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Daizenshuu EX - Updates from April 2010 |
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26 April 2010
VegettoEX @ 10:17 am EDT -- In a press release from this morning, FUNimation and 4Kids have announced an agreement to have their (presumably edited) English dubbed version of DragonBall (Z) Kai air as a part of "TheCW4Kids" scheduling block in the 2010-2011 broadcast season.
Fans had noted how strange it was for Kai to go direct to Nicktoons (a premium cable channel and Internet portal owned by Nickelodeon) when the franchise has such a rich history in North America, previously being broadcast both in standard syndication as well as on the near-universal cable station Cartoon Network. This agreement seems to address those questions with The CW's block, an extension of prior programming blocks such as Kids' WB and 4Kids TV.
As we have been hinting at, 4Kids will also have episodes available for streaming via their websites. It remains to be seen whether FUNimation themselves (having such a successful empire of Internet-broadcasting partner agreements) will stream the series on their own in any way. Current examples of this empire include One Piece, which FUNimation streams uncut versions of entirely on their own both in Japanese and English.
Information is still a little vague at this point, but it appears that (Z) Kai will be broadcast on both stations, albeit not necessarily premiering at the same time. Today's press release notes "sneak peaks" will occur "this summer" on TheCW4Kids before it debuts "as a regularly scheduled program on TheCW4Kids Saturday morning block during the 2010-2011 broadcast season".
This is not the first time that the series has been broadcast on separate (even competing) stations at the same time. After DragonBall Z took off in the ratings on Cartoon Network starting in 1999, local syndication channels (which were the first to debut the series from 1996-1998) would occasionally air blocks of the first two "seasons" to capitalize on its success, apparently still having the rights to do so. At the same time, the International Channel (later AZN Television) broadcast the entirety of the DragonBall Z and DragonBall GT TV series in raw Japanese through the turn of the millennium, while the Spanish channel Telemundo ran through the DragonBall Z TV series with its acclaimed Mexican/Spanish dub.
The edited dub of DragonBall (Z) Kai from FUNimation is set to debut on Nicktoons on May 24th at 8:00 pm. The unedited home release on DVD and Blu-ray from FUNimation (which includes the original Japanese audio track) is set for release on May 18th. DragonBall Kai premiered on Fuji TV in Japan on 05 April 2009 at 9:00 am and airs each Sunday morning immediately prior to One Piece as a part of the special "Dream 9" programming block. For more information on Kai, visit our respective "Tidbit" page.
Needless to say, 2010 is going to be an interesting year for fandom discussions. For the type of fandom that Daizenshuu EX serves, let us remind everyone once again that the home release is going to be unedited and will contain the original Japanese audio track. Hurray! |
25 April 2010
VegettoEX @ 9:52 pm EDT -- Way back on Episode #0078 of our podcast we reviewed Shoko Nakagawa and her new cover album which featured the lead single "Romantikku Ageru yo", a cover on the DragonBall TV series' closing theme. Here we are almost exactly three years later, and the cat-eating otaku idol is at it again with our favorite series.
This time she is covering "Detekoi Tobikiri ZENKAI Pawâ!", the first closing theme to the DragonBall Z TV series, along with a TV-sized cover of "DAN DAN Kokoro Hikarete 'ku", the opening theme to the DragonBall GT TV series. Is the CD even worth a listen? A little bit of news discussion, releases for the next few weeks, and a nice little batch of e-mails round out the episode. Download the show now, or head on over to the podcast page for more information or to subscribe. |
21 April 2010
VegettoEX @ 12:56 pm EDT -- It has been a rather slow last couple of days — the only real news we have for you is just the following two video game tidbits!
The official Japanese website for DragonBall TAG VS on the PSP has gone online. There is still not a whole lot of information about the game just yet, and the site is still showcasing the same four characters previously revealed.
In American game news, GameStop is listing DragonBall Origins 2 (the domestic release of DragonBall DS 2) as coming out on 22 June 2010, a date that has not yet been formally revealed by Namco-Bandai, themselves. The game is set at the expected $29.99 price point. GameStop also has cover art for the game, which is identical to the original Japanese release (with the obvious exception of the title change):
I would expect to hear more from Namco-Bandai in the coming days — we are two months off from release on this one, supposedly. |
18 April 2010
VegettoEX @ 9:17 pm EDT -- This podcast episode and "Manga Review of Awesomeness" is brought to you by exploding Cell Jr. heads:
Julian just finished moving in with the fiancee, so with all of his stuff in storage and an otherwise all-local recording, we decided to do a live broadcast of the show this week. The Cell Game has finally begun, and Goku has just as quickly turned it on over to the next fighter. Was the build-up to Gohan done as well as it could have been, and are we buying it? Was this also the last great transformation sequence in the series? Our live broadcast covers a bunch of questions from the audience, talk about the upcoming new closing theme to Kai, and so much more! Download the show now, or head on over to the podcast page for more information or to subscribe.
