Just shortly after the release of the last volume, Amazon Japan has already leaked the cover art for the third DVD volume of the Artificial Humans & Cell arc. It is set to be released 03 December 2010, and is retailing for ¥2,940 (~$35). This volume will contain episodes 61-63 presented in 16:9 widescreen. You can pre-order a copy for yourself from CDJapan or Amazon Japan.

For those of you waiting for the next Blu-ray box set, I hope your patience can hold out, because it is not set to be released until February. As we have mentioned before, for some reason, the release of this arc is much more delayed than the previous arc. In fact, by the time the last Blu-ray box set for this arc is released in August 2011, the last episode on that set will have aired the previous March. By then we will probably also be about 20+ episodes into the next arc. In hindsight, I suppose it would not seem all that slow if the first arc had not released so quickly.

FUNimation has finally confirmed that their re-release of the first Dragon Ball movie will indeed see the light of day this December.

Curse of the Blood Rubies is due out 28 December 2010 for a cheap MSRP of $14.98. Set to be included is the original and uncut Japanese version, which is one of the only series/movies-proper items that has never been released this way in North America. There is still no clear answer as to which English dub will be included (the original edited version from 1995 with the first cast, or an updated and unedited version with a recent cast).

You can pre-order it on Amazon for only $13.49.

Siliconera has an interesting article this morning detailing a couple recent trademark filings from Namco-Bandai that may be Dragon Ball-related.

First up is “Ultimate Butôden” (アルティメット武闘伝), which would be a clear toss back to the Super Butōden series of games on the Super Famicom, and as the Siliconera article correctly notes, a series that concluded with Shin Butōden on the Sega Saturn (a re-vamped version of the PlayStation’s Ultimate Battle 22 with some of the older games’ aspects brought back, such as split-screen).

The second is “ZENKAI Battle Royale” (ZENKAIバトルロワイアル). Unfortunately, the article’s author makes a standard misstep by stating that “zenkai” is a “Saiyan-only power”, presumably the technique used by Saiyans to power-up after recovering from near-death. Never in the entire series is the word used this way (transformed from a verb into a proper noun). Much like “USSJ”, the word “zenkai” in this instance is just a halfway-incorrect fan term. That being said, the word is certainly used in the title of the first closing theme to the Dragon Ball Z TV series, but it not a word specific to just Dragon Ball.

By my admittedly-poor Japanese trademark searching skills, I do not see the Dragon Ball franchise’s name specifically attached to either of these filings. They are coming from Namco-Bandai, however, which at least hints in that direction combined with the words’ prior use with the franchise. Will we finally return to a multi-developer, multi-game cycle on the consoles? This is definitely something we will keep an eye on!

Right on schedule (if the past is any indication), a CD single for “Battle of Omega”, the opening theme to the recent Raging Blast 2 video game on the PS3 and Xbox 360 performed by Hironobu Kageyama, has been announced for release on 22 December 2010. All we have so far is the release date and catalog number (LACM-4775) — we can probably expect a standard b-side and karaoke versions to flesh out the release, but right now that is all we have for you.

The full vocal song is included within Raging Blast 2 and plays when a character enters “Raging Soul”, a new status where attack power is increased but special moves are deactivated.

Namco-Bandai has posteda ¥1.93 billion (approximately $23.7 million) loss for the second quarter of fiscal year 2011.

In terms of Dragon Ball overall, the franchise dropped in net sales from ¥5.8 billion the first half of fiscal 2010 to ¥2.7 billion this half, and the company is forecasting a drop down to ¥8 billion for the full year compared to ¥12.5 billion in fiscal 2010.

In terms of general toys and hobby merchandise (non-video games), the franchise dropped in net sales from ¥1.4 billion the first half of fiscal 2010 to ¥0.9 billion this half, and the company is forecasting a drop down to ¥2.7 billion for the full year compared to ¥3.3 billion in fiscal 2010.

No individual Dragon Ball video game sales were noted in the report.

The second DVD volume of the “Artificial Humans & Cell arc” was released today in Japan. The volume retails for ¥2,940 (~$30) and will contain episodes 58-60 presented in 16:9 widescreen. You can snag a copy for yourself from CDJapan or Amazon Japan.

Viz has officially unveiled a new iPad application allowing for digital distribution of their licensed and translated manga. The free application allows users to purchase volumes within its store and view them through its “My Manga” section.

Free previews will be available each month, and the application is launching with the first volumes of six series, including Dragon Ball. Individual volumes will be sold for $4.99 each (compared to the $7.95 price point for their individual dead trees “Graphic Novel” volumes).

VentureBeat reports that Namco-Bandai of America will be laying off 90 employees in their US office as part of a previously-announced reorganization. It is unlikely that this will affect the development of future Dragon Ball video games, but is something to keep an eye on following the mass layoffs within the gaming industry (such as with Atari a while back) over the years.

Navarre just completed their second quarter earnings conference call for Fiscal 2011 and, similar to last quarter, things remain relatively calm for the Dragon Ball franchise. It was noted that FUNimation “had a small net sales increase in the second quarter compared to the prior year’s second quarter”, thanks in part to strong video sales of Dragon Ball and Fullmetal Alchemist. Additionally, the television broadcast of Dragon Ball Z Kai bolstered the franchise’s performance even further. No further clarification was offered regarding which particular home products (Dragon Box sets, previously-released season sets, Kai) have done in comparison to each other.

During the analyst Q&A session, the potential sale of FUNimation was discussed, though there seems to be nothing significant to report as-of-yet. Offers and indications of interest have been made, Navarre has gone through management presentations with these interested parties (some of which have come back with further re-bids)… and that is about it. Navarre continues to analyze the benefit of selling the company versus continuing to run it, stated that they have done “a good job of running them”, and will continue to do so up through a potential sale. It was noted that by the end of this calendar year a decision is expected to be announced regarding the potential sale.