Back in February, MANTANWEB shared a two-part interview series with Dragon Ball franchise executive producer (and Capsule Corporation Tokyo founder) Akio Iyoku. The first part of this interview, which we are sharing a complete translation of here today, looks toward the end of the then-forthcoming Dragon Ball Daima finale and discusses Akira Toriyama’s involvement in the overall series production.
The second part of this interview series, along with other Iyoku commentary, is coming soon!
Following what appear to be successful vinyl releases of the Dragon Ball Z Best Song Collection and Dragon Ball Super soundtracks, Columbia Japan themselves are set to re-issue the Dragon Ball Ongakushū (“Music Collection”), releasing 23 July 2025 for ¥4,000:
A total of 14 tunes will comprise the single record, which includes background music composed by Shunsuke Kikuchi — as well as the vocal opening and ending theme songs — for the launch of the original Dragon Ball television series in 1986. The tracklist includes:
Side A:
Side B:
The album was originally released on vinyl 21 April 1986 (catalogue number: CX-7272) alongside the launch of the television series, and was later re-issued on CD 25 September 2003 (catalogue number: CX-7272) under the budget-priced ANIMEX 1200 series (thus its ¥1,200 price tag).
International distributors for the set include Cartridge Thunder (US $49; expected to ship this August) and Black Screen Records (€40,00; expected to ship this August). Note that there is a limited pre-order window with many of these international distributors, and pre-order sales are often final / cannot be cancelled once made.
Episode #0519! Mike interviews Brandon Bovia, letterer on the English release of the Dragon Ball Super manga from Viz. What exactly does a “letterer” do, how does that work differ between a simulpub and collected volume release, and what all else goes into bringing manga chapters to English?
Our podcast is available via Apple Podcasts, or you can pop the direct RSS feed into the program of your choice. You can also listen to this episode by directly downloading the MP3 or by streaming it on Spotify or YouTube. We invite you discuss this episode on our forum.
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Episode #0518! Mike interviews Rocco from Mega64 about his introduction to Dragon Ball, figure collecting, Mega64’s five-minute live-action DBZ sketches, ssj8 (99 percent sure is real), and more!
Our podcast is available via Apple Podcasts, or you can pop the direct RSS feed into the program of your choice. You can also listen to this episode by directly downloading the MP3 or by streaming it on Spotify or YouTube. We invite you discuss this episode on our forum.
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Viz’s previously-announced English translation of Dr. Mashirito’s Ultimate Manga Techniques has been bumped slightly from its originally-intended 22 April 2025 release to a new date of 13 May 2025.
The upcoming release is an English-translated version of the 2023 Japanese book which includes a variety of career reflections, advice for upcoming artists, and interviews with colleagues from legendary editor Kazuhiko Torishima. Alongside this wealth of content, Dr. Mashirito’s Ultimate Manga Techniques includes an interview with (and an original cover illustration by) the late and great Akira Toriyama:
Kazuhiko Torishima is the sixth editor-in-chief of Japan’s biggest manga magazine, Weekly Shonen Jump! He is one of Japan’s leading editors, having discovered and nurtured great manga artists such as Akira Toriyama of Dragon Ball, Masakazu Katsura of Video Girl Ai, and Koji Inada of Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai, and further transforming the manga business by expanding the crossover of manga, anime, and video games.
“Dr. Mashirito” is a scientist who was modeled after Kazuhiko Torishima by Akira Toriyama in Dr. Slump, and the character later became Kazuhiko Torishima’s nickname in real life, too. This book is the only place to discover Kazuhiko Torishima’s “Torishima Method,” an approach to making comics that will give you the mindset needed to become a manga artist!
Dr. Mashirito’s Ultimate Manga Techniques is available for pre-order on Amazon, currently with a 10% discount from its $25.00 MSRP.
Since the initial launch of Kanzenshuu back in April 2012, our “Cast Guide” has remained virtually unchanged, with only the database consistently receiving updates. It was truly one of the last holdovers from the “pre-merger” times; a straight-up copy of how it had appeared on Kanzentai, with only minimal cast profiles listed from the first phase of Dragon Ball Kai. Well no more! After 13 years, the guide has finally been completely overhauled and reorganized to follow the current structure of most of our guides.
You will find information on cast credit structures, more organized cast profiles, and of course our large database of cast credits, which has also been updated to include original video game characters, cast credits from the Super Dragon Ball Heroes promotional anime, and is now current up through the last episode of Dragon Ball Daima. In addition, we have added filtering functionality — which you may have already noticed went live a few months ago — to make it easier to view credits from a specific series, production medium (movies, TV, video games, etc.), or special feature.
The cast profiles have also been updated and reorganized between the legacy (“original”) and new/current voice cast. You will see we have also opted for more of a listing approach, rather than dedicated in-depth profile pages. This was primarily done to make the profiles easier to maintain and keep up-to-date. However, each profile does include links to any agency profiles and Wikipedia pages available, where this in-depth information already exists.
