 |
|
GENERAL INFO |
|
| |
| GUIDES |
|
| |
| MULTIMEDIA |
| |
| |
|
INTERACTION |
|
|
 |
|
| |
Daizenshuu EX - Updates from August 2010 |
|
| |
|
|
| |
30 August 2010
VegettoEX @ 9:00 pm EDT -- It has been out for a couple weeks, but we finally had a chance to all get together and review the new "Team Dragon" (from AKB48) CD single, "Kokoro no Hane" (the second closing theme for DragonBall Kai). The written review would normally be accompanying the podcast version, but some fascinating insight from Julian revealed the true nature behind the music video for the song... so we need to rent a movie, first! Listen in for all the nitty-gritty details. Download the show now, or head on over to the podcast page for more information or to subscribe.
VegettoEX @ 1:18 pm EDT -- Previously scheduled for release on 14 September 2010, the fourth "Dragon Box" for the DragonBall Z TV series from FUNimation has been delayed a single week back to 21 September 2010 (according to various online retailers such as Amazon).
This delay does not appear to affect FUNimation's second volume of Kai, which is still due out on the 14th. |
26 August 2010
VegettoEX @ 9:46 am EDT -- As we announced at the very beginning of the month, an upcoming DragonBall Kai CD would have a combination of BGM and vocal songs, including songs specifically for the characters of Trunks and Cell. There were few details at the time, so we were unsure if they would be sung in-character by the voice actors, or if the songs would be standard image songs simply about the characters.
Our buddies over at Kanzentai noticed some updates for the (now officially named) DragonBall Kai Soundtrack 3 & Songs CD on Columbia's website. We know that Trunks' song ("Tatta Hitori no Senshi" / "The Lone Warrior") will indeed be performed by Takeshi Kusao, while Cell's song ("Seru Gêmu no Oshirase" / "News of the Cell Game") will not be performed by Norio Wakamoto, and instead performed by Kenji Ôtsuki. A third song ("My 18th Magic") will be performed by cAnON. (who composed and arranged the first insert song in Kai, "Over the Star", as well as contributed background vocals to songs like the opening theme to the PS2 game Infinite World, "Hikari no Sasu Mirai e!").
Beyond the info for these three songs, we know that the album will also include TV-sized versions of the current opening ("Dragon Soul") and closing ("Kokoro no Hane") themes. The album (COCX-36424) is still due out in Japan on 22 September 2010 for ¥2940.
In video game news, a playable demo for the upcoming PSP game DragonBall TAG VS is available on the Japanese PlayStation store:
The demo is fully playable on any region PSP, though you will need to be running system software 6.30 or later. The demo is also available directly from Namco-Bandai's website (mirror 1 / mirror 2); you will need to extract the game files (~130 MB) to your memory stick to transfer over to the PSP system if you go this route, rather than downloading directly to the memory stick on the PSP itself (or PS3) via the PlayStation Store. We will have some initial thoughts for you on this weekend's upcoming podcast episode!
TAG VS is due out for the PSP in Japan on 30 September 2010 for ¥5229, while the game will see its release (as Tenkaichi Tag Team) in North America on 19 October 2010 for $39.99. |
25 August 2010
VegettoEX @ 1:50 pm EDT -- We have updated our "Feature" with parts 5 and 6 from our Otakon 2010 panel, "10 Things You Didn't Know About DragonBall". In these segments, you will learn all about who "Budhiyasa" is, as well as why exactly there are seven Dragon Balls!
|
22 August 2010
VegettoEX @ 12:36 am EDT -- This week on the show, our buddy Jeff finally gets a chance to break out a new "Manga Review of Awesomeness" with us. The Cell Game finally comes to a close, but do we reflect as fondly on this part of the series as we otherwise thought we might? Little bits of news, August's last few releases, and your e-mails round out the episode. Download the show now, or head on over to the podcast page for more information or to subscribe.
