While Wasted Wisher has already noted to us that scenes from the Bardock TV special would be used in the first episode of Kai, an upcoming issue of Jump apparently confirms that Freeza will be making an appearance in the first episode, so this all lines up pretty well. Additionally, Jump states that a CD single release for the opening theme (“Dragon Soul”) will come out in May.
22 March 2009, 8:26 PM EDTComment
Episode #0169 of the podcast is available for download! We originally wanted to do a “bonus” episode mid-week to follow up and do a more thorough review of the “Rule” CD single, but that didn’t end up happening. We considered doing that for this week’s regular episode, but decided that a more traditional topic would be better (and not so much overkill with regards to the live-action movie). As you may have read previously on the home page, I posted up a response to a YouTube video asking and discussing what it meant to be a “true fan” of the series. We all decided to have our own discussion on this topic, so be prepared for an onslaught of indecision! We hit up all the regular news, releases, e-mails, and even the new “Donate” button/page that is linked over on the side of the home page (including naming our first “memorial” item!). Definitely check it out.
SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0169! VegettoEX, Meri, and Julian discuss what it means to be a “true fan” of the series. Is that even possible? What distinctions are made, and how do they even come to be? The expected “Kai” news tidbits, some licensing news from Europe and Asia, random video game news, the rest of March’s releases, and your e-mails round out the episode. We also (briefly) discuss the new “Donate” page available to readers and listeners, and name our first memorial item!
REFERENCED SITES:
- “DragonBall Kai” Tidbit @ Daizenshuu EX
- “DragonBall Online” TBWA News @ Digital Media
- DVD Contest @ The Fanboy Review
- “TRUE DRAGONBALL FANS…” Video @ YouTube
- Mike’s Blog Entry Response @ vegettoex.com
- “DragonBall Evolution” Sticker Book @ Amazon
- DBZ Movies 8, 10, 11 “Triple Feature” DVD @ Amazon
- DBZ Movies 8, 10, 11 “Triple Feature” Blu-ray @ Amazon
As we predicted based on the short blurb about a CD single release for the Dragon Ball Kai opening theme, we are going to get double-dipped with the new opening and ending themes getting their own separate releases.
CDJapan is listing the opening theme, “Dragon Soul”, coming out 20 May 2009 in both a regular (COCC-16247, ¥1200) and “Limited Edition” (COCC-16273, ¥1300) version. There is no full track listing yet, and there are no details on what additional material the “Limited Edition” will come with.
CDJapan is also listing the closing theme, “Yeah! Break! Care Break!” (though mis-titled with “Year!” as the first word), as coming out the next month 24 June 2009. This one will also come in both a regular (COCC-16248, ¥1200) and “Limited Edition” (COCC-16283, ¥1300) version. As with the opening, there are no details on a full track listing or additional material in the “Limited Edition” beyond receiving a sticker.
Both songs will be performed by Takayoshi Tanimoto, though the new closing is also listing Takafumi Iwasaki as a performer.
21 March 2009, 11:56 AM EDTComment
Our buddy Marc (The Fanboy Review) has a few gaming tidbits for us. Apparently Dragon Ball Evolution for the PSP did around a mere 1,200 copies in its first day. A Japanese blog gives a little break-down of first-day sales for other recent Dragon Ball games, so you can see just how much of a gap there is with this latest one — even the Xbox 360 version of Burst Limit did better.
On the American side of things, Dragon Ball is actually the 12th top-selling game franchise. More than 14 million units have been sold since 2002, coming out to over $300 million.
21 March 2009, 11:55 AM EDTComment
Digital Media is reporting that five marketing agencies went after the Dragon Ball Online market in Asia, but it went to TBWA in the end. The account is estimated at 2 billion KRW (or approximately $1.34 million). TBWA will be handling a full-scale marketing blitz for the game from April to August.
19 March 2009, 1:33 PM EDTComment
Toei Animation has announced that Plus Licens has been granted the license to the Dragon Ball franchise in “Nordic and Eastern Europe”. This license covers television, home video, and merchandising rights, but does not extend to video games and publishing.
“We are very pleased to be working with Plus Licens AB, who is one of the top licensing brokers in the Nordic countries and Eastern Europe,” explained Kanji Kazahaya, director of international at Toei.
“We believe that they have a deep commitment to continuing Dragon Ball’s licensing success and we look forward to working with them on expanding the brand in this vital region.”
Any east-Europeans out there have anything to say in the matter? Have you had a severe lack of merchandise lately, and are you happy to hear about this? Let us know.
