Kanzenshuu

New Dance Exercise DVD Features “Dragon Ball” Theme Song

Published by VegettoEX04 February 2014, 2:02 PM ESTComment

A new dance exercise DVD by “TAKAHIRO”, a world-famous professional dancer, features six anime theme songs, including the opening theme to the original Dragon Ball TV series, “Makafushigi Adventure!”

Sekai ga Mitomeru Super Dancer TAKAHIRO ga Kosatsu! Anison Exercise (“World Renowned Super Dancer TAKAHIRO’s Devising! Anime Song Exercises”) will allow you to get your blood pumping to theme songs from Dragon Ball, Dr. Slump – Arale-chan, Urusei Yatsura, Kinnikuman, Magical Angel Creamy Mami, and Sally the Witch.

The DVD (KSDDV-201401) was officially released 31 January 2014 for a standard price of ¥3,990 and can be ordered from various retailers such as CDJapan and Amazon Japan.

Podcast

Podcast Episode #0355

Published by VegettoEX03 February 2014, 1:48 PM ESTComment

After a few slow news weeks things are back in full effect here in the Dragon World! Jaco the Galactic Patrolman is receiving bonus material, Toriyama is dropping new in-universe information, and we are here to cover it all!

SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0355! VegettoEX and Hujio discuss Akira Toriyama’s recent “Super” Q-and-A with Naho Ooishi from the March 2014 issue of “Saikyo Jump” in Japan. Goku’s mother has a name, a personality, and she is coming to bonus pages within “Jaco the Galactic Patrolman” this coming April. What does this all mean for the franchise going forward, and what does Toriyama specifically want to do with Vegeta…?!

REFERENCED SITES:

Enjoy! Discuss this episode on the Kanzenshuu forum.

News

“Dragon Ball SD” Volume 2 Coming in April 2014

Published by SaiyaJedi03 February 2014, 6:06 AM EST3 CommentsDragon Ball SD

The March 2014 issue of Saikyō Jump is still a day out from release in Japan, but it is seemingly available almost everywhere at this point. Not only does it contain a “Super Kanzenban” of Episode of Bardock (including a new Q&A with Akira Toriyama that features new information), but it also announces the second collected volume of Naho Ooishi’s Dragon Ball SD:

The volume is slated for release 04 April 2014, the same day as the collected release of Jaco the Galactic Patrolman, and exactly one year to the day from the release of the first volume (which was indeed released in the same full-color format as the Saikyō Jump versions of the chapters). The second volume is stated to include the conclusion of the 21st Tenka’ichi Budōkai and the beginning of Goku’s encounters with the Red Ribbon Army, along with the SD Battle of Gods special manga that originally ran last March in the magazine’s April 2013 issue. There will also be a pack-in bonus Dragon Ball Heroes card, “Son Goku: Boyhood”. More details are promised in the April 2014 issue of Saikyō Jump, due out 04 March 2014.

Dragon Ball SD began with Saikyō Jump as a quarterly publication with four total issues in 2011 re-telling major aspects of the franchise in an even more childish tone. When the magazine switched to a monthly format in 2012, Dragon Ball SD started over at the very beginning of the series with the same kind of writing and artistic style. The first collected volume picked up with these monthly chapters, leaving the original four chapters exclusive to their first magazine publications.

Naho Ooishi began with the franchise in 2009 by writing and illustrating a two-part adaptation of the Jump Super Anime Tour Special in V-Jump. Along with Dragon Ball SD, Ooishi has also been responsible for Episode of Bardock, which itself was adapted into a Jump Festa special feature.

Content

March 2014 “Saikyō Jump” Akira Toriyama Q&A

Published by VegettoEX02 February 2014, 10:04 AM EST10 Comments

This week’s upcoming March 2014 issue of Saikyō Jump in Japan contains a wealth of new and bonus Dragon Ball material, namely a “Super Kanzenban” reprint of Naho Ooishi’s Episode of Bardock manga (originally published in three chapters over the June, July, and August 2011 issues of V-Jump), itself containing the original three chapters and two bonus pages, a six-page spread of SD (“super deformed”)-related content, and a ten-question Q&A session with original Dragon Ball manga author Akira Toriyama.

While most recent Toriyama Q&As have been tied to the film Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods and went into detail with story bits in that film alone, this new Q&A naturally goes into Bardock’s family a little bit, which includes dropping the biggest naming-a-charcter bombshell since the reveal of Mr. Satan’s true name: in this case, Toriyama has finally given a name to Goku’s mother!

As for her appearance and such, you’ll find out if you read the bonus comic in the collected release of Jaco the Galactic Patrolman. Her name was Gine, and a long time ago, she fought on a four-person team together with Bardock.

