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3,772 Posts & 2,361 Pages Documenting Dragon Ball, since 1998. We've got you covered!
Published by 21 August 2013, 1:01 PM EDT2 Comments

Last week’s 2013 #37 issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump in Japan revealed that Yūsuke Urameshi (Yū Yū Hakusho) and Gon Freecss (Hunter x Hunter) will be joining the battle in J-Stars Victory Vs on the PlayStation 3 and Vita. The two were also showcased in the October 2013 issue of V-Jump released today in Japan, along with a few other minor tidbits about the game.

gon_yusuke

Yūsuke has variations on his Reigun and also brawling moves for melee combat (since he is a delinquent). Gon has his fishing rod which he can use to hook other characters and break their guard, as well as variations on his rock-paper-scissors moves (rock for punching, scissors for cutting, etc.).

In addition, it reveals that the “super special technique” is a finishing move that activates after the “Voltage Meter” fills up. It expands when your team members deliver (or get hit with) attacks, and it packs enough wallop to decide the match if you can pull it off. The environment is also (at least partially) destructible; a new screen shot showcases Toriko cutting open a giant watermelon.

New character announcements are also promised for the next issue of V-Jump (which will release in one month’s time). The roster currently stands at:

  • Son Goku (Dragon Ball [Z])
  • Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece)
  • Toriko (Toriko)
  • Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto [Shippuden])
  • Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach)
  • Himura Kenshin (Rurouni Kenshin)
  • Kankichi Ryōtsu (Kochikame)
  • Sakata Gintoki (Gintama)
  • Yūsuke Urameshi (Yū Yū Hakusho)
  • Gon Freecss (Hunter x Hunter)

No release date or price has been set for the game as-of-yet. J-Stars Victory Vs, which was initially unveiled as Project Versus J, is tied in with the 45th Anniversary celebration of Jump and will be available for the PlayStation 3 and Vita.

Published by 21 August 2013, 12:28 PM EDTComment

J Legend Retsuden (“J Legend Biography/History”), an upcoming compilation of classic Jump-franchise video games on the Nintendo 3DS, will be gaining two more Dragon Ball games as announced in the October 2013 issue of V-Jump (released today in Japan) and on the compilation’s official website.

In addition to the previously-announced Shenron no Nazo (“The Mystery of Shenlong”), the franchise’s first game on the Nintendo Famicom, J Legend Retsuden will also come packed with the franchise’s second and fourth Famicom outings: Daimaō Fukkatsu (“The Great Demon King’s Revival”) and Kyōshū! Saiya-jin (“Assault! The Saiyans”), from 1988 and 1990 respectively. All three of these games are milestones in the franchise’s history, with Shenron no Nazo and Kyōshū! Saiya-jin being the first Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z Famicom titles, respectively, and Daimaō Fukkatsu as the first Dragon Ball-themed RPG.

jlegendretsuden_second_lineup

The compilation’s Dragon Ball line-up currently stands at (all from the Nintendo Famicom):

  • Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo (“Dragon Ball: The Mystery of Shenlong”)
  • Dragon Ball: Daimaō Fukkatsu (“Dragon Ball: The Great Demon King’s Revival”)
  • Dragon Ball Z: Kyōshū! Saiya-jin (“Dragon Ball Z: Assault! The Saiyans”)

The compilation’s release date and price have also been revealed: 07 November 2013 for ¥4,980.

As we have always made sure to note with Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission, the Nintendo 3DS is region-locked and these games require a Japanese system to play.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of Weekly Shōnen Jump. Other special projects include the upcoming video game J-Stars Victory Vs for the PlayStation 3 and Vita, a team-battle crossover game featuring Dragon Ball and other popular Jump franchises.

Published by 20 August 2013, 9:49 PM EDTComment

Late last month at the “Saikyō V-Jump Festa” event that was held in Tokyo and Osaka, our Japanese buddy and long-time fan/collector “Peking Duck” tweeted out an image of what appeared to be an adult-age Gotenks being teased as a coming addition to Dragon Ball Heroes. While a new absorption for Super 17 has been revealed since then, mum was the word about this potential Gotenks update.

