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3,854 Posts & 2,436 Pages Documenting Dragon Ball, since 1998. We've got you covered!
Published by 03 July 2018, 6:24 PM EDTComment

Our podcast takes us from Dragon Ball GT last week to the ever-expanding world of Dragon Ball Heroes this week! Tune in for a brief history of Dragon Ball Heroes as a whole (its arcade roots, home versions, manga adaptations, etc.), and stick around for our review of the first Super Dragon Ball Heroes promotional anime episode!

SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0448! Mike, Julian, and Jake provide a brief history of “Dragon Ball Heroes” before diving into a review of the first “Super Dragon Ball Heroes” promotional anime episode. We’ve had plenty of TV series, movies, OVAs, and other special features; how does this one hold up, and what do we think the future holds?

SEGMENTS:

  • 00:13 – Introduction
  • 02:31 – Topic Part 1 (“Dragon Ball Heroes” history)
  • 17:28 – Topic Part 2 (Promotional Anime episode review)
  • 40:40 – 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.

Published by 26 June 2018, 3:33 PM EDTComment

Last week’s August 2018 issue of Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine includes a tiny splash announcing that the seventh collected volume of the Dragon Ball Super manga will release in Japan later this year in September. No precise date or chapter count is noted in the announcement.

The volume will pick up with the thirty-third chapter of the series. The series’ sixth collected volume saw its release in Japan earlier this month spanning chapters 29 to 32.

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-seventh chapter coming last week in the magazine’s August 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 third collected volume is due out in English from Viz in July 2018.

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 fourth box set this month.

Published by 25 June 2018, 2:51 PM EDTComment

We return with the seventh round in our “Dragon Ball GT Review of Awesomeness” to cover episodes 28-31. Baby has infected the entire population of Earth, is handed the Dragon Balls, transforms, prepares to lead his new Tsufruian population out into space… is there anyone who can defeat him?!

SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0447! Mike, Meri, and Jeff continue onward in the “Dragon Ball GT Review of Awesomeness” to cover “Dragon Ball GT” episodes 28-31! Though our heroic trio returns from space with the Ultimate Dragon Balls, all hope is lost when they find Baby has infected and enslaved the entire population of Earth. Who can possible take on Baby now?!

SEGMENTS:

  • 00:13 – Introduction
  • 01:47 – Topic
  • 51:52 – 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.

Published by 25 June 2018, 10:42 AM EDTComment

The latest addition to our “Translations” archive is an interview with Akio Iyoku posted to the Dragon Ball Official Site back in April. In the interview, Iyoku — editor-in-chief of V-Jump as well as head of the “Dragon Ball Room” — discusses how the upcoming Dragon Ball Super theatrical film came to be, working with original author Akira Toriyama, the selection process leading to Naohiro Shintani as the animation supervisor and character designer, and much more.

How was Naohiro Shintani, the animation supervisor, who is also doing the character designs, chosen?
First there was an audition, where we had quite a number of people draw for us. For the art style, one of the points Toriyama-sensei focused on was whether the front-facing, straight-standing pose looked cool or not. This is actually incredibly difficult; when he turns to the side, to a certain extent it’ll look good, but when you have him face forward and just stand normally, it’s often the case that it doesn’t look right. As for whether they can draw Goku’s face well, as long as they can really draw, they can learn how to draw it afterward, so to start with, we placed importance on the fundamentals.

Did Toriyama-sensei focus on any other points as well?
Toriyama-sensei checked the balance of the body very carefully, such as whether the artist properly understood the posture of the body within the dōgi. Through such checks, Toriyama-sensei himself ultimately decided on Naohiro Shintani-san. It helps that Shintani-san is used to drawing Dragon Ball, but he is currently in the process of getting even better, so I personally am really looking forward to that.

As of this interview’s original publication (29 April 2018), only Shintani’s character design and the short teaser trailer had been publicly revealed. During a live stream to promote the Dragon Ball Legends mobile game, Iyoku and Norihiro Hayashida (Toei Animation Dragon Ball Super movie producer) shared the teaser trailer and discussed related tidbits about the upcoming film. Check out Episode #0436 of our podcast for additional commentary about this interview, the designs, etc.

This interview has been archived in our “Translations” section.

Published by 22 June 2018, 10:21 AM EDTComment

In conjunction with yesterday’s August 2018 issue of Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine in Japan, Bandai Namco has announced Super Baby 2 as a new playable character coming in the forthcoming “Extra Pack 3” downloadable content for Dragon Ball XENOVERSE 2:

The character’s techniques are set to include:

  • Revenge Death Ball: uses all of the player’s ki; the more you have, the more powerful it is
  • Reverse Shot: reverses course after a set amount of time has passed, allowing you to target your enemy
  • Variant Drive: after charging your opponent, with extra input, you can do two different kinds of follow-up attacks
  • Revenge Final Flash: similar to the Revenge Death Ball, you can repeatedly press the button to charge up its power

Super Baby 2 is the transformed state of the Baby-infected Vegeta from the 1996-1997 Dragon Ball GT television series. Though the Great Ape version of Baby Vegeta has made several recent appearances — including within the XENOVERSE series itself — Super Baby 2 was last made a fully-playable, standard fighting game appearance in 2008’s Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World on the PlayStation 2. In 2016, Super Baby 2 was added to Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden on the Nintendo 3DS as an assist character.

