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Introduction: The 2003 Resurgence of DB in Japan
This
is a huge time in the world of "DragonBall."
The DBZ TV series is coming to a close on Cartoon Network,
and at the same time, is making something of a reprise in
Japan! A wide variety of new products are being released
upon the world. "Daizenshuu EX" is proud
to bring you a quick lowdown on all of the recent products
that you're going to be able to purchase! Feature by Mike
LaBrie & Julian
Grybowski.
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Japanese (Region 2) DVD Boxsets
The
ENTIRE television series of "DragonBall Z,"
spanning a full 291 episodes, is being completely restored
and released on DVD in Japan beginning March 2003 across
two giant boxsets. Each boxset has a price tag of a staggering
100,000 yen (equivalent to approximately $840 US).
 The
first boxset (to be released 19 March 2003), with a whopping running
time of 3300 minutes, will cover the first 147 episodes
of the series (which brings us into the early-middle part
of the Cell era). The first boxset will also include an
"original blister-packed action figure produced by
Kaiyodo." As 707 put it, Kaiyodo is "... same
company that makes the Evangelion / Trigun / Fist of the
Northstar figures that collectors drool over." A special
insert booklet will be included, as well. A "bonus
disc" to be included is presumed to be either one or both of the two DBZ
TV specials.
The
second boxset (to be released 18 September 2003) also has a running
time of 3300 minutes, and will span episodes 148 to the
final 291st episode. This set will also include another
action figure, booklet, and bonus disc.
All
episodes will have digitally remastered picture quality
(which will most likely rival that of FUNimation; may or
may not exceed such). The audio will remain Dolby Digital
2-channel mono, but it assumed to be touched up from the
original masters.
CDJapan
entries: [ Boxset
1 ] [ Boxset
2 ]
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New Video Games from Japan
While
"The Legacy of Goku" and the "Collectible
Card Game" games for the GameBoy Advance were original,
US-created video games, a slew of new games are being distributed
by Infogrames... created once again by Bandai of Japan!
 The
first game to be released is surprisingly only a GameBoy
Color game, entitled "Legendary Super Warriors."
This game is in the style of some of the older NES and SNES
DragonBall games, which base their fighting
style around a card system (completely different from "trading
cards"). The game spans the storylines from the beginning
of "DragonBall Z" all the way to the end.
In addition to a story mode, there is also a battle mode
that can be played over the link cable. The game was originally
published in Japan by Banpresto on 9 August 2002, and was
translated and distributed by Infogrames for an American
release on 14 November 2002. The game was translated into
five languages for releases throughout Japan, North America,
and Europe.
Related
Link: Preview
on "The Magic Box: International Game News"
The
second game is the behemoth of them all... "Budokai."
"Budokai" is a traditional one-on-one fighting
game released for the PlayStation 2. This is the first fighting
game since "Final Bout" on the PS1. Many
were quite unsure how it would stack up against the last
fighting game... which was well known for having ridiculously
poor collision detection, bland backgrounds, low-polygon
count character models, and overall... it just sucked.
 First
things's first... the voices are dubbed... only. According
to "Associate Producer" Chrins Lundeen, it's because
they "... decided to include the U.S. voice actors
to create something special and familiar to the majority
of Dragon Ball Z fan. ... It was something that hadn't
been done on this scale before, and never in a Dragon
Ball game. In the end, we had a disc full of dialogue
and didn't have room for both English and Japanese"
(EGM, January 2003). I'm sure that's a load of bullocks,
but whatever.
The
game has been receiving surprisingly above-average reviews
and scores, which is quite impressive for a DragonBall
game, especially coming off of "Final Bout."
The game sports 23 different characters to fight as (most
unlocked as you make your way through story mode). A few
different modes are available, such as the traditional story
and versus, and this game's survival mode, entitled "Legend
of Hercule" (cough, Mr. Satan, cough).
The
game's graphics are fully polygonal, a la "Final
Bout," but sport a much higher polygon count. However,
the game still looks like it could have.. well... looked
so much better.
Related
Link: Game
review on Gamespot
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Kanzenban (re-released manga in Japan)
The
original manga of DragonBall is currently being
re-released as the "Kanzenban" volumes. Each volume
sports brand-new cover art, all drawn by original author
/ artist Akira Toriyama.
The
books themselves are quite a bit larger than the original
tankoubon volumes, and just slightly bigger in height and
width than the English graphic novels. The paper quality
is about on par with the Viz volumes, too. This, combined
with the higher page count (book 1 has 14 chapters and book
2 has 15), makes for some pretty massive paperbacks, compared to the originals. You
have to hold them to see what I mean.
 The
new cover art is cool, if lacking the humor of Toriyama's
original tankoubon illustrations... the art is actually
sort-of embossed on the jacket, with a shiny finish (the
rest has a duller sheen). There are also black-and-white
illustrations on the backs of the books, too. The back of
volume 1 features Yamcha, while volume 2 has Pilaf.
