RIP Akira Toriyama

 Man, I didn't think the 2020s could get any worse...

Another legend has passed away.

RIP Akira Toriyama. The entire manga industry and the shonen genre wouldn't be what they are without him.

Here's the official statement from Bird Studios on twitter:

Please. Do yourself a favor. Grab one of his non-Dragon Ball books and read some Toriyama, to celebrate the legendary mangaka.

#AnimeNEWS “Dragon Ball DAIMA” Teaser Trailer / Fall 2024

 Dragon Ball Super is half-dead, half-converted into a series of films + the ongoing promo manga by Toyotaro. Some people on copium keep dreaming of a new season (hahahaha).

Anyways, meanwhile Toei announced the next/new Dragon Ball series, the long-rumored Dragon Ball DAIMA!

Check it out:

Behind the scenes, Toriyama even more in control, not only of the story and design but the actual art direction of the new show, which actually looks like Toriyama's current art style.

So far it's all pretty mysterious aside from the fact that 1- everyone is turned into kids and 2- it serves as a big anniversary special for the franchise. People claim it takes place between Buu and DBS. Other say after Broly/Super Hero. And finally some think this is the big DBGT retcon, including the space adventures, becoming a kid again. We'll see. Maybe everything like end up canon together, GT, Super and Daima. Toei surely doesn't care, why should you?

I hope the music is good. And please slow down on transformations, just playing with martial arts and choreography for a while.

#AnimeNEWS NEW Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Animated Teaser Trailer(DBS 2022 Movie)

 Dragon Ball is back... again. With an upcoming new feature film orchestrated by Akira Toriyama himself. 

We don't have much on the film besides the title, which implies a return to one of Toriyama's favorite tropes, the super (sentai) hero! Which has been going since forever in Dragon Ball (the Great Saiyaman,, Jaco, the Galactic Patrolmen, the Ginyu Force, etc.).

But we got a teaser, indicating a sort of CGi-style animation for this new film:

And some concept arts of what to expect:

#AnimeNEWS Dragon Ball Super: Broly Movie Trailer #2 - (English Dub Reveal) Exclusive - NYCC 2018

The new trailer for the Dragon Ball Super: Broly just dropped, and it finally gives us a better look at this new upcoming film. Including how Toriyama's gonna retcon some elements of the saiyans backstory as well as keep some of the classic elements of the original Broly movie.



I specially dig how this new film seems to take elements from the Dragon Ball Minus chapter Akira Toriyama did not long along (bringing Goku's mom, Gine!).

#SDCC2018 Dragon Ball Super: Broly Movie Trailer (English Dub Reveal) Exclusive

Here's a proper trailer for the upcoming Dragon Ball Super movie "Broly". Yes, a reboot of Broly in the current series. The animation looks nice. Never been a fan of the American dub(s), but since this comes from the Comic-Con...

#AnimeNEWS Dragon Ball Super Theatrical Film Revealed

So we finally got a better look at the upcoming new Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Super movie.... and it turns out it's going to be a "canon" reboot of Broly written and supervised by Akira Toriyama.... Woah??

That's right, after 3 DBZ movies and a sort of reimagined version in Dragon Ball Super, Broly's getting yet another film!

So let's have a new look at the previous teaser:



It gives a completely different look at that teaser. So it turns out that mysterious saiyan we glimpsed was Broly all along! (Which some fans had guessed earlier on might have been related to Broly or a form of Legendary Super Saiyan..)

The movie's expected to hit Japan on December 14 (and later worldwide, like the last two films).

Source: Courtesy from kanzenshuu.

#AnimeNEWS DRAGON BALL SUPER - NEW MOVIE TEASER [HD]

In case you haven't been following, the current Dragon Ball revival series, Dragon Ball Super, is coming to an end. At least, on hiatus. But the series' not over! Toei isn't going to end Drtagon Ball any time soon, since the show's more popular than ever!

While the anime gets a break, the manga is going to continue past new horizons.

Oh, and there's an upcoming animated film coming to the big screens worldwide at the end of the year!

