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3,853 Posts & 2,435 Pages Documenting Dragon Ball, since 1998. We've got you covered!
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“The Nearly Complete Works of Akira Toriyama”: Work #088
Published by 20 June 2018, 10:56 AM EDTComment

The official Dragon Ball website’s eighty-eighth 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 “Captain Gyao”, the mascot character designed for Jump‘s 20th anniversary, from the 1988 No. 32 issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump (released 05 July 1988):

The character was designed with Jump‘s existing pirate mascot in mind. Gyao also appears in the 1988 Nintendo Famicom game Famicom Jump Hero Retsuden, a crossover game created for the 20th anniversary featuring characters from a wealth of Jump properties including Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump:

Famicom Jump Hero Retsuden and its 1991 sequel are set to be included on the forthcoming Nintendo Classic Mini Famicom Weekly Shōnen Jump 50th Anniversary Edition alongside three of the Famicom’s Dragon Ball games, the original Dragon Quest, and more.

This particular issue also contained chapter 182 of the Dragon Ball manga. In his accompany author comment, Toriyama discussed playing the then-upcoming Dragon Ball Famicom game Dragon Ball: Daimaō Fukkatsu (“Dragon Ball: The Great Demon King’s Revival”, also included on the forthcoming Nintendo Classic):

ドラゴンボールのファミコンがとても面白かった。興味がある人は、8月に買ってみて下さい ＜明＞
Dragon Ball for the Famicom was a lot of fun. If you’re interested, please buy it in August. ＜Akira＞
Content
“The Nearly Complete Works of Akira Toriyama”: Work #087
Published by 20 June 2018, 10:09 AM EDTComment

The official Dragon Ball website’s eighty-sixth 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 a page from the very first issue of V-Jump during its original trial run, released in November 1990, showing the birth of Toriyama’s V-Jump mascot, “V-Long” (V龍 Buiron).

Toriyama designed the mascot along the lines of a dinosaur or kaiju, and the name itself was a rather obvious riff on Shenlong from Dragon Ball.

Content
Translation Update: “Special Project: Toyotarō Drew It!!” Image #7
Published by 20 June 2018, 9:26 AM EDTComment

Each month, Toyotarō provides a sketch — as well as a brief comment — on the official Japanese Dragon Ball website for a character that has not appeared in Dragon Ball Super. Thus far, Toyotarō has provided sketches of #8, Lunch, Chapa with Oob, Tambourine, Man-Wolf, and Tapion. For his June entry, Toyotarō has contributed a sketch of Janenba:

It’s Janenba! In advance of the latest movie opening in December, perhaps I’ll go on drawing movie characters for the most part…

Janenba — shown here in his transformed state — originally appeared in the twelfth Dragon Ball Z theatrical film in 1995, and has subsequently appeared in several video games. He recently appeared as a playable character in Dragon Ball XENOVERSE 2 in this and a “supervillain” form.

This sketch and comment set has been added to the respective page in our “Translations” archive.

News
“Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan” and “Saiyan Double Feature” Scheduled For American Theatrical Screenings in 2018
Published by 19 June 2018, 11:57 AM EDTComment

Various ticket retailers are listing Dragon Ball Z theatrical screenings for later this year in America, with Dragon Ball Z movie 8 screening in September, and a double-feature of Dragon Ball Z movie 12 and the Bardock television special screening in November:

  • Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan: opens 15 September 2018:

Vegeta is lured to the planet New Vegeta by a group of Saiyan survivors in hopes that he will be the king of their new planet. But when he finds that they have ulterior motives of universal domination, he and the Z Warriors must fight Broly, the legendary Super Saiyan.

  • Saiyan Double Feature: opens 03 November 2018:

• FUSION REBORN: The universe is thrown into dimensional chaos as the dead come back to life. Now Goku and Vegeta must track down the cause of this uproar.
• BARDOCK – THE FATHER OF GOKU: The tale of Bardock, the father of Goku, and his rebellion against his master the mighty Frieza.

Certain schedules currently list Japanese voice talent in addition to standard director/producer/writer credits.

