Various folks are letting us know that the Portuguese re-release of the Dragon Ball manga (in its original tankōbon form) has been canceled by Edições Asa as it approaches Volume 18 (about midway into the Saiyan arc), apparently due to poor sales and fan support.
The manga was originally released in Portugal by Planeta DeAgostini and was a re-translation of the Spanish translation — this new release, originally announced back in October 2010, promised to be of higher quality, albeit (seemingly) mostly re-translated itself from Viz’s English translation.
For those Portuguese fans left out in the cold, if your Spanish is up to snuff, their kanzenban release wrapped up back in 2007 and is pretty cheap these days.
A new Dragon Ball movie will be officially announced in the pages of the next issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump (2012’s issue #33) in Japan this coming weekend, as first announced online via @manganewsjapon (and re-posted on Anime News Network):
特報!! 『ドラゴンボール』映画化決定!!
Special Announcement! “Dragon Ball” set to be made into a movie!
Earlier this week, Jump began a special countdown website promoting something with the letter “D”, but otherwise kept things very vague.
Taking to Twitter to fuel the fires, V-Jump (Shueisha’s video game-focused magazine) prodded fans along letting them know that some had been guessing the correct series (confirming that it would indeed be related to an existing series, and not something like a new Shueisha digital endeavour). Just this morning, the countdown site was updated with a shadowy Shenlong in the background when the lightning crashes, also confirming the Dragon Ball involvement.
Unconfirmed rumors point toward script involvement from original manga author Akira Toriyama (a la Eiichiro Oda’s involvement in the One Piece movie Strong World) and appearances by Goten and Trunks, hinting at a time frame around the Majin Boo story arc (itself a la the 2008 Jump Super Anime Tour special).
More information will obviously become available on Saturday — we will (of course!) be all over this one, so stay tuned!
A rating for the game’s video content by the British Board of Film Classification this past February mostly spilled the beans, noting a “special movie” with a run-time of just under 20 minutes would be included with the game.
The Dragon Ball Z: Budokai HD Collection for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 has just been officially announced for a winter release during a live stream of Japan Expo currently taking place in France. The collection will contain the first (originally released for the PlayStation 2 and Gamecube) and third (originally released for the PlayStation 2) Dragon Ball Z / Budokai games — the second game will not be a part of the collection. It is important to note that this is a collection of two games from the first trilogy of fighting games from that generation, and not the Sparking! / Budokai Tenkaichi games as previously hinted at.
Special thanks to Super Saiyan Prime for the heads-up. We will hold tight for a version of the trailer we can review, but early reports hint toward only slightly-improved visuals and a replacement soundtrack — the music in the games was originally composed by Kenji Yamamoto, so we would not be shocked at all to hear a completely new score in both games. The cover art shown above fuses a bit of the original European covers for the games, so it will be interesting to see what North America and/or Japan end up with.
DRAGON BALL Z BUDOKAI HD COLLECTION brings two classic fighting games to Playstation®3 and Xbox 360®
July 5, 2012
NAMCO BANDAI Games to release HD re-master of PlayStation®2 titles DRAGON BALL Z BUDOKAI and DRAGON BALL Z BUDOKAI 3 for PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360® this Winter
NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe today announced the return of two of the finest Dragon Ball Z games in the history of the franchise. PlayStation®2 titles Dragon Ball Z Budokai and Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3 are being enhanced and re-mastered in HD, and will be released together as Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft in Europe this winter.
Originally released in 2002 and 2004 respectively, both games deliver highly charged, unforgettable gameplay experiences, making Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection an essential purchase for new Dragon Ball Z fans as well as those who want to relive the furious battles from the original games. With its intense gameplay and thrilling fight action, Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3 went on to become the highest rated Dragon Ball Z title on Metacritic, a position it retains to this day.
With enhanced and re-mastered HD visuals, alongside full Trophy and Achievements support, Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection brings two legendary anime fighting titles to the PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360® for the first time in one great package. No fan of the series can afford to miss it.
Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection will be powering its way into Europe this coming winter.
For more information on Dragon Ball video games from NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe please visit www.facebook.com/DBZ.videogames.
Namco-Bandai EU’s product page for the collection notes that both included games will sport the optional original Japanese language track, which was only available to North American players in the third game (never in the first two) when it was re-released under the “Greatest Hits” label (though the first shipment suffered a misprint without the extra content). No online play appears to be available in either game.
Dragon Ball Z Budokai 1 and Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3 make their triumphant debut on next generation consoles in Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection. Remastered in high-definition with full trophy/achievement support, fans can relive these two great games or experience them for the first time in one special collection.
Features
BUDOKAI 1 FEATURES:
Face off with up to 23 mighty DBZ warriors!
60 moves per character including Kamehameha
Fierce fighting modes including Story, Duel & World Match
Follow the DBZ animated series from Saiyan Saga to Android saga!