Gine had a gentle personality and wasn’t cut out as a warrior, being repeatedly saved from danger by Bardock. At that time, a special emotion was born between them. Normally, Saiyans don’t have much of a notion of romance or marriage, and apart from the royal family of Vegeta, they aren’t particular about blood-relationships. Being in among all that, I suppose you could say that the pair of Bardock and Gine were those rare Saiyans who were joined by a bond other than for the purpose of reproduction. Incidentally, Gine, who was not cut out as a warrior, would go on to work at the meat distribution center on Planet Vegeta.

ギネ (gine with a hard “G” sound at the beginning and an “eh” sound at the end) is likely an anagram of ネギ (negi) or “green onion” (also known as “spring onion” or “scallions”) and, as noted, will be shown off in the bonus pages of Jaco the Galactic Patrolman in this coming April’s collected edition of said manga.

If nothing else, though it was already rather heavily implied, those willing to accept new information from the author in 2014 can put to rest any rumors about Selypa being Goku’s mother.

Toriyama also goes on to mention that, were there to be another movie in the future, he might like to let Vegeta have a little bit of the spotlight (an interesting turn of opinion from his original thoughts on the character):

As for Vegeta, in the event that there’s talk of another animated film, then next time, I’d like him to play the main role. (Of course, this is nothing more than intentions, and I haven’t decided anything at all.)

The full ten-question Q&A has been archived on a new page in our “Translations” section. Special thanks to @manganewsjapon for providing us with the full text as we wait for someone to actually sell us the darn magazine in Japan (silly release dates!), officially due out 04 February 2014.

News

FUNimation DBZ “Season Two” Blu-ray Set Delayed to March 2014

Published by VegettoEX02 February 2014, 8:29 AM ESTComment

FUNimation’s second “season” set of the Dragon Ball Z TV series on Blu-ray, originally due out 18 February 2014, has been delayed to a new 04 March 2014 release date.

The new “season” sets (cropped widescreen, heavy DVNR) replace the canceled “Level” sets (originally 4:3, grain preservation) from 2011. A formal review of the first set is still forthcoming, but in the mean time, check out our community Q&A session with FUNimation about the new sets, as well as Episode #0352 of our podcast for a retrospective of every first-volume release for the TV series that FUNimation has ever released!

News

“Jaco the Galactic Patrolman” Collected Volume Coming April 2014

Published by VegettoEX31 January 2014, 9:07 PM ESTComment

In its original weekly publication, the final chapter of Jaco the Galactic Patrolman — Akira Toriyama’s new one-shot-turned-Dragon Ball-prequel — indicated that a collected print edition of the manga would be coming in January 2014.

January came and went, and along with it went Jaco from all listings of upcoming releases from Shueisha. One Japanese fan in particular seemed to get a hint out of Shueisha that it had been delayed until April, but there had been no formal, public confirmation from the publisher.

It turns out that the April timeframe was indeed true, as Shueisha’s latest listings now confirm a 04 April 2014 release date.

Jaco the Galactic Patrolman ran from the 2013 #33-44 issues of Weekly Shōnen Jump in Japan, and also saw a simultaneous digital release in English by Viz. There is currently no word from Viz on a collected English release either in print or digital form. Jaco is currently receiving a “Voiced Comic” (“Vomic”) from Shueisha in conjunction with the TV program “Saikyomi JanBANG!”

News

Ultimate Gohan Joining “Zenkai Battle Royale”

Published by VegettoEX31 January 2014, 8:40 AM ESTCommentZenkai Battle Royale

The March 2014 issue of V-Jump in Japan (officially released 21 January 2014) reveals that the Japan-exclusive, arcade-only, multiplayer fighting game Zenkai Battle Royale is still rocking with more fighters joining the roster, namely Ultimate Gohan.

With Gohan’s finishing move he will be able to toy with his opponent. If he gets into a tight spot, he can immediately switch to countering, and then end the match with a surging rush.

Gohan is not joining alone, though!

さらにさらに!!!
意外すぎるやつらも
参戦を表明!?

But that’s not all!!!
Some all-too-unexpected guys also announce their joining of the battle?!

Spopovitch and Bobbidi, shown but not actually named, were last seen in action back in 2007’s Sparking! METEOR (“Budokai Tenkaichi 3” internationally) on the PlayStation 2 and Wii. There is no explanation made as to whether both will be playable, or if Bobbidi will join Spopovitch as a sort of assist-type character.

Zenkai Battle Royale, originally revealed in late 2010, most recently received Bardock and Coola as playable characters.

News

Rumor Mill: The Current State of “Toriko” and “Dragon Ball Kai”

Published by VegettoEX30 January 2014, 4:29 PM EST3 CommentsDragon Ball Kai

The continuation of Dragon Ball Kai into the Majin Boo story arc is perhaps the biggest, most widely-known, open secret there has ever been for the franchise. Kanzenshuu can independently confirm that it is real and it is in production… and that is about all we can say for sure.