In addition to the podcast episode, our latest "Feature" has been updated with another two video segments from our Otakon 2010 panel, "10 Things You Didn't Know About DragonBall". In these two segments you will learn all about the three "Side Stories", as well as Toriyama's involvement with DragonBall GT. Enjoy! |
21 August 2010
VegettoEX @ 9:30 am EDT -- Our respective "Tidbit" has been updated with ten new screen shots from Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans:
Any time you see questions or possibly misinformation about Raging Blast 2 and its inclusion of this feature's re-make, be sure to pass them along here to Daizenshuu EX. We have you covered! |
20 August 2010
VegettoEX @ 10:30 am EDT -- Those of you who follow the video game scene have likely seen the rise of blog posts that essentially copycat what Cheap Ass Gamer has been doing for years now. Well, hey... we can play that game, too!
It's no secret that we love a good deal, so we'll check around the Internet and dig up what appears to be the best deal on a couple items for you every so often. It's primarily Amazon this time around, with a couple slightly-better deals elsewhere around the web.
See anything else out there? Definitely let us know so we can add it in! We will see you later on this weekend with Volume 35 in our "Manga Review of Awesomeness" on the podcast! |
18 August 2010
VegettoEX @ 9:45 pm EDT -- A recent tweet from FUNimation states that the re-made special, Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans, that will appear on the North American release of Raging Blast 2 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 will be presented with its original Japanese language only (with English subtitles):
Re: the portion of the Eradicate the Super Saiyans OVA on the Namco Bandai Raging Blast 2 game - not ours,Toei's in Japanese w/Eng sub.
That is followed up with another quick semi-retraction that basically leaves the door open for a later release that would involve an English dub, pretty much as we have expected. At the present time, though, it does not seem like FUNimation has anything to announce about it.
Want to see it right away upon release? You'll be in our camp watching it in Japanese this November.
VegettoEX @ 2:33 pm EDT -- We have added a plethora of character design sheets for Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans on our re-launched "Saiya-jin Zetsumetsu Keikaku" page in the "Tidbits" section.
Lots of great images are available; be sure to click through for the full-sized versions.
VegettoEX @ 11:36 am EDT -- Namco-Bandai has released a new trailer for Raging Blast 2 today as part of GamesCom 2010 with sneak-peaks at new characters and Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans.
Specifically revealed as playable characters for the upcoming PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game are Bojack, Zangya, and Hatchihyakku ("Hatchiyak"):
Bojack and Zangya have almost always come as a pair as playable characters in DragonBall video games, dating all the way back to Super Butôden 2 on the Super Famicom in 1993. The duo from the ninth DragonBall Z movie last appeared in 2007's Sparking! METEOR for the PlayStation 2 and Wii.
Previously just a "boss" character in Saiya-jin Zetsumetsu Keikaku (Nintendo Famicom and Bandai Playdia games), "Hatchiyack" will now be a fully playable character.
Also showcased are several quick scenes from the newly-remade Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans, the story of which is now confirmed to flood over into the main game:
We hope to have even more reveals about the new animation in the near future, so look forward to additional coverage.
Namco-Bandai has also uploaded a new trailer for the forthcoming TAG VS ("Tenkaichi Tag Team") PSP game:
As an added bonus, we are launching a new feature today: "10 Things You Didn't Know About DragonBall". We were lucky enough to present this panel just a few weeks ago at Otakon 2010, and are finally getting around to posting up some video of the panel.
This feature is debuting with the first two "things", with the rest to come over the next several weeks. Enjoy! |
15 August 2010
VegettoEX @ 4:01 pm EDT -- This week on the show, our good buddy Hujio from Kanzentai joins us discuss the remainder of points from Otakon 2010, but more importantly, to discuss all of the big news from the last couple weeks. Regular readers of the website are all caught up on most of the news, but we took the opportunity to dig deeper into the financial situation of our favorite franchise, and expand upon all of the news pieces a little more. Download the show now, or head on over to the podcast page for more information or to subscribe.
