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News
“Dragon Ball Super” Opening Theme Teased For Upcoming Preview
Published by 13 June 2015, 11:18 AM EDTComment

Following up on yesterday’s reveal that a first look at Dragon Ball Super will debut this weekend, the official Twitter account for the upcoming TV show has also promised a tease of the opening theme:

dbsuper_twitter_op_tease

昨日もお知らせしましたが…
明日6/14(日)9時から放送の「ドラゴンボール改」にて「ドラゴンボール超」の予告ショートバージョン初オンエアです！吉井和哉さんのオープニング曲も初披露！お見逃しなく！(S)

As we announced yesterday…
A short version of the first on-air trailer for “Dragon Ball Super” will be broadcast with “Dragon Ball Kai” tomorrow, June 14th (Sunday), at 9:00am! Kazuya Yoshii’s opening song will also debut! Don’t miss it! (S)

The Dragon Ball Super opening theme, “Chōzetsu ☆ Dynamic!!” (超絶☆ダイナミック!!), will be performed by Kazuya Yoshii (previously of the band The Yellow Monkey).

The upcoming preview will air as a part of Dragon Ball Kai Episode 157 airing 14 June 2015 on Fuji TV in Japan.

Dragon Ball Super, which begins airing 05 July 2015 on Fuji TV, is the first all-new TV series for the franchise in 18 years. The story and characters will be developed by original manga author Akira Toriyama, will star veteran voice actress Masako Nozawa, and will be directed by Kimitoshi Chioka. The series will, “…follow the aftermath of Goku’s fierce battle with Majin Boo, as he attempts to maintain earth’s fragile peace.” A manga adaptation from “Toyotarō” will run each month in V-Jump starting in June.

News
“Dragon Ball Super” First Look Coming June 14
Published by 12 June 2015, 8:37 AM EDTComment

The official Twitter account for Dragon Ball Super has announced that the first look at the upcoming TV series will come 14 June 2015 alongside the regularly-scheduled Episode 157 of Dragon Ball Kai:

dbsuper_preview_tease_twitter

明後日6/14(日)放送の「ドラゴンボール改」にて「ドラゴンボール超」の予告が初オンエア！！「改」のクライマックスと共に要チェックです！そして来週月曜日には公式HPがパワーアップ。気になるメインビジュアルも公開予定です！(S)

The first on-air trailer for “Dragon Ball Super” will be broadcast with “Dragon Ball Kai” the day after tomorrow, June 14th (Sunday)!! It will also be worth checking out the climax of “Kai”! And then, the official home page will receive a power up this coming Monday. The anxiously awaited main visual will also be released! (S)

Viewers can — finally! — look forward to the debut trailer and key artwork alongside the Dragon Ball Kai episode, with additional updates to the series’ official website promised for the following Monday.

Dragon Ball Super, which begins airing 05 July 2015 on Fuji TV, is the first all-new TV series for the franchise in 18 years. The story and characters will be developed by original manga author Akira Toriyama, will star veteran voice actress Masako Nozawa, and will be directed by Kimitoshi Chioka. The series will, “…follow the aftermath of Goku’s fierce battle with Majin Boo, as he attempts to maintain earth’s fragile peace.” A manga adaptation from “Toyotarō” will run each month in V-Jump starting in June.

News
Waku Waku +NYC Announces Guests Takao & Makoto Koyama
Published by 11 June 2015, 3:15 PM EDTComment

Waku Waku +NYC, a new “Japanese pop culture festival” launching this summer in Brooklyn, has announced father-and-son duo Takao Koyama and Makoto Koyama as guests.

Takao Koyama served as the scenario/scriptwriter on various movies and features for the Dragon Ball franchise during its heyday, including up through 2008’s Jump Super Anime Tour Special. In 2013, Koyama penned a blog post following his viewing of that year’s new film, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods.

Makoto Koyama’s contribution to the franchise has thus far been as the scenario/scriptwriter for the 2011 Episode of Bardock animated adaptation.

Waku Waku +NYC will take place 29 August to 30 August 2015 in Brooklyn, NY at several locations in the Williamsburg and Greenpoint neighborhoods. Single day and weekend passes are available.

News
“Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden” (3DS) Rated For Australia
Published by 09 June 2015, 8:32 AM EDT1 Comment

While Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden is due out for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan this week, no international distribution has been officially announced as-of-yet.

Plans may be in the works, however, as the game appears to have been rated (“PG”) for Australia:

extreme_butoden_australia_rating

Dragon Ball Z for Kinect was also rated by the Australian board back in 2012 prior to its formal release announcement.

Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden will launch in Japan 11 June 2015. First-press copies of the game will come packed with bonus content, including a downloadable version of the Super Famicom game Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2 (previously included as a part of the J-Legend Retsuden compilation game). Arc System Works will develop the game for Bandai Namco. The developer previously worked on the Bukū… / Supersonic Warriors games on the Nintendo GameBoy Advance and DS.

Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden is currently available for pre-order from CDJapan. The Nintendo 3DS / New Nintendo 3DS are region-locked; a Japanese system is required for the game to play.

