31 March 2009

DragonBall Kai OP/ED CD Singles Coming!
VegettoEX @ 12:37 pm EST -- As I predicted based on the short Jump blurb about a CD single release for the DragonBall Kai opening theme, we are going to get double-dipped with the new opening and ending themes getting their own separate releases.

CDJapan is listing the opening theme, "Dragon Soul", coming out on 20 May 2009 in both a regular (COCC-16247, ¥1200) and "Limited Edition" (COCC-16273, ¥1300) version. There is no full tracklisting yet, and there are no details on what additional material the "Limited Edition" will come with.

CDJapan is also listing the closing theme, "Yeah! Break! Care Break!" (though mis-titled with "Year!" as the first word), as coming out the next month on 24 June 2009. This one will also come in both a regular (COCC-16248, ¥1200) and "Limited Edition" (COCC-16283, ¥1300) version. As with the opening, there are no details on a full tracklisting or additional material in the "Limited Edition" beyond receiving a sticker.

Both songs will be performed by Takayoshi Tanimoto, though the new closing is also listing Takafumi Iwasaki as a performer.

In the interest of full-disclosure, as with the "Rule / Sparkle" review, the above links are affiliate links with CDJapan. If you want to support Daizenshuu EX and were planning on picking up the CDs anyway, click on through to do so.

29 March 2009

Podcast Episode #0170 Available!
VegettoEX @ 10:25 pm EST -- Episode #0170 of the podcast is available for download! This week it was just Meri and I, so we dipped back and took a more thorough look at Ayumi Hamasaki's "Rule/Sparkle" CD+DVD single. You heard some general thoughts about it two weeks ago on the show, but tune in for more in-depth thoughts and tons of sample bits. There is also a huge written review over in the new "Reviews" section! All the regular news, releases, e-mails, and the good stuff you have come to expect is also in the show. Definitely check it out.

27 March 2009

Evolution US Debut Delayed (Again) Until April 10th
VegettoEX @ 6:53 am EST -- Huh. Looks like the American debut of Evolution has been delayed yet again, though this time it just goes back from a Wednesday to a Friday. Instead of the pretty firm April 8th release date, we are now set to go on Friday, April 10th.

For those of you in the central Jersey area, kick us a line and let us know if you would like to all see it together!

25 March 2009

Atari Gets Further In Bed With Namco-Bandai
VegettoEX @ 11:37 am EST -- While it is general video game industry news, it certainly affects DragonBall fandom in a huge way. According to a news piece over on Gamasutra, Infogrames (Atari's full owner at this point) has agreed to sell a 66% stake in its "sales, marketing, and retail distribution" business called "Distribution Partners" to Namco-Bandai.

"Distribution Partners" was apparently set up as a joint-venture with Namco-Bandai in the first place, and many of its products were Namco-Bandai items distributed across Europe and Asia by Infogrames.

"This announcement is the culmination of our strategic relationship with Namco Bandai Games Europe who have proven to be an outstanding partner in creating the Distribution Partners business,” said Infogrames CEO David Gardner.

“The exercise of the put option will now allow Atari to focus its financial resources and creative energy exclusively on developing and publishing online-enabled games, shifting our operations towards servicing recurring revenues and a higher-margin online business model while still benefiting from access to Distribution Partners strong international distribution network."

As a reminder, Bandai (and therefore the larger company, Namco-Bandai) holds the exclusive rights to DragonBall merchandise such as video games. In North America (and many countries abroad), Atari (and therefore the larger company, Infogrames) holds the sub-license from FUNimation (and therefore the larger company, Navarre) to distribute these products to their local market(s).

Yes, that is a lot of holding companies and sub-licensing. In a nutshell, Atari/Infogrames is creating additional business ventures and ties with Namco-Bandai, and DragonBall is in the midst of it. It will be interesting to see where this all takes us in January 2010 when Atari's current sub-license from FUNimation expires.

