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News
Head of the “Dragon Ball Room” and V-Jump Editor-in-Chief Akio Iyoku Leaving Shueisha to Form New Company: “Capsule Corporation Tokyo”
Published by 31 August 2023, 2:46 PM EDTComment

An exclusive report from Bunshun Online reveals that Akio Iyoku — editor-in-chief of V-Jump as well as head of the “Dragon Ball Room,” an interdepartmental collaborative group shaping the ongoing production of the Dragon Ball franchise — is leaving Shueisha in favor of running his own company, which he created back in May of this year.

Key highlights from the article include (as previously covered in detail by Kanzenshuu Admin Emeritus “Herms” on Twitter):

  • Iyoku is leaving Shueisha as of this month (August 2023)
  • The new company name of “Capsule Corporation Tokyo” — clearly taking the name “Capsule Corporation” form the world of Dragon Ball itself — was decided upon by Iyoku himself
  • Iyoku has planned this move for some time, having set up the new company back in May
  • The new company’s stated goal is to manage intellectual property content creation and distribution
  • Iyoku intends to recruit two of his prior subordinates — a man and a woman — to his new company
  • Iyoku declined to comment to Bunshun Online
  • Akira Toriyama largely declined to comment to Bunshun Online, instead referring them back over to Shueisha
  • Kazuhiko Torishima likewise largely declined to comment and referred Bunshun Online back over to Shueisha
  • Shueisha initially declined to comment to Bunshun Online, though later acknowledged by phone that Iyoku was indeed leaving the company
  • According to anonymous sources within Shueisha, Iyoku’s attitude and possessiveness over the Dragon Ball franchise had been seen as problematic, and there had been talk at least as of June 2022 about moving him to a non-Dragon Ball-related position, which he refused
  • Also according to an anonymous source within Shueisha, Iyoku intends for his new company to handle non-manga-serialization production and management for the Dragon Ball franchise (such as video games), and negotiations as to how that arrangement would work are in process with Shueisha remaining the ultimate rights-holder of the franchise

Iyoku is a prominent and visible figure in the world of Dragon Ball, regularly appearing at conventions and press events, as well as adopting the mascot moniker “King Iyoku” for his V-Jump-related publications and appearances.

Over on Twitter, we’ve shared a bit of a guided tour listing various examples of editorial influence and the collaborative shaping of Dragon Ball Super, inclusive of the television series, movies, and manga:

Podcast
Podcast Episode #0505
Published by 28 August 2023, 2:05 PM EDTComment

Show Description

Episode #0505! Mike, Ken, and Randy return once again to “Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot” to review its fifth paid downloadable content pack, this time covering the 23rd Tenka’ichi Budōkai. Switching things up with ground-based battles and a rigid tournament structure, how does it fare compared to previous DLC releases, and what else might be on the horizon for this game?

How to Listen

Our podcast is available via Apple Podcasts and/or Google Podcasts, or you can pop the direct RSS feed into the program of your choice. You can also listen to this episode by directly downloading the MP3 or by streaming it on Spotify or YouTube. We invite you to discuss this episode on our forum.

 

Referenced Sites:

Content
New Rumor Guide Additions: The Alien Three-Eyed People & The Creation of Vegetto vs. Gogeta
Published by 25 August 2023, 2:58 PM EDTComment

The “Rumor Guide” has been a consistent favorite of staff and visitors alike here at Kanzenshuu — the entries are a blast to put together, and they each act as an authoritative, one-stop-shop with verified original research and (generally!) definitive answers.

As part of the guide’s latest update, two new entries have been added… including one that was the winner of a recent Patreon poll!

RUMOR: Tenshinhan is a Descendant of the Alien Three-Eyed People

The Earth of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon World is filled with humans, anthropomorphic animals, and even the occasional dinosaur. Some of them can shapeshift. Some of them have colored hair. Some of them are even robots! So why would a human on Earth with three eyes (one who can sprout extra limbs) raise any eyebrows? It turns out that ancillary printed information suggests that Tenshinhan may, in fact, have some distant alien ancestry!

Read the Full Story!

RUMOR: Akira Toriyama Created Vegetto in Response to Gogeta

While most fans are aware of the two types of “fusion” used in the Dragon Ball franchise, the precise timeline of how Gogeta and Vegetto came to be is a bit more nuanced — and interesting! — than one might otherwise think.

Read the Full Story!
News
“Dragon Ball Super” Manga Chapter 96 Released
Published by 20 August 2023, 12:00 PM EDTComment

Following up on previous chapters, Shueisha and Viz have added the official English translation of the Dragon Ball Super manga’s ninety-sixth chapter to their respective Manga Plus and Shonen Jump services, continuing onward into the brand-new “Super Hero arc”, now adapting the contents of the recent theatrical film following three chapters worth of original prologue material. Alongside other initiatives including free chapters and a larger archive for paid subscribers, this release continues the companies’ schedule of not simply simultaneously publishing the series’ chapter alongside its Japanese debut to the release date, but to its local time in Japan alongside its serialization in today’s October 2023 issue of Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine.