Via a Yahoo! Japan Auctions listing regarding the then-upcoming 2013 #10 issue of V-Jump, we first caught a new advertisement for “Galaxy Mission 10” and its associated cards that appeared to confirm this GT-style Gotenks was indeed on the way:

gm10_gotenks_reveal

V-Jump is officially out on store shelves today, however, which means we can provide the full breakdown!

jp_vjump_2013_10_medium

The October issue is offering a promotion where all readers who send in the included entry form and a ¥300 postal money-order will receive a special “Adult Gotenks Ultimate Pack”, consisting of three cards compatible with an upcoming “new chapter” of Dragon Ball Heroes that will launch in November. The three cards are “Son Goku: GT” with “Card Action Ability: Change” allowing him to become Super Saiyan 4, and “Son Goten: GT” and “Trunks: GT”, whose “Card Action Ability: Fusion” allows the two of them to fuse into an adult version of Gotenks. The catch-copy included with the promotion states that he is the “super fused warrior who holds the key to the New Chapter”, but it is not yet clear what this “new chapter” is; Galaxy Mission 10 will debut in September, but nothing has been announced yet for after that. Along with these three cards, the pack will also include an “Ultimate Victory Book” booklet containing a special Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission comic that will explain how adult Gotenks came to be.

Thanks again to our buddy TheDevilsCorpse for the ever-watchful Heroes eye!

Published by 20 August 2013, 9:45 PM EDT3 Comments

“Galaxy Mission 9” hit the arcade version of Dragon Ball Heroes in Japan last month, but the updates are not slowing down. First hinted in the pages of the September 2013 issue of V-Jump last month, Super 17 has the ability to absorb other Artifical Humans, just like Cell, but it was not shown which ones at that time. But now it has been revealed on the official Dragon Ball Heroes website.

In the depths of the Hell stage, on Level 4 of “Galaxy Mission 9”, you will face off against Super 17 who now has the ability to absorb #16! This new “Further Evolution” ability allows him to take his already-advanced stage (having merged #17 and Hell Fighter #17 together to create Super 17 in the first place) to an aptly-described — and quite buff — further evolution simply called “Jinzōningen Absorption”. Feast your eyes upon the new, super powered-up, perfect physique!

This new absorption is but the latest in a string of new transformations and appearances for prior franchise villains, with one of the most recent and interesting ones being last September’s unveiling of “Janenba Baby”.

Thanks, as always, to TheDevilsCorpse for keeping us on our toes about Dragon Ball Heroes updates!

Published by 19 August 2013, 7:24 PM EDTComment

This calm before the (Battle of Gods home release!) storm has us feeling a little nostalgic, so this time around on the show we dove back into the past to talk a little bit about alt.fan.dragonball. For younger fans, a completely decentralized message system — one not tied to any established website or existing community — might seem completely bonkers. For those of us at the time, it was a mystifying wild west of learning, discovery, and friendships. Kanzenshuu would not be what it is today without our favorite old newsgroup, so tune in for a little history lesson and real-talk about those formative years.

podcast_341_newsgroups

SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0341! VegettoEX and Julian dive into the days of alt.fan.dragonball, the essential newsgroup for discussing our favorite series back-in-the-day. What type of community evolved there once the series came to North America, and how did it shape what ultimately became Daizenshuu EX and then Kanzenshuu? Fun bits of “Dragon Ball Heroes” and other merchandise news wraps it up!

REFERENCED SITES:

Our podcast is available via iTunes and/or Google Play Music, 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.

Published by 19 August 2013, 7:21 PM EDTComment

Shueisha has recently updated their listings of anticipated upcoming manga releases to include a film comic adaptation of Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods. The film comic is set for an 04 October 2013 release, which is roughly a month after the film’s release on DVD and Blu-ray, with a price point of ¥1,400. As with all of the previous film comics, it will be the size of a typical tankōbon volume (11 × 17 cm). At the moment there is no information concerning the comic’s contents, but if it is anything like the most recently released film comic of the “Jump Super Anime Tour”, there will be no additional material other than the comic adaptation of the film. The comic is currently available for pre-order on Amazon Japan at full retail price.

Published by 09 August 2013, 9:19 AM EDT3 Comments

Earlier this year, and shortly after the theatrical debut of the new film Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, the two-part Dream 9: Toriko & One Piece & Dragon Ball Z Super Collaboration Special!! aired on Fuji TV. The lighthearted special showcased a variety of characters from the three franchises crossing over in the same world to compete against each other and battle foes together.

A selection of merchandise featuring all three franchises is due out from Bandai 30 September 2013: a tapestry (¥2,500), a micro fiber mini towel (¥600), a micro fiber sports towel (¥3,000), a pouch (¥1,000), and a tote bag (¥1,500), all currently available for pre-order via CDJapan:

Toriko took over the timeslot — alongside One Piece within the one-hour “Dream 9” block that begins at 9 a.m. on Sundays — previously occupied by the “refreshed” TV broadcast series Dragon Ball Kai in 2011 immediately after the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami‎, which itself pre-empted the then-“final” 98th episode of Kai, relegating it to a home-video-only bonus episode in Japan.

