Episode #0512! Mike and Ajay chat about “the main trailer” for the upcoming Dragon Ball Daima television series, and then Mike goes it alone for a bit to chat about the Dragon Ball GT Anime Comic and a new guide page on the website!
From its debut with the Evil Dragons arc in the January 2014 issue of Saikyō Jump all the way through the end of the Baby arc a year ago, every single chapter is now detailed with its release date, issue price, chapter title and translation, episode coverage, etc. Near as we can tell, at the time we are publishing this page, this is the only complete listing of this manga series anywhere on the Internet!
Some fun behind-the-scenes information on the compilation of this guide page is available on our Patreon (consider joining if you appreciate and find this type of work helpful!).
We also have a big ask for the community alongside this launch:
Shueisha used to make digital preview pages available on the official Saikyō Jump website each time a new issue launched:
We saved a good number of these images a decade ago, but missed out on just as many. Are you crazy like us and saved old preview pages? And just to be clear: we’re not looking for scans, which we could do ourselves, but don’t want to break any more magazine spines; we’re looking for and specifically asking about these digital preview pages. Any leads on images we don’t already have populated on the guide page? Let us know!
By way of social media and the Dragon Ball Official Site, a slew of announcements came out for the forthcoming Dragon Ball Daima television series last night.
Key Visual
A new key visual updates the previous version with the new tagline “Welcome to the Demon Realm!” (ようこそ、大魔界へ!!) as well as new character additions: Panzy (front and center), along with the previously-revealedGomah and an as-of-yet-unnamed other character peeking over the edge at the top.
Trailer
A new — somewhat voiced, for the first time! — trailer showcases some of the new characters, locales, etc. We see Goku, Kaiōshin, Glorio, and Panzy off on an adventure in the Demon Realm, with the latter part of the trailer set to the series’ theme song. Other characters are shown for the first time, including someone who looks suspiciously like a Kaiōshin as well as someone else with a unique hair style and smile sitting on a chair. Toward the end of the trailer, we also see Goku in his new “mini” state transforming into a Super Saiyan.
Voice Cast
In addition to the previously-revealed Masako Nozawa returning as Goku himself, the latest round of announcements came with three voice cast reveals:
Yumiko Kobayashi as Kaiōshin (Mini) (taking over for both Yūji Mitsuya as the original voice, and Shin’ichirō Ōta in GT and Super)
Koki Uchiyama as Glorio (グロリオGurorio)
Fairouz Ai as Panzy (パンジPanji)
Each of the three new actors provided comments on the Dragon Ball Official Site news post:
Opening Theme
The series’ all-new opening theme — “Jaka Jaan” — is a collaboration between EDM/pop producer Zedd, original Japanese Dragon Ball franchise lyrics stalwart Yukinojō Mori, and vocal duo C&K.
Each provided comments on the Dragon Ball Official Site news post:
I’ve been patiently waiting to share this news:
I’m beyond excited to announced that I had the incredible honor to compose the opening theme song “Jaka Jaan” for Dragon Ball DAIMA!!!
Being given the opportunity to write music for a show that influenced many of my childhood years is an absolutely dream come true.
Thank you @ck4649 @keen_ck @yukinojo_news @DB_super2015
Dragon Ball Daima was first revealed at New York Comic Con in October 2023 by way of a trailer and comment from original franchise creator Akira Toriyama. The “Daima” in the series’ title is a made-up term, though the individual kanji that make up its spelling would be 大魔; in Toriyama’s own words, …”in English would be something like ‘Evil.'” The forthcoming series debuts 11 October 2024on Fuji TV in Japan, and will feature an original story by series creator Akira Toriyama, character designs by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, script/composition by Yūko Kakihara, and series co-direction by Yoshitaka Yashima and Aya Komaki.
The three-page chapter — titled “Onward To The Next Hero” (次のヒーローへ Tsugi no Hiirō e) — is presented in full color.
Fourteen years have passed in the blink of an eye. They really saved the world back then. Without even knowing it, the next generation is here having a tournament… but perhaps they will save the world, too. It’s Beat’s turn to lead them! It’s time for another battle… Good luck, and thank you, Beat! Thank you, Dragon Ball Heroes!
The full B5-sized Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Path of Heroes ―HEROES MEMORIES― book was released 29 August 2024 for ¥1,760 + tax. The book spans 112 pages covering the latest Meteor Mission content as well as retrospective content about the full Dragon Ball Heroes series, and comes packed with several Dragon Ball Heroes cards representing and celebrating the history of the game. The book is available for purchase on Amazon Japan.
The series’ previous chapter — a special 29th chapter following the original 28 chapters in serialization from 2012 to 2014 — was published in November 2015’s Bandai Official 5th Anniversary Fanbook: Dragon Ball Heroes 5th Anniversary Mission. The original 28 chapters (and later including the 29th) were never collected into a physical volume, though they were made available for free digitally on V-Jump‘s official website for an extended period of time, but have since been taken down.
The long-in-production Dragon Ball Daima series has finally received a concrete debut date and time: Friday, 11 October 2024, at 11:40 PM JST on Fuji TV. The first episode is slated to have an additional 10 minutes of content.
The announcement was made Sept. 2 during the program lineup revision presentation held at Fuji TV headquarters in Minato-ku, Tokyo.
Regarding the production of Dragon Ball Daima, Programming Director Yūichi Nakajima revealed, “all the episodes are ready.” With regards to the timeslot, he explained, “Since it’s a brand-new work, we want fans to see it on a nationwide broadcast. Up till now we’d broadcast on Sunday mornings as well, but it’s not nationwide. We also have the aim of making it easy for our target demographic of Dragon Ball fans to watch.” With high expectations for this work, he stated, “I hope we can really spread the notion that ‘Dragon Ball just has to be on Fuji TV’.”