In other brief news, it appears that Dragon Box sets of the movies are not yet planned for release by FUNimation. NebsTV, in a tweet from Chicago's C2E2 event, states that the company is waiting to see how well Dragon Box versions of the TV series sell before looking into releasing the movies.
The company's original press release from last July clearly indicated that they obtained the rights to the movies along with the series, so it is certainly in the cards. Folks, if this is something that you are interested in, you know what you need to do. If you are not yet convinced, read our reviews of the first and second domestic Dragon Box sets, take a gander back at our old feature from when the Japanese "Dragon Box: The Movies" set came out, and start tossing some money their way. This is what we waited for, and in some ways, fought for...
... or at least talked endlessly about for a couple years. Rock on. |
16 April 2010
VegettoEX @ 1:37 pm EDT -- Our Japanese buddy Kei17 has come through for us yet again with some exclusive news about DragonBall Kai in Japan. An upcoming issue of Jump details the first tidbits about a new closing theme for the series during the Jinzôningen & Cell story arc, and will apparently premier at the end of episode 55 on 02 May 2010. Based on the title for this episode, it will indeed be the "start" of the next story arc when Freeza arrives on Earth with King Cold.
The song will be performed by "Team Dragon" which is made up of members from the idol group AKB48, which itself is comprised of seven members.
The name of the new closing theme has not yet been revealed. No information on an updated opening theme has been stated, so it seems likely that "Dragon Soul" will remain.
While the opening theme has had a few key scenes update in the animation as the story moved into the Freeza arc, both the song and animation for the current closing theme ("Yeah! Break! Care! Break!") have remained the same since the show's debut just over a year ago.
Kei17 notes that many Japanese fans are upset with this choice, describing AKB48 (the "AKB" standing for Akihabara) as a group popular among "disgusting idol nerds". It is a strange choice — the "Z" portion of the story has always stuck with otaku favorites like Hironobu Kageyama, sure, but never dipped into idol territory outside of cover versions from artists like Shoko Nakagawa and Hitomi Kitamura.
UPDATE: Kei17 gave us a little update, noting that Minami Takahashi, the "leader" of this "Team Dragon", has fans that claim she is "real" fan and even refers to the series frequently on her blog. This may help the Japanese fans a little bit in being slightly more accepting of this choice, but it sounds like it will certainly be an uphill battle.
Back over in North America, the previously-not-quite-announced release of the first DragonBall movie is now listed as coming out on 28 December 2010... a delay of over half a year from what had previously been listed. We are still awaiting final confirmation from FUNimation on what will actually be included on the disc, and now when it will actually be coming out. |
14 April 2010
VegettoEX @ 1:45 pm EDT -- We have been a little slow catching up on some news over the last couple days, so let us go on ahead and take care of that!
Our buddy EvilGamerX already nailed the May 24th, Monday through Thursday news about (Z) Kai for us several weeks back, so you were already up-to-speed on that, right? He also tossed out there that 8 pm was being discussed as a possible broadcast time, though that was still up-in-the-air. Whether convenient rumor or not, plenty of folks are discussing a seemingly-concrete 8 pm broadcast time across the internets this week, pointing to a supposed commercial that has yet to make its way online. File it as "rumor" for now, but it seems to have some legs.
We have covered the upcoming broadcast edits and do not plan to go much further in-depth since the home release is really the only version of any interest what-so-ever. It will be completely unedited and will also contain the original Japanese version. Look for our review in the coming weeks, or check out our review of the first Japanese Blu-ray release in the meantime.
Our buddy Haseowolf once again comes in strong with some RightStuf information, this time showing their latest brochure with a 14 September 2010 release part for "Part Two" of (Z) Kai.
