After 18 years, Dragon Ball returns to the airwaves with a new TV series, Dragon Ball Super. With interest in the franchise surging thanks to the two recent movies, this is the perfect time to see a new ongoing series. But will it be another Dragon Ball GT, the anime follow-up to Dragon Ball Z with the least involvement from creator Akira Toriyama? That’s too soon to tell, but it’s a positive sign that Toriyama is involved with “original story and character concepts.” It’s set a few years after the defeat of Majin Buu at the end of DBZ. And seeing as the two recent movies are also set after Majin Buu’s defeat, I guess we’re all assuming that DBGT didn’t happen. Which is just fine, really. Read more…
There have been some enjoyable Dragon Ball Z fighting games over the years, as various developers took their turn with the classic anime series. But Arc System Works, who is known for their “anime fighters” like Guilty Gear and BlazBlue, hasn’t made a DBZ game since Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2 on DS. They’re returning to the series with Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden, which just had a demo released in Japan, giving us our first good look at the gameplay (below). While not as high-res as their console fighting games, it looks like a fun fighter with good artwork. Here’s hoping it’s better received than their previous DBZ fighters. Read more…
Look at these freaking shoes. The Mexican clothing company Heredia Clothing is putting out these Dragon Ball Z sneakers, inspired by Vegeta, Goku, and Trunks. They’re coming out at 400 pesos (about $27), which isn’t too bad, but there is no way you’d catch me wearing these things. They’re way too bright! Still, if you want your feet to feel like Super Sayin feet, maybe you’d enjoy them more than I would. Read more…
Dragon Ball Z is getting its continued anime revivals with the original creator Akira Toriyama actively involved. The next movie has been announced: Dragon Ball Z: Fukkatsu no F, due out April 18, 2015 in Japan. The title refers to the Japanese word for resurrection, fukkatsu, and also Frieza, the most iconic villain from the long-running series. It sounds like someone is wishing him back to life, and somehow Beerus, the antagonist from the previous film, will be involved, as he is on the poster. While I’m interested in seeing Frieza come back, it’s going to be a challenge to make him menacing again without only relying on some increase to his “power level.” After his initial defeat, his subsequent appearances resulted in embarrassing further defeats. Hopefully they find something interesting to do with him. Read more…
Dragon Ball Z has always had some crazy hairstyles. Many anime since have had even more ridiculous hair, but DBZ was a pioneer, with its blonde Super Saiyan transformation primarily marked by a change in hairstyle. So now, 17 years after the show went off the air (yes, there have been sequel series, movies, and rereleases since), you can finally buy official DBZ hair wax for making your own hair stick up. They come in three levels, marked by how Goku’s hair looks: 3 (Goku’s regular hair), 5 (Goku using Kaio-ken), and the strongest hold, 7 (Super Saiyan Goku). Best of all, the hair wax comes in Dragon Balls! This seems to be a Japan-only product, but it would be awesome to see this released in America whenever the movie DBZ: Battle of Gods is released. Read more…
Though it’s old hat by now, Dragon Ball (or for the portion that American fans like, Dragon Ball Z) is one of the biggest, most popular manga ever released in Japan. It’s always in print, with a new definitive version, but now a new version is finally adding something to make it even more palatable for anyone turned off by manga’s black-and-white style: color. Read more…
As noted last week, there’s another Dragon Ball Z movie coming out, subtitled Battle of Gods. We now have a trailer to go along with the announcement, and as it expected, it looks far more visually exciting than the budget of the original TV series, filler plot be damned. The movie is also taking more cues from artist Akira Toriyama’s post-Dragon Ball Z art style, which feels a bit more cartoony than what he used before. Read more…
Dragon Ball never really goes away, does it? Despite the anime finishing its run in 1996 (or 2003 in America), they just keep making more and more of the franchise. Besides the sequel-series Dragon Ball GT, there’s the reedit Dragon Ball Z Kai, plus tons of movies and OVA episodes. So it’s no surprise that Toei is making another movie called Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods. Read more…
Starting on june 6th if you’re luck enough to live in Japan you can get your hands on dozens of different Dragonball canned coffees by Pokka. The “black line” of coffee series has no sugar and thus isn’t for kids — but the original line will make those of us who haven’t grown up who have a sweet tooth happy: Read more…
I’ve lost track of how many Dragon Ball games have flooded market in recent years. The license has been spread pretty thin with most of the titles retelling Akria Toriyama’s original plot from start to finish while taking a few liberties along the way. In addition, most of these games have featured similar cel-shaded visuals and gameplay, leading many people to believe that once you’ve played one, you’ve played them all. Of course, I’ve had plenty of people tell me that’s simply not the case. They’ve made improvements with pratically every itteration of the series and while we many have chosen to ignore them in the past, this latest entry might cause you to take notice.
