31 July 2008

Robberies! Children! Oh, My!
VegettoEX @ 10:14 pm EST -- We told you on the podcast a while back about the attempted robbery at Wal-Mart for DBZ season five. This one's not quite up there, but the age of the perpetrators is shocking.

AVON PARK - Two Avon Park boys were in the care of the Department of Juvenile Justice on Thursday after they were arrested and charged with burglary of a home in the 100 block of Southland Court where Avon Park police say they stole some video games.

Some time between 5 and 6 p.m. Tuesday, the victim reported that someone entered her home and stole a duffle bag with her son's Playstation 2 video game system, two games and a Gameboy containing a Dragon Ball Z video, police reported.

The victims immediately named the two boys, ages 9 and 10, as suspects because they were seen in the neighborhood before they went out.

What I want to know is why on Earth anyone would have purchased that DragonBall GT "GameBoy Advance Video" in the first place.

Then again, it's $6.60 new on Amazon...

I also just wanted to plug a little feature that just went up over on Kanzentai. They took a look at the Shenron Times that came with daizenshuu four, and as a supplement to that and its asking fans about the manga ending, they asked a few of us what we all thought about the original ending versus the new kanzenban ending. Myself, Meri, and a bunch of other fans you may recognize put in a few words, so check it out!

We'll be back on Sunday with the next podcast episode and we'll also be announcing the winner of our current contest. If you haven't entered, hurry up... you only have a few days left!

30 July 2008

New Server Up And Running
VegettoEX @ 7:07 am EST -- If you're reading this update, then you are seeing us up and running on the new server. Good stuff. To compensate for the day's downtime, we've extended the current contest deadline until this coming Sunday. Get going!

27 July 2008

Podcast Episode #0139 Available! New Tidbit!
VegettoEX @ 8:33 pm EST -- Episode #0139 of the podcast is available for download! Despite internet outages on two different continents, we were somehow able to all come together to put out a great show for you this week. In addition to the typical news updates and general shenanigans, we brought on Herms from Kanzentai to talk with us a little bit about the three DBZ "side stories". You may be familiar with "IN THE NAME OF PICCOLO-DAIMAÔ" from back on Episode #0117; this time we took a look at "LONELY FUTURE WARRIOR!! TRUNKS". Definitely check it out.

Oh, but that's not all. We're not just here to talk about it. We're here to present it to you.

You may have already seen it (along with the first two) over on our buddy Desire Campbell's website, but as this particular story is more of a straight-up story than manga-style, we've created a new "Tidbit" with the entire story (written by Aya Matsui) translated for your reading pleasure, complete with all of the original illustrations (by Minoru Maeda) that accompany them.

Big thanks to Herms for doing the translation, and big thanks to me for finally getting around and scanning the damn thing.

Don't forget about our contest! You have until Friday to get in your entries!

25 July 2008

New CD Arrives, Contest Reminder, Video Game Trailers
VegettoEX @ 3:04 pm EST -- I love the fact that I was able to come home early today and happen to get back just in time for this to show up:

That's right, folks. Those two CDs sitting on top can belong to you... all you have to do is enter our contest! We're giving away the brand spankin' new Super Survivor CD single (which contains the vocal opening themes to both Sparking! METEOR and Burst Limit), as well as the old CD single containing both vocal opening themes to Budokai 2 and Budokai 3. Sorry, but that extra CD in the back is mine :P.

We'll be reviewing the new CD not on this weekend's upcoming podcast (which will be pretty awesome in its own right), but the following week. Yep, we'll be bumping the "Manga Review of Awesomeness" by a week in order to give the new CD our full attention and give it away on the show!

We haven't been able to get our butts in gear with updates over the last couple days, so we wanted to drop a few pieces that you have probably already seen elsewhere...

DragonBall DS has some new trailers available for streaming over on the game's official Japanese website. Remember that the game comes out on September 18th exclusively in Japan... at least for now. Still waiting to hear about international releases.