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 runs in Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine, with the series’ ninety-sixth chapter hitting today in the magazine’s October 2023 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, “speeding up the excitement of the TV anime even more”. Though the television series has completed its run, the manga continues onward, moving into its own original “Galactic Patrol Prisoner”, “Granolla the Survivor”, and now “Super Hero” arcs.

Viz is currently releasing free digital chapters of the series, and began their own collected print edition back in 2017. The company’s eighteenth collected volume was released back in June.

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 this past September.

News
“Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero” 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Announced For November 2023 Release By Crunchyroll
Published by 17 August 2023, 10:58 AM EDTComment

Though the recent film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero hit DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD all at once upon release in Japan, the American release from Crunchyroll initially only featured DVD and Blu-ray formats. While a 4K Ultra HD has been promised for some time — initially (and strangely) only ever properly hinted at on a Bandai Namco video game tournament page — all we had to go on was a “fall” timeframe.

A new listing on RightStuf’s website confirms that Crunchyroll will release a Blu-ray/4K Ultra HD combo pack on 21 November 2023 for $39.98 MSRP.

The RightStuf listing notes that — “while supplies last” — the package will come with both a lenticular cover and a special holographic art card.

Amazon also has an exclusive steelbook version up for preorder, likewise at the $39.98 MSRP:

The story, script, and character designs for Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero were crafted by original manga author Akira Toriyama. Shueisha’s executive producer Akio Iyoku noted that the movie’s story takes place after the events in Dragon Ball Super: Broly, but before the 28th Tenka’ichi Budōkai, and features the revival of the notorious Red Ribbon Army. The film’s director is Tetsuro Kodama, who was most recently the CG Sequence Director for the Dragon Ball Super: Broly film, with Hoon Jung-jae taking over the CG Director role after being a CG effects artist in the preceding two films, Battle of Gods and Resurrection ‘F’. The film’s theatrical score is composed by Naoki Satō.

The movie was released theatrically in Japan on 11 June 2022, following a delay decided upon in conjunction with a Toei network hack. Home video releases hit Japan in December 2022 and in America last March. The Dragon Ball Super manga is currently telling its own version of the Super Hero film’s story.

News
Bandai Namco Holdings Q1 Fiscal 2024 Figures
Published by 17 August 2023, 10:23 AM EDTComment

Bandai Namco Holdings has posted a ¥21.786 billion profit for the first quarter of fiscal year of 2024, down from a ¥37.019 billion profit this same timeframe last year.

namco_bandai_logo_resaved

Dragon Ball came in as the company’s second-best-performing franchise for the quarter, pulling in ¥28.7 billion (behind the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise at ¥36.9 billion). This marks a slight increase for Dragon Ball over Q1 2023’s ¥27.5 billion. The company is projecting a full fiscal year total of ¥130 billion, which would be down from last full fiscal year’s ¥144.5 billion.

In terms of general toys and hobby merchandise (non-video games) for Japan, the franchise came in third — behind Mobile Suit Gundam and One Piece, respectively — at ¥6.5 billion, an increase from Q1 2023’s ¥5.6 billion. The company is projecting a drop, however, from ¥22.5 billion last fiscal year to ¥20 billion this fiscal year.

News
“Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot” 23rd Tenka’ichi Budōkai DLC Delayed on PC
Published by 17 August 2023, 10:06 AM EDTComment

Hitting today across all other major gaming platforms, the 23rd Tenka’ichi Budōkai-focused paid downloadable content pack for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot has been delayed on PC:

A notice on Bandai Namco’s website goes on to note:

Notice of Delay in DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT’s DLC5 STEAM® Version Release Date

We would like to inform you that the release date for DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT‘s DLC 5, the “23rd World Tournament”, for STEAM®, which was scheduled for release today, August 17, has been delayed.

This delay only affects the new DLC for the STEAM® version and is already available on the PlayStation®5, Playstation®4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch™. This does not affect the main game of DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT for Steam® or any other DLC that is already available.

We expect to be able to distribute DLC 5 for STEAM® in the next few days and will make an announcement when we have a specific date and time for distribution.

We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause you. Thank you once again for supporting DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT.

First teased back in January alongside the game’s current-generation console update, the downloadable content pack’s title in Japanese is “Troubles at the Tenka’ichi Budōkai” (波乱の天下一武道会 Haran no Tenka’ichi Budōkai); as with the previous Bardock DLC, its title is a direct nod to a prior work’s title, in this case being the exact same title as Dragon Ball manga chapter 167, itself later adapted as the title of Dragon Ball television series episode 134. The English localization will sport a title of “The 23rd World Tournament”.