So far this picture was the only teaser we had. It showed a new art style direction for animated Dragon Ball. With the anime going into the expert hands of the people, animators and directors, behind the One Piece anime and films. Slightly simpler style to animated while keeping the basic designs. Brighter and more colorful art.

Then a little preview showed what SSJ Goku will look like:

And finally they just released a short teaser trailer!!

LOOK AT IT pic.twitter.com/DZNORwtKbq

— Ajay (@AnimeAjay) March 20, 2018

I can see the One Piece bouncy animation already! I dig it!

Also, despite being glimpsed here, the plot might be super-apparent (pun intended). The film will apparently finally revolve around the Saiyajin race! You can see quick shots of some sort of saiyan enemy in this teaser.

Fans have been expecting either a story in the past history of saiyans, which has been teased by Toriyama over countless interviews and guide books over the years. Or a story taking place in the alternate universe where saiyans are good guys, in Super. But I expect Goku and Vegeta finding out more of their race in one way or another, and then a conflict of interest for the surviving (and Prince of) saiyans we know and love!

The film is expected for 14 December in Japan. An original story, script, and character designs by Akira Toriyama.

And while we're on the subject, look who's coming to Dragon Ball FighterZ next week as DLCs... more saiyans! (Coincidence?)





Wow! Even the music's pretty good in these teasers! When's the music DLC coming up? I need to get rid of the bland GuiltyGear/BlazeBlue music of the base game quick!!

#MusicBOX All Dragon Ball opening themes!

I always loved the music featured in the various Dragon Ball animes over the years. Particularly the opening theme songs (even though I do find the Kai openings to sound way too One Piece and not enough Dragon Ball-ysh).

So enjoy this little compilation featuring all openings over the decades!

#GamingNEWS Bardock & Broly join Dragon Ball FighterZ as DLC!

The first upcoming DLC for Dragon Ball FighterZ  is.. pretty decent, and exactly as expected! Although I fear for what's coming next instead of fun, original and creative additions...

As they've been long-rumored, the first duo of DLC characters joining the fighting game are Bardock, Son Goku's dad, and Broly, the legendary OC super saiyajin! And I love the fact Bardock's getting a SSJ attack like his recent TV special from a couple of years back.

They say how Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 players will get a free  Android 21 while Dragon Ball FighterZ can unlock a new Supreme Kai lobby character & stamp by owning both games!

And the tiny newsbit on the bottom left cornermentions an upcoming DLC adding the original Dragon Ball theme songs in the game - Makafushigi, Cha-La, and Dan Dan from GT (!!). But I'm fairly sure this will remain a Japan-exclusive DLC, sadly...





I can't wait to have Bardock in the game! So I can play with my Goku-not-Goku team of Goku/Bardock/Black!

More female characters next time, please? It's such a sausage-fest right now.. (Gimme Videl! Or DB!Chi Chi! Or Caulifla! Or Goku's mom... etc.)

#E3News Dragon Ball Fighter Z Trailer

They announced yet another new DBZ fighting game - but this one caught my attention! Because it uses beautifully-rendered cell shaded graphics not unlike the latest Guilty Gear games.

Check out Dragon Ball Fighter Z, a 2D-3D DBZ fighting game for 2018 from Arc Systems (of course!) and Bandai Namco.



This just looks like the anime! I'm kinda interested now!

#NerdTalk - Dragon Ball GT seems still canon with SUPER in my eyes

Here's a random thought.

I already discussed plenty about Dragon Ball in my last blog post-updates.

Here's an old quote that rings surprisingly true in regards to the new show Dragon Ball Super, from the creators behind the manga and the anime:

With the Dragon Ball Kanzenban, the series will be garnering new fans. And being fans, I think they will probably want to see some new Dragon Ball Z. How about it, Sensei — why not make a new animated work once a year or so?

Toriyama:
Ah, I’d like to see that.