Additionally, you've no doubt seen on all the blog sites the Japanese poster for the upcoming American-made live-action DragonBall movie:

Definitely cooler than the American poster, that's for sure.

20 July 2008

Podcast Episode #0138 Available! DBGT News! Again!
VegettoEX @ 10:33 pm EST -- Episode #0138 of the podcast is available for download! We tried to do another short one, but it ended up being a regular-length episode! In addition to the information about DBGT (some of which you read last week), we decided to catch up on e-mail a little bit and covered a wide range of questions. Definitely check it out.

With regards to the upcoming DBGT "remastered" boxsets from FUNimation, the important point we wanted to get across is that the trailer (linked in last week's update), which is present on the Blu-ray release of the Bardock/Trunks "remastered" TV specials, is encoded and presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio. This is important to note due to the fact that, as we've noted time and time again, despite FUNimation's lack of the phrase "widescreen" in all of their recent commercials/trailers for the DBZ season sets, all of those presentations are themselves displayed in a 16:9 aspect ratio.

While this is far from an actual and official confirmation that these new DBGT sets will be in the correct 4:3 aspect ratio, it's none-the-less interesting and entertaining to watch this saga continue to unfold as the years progress.

13 July 2008

Podcast Episode #0137 Available! DBGT News!
VegettoEX @ 6:13 pm EST -- Episode #0137 of the podcast is available for download! It's a very short episode this week due to the fact that Meri and I are trying to finish up some video work for Anime Weekend Atlanta, and we need every moment of spare time we can get! Don't worry... hopefully some good DBZ-related content will come of it in due time! For this week's show we took a look at some neat news coming out of Japan, did the ABCs, and plugged our current contest. Definitely check it out.

In addition to all that, we really need to talk about FUNimation's upcoming DragonBall GT "remastered" boxsets. We've known for what seems like forever that they were on their way, but knew little else beyond that. We recently got our hands on what seemed to be the boxart, which confirmed the "remastered" style release. FUNimation has been showcasing trailers for the upcoming release... which...

... is playing full-screen...?!

The new trailer plugs the same "Digitally Remastered" and "Original Japanese Audio" as the DBZ season sets, but makes absolutely no mention of it being "widescreen". We've seen FUNimation create advertisements about the DBZ season sets where they remove wording about them being in the cropped widescreen format as early as season two, but this (obviously) didn't change the end product. Even after FUNimation stopped mentioning the widescreen for DBZ, the trailers all at least still remained in widescreen. How about DBGT, though? Has the community backlash and its resulting segregation given FUNimation a double-take? Should we expect the "Sorry We Fucked Up"-edition DBZ sets in a few years, with promotions saying, "No, really... this is how it was meant to be seen... we promise, this time!"...? This is all speculation until there is any official confirmation from FUNimation on what the actual aspect ratio will be for the DBGT sets, but it's an interesting situation, none-the-less.

11 July 2008

"DragonBall DS" Website
VegettoEX @ 6:28 pm EST -- Namco-Bandai has opened up a website for the upcoming DragonBall DS:

www.bandaigames.channel.or.jp/list/ds_dragonball/top.html

So far there is a little bit of information about the story and characters (OK, character-singluar... Goku), but there are some nice screen-shots throughout to gaze at.

10 July 2008

New DB Animated Short Named!
VegettoEX @ 7:09 pm EST -- The red text we didn't read on the image from a few days ago tells us that the title of the newly-animated, upcoming DragonBall short will be Ossu! Kaette Kita Son Gokû to Nakama-tachi!!" (Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!, with "Ossu!" being one of Goku's early-catch phrases and introduction to all next-episode previews).

We did tell you, though, that we should be expecting some kind of new enemy/enemies. Super psyched!

Additionally, the Japanese cover art for DragonBall DS has been released:

The game drops on September 18th in Japan. Still no word on a North American (or European) release.