Taking place immediately before what the television series designated as the “Z” break (in what is otherwise simply “Dragon Ball” beginning to end in its original comic form), the 23rd Tenka’ichi Budōkai sees a freshly-grown Son Goku at his third tournament appearance taking on the reincarnated/reborn-but-also-offspring (it’s complicated…) of the original Demon King Piccolo.

Adapting the 1990 Bardock television special, the first entry in the second wave of DLC packs for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot launched back in January alongside new, native PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions of the full game. The three entries in this second “season pass” are all “story arcs” rather than “story episodes”; in the first season pass, the Battle of Gods and Resurrection ‘F’ DLC entries were much shorter with a focus on boss fights and level increases, while the third entry — that of Trunks’ future timeline — told a comprehensive, multi-part story.

Developed by CyberConnect2 for Bandai Namco, the action role-playing game released 16 January 2020 in Japan and 17 January 2020 internationally on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC (via Steam). A Nintendo Switch edition came later in September 2021.

Reviews of the base game, Trunks DLC, and Bardock DLC can be found on episodes #0481, #0490, and #0497, respectively, of our podcast — a forthcoming episode will be dedicated to the new 23rd Tenka’ichi Budōkai pack.

UPDATE: Reports seem to indicate the DLC pack is up and running on time via Steam-

News
“Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot” 23rd Tenka’ichi Budōkai DLC Releasing August 17th
Published by 08 August 2023, 11:15 AM EDTComment

First teased back in January alongside the game’s current-generation console update, Bandai Namco has announced that the paid downloadable content pack for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot featuring the 23rd Tenka’ichi Budōkai will release worldwide on 17 August 2023.

The downloadable content pack’s title in Japanese is “Troubles at the Tenka’ichi Budōkai” (波乱の天下一武道会 Haran no Tenka’ichi Budōkai); as with the previous Bardock DLC, its title is a direct nod to a prior work’s title, in this case being the exact same title as Dragon Ball manga chapter 167, itself later adapted as the title of Dragon Ball television series episode 134. The English localization will sport a title of “The 23rd World Tournament”.

Taking place immediately before what the television series designated as the “Z” break (in what is otherwise simply “Dragon Ball” beginning to end in its original comic form), the 23rd Tenka’ichi Budōkai sees a freshly-grown Son Goku at his third tournament appearance taking on the reincarnated/reborn-but-also-offspring (it’s complicated…) of the original Demon King Piccolo.

Adapting the 1990 Bardock television special, the first entry in the second wave of DLC packs for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot launched back in January alongside new, native PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions of the full game. The three entries in this second “season pass” are all “story arcs” rather than “story episodes”; in the first season pass, the Battle of Gods and Resurrection ‘F’ DLC entries were much shorter with a focus on boss fights and level increases, while the third entry — that of Trunks’ future timeline — told a comprehensive, multi-part story.

Developed by CyberConnect2 for Bandai Namco, the action role-playing game released 16 January 2020 in Japan and 17 January 2020 internationally on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC (via Steam). A Nintendo Switch edition came later in September 2021.

Reviews of the base game, Trunks DLC, and Bardock DLC can be found on episodes #0481, #0490, and #0497, respectively, of our podcast.

News
40th Anniversary Tribute “Dragon Ball Super Gallery” #25: Yasuhisa Hara
Published by 07 August 2023, 6:57 PM EDTComment

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 twenty-four entries, this month’s September 2023 issue brings us Yasuhisa Hara (Kingdom) and their take on the series’ 34th volume cover:

Yasuhisa Hara commented:

Congratulations on 40 years! Dragon Ball is a work I read every week in Jump right from the first chapter, so it’s a real honor getting to participate in a special project such as this. It’s quite humbling to be doing an arrangement of one of Toriyama-sensei‘s illustrations, but I also had fun with it while mixing in elements of Kingdom, adding in background soldiers to bring out that “likeness,” even while giving the armor Goku-style coloring.

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 in 2021 (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.

Podcast
Podcast Episode #0504
Published by 24 July 2023, 2:01 PM EDT1 Comment

Show Description

Episode #0504! Mike and Ken journey through the biggest hoaxes in modern Dragon Ball history. From fanart that escaped the clutches of its original artists, to purposeful (and sometimes long-term) bits of misinformation, we’ve seen it all! How well do some of these hoaxes hold up, and what will it take in the future to live up to their legacy?

How to Listen

Our podcast is available via Apple Podcasts and/or Google Podcasts, or you can pop the direct RSS feed into the program of your choice. You can also listen to this episode by directly downloading the MP3 or by streaming it on Spotify or YouTube. We invite you to discuss this episode on our forum.

 

Referenced Sites: