THIS WAS THE "NEWBIE GUIDE" AS SEEN ON 1 APRIL 2004.
This was to go with our DragonBall AF prank, the results of which you can find over on our "Feature" page. We've left the text on this page the same as it was on April 1st, just so you can see exactly what everyone else saw.

You can also check out the REAL "Newbie Guide."

- Introduction

Before I even begin, let me just say that if you're new to DragonBall ...you've chosen to get yourself interested in one of the most influential, emotional, and simply most fun series ever to be created. Welcome to the world of "DB". ^_^

If you are indeed new to DragonBall, there's a pretty good chance you were introduced to it via FUNimation's English dub of DragonBall Z, currently airing on the cable TV channel Cartoon Network. Well, we'll get to that. For now, let's start from the beginning, shall we?

- The Legend is Born

DragonBall began as a gag manga (comic) by a man named Akira Toriyama (maybe you've heard of him?) in late 1984. It was loosely based on the Chinese epic, Journey to the West (Xi You Ji, or in Japanese, Saiyûki) which concerned the Handsome Monkey King, Sun Wukong. Sun Wukong had an extending staff (the Ruyi Jingu Bang, or in Japanese, the Nyoi-Kinko-Bô), a technique allowing him to fly on clouds, and many adventures. Sound familiar?

Enter Toriyama and DragonBall. The character of Son Goku, along with his staff (the Nyoi-Bô), is based on the legend of Sun Wukong. You might be interested to know that various other popular series and games are based on this same legend. Characters like Son-Son (last seen in the game "Marvel vs. Capcom 2"), and series like Monkey Magic and Gensômaden Saiyûki, also have their origins in Journey to the West.

On a side note, if you've played games such as "Dragon Warrior," "Chrono Trigger," and/or "Tobal No. 1," you've seen Akira Toriyama's character designs at work.

Toriyama's manga (published in the popular manga anthology magazine, Weekly Shônen Jump, at the rate of one chapter per week) became moderately popular, and was collected over the course of the series into volumes of about 12 chapters each, called tankôbon. And, of course, an animated TV show was created from it.

- The TV Series

The first DragonBall episode aired in Japan on February 26, 1986. A legend was born. The show would air every Wednesday at 7 pm on the Fuji Television network. As the series began on television, the manga release was up to about Chapter 50 (the middle of the first tournament, the 21st Tenka-ichi Budôkai). Because the comic was still being written as the show was airing, Toei Animation (the company responsible for the DB anime) would occasionally create little side-stories, or sometimes even entire story arcs, that do not appear in the original manga. This was done in order to keep the progress of the television show behind that of the manga (or else they wouldn't have a story to work with!). Fans refer to this anime-only material as "filler," as it "fills" the space between events that do occur in the manga.

The anime version of DragonBall (along with the manga) continued, expanding the story and the world in which it took place (generally called the "Dragon World"). As time went on, Toriyama changed the main focus of DragonBall from slapstick comedy to a more fighting-oriented style, and the series simply shot off the scales in terms of popularity.

While the manga's title remained DragonBall, the anime title was changed to DragonBall Z after 153 episodes and three movies with yet another huge plot twist in the series: Goku's past was revealed with the landing of his evil alien brother, Raditz.

DragonBall Z ran for 291 episodes (plus two TV specials and thirteen theatrical movies), while the manga concluded after 42 tankôbon (519 chapters, in all). As a side note, the manga was originally 43 volumes...however, the very short 43rd volume was, at some point, thrown in at the end of the 42nd volume (this is the "10 years later..." arc, in which Goku fights Oob at the Tenka-ichi Budôkai).

- The Movies & TV Specials

Over the course of the TV series, many theatrical movies were released. These films were released on a schedule of about two per year, designed to fall during the spring and summer vacations from school in Japan. These films were generally short (usually under an hour), and were paired with other movies of a similar nature (at least one, for example, was played along with a Dr. Slump movie, both series being created by Akira Toriyama). It is important to note that these movies are considered "side stories." That is to say, they do not fall within the continuity of the series itself, but are "what-if" stories, with numerous characters and situations that exist outside of the ordinary series continuum.