The “refreshed” version of the Dragon Ball Z TV series originally began in Japan in 2009 as part of the 20th anniversary celebration of the anime. Kai ran alongside One Piece to form the “Dream 9” super-block of content on Fuji TV. It ran for a total of 97 episodes — up through the end of the Cell story arc — before the massive Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami disaster occurred, preempting “Episode 98” from actually airing before Toriko ultimately took its timeslot in April.

After the series’ “completion” with the Cell arc, things remained quiet as it was distributed to the rest of the world for various television broadcasts and home video releases. New dubs were created and each company seemed to bank on Toei’s strategy of simultaneously re-engaging prior fans and setting up an entirely new fanbase.

In November 2012, Mayumi Tanaka (Kuririn/Yajirobe) let it slip on her personal blog that the Japanese cast was starting up recording again for Dragon Ball Kai. Surprisingly, it would not actually air on television in Japan, but rather it would be produced for international release:

It won’t be aired in Japan, but overseas, Dragon Ball Kai is continuing.
Right now, we are recording the part at the Tenka’ichi Budōkai, where Goten and Trunks infiltrate the adults’ division by one standing on the other’s shoulders.
The image is definitely clearer than before.
We talked about how we want it to air in Japan, too.
— Mayumi

Almost a full year later with no real information, Tanaka slipped even more information on her personal blog in the form of a birthday celebration photo… which also happened to indicate more Dragon Ball recording. Notably shown in the photo were Unshō Ishizuka (who took over the role of Mr. Satan after Daisuke Gōri’s unfortunate passing), Kōzō Shioya (the voice of Majin Boo), Yūji Mitsuya (voice of Kaiōshin) and Yukio Nagasaki (sound director from Dragon Ball Kai).

Toshio Furukawa (Piccolo) even got in on the action by teasing voice recordings on his own personal blog, notably showing himself alongside Yūji Mitsuya, as well.

Various members of various voice casts on each side of the Pacific have since made comments about the continuation of Dragon Ball Kai. Some are left to hang out in the vastness of the Internet, which other comments seem to mysteriously vanish as quickly as they first slipped out. Even Madman Entertainment down in Australia seems to be looking forward to its continuation, and went so far as to pin it down for a late-2014 release.

So where does Toriko fit into this?

Toei launched the Toriko TV series — an anime adaptation of the original manga by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro — with a clear intent to push it as “the next big thing” to its target demographic. Financial presentations from the company (generally in the form of quarterly fiscal reports) make this obvious, along with the timeslot it was given. While series like One Piece make an extraordinary amount of money, there is always the potential for it and other series to end or otherwise fall out of grace with its fans. As a business, it makes sense to continuously be generating new content and fostering new batches of consumers.

Fans of Toriko have recently noted how its pacing has significantly picked up over the last several weeks (to about two-to-three chapters per episode). While this alone in a vacuum does not inherently mean anything, there was one larger piece of damning evidence: the cancelation of the franchise’s Carddass series.

Notice of Production Ending
We hope regular [customers] have enjoyed “DATA CARDDASS Toriko: Bakugari Jungle Gourmet”. Thank you very much.
“DATA CARDDASS Toriko: Bakugari Jungle Gourmet” will be ending its run with the 4th set.

On the flipside, one of Toei’s most recent investor reports makes a note about:

Aggressively developing Dragon Ball (for card games, game software for PS3, etc.) in addition to the strong-perfoming ONE PIECE and Doki Doki! Pretty Cure.

A common theory being tossed around right now is that Toriko will either be canceled or put on hiatus, with Dragon Ball Kai reclaiming its timeslot in the “Dream 9” block once again this coming April or May. Dragon Ball Kai generally did “OK” in the ratings, but all the meanwhile, the franchise’s merchandise sales continued to tank from 2007 onward. Kai being on TV seemed to, if anything, negatively affect merchandise sales. So why is it worth noting ratings?

Series	Low	High	Avg
Dragon Ball Kai	6.4%	12.3%	9.4%
Toriko	3.7%	9.4%	6.2%

In a nutshell, Toriko (the new series) at its highest point was still only just meeting the average household ratings of Dragon Ball Kai (a new version of an old series). Fans may have only been tuning in to Kai to watch the big scenes, but it was still more than Toriko has been regularly receiving as a whole.

In terms of domestic licensing, Toriko was regularly in the #4 spot (consistently behind Dragon Ball) from Fiscal Year 2012 through 2014 each quarter, and as recent as Fiscal Year 2014 Q2, is not even on the list. Over just Fiscal Year 2013, domestic licensing for Dragon Ball brought in ¥498 million, whereas the same for Toriko only brought in ¥167 million. Even the prior year during Toriko‘s debut, Dragon Ball outperformed it ¥408 million to ¥234 million. As for overseas licensing, it is not even a competition: Dragon Ball makes a killing, occasionally even outperforming One Piece.

