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3,772 Posts & 2,361 Pages Documenting Dragon Ball, since 1998. We've got you covered!
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Translation Update: “Special Project: Toyotarō Drew It!” Image #60
Published by 22 November 2022, 8:41 AM ESTComment

Each month, Toyotarō provides a drawing of a Dragon Ball character — as well as an accompanying comment — on the official Japanese Dragon Ball website. Following up on the wealth of characters already drawn, for his November 2022 entry, Toyotarō has contributed a drawing of the Red Ribbon Army member, Sergeant Metallic:

Sergeant Metallic

Guards the third floor of Muscle Tower. He looks like he might have been one of the Artificial Humans between #1 and #7… I wonder if it will ever be confirmed.

This drawing and comment set has been added to the respective page in our “Translations” archive.

News
“Dragon Ball Super” Manga to Resume Serialization in December 2022 with New “Super Hero Arc”
Published by 21 November 2022, 3:33 PM ESTComment

In conjunction with today’s (21 November 2022) January 2023 issue of V-Jump magazine, Shueisha has announced that the Dragon Ball Super manga — which has been on hiatus since the publication of its 87th chapter back in August — will resume next month in the magazine’s February 2023 issue (set for release 21 December 2022) with the brand new “Super Hero arc” (スーパーヒーロー編).

A new key visual is provided for Goten and Trunks, who are said to have become heroes protecting the peace. The V-Jump announcement clarifies that this new story arc will in fact depict the events of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero “starting from prior events”.

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, “speeding up the excitement of the TV anime even more”. Though the television series completed its run with the Tournament of Power, the manga continued onward, moving into its own original “Galactic Patrol Prisoner” and “Granolla the Survivor” arcs. The events of the 2018 theatrical film Dragon Ball Super: Broly were not adapted in their entirety, but rather acknowledged as having occurred through a single-page transition in chapter 42, as well as through a bonus chapter in the Jump Victory Carnival 2019 Official Guidebook.

Viz releases free digital chapters of the series day and date with the series’ publication in Japan, and began their own collected print edition back in 2017; the company’s seventeenth collected volume is due out in December 2022.

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New Translation: 30th Anniversary Super History Book Video Game Interview #3: DBZ/Budokai Era with Daisuke Uchiyama
Published by 17 November 2022, 2:14 PM ESTComment

Following up on the first and second interviews in this series, our latest translation addition continues with material from 2016’s 30th anniversary Super History Book. Here in the third in a five-part series of video game-related interviews, we travel back in time to the beginning of the PlayStation 2 era with producer Daisuke Uchiyama discussing the Dragon Ball Z game series, known internationally under the “Budokai” series title.

In this interview, Uchiyama reminisces about the development struggles on new hardware, moving to the cel-shading design, and the surprising success overseas.

Read the Full Translation

If any of the information in this interview sounds familiar, you may have read portions of it in one of our newer “Rumor Guide” entries (where it serves as an important underlying base of first-hand information): “RUMOR — The Budokai Games Held Back Story Content Due to the English Dub”

Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we make our way fully through this five-part interview series!

News
40th Anniversary Tribute “Dragon Ball Super Gallery” #16: Tadatoshi Fujimaki
Published by 14 November 2022, 11:09 AM ESTComment

The September 2021 issue of Shueisha’s Saikyō Jump magazine kicked off a “Dragon Ball Super Gallery” series in commemoration of the Dragon Ball franchise’s upcoming 40th anniversary. The celebration aims to have different artists all contribute their own spin on the original 42 tankōbon covers, with the images and an accompanying comment published as the magazine’s back cover.

Following the previous fifteen entries, this month’s December 2022 issue brings us Tadatoshi Fujimaki (Kuroko’s Basketball, Robot × LaserBeam) and their take on the series’ 14th volume cover:

Fujimaki commented:

When I was in elementary school, meaning, right in the middle of the Dragon Ball serialization, everyone in my class was reading it. From those simple beginnings where I enjoyed copying the Dragon Ball drawings, to buying Jump every week, to deciding I want to draw my own comics, to submitting my own manuscripts, to working as an assistant, and then to finally having my own serialization, who would have thought the day would come when I would be able to draw for a project like this. It is truly an honor. Congratulations to Dragon Ball on its 40th anniversary!

Saikyō Jump is currently a monthly magazine published in Japan by Shueisha under the “Jump” line of magazines. The magazine began as a quarterly publication in 2012, went monthly in 2013, went bimonthly in late-2014, and returned to a monthly format last year (including a digital release for the first time). The magazine’s focus is spin-off and supplementary manga series aimed at a young audience, while also including game promotions, news coverage, and more. The magazine currently serializes content such as Yoshitaka Nagayama’s Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultra God Mission!!!! manga series, Yūji Kasai’s Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Avatars!! manga series, and the Dragon Ball GT Anime Comic. For calendar year 2019, Shueisha reported Saikyō Jump‘s circulation down at 130,000, with readership as 58.5% upper elementary school, 28% lower middle school, 11% middle school, and 2.5% high school or older.

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New Rumor Guide Addition: Dragon Ball Super – Six Months vs. Four Years
Published by 11 November 2022, 2:57 PM ESTComment

Combine some confusing (and even contradictory) early promotional wording from two different magazines, toss in a few less-than-ideal translation choices, add a dash of forgetfulness with regard to original manga statements, and — voilà — we wind up with a delightful bit of confusion as to when the Dragon Ball Super series actually begins.

Does Dragon Ball Super start six months or four years after the battle with Boo…?!

The latest entry in our revamped “Rumor Guide” provides all the back history, context, and facts behind the timeline placement for Battle of Gods and the Dragon Ball Super series!

Read the Full Story!
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New Translation: 30th Anniversary Super History Book Video Game Interview #2: Super Butōden Era with Toshihiro Suzuki
Published by 08 November 2022, 4:13 PM ESTComment

Following up on the first interview in this series, our latest translation addition continues with material from 2016’s 30th anniversary Super History Book. Here in the second in a five-part series of video game-related interviews, we travel back in time to the Super Butōden era with producer Toshihiro Suzuki (perhaps better known as his mascot-esque persona, “Dragon Suzuki”).

In this interview, Suzuki reminisces about the condensed development timeline for the Super Butōden games, working with Toriyama through the difficult button combinations to unleash the games’ special moves, and Super Butōden 2‘s minor spotlight in the 3DS era.

Read the Full Translation

Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we make our way fully through this five-part interview series!

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New Translation: 30th Anniversary Super History Book Video Game Interview #1: Nintendo Famicom Era with Nobuyuki Tanaka
Published by 25 October 2022, 2:53 PM EDTComment

Following up on our partial translation of the Nintendo Mini Famicom Jump Edition guide book interview with Kazuhiko Torishima (which lays the groundwork for what’s to come!), we are finally kicking off an ongoing series of new translation work from 2016’s 30th anniversary Super History Book. It all begins here with the first in a five-part series of video game-related interviews, starting back in the Nintendo Famicom era with producer Nobuyuki Tanaka.

In this interview, Tanaka — alongside producer (and mascot!) Toshihiro “Dragon” Suzuki — reminisces about the days of waiting until 2:00 a.m. for faxes with instructions from Akira Toriyama, dealing with the problem of catching up with the underlying source material, and Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans feature-creeping into a mini empire of products.

Read the Full Translation

Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we make our way fully through this five-part interview series!

Content
Translation Update: “Special Project: Toyotarō Drew It!” Image #59
Published by 23 October 2022, 2:00 PM EDTComment

Each month, Toyotarō provides a drawing of a Dragon Ball character — as well as an accompanying comment — on the official Japanese Dragon Ball website. Following up on the wealth of characters already drawn, for his October 2022 entry, Toyotarō has contributed a drawing of everyone’s favorite, absolutely memorable Red Ribbon Army member, Dock:

Dock

CO of B Company, under the command of General Blue

He moved on Kame House on General Blue’s orders, but was defeated at the hands of his intended target, the Turtle Hermit. Even these incidental characters, with the feeling of “yeah, there’d definitely be a guy like that,” have their charm!

This drawing and comment set has been added to the respective page in our “Translations” archive.