The TV Specials, on the other hand, were designed to expand upon ideas and situations that were mentioned, but not elaborated upon, in the TV series itself. Like the series, these made-for-TV movies were aired on Fuji Television, during the run of the saga to which they pertained; each one was twice the length of a normal episode. Unlike the movies, these productions do fit within the series continuity; one, in fact, was based upon a special chapter of the manga (the Trunks Special, known as "Trunks: The Story" in the comics). This is why the more knowledgeable fans of DB dislike FUNimation's lumping both the Movies and TV Specials into a single "Feature" category, with no distinction between the two. For more information about both the Movies and TV Specials, visit our "Movie Guide."

- You may also hear of a "Lost Movie" or an "OVA" ("Original Video Animation," a fancy way of describing a direct-to-video anime) for DragonBall Z, but in fact, it is not a true OVA. It is, in fact, footage taken from a game for the Japanese PlayDia video game system. The game is called "Saiya-jin Zetsumetsu Keikaku," or in English, "The Plan to Exterminate the Saiyans." It's a very poor plot revolving around a scientist who creates "ghost fighters" of past DBZ movie villains, in order to fight the Z-Warriors. More information about it can be found in our "There is no OVA!" section.

- Also in Japan...

- Shortly after the end of the series in 1996, Japan also saw the release of seven major books, called the "Complete Collections," or Daizenshuu (where this site gets its name from!). These books were massive all-encompassing guides to the series, beginning to end. Several were "TV Animation" volumes showcasing major events (in pictures) from the series, while others had more specific focuses, such as the movies & the TV specials, or color illustrations made by Toriyama for the manga. Much later, starting in December of 2002, the manga began a re-release in a larger Kanzenban ("Perfect Edition") format, which will eventually have 34 volumes (as opposed to the original 42). Each volume of this re-release features restored artwork and brand-new cover illustrations by Akira Toriyama himself.

- With all the videos and DVDs released of the series in the US, it may come as a surprise that in Japan, only the theatrical movies received home releases, on VHS (and in some cases, LaserDisc). However, it was announced in the winter of 2002 that Toei Animation would be releasing the entire 291-episode DBZ TV series to DVD, spanning two massive boxed sets. The first of these "Dragon Boxes" (covering episodes 1-147 and the first TV Special) came out in March 2003, while the other set was released in September. The other two TV series remain unreleased, but with these new boxed sets, it's possible that both the original DragonBall and DragonBall GT will see a home release in their native country in the not-too-distant future.

- Japan has also seen numerous releases of other DB-related products over the years, particularly in the area of CD soundtracks. For more information on the vast amount of DragonBall-related CDs out there, visit our "Music Database."

- After DragonBall Z

Finally, Akira Toriyama had finished the series. But DragonBall wasn't dead yet. Toei Animation, the company behind the anime, picked up the rights to do another series. Enter DragonBall GT. GT continued the story, with Goku being changed back into a child, and originally focused on the comedic factor that was prevalent in the early episodes of the original DragonBall. Shortly into the series, however, it became a mix of that comedy and the ultra-hyper battles that DragonBall Z was famous for.

DragonBall GT ended on November 19, 1997, after 64 episodes and one TV special. It was brought to a rather quick (though final) finish, due to worse-than-expected ratings. One could justifiably infer that it was cancelled.

A 10th Anniversary movie was released in 1996. Done in GT-style animation, the movie re-told Goku's meeting with his original friends (Bulma, Oolong, Yamcha, Kame-Sen'nin, etc.) and his battle against the Red Ribbon Army. This movie, "Saikyô e no Michi" ("The Path to Ultimate Strength") was the last DragonBall theatrical animated feature ever produced.

But then there's DragonBall in North America.

- DragonBall Comes to the States

Little do most people know, but the first North American exposure to DragonBall was in the 1980s, by a company called Harmony Gold. At least five episodes were dubbed as a test, and later, DB Movies One and Three were dubbed and spliced together for one large feature presentation. What is extremely interesting about these dubs is that the original Japanese score was kept in, something that the later American owner of DragonBall wouldn't begin doing until 2001. While most character names were changed (Goku = "Zero," for instance), the dialogue and music were mostly kept intact, and it really was DragonBall in America (for more information, please visit Harmony Gold Dub section on "Temple o' Trunks"). Harmony Gold abruptly discontinued work on the series, as ratings were poor, and eventually lost the rights to the franchise.