Related to the news, I am very happy to debut the completely re-worked "Tidbit" page for "Saiya-jin Zetsumetsu Keikaku". Everything you want to know about Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans has been explained in detail. Read on! |
10 August 2010
VegettoEX @ 1:19 pm EST -- Namco-Bandai issued a press release today confirming the inclusion of the new episode/feature/OVA, Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans, on-disc for both the PS3 and 360 versions of Raging Blast 2 which is due out this November.
DRAGON BALL®: RAGING BLAST™ 2 TO INCLUDE EXCLUSIVE DRAGON BALL® ANIME EPISODE
Game Disc to Feature Brand New Never Before Seen 30-minute Dragon Ball Anime Feature
SANTA CLARA, Calif., (August 10, 2010) – NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. today announced that all retail editions of Dragon Ball®: Raging Blast 2™ for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system will feature a brand new 30-minute feature of the Dragon Ball® anime on the game disc.
The exclusive new feature entitled “Dragon Ball: Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans” is a completely reconstructed, re-scripted and re-edited version of an original Japanese episode that has never been released in the U.S or Canada, offering something unique to fans of the series. Everyone who buys the game can watch this exclusive anime straight out of the box.
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 features a host of improvements and new features, delivering the most authentic and advanced Dragon Ball videogame experience to date. Everything from the camera to the controls has been reworked to create an accessible game with more than enough tactical depth to satisfy even the most battle-hardened Dragon Ball fan. Sporting more than 90 characters, 20 of which are brand new to the Raging Blast series, new modes, and additional environmental effects, Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 is the next evolution in the home console series.
A special preview of the feature will be available on August 18th. We are following-up with Namco-Bandai regarding audio options for the feature in this international release of the game.
VegettoEX @ 9:25 am EST -- Namco-Bandai has posted a ¥1.64 billion (approximately $19 million) loss for the first quarter of fiscal year 2011, the period of April 1st to June 30th, 2010.
In terms of DragonBall overall, the franchise dropped in net sales from ¥2.2 billion last year in Q1 2010 to ¥1.2 billion this quarter, and the company is forecasting a drop down to ¥3.0 billion in Q2 2011 compared to ¥5.8 billion in Q2 2010. Compared with last fiscal year's actual net sales of ¥12.5 billion, the company is forecasting ¥9.5 billion for fiscal 2011.
No individual DragonBall game sales were noted in the report, but yesterday's update with numbers from Famitsu gave us a complete look at Japan throughout calendar 2009. As an update to that, it looks like DragonBall DS 2 sold 59,511 copies in Japan over the first half of this calendar year.
In terms of general toys and hobby merchandise (non-video games), the franchise dropped slightly in net sales from ¥0.7 billion last year in Q1 2010 to ¥0.6 billion this quarter. The company is standing strong with their forecast for fiscal 2011 of ¥2.7 billion, and projects an increase up to ¥1.1 billion next quarter alone. Should that projection ring true, that leaves only ¥0.9 billion to be split among the last two quarters of the fiscal year.
As always, the latter-half of the calendar year seems to be the strongest for Namco-Bandai in terms of DragonBall, and particularly in the video game arena. We have at least two more games coming worldwide this fall, which should bump things up. |
09 August 2010
VegettoEX @ 9:36 pm EDT -- This week on the show, I regrouped with our buddy Marc from The Fanboy Review to go over our predictions and expectations from FUNimation's industry panel at Otakon 2010. The previous year brought us the domestic Dragon Box announcement, and while we were not expecting anything of that grandeur this year, we were expecting at least something. Listen in to see how we did. As an added bonus, the Q&A session following our "10 Things You Didn't Know About DragonBall" panel is included this episode! The panel itself is coming soon as a series of ten short videos, but the Q&A was a little bonus that would not really fit in with the videos.. therefore, enjoy the audio here on the podcast! Download the show now, or head on over to the podcast page for more information or to subscribe.
VegettoEX @ 3:32 pm EDT -- We are all back and recovered from Otakon and wedding adventures, so let's just kick the news into high-gear right off the bat.
