DragonBall SD Continues For Another Chapter VegettoEX @ 3:37 pm EST -- Last November we learned about a new quarterly magazine from Shueisha called Saikyô Jump, which would contain spin-off chapters from their various popular series. For their first issue, a special chapter called DragonBall SD was drawn by Naho Ooishi, who had previously drawn the two-part manga adaptation of the 2008 Jump Super Anime Tour Special. It was a retelling of Goku's early adventures with Kuririn while training under Kame-Sen'nin.
No second chapter was listed in the debut issue (despite other series having announced second chapters), but it was revealed yesterday that DragonBall SD would return for another chapter, again by Naho Ooishi, in the next issue of Saikyô Jump.
Unfortunately, due to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the 01 April 2011 release date of the issue has been pushed back, and no new date has been announced.
EDIT: Whoops, the announcement page says 11 April 2011 right on it! Expect the volume then.
New Feature: Kenji Yamamoto Retrospective VegettoEX @ 8:16 pm EST -- We have joked about it for years. We have taken a listen at sound samples on the podcast. It took the removal of an entire musical score from DragonBall Kai to get us to finally document it all in one place, though!
There are certainly a wealth of additional "loose" references and homages throughout the history of the franchise, but our goal with the feature was to break down and detail the most glaring offenders up through and including music from DragonBall Kai. It is likely that more will be discovered, so if any of you other music nerds happen across more, certainly let us know!
Podcast Episode #0253: Toriyama's Intended Endings VegettoEX @ 9:23 am EST -- DragonBall Kai may have come to a close, but that does not have a whole lot of impact on the plethora of discussions yet to come! This week, Herms joins us for part one of our look at the "intended endings" to the series. Fans often claim that the author absolutely intended to end the manga with the Freeza story arc, but is this actually true? What evidence exists pointing to specific story arcs that could have served as the ending? Download the show now, or head on over to the podcast page for more information or to subscribe.
In totally unrelated news, Play-Asia is currently in the middle of a pretty huge 48-hour clearance sale with a bunch of in-stock merchandise at least 20% off. Here are just a couple of the awesome deals you can grab if you act quickly:
Stay tuned to the site later today for a brand-new feature page!
27 March 2011
DragonBall Kai Comes To An End in Japan VegettoEX @ 3:29 pm EST -- This morning in Japan, Fuji TV broadcast the 97th episode of DragonBall Kai. While the "Jinzôningen & Cell arc" had been previously announced by Happinet as ending with episode 98 of the series (which even had an episode title set to go), the TV broadcast was shortened by one week due to delays associated with coverage of the recent earthquake and tsunami. Fuji TV has since updated their schedule to list episode 97 as the new "final episode" (最終回) of the series.
Toriko is still set to debut next week in the 9:00 am time slot previously held by DragonBall Kai (and was previewed at the end of this week's DragonBall Kai episode), leaving the 98th episode lost to the ether. There is no word on whether the episode will eventually be broadcast in repeats or possibly included on the home Blu-ray/DVD release. The way in which the episode was re-classified as the final episode and how it used the series' opening theme ("Dragon Soul") as an insert song to wrap things up certainly point toward episode 98 being tossed aside for good.
Episode 98 would have likely covered DragonBall Z episode 194, where Trunks returns to his future timeline to defeat its own respective #17, #18, and Cell. While this material is indeed canonical to the original manga, episode 97 wrapped things up in a way that it is not necessarily essential to toss into the mix.
Second Toriyama Earthquake Support Image VegettoEX @ 3:25 pm EST -- Shueisha recently posted a batch of new images of support from its various Jump artists, which included a second image from DragonBall author Akira Toriyama saying, "Thank you everyone!! The Genki-Dama is getting bigger and bigger!!"
We have a wealth of new content coming your way over the next couple days, so stay tuned!
21 March 2011
Podcast Episode #0252: What Just Happened to Kai...? VegettoEX @ 8:43 pm EST -- We have been working on it, and you have been waiting on it, so it is time to finally answer the big question:
What the Hell just happened to DragonBall Kai...?