In 1995, a company by the name of FUNimation Productions, headed by Gen Fukunaga, acquired the rights to dub into English and broadcast the original DragonBall in syndication. The popular Ocean Group of voice actors (located in Vancouver, Canada) was used, and thirteen episodes, as well as the first movie, were dubbed. The original plan was to have a full 28 episode season completed (which would have brought it to the end of the 21st Tenka-ichi Budôkai), but alas, it was pretty much a flop, most likely due to poor air times. These first 13 episodes, and the first movie, can be found released (censored, only) on home video and DVD by KidMark / Lion's Gate Films. Since then, FUNimation has gone back and re-dubbed these episodes with their newer cast and the original Japanese score, but outstanding contractual agreements prevent them from releasing this newer English version for this part of the series.

But even with this initial disappointment, FUNimation hadn't given up on Toriyama's masterpiece quite yet.

- DragonBall Z Begins in the US

They saw the potential in DragonBall Z, and began to dub that series. Despite mega-early broadcast times in syndication, "DBZ" found its niche with North American audiences. Fifty-three episodes (plus a three-part version of DBZ Movie Three) were dubbed by FUNimation and distributed by Saban Entertainment (equalling two seasons) before Saban ditched them. During this time, because it was syndicated, the dub of DragonBall Z was held up to highly strict censoring standards by the FCC and Saban. A full fifteen episodes' worth of material was cut from these two seasons. Much of the show's original appeal was lost (even the issue of death was sidestepped, changed to being simply "sent to another dimension"), but it was still remotely DragonBall. These episodes would continue to run in their syndicated time slot for some time, while the show remained in limbo.

During this time, FUNimation signed a deal with Pioneer Home Entertainment to release the first two seasons of the dub on home video and DVD. While still in a state of episode-limbo, FUNimation (in conjunction with Pioneer) dubbed completely uncut versions of the first three DragonBall Z movies, and released them on VHS, LaserDisc, and DVD. Not only were these dubs' dialogue extremely close to that of the original Japanese scripts, but the original Japanese score was used! This is something FUNimation has yet to (and likely will not) repeat with any other dubbed DBZ property. These three movies would also be the last products released by FUNimation to feature the voices of the Ocean Group cast.

During the summer of 1998, FUNimation Productions struck up a deal with Cartoon Network (a cable television channel). Cartoon Network would air one episode of FUNimation's dub every weekday during its popular Toonami timeslot (specifically, 5 pm Eastern Time).

And so, on August 31, 1998...DragonBall Z made its way into literally hundreds of thousands of new homes, and a massive hit was in the making.

- Cartoon Network

For some time, Cartoon Network became a scapegoat for complaints. All 53 English episodes (plus the edited dubs of the first three DBZ movies) had been aired over and over. FUNimation had yet to dub new episodes. This is the reason why CN couldn't show you Goku fighting the Ginyu Special Force, Goku becoming a Super Saiyan, etc. It just hadn't been dubbed yet. In all fairness, the majority of people watching the show just didn't understand what was going on behind the scenes, in that these 53 episodes were a test...a test to see if the show would become popular enough to warrant the production of more dubbed episodes.

What was a poor company to do? Although they had their market in Cartoon Network, FUNimation had no more of the show to provide them with. They needed to dub more episodes. Saban had left FUNimation, which left them without a distributor for the show. No longer able to use the Ocean cast due to logistical issues and lack of funds, FUNimation hired local voice talent in the Texas area, enlisted Faulconer Music Productions to score the music for the new episodes (since they still were not using the original Japanese score; possible reasons range from not being able to afford the rights, to simply wanting the cheapter route...to this day, no one is completely sure except for FUNimation's executives), and began the production of new episodes.

- FUNimation's Texas Cast

Shortly before new DBZ episodes were dubbed, FUNimation wet their lips in 1998 with the dub of DragonBall Movie Two, "Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle." This was the very first production from FUNimation with their local Texas voice acting group. While the opening and closing themes were those used in the 1995 DB dub, the score within the movie itself was left untouched.

