ball Heroes 71 November 2016 in Japan. Two Nintendo 3DS game adaptations — 2013’s Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission and 2014’s Ultimate Mission 2 — have been released exclusively in Japan.

Podcast

Podcast Episode #0414

Published by VegettoEX24 October 2016, 8:40 PM EDTComment

It finally happened: official subtitled Dragon Ball Super simulcast streams are available (nearly) worldwide! Between Crunchyroll and Daisuki, most fans now have a great option to easily and legally keep up with the show. The availability of the show itself is one thing, but how about the subtitle translations? With Dragon Ball Super, bootleg distributions have either featured impeccable or garbage translations. How does Toei’s own product shape up in this regard?

SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0414! Mike and Jake discuss the quality of the subtitle translations available in Toei’s “Dragon Ball Super” simulcast streams. With a mix of dub terminology, faithful adaptations, and even some direct romanizations, will the proper nouns be accessible to anyone at all? Terminology aside, how about (perhaps most importantly) the rest of the translation? Tune in for a great batch of examples and explanations, along with a news recap and look ahead to future website content!

REFERENCED SITES:

Enjoy! Discuss this episode on the Kanzenshuu forum, and be sure to connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, and Tumblr.

Our podcast feed is available via iTunes and/or Google Play Music. You can also listen to this episode by directly downloading the MP3, or you can listen on YouTube and/or SoundCloud.

News

“Dragon Ball Heroes” 6th Anniversary Live Stream Announced + New Akira Toriyama Comment

Published by VegettoEX22 October 2016, 3:36 PM EDTCommentDragon Ball Heroes

Similar to events from the last several years, Bandai Namco has announced an upcoming live stream 23 October 2016 in celebration of the card-based arcade game Dragon Ball Heroes‘ sixth anniversary and major update to Super Dragon Ball Heroes in Japanese arcades next month. The live stream will feature voice actors Masako Nozawa (Son Goku, et al.) and Ryō Horikawa (Vegeta) as special guests where they will discuss the game as well as the ongoing Dragon Ball Super television series.

To commemorate the event, original author Akira Toriyama contributed his own short comment and congratulations to Bandai Namco and the players:

Thanks for always playing Dragon Ball Heroes! Looks like it’s reached its 6-year anniversary! As the original author, it makes me really happy that people have enjoyed it for so long! And apparently come November it’ll evolve into Super Dragon Ball Heroes and become even more fun! Wow! It looks like the whole Bandai staff won’t stop evolving either! From now on, keep on enjoying this game’s super battles as hard as you can!!

In addition to Trunks, Super Saiyan Rosé Goku Black, and Zamasu as they appear in the Dragon Ball Super television series, Famitsu also posted game designs for “Vegeks” (ベジークス Bejikkusu), “Freeza: Xeno”, and “Demon God (Majin) Towa”:

Over 500 million cards have been shipped for the Dragon Ball Heroes arcade game over the course of its six years thus far. The game will transition to new hardware (while remaining backward compatible with all existing cards) for Super Dragon Ball Heroes 17 November 2016 in Japan. Two Nintendo 3DS game adaptations — 2013’s Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission and 2014’s Ultimate Mission 2 — have been released exclusively in Japan.

Thanks as always to everyone in our forum’s giant Dragon Ball Heroes thread for the various heads-ups!

News

Viz Posts “Dragon Ball Super” Manga Chapter 10 English Translation

Published by VegettoEX22 October 2016, 2:46 PM EDTCommentDragon Ball Super

Continuing onward from the previous nine chapters, Viz has added their English translation of the Dragon Ball Super manga’s tenth chapter to their website.

The respective page in our “Manga Guide” has been updated with this release information.

While the Dragon Ball Super television series has been licensed for certain international territories, no announcement of a home release or traditional television broadcast has been made for North America. The series was recently announced to receive a weekly simulcast on services such as Crunchyroll and Daisuki.

The Dragon Ball Super manga began in June 2015 as a promotional tie-in for the television series. The manga runs monthly in Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine, with the series’ seventeenth chapter printed this week in the magazine’s December 2016 issue. Illustrated by “Toyotarō” (in all likelihood, a second pen-name used by Dragon Ball AF fan manga author and illustrator “Toyble”), the Dragon Ball Super manga covered the Battle of Gods re-telling, skipped the Resurrection ‘F’ re-telling, and “charged ahead” to the Champa arc to act as further promotion for the television series. Viz is currently releasing free digital chapters of the series, and will release their own collected print edition beginning in May 2017.

News

“Dragon Ball Fusions” (3DS) Second Major Update Patch Releasing November 2 with New Characters & Fusions

Published by VegettoEX21 October 2016, 12:53 PM EDT1 CommentProject Fusion

In conjunction with today’s December 2016 issue of V-Jump, Bandai Namco’s official website for Dragon Ball Fusions as well as an article on Famitsu‘s website have all detailed the second major update patch coming to the game, set for release on the Nintendo 3DS eShop 02 November 2016.

Included in the update, two new playable characters will be added: “Goku Black” (along with his Super Saiyan Rosé form) and “Trunks: Super” from the ongoing “Future Trunks arc” of the Dragon Ball Super television series.

Additionally, two new EX Fusions will be available: the present-timeline Trunks and “Trunks: Super” will combine to form “EX Trunks” while Super Saiyan Rosé Goku Black and Broli will combine to form “Karoli Black“.

The game’s first major update (released 28 September 2016) included a new “Time-Space Radar stage” set in the real world, plus new a new “Online Vs. and Ranking Function”.

Dragon Ball Fusions, developed by Ganbarion for Bandai Namco, is the latest Dragon Ball franchise video game and is exclusively available on the Nintendo 3DS in Japan. The game has sold 177,592 copies thus far in Japan. The game is scheduled for an international localization, hitting North America in December and Europe in February 2017. Check out Episode #0409 of our podcast for our first impressions with the game.