23 March 2009

A Few More DragonBall Kai Tidbits
VegettoEX @ 11:06 am EST -- Thanks to folks like kei17 and LaRésistance, we have even more news to share with everyone regarding DragonBall Kai. While Wasted Wisher has already noted to us that scenes from the Bardock TV special would be used in the first episode of Kai, an upcoming Jump apparently confirms that Freeza will be making an appearance in the first episode, so this all lines up pretty well. Additionally, Jump states that a CD single release for the opening theme, "Dragon Soul", will come out in May.

Also, there is a new trailer for the upcoming Kai-based Nintendo DS game, DragonBall Kai: Saiya-jin Raishû. It showcases a ton of game footage, so be sure to check it out.

Our respective "Tidbit" page has been updated with all necessary information, so if you need a quick run-down, that is the place to check out.

22 March 2009

Podcast Episode #0169 Available!
VegettoEX @ 8:26 pm EST -- Episode #0169 of the podcast is available for download! We originally wanted to do a "bonus" episode mid-week to follow up and do a more thorough review of the "Rule" CD single, but that didn't end up happening. We considered doing that for this week's regular episode, but decided that a more traditional topic would be better (and not so much overkill with regards to the live-action movie). As you may have read previously on the home page, I posted up a response to a YouTube video asking and discussing what it meant to be a "true fan" of the series. We all decided to have our own discussion on this topic, so be prepared for an onslaught of indecision! We hit up all the regular news, releases, e-mails, and even the new "Donate" button/page that is linked over on the side of the home page (including naming our first "memorial" item!). Definitely check it out.

One thing I want to follow-up on from the podcast is the sales of DragonBall Evolution on the PSP. As noted in the update from yesterday, those are first day sales, not first week sales.

21 March 2009

Random Bits Of News (Video Games, Sales, etc.)
VegettoEX @ 11:55 am EST -- We have a bunch of tiny news tidbits to report, so get ready for a slew of news and a sale!

Digital Media is reporting that five marketing agencies went after the DragonBall Online market in Asia, but it went to TBWA in the end. The account is estimated at 2 billion KRW (or approximately $1.34 million). TBWA will be handling a full-scale marketing blitz for the game from April to August.

Our buddy godofchaos (The Fanboy Review) has a few tidbits for us, as well. Apparently DragonBall Evolution for the PSP did around a mere 1,200 copies in its first day. A Japanese blog gives a little break-down of first-day sales for other recent DB games, so you can see just how much of a gap there is with this latest one (even the Xbox 360 version of Burst Limit did better). On the American side of things, DB is actually the 12th top-selling game franchise. More than 14 million units have been sold since 2002, coming out to over $300 million.

Finally, Play-Asia is running a spring sale right now, and the Burst Limit soundtrack is going for about half-price at $15.90. We reviewed the CD back on Episode #0147 of the podcast if you would like to hear some samples and opinions before you jump in and confirm your purchase.

19 March 2009

Eastern Europe Licensing News
VegettoEX @ 1:33 pm EST -- Toei Animation has announced that Plus Licens has been granted the license to the DragonBall franchise in "Nordic and Eastern Europe". This license covers television, home video, and merchandising rights, but does not extend to video games and publishing.

"We are very pleased to be working with Plus Licens AB, who is one of the top licensing brokers in the Nordic countries and Eastern Europe," explained Kanji Kazahaya, director of international at Toei.

"We believe that they have a deep commitment to continuing Dragon Ball's licensing success and we look forward to working with them on expanding the brand in this vital region."

Any east-Europeans out there have anything to say in the matter? Have you had a severe lack of merchandise lately, and are you happy to hear about this? Let us know.

18 March 2009

DragonBall Kai First Four Episode Titles
VegettoEX @ 9:15 pm EST -- Our Japanese forum member kei17 posted up a scan from the latest V-Jump that contains the schedule and episode titles for the first four episodes of the upcoming DragonBall Kai. While the first two titles seem to be pretty set, the third and fourth are listed in a "tentative" state, and may be subject to change. They are listed as follows:

The "DragonBall Kai" tidbit has been updated with this information. Be sure to check it out! If you are interested in comparing titles, we have the first few episodes of DBZ over on the respective page in the "Filler Guide".