There's
new art on the spines, too. The first two feature Sno and
#8, and have the words "Studio Uccello" and "Studio
K2R" on them (these being the companies which did the
restoration/editing). The spines of the third and fourth
volumes have Goku running (and once you put the four together,
he appears to be racing a dragster on a track). The back
of volume 3 has blonde Lunch, and the back of vol. 4 has
the Budoukai Announcer.
There
is no new volume title page illustration or mokuji graphic.
The title page is all red except for the text, which is
the same as what is on the cover. However, the front cover
illustration is repeated on glossy paper just before the
title page, sans background. I'd scan it, if I wasn't so
protective of my new book. The actual contents page is printed
in green ink, with a silhouette of Goku in one corner and
the chapter titles laid out vertically.
As for
the actual comic pages, having the color pages is really
nice, athough I'm a bit disappointed at discovering that
Toriyama never finished out any of these chapters in full-color
(it usually switches to two-color or black-and-white a
few pages in). The black-and-white art is also a bit clearer
than I remember, although it may just be a side-effect of
the art being physically larger.
The
Title Page Gallery of old has been renamed Title Page Collection.
It's here that most of the changes in the Kanzenban become
evident. For one thing, all of the title pages have had
their teaser blurbs and Bird Studio logos removed. I don't
really like that move, especially since Viz has gone to
such great lengths to translate them all in the English
version. However, pages that were shrunk so the "Title
Page Gallery" title could fit around them are now back
to full size (this one doesn't have that problem, since
the page announcing the "Title Page Collection"
doesn't have a title page on it). Also, almost all of the
title pages that were lost because DB volume 2 (the regular
version, that is) didn't have a title page gallery are back.
The
advertisements for the Kanzenban have said the artwork would
be touched up...I'm sure there have been touch-ups here
and there, that have gone largely unnoticed...but there's
one in particular I feel I have to mention. In the title
page to chapter 5, in which bomber jacketed Bulma stands
in the foreground, she's been completely redrawn, without
the cigarette she once had. Now, I don't advocate smoking,
but Bulma does eventually start smoking, so it's kinda like
tampering with the character. I also feel like it's messing
with Akira Toriyama's artistic integrity (especially since
he already said he only did the cover art for this edition).
I've
detected no censorship (smoking-related or otherwise) from
the next two volumes...so I'm thinking that the title page
thing was actually a product of not having the original
color image to work with, so they redrew it, deciding to
nix the cigarette at the same time.
Images
(all by Julian):
- Kanzenban Volume
1 (Cover)
- Kanzenban Volume
2 (Cover)
- Kanzenban Volume
3 (Cover)
- Kanzenban Volume
4 (Cover)
- Size
comparison: Kanzenban vs Graphic Novel
- Size
comparison: Kanzenban vs Tankouban
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Newly Released Music Collection
 There
have been very few CDs of DragonBall
released in the last few years. With the sudden influx of
new video games and manga, it only made sense to release
another giant music collection from the series. The first
"Complete Song Collection" set of three discs
contains 49 tracks, all full-length vocal. You can find
a fully translated track listing over in the "Music
Database."
The
first set (COCX-32058)
was released on 18 January 2003. The second set (COCX-32079)
is slated for release on 21 February 2003. The third and
fourth sets do not yet have a release date posted.
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DragonBall USA (Region 1) DVD Boxsets &
More
FUNimation
has announced that DragonBall will no
longer be released on VHS. Instead, DVD boxsets will be
the method of release! Due out on 28 January 2003 is the
first boxset, spanning the "Tournament" saga (spanning
episodes 14 to 28).
Also,
FUNimation has announced that the 10th anniversary DragonBall
movie ("Saikyô e no Michi") will be released
on 22 April 2003 as "The Path to Power."
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DragonBall GT USA (Region 1) DVDs
Hot
on the heels of their DragonBall announcements,
FUNimation continued on with their announcements of "DragonBall
GT" releases!
The
first two volumes of GT will be released on both edited
VHS and unedited billingual DVD on 15 April 2002. Four volumes
have been announced (1: "Baby: Affliction";
2: "Baby: Incubation"; 3: "Baby:
Creation"; 4: "Baby: Proliferation").
Each has a scheduled running time of 62 minutes, being approximately
three episodes.
Unfortunately,
the titles make no sense (Bebi / Baby doesn't even get mentioned
for a good 20 episodes), and there's only going to be three
episodes per volume. 64 doesn't divide by 3. It divided
by 4. That would have made more sense... and have been much
more cost-effective for the average buyer, especially since
the vast majority of GT is pretty unwatchable...
It is
presumed that FUNimation will indeed be using the original
musical score for background music, and will dub the opening
and ending themes for their English dubbed versions, as
they have been doing with "Fruits Basket."
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