The official Dragon Ball Kai website has been updated with voice actor information for Freeza’s main henchmen Kewi, Zarbon, and Dodoria. Unfortunately, none of the original voice actors will be returning to reprise their roles. Here is a quick look at the new voice actors:

Kewi Eiji Takemoto (竹本英史)

Zarbon Hiroaki Miura (三浦祥朗)

Dodoria Takashi Nagasako (長嶝高士)

All three have been involved in many of today’s popular anime series, such as Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece, just to name a few. From the sounds of it, the three may fit the roles very well. Although, I am still sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to find out who will be voicing Appule. Come on Yūji Machi!

It is a bit interesting to see these replacements, however, considering the situations with some of the prior actors:

• KEWI: With Kōji Totani passing away in 2006, Eiji Takemoto will be stepping in to take over the role. Known to many of us as Rock Howard in SNK video games, he also stepped up to take over the role as Namu in Sparking! METEOR back in 2007 with the passing of Kaneto Shiozawa in 2000.
• DODORIA: Here is where things get interesting. Yukitoshi Hori (who also played Sauza in DBZ Movie 5) is alive and well, but will be replaced by Takashi Nagasako for Kai.
• ZARBON: In a similar case, Shō Hayami (who also played #19, Sansho in DBZ Movie 1, and Medamatcha in DBZ Movie 4) will be replaced by Hiroaki Miura.

So we have a replacement for a replacement, a replacement with no real reason, and another replacement with no real reason (albeit in this last cast for someone who has become a very high-profile voice actor).

As opposed to the unfortunate news out of Germany, our buddy sangofe also popped in to let us know that France will finally be getting a proper release of the original Dragon Ball TV series. It will be dual-language, and where the French dub was edited, the language track will swap over to Japanese to retain its uncut video track. It is looking to start a release sometime between October and December of this year, and will consist of two giant boxes containing episodes 1-68 on twelve discs, and then 69-153 on fourteen discs.

Our buddy Timo popped in to let us know about an exciting home release coming in Germany! Not only are they getting box sets from “Anime Virtual”, but it is… the old edited, dub-only version as-is from its airing on RTL2 with video material nearly 20 years old. Timo goes on to note that the distributor’s retort for not releasing a proper uncut version is that it would cost nearly 50€ more per volume in order to do so.

It is extremely unfortunate to hear Germany stay in the “stone age”, as Timo so accurately puts it, in this era of even North America finally getting a proper, quality release of the series.

As you may know, FUNimation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre, having been purchased in 2005. Today, Navarre released their fiscal-year 2010 quarter one figures.

Of particular note to Dragon Ball fans is the amount noted concerning Namco-Bandai. As reported earlier this month, Namco-Bandai has entered into a five-year agreement with FUNimation to be the sole distributor of Dragon Ball-related video games in North America. Navarre’s CEO Cary Deacon notes in the press release:

The quarter beat our expectations in part due to FUNimation’s stronger than anticipated sales of anime DVD’s as well as a $1.75 million agency fee resulting from a royalty advance paid for the licensing of Dragon Ball Video Game rights to Bandai.

This clearly means that more cash is on the way to FUNimation by way of Namco-Bandai; exactly how much remains to be seen.

Overall, Navarre’s “Publishing Segment” net sales appear to be down over the previous year, though their video game agreement certainly helped:

The publishing segment includes the results of the wholly-owned subsidiaries FUNimation Entertainment, Encore and BCI. For the first quarter ended June 30, 2009, the publishing segment had net sales, before inter-company eliminations, of $24.9 million, a decrease of 9.3%, as compared to net sales of $27.4 million in the first quarter of the prior fiscal year. BCI, whose operations have been winding down since the third quarter of fiscal year 2009, generated nominal sales in the first quarter as compared to $4.4 million in net sales during the first quarter of the prior fiscal year.

Operating income during the first quarter for the publishing segment was $6.1 million, as compared to operating income of $3.4 million in the first quarter of the prior year. The publishing segment’s operating income was positively impacted by FUNimation revenue from the licensing of North American video game rights to Bandai Namco in connection with the Dragon Ball Z brand.

In Navarre’s earnings conference call this morning, all of the above information was reiterated. FUNimation apparently had an “outstanding” quarter, and DVD sales far exceeded expectations at two major retailers (the names of said retailers not being divulged). It was expected that between Afro Samurai 2 being nominated for an Emmy and DBZ’s five-year license extension, FUNimation’s anime market dominance would be assured for the foreseeable future.

