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News
“Jump Force” Receiving New Akira Toriyama Designed Characters + Pre-Order Items and Collector’s Edition
Published by 20 September 2018, 9:59 AM EDTComment

Bandai Namco has announced the forthcoming Jump Force crossover video game will include four brand new characters designed by original Dragon Ball author Akira Toriyama:

  • Glover (グロバー Gurobā): Director of the “J-Force”; played by Kazuhiro Yamaji
  • Navigator (ナビゲーター Nabigētā): Assistant navigator; played by Rie Kugimiya
  • Galena (ガレナ Garena): Villain; played by Atsuko Tanaka
  • Kane (カイン Kain): Villain; played by Hiroki Yasumoto

Alongside character announcements from the Yu Yu Hakusho franchise, Bandai Namco also announced items players can receive for pre-ordering the game, including Freeza’s hover chair as a lobby vehicle and three costumes representing the One Piece, Dragon Ball, and Naruto series, respectively.

Additionally, a collector’s edition will be available packaging the retail game, three art boards (representing the same three, core franchises), a steelbook case, and an “exclusive diorama” with Naruto, Luffy, and Goku.

Alongside a slew of characters from other Jump franchises, previously-revealed Dragon Ball characters include Son Goku (with Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan), Freeza, and Vegeta.

Jump Force, a crossover fighting game in celebration of Jump‘s 50th anniversary, is slated for a worldwide release on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC (via Steam) in February 2019. The game’s North American release is available for pre-order at Amazon.

Spike Chunsoft previously developed J-Stars Victory Vs., a crossover fighting game celebrating Jump‘s 45th anniversary; the game was originally released on the PlayStation 3 and Vita, with a PlayStation 4 port eventually coming alongside an international localization. Alongside Arale from Dr. Slump, Son Goku, Vegeta, and Freeza were the three Dragon Ball representatives in J-Stars Victory Vs. Prior to this, the company developed the Sparking! (released internationally as “Budokai Tenkaichi”) and Raging Blast series of Dragon Ball fighting games.

Podcast
Podcast Episode #0454
Published by 17 September 2018, 2:48 PM EDTComment

SHOW DESCRIPTION:

Episode #0454! Mike and Jake discuss character name adaptation challenges in light of Toppo vs. Top, while Meri joins in for a chat about Dragon Ball Z movie 8’s dubbed theatrical screening ahead of the upcoming Dragon Ball Super theatrical film!

SEGMENTS:

  • 00:13 – Introduction
  • 03:00 – News/Topic
  • 22:20 – Topic/Review
  • 35:03 – Wrap-up

REFERENCED SITES:

Our podcast is available via iTunes and/or Google Play Music, or you can pop the direct RSS feed into the program of your choice. You can also listen to this episode by directly downloading the MP3 or by streaming it on SoundCloud or YouTube. We invite you to discuss this episode on our forum.

News
Nana Mizuki (Chelye) and Tomokazu Sugita (Lemo) Announced as Voices in “Dragon Ball Super: Broli” Theatrical Film
Published by 12 September 2018, 3:54 PM EDTComment

The Dragon Ball Official Site has announced Nana Mizuki as the voice of Chelye and Tomokazu Sugita as the voice of Lemo in this year’s upcoming Dragon Ball Super: Broli theatrical film.

Included as part of the announcement are comments from each:

Nana Mizuki:
Toriyama-sensei draws what you might call incredibly expressive characters. In a series that features constant serious battles, my character Chelye handles the more laid-back, slice-of-life parts. She’s a bit of a hoodlum, but also very cute (laughs).

Her relationship with Lemo is such that she doesn’t start off calling him “Lemo-san” or anything polite like that. Rather, they talk in the style of the hoodlum world’s hierarchy, calling each other “sis” and “bro” (laughs). Then after overcoming hardships together, their relationship develops to the point where they refer to one another without any honorifics. Also, it is precisely because Lemo is a grown-up that he lets Chelye’s youthful statements slide. He’s like an amazing father, or a tender life instructor (laughs).

Tomokazu Sugita:
I initially figured my character Lemo would resort to cowardly tactics and then get defeated by Broli, but I was pleasantly surprised to find he’s portrayed as someone with a different viewpoint which supplements Broli’s irregular power. Despite being a depiction of strength, you can’t show Broli only from the perspective of other strong people; frankly I think you also need a weak person’s point of view. The weak Lemo kind-heartedly accepts Broli, while Chelye faces Broli’s power head-on. So it’s like Lemo and Chelye balance each other out. For my performance as Lemo, I focused on not making him sound like a bad guy, even if he said cold-hearted or abusive things. Lemo is a kind person underneath it all. He’s a sly, yet warm-hearted character, so I was highly focused on that part of the performance.