Heath and Corey joined us in-house this week to attempt to answer that big question. By diving into publicly-available corporate presentations and financial reports, we can paint a crystal-clear picture of why the series was "refreshed" at the time it was, what their plan was for it all along, if they even partially saw that plan come to fruition, and what we might be able to expect from the franchise in the future.
Long story short, it was a meticulously-calculated grab at getting new/younger fans (to lay a groundwork for another popularity wave even more years down the road) by a company that is attempting to react to changing market conditions as rapidly as possible, but a company that is also not afraid to cut their losses while they can and then go out to seek opportunities with a higher profit-margin. Download the show now, or head on over to the podcast page for more information or to subscribe.
Of relevance to that greater discussion is the fact that we actually have no idea what will happen with the "final" episode (98) of DragonBall Kai in Japan — Toriko is still set to go in its time slot on April 3rd. As our buddies over at Kanzentai have speculated, with everything having been pushed back one week due to the earthquake coverage (episode 96 of Kai just aired this past weekend) it may simply be broadcast at a later date and time, or it may end up as a DVD and Blu-ray exclusive. We will certainly let you know as news comes in!
As expected, the Raging Blast 2 soundtrack has been delayed — Lantis has officially stated that all CD releases planned for March 23rd, 24th, and 30th have been postponed. When a new release date is announced, we will be sure to let you know.
To wrap things up with a couple other related bits of news, Shueisha has teamed up with Akira Toriyama to donate all revenue from a special video message from the author to victims of the earthquake and tsunami:
We would also like to extend major congrats to our shônen brothers-in-arms over at the Unofficial One Piece Podcast for raising over $30,000 during their 24-hour live podcast extravaganza. While we unfortunately could not make it back in time to be on the show with them and their amazing line-up of guests, we offer up our admiration for such an incredible effort.
To wrap things up, we also need to extend a huge congrats over to our contest winners! That's right, shenanigans with house guests this weekend resulted in there being two prize winners. Tim B. is the big winner of Daizenshuu 4: World Guide (the main prize for our 250 podcast episodes / 13 years of the website celebration contest), but we are also giving away a copy of a random "Kid Buu" DVD that has been sitting around in our basement... or a copy of Hit Song Collection 6, winner's choice... to Darcie! We will be in touch with the winners to get your prizes out to you, but the rest of you should continue to stay tuned to the website and podcast for more awesome contests in the near future!
15 March 2011
Recovery + Podcast Episode #0251 (Manga Vol. 38) VegettoEX @ 8:43 pm EST -- Our hearts go out to everyone in Japan affected by the recent earthquake and its subsequent destruction. Many thanks go out to all of you who have shown such amazing generosity and caring, particularly for Daizenshuu EX's own Julian. Rest assured, he and his family are safe and sound in Osaka, and can be heard on this week's podcast episode (the little one even makes a special appearance!).
No doubt you have seen the image of support from Akira Toriyama himself, with Goku and Arale atop Kinto-Un. Ganbare, indeed!
In the mean time, we will all do what we can to charge forward.
Due to these recent events, the "Dream 9" block was canceled this weekend. While we now know that rebroadcasts of DragonBall Kai have a replaced score using Shunsuke Kikuchi's original music from DragonBall Z, the first "new" episode since the BGM scandal broke last week has been delayed, though it sounds as if things are all being pushed back just one week.
This time around on our podcast, in addition to the big news surrounding DragonBall Kai and Kenji Yamamoto's musical score, we finally get a chance to dive back into the manga with Volume 38. The fight against Babidi's minions has begun, Vegeta has turned back into the demon prince he once was, and a new villain is on the horizon. Is Toriyama writing by the seat of his pants, or is the magic still there (in more ways than one!)...? Download the show now, or head on over to the podcast page for more information or to subscribe.