In the analyst Q&A segment at the end of the call (primarily with Bob Evans of Craig-Hallum), the time-frame of the DBZ five-year license extension was asked about. Deacon noted that the new agreement would run to mid-2015. It was also noted that FUNimation considers about 60 of their properties “breakthrough” (inferring a meaning of “profitable”), and about 20% of these (~16) are considered “A”-properties, with the Dragon Ball franchise being noted earlier in the call as the clear leader. It is expected that the anime release schedule will slow in Q2, picking up again in Q3 and Q4; this conveniently lines up with FUNimation’s release of “Dragon Box” sets in November of this year (among other titles, of course).

In a separate Schedule 14A filed on July 28th, it was noted that:

In FY2009, the Named Executive Officers did not receive base pay increases, except for Mr. Fukunaga whose base salary was increased 5% from $350,000 to $367,500.

There you have it — your financial analysis for the first quarter of the fiscal year!

Kurt wrote in to let us know that his order for the upcoming fifth “Viz Big” release of Dragon Ball Z has been delayed. We checked in with some of the supposedly-upcoming volumes, and here is what the schedule seems to be of currently-listed volumes:

Dragon Ball VizBig 5 (Volumes 13-15)

• Release Date: 18 August 2009

Dragon Ball Z VizBig 5 (Volumes 29-31)

• Original Release Date: 19 May 2009
• First Delayed Release Date: 12 July 2009
• Second Delayed Release Date: 20 October 2009

Dragon Ball Z VizBig 6 (Volumes 32-34)

• Release Date: 19 January 2010

Dragon Ball Z VizBig 7 (Volumes 35-37)

• Release Date: 19 January 2010

There is a five month delay in there for a re-release of a re-release of a re-release… or something along those lines. A la FUNimation and their DVDs, we are having a tough time keeping up with Viz and their manga!

We will be diving into Volume 29 in our “Manga Review of Awesomeness” on the podcast next weekend, so it looks like those of you keeping up via VizBig are out of luck!

Needless to say, it was an exciting weekend to be an American Dragon Ball fan down in Baltimore for Otakon.

FUNimation announced at their industry panel at Otakon that, among other new licenses and upcoming products, they would be releasing the first of seven “Dragon Box” sets for the Dragon Ball Z TV series on DVD. FUNimation recorded video of their panel, which can be viewed on YouTube:

After their panel, attendees were allowed to come up and take pictures of a mock-up of the packaging that will be used for the sets. We took a bunch of images (as seen in yesterday’s update), but here is one extra photo:

A formal press release also went out, detailing slightly more information about the releases from what was announced at the panel and reported here on the site:

Funimation Entertainment Announces First U.S. Release of Dragon Box
Produced From The Original Dragon Ball Z Masters, Available on DVD in November

Flower Mound, TX – July 18, 2009 — FUNimation Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation, today announces that it has acquired the original masters for the entire Dragon Ball Z anime series, episodes and films, and will release all as the Dragon Box for the first time in the U.S. The first of seven Dragon Boxes will be available at major retailers nationwide this Fall.

The Dragon Box will be produced from the original Dragon Box masters after a frame by frame restoration and will span the entire 291 episode television series and all 13 of its movies.

This definitive DVD box release begins with Dragon Box One which includes the first 42 episodes, uncut, on 6 discs.

The Dragon Box releases will feature an aspect ratio of 4:3, the original Japanese audio (with options for an English track or English subtitles), the original episode previews, complete opening and closing credits and a collector’s booklet.

Dragon Box One will be available at major retailers nationwide on November 10, 2009 and will have an SRP of $79.98.

About FUNimation Entertainment
FUNimation® Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation, is the leading company for home video sales of Japanese animation in the United States. FUNimation has a proven formula for launching and advancing brands, and manages a full spectrum of rights for most of its brands including broadcasting, licensing, production, internet, and home video sales and distribution. For more information about FUNimation Entertainment and its brands, visit www.funimation.com .

For those following along with the news and wondering why, exactly, this fourth release of these particular episodes from FUNimation warrants such applause and sighs of relief… allow us to briefly explain.