Nakatsuru:
But in the final chapter, Goku’s getting pretty old. And what happens to him after is already covered in the anime-original Dragon Ball GT. Still, Goku is the main character, after all. If you’re going to make a new story without any difficulty, you’ll have to rewind time a bit, and tell a story from somewhere in the past, or something…

Toriyama:
I agree. Rather than continuing on strangely into the future, or digging deeper, I’d rather develop it with something like a separate episode, going back in time to say, “there was such-and-such a story, involving such-and-such an opponent”. As in, it wasn’t in the coimc, but this kind of thing also happened. I think that’d probably be better. 

There you have it! Long before there were plans for Super! That would explain why the new show's still taking place before the epilogue of the manga!

Source: Dragon Ball Z Son Goku Densetsu.

#Anime NEWS! First Dragon Ball Chou/Super teaser trailer

I might not sound like it (in written form), but I actually grew up on Dragon Ball and was always a big fan of it. You know, in the early 1990s, long before the US actually went through their own Anime phase. Why am I saying this? For perspective.

I've always loved the manga moreso than the anime series. Actually, I'm simply a huge fan of any of Akira Toriyama's mangas, particularly Dr. Slump and all his standalone one-shot stories. The anime was kinda silly, the filler episodes were really detracting from the main plot and Toei kept drawing on fight scenes and cheesy "powering up" scenes. What the manga covered in one chapter would usually be dragged on for dozens of episodes... Sigh.

And then we got Dragon Ball GT. Over here we basically received it a few months after the original Japanese release. It was new, it was shiny. And it was a continuation of the series where the manga/DBZ anime left up. I actually kinda enjoyed DBGT. Let's say, "a lot". It had its fair share of issues, once we reached Baby after the initial "Grand Touring" arc it went full on DBZ with long fillers, fights taking way too much time, etc.

This last decade, with all the video games and even a (dispensable) American live action film, Dragon Ball has known a sort of revival. Toei noticing it, they produced a few new original specials and animated movies, all taking place before the original ending epilogue of the series. Some have been good. Some have been.. bad. All kind of avoiding the inevitability - actually following up on Dragon Ball/Z.

And now we finally will have the sequel series, Dragon Ball Chou aka Dragon Ball Super. But there's a catch! The series will actually take place following the last films the funny Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods and the dispensable Dragon Ball Z: Revival of “F”. All still taking place BEFORE the original last tournament in the epilogue chapter of the manga - not a true continuation but more filler content instead of moving on and forward (with the introduction of Uub, etc.)

Nerds, fanboys and otakus across the worldwide web are calling it the true real successor to DBZ. But for one who always referred to the series as simply "Dragon Ball", I'm starting to have a sort of "déjà vu". Just like DBGT, Toriyama will have a creative credit over the series, but he won't be writing, directing nor drawing it (a tie-in manga is actually being assigned to another mangaka). He will oversee the launch of the series but presumably won't stay for the long run. He will do a few character designs with the crew at Toei, possibly a new transformation(s?). You know what? That's exactly what they said about GT!!!

And at the end of the day, GT wasn't messed up by the plot if you really think about it, you nerd (not you you, that guy, over there, he knows who he is). But by meddling from the producers. Rushing the action part of the adventure and comedy. Trying to come up with more new characters for toys or whatever. Which can and possibly will happen with "Super" as well.

Here's the official trailer:



Basically more of the same. It lacks some creativity even GT had. This is all we already saw - I know it's a teaser, but I'm talking about selling points here. They released this to hype the series. But the style, the animation and the characters are all the same we already got in the last two films. And since it can't go past Uub at the end of the original manga/anime, they can't introduce any new major character no harm anyone that will pop up there.

My favorite part of GT was the space-touring, which was new and original. Not the later backtracking to DBZ. And this is exactly that. Heck, even the logo is basically the same! (I would have preferred something closer to the original manga for the occasion!)

People say this will make GT non-canon (despite Toei probably continuing to release stuff and toys based on GT for the next years, along all the games that keep referring to the much maligned series), but if anything Super is the one that doesn't seem in continuity to the end of the manga and DBZ! Did you imagine Goku could turn his hair blue at the end of the original series? I do not!

