A new book containing one-shot manga by Akira Toriyama, entitled “An Emperor’s Feast of Akira Toriyama 1” (鳥山明 満漢全席 1), was released today. It appears that this is the first volume of a new line of Toriyama’s one-shot manga collection. This volume contains 10 one-shot manga titles on 336 pages, and will set you back about ¥680.

At first glance, this appears to merely be a reprinting of one of Akira Toriyama’s “Manga Theater” volumes. However, with closer inspection you will see that some of the manga included has never been released outside of Weekly Jump. Here is a break-down of what is actually in the book:

FORMAT: #) One-shot Title – first appearance (tankōbon release)

1. Go!Go!Ackman – 11 one-shots from 1993 (Akira Toriyama’s Manga Theater Vol. 3)
2. Dub & Peter 1 – 4 one-shots from 1992 (Akira Toriyama’s Manga Theater Vol. 3)
3. Mister Ho – One-shot from 1986 (Akira Toriyama’s Manga Theater Vol. 2)
4. Lady Red – 3 one-shots from 1987 (Not yet released outside of Weekly Jump)
5. Sonchoh – One-shot from 1987 (Akira Toriyama’s Manga Theater Vol. 2)
6. Kennosuke-sama – One-shot from 1987 (Not yet released outside of Weekly Jump)
7. Mad Matic – One-shot from 1982 (Akira Toriyama’s Manga Theater Vol. 1)
8. Pola & Roid – One-shot from 1981 (Akira Toriyama’s Manga Theater Vol. 1)
9. Wonder Island 1 & 2 – 2 One-shots from 1978-1979 (Akira Toriyama’s Manga Theater Vol. 1)
10. Dragon Boy Chp. 1 & 2 – 2 One-shots from 1983 (Akira Toriyama’s Manga Theater Vol. 2)

Of most interest to Dragon Ball fans is likely “Dragon Boy” which, while it has been published before, is still a worthwhile addition to track down for any fan’s collection. Together with “The Adventure of Tongpoo”, it is considered one of the two direct predecessors to Dragon Ball in terms of character design, story (including exact plot elements), many specific items, etc.

Anime News Network has word via Internet Watch that a Japanese man has been arrested for selling bootleg copies of various anime, including the various Dragon Box releases:

Japan’s Association of Copyright for Computer Software (ACCS) announced that a 37-year-old male company employee from Kakogawa City in central Japan was arrested on Thursday for selling unauthorized DVD copies of 10 anime works, television programs, and other titles. The man allegedly sold DVD-R copies of the 50,000-yen (about US$470) Dragon Ball’s Dragon Box the Movies DVD set for 4,000 yen (US$37), the 50,000-yen (US$470) Dragon Ball GT series set for 5,500 yen (US$51), and the 72,000-yen (US$675) Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ box set for 4,000 yen (US$37). Police from the northern Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido and Sapporo City’s northern police office arrested the man on charges of copyright infringement and sent him to the prosecutors in Sapporo City.

You may be reading a few things across the interwebs about something called “Final Budokai”. It is important to note a few things about this:

• Only Portuguese sites have been reporting this
• All of these sites are copying-and-pasting the exact same text; no original reporting has occurred
• European enthusiast press are well known for breaking embargoes
• Dimps, the developers of the “Budokai” series, have moved on to “Burst Limit” (not to mention “Street Fighter IV”)
• It is plausible that a new PS2 game would still come out (see this old pondering from January), and it is the direction a couple Japanese publishers are going with (see “Persona 4”)
• The “Bakuretsu Impact” series of card-based arcade games do indeed feature a highly-evolved game engine based on the previous “Budokai” series
• The “Budokai” games (specifically the third) are well-known for being highly “hackable”; that is, they are relatively easy for those in-the-know to customize characters by altering colors, shifting around body parts, etc.
• Namco-Bandai did not take the “Budokai” name until “Shin Budokai” on the PSP (the games were “Dragon Ball Z”, “Dragon Ball Z 2”, and “Dragon Ball Z 3” in Japan)
• DBZ games are almost always first announced in the Jump series of magazines in Japan (specifically “V-Jump”); rarely are any “secrets” held and announced at gaming conventions, where the vast majority of attendees are not their target audience
• There has been no announcements past “Dragon Ball DS” from either Namco-Bandai or Atari
• We know nothing about this 😛

Do with all of that information as you will. Remember that it is extremely important to be critical of your information sources, and do not be afraid to require actual cited sources before you start believing anything.

Of course, I would love for there to be a new “Budokai” game, since the “Sparking!” series (and more recently, “Burst Limit”) just have not done anything for me…

The first two discs have not even been released yet and Toei has already posted the final cover art for their next set of Dragon Ball movies individual discs. Dragon Ball Z movies three and four are set to be released 12 September 2008. You can still order any of the previously released discs or any of these discs from Amazon Japan.

Toei has also created yet another site for the movies release, which I believe brings their total to three. The title suggests it is a campaign site for the releases, but it unfortunately does not give us any new information. Also, for those of you interested, the Jumpland DVD site has been updated with a screen saver for the first two individual discs. If you want it, be sure to go grab it before they put up the new one!

We reported a while back about the attempted robbery at Wal-Mart for Dragon Ball Z season five. This one is not quite up there, but the age of the perpetrators is shocking:

AVON PARK – Two Avon Park boys were in the care of the Department of Juvenile Justice on Thursday after they were arrested and charged with burglary of a home in the 100 block of Southland Court where Avon Park police say they stole some video games.

Some time between 5 and 6 p.m. Tuesday, the victim reported that someone entered her home and stole a duffle bag with her son’s Playstation 2 video game system, two games and a Gameboy containing a Dragon Ball Z video, police reported.

The victims immediately named the two boys, ages 9 and 10, as suspects because they were seen in the neighborhood before they went out.

What I want to know is why on Earth anyone would have purchased that Dragon Ball GT “GameBoy Advance Video” in the first place.

Then again, it is $6.60 new on Amazon…

The Japanese poster for the upcoming American-made live-action Dragon Ball movie has made its way online:

Definitely cooler than the American poster, that is for sure.

“Dragon Ball DS” has some new trailers available for streaming over on the game’s official Japanese website. Remember that the game comes out 18 September 2008 exclusively in Japan… at least for now. We are still waiting to hear about international releases.

Jumpland’s DVD site has switched over to its new Dragon Ball movie theme, and it looks pretty. Unfortunately, there is really no new information of interest, but they did post some trailers for the first six Dragon Ball Z movies that are narrated very energetically. Along with that, you can find some concept art of what the special figure will look like.