The April schedule for Dragon Ball Kai was printed in this month’s issue of V-Jump, which included episode titles for the first four episodes. It should be noted that the titles for episodes 3 and 4 have “tentative” titles, and are subject to change:
April 5th ~ Episode 1
「闘いの幕開け！帰ってきたぞ孫悟空」
“The Curtain Opens on the Battle! Son Goku Returns”
April 12th ~ Episode 2
「敵は悟空の兄！？最強戦士サイヤ人の秘密」
“The Enemy is Goku’s Older Brother!? The Secret of the Saiyans, Strongest of Warriors”
April 19th ~ Episode 3
「悟空とピッコロ最強タッグ！激闘ラディッツ戦（仮）」
“Goku and Piccolo’s Strongest Tag-Team! The Fierce Battle Against Raditz (tentative title)”
April 26th ~ Episode 4
「孫悟空が死んじゃった…あの世とこの世のキビしい修行！（仮）」
“Son Goku is Dead… Fierce Training in the Afterlife and Living World! (tentative title)”
It sounds like the first episode of Dragon Ball Kai will have some flashbacks to earlier Dragon Ball (non-“Z”) material, as well as some of the Bardock TV special. Very interesting!
Also, as Julian pointed out in our most recent podcast episode (which you should listen to, as we review anything and everything Dragon Ball Evolution!), the new ending theme to Dragon Ball Kai is actually a play on words similar to “CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA” being a spin on hetchara, which means “carefree”. While the new closing is written out in English as “Yeah! Break! Care Break”, it is a play on yaburekabure, which means “utter desperation”.
15 March 2009, 10:11 PM EDTComment
Episode #0168 of the podcast is available for download! You know, we joke time and time again how if we discuss the live-action movie on the podcast, it will “blow up” or otherwise give us horrible technical problems (like it genuinely did back on Episode #0148). Sure enough, while editing the podcast I noticed how either Meri’s mic itself or the XLR cable fritzed out occasionally. In addition to that, random background noise would temporarily overtake the local recording track. Thankfully we do multi-track recording here, and I was able to (mostly) edit around Meri’s issues, and simply silence out those strange anomalies. We will overcome this curse once and for all at some point in time, I assure you.
This episode, we did anything and everything DragonBall Evolution. That’s right. We start out with Ayumi Hamasaki’s CD single and music video for “Rule” (the movie’s theme song), go into the VizKids adaptation of the story for their “Junior Novel”, and finally… the big one… Julian reviews the movie itself from its Japanese theatrical debut. Definitely check it out. You don’t want to miss this one.
SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0168! VegettoEX, Meri, and Julian review all things “Dragon Ball Evolution”. We start out with Ayumi Hamasaki’s CD single for the movie’s theme song (“Rule”), go into the VizKids junior novel adaptation, and finally… the big one… Julian reviews the actual movie itself from its Japanese theatrical debut. It seems like it has been such a long time coming, and an impossibility, at that. How does it all stack up? Is it even worth the ticket price? Some random news bits, March’s releases, and a quick e-mail round out the episode.
REFERENCED SITES:
- “Dragon Ball Evolution” Soundtrack @ Amazon
- “Dragon Ball Evolution” Score @ Amazon
- “DragonBall Kai” Tidbit @ Daizenshuu EX
- Ayumi Hamasaki “Rule” CD+DVD Single @ CDJapan
- “Dragon Ball Evolution” Junior Novel @ Amazon
- DBZ DVD Vol. 31 (R2 PAL) @ zonadvd.com
- “DragonBall Evolution” (JP PSP) @ Play-Asia
- French DBZ DVD Boxset 1 Discussion @ Daizenshuu EX
- Kanzenban Volume 1 (French) @ Amazon France
- “DragonBall Evolution” Sticker Book @ Amazon
- DBZ Movies 8, 10, 11 “Triple Feature” DVD @ Amazon
- DBZ Movies 8, 10, 11 “Triple Feature” Blu-ray @ Amazon
Toshio Furukawa (Piccolo) gives us more information regarding Dragon Ball Kai with another blog update from the other day. Masaharu Satō will be playing the role of Kame-Sen’nin, as opposed to what seemed (and what we would have guessed) to be the character’s formal replacement actor, Hiroshi Masuoka.
As a bit of background, Kame-Sen’nin’s original actor, Kōhei Miyauchi, passed away in 1995 just before the end of the Drtagon Ball Z TV series. While Masaharu Satō and Kinya Aikawa stepped in at various points to play small bits of dialogue for the character, the entirety of Dragon Ball GT (and many other spin-off items like video games) were performed by Hiroshi Masuoka.
Furukawa updated his blog with this information and the following picture, showcasing (left to right, back to front) Masaharu Satō (Kame-Sen’nin), Ryō Horikawa (Vegeta), Toshio Furukawa (Piccolo), Shigeru Chiba (Raditz), Jōji Yanami (Narration, Kaiō-sama), Mayumi Tanaka (Kuririn), and Masako Nozawa (Son Goku, etc.):