So with that, head on over and check it all out!
Episode #0517! Mike, Ken, and Ajay review the complete “Dragon Ball Daima” television series! Over these 20 episodes, what new concepts are introduced/reintroduced, what lore conflicts are we still reeling from, how did the art and animation hold up with such a prolonged production timeframe… and did we like it?
Our podcast is available via Apple Podcasts, or you can pop the direct RSS feed into the program of your choice. You can also listen to this episode by directly downloading the MP3 or by streaming it on Spotify or YouTube. We invite you discuss this episode on our forum.
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Roughly every month, Toyotarō provides a drawing of a Dragon Ball (or related…!) character — as well as an accompanying comment — on the official Japanese Dragon Ball website. Following up on the wealth of characters already drawn, for his (belated) February 2025 entry, Toyotarō has drawn Piroshki and Karoni, anime-only characters from the Cell Games:
PIROSHKI AND KARONI
Disciples of Satan that took part in the Cell Games
Both characters debuted in Dragon Ball Z episode 176 as disciples of Mr. Satan who take on Cell, only to be immediately defeated. Karoni (カロニ) likely takes his name from part of the word “macaroni” (マカロニ), while Piroshki likely takes his name directly from “pirozhki” (ピロシキ).
Karoni — alongside Mr. Satan’s manager (and likewise-filler-character from the Cell Games) Piza — made a small appearance in the first Dragon Ball Super episode, as well:
This drawing and comment set has been added to the respective page in our “Translations” archive.
Following today’s Dragon Ball Daima final episode broadcast, the series’ official website detailed various home video releases coming in Japan, all set for release on 02 July 2025:
First-Press Limited Edition Blu-ray Box
Standard Edition Blu-ray Box
Standard Edition DVD Box
Sets will be available for purchase via several retail partners, including Amazon Japan (whose own exclusive version will come packed with additional bonuses, including a shirt and new illustration with acrylic stand).
Dragon Ball Daima — whose broadcast concluded today with its final of 20 total episodes — was first revealed at New York Comic Con in October 2023 by way of a trailer and comment from original franchise creator Akira Toriyama. The “Daima” in the series’ title is a made-up term, though the individual kanji that make up its spelling would be 大魔; in Toriyama’s own words, …”in English would be something like ‘Evil.'” The series debuted 11 October 2024 on Fuji TV in Japan (with multiple worldwide streaming options), and features an original story by series creator Akira Toriyama, character designs by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, script/composition by Yūko Kakihara, and series co-direction by Yoshitaka Yashima and Aya Komaki.
Initially leaked and teased through Steam back-end updates this week, the previously-announced, two-part Dragon Ball Daima DLC expansion for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is set to begin Summer 2025:
Unlike past DLC expansions, the title for this pack remains largely the same between its original Japanese (魔界の大冒険! or “Great Adventure in the Demon Realm!”) and its official English title (“Adventure Through The Demon Realm”). The new trailer also noted that a “Daima Edition” of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot will be released, which itself includes access to the two-part expansion. Access to just the Daima pack (covering both parts) is priced at $34.99.
Per the aforementioned Steam listings, “Part 1” is pegged for sometime between July and September this year (falling in line with the “Summer” announcement), while “Part 2” is listed as sometime between January and March 2026:
A splash in last month’s March 2025 issue of Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine noted that “Part 1” is set to cover the first eight episodes of the series.
Developed by CyberConnect2 for Bandai Namco, the action role-playing game released 16 January 2020 in Japan and 17 January 2020 internationally on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC (via Steam). A Nintendo Switch edition came later in September 2021.
Two season passes worth of content — with six individual packs in total — have come out since the game’s release. In the first season pass, the Battle of Gods and Resurrection ‘F’ DLC entries were much shorter with a focus on boss fights and level increases, while the third entry — that of Trunks’ future timeline — told a comprehensive, multi-part story. The second season pass includes entries for the original 1990 Bardock television special, the 23rd Tenka’ichi Budōkai, and the 28th Tenka’ichi Budōkai.
Reviews of the base game, Trunks DLC, Bardock DLC, 23rd Tenka’ichi Budōkai DLC, and 28th Tenka’ichi Budōkai DLC can be found on episodes #0481, #0490, #0497, #0505, and #0509, respectively, of our podcast.
Dragon Ball Daima — whose broadcast concluded today with its final of 20 total episodes — was first revealed at New York Comic Con in October 2023 by way of a trailer and comment from original franchise creator Akira Toriyama. The “Daima” in the series’ title is a made-up term, though the individual kanji that make up its spelling would be 大魔; in Toriyama’s own words, …”in English would be something like ‘Evil.'” The series debuted 11 October 2024 on Fuji TV in Japan (with multiple worldwide streaming options), and features an original story by series creator Akira Toriyama, character designs by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, script/composition by Yūko Kakihara, and series co-direction by Yoshitaka Yashima and Aya Komaki.