Almost two months ago, we were excited to break the news about an upcoming remake of Saiya-jin Zetsumetsu Keikaku ("The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans"). The title has a long and semi-convoluted history as an NES game, a two-part "Official Visual Guide" / OVA, and a two-part Playdia remake, so any kind of additional revisit it would receive 17 years later was sure to be big news.
A recent Jump feature officially revealed that this remake will be called Super Saiya-jin Zetsumetsu Keikaku ("The Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans", and it will be included as a part of the upcoming PS3 and 360 game Raging Blast 2, which is now officially due in Japan on 11 November 2010 for ¥7,329.
Our buddies over at Kanzentai have extracted a bit of information about the inclusion. We will be getting about 30 minutes of new animation which will be immediately available in the game. It will be also be a complete reanimation of the story with modern techniques, as opposed to a remastering a la Kai.
While there is no definite confirmation, it sounds like portions of the storyline will be a part of the general game play as well, as it does imply that Freeza has new techiques and combos to battle against Goku with (perhaps referring to the "ghost" version of Freeza that fights alongside ghost versions of Tullece, Slug, and Coola in the original story).
Just today, Namco-Bandai issued a press release about the game detailing the new inclusion, and the game's official website has been updated with some sneak-peaks at production art and sketches:
We know that the American version of the game (on both systems) is due about one week before its Japanese counterparts on 02 November 2010 for our standard price of $59.99. There is no word yet from Namco-Bandai about its possible inclusion outside Japan. The first Famicom game was removed as a bonus from Origins 2 when DragonBall DS 2 made its way to the DS over here, but this inclusion seems to be much more a part of the overall experience than that bonus.
We hope to have some exclusive peaks at the game in the coming weeks, so be sure to stay tuned...!
This certainly would not be the first time that a new DragonBall game was leaked via online retailer listings. Play.com is currently listing a new game for the Nintendo Wii titled simply DragonBall Z: Spike. It is an odd title, especially considering that Japanese developer Spike is responsible for the Sparking! and Raging Blast series, though only the second and third Sparking! games (NEO and METEOR) made it to the Wii; the only other Wii game for the franchise so far has been last year's Tenka-ichi Dai-bôken / Revenge of King Piccolo. The game is listed for release on 01 October 2010 in Europe, which is not all that far off. With other games coming out later this year as well, it seems strange that we would not have heard a peep about this game yet so far into 2010.
Famitsu has listed the top-selling games of 2009 in Japan, and our beloved DragonBall whimpers along the list at least in some capacity. Note that these stats are through December 2009, and do not include any additional sales so far in 2010. Data is presented in the following format: (rank) (platform) (title) (publisher) (2009 sales) (lifetime sales) — note that titles have been adjusted back to their original Japanese versions compared to other lists you may see online:
- 063 [NDS] DragonBall Kai: Saiya-jin Raishû (Bandai Namco) - 192.200 / 192.200
- 111 [PS3] DragonBall: Raging Blast (Bandai Namco) - 107.542 / 107.542
- 157 [PS2] DragonBall Z: Infinite World (Bandai Namco) - 76.275 / 199.966
- 255 [WII] DragonBall: Tenka-ichi Dai-bôken (Bandai Namco) - 44.160 / 44.160
- 355 [NDS] DragonBall DS (Bandai Namco) - 28.966 / 214.195
- 616 [360] DragonBall: Raging Blast (Bandai Namco) 10.816 / 10.816
- 740 [PSP] DragonBall: Evolution (Bandai Namco) - 7.513 / 7.513
As expected, Raging Blast did exceptionally better on the PS3 in Japan than on the 360. The latest DS game did surprisingly well, about on-pace with what the original DragonBall DS did in its first year. Infinite World has a strong showing in its second year, though it was released extremely late in 2008, so the numbers are a little misleading in that respect. The live-action movie game is a shocker to see on the list at all, pushing over 7000 copies in the country that made fun of the movie more than any other.