Thanks to forum member Zombie for the heads-up!

Content
New Interview Translation: 1995 Weekly Playboy Toriyama Feature
Published by 08 June 2015, 11:03 AM EDT3 Comments

While we of course enjoy keeping up with the slew of material tossed our way courtesy of new movies and TV series, diving into the archives is always an absolute pleasure. We recently shared a 1996 Akira Toriyama interview from WIRED in Japan; our latest translation dips back even a little further than that.

This new addition to the site is from the 1995 #5 issue of Weekly Playboy in Japan, incidentally enough published by Shueisha; the company also used to publish a monthly equivalent of the American magazine, but it ceased publication in late 2008.

The issue includes a five-page article on Akira Toriyama, based on an interview with him, with quotes used throughout. The article describes itself as “Part 1” on the top of the first page, but investigating this further, it just means that it is the first in a series of articles on popular cartoonists, and not a multi-part interview with Toriyama specifically; the following issue’s contribution is on Osamu Akimoto, author of Kochikame.

The date on the magazine’s cover is 31 January 1995, but since Weekly Playboy pretty consistently post-dates its issues by exactly two weeks (three in the case of a double-issue), we can determine that the official release date was likely 17 January 1995. This would be just after the release of Chapter 502 in Weekly Shōnen Jump 1995 #07, which means Toriyama may have already been thinking about the end of the series. The article certainly gives one that sense, although he never comes out and says it; it’s almost an entreaty to let him live an ordinary life now that he’s winding down doing the thing that made him famous.

wpb_1995_5_image_1

The article is a fascinating one, particularly due to the timeframe during which it was printed. Everything from Toriyama’s early cash-grab initiatives to living with such huge popularity are touched upon. Flourishes and details fans may or may not notice are even given fantastic context:

“Then I got a call from my first editor T——, saying, why don’t you shoot for serialization? ‘Your story is still no good, but you have a novel way of drawing sound effects, like Kiii——n and Gacha, which has impact,’ he said. I had just done the same thing I did on posters with stuff like ‘Year-end bargains——!’ or ‘Super sale on now——’, though. (laughs)

Read the full article in our “Translations” section.

Believe it or not, we actually have more material to cover from these older Weekly Playboy issues in Japan, so stay tuned!

News
“Dragon Ball Super” Logo Revealed?
Published by 06 June 2015, 10:43 PM EDTComment

Despite the series debuting in just under a month’s time, so far we have received various, non-committal text splashes for Dragon Ball Super in online and magazine announcements.

Today’s episode of Dragon Ball Kai in Japan (Episode 156) continued the recent scroll of text promoting the forthcoming new TV series, but this time included stylized text that may be an actual logo:

dbsuper_logo_maybe

If this is indeed the final logo, it appears to simply be the Dragon Ball Z anime’s logo sans-“Z” with a “Chō” (超) kanji slapped onto the end (along with the expected furigana and a “Super” bit of English text).

Dragon Ball Super, which begins airing 05 July 2015 on Fuji TV, is the first all-new TV series for the franchise in 18 years. The story and characters will be developed by original manga author Akira Toriyama, will star veteran voice actress Masako Nozawa, and will be directed by Kimitoshi Chioka. The series will, “…follow the aftermath of Goku’s fierce battle with Majin Boo, as he attempts to maintain earth’s fragile peace.” A manga adaptation from “Toyotarō” will run each month in V-Jump starting in June.

Thanks to Ajay for the image capture!

Update (07 June 2015 @ 12:30 EDT): Toei Animation’s official Dragon Ball Super website has been updated with the new series’ logo.

News
“Dragon Ball Super” Twitter Account Previews Ending Storyboard
Published by 06 June 2015, 7:27 PM EDTComment

After teasing fans with a blank page a little over a week ago (yet still having surprises spoiled by our buddy kei17‘s detective work), the official Twitter account for Dragon Ball Super has previewed actual content of the storyboard for the ending theme.

dbsuper_ed_twitter_preview

関係者の了解をもらったので、先日アップしたエンディングの絵コンテの中身をチラ見せ！(S)

After getting consent from those involved, here’s a sneak peek at the content of the ending’s storyboard that we uploaded the other day. (S)

The image shows the page underneath what was previewed last week, showing an image of adult Goku in a fighting pose sliding in from left over a background of his first appearance in the original manga. A further image shows what appears to be Gohan holding a book of some kind, sliding in from the opposite direction.

The new ending theme song itself, “Hello Hello Hello” (ハローハローハロー), will be performed by the band Good Morning America. The band previously contributed “Dear Zarathustra” to the Japanese broadcast of the Dragon Ball Kai Majin Boo arc.

Dragon Ball Super, which begins airing 05 July 2015 on Fuji TV, is the first all-new TV series for the franchise in 18 years. The story and characters will be developed by original manga author Akira Toriyama, will star veteran voice actress Masako Nozawa, and will be directed by Kimitoshi Chioka. The series will, “…follow the aftermath of Goku’s fierce battle with Majin Boo, as he attempts to maintain earth’s fragile peace.” A manga adaptation from “Toyotarō” will run each month in V-Jump starting in June.