The next year, FUNimation dubbed over fifty new episodes of DBZ for a third season, which aired on Cartoon Network during 1999 and 2000. This third season picked right up where the second season ended, and continued through the end of the Freeza saga, including Goku's Super Saiyan transformation, bringing us us to a close with the resurrection of Kuririn, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chiao-tzu.

The final part of the third season, the filler "Garlic Jr." arc, was aired in the spring of 1999 as a part of Cartoon Network's Toonami: Rising Sun block, their experimental Saturday morning line-up.

- New DVDs, More TV Seasons

As fans complained that the "uncut" dub and TV-edited versions of the show weren't up to par with the Japanese original, FUNimation responded in August of 2000 with the release of their first bilingual series DVDs (Digital Versatile/Video Discs) that included both the English dub and an unaltered original Japanese audio track, complete with fully accurate English subtitles provided by Steven J. "Daimao" Simmons (whom older fans of DragonBall on the web will remember from the mid-1990s for his episode guide, and later for his stint on the now-defunct Toriyama.org). These DVDs of DB, DBZ, and DBGT continue to be released, simultaneously with VHS releases (or in the case of DragonBall, instead of VHS!). Early on, the discs' video and overall quality were only so-so, but each one improved upon the last; any FUNimation DVD released from the latter half of 2001 onwards has few, if any, technical problems. For a complete account of what discs are available (and what's on 'em), you'll have to visit our "DVD Guide."

Time progressed, and the show became even more popular. So, FUNimation began production on the fourth season, which aired in 2000 and 2001. The fourth season brought us from the introduction of Future Trunks, to the Jinzôningen (Artificial Humans, or "Androids"), to the death of Cell. As anticipated, popularity only grew (seeming to peak during this season). A fifth season began in the fall of 2001, and ran through 2002. This fifth season covered the Ano-Yo-ichi Budôkai (Greatest-in-the-Afterlife Tournament) through the beginning of the final arc of DBZ, the Majin Boo saga (up until shortly after Boo, himself, is resurrected). The sixth and final season of DBZ aired in fall of 2002, with the last 15 episodes appearing in spring 2003. This effectively completed this series, leaving only a few earlier DVDs to be released to the home market.

- The TV Specials, and DBZ Movies 4 and On

While working on the television series, FUNimation has slowly been making their way through the thirteen theatrical DragonBall Z movies, as well as the two DBZ TV Specials. As noted, the first three movies were released in conjunction with Pioneer Home Entertainment pre-1998 with the Ocean Group cast. These later productions were released by FUNimation on its own, with the Texas cast. Thus far, the two TV Specials, as well as Movies 4 through 8, have been released in this fashion. Movie 9 has been announced for later this year, and it is believed that Movie 10 will probably also make it to DVD before the end of 2004. No release dates exist for these two movies, yet.

The English dubs of these releases have been somewhat of a mixed bag. Generally, the dialogue has not been very accurate in any of them. DBZ movies 4 and 5, and the two TV specials, contained "real" music from American bands, and were heavily promoted as such. Movies 6 and 7 had neither this material, nor music produced by Faulconer Productions (instead having techno-ish music done by Mark Menza, who would go on to produce the music for the American DBGT dub). The dub of Movie 8 returns to the "real bands" music formula, for better or worse. However, the original Japanese score has yet to be used again (and most likely will not be) in these English dubbed productions. (Note that on the DVDs, the original Japanese soundtrack remains completely unaltered).

- The Original DragonBall Revisited?!

With DBZ being such a huge hit, and with its end in sight, it made sense for FUNimation to look into other DB products. Choosing not to move into DragonBall GT (not quite yet, anyway), FUNimation announced that they would begin production (again) on the original DragonBall television series. To the delight of fans, FUNimation also announced that they would be using the original Japanese musical score for these episodes, unlike their dub of DragonBall Z. Before starting work on more DragonBall episodes, the third DragonBall movie was released in 2000 on VHS (and in 2001 on DVD). The dub contained the original Japanese score in-movie, and had the original Japanese themes as well (although the series itself would use English arrangements of the original songs). Please note that since this movie was produced before the TV series dub, some of the voices (particularly that of Goku, who was voiced by Ceyli Delgadillo rather than Stephanie Nadolny) are different than in the episodes that have aired on Cartoon Network.