While both actors have been active and prolific since the turn of the century, these will be their debut Dragon Ball roles.

In the upcoming film, Chelye and Lemo are members of Freeza’s army. Chelye steals a Galactic Patrol ship and joins Freeza’s army to flee her pursuers once her crime is discovered. Lemo meanwhile has served in the army since King Cold was leading it. Neither has met Freeza face-to-face, but are important characters surrounding Broli in this film.

The story, script, and character designs for Dragon Ball Super: Broli, opening nationwide in Japan 14 December 2018 in 2D, IMAX, and MX4D, are being crafted by original manga author Akira Toriyama. The film will be directed by Tatsuya Nagamine, and will feature animation supervision by Naohiro Shintani along with art direction by Kazuo Ogura. The film will receive international distribution following its Japanese debut.

Podcast
Podcast Episode #0453
Published by 11 September 2018, 9:41 PM EDTComment

This week on the show we get back into the groove of things with some news catch-up and a little bit of anything we want to chat about!

SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0453! Mike, Sean, and Stacey catch up on the last month’s bevy of news, including the unfortunate passing of Unshō Ishizuka. Video game chat, tales from Japan, and more wraps up the episode!

SEGMENTS:

  • 00:13 – Introduction
  • 02:07 – News
  • 39:47 – Wrap-up

REFERENCED SITES:

Our podcast is available via iTunes and/or Google Play Music, or you can pop the direct RSS feed into the program of your choice. You can also listen to this episode by directly downloading the MP3 or by streaming it on SoundCloud or YouTube. We invite you to discuss this episode on our forum.

Content
“Dragon Ball Super” Manga Vol. 7 Content Overview
Published by 07 September 2018, 12:07 PM EDTComment

The seventh collected volume of Toyotarō’s Dragon Ball Super manga — originally and currently serialized on a monthly basis in Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine — officially hit Japanese shelves this week on 04 September 2018 for ¥440 + tax. Spanning 192 pages, the volume covers chapters 33-36. The volume takes its title of “Universe Survival! The Tournament of Power Begins!” (宇宙サバイバル！力の大会開始！; Uchū Sabaibaru! Chikara no Taikai Kaishi!) directly from chapter 33 itself.

In his introductory comment, Toyotarō relays a story about sharing new volumes and character sketches with a friend:

I have a friend who asks me to sign their copy of the manga each time a new volume comes out. I add in an illustration while I’m at it, but I prefer to draw a different character for each volume. So I asked “how about the Omni-King?” and they said “who?”

Have you even been reading these books?!

I’ll do my best to make this a manga everyone will want to read…

The inside title page showcases a sketch of Son Goku, while the table of contents features Gods of Destruction Beerus, Liquir, and Sidra.

To fill out the necessary page count, Toyotarō supplies new drawings between chapters, with this volume exclusively featuring team lineups (specifically the Universes 7, 9, and 6 teams). No bonus chapters are included (with the Jump Victory Carnival 2018 bonus chapter being the only non-collected material as of this volume’s publication). “Corrections Done by Toriyama-sensei Himself” make a reappearance from the the third and sixth collected volumes, with a brief showcase of character design and dialog adjustments.

The print edition of the seventh volume is available for purchase via CDJapan and Amazon Japan. A digital release was made available the same day as the print release.

The first collected edition saw its release in April 2016 covering the series’ first nine chapters, one spin-off chapter, and a special interview between Toyotarō and original author Akira Toriyama. The second collected edition saw its release in November 2016 covering the next six chapters, one more spin-off chapter, and a special interview with Toyotarō. The third collected edition saw its release in June 2017 covering the next five chapters. The fourth collected edition saw its release in November 2017 covering the next four chapters and a follow-up special interview been Toyotarō and Toriyama. The fifth collected edition saw its release this past March covering another four chapters and one additional spin-off chapter. The sixth collected edition saw its release this past June covering another four chapters.

The Dragon Ball Super “comicalization” began in June 2015 as a promotional tie-in for the television series. The manga runs monthly in Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine, with the series’ thirty-ninth chapter coming last month in the magazine’s October 2018 issue. Illustrated by “Toyotarō” (in all likelihood, a second pen-name used by Dragon Ball AF fan manga author and illustrator “Toyble”), the Dragon Ball Super manga covered the Battle of Gods re-telling, skipped the Resurrection ‘F’ re-telling, and “charged ahead” to the Champa arc to act as further promotion for the television series. Though the television series has completed its run, the manga continues onward telling its own version of the existing story. Viz is currently releasing free digital chapters of the series, and began their own collected print edition early last year.