As part of yearly anniversaries, the Toriko TV series crossed over with One Piece on their own for two TV specials before the 2013 crossover with Dragon Ball. These specials finally made their way to DVD 26 October 2012 (under the title “Collaboration Special Kanzenban“).

toriko_op_collab_dvd_1

While there is absolutely no word just yet on a possible home release for the latest Dream 9 crossover special, with Battle of Gods hitting home video in September and these new bits of Dragon Ball x One Piece x Toriko merchandise hitting that same month, Toei and Bandai are at least setting a potential stage and welcoming atmosphere for said theoretical home release later this year.

Published by 08 August 2013, 1:47 PM EDTComment

Namco-Bandai has posted a ¥9.508 billion (approximately $99 million) net income for the first quarter of fiscal year 2014.

namco_bandai_logo_resaved

Dragon Ball has once again dropped off the list of best-performing franchises this quarter. Its most recent appearance in this section was last year during Q3 Fiscal 2013.

In terms of general toys and hobby merchandise (non-video games), the franchise jumped in net sales from ¥1.0 billion last year in Q1 2013 to ¥1.5 billion this quarter. The company is once again forecasting ¥4.0 billion for the year, a drop from the ¥4.8 billion it brought in during the entirety of Fiscal 2013.

Right now is a somewhat slow time for the franchise, in between the theatrical (March) and home (September) release of the new film Battle of Gods, the Nintendo 3DS game Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission slowly and finally dropping off the sales charts after over 20 weeks, and with the upcoming PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game Battle of Z likely looking at a 2014 release date.

Published by 08 August 2013, 10:50 AM EDTComment

At the end of 2012, and leading up to the release of the new film Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, Megahouse announced the release of a “Capsule R” figure line with seven revived popular figures from the series available in capsules, with each also containing a piece that could add up to an eighth and final figure.

A new line of “Capsule R” figures has been revealed today, this time reviving older figures and scenes specifically from the Saiyan arc of the series under the “Warrior Race Saiyan Arc” (戦闘民族サイヤ人編 Sentō Minzoku Saiya-jin Hen) name:

capsule_r_saiyan_arc

The figures include:

  • 悟空本気に (Gokū honki ni / Goku Getting Serious)
    Goku ripping off his torn dōgi before ramping up the Kaiō-ken
  • 究極の必殺技・界王拳 (Kyūkyoku no hissatsu-waza Kaiō-ken / The Ultimate Special Move: Kaiō-Ken)
    Goku holding Nappa having raced with his Kaiō-ken to stop him
  • 重力との戦い! (Jūryoku to no tatakai! / A Fight Against Gravity!)
    Goku running after Bubbles on Kaiō’s planet
  • ベジータ (Bejīta / Vegeta)
    Vegeta standing after Goku’s arrival
  • サイヤ人の猛威 (Saiya-jin no mōi / The Saiyans’ Ferocity)
    Piccolo shielding Gohan from Nappa’s blast
  • 恐るべしラディッツ (Osorubeshi Radittsu / The Fearsome Raditz)
    Raditz elbowing both Goku and Piccolo
  • 悟飯逞しく成長中(Gohan takumashiku seichō-chū / Gohan, Growing Up Strong)
    Gohan eating some gathered food

As with the previous “Capsule R” line, each capsule contains a piece that can be added together to form one final figure: Goku (and Kaiō!) with halos from the Chapter 417 title page as well as the closing shot of the second TV series closing theme, “We Were Angels”.

A seven-pack is available for ¥5,250 MSRP from both CDJapan and Hobby Link Japan. Be sure to note that although there are seven distinct pieces and seven come in each pack for sale, you are not guaranteed to receive each individual figure in your pack. Pre-orders officially open today, and CDJapan specifically notes that their pre-order deadline is coming up soon on 19 August 2013. Toei Animation’s online shop lists their own reservation ending date as 20 October 2013 or while supplies last.

Published by 05 August 2013, 8:57 PM EDTComment

After a couple hectic weeks off, we are getting back into the swing of things with a refresher episode of the podcast here at Kanzenshuu. Between all the little drips of video game news and the essentially-confirmed ties between Jaco the Galactic Patrolman and Dragon Ball-proper, even a “slow” period ends up with a wealth of discussion!

SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0340! VegettoEX and Hujio dive into a couple weeks worth of news. Shueisha has essentially confirmed that “Jaco the Galactic Patrolman” has ties to “Dragon Ball”, so what does this mean for the series and our expectations? What are the best theories out there? Video game news from around the world wraps it up!

REFERENCED SITES:

Enjoy! Discuss this episode on the Kanzenshuu forum.