The first video of the new dub of the DragonBall TV series was released on 12 June 2001, with episodes 14-16 (picking up where their old 1995 dub left off). However, even the first 13 episodes were re-dubbed, and were aired as a part of a 28 episode test season, beginning on Cartoon Network in August of 2001.

Apparently, the show was enough of a hit to continue production. The second season (episodes 29-53) aired in the spring of 2002, and a third season (episodes 54-101) was shown that fall (and later rerun outside of Toonami on Saturday nights). The fourth (and final) season (episodes 102-153) was shown during the fall of 2003. The show is now running repeats Monday-Thursday at 6:30, for an undetermined length of time.

The original DragonBall has received the best home treatment thus far. Although initially, the series was only being put out on VHS, FUNimation surprised fans in late 2002 with an announcement that they would be discontinuing their DragonBall VHS releases, in favor of saga sets on DVD. These two-disc sets are pretty much along the lines of a fan's "dream DVD;" each set contains around 10 to 15 episodes (and although they're called "boxed sets," they're actually packaged in a single, standard-size keepcase). Currently, only three saga sets remain to be released. The "Fortuneteller Baba" set will arrive this March, and its is suspected that the "Tien Shinhan" set will follow not long after. The "Pilaf" saga, however, remains a mystery, because of continuing licensing issues with KidMark / Lion's Gate Films.

In the spring of 2003, FUNimation skipped past the remaining six DBZ movies, and released the 10th Annversary DB Movie, "Saikyô e no Michi" (re-titled "The Path to Power") on VHS and DVD. As with the DragonBall TV series, the English dub of this feature retained the original Japanese score. This was momentous, however, in that the ending theme of this movie was also the opening theme to DragonBall GT, and...well, keep reading and you'll see.

- DragonBall GT in America

FUNimation began their hype of DragonBall GT early in 2003, taking out ads in magazines, and even releasing a special "Behind-the-Scenes" preview for the show on a Fruits Basket sampler DVD.

In a sharp contrast to their treatment of DragonBall, FUNimation immediately began taking measures to get much attention with their DBGT release. Months in advance, a new "theme song" was posted on their official site. Much to the dismay of the show's fans, it became apparent that FUNimation would be creating their own new themes and musical score for the show, as opposed to using the original Japanese themes and score (as they are currently doing with DragonBall). Mark Menza, who had handled the musical score for English dubbed DBZ Movies 6 and 7, signed on to do the musical score for the English dub of DBGT. It would appear that Bruce Faulconer was dropped like a bad habit, and knew so from the start; he started an online petition asking fans to send e-mails to FUNimation, begging for Faulconer to continue producing music on into DBGT. The new rap-style theme song and new score infuriated many fans, but it was not the last wacky decision out of FUNimation with regards to this series.

The "first" volume of DBGT in America starts with a "Bonus Introduction" to the beginning of the series, and then moves on to episodes 17-19. That's correct: FUNimation skipped the first 16 episodes of the series, and instead created an additional "flashback" episode (which is English-only) that retells the events of these first 16 episodes. To fans already confused by the music situation for GT, it seemed like a strange move. FUNimation had been stating from the start that we would see DragonBall GT as we had never seen it before, but in this case, it seemed like we wouldn't be seeing the first saga of the show at all.

The idea behind this decision by FUNimation is that they wanted to get GT going with the action as soon as possible; GT starts out with much more comedy, similar to how the original DragonBall began. FUNimation knew for a long time that GT had a bad reputation with fans, and they appeared to be doing everything within their power to overcome these preconceptions about the show.

So far, 12 volumes of GT have been released, with 3 more before the end of the series is reached. Much had been speculated about the fate of the first 16 episodes of GT on both official and non-official sites alike, but FUNimation hesitated for over a month before finally confirming that they would be releasing the first ¼ of the series, but only after the remaining episodes have been released. The beginning of the series will be put out on five DVDs, with the first two to be released in July. They will be reffered to as the DBGT "Lost Episodes," despite the fact that they were never "lost" to begin with. A strange move from FUNimation, but one that should not come as much of a shock to those who have followed the company through the years.