News
Le Grand Rex Confirms French “Revival of ‘F'” Theatrical Screenings
Published by 06 June 2015, 10:39 AM EDTComment

Parisian cinema Le Grand Rex confirmed on Twitter today that the 2015 theatrical film Dragon Ball Z: Revival of “F” will finally make its way to France:

rof_france_screening_twitter_announce

The film, under the title La Résurrection de ‘F’, is set for screenings on its “Grand Large” screen in 3D. No additional screening information is available yet.

The story for Revival of “F”, which opened nationwide in Japan 18 April 2015 in 2D and IMAX 3D, was crafted by original manga author Akira Toriyama, who stated he wrote it, “…as though it were a continuation of the manga when it was in serialization,” and that while it would, “…of course be a continuation of the previous Battle of Gods,” he has also, “…deliberately increased the amount of action scenes by a good deal.” Tadayoshi Yamamuro, who worked for many years as character designer and animation supervisor on the Dragon Ball franchise, served as the film’s director and animation supervisor. Norihito Sumitomo has returned from Battle of Gods and the Majin Boo arc of Dragon Ball Kai for musical composition duties. Momoiro Clover Z contributed “Vow of ‘Z'” as the film’s main theme alongside Maximum the Hormone, whose “F” is used during the film. Revival of “F” brings back Freeza and includes two new characters (Sorbet and Tagoma), features Beerus and Whis again from Battle of Gods, and much more. The film has been announced for distribution in 74 countries.

Thanks to our buddy Romain for the heads-up.

News
“Extreme Butōden” Guide Book Announced With New Z-Assists
Published by 05 June 2015, 1:42 PM EDTComment

A strategy guide book for the upcoming Nintendo 3DS game, Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden, has been announced for release 11 June 2015, the same day as the game’s release.

extreme_butoden_guide_cover

The 112-page “Limit Break Battle Guide” will cover the game’s 100 characters (including playable and Z-Assist characters), detailing the conditions required to unlock each character and their various in-game abilities. It will also detail the necessary techniques, strategies, and information needed to complete the story mode and all eight areas encountered in the game’s “Mysterious Adventure” mode.

The book will also come packed with special bonus material for players: Jaco and Gine (from Jaco the Galactic Patrolman) as Z-Assist characters, as well as a download code for a digital copy of the original strategy guide for the Super Famicom game Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2. Various other Z-Assist characters are available as retailer-specific downloadable content via different Japanese stores.

The book will retail for ¥950 + tax and is available for pre-order via Amazon Japan.

Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden will launch in Japan 11 June 2015. First-press copies of the game will come packed with bonus content, including a downloadable version of the Super Famicom game Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2 (previously included as a part of the J-Legend Retsuden compilation game). Arc System Works will develop the game for Bandai Namco. The developer previously worked on the Bukū… / Supersonic Warriors games on the Nintendo GameBoy Advance and DS.

Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden is currently available for pre-order from CDJapan. The Nintendo 3DS / New Nintendo 3DS are region-locked; a Japanese system is required for the game to play.

News
“Dragon Ball Super” TV Series Debut Set For July 5th
Published by 05 June 2015, 11:00 AM EDTComment

Anime News Network reports that next week’s 2015 #28 issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump in Japan reveals that the Dragon Ball Super TV series will begin airing 05 July 2015 on Fuji TV in Japan.

The promotional splash’s tagline, “A Super-New Work!!” (超神作!! Chō-Shinsaku), is actually a play on words where the 新 (shin) in the word 新作 (shinsaku, meaning “new work”), has been replaced with 神 (shin, meaning “godly”), and highlighted in red. It is possible that this pun is a hint at the series’ yet-to-be-revealed plot, or is merely a promotional tie-in with the franchise’s recent movies. A similar use of wordplay was seen in the tagline for Dragon Ball Z: Revival of “F”.

The issue’s splash also reiterates the previously-announced opening and ending theme information: the opening theme by Kazuya Yoshii will be titled “Chōzetsu ☆ Dynamic!!” (超絶☆ダイナミック!!), while the new ending theme from Good Morning America will be “Hello Hello Hello” (ハローハローハロー).

A supplemental note at the bottom of the page announces that Dragon Ball Super will be involved with the “Odaiba Dream Continent ~Dream Mega Summer Festival~” as a tie-in collaboration during its “treasure hunt” event. The festival is being hosted by Fuji TV on Tokyo’s man-made Odaiba island, which will be held from 18 July 2015 to 31 August 2015.

Online listings for the final box set of the Majin Boo arc of Dragon Ball Kai had suggested the impending debut date by way of the episode count corresponding to upcoming air dates.

Dragon Ball Super is the first all-new TV series for the franchise in 18 years. The story and characters will be developed by original manga author Akira Toriyama, will star veteran voice actress Masako Nozawa, and will be directed by Kimitoshi Chioka. The series will, “…follow the aftermath of Goku’s fierce battle with Majin Boo, as he attempts to maintain earth’s fragile peace.” A manga adaptation from “Toyotarō” will run each month in V-Jump starting in June.