Finally, you may notice a new button over on the side of the home page. There is a "Donate" page that has been added, and I will let that page do all the explaining it needs to do. You will very rarely see of hear us mention it, but know that it is there if you are interested. Thanks, everyone!

16 March 2009

Couple Little Kai Updates, And An "Editorial"...?
VegettoEX @ 11:45 am EST -- The "DragonBall Kai" tidbit has been updated with a couple little nuggets of information that Wasted Wisher dropped on our forum. It sounds like the first episode of the new refresh will have some flashbacks to earlier DB material, as well as some of the Bardock TV special. Very interesting!

Also, as Julian pointed out in the podcast episode (which you should listen to, as we review anything and everything DragonBall Evolution!), the new ending theme to DragonBall Kai is actually a play on words similar to "CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA" being a spin on hetchara, which means "carefree". While the new closing is written out in English as "Yeah! Break! Care Break", it is a play on yaburekabure, which means "utter desperation".

Finally, super-long-time fans of Daizenshuu EX will remember ye' olden "Editorials" on the website. Now-a-days, this type of section is rather insignificant and irrelevant. That doesn't stop us from occasionally having things to get off our chests, though. Pop over to my personal blog if you have the time to read a little bit about "true fans" and the sustainability of our fandom. I'd love to hear what you think.

15 March 2009

Podcast Episode #0168 Available! "Evolution" Review!
VegettoEX @ 10:11 pm EST -- Episode #0168 of the podcast is available for download! You know, we joke time and time again how if we discuss the live-action movie on the podcast, it will "blow up" or otherwise give us horrible technical problems (like it genuinely did back on Episode #0148). Sure enough, while editing the podcast I noticed how either Meri's mic itself or the XLR cable fritzed out occasionally. In addition to that, random background noise would temporarily overtake the local recording track. Thankfully we do multi-track recording here, and I was able to (mostly) edit around Meri's issues, and simply silence out those strange anomalies. We will overcome this curse once and for all at some point in time, I assure you.

This episode, we did anything and everything DragonBall Evolution. That's right. We start out with Ayumi Hamasaki's CD single and music video for "Rule" (the movie's theme song), go into the VizKids adaptation of the story for their "Junior Novel", and finally... the big one... Julian reviews the movie itself from its Japanese theatrical debut. Definitely check it out. You don't want to miss this one.

13 March 2009

Masaharu Satô To Play Kame-Sen'nin In Kai
VegettoEX @ 2:00 pm EST -- Toshio Furukawa (Piccolo) gives us more information regarding DragonBall Kai with another blog update from the other day. Masaharu Satô will be playing the role of Kame-Sen'nin, as opposed to what seemed to be the character's formal replacement seiyû, Hiroshi Masuoka.

As a bit of background, Kame-Sen'nin's original seiyû, Kôhei Miyauchi, passed away in 1995 just before the end of the DBZ TV series. While Masaharu Satô and Kinya Aikawa stepped in at various points to play small bits of dialogue for the character, the entirety of DragonBall GT (and many other spin-off items like video games) were performed by Hiroshi Masuoka.

(We actually did a show all about the many voices of Kame-Sen'nin back on Episode #0107 of the podcast. If you are interested in taking a look back at all of the performances, definitely check out that episode.)

Furukawa updated his blog with this information and the following picture, showcasing (left to right, back to front) Masaharu Satô (Kame-Sen'nin), Ryô Horikawa (Vegeta), Toshio Furukawa (Piccolo), Shigeru Chiba (Raditz), Jôji Yanami (Narration, Kaiô-sama), Mayumi Tanaka (Kuririn), and Masako Nozawa (Son Goku, etc.):

With all this information building up so much and being a little difficult to keep track of, we are very proud to premier a new "Tidbit" on the website, and one that will actually be constantly updated over time with the latest information.