DBGT has begun airing on TV in the US, and DragonBall has now completed its TV run. Unfortunately, DBGT's Cartoon Network run mimics the DVD release, starting from FUNimation's English-only recap episode. It is unclear when (or whether) the true beginning of GT will air on Cartoon Network.

- Also in the US...

The anime isn't the only thing being handled. Viz, a popular comic book company that specializes in Japanese manga, has been releasing uncut versions of the original manga (of both DragonBall and DragonBall Z, splitting the series into its TV-series monikers at the break between volumes 16 and 17). Both series were initially released in monthly-comic form, starting in March of 1998, with two chapters per month (this was later upped to three). The montly releases of the DragonBall Z comic ceased with the October 2002 issue, due to Viz's new release of an American incarnation of Shonen Jump (the magazine in which the Japanese version of DB was originally printed). This magazine is put out on a montly basis, and contains chapters of DBZ and other popular manga, such as One Piece, Yu-Gi-Oh, and YuYu Hakusho. The DragonBall monthlies continued until June 2003, at which point Viz decided to discontinue all of its monthly comics, in favor of the anthology and graphic novel formats. Both DragonBall and DragonBall Z are being released in this graphic novel form (which is equivalent to the Japanese tankôbon), and the combined number of both series' volumes will eventually equal the 42 volumes of the original Japanese version. For a direct comparison of the Japanese tankôbon to the English graphic novels, take a look at our "Manga Reference Guide."

For action figures, Irwin Toys initially released their versions of the European DragonBall figures, and then moved on to their molds of the highly popular "Super Battle Collection" DBZ figures from Japan. In 2001, they began their series of original molds for more six-inch characters, including those who had never previously been an action figure (such as Kaiô-sama, Chiao-tzu, and Nappa, to name a few). FUNimation also collaborated with Irwin to form "IF Labs," releasing extremely highly-detailed figures corresponding to each American DBZ movie release. IF Labs also had their hands in the production of DragonBall (non-Z) TV series figures. Although Irwin recently went bankrupt, the production of new and current figures went uninterrupted, as the company Jakks Pacific had already picked up Irwin's rights to make them. Production of IF Labs figures continued as well, under the new Jakks/FUNimation partnership, "Giant Ape" (a literal translation of "Ôzaru," the term for the Saiyan weremonkey form).

- Revival in Japan

2003 was not just a big year for DragonBall in the USA, alone. This year marked the beginning of a resurgence of interest in the series in Japan, as well. This newfound appreciation for Toriyama's chef d'œvres has resulted in several new releases for the long-completed series, creating something of a revival.

As mentioned much earlier, December of 2002 marked the beginning of the releases for the Kanzenban ("Perfect Edition") format of the manga, condensing the original 42 volumes into 34 (each volume has approximately 15 chapters). Every volume of this re-release features restored artwork (including the color pages as they were printed in Weekly Shônen Jump), and brand-new cover illustrations by Akira Toriyama himself.

In addition to "Budokai" being released for the PlayStation 2 (both in the US and Japan, as well as many other countries across the world), Japan saw the release of a brand new, four-volume CD set. Each volume consisted of three CDs (three discs times four volumes = twelve discs), and compiled the entire "Hit Song Collection" series of CDs from the late 1980s and early 1990s, with a few extras (such as later movie ending themes and a few video game tracks). Later in 2003, Columbia also reissued its "Complete Song Collection" for the original DragonBall, and brought a BGM collection from 1986 to CD for the first time ever.

2003 also marked the first time in Japanese history that the DragonBall Z TV series would be released on a home video format. The two massive (and expensive) "Dragon Boxes" each consist of half the series (eps. 1-147 & Special #1, and 148-291 & Special #2, respectively) on a number of DVDs. Each box also contains a special color booklet and a special new action figure, made by Kaiyodo Productions. Despite the hype, it was soon discovered that Toei didn't exactly remaster the video for the series; instead, they used the original TV masters (unlike FUNimation, which does, in fact, work on the video a bit for the American release). Despite the complaints about the masters, it is to be noted that the DVDs are encoded in progressive-scan (meaning that every frame is fully rendered every 30th of a second), and that the audio is much cleaner and clearer than that included on the American DVDs. Additionally, the use of the original TV masters assured that the episodes would be presented exactly as they had aired on Fuji TV, so there would be none of the mix-ups with regards to opening and closing animations, previews, and such, that have occurred in overseas releases of Toei productions. As the Japanese have no need for English subtitles in a Japanese-language production, none are included (nor is there an English-language audio track). These DVDs are also strictly NTSC Region 2 (the US and Canada use Region 1), so international buyers should be aware of what they're purchasing ahead of time.

