Toei has announced a new “Dragon Box” for release in Japan! This time around, the entire 153-episode Dragon Ball TV series will be released on R2 DVD by Toei Animation. Some of the details we have translated from the page include:

• Pre-orders begin January 1st
• Goes on sale 7 July 2004
• ¥105,000
• 26 discs (153 episodes)
• Tenka-ichi Budōkai diorama set designed by Akira Toriyama
• Exclusive Booklet
• Video Extras

This new set comes after the two-set Dragon Box releases of the Dragon Ball Z TV series released in March and September of this year. Can we assume a Dragon Ball GT Dragon Box in 2005, perhaps…?

The very end of Jeremy Dunham’s review of “Budokai 2” for ign.com reads:

And with Dragon Ball GT headed for the PlayStation 2 sometime next year it’s a possibility we can certainly anticipate; but only the passage of time and the cries of its fans can make it happen.

A new GT game? Interesting. We have not heard anything from Atari on this, but it certainly should not come as a surprise to anyone — the “Budokai” games have been doing extremely well. That being said, it would be really funny if they just re-released “Final Bout” on an unsuspecting crowd of newbie gamers. Is it just a misinformed statement, though? Perhaps elements from Dragon Ball GT being included in the next game? Time will tell, I suppose!

Not one to be outdone by Atari in America, Banpresto (a subsidiary of Bandai) of Japan is currently in the process of creating their own Nintendo GameBoy Advance fighting game for the franchise! Unlike previous fighters, this will be a 3-on-3 fighter (a-la “Marvel vs. Capcom”). You can check out some early screen-shots via The Magic Box.

Note that this game is currently slated for a Japan-only release, and is in addition to Banpresto’s Japanese release of “Taiketsu” for the GBA.

“Taiketsu”, the upcoming fighting game for the Nintendo GameBoy Advance, is due out on 28 November 2003 according to its Amazon listing.

In addition to this, continuing this fantastically strange trend of DBZ games being created in America and shipped over to Japan (a la “Legacy of Goku 2: INTERNATIONAL”), Banpresto will be releasing a Japanese version of “Taiketsu” over in Rising Sun land in the spring of 2004 — thanks to The Magic Box for the tip on that one.

Shueisha’s “Comics News” website has a fascinating new listing: it seems that, to commemorate the kanzenban re-release of the manga, a special book named “LANDMARK” is on its way out! The book, which is to be released on 19 December 2003, will include:

• A guide to the DB world’s “Landmarks,” plus information on the series’ “new charms”
• A collection of the cover art from the kanzenban volumes (including those which have yet to be released), as well as an interview with Akira Toriyama, himself
• A collection of all the “Dragon Ball Children” illustrations and articles that originally ran in the “Dragon Ball Information” packets, which came with the kanzenban volumes

The new book sounds almost like a daizenshuu for the new version of the manga! This new book comes hot on the heels of the TV anime guide book, “Son Gokū Densetsu”, released this past 03 October 2003 (which we totally neglected to mention!).

The Magic Box has updated with a whopping four pages of images from the upcoming Sony PlayStation 2 fighting game “Budokai 2”.

Fat Gotenks! Button-presses to do fusion! Galactic Donut!

The Magic Box has released five new screen shots from the upcoming WonderSwan Crystal Dragon Ball game (which, as noted in past updates, is a remake of an old Nintendo Famicom game from 1989; it was actually the third DB game to be released).

Bandai will release Dragon Ball for WonderSwan Crystal in Japan on November 20,f or 3980 yen. A remake of the classic Famicom action RPG from 1989. The game is based on Goku’s first adventures in the Dragon Ball series, your mission is to guide Goku to collect all 7 dragon balls. The story is based on the first 17 volumes of the Dragon Ball manga, before the Saiyan episodes. The battles are in the form of card battle.

(Little Goku is so damn cute, I can’t stand it!)

From NGCOnline.net:

The GC is getting a new DBZ game entitled, “Dragon Ball Z: Saiyan Smash!”

Nintendo has added this game to their official Nintendo of America games list. However there isn’t any information about the game thus far. All we know is the release date is Q3 2004.

Thanks to Clay Reynolds for the news tip.

The Magic Box updated with the release date for Japan’s “Budokai” on GameCube (coming out as simply “Dragon Ball Z), which reminded me that there are a few new DB-related games coming out soon! Here is a helpful list for you to see what is coming out and when:

• Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu (USA – GBA); 2D Fighting
  November 28th; $29.99
• Dragon Ball Z [Budokai] (Japan – GC); 3D Fighting
  November 28th; ¥6800
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 (USA – PS2); 3D Fighting
  December 12th; $49.99

Big updates over on The Magic Box: check out the new screen shots for “Budokai 2” which showcases more of the confirmed characters (the kids look so cute all cel-shaded!), as well as three screen shots from the previously-revealed upcoming Bandai WonderSwan game.