I know all the “cool kids” these days watch Naruto and Bleach, but there are still some of you out there who really appreciate Dragon Ball and Akira Toriyama’s legacy. It seems like it’s been forever, but I can remember a time when obtaining your favorite anime required you to order your fan subs on VHS, and prior to being properly licensed, Dragon Ball was one of those series I scoured the net for. When FUNimation decided to bring over the recently released Dragon Ball Kai, the remastered, filler-free version of the hit series Dragon Ball Z, I was pretty stoked. Read more…
I’m not sure if I could ever forgive Hollywood for their shlock epic Dragonball Evolution which nearly ruined the franchise for me! However these authentic Dragon Ball denim jeans might make might up for it. These jeans will be released by Cospa in late December just in time Christmas. Sadly overweight otaku need not apply as the jeans will range from a 30 to 36 inch waste size, but this is a martial arts anime series after all so we’d expect you to be in good shape: Read more…
As of today the latest Uniqlo anime themed t-shirts are hitting the street — this latest batch includes shirts based on old school favorites Galaxy Express 999, Saint Seiya, Dr. Slump, Dragonball and Devilman. In April a new set of shirts will be released which will be based on Cobra, One Piece and Mazinger Z. Here are the Devilman shirts: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 14, 2009 in Animation
In this ReelzChannel interview the stars of the new Dragonball film reveal that not only have they been signed up for a sequel — but that there may be two in the works! By the way I’ve never seen actors work so hard in an interview to unsell me on the film, you get the feeling right away that they put no energy into learning their kung fu moves (to be fair showing the strings doesn’t help). And no where in the interview do they even fake having seen the anime series and loving it. But you be the judge! Does this shot look like “the actress” engaging in intense combat or casual jazzercise: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 26, 2009 in Animation
It’s amazing to me that Hollywood can do such a good job adapting American comic books to live action films, but when it comes to manga or anime they don’t always seem to know what they’re doing. A good case in point is this latest trailer for Dragonball Evolution which falls flat — and if the trailer doesn’t get you excited you know you’re in trouble! Fox is convinced that this film will indoctrinate a new generation of Dragonball fans, but it may have the opposite effect…
The Bandai booth blew me away! Most of their display was behind closed doors, but guarding those doors were two huge oversized statues of a robot from Power Rangers and Ben 10: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 10, 2008 in Animation, Cinema
I got a very bad feeling about this film about 57 seconds into this trailer when the Transformer styled vehicle appears. To me it looks like the film is taking itself a bit too seriously…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 5, 2008 in Animation
It looks like 20th Century Fox is settling in on a name for this film, in fact they’ve already already taken the web domain DragonballEvolutionmovie.com. For a generation of anime fanboys (and fangurls) Dragonball has a cherished place in their childhood, and I hope Hollywood doesn’t get it wrong (although from what I’ve seen Im not too hopeful): Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 13, 2008 in Animation, Cinema
20th Century Fox is spending over $100 million to make the Dragonball movie and yet you’re telling me that these leaked photographs is what I can expect? I’m getting this bad “straight to video” feeling looking at these images. Above is Chow Yun-Fat as Master Roshi, and below is Emmy Rossum as Bulma. Read more…