The “it’s not nationwide” comment refers to the fact that each local affiliate varies in its exact lineup and schedule.
Dragon Ball originally debuted on Fuji TV back in February 1986, airing Wednesdays at 7:00 PM, inheriting its timeslot from an adaptation of Toriyama’s own former series, Dr. Slump. This timeslot was further inherited by Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, and finally the 1997 reboot of Dr. Slump.
Following the Dr. Slump reboot, the TV series adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece took over the timeslot, but was later shifted to a Sunday morning timeslot in 2006. When Dragon Ball returned to the airwaves for Dragon Ball Kai in 2009, it ran alongside One Piece on Sunday mornings (in the so-called “Dream 9” block, referring to its 9:00 AM start time). After the “refreshed” versions of Kai‘s first three story arcs, the Toriko TV series ran alongside One Piece until Kai‘s return for the Boo arc in 2014, which then ran directly into the full Dragon Ball Super television series from 2015 to 2018.
Dragon Ball Daima was first revealed at New York Comic Con in October 2023 by way of a trailer and comment from original franchise creator Akira Toriyama. The “Daima” in the series’ title is a made-up term, though the individual kanji that make up its spelling would be 大魔; in Toriyama’s own words, …”in English would be something like ‘Evil.'” The forthcoming series will feature an original story by series creator Akira Toriyama, character designs by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, script/composition by Yūko Kakihara, and series co-direction by Yoshitaka Yashima and Aya Komaki.
In conjunction with the “Goku’s Best Bout Poll” conducted via the Dragon Ball Official Site, Toyotarō provided an original drawing showcasing the winning fight in last week’s October 2024 issue of Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine:
Toyotarō commented:
I love this match, too! A flurry of gags and techniques that can only be seen in this early part of the series! We get to see both Jackie’s experience and Goku’s talent in this splendid match that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. I really like Jackie as a character, so I made sure to be really particular about his pose!
Roughly every month, Toyotarō provides a drawing of a Dragon Ball (or related…!) character — as well as an accompanying comment — on the official Japanese Dragon Ball website. Following up on the wealth of characters already drawn, for his August 2024 entry, Toyotarō has drawn Abel, the main character from the anime series Dragon Quest: Legend of the Hero Abel:
ABEL (from Dragon Quest: Legend of the Hero Abel)
I have memories of being glued to the screen while watching this show when I was in primary school. I still get emotional when I hear the ending theme from Hideaki Tokunaga-san!
Though Legend of the Hero Abel had an extensive staff outside of the franchise’s original creators (perhaps most notably Rintaro!), Akira Toriyama himself did produce several character designs for the 1989 series, including Abel himself:
We are often spread thin and working on a million things at once — check out our Otakon 2024 panel! — which occasionally results in us putting things up on the site aaaaand… completely forgetting to announce them!
Databook Guide: Dragon Ball Theatrical Movie Guides
From Dragon Ball‘s debut at the Winter 1986 Toei Cartoon Festival all the way up through 2022’s Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero debut, we now have it all covered! This includes theatrical pamphlets, special Jump magazine releases, attendee bonus items, and even special newspaper publications!
This is actually a section I’ve been somewhat embarrassed hasn’t already existed here on the site, so it’s great to finally own the complete collection and get the details down in one place.
Translation: Weekly Toyo Keizai — “Fervor and Chaos Regarding the ‘Dragon Ball Money'”
Last month, this article from an issue of the magazine Weekly Toyo Keizai — following up on last year’s news about Akio Iyoku striking out on his own — made the rounds, with a report on what appears to be major issues surrounding the various rights and direction of the Dragon Ball marketing and production machine, particularly in the wake of Akira Toriyama’s passing.
With Dragon Ball Super Diverson the horizon, the next Dragon Ball Heroes guide book looks to perhaps be a retrospective wrap-up rather than another standard anniversary book — Shueisha and other online retailers have listed a 29 August 2024 release date and ¥1,760 + tax price tag for a forthcoming book titled Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Path of Heroes ―HEROES MEMORIES―.
The B5-sized book will span 112 pages and come packed with several Dragon Ball Heroes cards representing and celebrating the history of the game:
This 2024 book follows several previous anniversary guide books: the 5th Anniversary Mission book in November 2015, the 8th Anniversary Super Guide book in November 2018, the 9th Anniversary Super Guide in November 2019, the 10th Anniversary Super Guide in November 2020, the 11th Anniversary Super Guide in November 2021, the 12th Anniversary Super Guide in November 2022, and the 13th Anniversary Super Guide in November 2023. Each book covers card additions, ongoing storylines, interviews with production staff, and more.
Super Dragon Ball Heroes is 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: Meteor Mission! manga (a follow-up to the previous Dark Demon Realm Mission!, Ultimate Mission!!, Big Bang Mission!!!, and Ultra God Mission!!!! series) currently runs in Shueisha’s monthly Saikyō Jump magazine. Three portable game adaptations — Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission, Ultimate Mission 2, and Ultimate Mission X — were released on the Nintendo 3DS. A fourth home version, Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission, launched on the Nintendo Switch and PC internationally in April 2019.
Episode #0511! Recorded live at Otakon 2024, Mike presents a whirlwind tour of Akira Toriyama’s works and legacy! From “Awawa World” to “Jaco the Galactic Patroman” (and beyond!), we cover it all!
How to Listen
Special note for this episode: the audio podcast contains additional opening and ending content, as well as the Q&A session from the panel — these are not present in the YouTube video archive of the panel.