Our "DragonBall Kai" tidbit chronologically showcases every single last bit of information we have come to learn about the series since we first heard about it on our own forum a full month before any official announcements. Be sure to check it out, and refer to it with any discussions you may have online or offline!

12 March 2009

Kenji Yamamoto To Score DragonBall Kai BGM
VegettoEX @ 8:54 am EST -- kei17 dropped us a line on our forum to let us know that the Fuji TV website has announced that Kenji Yamamoto will be responsible for the background music of DragonBall Kai.

While it is unfortunate that Shunsuke Kikuchi's score will not be making a return, those unfamiliar with Kenji Yamamoto will be happy to hear that he has actually been involved with the series and its spin-off properties for around twenty years, himself. Yamamoto is responsible for the arrangement of many TV and movie theme songs throughout the years, including TV songs like "CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA" and "Unmei no Hi ~Tamashî VS Tamashî~", as well as movie songs like DBZ movie 6 closing theme "Hero (Kimi ga Hîrô)" and DBZ movie 2 insert song "Pikkoro-san Da~isuki". In addition to direct involvement with the series, Yamamoto has been responsible for the scores of countless DragonBall video games like the Super Butôden series from the Super Famicom era, all the way up through more current games like Burst Limit.

Our personal opinion is that if there was going to have to be a background score replacement, this is how we would want it handled. We have full confidence in its integrity and its ability to fit the mood and tone of the series. Of course, we will just have to wait and see what the final product looks (and sounds!) like come April 5th...!

(For the record, this Kenji Yamamoto is different than the Kenji Yamamoto responsible for Metroid music. They are two different people that spell their names with different kanji.)

11 March 2009

DragonBall Evolution Review
VegettoEX @ 9:15 pm EST -- Our old buddy Greg (who ran "The Ulimate DBZ Info Site" for many years, starting it up back in 1997, a year before this site began) has posted up his review and thoughts on DragonBall Evolution over in our forum. Hopefully we'll be able to get Julian to go see it this weekend, and we'll all wait another month before it hits our theaters...

Beware that there are a few spoilers in the thread... unless, of course, you're looking for that kind of thing.

Kai Behind-The-Scenes Video
VegettoEX @ 8:09 pm EST -- The blog "We Remember Love" posted an update last month with a little behind-the-scenes look at the blog's owner taking a stab at DragonBall Kai in the office of in-between animator Joey Hernandez down at the Philippines branch of Toei Animation. There is not much to it, but it's still pretty interesting stuff!

You may also want to take a look at their interview with Toei Philippines President Soya Satoshi, just for the heck of it.

Tokyo International Anime Fair / Kai Updates
VegettoEX @ 3:51 pm EST -- The official website for DragonBall Kai has updated with details on the upcoming Tokyo International Anime Fair and its DB-related events. We knew from a prior update that on March 20th the singer of the new theme song would appear, and that Masako Nozawa would also be on-hand for an interview. Since then, we have learned about Takayoshi Tanimoto and his performance of the new theme songs (OP: "Dragon Soul"; ED: "Yeah! Break! Care Break!").

The new update confirms that beginning at 10:00 am on the 20th they will distribute tickets to a special event (which will take place from 11:00 to 11:30) where Masako Nozawa will host a sort of "kick-off party" for DragonBall Kai. Also on-hand will be Hiromi Tsuru (Bulma) and Toshio Furukawa (Piccolo). Finally, Takayoshi Tanimoto will perform the new opening theme!

C'mon, Julian... make sure you go! We will have a little more for you later today concerning DragonBall Kai, so stay tuned!