Prior to Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ in 2015 and Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods before it in 2014, FUNimation ran a limited double-feature screening of Dragon Ball Z movies 6 and 12 in March 2006. These particular screenings — reviewed way back on Episode #0019 of our podcast! — were English-dubbed-only, and held in advance and in promotion of the then-upcoming DVD release of Dragon Ball Z movie 12.

While international screenings are anticipated, this year’s upcoming Dragon Ball Super theatrical film has not yet been announced for an American tour.

Thanks to TheBalishChannel on our forum and various other folks on social media for the heads-up!

Podcast
Podcast Episode #0446
Published by 19 June 2018, 10:19 AM EDTComment

Now that the Dragon Ball Super television series has come to an end, and with enough time to reflect with a completely unbiased, scientific viewpoint… it’s time to rank all of the ending theme songs! Get outta here with your top ten lists, because we are one-upping it with a Top 11™!

SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0446! Mike, Randy, and Stacey scientifically rank the eleven “Dragon Ball Super” ending theme songs. Which are the best sing-a-long songs, which represent Dragon Ball best, and which should have been scrapped in the studio? There’s no arguing against science! Tune in for the completely unbiased ranking and stick around for a little bit of news and website content chat.

SEGMENTS:

  • 00:13 – Introduction
  • 01:42 – News
  • 06:03 – Topic
  • 44:30 – 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
New Translation: February 2018 Asahi Interview with Kazuhiko Torishima
Published by 18 June 2018, 1:48 PM EDTComment

The latest addition to our “Translations” archive comes to us from new site contributor Stacey at the recommendation of JakIchanDB on Twitter: a February 2018 interview with Kazuhiko Torishima on Asahi’s website.

In the interview, Torishima — the man responsible for discovering Akira Toriyama and serving as his initial editor — discusses his early days of employment with Shueisha, changing the editorial department from the inside-out and outside-in at the same time, launching V-Jump, returning to serve as the editor-in-chief of Weekly Shōnen Jump, and looking to the future of Jump:

And so, I endeavored to not associate with other people from the editorial department (laughs). I was in charge of Akira Toriyama’s series Dr. Slump, and around the time it started to become a hit, I heard from Monthly Playboy (also published by Shueisha) that they wanted to cover the series. The article writer’s name was Akira Sakuma, who would later put out Momotarō Dentetsu. I became close with Mr. Sakuma, and through that connection I became acquainted with Yūji Horii of Dragon Quest; this was how I proactively recruited outside writers to work on the magazine. Thus, things like the reader submission section called “Jump Broadcasting Office”, and “Famicom Shinken”, which featured introductory articles for video games, were created. At first, I faced backlash from my colleagues for using people outside of the organization. They’d say, “You can’t do that; our survey results will get leaked.” In the end, we were only able to complete these projects under the condition that they worked in a conference room and never set foot in the editorial department. The dissenting voices died down after these segments started ranking high in the surveys, but I still heard people talking behind my back, saying I was wasting energy by focusing on things besides manga, and that our efforts were trivial.

READ THE FULL TRANSLATION

This interview has been archived in our “Translations” section, and is a wonderful complement to Ollie Barder’s 2016 interview with Torishima on Forbes.

News
“Dragon Ball FighterZ” Announced for Nintendo Switch at E3 2018
Published by 12 June 2018, 12:59 PM EDTComment

Dragon Ball FighterZ — the franchise’s latest fighting game from Bandai Namco and Arc System Works — will be released on the Nintendo Switch in 2018, as revealed during today’s Nintendo Direct E3 live stream.

The Switch version is available for pre-order on Amazon, where it is listed at a full $59.99 MSRP.

  • NINTENDO SWITCH FEATURES: Simplified controls for single Joy-Con play.
  • SPECTACULAR FIGHTS: Experience aerial combos, destructible stages, famous scenes from the DRAGON BALL anime reproduced in 60 FPS
  • 3VS3 TAG/SUPPORT: Allows players to train and master more than one fighter/style which brings deeper gameplay.
  • HIGH-END ANIME GRAPHICS: Using the power of the Unreal engine and the talented team at Arc System Works, DRAGON BALL FighterZ is a visual tour-de-force.