In sticking with a little bit of music news, the cover art for this month's DragonBall: Raging Blast 2 soundtrack gives us plenty to talk about. While the primary soundtrack for the Raging Blast games in Japan has been a synthesized version of Shunsuke Kikuchi's original score for DragonBall Z, the cover art reveals that the soundtrack release will consist (exclusively?) of music from the "overseas version" — that is to say, Japan's own soundtrack for their own game does not even contain their own music, but rather the replacement score. This is quite a shock, to say the least.
It is likely that the soundtrack will be pushed back, however, so we will keep an eye on that one.
Returning to Kai briefly, it seems that FUNimation has delayed their release of their fifth volume of the "refreshed" series approximately one month to 07 June 2011. Whether this delay is related to the series' situation in Japan is unknown.
Finally, don't forget about our contest going on right now — you have a couple days left to get in your entries to possibly win a copy of the fourth daizenshuu, "WORLD GUIDE". This is not one you want to miss!
10 March 2011
Toei Acknowledges Infringement in DragonBall Kai BGM VegettoEX @ 9:01 am EST -- Something we have talked (and joked) about for years has been the blatant plagiarism from Kenji Yamamoto in various bits of music for the franchise. Some pieces have taken inspiration, but others have been flat-out "stolen" — examples such as Cell's theme from Super Butôden 2 on the Super Famicom (Pink Floyd's "One of These Days") and "Battle Point Unlimited" from DBZ TV Episode 120 (Propaganda's "The Murder of Love", among other of their songs) come to mind.
From its inception, there have been allegations from fans about Yamamoto's score for DragonBall Kai, his first foray into solely scoring a TV adaptation of the series (previously only having composed and arranged additional vocal songs while Shunsuke Kikuchi handled BGM composition for the DragonBall and DragonBall Z TV series, as well as scoring various video games).
Our buddy kei17noted for us that Toei has finally acknowledged this practice, specifically with regard to DragonBall Kai. In an official statement posted on their website yesterday, Toei noted (thanks to Rachel for the translation):
The existence of multiple suspicious musical pieces which may infringe on the rights of third parties has been confirmed within the musical compositions recorded for "Dragon Ball Kai", an animated television work produced by this firm. The relevant musical pieces are used as background music in "Dragon Ball Kai", and measures are promptly being taken to replace the relevant musical pieces from the background music of "Dragon Ball Kai".
Also, we are proceeding with a swift investigation of the facts, and discussion of countermeasures with concerned parties in the near future.
The culprits are likely BGM tracks named "The Ebb and The Flow" and "A New Foe Rears His Head" which are essentially the tracks "War" by James Horner from the Avatar score and the Terminator Salvation opening theme by Danny Elfman, respectively. Both of these pieces were included on DragonBall Kai Soundtrack III & Songs and are used in the series beginning in the "Jinzôningen & Cell arc" around the time that Trunks appears (coincidentally, just about where the television broadcast of the English dub happens to be these days). Keep in mind that Toei themselves have not actually named specific pieces of music, so while this is not quite "speculation" or "rumor", it should be held in check.
kei17 noted that some Japanese fans are reporting that music in subsequent broadcasts of the show in Japan are already being replaced, and while we have been unable to confirm this ourselves, has possibly been done with music from the original Shunsuke Kikuchi score from DragonBall Z.
Fallout from this has been years in the making, and it will be fascinating to see how this is handled. This would seemingly explain why the fourth soundtrack collection for the "refreshed" TV series was canceled for a second time, though it questionable whether or not it has affected the continuation of the series, which we appears to be coming to an end this month.
UPDATE: Well, this clinches it — Toei's official website for DragonBall Kai (as well as Fuji TV's own site) now solely list Shunsuke Kikuchi as staff under "Music":
More on this as it comes in!
07 March 2011
Podcast Episode #0250: The End of Kai + Quick Reviews VegettoEX @ 9:10 pm EST -- An unforeseen sickness led to an impromptu, completely different episode this week... but that never means we are short on material to cover! Much like our news update from last week, this podcast episode we cover the raw facts of what appears to be the imminent end of DragonBall Kai before dipping into a couple quick reviews. Download the show now, or head on over to the podcast page for more information or to subscribe.