The Dragon Ball Super television series concluded in March 2018 with 131 total episodes. FUNimation owns the American distribution license for the series, with the English dub airing on Cartoon Network, and the home video release reaching its fifth box set this October.

News
“Super Dragon Ball Heroes” Promotional Anime Fourth Episode Slated For Late September
Published by 06 September 2018, 1:38 PM EDTComment

In conjunction with the third episode released today, Bandai Namco has announced a “late September” timeframe for the upcoming fourth episode of the Super Dragon Ball Heroes promotional anime.

Episode 4: Rage! Super Fu Appears!

Cumber unleashes his fearsome form and runs wild. His power is too much for the Prison Planet to handle, and the chains begin to snap one by one. Seeing this throws Fu into a rage, and he unleashes his hidden power!

The self-described “promotional anime” began back in July, with its initial two episodes released 01 July 2018 and 16 July 2018, respectively. Though the series’ original trailer was available worldwide, the subsequent episode postings themselves have been region-locked to Japan.

The “Prison Planet arc” is the latest scenario featured in the Super Dragon Ball Heroes arcade game, which is looking ahead to the fourth update in its “Universe Mission” series this month, as well. Super Dragon Ball Heroes is itself an update and hardware revision to the original Dragon Ball Heroes, a card-based arcade game in which players arrange teammates on a playing field for turn-based battles.

Dragon Ball Heroes has seen a variety of multimedia spin-offs and support pieces. Yoshitaka Nagayama’s Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Universe Mission manga (a follow-up to the previous Dark Demon Realm Mission series) currently runs in Shueisha’s bimonthly Saikyō Jump magazine, while Toyotarō’s Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission ran from 2012-2015 in Shueisha’s monthly V-Jump magazine. Three portable game adaptations — Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission, Ultimate Mission 2, and Ultimate Mission X — were released on the Nintendo 3DS.

News
New York Comic Con Announces 2018 Dragon Ball Guests
Published by 31 August 2018, 1:08 PM EDTComment

New York Comic Con has announced Masako Nozawa (Son Goku, et al.) and Tatsuya Nagamine (Dragon Ball Super: Broli director) will be present for a panel at the event 05 October 2018 (Friday) from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.

The event company clarified on Twitter that valid ticket holders for that day’s New York Comic Con and/or the Anime Fest @ NYCC side-event (not to be confused with the existing AnimeFest convention in Texas) may attend the panel on a first-come/first-served basis with limited seating available.

Sean Schemmel, FUNimation’s current English voice actor for Goku, will also be present.

The “Dragon Ball North America Tour 2018” kicked off last month at San Diego Comic Con, and is scheduled for seven total stops across America through October.

News
“Super Dragon Ball Heroes” Promotional Anime Third Episode Dated For September 6
Published by 30 August 2018, 4:07 PM EDTComment

The official Super Dragon Ball Heroes website has updated with an 06 September 2018 release date for the upcoming third episode of the series’ “Prison Planet” arc promotional anime:

Episode 3: The Radiance of the Mightiest! Vegetto Blue’s Kaiō-Ken Explosion!

In order to stand against the evil Saiyan “Cumber”, who has revealed his true form, Goku and Vegeta merge using the Potara! They become the mightiest warrior, Vegetto Blue, and on top of that, the Kaiō-Ken bursts forth!! To oppose him, Cumber unleashes and astonishing form…

The self-described “promotional anime” began back in July, with its initial two episodes released 01 July 2018 and 16 July 2018, respectively. Though the series’ original trailer was available worldwide, the subsequent episode postings themselves have been region-locked to Japan.

The “Prison Planet arc” is the latest scenario featured in the Super Dragon Ball Heroes arcade game, which is looking ahead to the fourth update in its “Universe Mission” series next month, as well. Super Dragon Ball Heroes is itself an update and hardware revision to the original Dragon Ball Heroes, a card-based arcade game in which players arrange teammates on a playing field for turn-based battles.