In much the same way as we learned with Shigeru Nakahara returning to voice #17 in Kai, no official announcement has been made about Norio Wakamoto returning to voice Cell. By way of Kanzentai, we have pretty solid confirmation on Wakamoto coming back, though, via Toshio Furukawa's (Piccolo) personal blog. If the man just got done doing a recording session with the him for Kai, that about seals the deal...!
After Takeshi Aono's recent stroke, we learned that all of his roles were being immediately recast. Kami-sama would be coming up in Kai episodes right before the appearance of Cell, leaving the role (unfortunately) wide open. Veteran Bin Shimada has stepped in to the role, perhaps best known to fans as Broli from the various later DragonBall Z movies. Shimada also took over for Aono's role in Chibi Maruko-chan.
The second TV Anime Ultimate Guide "DragonBall Extreme Battle Collection" guide book, recently released this past 04 August 2009 for ¥700, finally had some cover art leak out:
The two covers can be placed next to each other to form a larger image. It will be interesting to see if this guide book series continues onward to form even larger images, and if it will cover things such as DragonBall GT. No word has come out just yet, but we typically learn about these new books just weeks (if not days) before their release.
We have already received the first volume, and this second volume is due in this week. Look for some in-depth coverage here on the site and podcast in the coming weeks. We will also be giving away both volumes, so you will want to stay tuned for details on how to win them!
As you may know, a traditional (black and white) manga adaptation of the 2008 Jump Anime Tour Special was released in two parts via V-Jump in March and April 2009. Series veteran Takao Koyama worked on the story (with supervision from Akira Toriyama), while newcomer Naho Ooshi illustrated the adaptation. Our buddies over at Kanzentai have the full two parts for you to take a look at...
... as well as news that another manga adaptation is coming our way. Shueisha has announced a comic under the same title (Ossu! Kaette Kita Son Gokû to Nakama-tachi!!) with the "JSAT Edition" header. It is due out in Japan on 03 September 2010 for a cheap ¥730. Some additional details have come out which place the book at 160 pages (beating the original adaptation by almost 90 pages), and will be the same physical size as the Film Anime Comics. All signs are pointing to a redundant animanga version (screen shots from the special with word balloons) of the special. It is already up for pre-order on Amazon Japan; hopefully it will make its way to other retailers soon, too.
To close things out, we have a little bit of housekeeping all about us here at the site. We usually reserve this for the podcast, but since some of it involves normal website content, we might as well break it all down for you.
All of the footage is in and I am hard at work on tossing together a video series of our "10 Things You Didn't Know About DragonBall" panel which was presented at Otakon 2010 just a few weeks back. I cannot promise any exact date to expect the first part, but it is definitely coming. Stay tuned!
The "Manga Review of Awesomeness" is coming back to the podcast! After so many months of work being put into Otakon, even our buddy Jeff is ready to kick things back into gear. Here is our likely podcast schedule for the coming weeks. Things are subject to change, but these are our current plans:
- Episode #0228 (later today): Otakon Recap Part 1 — FUNimation/DragonBall and the Q&A session from our Otakon panel
- Episode #0229 (August 15th): Otakon 2010 Part 2 — Yûji Mitsuya, Kai production concerns, merchandise, etc.
- Episode #0230 (August 22nd): Manga Review of Awesomeness, Volume 35
- Episode #0231 (August 29th): "Kokoro no Hane" CD Single Review
- Episode #0232 (September 5th): "Extreme Battle Collection" Guide Book Series Review/First-Look
- Episode #0233 (September 12th): Ano-Yo-Ichi Budôkai Review of Awesomeness
As regular listeners will know, any time I schedule something it all gets thrown out the window. Rest assured, we have plans, and we will do our best to stick to them this time...!
For those of you who love good deals, FUNimation's third Dragon Box is back down to $26.49 on Amazon.
