Our Japanese buddy Kei17 wrote in to let us know that Toshiba will be releasing a new refrigerator line starting later this year called “Vegeta”…! The official romanization is indeed “VEGETA” (just as we traditionally spell the character’s name), and its katakana is exactly the same, as well: べジータ. It obviously has nothing to do with the Dragon Ball franchise, but is pretty hilarious none-the-less.
Channel NewsAsia has an interesting piece about Edison Chen from Hong Kong and his debut in an exhibition entitled The Treacherous Tries. As a part of the exhibition, Chen has created fiberglass statues of notable Dragon Ball characters:
Chen has other “pop-art” creations, but that giant Goku will be of most interest to you all, I would assume!
As a bit of a fun aside, our ever-observant forum members have recently discovered a slew of “hidden messages” on FUNimation’s most recent Dragon Box sets:
FUNimation’s fourth Dragon Box for the Dragon Ball Z TV series was released just this week (and is a sweet $36.49 on Amazon). Check out our reviews of the first and second boxes to learn why you should be buying them!
TAG VS is due out next week in Japan on 30 September 2010 for ¥5229. Its American release, re-titled Tenkaichi Tag Team, has gone gold and is ready for release 19 October 2010for $39.99:
DRAGON BALL Z®: TENKAICHI TAGTEAM GONE GOLD FOR THE PSP® (PLAYSTATION®PORTABLE) SYSTEM
Intense Two Vs. Two Action Heading to PSP® system this October
SANTA CLARA, Calif., (Sept. 22, 2010) – Leading video games publisher and developer, NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc., announced today that Dragon Ball Z®: Tenkaichi Tag Team has gone gold for the PSP® system. With 70 playable and deeply customizable characters, multiple modes, and gameplay, Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team is chock full of Dragon Ball Z action for your portable PSP system.
For the first time ever Dragon Ball Z fans can enter into high-impact two vs. two combat in Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team for the PSP system. Play solo or team up via Ad Hoc mode to tackle memorable battles in a variety of single player and multiplayer modes, including Dragon Walker, Battle 100, and Survival Mode. Dragon Walker Mode takes fans through the entire epic Dragon Ball Z story arc from the Saiyan saga to the Majin Boo saga. Battle 100 Mode tasks players to relive the most epic encounters and newly created scenarios from the Dragon Ball Z world in ever-increasingly difficult situations.
Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team will be available throughout North America for the PSP system on October 19, 2010 with an ESRB rating of T for Teen and will carry an MSRP of $39.99.
Namco-Bandai also released a batch of ten new screen shots yesterday:
If you have not been keeping up with the game, this PSP release is getting a pretty hefty character roster in its own right. The 70 characters are slowly being revealed over on its Japanese website, though some of the “unannounced” characters have been divulged through prior trailers and screen shots… such as our favorite “Freeza Soldier A”.
The first Raging Blast received a special Collector’s Edition over in Europe which included a booklet and soundtrack — those of us over here in North America had no such luck. It seems as if the sequel’s release will play out in exactly the same way, with Europe getting another Collector’s Edition for Raging Blast 2… while the rest of the world gets left out in the cold, again!
In addition to a pop-up game cover and a laser-etched version of Goku’s character design for Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans (the video feature that will be included on all global versions of the game), codes to unlock downloadable content will be included which provides the player with special costumes and strength upgrades for Piccolo, Broli, #17, #18, Bardock, Kuririn, Yamcha, and Tullece.
In related news, Namco-Bandai’s official Japanese site for the game features a new trailer, itself showcasing the recently-announced vocal opening theme song, “Battle of Omega“, performed by Hironobu Kageyama.
We have been covering the potential sale of FUNimation by their parent company Navarre for a while now, but no major updates have come since the potential sale was announced at the end of this past May. This week, however, Navarre filed an 8-K noting that during its Annual Meeting of Shareholders that prior day, they have so far received “six indications of interest from potential acquirers”, and that they anticipate receiving final offers within the next sixth to ninety days. There is really nothing more to report right now, though — business continues as usual for FUNimation with Navarre’s full support in the mean time. We will of course keep tabs on things, as FUNimation’s position in the North American anime industry combined with the types of releases that the Dragon Ball franchise is receiving right now makes the situation enthralling to all of us.
Amazon Japan seems to be the first retailer with a full track listing for the upcoming Dragon Ball Kai Soundtrack III & Songs, due out next week in Japan on 22 September 2010, which has been broken down on our forum by Dragon Ball BGM guru kenisu3000.
We have not been keeping up with every single last character announcement for Raging Blast 2 lately, but a few have cropped up over the last few weeks that are worth mentioning. Making their first playable appearances will be characters like Artificial Human #14 (from the seventh Dragon Ball Z movie), along with other characters like “Ultimate” Gohan.
A new Jump page also (finally!) confirms that the game will be receiving a vocal opening theme song from Hironobu Kageyama entitled “Battle of Omega”, complemented by another CG animation (a la the prior Spike-developed games):
This may be the latest that a vocal theme song has been announced in the time leading up to a game’s release since the series’ revival early last decade — we typically know many more months in advance. No CD single seems to have been announced yet, but the Hironobu Kageyama and Hiroshi Kitadani collaboration “don’t give up” (from Battle Stadium D.O.N.) is one of the only modern examples that did not eventually end up on CD in some capacity.
The official Raging Blast 2 website is now advertising a free character design and conceptual art pamphlet for the new Plan to Exterminate the Super Saiyans animated short which is set to be included with the game. The pamphlet will be included with the game for those who have pre-ordered the Japanese version. Unfortunately there is limited supply, so all those that pre-order the game may not necessarily receive the pamphlet.
Megahouse has unveiled the next addition in their Desktop Real McCoy high quality Dragon Ball figure line. Of course it is none other than Son Goku! You may recall that the first figure in the series featured Goku riding a dinosaur, which was based on the Akira Toriyama – The World cover illustration. This time around, it is no surprise the second figure is being based on another of Toriyama’s illustrations, the cover of Tankōbon Volume 34. If you would like to pick this up for yourself (like I will be), you can actually pre-order the figure at either CDJapan or RightStuf.