That seems like a rather long time between releases with "Part One" coming out in just a few weeks on 18 May 2010. Does the Nicktoons broadcast somehow come into play here? Possibly. FUNimation has a flip-flopping past of having some aspects of the franchise appear first on television and some appear first on a home release, so there is really no consistency to point back to as a solid precedent. There is also the issue of Blu-ray region coding being the same (Region A) for the US and Japan, so there may be a release schedule stipulation in the contract from Toei.
In other important FUNimation release news, it seems like the last remnant of the Trimark/Lionsgate sub-licensing disaster is about to finally come to a close. When FUNimation began dubbing the franchise with the first series back in 1995, home distribution was sub-licensed to what eventually became absorbed into Lionsgate. Word on the street was that said sub-license (for the first 13 episodes and first movie) was "indefinite" and even FUNimation representatives were unable to concretely-comment on how or if that would ever be resolved. When we contacted Lionsgate almost exactly one year ago for comment on the situation, we were referred to their legal department who claimed that such information was not something they would share.
Fast-forward to July 2009 when FUNimation confirmed the worst-kept-secret of the day — they would be re-releasing the first TV series in a new "remastered" format, which would include the first 13 episodes fully uncut for the first time ever in North America.
Over the last couple weeks, folks have discovered that the latest issue of Otaku USA magazine has a review of a supposed upcoming new release of the first series' first movie (domestically titled Curse of the Blood Rubies).
Interestingly, the review seems to hint at the inclusion of the original, edited dub (which used a replaced musical score and FUNimation's first voice cast from Canada). I reached out to Daryl Surat, the author of the review, for some extra clarification. He noted that the final disc had not been completed at the time of review, but was informed it would not include a re-dub of the movie, and would be uncut.
At this point, we still do not have final clarification, though we have also reached out to FUNimation themselves. Will it contain two video tracks, one for the original Japanese version, and one for the old/edited dub (which actually spliced in TV footage at certain points)? Was an uncut dub of the movie never produced with their current cast?
Most importantly, a RightStuf listing for the disc has recently popped up with a release date of 27 July 2010 and an MSRP of $14.98. While listed as "hybrid" (indicating two audio tracks), this could also just be a mis-label or placeholder. At the very least, we know it is coming and it will probably contain at least the original Japanese version uncut, and it will be the first time the movie has ever been released in that fashion in this part of the world. That's a win for everyone. |
11 April 2010
VegettoEX @ 5:15 pm EDT -- This week on the show, Hujio and I go it alone! We have tons of news to catch up on and discuss, including (but not limited to!) all of the (Z) Kai broadcast shenanigans. For our topic, we dive back into the Freeza arc and closely examine Vegeta and his one-on-one rivalries. Some of them are quite obvious and receive a good amount of exposition, while characters like Dodoria and Zarbon just seem to be in his way. How does he handle all of them, and what does it tell us about his character? Download the show now, or head on over to the podcast page for more information or to subscribe.
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10 April 2010
VegettoEX @ 11:30 am EDT -- It is a very loose connection to be drawing for a news update, especially on a site where we so strictly focus on just one of Toriyama's series... but we will make a slight exception since there are crossovers with DragonBall.
According to ICv2, Toei will be shopping the rights to at least one of the Dr. Slump TV series at MIPTV in Cannes, France next week. At one point in time in the 1980s, the series was briefly held by Harmony Gold, who also did a brief test-run of the DragonBall series and movies. Since then, all we have had in North America has been a censored manga release from Viz.
Us fans of 1980s-1990s anime might have a lot of good things to be looking forward to in the near-future!
VegettoEX @ 10:22 am EDT -- Sure enough, new scans out of Japan are showcasing the upcoming DragonBall TAG VS for the PSP:
There is not a whole lot to say about it just yet, other than that it appears to be coming this summer in Japan and will feature two-on-two battles (as expected from the title). Confirmed characters from the screens thus-far appear to be Goku, Vegeta, Freeza, and Cell.
In general Kai news, our buddies at Kanzentai dug up the titles for some of the upcoming episodes in Japan. Based on the episode titles alone, it is apparent that the Garlic Jr. story arc will be entirely removed. We will move from the conclusion of the Planet Namek story arc in Kai episode 54 directly into Freeza's journey to Earth (along with Trunks!) in episode 55.
Originally taking place from DBZ episodes 108 to 117, this arc featuring the return of the villain from the first DBZ movie was the first (of two) major story lines in the DBZ TV series to be entirely self-contained and original, not appearing in the manga at all. With Kai proclaiming itself to be closer to the original manga vision, it makes sense that it would be removed from this "refreshed" version. |
09 April 2010
VegettoEX @ 8:27 pm EDT -- Folks have already started describing these as "Saban-era" edits, and that may very well be an accurate description.