In more personal news, we all want to wish our buddy Julian here from the site and podcast a huge congrats on his marriage! The man is now officially married both in Japan and the US! Give him your best over on Twitter. |
02 August 2010
VegettoEX @ 12:28 pm EDT -- Navarre just completed their first quarter earnings conference call for Fiscal 2011, and unlike prior quarters where a few interesting tidbits relating to FUNimation and the DragonBall franchise were leaked out, much like FUNimation's panel at Otakon this past weekend, there is not much to say other than that things are going smoothly.
The only mention of the franchise was the same line written out in their press release from earlier in the day:
FUNimation benefited from a strong release schedule of Dragonball Z titles during the first quarter of fiscal year 2010.
Navarre is currently investigating a potential sale of FUNimation, which it announced last quarter. It has re-classified FUNimation as a "discontinued" operation, though they reiterated that FUNimation still has their full support as they look for a potential buyer, which they expect to complete over the next two quarters. As such, we will probably see less and less information come out about them from the business side of things, though it is fascinating to see that one tidbit in the press release. Our little DBZ did well enough for a discontinued operation that they figured they should toss that info out there! Nice.
Concluding FUNimation's industry panel this weekend at Otakon was a quick Q&A session in which it was noted that the Dragon Box sets continue to do well for the company. Between those and Kai, we all seem to be doing pretty well...!
More Otakon media and news will come, so stay tuned! |
01 August 2010
VegettoEX @ 9:52 pm EDT -- If you wish to plow through it, the entire story is up for digestion over on my personal blog — we will mostly just stick to the "news" here on Daizenshuu EX so as to not completely clutter up the page.
Amidst the fire alarm nonsense at Otakon this past weekend, I had an opportunity to ask voice director and actor Yûji Mitsuya if he would be returning to the role of Kaiôshin in DragonBall Kai when it eventually makes its way to that story arc.
Mitsuya responded that he was not sure, himself. Despite being friends with the director of the show, he was not convinced they would be able to afford him! He mentioned how he would even be willing to take a reduced rate on the job, showing a pretty heavy dedication to the series. To semi quote myself:
With the entirety of Ginyu-Tokusentai being replaced with new voice actors (including Kenji Utsumi as Recoom, despite him returning to the show to voice Shenlong), along with plenty of other voice actors that have become much bigger in the industry since their roles in DragonBall, it has really made us wonder just how expensive DragonBall Kai actually is to produce, despite us always describing it as “cheap” and “a money-grab” and “half-assed” in almost every way. Hujio and I later discussed how it seems that these days we get confirmations of actors returning either very close to their first appearance in the series… or not at all. Many times it will not even come from the official site for the series, and instead from the actors themselves or their fan communities (such as the case with #17).
Branching off of that, we could not help but speculate further. Was the licensing of Kai to FUNimation for American distribution a way to raise quick capital to fund the further production of the series? When it was first announced, it was clear that the series would go through at least the Freeza arc, since the villain was clearly shown on all production materials. The fact that it would be moving onward into the next story arc with Cell was a very casual “announcement”.
It was an incredible and moving (in a literal sense!) panel with the man, and the little tidbits of insight into Kai's production was just the icing on the cake.
VegettoEX @ 5:52 pm EDT -- We are back and recovering from Otakon, and while you wait for us to gather all sorts of fantastic audio, video, and pictures to share with you all, kick back in your chair and prepare for a new CD in September!
A new Character Song & BGM CD release (COCX-36424) will come out for DragonBall Kai on 22 September 2010 in Japan for ¥2940. It seems to be a continuation of both the DragonBall Kai Song Collection and the BGM Collection series (of which there have been two releases so far). In addition to a TV-sized version of the current closing theme, "Kokoro no Hane" (which incidentally just received its own full-version release in eleven different packages), the new CD will also contain songs for at least the characters of Cell and Trunks.
Will these songs be in-character, similar to Dende's and Vegeta's songs on the original Song Collection for Kai...? Early descriptions of that first disc also listed a theme for Kuririn which never came to be, so we should probably hold back a little anticipation until a final track listing is revealed.
We all want Norio Wakamoto singing, though. Seriously. We do. |
|
|
|
|
|