Licensing sales tell a story of their own, but these types of children’s franchises are also supported quite heavily by their merchandise sales. Dragon Ball merchandise sales have fluctuated over the last few years, both leveling out after the cancelation of Dragon Ball Kai and then having the occasional spikes and drops. Dragon Ball Heroes continues to be a — perhaps surprising — success for all companies involved (Namco-Bandai, Toei, and Shueisha alike), so there is definitely room for the franchise to support itself across various forms of media.

Again, right now the only solid confirmation that we can provide is that, yes, the continuation of Dragon Ball Kai into the Majin Boo story arc is real. We have no idea when or how it is coming to any country in particular, but it exists.

(… which is at least more than anyone can say for the other hilarious bit of Dragon Ball vaporware: the mythical Ocean dub of Kai…!)

Content

New Song Lyric Translations: Video Games & “Battle of Gods”

Published by VegettoEX30 January 2014, 11:11 AM ESTComment

Shortly after launching the combined Kanzenshuu megasite, we added a wealth of lyrics from the “newer” Dragon Ball video game songs. Raging Blast 2‘s “Battle of Omega” was otherwise the last true new addition to the ever-expanding world of these songs, but a few stragglers have come along since then. The following songs have all been added to our “Lyrics” section with their original Japanese, romanizations, and English-translated lyrics:

Dragon Ball Heroes: Galaxy Mission Theme
Takayoshi Tanimoto and “Dragon Soul” contributed the original main theme to Dragon Ball Heroes and continued onward into the arcade game’s next upgrade: the “Galaxy Mission” updates.

Dragon Ball Heroes: Evil Dragon Mission Theme
The latest update to Dragon Ball Heroes moves into the “Evil Dragon” arc of Dragon Ball GT and beyond, and includes a new variation on the theme song.

“Fighting☆Stars“
The upcoming Jump-franchise crossover fighting game extravaganza, J-Stars Victory Vs, will be receiving an all-new opening theme song performed by Hironobu Kageyama (Dragon Ball Z), Hiroshi Kitadani (One Piece), and Akira Kushida (Kinnikuman/Toriko). The opening, composed by Toshiyuki Kishi with lyrics by Yuriko Mori, is very much in the shōnen vein, with lines about rivals, training, fighting, and victory, all over a hard-rock beat.

“HERO ~Song of Hope~“
While not actually a video game song, FLOW’s insert song from the new film Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods was a surprise announcement after having been led to believe that the band would just be contributing a cover of “CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA” to the film.

Enjoy singing along to some of your new favorite Dragon Ball-related tunes!

News

“J-Stars Victory Vs” (JP PS3/Vita) Multiple Character Updates

Published by VegettoEX29 January 2014, 1:53 PM EST2 CommentsJ-Stars

The magazine coverage has been constant for a few weeks now, and it is about time we caught up on some character reveals for the March 2014 Jump-franchise crossover fighting game extravaganza, J-Stars Victory Vs, on the PlayStation 3 and Vita.

Since our last check-in, Pegasus Seiya from Saint Seiya and Allen Walker from D. Grayman were announced as playable and support characters, respectively, in the double-sized 2014 #6/7 issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump in Japan. Seiya will have his signature Ryūsei-ken (Shooting Star Fist) technique as a finishing move, while Allen supports the battle by slashing an opponent with his giant claws, giving them no opening to attack.

Additional rival characters have been revealed for the game, as well, in the 2014 #8 issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump in Japan. Dragon Ball‘s own Freeza makes his entrance alongside Madara Uchiha (Naruto), Makoto Shishio (Rurouni Kenshin), and Fleet Admiral “Akainu” (“Red Dog”) Sakazuki (One Piece). Of these, Madara has his “Susano’o” as a finishing move.

Yet another batch of characters were revealed in the March 2014 issue of V-Jump which hit Japanese shelves 21 January 2014. These include Aizen Sōsuke from Bleach and Toguro the Younger from Yū Yū Hakusho as playable characters, as well as Hisoka from Hunter x Hunter in a support role.

This issue of V-Jump issue also promotes the game’s opening sequence, which will feature a new song entitled “Fighting☆Stars” performed by Hironobu Kageyama (Dragon Ball Z), Hiroshi Kitadani (One Piece), and Akira Kushida (Kinnikuman/Toriko). The opening, composed by Toshiyuki Kishi with lyrics by Yuriko Mori, is very much in the shōnen vein, with lines about rivals, training, fighting, and victory, all over a hard-rock beat.

J-Stars Victory Vs is due out exclusively in Japan on the PlayStation 3 and Vita 19 March 2014 in both regular and “Limited Edition / Anison” versions. Pre-orders are available on sites such as CDJapan and Play-Asia, though some retailers are already sold out of their “Limited Edition” allocations.