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. 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. Broli, Bardock, Vegetto, and Merged Zamasu are the four of eight promised paid downloadable characters released thus far.

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.

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, a multi-franchise crossover fighting game also developed by Arc System Works, was released on the Switch alongside its PlayStation 4 and PC versions earlier this year.

News
Bandai Namco Announces “Jump Force” (PS4/XBO/PC) Crossover Game at E3 2018
Published by 10 June 2018, 7:50 PM EDTComment

By way of Microsoft’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (“E3”) media briefing today in Los Angeles, Bandai Namco announced Jump Forces, a new crossover fighting game coming to the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC (via Steam), developed by Spike Chunsoft, scheduled for release in 2019:

“JUMP FORCE” (BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA INC). The greatest heroes and villains from the 50-year history of Shueisha’s influential Japanese Weekly Jump manga will battle against each other across iconic locations across Earth in this anime fan’s dream come true! Featuring the world’s most popular and classic manga and anime franchises including DRAGON BALL Z, ONE PIECE, NARUTO, and many others, players will be able to compete in hyper-stylish arena brawls set against familiar backdrops of famous landmarks around the world, including New York City’s Times Square and the Matterhorn.

The announcement trailer showcases Naruto (Naruto), Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece), Son Goku and Freeza (Dragon Ball), along with a tease of Light Yagami and Ryuk (Death Note). Additional gameplay footage appears to show Zoro (One Piece) and Sasuke (Naruto) as available characters, as well.

Jump Force is available to 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. Prior to this, the company developed the Sparking! (released internationally as “Budokai Tenkaichi”) and Raging Blast series of Dragon Ball fighting games.

Content
“Dragon Ball Super” Manga Vol. 6 Content Overview
Published by 07 June 2018, 11:56 AM EDTComment

The sixth 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 June 2018 for ¥400 + tax. Spanning 192 pages, the volume covers chapters 29 through 32. The volume takes its title of “Super Warriors Assemble!” (集まれ超戦士たち！; Atsumare Chō Senshi-tachi!) directly from chapter 31 itself.

In his introductory comment, Toyotarō recalls childhood memories of occasionally being unable to race home to confirm the latest story developments:

I have a memory from my childhood of a time that I forgot to record the anime when I went out with my family, and I said, “What if Goku ends up losing while I’m not watching?! We need to hurry back.” My dad replied, “If he loses, he loses; it doesn’t make a difference if you’re watching or not,” and I had no retort. That’s not the point! Though even to this day, I’m still not sure what the best reply would’ve been…

In addition to two pages of brief character biographies and a table of contents, the volume features a new title page:

To fill out the necessary page count, Toyotarō supplies new drawings between chapters. In one drawing, Shin confirms with Whis that all of the angels are siblings; Whis notes that Kusu from Universe 10 is the oldest. No bonus chapters are included (having caught up in volume five); “Corrections Done by Toriyama-sensei Himself” make a reappearance from their debut in the third collected volume, with a brief showcase of character design and panel layout adjustments.

The print edition of the sixth 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 last June covering the next five chapters. The fourth collected edition saw its release last November 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 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-sixth chapter coming last month in the magazine’s July 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.

Podcast
Podcast Episode #0445
Published by 03 June 2018, 7:40 AM EDTComment

This week on our show we take up the ongoing chat about Toyotarō possibly tracing recent cover artwork, but do so with some perspective a little more divorced from the usual side things. To wrap things up with a little fun, we also dive back into the Dragon Ball 590 Quiz Book from a few years back — enjoy the embarrassing hilarity that ensues!

SHOW DESCRIPTION:
Episode #0445! Mike chats with Rich and Jeff about accusations of Toyotaro tracing artwork in the lead-up to his July 2018 V-Jump cover contribution. To lighten the mood a little bit, Julian and Meri join for a quick breeze through 2015’s “Dragon Ball 590 Quiz Book”. Play along at home and see how strong you are!

SEGMENTS:

  • 00:12 – Introduction
  • 05:38 – Toyotaro Part 1
  • 35:09 – Toyotaro Part 2
  • 1:05:51 – 590 Quiz Book
  • 1:29:46 – Wrap-up

REFERENCED SITES:

Our podcast 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.