Hot on the heels of our last update on the subject (less than half an hour in fact), Yūsuke Watanabe, scriptwriter of next year’s new Dragon Ball Z film, took to his Twitter account to clarify the timeframe, as pointed out to us by kei17 on the forums:

@komori_mayo ありがとう！厳密にいうと原作漫画の「最終話」と「その直前回」の間です。ＧＴは原作にないからね～。[rest omitted]

@komori_mayo Thanks! Strictly speaking, it’s between the comic’s “final chapter” and “just before that”. GT isn’t part of the original work, after all~. […]

Watanabe’s tweets about the script actually began several days before the official announcement, with him playfully teasing the reveal (which had already been leaked). He also linked to the Comic Natalie article cited by Anime News Network and retweeted a similar article from Oricon, which suggests that he was either interviewed (and uncredited) or otherwise closely involved with the announcement regarding the “lost decade”. While he has not commented on these articles’ second claim — that of the film’s relation to the plot of the manga — we can assume, by his implicit endorsement, that they are probably on the mark. Regarding the content of the films, in addition to mentioning that he “won’t forget getting chills” when writing the iconic lines “Heya! I’m Goku!” or “…Kakarrot…!”, he also had this to say:

劇場版は１７年ぶりとなるアニメ『ドラゴンボールＺ』の脚本をやらせてもらいました。本当に「やらせてもらいました」がピッタリの言葉です。完全新作オリジナルです。鳥山先生は本当に偉大です。童心に戻れます。来年の公開までは金髪でいようと思います。

I was given the honor of doing the script for the first Dragon Ball Z theatrical anime in 17 years. “Given the honor” really is the best way to say it. It’s a completely new, original work. Toriyama-sensei is truly great. I can go back to being a child. I think I’ll keep my hair dyed blond until [the movie] opens next spring.

So, with word from the official screenwriter, it seems that the matter has been settled. With that out of the way, the fandom can now get back to its rampant speculation…!

Since the official announcement this past weekend, fan speculation regarding the Dragon Ball Z film slated for next March has reached fever-pitch. Adding further fuel to the fire in the English-language fandom has been a follow-up post on Anime News Network the day of the announcement, claiming that the film will be set specifically during the “lost decade” between manga chapters 517 and 518, and “a story in the official history of Dragon Ball”. While ANN do link to a Japanese source, we’re not entirely convinced.

First of all, while ANN claim that this information came from Weekly Shōnen Jump #33 (released this past Saturday, 14 July), the only details about the film contained in the magazine are literally what we have already reported: the cover of the magazine and the two-page spread with staff information and Akira Toriyama’s special comment. (Incidentally, the two pages in the image from our previous news post are reversed from their position in the actual magazine: page 12, with Goku and Shenlong, is on the right, while page 13, with the group standing together, is on the left.)

Looking more carefully at the Japanese source, the information is not attributed to the magazine, but is presented in an authoritative tone that suggests an official announcement. At the same time, the only link provided in the article goes to the film’s official website, which offers no such details. A number of other news outlets, all of them (like ANN’s source) aggregators without bylines or clear routes of access to the original authors of the articles, share these same points. Normally, this would indicate corroboration of the story, but they are also uncannily similar in their use of language: each mentions that this film will be the 18th theatrical Dragon Ball film, and the first in 17 years; each specifically cites the “lost decade” (空白の10年間) between manga chapters 517 and 518; and each mentions that the movie is meant to be part of “Dragon Ball’s official history” (ドラゴンボール正史). Several of them cite the same source as ANN, while the remainder either give no source or link to the official movie website, which, as we have already established, does not contain this information. Taken together, this suggests that all of the articles were copied very closely, either from one among them, or from a press release which we have yet to track down.

At present, we can only speculate as to the actual origin of this particular information; it is tempting to point to Comic Natalie, ANN’s source, but as they have not responded to our request for comment, we have not reported on it up to now. However, as we can no longer simply ignore it, we will instead urge caution. It seems possible, even likely, that these articles are right about the particular timeframe of the film, given the characters present and the costumes they are wearing. The other aspect of these claims, on the other hand — that the film is meant to be part of the story proper from the manga — is so audacious that we will refrain from commenting on it further until we are able to independently confirm it one way or the other. In short, please take everything you hear about this film, even from Japanese sources, with a generous serving of salt until more details are revealed through official channels. Except if it comes from us, of course. 😉

It is officially Saturday in Japan, and Jump’s countdown to the official announcement of the new Dragon Ball Z movie slated for 30 March 2013 has come to end! The countdown site itself now provides some minor information about the movie and links to Toei Animation’s official site for the movie. However, there is not much on the official site at the moment. All the information available is the same as that leaked earlier in the week, including main staff information, the premiere date, and numerous companies associated with the films production (Fox International Productions Japan, Shueisha, Fuji TV, Toei Animation, Bandai, Bandai Namco Games, and Bird Studio).

The news post simply asks readers to check Weekly Shōnen Jump No. 33 (on sale today) for a special comment from creator Akira Toriyama, which we translated earlier this week from the prior leak.

The new site also features some nice character art layered on top of each other:

We will of course be keeping a close eye on the site for any further developments and news concerning this grand theatrical adventure for Dragon Ball fans everywhere!

Following up on this morning’s announcement leak are the first details about the new animated Dragon Ball movie (and what appears to be a specifically Dragon Ball Z movie) on the way, now confirmed for a Japanese theatrical release 30 March 2013.

The tagline for the movie (as first seen on the mystery countdown website) is 最強、始動。(“The mightiest make their move.”), followed by 全人類待望。かつてない興奮へー。 (“All humanity has been waiting. Toward an unprecedented excitement–.”).

The movie’s director has been announced as Masahiro Hosoda (細田雅弘), who directed several episodes during the Cell arc of the Dragon Ball Z TV series. The script will be written by Yūsuke Watanabe (渡辺雄介), a newcomer to the franchise, though one with an extensive and on-going history of work. Animation direction will be provided by Tadayoshi Yamamuro (山室直儀), a well-known veteran of the franchise responsible for a plethora of animation direction and promotional art work.

Also included is a special note from original manga author Akira Toriyama, who appears to be “deeply involved” with the script writing of a Dragon Ball movie for the first time:

珍しく、というより初めてアニメーションに脚本の段階から深く関わらせてもらいました。
なにしろ久しぶりだったので忘れていることも多かったのですが、さすが原作者、すぐにテンポだけは思い出すことができました。
今回の映画は、オリジナルの雰囲気はそのままに、ほんの少しだけ味付けを現代風にして、昔どおりの楽しい娯楽作品になると思います！

It’s rare, or I should say, it’s the first time, that I’ve been deeply involved with the animation from the scriptwriting stage.
As it had been a while, there was a lot I’d forgotten, but as expected of the creator of the original work, I was soon able to get back into the tempo of things, at least.
For this film, while leaving the atmosphere of the original intact, we’ve added just a little bit of modern flavor, so I think it will be an enjoyable piece of entertainment, just like old times.

A new www.dragonball2013.com domain name is listed on the promotional art, which currently loads a mostly-blank page (filled with just a couple placeholder dashes at the moment).