09 March 2009

Evolution Soundtracks, New Japanese Guide Book
VegettoEX @ 10:45 am EST -- It looks like next week will see a couple CD releases that those looking forward to the upcoming DragonBall Evolution might be interested in. Amazon has listings for both the "soundtrack" for $14.99 and another "soundtrack" (which is actually the movie's score as composed by Brian Tyler) for $17.99, both listing for about the $18 point MSRP and both due out on 17 March 2009.

It is a little confusing, since the entry for the "soundtrack" that has "Original Score" in the URL is not the same entry that has the front and back cover clearly showing that it is, in fact, the original score. Maybe Amazon crossed their streams...? Nothing good ever comes of that. Thanks for the heads up, Tanooki.

Heading over to Japan, it looks like Shueisha will be following up the Story Volume with yet another "Super Exciting Guide". DragonBall: Super Exciting Guide - Character Volume is due out 03 April 2009 along with, sadly, the first "TV Anime Comics" (or "animanga", if you will) volume of the Ano-Yo-Ichi Budôkai arc. There are no pricing details yet, but the recent Story Volume guidebook went for ¥630 and the animanga typically go for ¥710, so you can expect them to be in the same ballpark. Thanks for the heads up, Herms.

For one last news tidbit, our inside-source Wasted Wisher tells us that Raditz will die by episode three in DragonBall Kai. In the original broadcast of DBZ, Raditz kicks the bucket at the very beginning of episode five.

Finally, I just wanted to leave you with some self-promotional reminders. We rarely do this anywhere other than on the podcast, but I figured I would toss them in. Be sure to follow along with me on Twitter, and check out my personal blog (which has a few interesting Daizenshuu EX behind-the-scenes if you are interested in that kind of thing). You can also find me every two weeks over on lo-fidelity with Jeff reviewing and appreciating music, and every month over on Video Game Conversations with Jeff and Andrew blogging and podcasting it up.

08 March 2009

Podcast Episode #0167 Available!
VegettoEX @ 10:11 pm EST -- Episode #0167 of the podcast is available for download! Since the "Rule" CD single didn't come in until recording day (which actually lets us do an all-Evolution episode next week), we decided to bring on prior guests Hujio and Corey to talk some more DragonBall Kai with us. We have all seen the new commercial and its selective re-framing on the cropping, and it's safe to say that everyone has an opinion on the situation. Tune in to hear what's going on and what the current situation is. Beyond that, we've got your regular news, releases, e-mails, and a ton more. Definitely check it out.

06 March 2009

DragonBall Kai Music News
VegettoEX @ 8:40 am EST -- kei17 (who else?!) dropped in with a new Jump scan that gives a little more information on the music for the upcoming DragonBall Kai.

Both the (new) opening and ending themes will be performed by Takayoshi Tanimoto, known for theme song performances in shows like Konjiki no Gash Bell!!. The new opening is called "Dragon Soul" and the new closing is called "Yeah! Break! Care Break!" (both of which are written out in English). There is no word on whether these two songs will last the entire length of the series, or if there will be a theme song shift for the Buu portion of the series as it was originally done.

Also provided on the page is a list of all of the original seiyû for the series. Interestingly, Tenshinhan is not included on this list at all, providing no further information on a possible (more formal) replacement for the late Hirotaka Suzuoki. While Tenshinhan was played by Eiji Takamoto in Sparking! METEOR, Tenshinhan did not appear in the recent Jump Anime Tour Special, and there have been no further appearances of the character to be voiced. Neither "Kame-Sen'nin" or "Muten-Roshi" are listed on the page, either, so it will be interesting to see which of the many voices ends up taking over the role (though it will most likely be Hiroshi Masuoka).

The characters listed are:

• Son Goku & Son Gohan (Masako Nozawa)
• Bulma (Hiromi Tsuru)
• Kuririn (Mayumi Tanaka)
• Yamcha (Tôru Furuya)
• Oolong (Naoki Tatsuta)
• Chiaotzu (Hiroko Emori)
• Gyû-Maô (Daisuke Gôri)
• Chi-Chi (Naoko Watanabe)
• Kami-sama (Takeshi Aono)
• Piccolo (Toshio Furukawa)
• Raditz (Shigeru Chiba)
• Vegeta (Ryô Horikawa)
• Freeza (Ryûsei Nakao)
• Narration (Jôji Yanami)

All have their expected performers (with the exception of Chi-Chi's second voice doing the earlier parts of the series where it was originally Mayumi Shô), so this (again) leaves us with more questions than answers.

