FUNimation has dropped the MSRP of the first Dragon Ball “season” set to $34.98. Amazon is currently offering the set for $22.99 (with the other four sets in the same ball park), so fans that have not yet dipped their toes into the first TV series can now do so at a lower price. This is the current version of the TV series FUNimation has in-print, released over the course of 2009-2010; no “Dragon Box” version has been announced or hinted at.
For those that enjoy keeping up with this sort of thing (like us!), nothing of significance for Dragon Ball fans came out of Navarre’s Q3 2011 earnings conference call, which took place this past Tuesday. FUNimation is still listed as a “Discontinued Operation” and is still up for sale, but no appealing offers have been made to Navarre. We had originally been told that a resolution by the end of calendar 2010 would likely happen, but Navarre now anticipates that if a suitable buyer (and thus offer) is not found before the end of next quarter, they will consider bringing FUNimation back into the standard-operational fold. Navarre management noted that they have been running FUNimation as if they were going to keep owning them all along, being a little more stringent with new licenses and monetizing existing heavy-hitters (such as Dragon Ball) pretty darn well to keep things going as fantastically as they have. Net income from discontinued operations (which includes FUNimation) was up, so while FUNimation does not necessarily fit in with the overall Navarre business plan moving forward (which is more about distribution than production), they do well enough that they may end up keeping them around to leverage the cash flow benefits that they bought them for in the first place!
Once again, Amazon Japan has leaked the gorgeous cover art for the sixth DVD volume and the second Blu-ray box of the Artificial Humans & Cell arc. The Blu-ray is set to be released 04 February 2011 running a hefty ¥14,679 (~$175), while the DVD hits stores 04 March 2011 retailing for ¥2,940 (~$30). The DVD will contain episodes 70-72 presented in 16:9 widescreen, while the Blu-ray box will contain episodes 66-76 presented in 4:3 full screen spread across four discs.
We noted just the other day that the third “Limited Edition” volume of the Bakuman anime in Japan would come with another bonus music CD, this time with a cover of “Romantikku Ageru yo”, the closing theme to the original Dragon Ball TV series.
It turns out we missed another cover version of the song last year, though! The artist Clémentine released an album entitled Animentine ~Bossa du Anime~ back on 21 July 2010 (SICP-2770) which contained an eclectic mix of chill, jazzy, piano-based anime theme song covers. Among the mix was, lo and behold, another cover of “Romantikku Ageru yo”. A sample of the song can be heard over on its CDJapan or Amazon Japan pages. The song is performed in English, and appears to be a very loose adaption of the original lyrics.
The song has been covered more times in recent years than any other song from the franchise by such artists as Haruko Momoi, Shoko Nakagawa, Yoko Ishida, Sherry, Kikuko Inoue, Hitomi Kitamura, and even a “self-cover” version by its original performer, Ushio Hashimoto.
The oft-delayed “Manga Review of Awesomeness” returns to the podcast for Volume 37! The new story arc is still off to its start, but we now have an entirely new group of gods introduced, as well as what seem to be the first in a series of evil henchmen. The kids also get a chance to shine alongside the adults, which is definitely fun times. Also tune in for news recaps, releases, and even an in-depth discussion about fans in other countries desperately looking for ways to purchase higher-quality legit products in their region. Download the show now, or head on over to the podcast page for more information or to subscribe.
SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0246! VegettoEX, Meri, and Jeff dive into volume 37 in our “Manga Review of Awesomeness”. The Dragon World is quickly being expanded with new gods, new villains, and a turn into more magical territory than we have seen in quite some time. Is this the only place left for the series to go? Tons of news, music revelations, February’s releases, and an in-depth discussion of how foreign fans can go about getting proper releases in their country rounds out the episode.
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We reported about a month ago that the “Limited Edition” versions of the Bakuman anime’s R2 releases would be coming with bonus CDs that contain cover songs from Dragon Ball. It looks like volume three is going to continue the trend, this time with a cover of “Romantikku Ageru yo”, the closing theme to the first Dragon Ball TV series. This one is due out 24 March 2011 in Japan. Our copy of the first volume with its cover of “CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA” is due in next week, so expect a couple quick thoughts here on the website and podcast.
Big thanks to tinlunlau for the info and links on this one. Dragon Ball Kai apparently began airing in Taiwan back on January 1st. A localized website with a quick trailer is available for viewing — it looks like the dub kept the original Japanese performances on the theme songs, which is a nice touch.
Big thanks to our buddy sangofe for keeping up on this one. After not being on television for around a decade, the Dragon Ball Z TV series is back on TV in Denmark, airing Monday through Friday at 2:30 pm. The series was originally dubbed up through around the point that Goku turned Super Saiyan. A quick synopsis of the series is up on ontv.dk.
Both CDJapan & Amazon Japan are listing the upcoming Dragon Ball Kai Original Soundtrack IV as coming on 23 March 2011, a delay of exactly one month from its originally-listed date.
Dragon Ball Kai Complete Song Collection appears to still be on-track for release 23 February 2011, though.
FUNimation has issued a bit of clarification to Anime News Network regarding their streaming of the Dragon Ball franchise. While the original press release noted that FUNimation had obtained “exclusive rights to the U.S. and Canadian online streaming” of the series, the versions that went live this month eventually went with a standard Hulu player that locked viewing to only the United States. While the company does indeed have Canadian streaming rights, they do not currently have “a vehicle in that region.” Sorry, Canadians — I would not hold my breath.