For one tiny news update, the latest (read: second) listing for DragonBall Kai Soundtrack Collection is now also categorized as "Canceled" on a few retailer sites such as CDJapan. Will another disc for the series ever see the light of day? Only time will tell, at this point.
That not enough for you? In celebration of the 250th podcast episode (and the fact that so many of you come back each week to enjoy it and promote it among the rest of fandom), we are giving away a part of our namesake: Daizenshuu 4, "WORLD GUIDE". Head on over to our "Contests" page to enter!
03 March 2011
DragonBall Kai Ending in Japan: First Solid Confirmation? VegettoEX @ 9:12 am EST -- I feel like I have to preface this news by stating that Daizenshuu EX has no particularly strong opinions any which way on what the future may be for DragonBall Kai. It is not an adaptation we particularly loved, but it was quasi-new, brought a fresh group of fans in, gave us more material to talk about, etc.
That all being said, we have been closely following its performance, especially in Japan. From the exponential drop in sales figures, merchandise branding, Toriko taking its time slot next month, and everything in between, it has been a fascinating ride — a ride that is likely over. All we have had to go on up until now has been speculation and a few educated guesses, but now it seems as if confirmation is getting out there that DragonBall Kai is over.
Our Japanese buddy kei17posted up a scan from the magazine TV Pia on our forum that contained a short interview with Takeshi Kusao, the voice actor for Trunks:
In addition to some minor tidbits about how he went about doing the synchronized voices with Masako Nozawa for Gotenks in the past and how much he learned from her (such as ad-libbing breathing that was not in the script), the article provided two very significant items:
(1) Takeshi Kusao notes that he hopes, if there is an opportunity, that they can also remake the Majin Buu story arc
(2) The article specifically notes that there are only four episodes of DragonBall Kai left
There you have it, folks — four episodes puts us right in the ball park to be ending with Episode 98 (the end of the Jinzôningen & Cell arc) on 27 March 2011. This is the first we are seeing with someone involved with the series' production actively stating that it is coming to a close, and I expect that while we may see more, information will likely be limited and vague. Will they return to do the Majin Buu arc at some point later down the road? What does this mean for the international licensees? Any fallout from this turn of events is likely only just beginning.
02 March 2011
Kai Soundtrack Collection Full Details + Minor News Bits VegettoEX @ 9:41 am EST -- After all of the inconsistent details, canceled releases, new catalogue numbers, and wild speculation... we finally have some concrete information on this month's upcoming two-disc DragonBall Kai Original Soundtrack Collection (previously listed as Soundtrack IV), courtesy of CDJapan's posted track listing.
As we began to fear, it is mostly a collection of previously-released material, with the tiniest amount of unreleased music — by "tiniest amount", we mean approximately six tracks (of 76 total). Yes, you read that correctly: six. We say "approximately" because some of the given names are a little ambiguous; they may be the same versions as previously-released music (but with an extra word in the title), or they may be as-of-yet unreleased, stripped-down versions of those songs. Regardless, we are absolutely looking at a single-digit number in terms of new tracks. The rest of the material comes from the prior three soundtracks for the series.
Our buddy kenisu3000thinks that one of the new tracks is the (woefully underwhelming) piece used recently for Gohan's Super Saiyan 2 transformation, so hey... that's something.
We recently noted that FUNimation would be dropping the prices on their DragonBall Kai home releases, and it seems that the drop is coming earlier than expected. RightStuf has announced that the price drop on all four available sets has already gone into effect — MSRP is now $29.98 on DVD, and $34.98 on Blu-ray. We recommend you go with those Dragon Box sets before anything else, but if you are already going in on Kai, you can at least rest easy saving some money.
In terms of the big Kai news that everyone is still waiting on (that whole "is it ending next month?" question), there still is nothing significant to report on. Toriko is still taking over its time slot on Fuji TV next month, and will start with a special crossover with One Piece — that's the only concrete thing we have to go on right now.
Finally, a big "Happy Birthday!" goes out to our own Julian. Wish him a good one, folks!