Includes the authentic Japanese voiceover cast
BUDOKAI 3 FEATURES:
More than 40 characters from DBZ, DBZ movies & Dragon Ball GT
Customize your DBZ warrior & build the ultimate fighter
Saiyan Overdrive Fighting System brings the speed, cinematic attacks & combos, airborne acrobatics & intensity of the DBZ anime
Share character profile passwords for other players to use
Includes the authentic Japanese voiceover cast
The collection was outed a little early yesterday afternoon when European superfan Nostal / Treevax posted an image of the next day’s setup to their Facebook page:
It has been an interesting ride for this collection. It was this past March that Wal-Mart put up a listing for an “HD Collection” for Dragon Ball Z, and then shenanigans with Dragon Ball Z For Kinect came about confusing everything. Back in May, Spanish retailer XtraLife.es put up listings for a supposed Budokai Tenkaichi HD Collection which was quickly pulled down, leading everyone to believe that some new collection was indeed on the way.
This week on the show we took a dive into the ghosts of collaboration past with Akira Toriyama and Dragon Ball alongside Osamu Akimoto and Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo (or simply “KochiKame” for short). Things start off back in 1991 with a two-page gag in Volume 69 of KochiKame, then jump ahead to 2006 with the 30th anniversary of the series and a special nine-page collaboration chapter which finds Ryo-san tossing parking violations against the unlikeliest of criminals.
SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0302! VegettoEX and Julian dive into some crossover history. Osamu Akimoto’s “KochiKame” series has mixed it up twice with Dragon Ball in its 30+ years. 1991 saw a short two-page gag that threatened to end the series entirely, while 2006 saw a nine-page collaboration chapter with Akira Toriyama himself. What kind of trouble does Ryo-san get into decade after decade with our favorite franchise? News recaps from around the world, your questions, and more rounds out the episode!
Back in April, a hilarious quasi-parody commercial for the upcoming Portuguese-subtitled broadcast of Dragon Ball Kai on SIC Radical popped up, bringing indescribable joy and promises of a brighter tomorrow to the lives of Portuguese-speaking fans everywhere.
Turns out everyone got most of what they were expecting. The show is indeed being broadcast in its original Japanese version with Portuguese subtitles, but said subtitles are actually a translation of FUNimation’s uncut English dub, rather than a translation of the original Japanese script into Portuguese:
While the uncut English script for Kai is certainly leagues better than the franchise received a decade ago (at least up through the end of the Freeza arc), these translations bring inconsistencies and changes to the Portuguese script that never existed in their version before. Whoops!
A nine-disc DVD box set (no Blu-ray set seems to be announced) called Saga Des Saiyens & Saga De Freezer will be released by AB in France 08 October 2012 for an MSRP of €59,98. The cover art is a toss back to manga chapter 310’s original title page image:
Unfortunately, none of the listings popping up online seem to note anything about the included language and/or subtitle tracks — we will keep our eyes out and will update if we learn anything else!
As a part of what appears to be called the “Sparking Campaign” with eight new cards, new updates for Dragon Ball Heroes (the Japanese card-based arcade game follow-up to prior Bakuretsu Impact and Dragon Battlers games) will include a new Super Saiyan 3 transformation for Gogeta, the fusion dance combination of Son Goku and Vegeta originally seen in Dragon Ball Z Movie 12:
Three exclusive cards featuring Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks, Goku, and Vegeta will be included with the August issue of V-Jump, which hits Japanese shelves today (21 June 2012):
All of this is tied in with the “Galaxy Mission 3” update coming to Dragon Ball Heroes, which also includes some Dragon Ball GT action:
The first Super Saiyan 3 forms debuted in a video game (where it was not originally debuted in the original manga series or theatrical films) were for both Broli and Vegeta for Dragon Battlers back in 2009 — both of these Super Saiyan 3 forms appeared in the first Raging Blast as playable characters, as well.
Super Saiyan 3 Trunks made his debut in Dragon Ball Heroes a little over a year ago, but has not popped up as a playable character in any traditional console games.
The cover art and release date (11 September 2012) for FUNimation’s third “season” release of Dragon Ball Kai (released under the name Dragon Ball Z Kai) has popped up online:
Much like with the first two “seasons”, FUNimation’s recent sets repackage the prior “Part (#)” two-disc releases into a larger four-disc set — “Season Three” covers Kai episodes 53-77, which originally appeared on FUNimation’s “Part 5” and “Part 6”.
“Part 5” was the first North American release to shift over to the replacement musical score for Kai, so those who have the prior “Part 5” and “Part 6” releases will find identical material on this new “season” set.
As with the prior “Part (#)” releases, the “season” sets are available on both DVD and Blu-ray.
A little bit of podcast topic schedule shuffling is in the works, which resulted in this week’s show being a collection of fun mini-topics suggested by you all via our Twitter and Facebook pages. We can’t really complain, especially since you managed to come up with such great suggestions! Join us for a little bit of discussion about whether or not Vegeta is a tactical fighter, some of the best “What If?” stories from video games, how a reanimated series might turn out, and so much more.
We streamed this episode live yesterday evening — as always, be sure to stay tuned to our social networking and media pages for up-to-date reminders about when these kinds of events go down. We are here to enlighten and entertain!
SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0301! VegettoEX and Hujio answer a slew of questions from the audience. Is Vegeta truly a tactical and strategic fighter? What are some of the best “What If?” stories from video games? How could the Majin Boo arc have been handled differently? How could the story have been continued in other ways? All this and much more rounds out the episode!