06 July 2008

Podcast Episode #0136 Available! Lots of other stuff!
VegettoEX @ 8:00 pm EST -- Episode #0136 of the podcast is available for download! We're back into the swing of things this week with the "Manga Review of Awesomeness" as Jeff joins us for volume seventeen. If you are looking over at your collection of Viz manga and don't see a "DB 17" over there, that is because in Japan the entire manga series is simply called DragonBall beginning to end, volume one to forty-two. The "Z"-distinction from the TV series was only applied to the manga by Viz when they began releasing it state-side so many years ago. Definitely check it out.

In addition to the podcast, there is a ton of other stuff going on. We have a new contest we are running, we need to catch up on news postings, and we are even launching a new podcast!

Want to win not only the upcoming Sparking! METEOR / Burst Limit theme song CD single, but also the Budokai 2 / Budokai 3 CD single? That's right, we're giving both away at the end of the month! This contest is open to everyone (you don't have to be a podcast listener), so be sure to get your entries in! The catch this time is that you actually have two chances to win... if you are willing to sing along! Check out the full contest details.

With that out of the way, let's catch up on all the big news, some of which was covered in the above-referenced podcast episode, and some of which just surfaced!

Jump 40th Anniversary Figures
Many of the Jump 40th anniversary figures, including the DBZ x One Piece cross-over ones, are up for pre-order over on Play-Asia!

FUNimation To Do More With YouTube
FUNimation released a press release earlier this week stating their intent to do more with their YouTube channel, including sharing episodes of series like Slayers and Peach Girl. While nothing about the DB franchise is noted, we will keep an eye on them to see how they integrate their best-selling franchise into the high-traffic video sharing site.

Italy Gets New DVDs
A great new re-release of the DBZ TV series, DBGT TV series, and the movies will be coming out over in Italy. In addition to the standard Japanese audio track, a 5.1 Italian track will be included. It looks like our buddy Timo ordered a bit of this new release, so we look forward to hearing from him!

DragonBall DS = September 18th (in Japan)
We finally have a release date for DragonBall DS, the new action / adventure / RPG game coming to the Nintendo DS! The game will see its release over in Japan on September 18th. As-of-yet, neither Atari nor FUNimation has said anything about an American release of the game, though judging by the way Atari makes its money (read below), it would be a shock to see this game not come out in North America.

Half of Atari's Profits Come From the DB Franchise
According to Atari's latest annual report:

Fiscal 2008 — the Dragon Ball Z franchise generated 49.1% of our publishing net product revenues, driven by the November 2007 release of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Wii)

That's right, folks... if you really want to boil it down to the nitty-gritty, you could say that half of the money Atari makes is solely based on the DragonBall franchise.

Shonen Jump 5th Anniversary Hardcover Details
The upcoming hardcover "Collector's Edition" Shonen Jump fifth anniversary release will contain all of the manga from that first publication back in January 2003, along with features from the first five years, about a dozen rare interviews, essays by the editors, and a special Yu-Gi-Oh card.

Jump Anime Tour New Animation Minor Details
Over on the toonzone.net forum, a new image showcasing minor information on the new DragonBall animation to air during the Jump Anime Tour has surfaced.

The picture doesn't give a whole lot of clues, but we can see a variety of characters from all over the chronology of the series and a hint at a new enemy...?! Could it be these two?

Exciting! Please give me the Neko Majin OVA I've been wanting!

New McDonald's Toys in Japan
Many years back, McDonald's ran a promotion with their "Happy Set" (or "Happy Meals") where you could get an exclusive DBZ figure. It seems like they're doing it again! We'll send Julian on his way to pick them all up, giving him a perfect excuse to undo all of the working-out he's been up to.

That should cover us for now...! We'll keep digging around all of the e-mails and forum posts we've missed over the last couple of days, but hopefully we covered all the big stuff.

If that's not enough content for you, and you're hugely into video games, we'd love for you to come check out a new side-project that I've been working on with my buddies Jeff and Andrew called Video Game Conversations. It's a new podcast and blog we've started up to give ourselves a little outlet to explore and discuss the kinds of things we do on a daily basis, anyway! You can find everything over at vgconvos.com. Hope you enjoy it!