There is no confirmation on whether or not the full background music score will be a replacement of Shunsuke Kikuchi's original work or if it will be an enhnacement of that work.

05 March 2009

Tons Of Little Updates (Kai, Evolution, Sales, & More)
VegettoEX @ 9:38 am EST -- It seems like the last couple days have been filled with lots of little tidbits of news, so let's do our best to catch up on everything!

kei17 flipped through some Japanese blogs to let us know the current going-ons with DragonBall Kai. Toshio Furukawa (the voice of Piccolo) updated his blog yesterday to say that they were recording lines for the first episode of DragonBall Kai, while Naotoshi Shida (keyframe animator for DBZ) also had a blog update noting that they finished up the keyframe animation for the new ending theme to the series.

CDJapan is currently having a special sale to tie-in with the Japanese release of DragonBall Evolution this month. They are offering up to 20% off most DB-related DVDs (though some are only, for example, 10% off). If you have any holes in your R2 collection, this may be another great chance to fill them in. Be sure to compare with other online retailers, though, since Amazon Japan occasionally has better deals on certain volumes. For example, the first DragonBall movie (which many American fans are still struggling to get an uncensored version of due to the ongoing Lion's Gate licensing fiasco/confusion) is on sale for ¥2520 on CDJapan, while it's going for ¥2175 over on Amazon Japan. Make sure you balance out prices with shipping costs, as well. Just a heads-up!

Continuing with DragonBall Evolution news, IGN has put up a "new" trailer for the movie (though it is one that has been floating around for a while, especially in other countries). This one showcases some more of the special effects, Shenlong at the end, and includes Ayumi Hamasaki's "Rule" as the backing music.

Speaking of "Rule", it is apparently not selling so well for Hamasaki... comparatively speaking, anyway. According to Oricon, while "Rule" is Hamasaki's 20th #1 single in a row (and her 32nd #1 single in total), it sold "barely" over 95,000 copies, and is the lowest first-week sales ever in her career. We were planning on reviewing the song (along with its complete CD+DVD single package) on the upcoming podcast this weekend, but since it has (shockingly) not yet arrived, we'll be discussing some other current news with a few familiar voices.

Finally, our buddy Greg popped over to our forum with a couple quick bits from the new DragonBall: Super Exciting Guide - Story Volume guidebook that came out this week in Japan. Greg notes that while most of the material is information we have seen packaged and repackaged many times before, there are a couple new bits by way of a new interview with Toriyama. In it, the author notes that in discussing how to make Goku stronger with his assistant Matsuyama, by making Goku's hair "blonde" (or "gold" or "yellow" or however you would like to describe it), it actually made it easier on them since they would no longer have to color in all of Goku's hair, which took a long time to dry. The logic is astounding! Toriyama also lists out his five favorite battles (#1 was Goku vs Piccolo-Daimaô), and a few other nice little tidbits. We will dive into the book a little more very soon on the site, assuming Julian picks us both up a couple copies...!

03 March 2009

New US & Japanese Books & Cover Art
VegettoEX @ 3:30 pm EST -- Back in December we first told you about the "Chapter Books" coming out under the VizKids label. Courtesy of Amazon (by way of our buddy Tanooki Kuribo), we have cover art for the first four announced volumes:

While I am sure that very few of us are genuinely interested in the contents of these books (like we say with the "animanga", if you want to read the story, why not just read the original manga as the author originally drew/wrote it...?), the cover art nevertheless leaves us intrigued. The art comes from sources like various chapter title pages, but some things are swapped around and re-colored. Quite honestly, they are rather nice looking! Volumes 1 & 2 are due out 04 August 2009, while volumes 3 & 4 are due out 01 September 2009.