The website let us glimpse the series will probably revolve around shenanigans from these new deities:

The show will immediately start airing following the end of the HD-remade Dragon Ball Kai.

#Anime NEWS! next year's new Dragon Ball movie

Right on time for the series' 30th Anniversary, next year will see yet another new Dragon Ball Z movie.

The movie is titled "Dragon Ball Z: Fukkatsu no “F”" (aka Dragon Ball Z: Revival of “F”), and it will be out on April 18, 2015, in both 2D and 3D (because I suppose you have to expect from all movies nowadays, animated or not, worldwide)..

From the inclusion of "Beerus" in the above poster, it feels like it's going to be a direct continuation from the last movie. Which I thought was decent enough, but felt kinda pointless/redundant (these new batch of Dragon Ball material started with the reunion special and that special that introduced Vegeta's brother, Tarble - it's starting to feel like the same story again and again, barely introducing any real new ideas or storyarc).

I felt the previous movie didn't have much rhythm and wasn't as dynamic as the shorter specials. Bad news then, since his film will be 2-hour long, compared to Battle of Gods which was only an hour and a half. I used to be a huge DB fan growing up, so I'll probably check this out at some point.

Apparently Akira Toriyama himself wasn't as much involved with this new film, compared to the last one. But he did design the new enemies. And here's official synopsis:

    An Earth where peace has arrived. However, remnants of Freeza’s army Sorbet and Tagoma arrive on the planet. Their goal is to revive Freeza with the Dragon Balls. Their dastardly wish is granted, and the “F” that plans its revenge against the Saiyans is revived…! 

It sounds logical enough, I would wonder if Freezer/Frieza wouldn't have more soldiers out there, since he was supposed to have this huge army and I doubt they would all have died on Namek. But why did it take them so long to get to Earth?!

But even if they get to resurrect Frieza, I doubt he would pose any problem to the characters by that point in the story. I see Yamcha (what's he doing up there?!?) on the poster, can't he defeat Frieza by himself by that point?

Wouldn't every saiyan simply turn into a supersaiyan and kick his ass in mere seconds?

Anyway - I'm absolutely not expecting much from it.

Wait and see~

(at this point, I'd rather see them finally adapt other Toriyama stories into animation.. why not even Neko Majin Z or Jaco the Patrolman? those could even tie into this DB nostalgia!)

#Anime NEWS! Battle of Gods

I know I don't particularly post a lot of Dragon Ball-stuff over here.
But...
Here's the latest trailer for Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods.

In case you don't know - but I don't feel like recapping all of it right now - there's a new DBZ movie coming out.
CHILL OUT! RELAX!
It's not another awful live action American lackbuster from lackbuster's specialist 20th Century Fox.
It's simply another anime one.
Like those Broly or Bardock movies from the 90s.
Only modern.
And in theaters! (at least in Japan and most countries)



Enjoy this lil' trailer in which you can see a bit of the new villains - Egyptian cat-like creatures from outter space.
Lemme guess, they're gonna try to blow up the planet?

(no sarcasm here, I'm actually quite motivated for it!)

#AwesomeCosplay Pics of the day: Kame Senin

Now that is one heckuva awesome cosplayer!

Best cosplay of the year? I think so very much.

Anime NEWS! More Dragon Ball!

In 2008, fans of Dragon Ball were treated to a special gift near Christmas, whole new Dragon Ball Z content in the form of an original new movie taking place at the end of the manga/in-between the DBZ and DBGT anime series.

This year, Toei allied with the Jump magazine did it again!

Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock!!

But instead of making up some new content, this time it is actually an adaptation of a "doujin" follow-up to the old "Father of Goku" Bardock TV Special.
This manga was a sequel of sorts made for V-Jump by the mangaka Naho Ooishi.
Ooishi's got a pretty similar style to the master Akira Toriyama. Not quite the same though, the differences are there particularly on the faces and expression (and the over-use of gradients/shades in the backgrounds). But similar enough, she surely captured the rhythm, panels breakdown/angles and the narration narrowed down.

Anyway, her story was popular enough to get the animated treatment for this year's Christmas!