For many years after its original broadcast airing in Japan, the TV series never actually saw a home video/LD/DVD release (although the movies had VHS/LD releases). In 2003, Toei (in conjunction with Pony Canyon) began releasing the entirety of the TV series and movies on DVD in a new, fully-remastered “Dragon Box” format. These giant box sets were limited-edition pre-order-only releases, and touted genuine frame-by-frame remastering from the original 16mm film reels (unlike multi-generational copies provided to their licensees such as FUNimation). Frames were re-aligned, dirt and other damage was removed, etc. After releasing the entirety of the series and movies, all saw individual DVD releases in Japan, as well.

As FUNimation accurately stated in their commercial/trailer played at Otakon, the “Dragon Box” version truly is the definitive presentation for the series.

We are still waiting for confirmation on several aspects of these upcoming American releases of the “Dragon Box” sets, though. Current unknowns include:

• Compromises to the video bitrate due to the inclusion of more episodes-per-disc over the original Japanese (originally six in Japan)
• Compromises to the video and audio bitrates due the inclusion of additional audio tracks (originally just the single Japanese language track)
• While defaulting to the Japanese language track, which FUNimation dub will be included (either/both of the American broadcast BGM or original Japanese BGM as produced for the previous faux-“remastered” season sets)
• While noted during their panel at Otakon that it is for the “hardcore” fans, how or if FUNimation will attempt to market it to their established dub-only fanbase, and/or those that have purchased the previously-released and recently-completed faux-“remastered” season sets
• If any alternate angles or adjustments will be made to include English aspects such as title cards, or if the quote from representative Adam Sheehan, “we didn’t change a damn thing” means that items such as Japanese credits and title cards will be the exclusive versions included
• The release cycle/schedule for their sets
• Whether or not the original Dragon Ball and/or Dragon Ball GT will follow, especially considering that their own “remastered” (non-“Dragon Box”) versions of Dragon Ball GT just finished a “season set” release, and the original Dragon Ball is about to begin this September

So there you have it. We are still taking a week off from the podcast to recover from Otakon, but expect lots of commentary next week from a wide variety of folks!

Meri and Mike are off at Otakon, which means I am holding down the fort when I should really be asleep. However, a series of e-mails flooded my inbox, all from Mike. He is excited, and I am at least awake enough now to tell you that FUNimation is going to put out Dragon Ball Z “Dragon Box” sets in North America.

The details, as recorded on his Twitter account, are as follows:

• The series will be released across seven DVD sets
• Part One will retail for $79.98, and contain episodes 1-42 in 4:3 aspect ratio
• Each set will come with an 80-page, hardcover book
• The set defaults to Japanese (English version presumably a secondary feature).

FUNimation rep Adam Sheehan notes that these sets are not for the “casual fans”; we here at Daizenshuu EX are inclined to agree. It is looking like FUNimation has only announced Dragon Ball Z so far, but after all, they still have Dragon Ball to do before their “season” sets are officially a complete, non-abortive release. Anyhow, the pictures Mike has sent look pretty damn spiffy:

Oh, and two other things: DB Movie 1 (“The Legend of Shenlong”, a.k.a. “Curse of the Blood Rubies”) will indeed be released uncut, but probably as part of one of the new season sets rather than with the other movies; and they would like to put out last year’s Jump special but do not have it right now (and are unwilling to say more at the present time).

Sounds like a pretty eventful con, no? Now, excuse me while I go pass out.

FUNimation has announced a new team-up with Namco to provide Dragon Ball Z figures in a new crane game available at amusement parks, theaters, etc.

FUNIMATION AND NAMCO CYBERTAINMENT INC. BRING ANIME’S GREATEST HERO TO GAME CENTERS ACROSS THE U.S.
Anime Leader and Major Amusement Game Operator Introduce Game Featuring Dragon Ball Z Figures

Flower Mound, Texas (July 15, 2009) – FUNimation Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation, Toei Animation, Ltd., and Namco Cybertainment Inc., one of the largest amusement game operators in the U.S. and Caribbean, are bringing the Z-fighters to more than 780 amusement centers around the country.

Already available, these centers house a new crane game containing figures of Goku, his friends and foes. The Dragon Ball Z figure crane game will offer an entirely new experience for those who are familiar with the old crane concept. Instead of directing a crane claw to a random and, hopefully, substantial grip on a desired prize, crane players are able to utilize their skills to line up the claw fingers with one or more of the eight holes in the custom figure packaging for a precise hook on their favorite Dragon Ball Z figures. These collector edition figure prizes are designed and manufactured by Banpresto Co., Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan and cannot be found in retail stores.