Heading over to Japan (and you have probably already read about it over on Kanzentai, but that's OK!), we actually have a new guide book coming out! This one is called DragonBall: Chô ("Super") Exciting Guide - Story Hen ("Volume").

We unfortunately do not know too much about it, other than it costing ¥630 and running 96 pages, and is actually due out tomorrow, 04 March 2009. It sounds like the folks over at Kanzentai will be doing a little run-down, but you can expect us to have a few words on it, as well. Hopefully we can get Julian to pick it up this week and give us a few words on the next podcast.

01 March 2009

Podcast Episode #0166 Available!
VegettoEX @ 10:42 pm EST -- Episode #0166 of the podcast is available for download! This week we're up to volume 25 in our "Manga Review of Awesomeness". This was definitely a strange volume to analyze, but I think we ended up with some interesting points. In addition to that, we've got all the news you've come to enjoy (though nothing from today, as we recorded the show on Friday). DBZ ABCs, March's releases, and even Meri's Top 5 makes a brief return... all good stuff. Definitely check it out.

DragonBall Kai Commercial Thoughts, New Cover Song
VegettoEX @ 12:11 pm EST -- Now that we've had time to digest the commercial (and get a good night's sleep after far too much Street Fighter IV), we are ready to dive into this commercial and pick apart what little we have to go on.

Big thanks to Taku and Snaku for spreading the word and providing up some screen shots to compare with. The below comparison shots showcase the differences between the Dragon Box masters and what was presented to us in this first commercial for DragonBall Kai:

With this image, you can see that a bit of the top and bottom of the screen have indeed been cropped for the new presentation. Like FUNimation's releases, there is also additional footage on the sides to help bring it into the new 16:9 aspect ratio. However, take a look at the next shot:

Drastically different from FUNimation's own faux-"remastered" releases (which are a dead-on-center cropping), it appears that DragonBall Kai will actually be selectively re-framing the shots to focus in on the most important visual information. As you can see above, the cropping is shifted from the center all the way up to the top of the screen.

While an HD version of the trailer did make its way online, I think it's important to wait until the actual TV broadcast of the full show to comment on things like colors, and even for a little additional commentary on the cropping. Very quickly, however, it does appear that the colors have been adjusted, though they are much softer and consistent in tone than FUNimation's over-saturation adjustments. The softness carries over to the upscaling, which is not nearly as sharpened (causing a loss of detail) as FUNimation's.

In addition to the trailer on YouTube, our buddy sangofe went ahead and created a subtitled version of the commercial from the HD version that leaked online. You can check that one out over on YouTube, as well.

In addition to the above DragonBall Kai news, SSj_Rambo wrote in to let us know that Bandai is going to be releasing new "Real Works Warriors of the World" figures later this year in May, also under the DragonBall Kai label (similar to the new DS game also getting the Kai branding). They will run about ¥3500, and a little bit of information has popped up online. We'll let you know when we get some pictures of them!

Finally, kei17 let us know that a new idol group named "Sherry" is going to be releasing their debut single... which happens to be yet another cover version of "Romantikku Ageru yo" (the closing theme to the DB TV series). There is no word on whether or not this is going to be used as the closing theme to DragonBall Kai or if its release is just a coincidence, but it is interesting none-the-less. It will be out 22 April 2009 for ¥1200 (catalogue number UPCH-5586). I don't see any pre-orders up yet on any sites, but they should be coming soon enough.

	Romantikku Ageru yo ("I'll Give You Romance!") Sherry UPCH-5586 ¥1200 3 tracks 22 April 2009
Track 1: ロマンティックあげるよ Romantikku Ageru yo I'll Give You Romance! Track 2: SEPARATE Track 3: SEPARATE＜ajapai goes to Brazil remix＞

So there you have it. Check back later today for this week's podcast episode!