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. Last month, Bandai Namco promised additional free and paid content updates coming to Dragon Ball XENOVERSE 2. “Extra Pack 3” is scheduled for release this summer.

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.

Published by 21 June 2018, 1:15 PM EDT1 Comment

Following up on the Japanese release announcement, Bandai Namco have dated the Nintendo Switch version of Dragon Ball FighterZ for 28 September 2018 in America and European territories.

As with the Japanese release, pre-orders will include unlocks for Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan (“SSGSS”, or “Super Saiyan Blue”) version of Son Goku and Vegeta, as well as a download of the franchise’s first fighting game, 1993’s Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden from the Nintendo Super Famicom.

As with the Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2 bonus download alongside Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden on the Nintendo 3DS in 2015, the Nintendo Switch download Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden will be unlocalized.

Published by 21 June 2018, 10:09 AM EDTComment

Continuing onward from previous chapters, Viz has added their English translation of the Dragon Ball Super manga’s thirty-seventh chapter to their website, moving further into the “Universe Survival arc” of the series. This continues Viz’s initiative of simultaneously publishing the series’ chapter alongside its Japanese debut, which saw its release today in the August 2018 issue of Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine in Japan.

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-seventh chapter coming today in the magazine’s August 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 third collected volume is due out in English from Viz in July 2018.

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 fourth box set this month.

Published by 21 June 2018, 8:56 AM EDTComment

In conjunction with today’s August 2018 issue of Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine, Bandai Namco has revealed a 27 September 2018 release date for the Nintendo Switch edition of Dragon Ball FighterZ in Japan. The game will cost ¥6,800 + tax.

First-press editions of the game are set to include several bonus items, including immediate unlocks of Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan versions of both Son Goku and Vegeta, as well as an as-of-yet-undetermined card for the Super Dragon Ball Heroes arcade game. Additionally, the 1993 Super Famicom game Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden — the franchise’s first fighting game — will be included as a bonus download.

The game’s official website notes that the Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden music — originally composed by Kenji Yamamoto — will be replaced with new music:

「ドラゴンボールZ 超武闘伝」のBGMは差し替えを行っております。予めご了承ください。


The [original] background music of “Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden” has been replaced. Please take note beforehand.

Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2 was previously included as a bonus download on the Nintendo 3DS alongside Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden in 2015. Though its soundtrack was kept in the 2013 J Legend Retsuden Nintendo 3DS compilation, the entire soundtrack for Super Butōden 2 was replaced in all territories for the Extreme Butoden bonus inclusion.

Published by 21 June 2018, 7:13 AM EDTComment

In conjunction with further coverage in today’s August 2018 issue of Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine, a trailer for the upcoming Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Prison Planet arc promotional anime has been released:

Dangerous prisoners are gathered together on the Prison Planet

Evil Saiyan: “Fight with me!”

Goku and co. stand against an approaching menace

Vegeta: “Is this a Saiyan? I’ve never felt such an evil ki before! What’s wrong, Kakarrot?!”

New Dragon Balls

Fu: “The most interesting experiment in the universe finally enters its main phase!”

Vegetto: “Cumber! The fight’s on!”

Goku: “Don’t miss it!”

Prison Planet arc promotional anime
Starts streaming July 1, 2018!

The “Prison Planet arc” is the latest scenario featured in the Super Dragon Ball Heroes arcade game, which recently launched the second update in its “Universe Mission” series. 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, now in its eight year, 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 the bimonthly magazine Saikyō Jump, while Toyotaro’s Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission ran from 2012-2015 in V-Jump. Three portable game adaptations — Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission, Ultimate Mission 2, and Ultimate Mission X — were released on the Nintendo 3DS.

The official Dragon Ball website’s eighty-ninth entry in “The Nearly Complete Works of Akira Toriyama” — an on-going series highlighting rare and important pieces of the author’s work over the years — is Toriyama’s original design for a plane, which was subsequently rendered in CG for the cover of the November 1992 issue of Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine. In addition to the color illustration, Toriyama provided designs from all angles of the plane in order for the CG artists to accurately replicate it in a 3D environment.

Reflecting on the cover, Toriyama stated: “If CG advances to the point where it can replicate the feel of something hand-drawn, then I might be out of a job.”

V-Jump (“Virtual Jump”, Shueisha’s multimedia-focused magazine covering video games, manga, anime, etc.) initially ran from 1990-1993 in a variety of trial issues and release schedules, before solidifying itself as a monthly magazine in May 1993 (as the July 1993 issue) under the leadership of Kazuhiko Torishima, Akira Toriyama’s former editor.