Kanzenshuu

Official “Battle of Gods” Movie Guide, And More Magazines!

Published by Hujio20 March 2013, 3:43 PM EDTCommentDBZ Movie 2013

With Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods closing in on its official public release date next week (30 March 2013), we’ve seen a flood of new magazines, merchandise, and interviews. In what is hopefully a final promotional push, a handful of new magazines will be coming out throughout the week, all with exclusive “Battle of Gods” content. In particular, the April 2013 issue of DVD & Blu-ray Vision magazine in Japan, which is currently available online from both CDJapan and Amazon Japan, contains a special 16 page “Battle of Gods” feature and is graced with a brand-new illustration from the film’s animation supervisor, Tadayoshi Yamamuro. The feature includes an introduction of the latest movie information, rare setting materials used in the movie’s production (sketches, notes, etc.), and an interview with veteran voice actress Masako Nozawa.

The “Official Movie Guide”, which is being published as a special edition of Weekly Shōnen Jump, is set to hit store shelves across Japan within the day. As listed on the guide’s cover, and also previously advertised in the latest issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump, the movie’s official guide will include:

Story & Character Descriptions
Rough Sketches Drawn by Akira Toriyama for the Film
A “Basic Knowledge” of Dragon Ball
Exclusive Interview With Masako Nozawa
Special Interview With Akira Toriyama
Newly Illustrated Poster

You can currently purchase the B5 sized (same as the Daizenshuu) “Official Movie Guide” from CDJapan and Amazon Japan for ¥580. Look forward to a breakdown of all this exclusive content and more over the coming weeks right here on Kanzenshuu, your ultimate “Battle of Gods” news source!

News

“Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission” Third-Week Sales

Published by VegettoEX20 March 2013, 3:14 PM EDTCommentUltimate Mission

Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission for the Japanese Nintendo 3DS may not exactly be setting the gaming world on fire, but for the franchise itself, it is certainly a champion.

The game kicked things off with a solid 88,386 copies its first week and then another 21,915 copies its second week. The game continues to hang on for a third week, pushing another 11,396 copies and coming in as the #13 game for the period of 11 March 2013 to 17 March 2013.

For a somewhat random bit of comparison, Dragon Ball DS 2 only managed to hit 53,565 copies during the entire year of 2010 after releasing in February. Dragon Ball Kai: Ultimate Butōden pushed 93,169 copies in 2011, also releasing in February of that year. Ultimate Mission is already at 121,698 copies in just three weeks.

Tune in to this week’s podcast episode for a quick first-impressions look at the game!

Content

V-Jump (May 2013) Akira Toriyama Special Interview Translated

Published by VegettoEX20 March 2013, 12:08 PM EDT9 Comments

In addition to the three interview translations we posted yesterday, we have one more doozy for you to read through today: the “Akira Toriyama Special Interview” from today’s May 2013 issue of V-Jump all about the upcoming film, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods.

In the interview, Toriyama discusses his view on how to introduce “gods” into the Dragon Ball series, humorous conflicts between how a character is designed and their ultimate strength, creating unwritten background stories to base new tales off of, and the obligatory instance of explaining how he has forgotten certain things.

Check out this interview over in our “Translations” section, which continues to grow by the day! There are even more Battle of Gods-related interviews coming your way — including another one from this same issue of V-Jump — so stay tuned.

Content

Three New “Battle of Gods” Interviews Translated

Published by VegettoEX19 March 2013, 11:29 AM EDT1 CommentDBZ Movie 2013

Things continue to ramp up among Japanese media in preparation for the full-release of Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods in theaters 30 March 2013. Interviews and features are flying left-and-right in both print and online form, and we at Kanzenshuu have you English-speakers covered!

First up is an interview with Masako Nozawa (with a few quotes from the band FLOW) in the April 2013 issue of Animage. Nozawa speaks a bit about how the total excitement for a new film is actually somewhat dulled thanks to the continued works such as video games and Dragon Ball Kai, but also her enjoyment of the new movie’s story and characters.
An interview with Battle of Gods director Masahiro Hosoda from OKStars reveals how he came back to the franchise after so many years away from it, his interactions with the voice cast, and working on the story with the rest of the production crew.
A feature on and interview with Battle of Gods scriptwriter Yūsuke Watanabe from Ure-Pia Sōken goes in-depth on Watanabe arriving at the final story in collaboration with Akira Toriyama, his thoughts on Vegeta as an essential character, and recapturing the passion of the fans and the franchise.