In the recently-released promotional video for the “Universe Mission 4” update, Cumber is shown using the Saiyans’ Great Ape transformation:

Dragon Ball Heroes has seen a variety of multimedia spin-offs and support pieces. Yoshitaka Nagayama’s Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Universe Mission manga (a follow-up to the previous Dark Demon Realm Mission series) runs in Shueisha’s bimonthly Saikyō Jump magazine, while Toyotarō’s Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission ran from 2012-2015 in Shueisha’s monthly V-Jump magazine. Three portable game adaptations — Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission, Ultimate Mission 2, and Ultimate Mission X — were released on the Nintendo 3DS.

News
Bandai Namco Announces September 2018 Release For “Dragon Ball FighterZ” DLC Character Coola
Published by 28 August 2018, 2:39 PM EDTComment

Bandai Namco has revealed an “end of September” release timeframe for the previously-announced Coola as forthcoming, paid downloadable content for Dragon Ball FighterZ.

In addition to Coola, “…one more mighty warrior” will round out the eight planned characters as paid, downloadable content; while extensive data mining has taken place, the eighth character has not yet been officially revealed by the company.

The character will be made available individually for ¥500/$5, or as part of the game’s game’s optional $34.99 “FighterZ Pass” covering eight total characters. Broli, Bardock, Vegetto, Merged Zamasu, (non-Super Saiyan, “black hair”) Son Goku, and (non-Super Saiyan, “black hair”) Vegeta were the first six of eight promised paid downloadable characters released thus far.

The 3-on-3, “2.5D” fighting game is developed by Arc System Works and is currently available on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC (via Steam); on these systems, the game runs at a 1080p resolution and 60fps frame rate, with higher resolutions available on the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X consoles, as well as the PC. A Nintendo Switch port is due in 2018. Playable characters include Son Goku, Son Gohan (Cell arc design), Vegeta, Freeza, Cell, Boo (Good), Trunks, Piccolo, Kuririn, #16, #18 (with #17), Yamcha, Tenshinhan (with Chiaotzu), Ginyu (with teammates), Nappa (with Saibaimen), Gotenks, Son Gohan (Boo arc design), Boo (Pure), Hit, Beerus, and Goku Black (with Zamasu), as well as “Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan” (SSGSS, or “Super Saiyan Blue”) versions of Goku and Vegeta that can be accessed early via pre-orders or unlocked through gameplay. The Akira Toriyama-designed “#21” is a new character central to the game’s story mode.

Dragon Ball FighterZ was originally released 26 January 2018 in North America and Europe, and 01 February 2018 in Japan. Alongside its Japanese release, Bandai Namco announced that they had shipped two million copies of the game, making it the fastest-shipping game in the franchise’s history. The game ships on the Nintendo Switch next month.

News
“Dragon Ball XENOVERSE 2” Extra Pack 3 Dated For August 28 + Free Update Details
Published by 27 August 2018, 1:16 PM EDTComment

Bandai Namco has announced that the forthcoming “Extra Pack 3” paid downloadable content hits Dragon Ball XENOVERSE 2 on all platforms 28 August 2018.

Super Baby 2 was previously revealed back in June in the August 2018 issue of V-Jump, while Kafla was revealed in July in the September 2018 issue. Last week’s October 2018 issue provided glimpse at the new Towa outfit and other updates coming:

As part of the paid “Extra Pack 3”, players will receive:

  • New Playable Characters: Kafla, Super Baby 2
  • Costumes: Goku Wig (Ultra Instinct), Janenba Suit, Arabian Costume
  • Parallel Quests: Five types
  • Skills: Eight types
  • Super Souls: Two Types

In conjunction with this, a forthcoming free update will provide players with:

  • Towa swimsuit version with enhanced character techniques
  • Costumes and accessories: items from characters such as Kafla, Mr. Satan, and Tapion
  • Hero Colosseum: 40 Figurines, 20 Quests, 21 Character Skills, 20 Posing Skills
  • Additional battle scenarios against non-playable characters
  • Select other avatars through character select
  • “More than 100 adjustments to skills, and net code improvement”

Following the four paid content packs covered by the game’s original season pass, Bandai Namco released two additional paid content packs for Dragon Ball XENOVERSE 2. Earlier this year, Bandai Namco promised additional free and paid content updates coming to Dragon Ball XENOVERSE 2.

Developed by Dimps for Bandai Namco, Dragon Ball XENOVERSE 2 is available worldwide for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC (via Steam), and Switch. In North America, the game launched for consoles 25 October 2016 with a PC release following 28 October 2016. In Europe, the game launched across all platforms 28 October 2016. In Japan, the game launched on the PlayStation 4 console 02 November 2016. The Nintendo Switch port was released in Japan and internationally in September 2017.