News
Three Volumes of Collected Dragon Ball Manga (Heroes + Super Hero) Releasing in December 2022
Published by 21 October 2022, 10:26 PM EDTComment

Three volumes of various collected Dragon Ball manga series are all set to release all on the same day this December in Japan:

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero — Jump Comics

A “Jump Comics” edition of the theatrical film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero — presumed to be an “anime comic” or “animanga” adaptation (screenshots with dialog bubbles and sound effects), as two novelizations are already on the market — will retail for ¥1,650 on 02 December 2022.

The book is available for pre-order on Amazon Japan.

Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultra God Mission!!!! — Volume 1

The first collected volume of the Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultra God Mission!!!! manga series by Yoshitaka Nagayama will also release 02 December 2022 in Japan for ¥572 spanning 176 pages.

The volume is available for pre-order on Amazon Japan.

Yoshitaka Nagayama debuted in a supplemental booklet packed in with the December 2013 issue of Saikyō Jump, with Dragon Ball Heroes: Rookie Charisma Mission Episode 0 depicting the daily life and “training” of Engineer Yoshito and new Battle Navigators Tsubasa and Momo-chan in a cartoony style. The series eventually received its own standard serialization in Saikyō Jump beginning in the July 2014 issue, followed by the traditional story serials of Dark Demon Realm Mission! beginning in the September 2016 issue, Universe Mission!! beginning in the May 2018 issue, Big Bang Mission!!! beginning in the May 2020 issue, followed by (the current series) Ultra God Mission!!!! beginning in the April 2022 issue.

All of Dark Demon Realm Mission!, Universe Mission!!, and Big Bang Mission!!! have been previously compiled and released.

Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Avatars!! — Volume 2

The second collected volume of the Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Avatars!! manga series by Yūji Kasai will also release 02 December 2022 in Japan for ¥594 spanning 192 pages.

The volume is available for pre-order on Amazon Japan.

A prototype/one-shot for Avatars debuted as a single chapter in the January 2021 issue of Saikyō Jump (under the title “Super Dragon Ball Heroes Side-Story: Avatar Story!!”), followed by the serialization of Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Avatars!! beginning in the September 2021 issue, coinciding with Saikyō Jump‘s refresh. Much like Charisma Mission before it (and likewise similar to DeSpo FighterZ for Dragon Ball FighterZ), the Avatars series showcases a group of young protagonists taking on the world of Dragon Ball Heroes with comical showcases of the various cards and mechanics.

News
Viz “Dragon Ball Super” Manga English Translation Collected Edition Vol. 18 Releasing June 2023
Published by 21 October 2022, 10:08 PM EDTComment

Viz’s eighteenth collected volume of the Dragon Ball Super manga will be released 06 June 2023, covering chapters 77-80 (a la its Japanese counterpart):

Granolah and Goku’s battle reaches its climax! And Granolah is willing to put his life on the line to take Vegeta down with him too! But suddenly, Monaito appears with an important message for all three fighters—the truth about what happened on planet Cereal all those years ago…

The volume is available for pre-order at Amazon at its $9.99 MSRP.

The Dragon Ball Super “comicalization” began in June 2015, initially just ahead of the television series, and running both ahead and behind the series at various points. The manga ran monthly in Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine from its debut through the series’ eighty-seventh chapter back in August in the magazine’s October 2022 issue, at which point it went on indefinite hiatus, “… in order to prepare the next arc”.

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, “speeding up the excitement of the TV anime even more”. Though the television series completed its run with the Tournament of Power, the manga continued onward, moving into its own original “Galactic Patrol Prisoner” and “Granolla the Survivor” arcs.

Viz releases free digital chapters of the series day and date with the series’ publication in Japan, and began their own collected print edition back in 2017; the company’s seventeenth collected volume is due out in December 2022.

The Dragon Ball Super television series concluded in March 2018 with 131 total episodes. Crunchyroll (by way of the merger with FUNimation) owns the American distribution license for the series, with the English dub having wrapped its broadcast on Cartoon Network, and the home video release reaching its tenth and final box set in 2020. A complete steelbook “Limited Edition” was released by Crunchyroll last month.