As predicted, the Nicktoons website is streaming clips of the English dub of DragonBall (Z) Kai, which appear to be from the censored broadcast version. In the first clip (of several linked on our forum), we can clearly see not only is the blood removed from Bardock's face, but also his iconic scar:
Japanese TV Broadcast |
US Nicktoons Broadcast |
Kame-Sen'nin is also rocking a nice, poorly-colored, frosty glass of... uhh... white:
It truly does remind us of the "good ol' days" back in 1996...
We dislike this just as much as the rest of you, trust us. In the case of Bardock's scar, it may simply be an unfortunate necessary evil in order to properly remove the rest of the blood on his face. It makes one wonder, however, just how much will be edited to justify an "uncut" release, similar to "Season 3" VHS releases that had minor verbiage adjustments that seemed to do little more than, as noted, merely "justify" the existence of both an edited and uncut version. Will the dreaded "next dimension" rear its ugly head yet again? Some of buddies have already told us that things like "death" will not be mentioned, along with plenty of other dialogue changes...
This is a different case than back in 1999, however, with the edited version being produced exclusively for Nicktoons, rather than a simultaneous home release alongside an uncut version. It is important to note that the home releases on DVD and Blu-ray will be fully "unedited", and that word (finally) holds true for even the dialogue on the English dub side of things now that the series is being treated the way it is. Furthermore, the original Japanese version will always be there intact. If you care about the series to the degree that we do, the home release is probably what is most up your alley. That is essentially the only version we are interested in and will not extensively be covering the TV broadcast from this point forward. The nice thing about it not being 1999 anymore is that there are no worries about which version(s) will be available for a home release!
VegettoEX @ 10:06 am EDT -- Rumblings about a new PSP entry for the franchise have been going on for months now, so it is not a particularly huge surprise to hear that it may be true.
Japanese blogs are reporting that an upcoming issue of Jump reveals a new game called DragonBall TAG VS. Not a whole lot of details are listed, other than it will be coming sometime in 2010 from Namco-Bandai in Japan.
With hints from English voice actors that at least two games are in the works for this year, everything seems to be falling into place.
Will it be a team fighting game, a la something like Tekken Tag or Capcom's VS series...? Seems likely!
VegettoEX @ 9:38 am EDT -- We are incredibly excited to bring you another great contest here on the website! Of the four games for the franchise released in 2009, our favorite of the bunch was easily Attack of the Saiyans on the Nintendo DS.
Want a chance to win it...?!
Our friends at Goku's Corner, the official fan community of Dragon Ball games by NAMCO BANDAI Games, Inc. have stepped up and offered not only a copy of Attack of the Saiyans (originally released in Japan as DragonBall Kai: Saiya-jin Raishû), but a couple other extras! One grand prize winner will receive a copy of the game, as well as a special Capsule Corp. mug and a mini-scroll featuring SSJ Trunks, SSJ Goku, SSJ Vegeta, SSJ Gohan, and Piccolo!
Head on over to our "Contests" page for all the details! |
05 April 2010
VegettoEX @ 4:11 pm EDT -- Exactly one year ago in Japan, on 05 April 2009, DragonBall Kai debuted on television. We had learned about it over the several months leading up to its premier (much of it exclusively through the community here on Daizenshuu EX...!), and we have spoken at length about it throughout the website (for example, our review of the first Japanese Blu-ray release) and our podcast. Regardless of how you feel about the product, you cannot deny that it has contributed a wealth of discussion to the community, and has brought many old fans back into the fold. 51 episodes down...!
Coincidentally, today also marks the 55th birthday of a one Akira Toriyama. Best wishes and congrats to our main man, and here's to another 55 years of poop-on-a-stick jokes!
In Japanese release news, our buddies over at Kanzentai have updated again with additional details on the new illustration book hitting this month entitled DragonBall Ôgon no Senshi ("DragonBall: The Golden Warrior"). The latest V-Jump divulges some details about it, including that it will cover Goku through the DragonBall GT series (specifically mentioning SSJ4), and will include over 100 illustrations. There will also be a new batch of interviews and other material, so it goes without saying that we cannot wait to get our hands on it! The book drops in Japan on 16 April 2010 for a mere ¥1200. There is still no cover art for the book, yet (despite it coming out in just a couple weeks), though this is nothing new for Shueisha...
