Our favorite Japanese forum buddy kei17 posted up a couple new Jump pages showcasing a “new” character in the upcoming Raging Blast for the PS3 & Xbox 360:

That is Broli (the main villain from DBZ Movie 8, and subsequently the 10th and 11th movies, as well) in a “new” Super Saiyan 3 transformation for the character.

… Yep.

While this is this most recent example of “new” forms created for existing characters in video games, there have been other examples in the past. Toriyama himself designed an all-new, beefed-up version of Mecha Freeza for Super Dragon Ball Z, and prior to that Majin Boo gained all sorts of new absorption modifications in Dragon Ball Z 2 / Budokai 2, along with the new fusion Yamhan and an alternate form of the “What-If?” scenario fusion of Gotan.

Our forum member SonGokuGT posted up some great information for you Spanish fans. Apparently publisher Planeta DeAgostini will be releasing the kanzenban-based guide books LANDMARK and FOREVER. No set release dates have been set, but both books are very specifically listed under the author section for Akira Toriyama. Keep us up-to-date on when they come out, Spain!

November 10th seems to be a huge day for FUNimation. In addition to the first Dragon Ball Z Dragon Box and the DBZ Movie 1 and DBZ Movie 2 single-disc releases, Amazon has updated with another release set for the same date:

“Season One” is still still set for 15 September 2009, and hot on its heels will apparently be “Season Two” on 10 November 2009. With an MSRP of $49.98 and containing 30 episodes (based on the 720-minute run time from the Amazon listing), FUNimation seems to be ready to crank out these new sets for the original Dragon Ball TV series as they continue with season two.

Man, this must really be the weekend for weird Dragon Ball news. It appears that there may be an “official” Spanish version of the Dragon Ball Kai opening and ending themes, “Dragon Soul” and “Yeah! Break! Care! Break!”, respectively. Nothing has been officially confirmed yet, but supposedly the Los Angeles based record label “MAgIc Sound Records” has produced Spanish dubbed versions of both theme songs. The themes are said to be sung by Anghelo Lopez — you can view more information about him on his personal website and on the “Latin Talent” website.

Karaoke videos of the TV sized themes have shown up on the “company’s” YouTube channel and on their recently opened (11 August 2009) MySpace page. This is all really odd, because as far as I can tell the “company” has no official website and their e-mail address is through Hotmail. However, the most convincing piece of evidence that this news may be somewhat factual is a video of a live performance of “Dragon Soul” by Anghelo at “The Mole Comic and Manga Festival 2009”.

Again, we have no official confirmation as to the legitimacy of these videos, nor do we know whether this implies there will be a Spanish dub of Dragon Ball Kai. Either way, thanks to MCDaveG for letting us know. We will definitely keep an eye out for some additional or official information.

While this is only somewhat Dragon Ball related, I just could not pass up the chance to share it. While doing some research for my massive “Cast Guide” update, I came across Ryō Horikawa’s personal blog. In his most recent update, posted on August 1st, he wrote:

さて先日、ドラゴンボールのメンバーで屋形船で飲み会をしました。
船からは花火が見えて、夏を満喫できました よ！
(荒川区の花火大会だったみたいですね。)

The other day, we had a DragonBall members houseboat get-together.
You could see fireworks from the boat, so I enjoyed the summer to the fullest!
(It seems like Arakawa had a fireworks display.)

Anyway, the phrase “nomikai” (飲み会) that Horikawa uses is interesting, since it can simply mean “get-together”, though more often than not it means “drinking party”. I have a feeling we can infer he meant both, since I don’t think that is water he is holding!

Amazon has also put up the cover art for the mysterious listings for both DBZ Movie 1 and DBZ Movie 2 with the same release date of 10 November 2009 that was reported a couple days ago. They in fact will be individual disc releases from the “remastered” steel book double feature (as opposed to Dragon Box versions) and will run you a measly $9.98. From a cost per movie standpoint, it is actually costing you more than if you bought it in the double feature pack.

Rumblings can be heard ’round the internet that FUNimation’s upcoming first “Dragon Box” set for the Dragon Ball Z TV series has been delayed from November to December of this year. Despite the Amazon listing still noting a release date of 10 November 2009, several of our forum members have received e-mails from Amazon telling them that the item in question has been delayed to 15 December 2009:

We’re writing about the order you placed on (month) (date) 2009. Unfortunately, the release date for the item(s) listed below has changed, and we need to provide you with a new delivery estimate based on the new release date:

Artist Not Provided “Dragon Ball Z Season 1: Dbox”
Estimated arrival date: November 19 2009 – December 15 2009

If you still want us to ship the delayed items when they do become available (though they may arrive later than expected) please visit this address to approve the delay.

The official website for Dragon Ball Kai has noted that there will be even more new voices for the “refreshed” version of the TV series currently airing in Japan. In its original airing, both (the younger version of) Dende and Cargo (all… what?… one of his lines…?) were played by Tomiko Suzuki, who unfortunately passed away back in 2003.

Taking over the role for Dende will be the currently-somewhat-prolific Aya Hirano, most recently associated with the Dragon Ball franchise as the voice of Bulma in the Japanese dub of Dragon Ball Evolution, and belting out “CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA” karaoke-style in the ending of episode five of Lucky Star.

Taking over the role of Cargo will be Satomi Satō, a relative newcomer perhaps best known for her role in K-ON!.