So far, this newfound momentum in Japan has continued in 2004. The Kanzenban manga re-release is still going strong, with only 4 volumes left until the completion of the series. Budokai 2 (known simply as DragonBall Z 2 in Japan) was released in February to eager fans, and even featured a new opening animation, with a brand-new theme sung by Hironobu Kageyama (who performed the majority of the themes to the DBZ TV show and movies). And on top of that a DVD "Dragon Box" for the original DragonBall has been announced for this July. It includes features similar to its DBZ brethren, except that instead of an action figure, it'll include a Tenka-ichi Budôkai diorama set designed by Akira Toriyama! And so, by all appearances, DB has found itself once again to be an unstoppable force in Japan, with no sign of letting up. But, as it turned out, this was only the beginning...

- DragonBall AF?!?!?!?!?!

With such a long time since the last new DB series, and the author himself going on record to say that he would not be doing any more DB stories, everyone but the most loyal fans thought that DB was over for good. However, our suspicions were aroused when a short commercial aired during this past Sunday's One Piece episode. It was a DBZ clipshow, accompanied by some cryptic dialogue, a logo, and a date. We were completely stunned, as well as mystified, but things have finally become clear on 1 April 2004. On this date, a new series was officially announced in a mailing to frequent buyers of the DB Kanzenban volumes. And best of all, in a nod to fans who were so anxious for a sign, the series is going to be called — get this — DragonBall AF!!!!

Details are a bit sparse right now, since the series was only announced today, but here's what we do know. It seems that Future Trunks, having slowly been driven mad by the horrors of his time, comes back from the future to challenge his former hero, Son Goku. Goku, not to be outdone, will be able to go SSJ5 (and possibly beyond), and there will be some new fusions, as well. It now seems that some early illustrations, most notably of "SSJ5 Goku" and "Vegetunks," were actually real early illustrations by the animators, but embroidered upon by the fans with their own wishful thinking for what they wanted the series to be like. DBAF will have a TV preview in Japan on 25 August, with its official Japanese première two weeks later, on September 8th. It'll air on Wednesdays at 7:30pm, right after the news. Akira Toriyama won't be writing the series, but he is providing character designs and some story direction. Sounds like fun... we can't wait!!!!!

- Future FUNimation Plans

In addition to the original DragonBall and DBGT, FUNimation has finally announced plans to go back and re-dub the first two seasons of DragonBall Z (which will be the full 67 episodes). The Texas cast will be used; the music to be used is still unknown...it may be Bruce Faulconer, it may be Mark Menza, it may be something completely different, or it may even be the original Japanese score; no specific plans for the music have been announced. No release date has been given for these episodes, but it is suspected that FUNimation will release them after it has finished releasing its "Cell Games" and "Great Saiyaman" discs.

It is assumed that FUNimation will eventually continue on to DBAF. However, it's not clear when that will be; since the series has only just been announced in Japan, it will likely be some time. But regardless of when, there's no doubt that it'll be picked up at some point. Bugging them about it isn't going to help them get the rights any faster, so don't go flooding their inbox with "OMG DID YOU HEAR?" messages. The best thing you can do right now is sit back, relax, and revel in the anticipation (that's what we're doing, after all). Be patient... perhaps we'll have some news for you if you come back tomorrow.

- Conclusion

Although both DBZ and DB have finished showing new episodes on TV, the continued release of DragonBall GT, the American Shonen Jump, and the PS2 / Gamecube Budokai games, may mean that the popularity of the series in North America might just be beginning all over again. DragonBall AF will certainly help; although it'll probably be at least fall 2005 before it reaches US shores, it's sure to cause a big splash across the DB fan community. Until then, DragonBall will remain in the hearts of its fans... in our hearts... forever.

[ Written by Michael "VegettoEX" LaBrie, with additions and revisions by Julian Grybowski ]