Back over in the U.S. o' A., a great bit of news has been leaking about the English-dubbed production of DragonBall (Z) Kai. Based on what we have been told from several independant sources, as well as information made public at the conventions this past weekend, here is what we can tell you:
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The series will be edited on Nicktoons, and will occasionally contain different verbiage than the home release, which will be entirely unedited;
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This include character attacks, many of which will regain their correct and untranslated-proper-noun announcements in the unedited dub (Makankô-sappô, Kienzan, etc.);
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Some names that are deeply engrained in the English reversioning will unfortunately remain the same (namely the pronunciation of "Saiyan", Tenshinhan's adapted name, etc.);
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English-dubbed/performed versions of both the opening and closing themes have been created;
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General dialogue is indeed being treated with much more respect than ever before for an English dub of a DragonBall product;
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Episode titles are also faithful translations of their original Japanese versions.
We typically do not cover a dubbed product even close to this extensively on the site, but we will not deny how exciting it is to finally be able to see an at least somewhat comparable product sitting alongside the original Japanese version on the forthcoming domestic home releases. Something that all types of fans have discussed within our community is that with the simple fact that the English dialogue coming out of characters' mouths will finally be an approximation of what it said in Japanese... that actually allows fans to have a genuine discussion with each other without first endlessly clarifying which version is being recalled and all sides being met with dumbstruck faces. That's a plus, folks.
We have a lot of great stuff coming your way in the coming weeks, folks. Contests, interviews, standard podcast goodness... be on the lookout! You can always find out what we are up to via our Twitter and Facebook pages if our forum and chat are not up your social-networking-alley. |
04 April 2010
VegettoEX @ 11:41 am EDT -- This week on the show, Hujio joins us to chillax with a bit of news from the last week. It has been a slow build-up to some domestic news coming out of conventions this weekend, but we could only hint at some prior-knowledge with a dash of speculation as we led up to it. In a nutshell, we talk a bit more about the DragonBall Uranai book that just came out in Japan, and FUNimation's full-length trailer for DragonBall (Z) Kai. Your e-mails give us plenty to talk about, as well, though...! Download the show now, or head on over to the podcast page for more information or to subscribe.
We will try to catch up later today with some of the other news from across the world, but until then, enjoy the show! |
02 April 2010
VegettoEX @ 12:20 pm EDT -- The lovely Suupaa Gohan 2 alerted us to a product that just came out last month that we (somehow!) completely overlooked. Shoko Nakagawa put out a third Anison Cover album, and this one includes a (full-length) cover for the first DBZ TV closing theme ("Detekoi Tobikiri ZENKAI Pawâ!"), and the special 2-CD+DVD edition of the album also includes a TV-size cover of the DBGT TV opening theme ("DAN DAN Kokoro Hikarete ’ku").
Regular Edition |
2-CD+DVD Special Edition |
The set came out on 10 March 2010, and will run you ¥2800 for the regular edition (SRCL-7220, which does not include the DBGT cover!), while the 2-CD+DVD edition (SRCL-7218) will run you ¥3500.
We have updated the "Miscellaneous Non-DragonBall CDs" page of our "Music Database" accordingly.
Nakagawa's first cover album's main single was a version of the DB TV series closing theme ("Romantikku Ageru yo"), which also received a music video. We reviewed it way back on Episode #0078 of our podcast.
Our buddies over at Kanzentai have been keeping up with the new Japanese books coming out, and have posted up the cover art and translated description of DragonBall Uranai, which indeed appears to be a book to help figure out which character you "are" (of 48 in total) along with predicting your fortune. Very exciting. In fact, "super exciting", if you will.
This one just came out on 31 March 2010 for ¥840, but none of us have ordered it just yet. This is something that will go in the order when that next illustration book comes out... which apparently will be getting a little more info on our buddies' site soon, so be on the lookout for that.
Finally, FUNimation did indeed toss up their full-length trailer for DragonBall (Z) Kai which debuted during their "FUNiCon 3.0" online event a few days back. In it you can hear some of the voice acting adjustments, line changes (well, "changes" no longer being "changes"...!), etc.
There is not a whole lot of commentary we are looking to add about this dubbed production on the website in general, but you will be able to hear a little bit more of our thoughts on this weekend's forthcoming podcast episode. |
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