Please enjoy these interview translations, and look forward to even more in the coming days and weeks!

News

Weekly Jump 2013 #16 Dragon Ball Tidbits

Published by SaiyaJedi18 March 2013, 9:36 PM EDT3 Comments

Yesterday’s issue (2013 #16) of Weekly Shōnen Jump in Japan contained the third of the on-going Q&A session with original manga author Akira Toriyama, and while there are not many more truly blockbuster items or reveals in the issue, there are a couple fun tidbits worth mentioning.

wj_2013_16

A limited-edition Dragon Ball watch is advertised on the inside back cover. Only 9,999 copies will be produced, though no price is listed.

db_watch

While we have known quite a bit about the upcoming exhibit “The World of DRAGONBALL”, only prices for the first stop along the tour — Tokyo — had been made available. This week’s issue reveals that the Osaka leg of the exhibit will run ¥500 for adults, ¥300 for university and high school students, and free for junior high schoolers and below. Tokyo gets an update, though, with a note that pre-sale tickets will be ¥200 off the regular price for both adults and university / high school students.

The magazine also notes a new railway promotion, itself explained in more detail in an official press release. Between 20 March 2013 (Wednesday) and 23 April 2013 (Tuesday), Hanshin Railway, Hankyu-Hanshin Holdings, and Toei Animation will be holding an “Umeda – Sannomiya Dragon Ball Stamp Rally”. This is in commemoration of the completion of major renovations at Hanshin Sannomiya Station, as well as the release of Battle of Gods coming up on 30 March 2013. After stamping a special flyer at both Sannomiya and Umeda Stations (in Kobe and Osaka, respectively), the first 2,000 people to come to either OS Cinemas Mint Kobe or Umeda Burg 7 (in Osaka) by the 16th will receive a free admission ticket to the “Akira Toriyama: The World of DRAGON BALL” exhibition that will be coming to Osaka next month.

By showing the same stamped flyer at the event itself between the 17th and 23rd of April, you will get original stickers (again, limited to the first 2,000 people who do so). You can find the flyers at each station (except for Higashi-Naruo and Suzaki on the Mukogawa Line), but the stamps needed are only at Sannomiya and Umeda. Additionally, during the promotion period, there will be announcements by Son Goku (Masako Nozawa) over the speakers at each station. The one-way fare between Hanshin Umeda and Hanshin Sannomiya is ¥310 yen, so the total price comes in at ¥610 all together, which is more than the price of admission to the exhibition.

The upcoming official guide to Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods — releasing 21 March 2013 for ¥580 — is given a quick mention, noting that it “will make the movie 100 times more fun”. The guide will contain character introductions, rough sketches drawn by Akira Toriyama for the film, “basic knowledge” of Dragon Ball, art illustration introduction, special interviews with both Akira Toriyama and Masako Nozawa, and a poster with a new illustration.

Finally, the magazine provides a reminder that the “Miracle of God” booster card series for the Dragon Ball Kai Miracle Battle Carddass series goes on sale 12 April 2013.

News

“Dragon Ball Tap Battle” Official Website Opens

Published by VegettoEX18 March 2013, 9:15 PM EDT2 Comments

The official website for the upcoming Android & iOS mobile game Dragon Ball Tap Battle has opened at: dbtb.channel.or.jp

The game appeared to be set to debut in the May 2013 issue of V-Jump (due out this Thursday, 21 March 2013) were it not for those pesky leaks from enterprising individuals in Japan. As is often the case, the official website seems to have opened its doors slightly ahead of schedule.

Multiplayer battles will be available to play over a Bluetooth connection. The game will also contain “Super Break Fight” events whereby you can inflict massive damage.

Dragon Ball Tap Battle will be the first official mobile phone/tablet-based game for the franchise. It will be released in Japan for Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) devices and up 25 March 2013 for ¥350 and on iOS — specifically iPhone 4, 4S, and 5 — at an unspecified later date.

Thanks to Super Saiyan Prime for the heads-up.

Podcast

Podcast Episode #0327

Published by VegettoEX18 March 2013, 7:01 PM EDT1 Comment

Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods is simultaneously “done” and still a few weeks away! Preview screenings have started, which in turn means — at least for those of us who cannot sleep without knowing every single detail — the entirety of the plot and the movie’s secrets are out there. While we still want to wait to go see the movie for ourselves 30 March 2013, we also wanted to dive into “spoilerific” material for the rest of you crazy folks, so we took it upon ourselves to do the math and figure out in exactly which Age the movie could (at least theoretically) take place. For the rest of you that are not quite ready to head into movie-spoiler territory, we also have some early impressions on Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission for the Japanese Nintendo 3DS.

SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0327! VegettoEX, Hujio, and Julian dive head-first into “Battle of Gods” and do the math in ways that perhaps even the movie’s producers could not do: in which Age would this movie take place along the main timeline? Those wishing to avoid spoilers for a little while longer can still tune in for our early impressions on “Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission” for the Japanese Nintendo 3DS with Herms!

REFERENCED SITES:

Enjoy! Discuss this episode on the Kanzenshuu forum.

Content

Third “Please Tell Us, Akira Toriyama-sensei!!” Q&A

Published by Hujio17 March 2013, 7:16 PM EDT4 CommentsDBZ Movie 2013

The past two issues of Weekly Shōnen Jump in Japan have featured a brand new series of Q&As — “Super Long Interview!! Please Tell Us, Akira Toriyama-sensei!!” — with the original Dragon Ball author himself. The first two questions posed to Toriyama covered the plot for the upcoming film and his design for “Birusu”, and this week’s question is about Toriyama’s placement of the film within the original manga storyline.

toriyama_qanda_3_new

この時代を選んだ理由は!?
「マンガ最終話では、結構みんな歳を取った状態に描いてしまったなあ」と思ったのです。ベジータにヒゲ生やしちゃったし（笑）。そこで、みんながMAXまで強くなってるこの時代を選びました。「魔人ブウ編」の数年後で、パン誕生以前ですね。

Why did you choose this period?
The fact is, I thought, “Man, I really made everyone old in the last chapter of the manga”. I even gave Vegeta a mustache (laughs). So, I chose this period because everyone had got to maximum strength. A few years after the “Majin Boo arc”, and before Pan’s birth.

It is unclear if Toriyama is confusing his actual character designs in the last chapter of the manga with his designs for Dragon Ball GT or moving on to a separate thought with the mustache mention; in both cases, updated/older character designs were created.

We will continue to archive each of Toriyama’s answers on a new page of our “Translations” section with each release.

News

“Dragon Ball Tap Battle” Coming to Android & iOS

Published by VegettoEX17 March 2013, 9:51 AM EDT5 Comments

Announced within the pages of the upcoming May 2013 issue of V-Jump (hitting Japanese shelves 21 March 2013) is Dragon Ball Tap Battle for the Android and iOS mobile platforms.

tap_battle_logo_vjump

Direct control by touching the screen!! This is Touch Battle!!

You can easily enjoy Dragon Ball’s genuine fighting action on your smartphone!! By tapping the screen with your fingers, you can cause an intense battle to unfold!!

Utilizing the smartphone’s sense of control to its greatest extent, super-high-speed fights are possible!! Naturally, you can play with a friend, too!!

Dragon Ball Tap Battle hits Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and higher next week on 25 March 2013, and iOS at a later date; it will cost ¥350.

News

Additional “Battle of Gods” Updates For “Zenkai Battle Royale”

Published by VegettoEX17 March 2013, 8:28 AM EDTCommentZenkai Battle Royale

Birusu, God of Destruction (from this month’s new film, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods), was announced last month as a special addition for the multiplayer, online, Japanese-only arcade fighting game, Zenkai Battle Royale. For now, Birusu will only be available to players by participating in the “Competition for Dragon Balls” promotion and fulfilling the requirements to unlock him, which all kicks off with the movie’s release 30 March 2013.

The official website for the game has now been updated with a full character profile page for Birusu, and the upcoming May 2013 issue of V-Jump (releasing 21 March 2013) provides a few additional tidbits about how to combat against the God’s overwhelming strength.

zbr_birusu_profile

While Birusu’s speed is great, it is possible to fight back by getting him into a certain area that slows his movements, allowing the player to catch up with him for a set amount of time. In addition, while his special attack covers a wide swath of territory that makes it nigh-impossible to dodge, through “additional input” (we assume this means extra button-presses), the player can cause the energy ball to explode in midair, before it hits.

Additionally, it appears “Super Saiyan God” will also be making an appearance in the game:

In order to win against Birusu, one more “God” enters the Zenkai fray!! All details will be revealed in the super-large June issue of V-Jump!!

This is—— the ‘God’ of the Saiya!!

As we have come to expect from this game, the updates are fast, furious, and not slowing down even this long after its original release.