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 October 2024 entry, Toyotarō has drawn Kajika, the main character from the Akira Toriyama one-shot Kajika.
Kajika
“A boy with special powers!” With Toriyama-sensei drawing a comic based on this premise, of course it turned out really interesting!
Kajika is a 12-chapter manga series by Akira Toriyama which ran from the 1998 No. 32 to No. 44 issues of Weekly Shōnen Jump, releasing over the course of 07 July 1998 to 29 September 1998 in Japan. Kajika is a boy who sets out on a journey to save 1,000 lives in order to undo the curse a fox put on him. He comes to the rescue of a girl named Haya, and ends up being entrusted with the egg of the last dragon in the world…?!
Episode #0514! Mike and Heath check in with personal feelings and the general fandom atmosphere now that we are a few episodes deep in to Dragon Ball Daima. How is site work going alongside this new series, and what’s grabbed us the most so far?
As teased last month in the November 2024 issue, Toyotarō contributed a 32-page (one color title page and 31 black-and-white content pages) one-shot manga — in support of the forthcoming Dragon Ball Super Divers card-based arcade game in Japan — to this week’s December 2024 issue of Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine (released 21 October 2024).
The story — simply titled “Dragon Ball Super Divers” as-is from the source game name — is a condensed run-through of the battle against Nappa and Vegeta. A Super Divers avatar character fights alongside the heroes, having been sent into the game world through a capsule game system by Trunks. Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Piccolo, and Kuririn all rush in to fight the Saibaimen, but the fight roughly continues as it did in the original series with one of them grabbing onto Yamcha and exploding. Even with Goku already on the the battlefield, the avatar character tells Goku to save his strength, and the battle resumes with Nappa attacking Tenshinhan and killing Piccolo. The avatar character rescues Gohan from Nappa’s foot stomp, and proceeds to distract him with a Kienzan before taking him out point-blank with a blast, overpowering Nappa’s own mouth blast. Vegeta takes to the skies to unleash his Gyallic-Hō, but Goku and the avatar character power-up their own Kamehameha in response. The two power-up from a 3x to a 4x Kaiō-Ken, finally overwhelming and defeating Vegeta. It’s a “K.O.”… and the player awakens back in the real world, stepping outside of the capsule gaming system. A young woman welcomes him back, saying that Freeza is up next, and the enemies only get stronger from here on out. The player is ready to take them all on!
Toyotarō’s previous work was the Dragon Ball Super manga, which has been on hiatus since March 2024 with the release of its 103rd chapter. Each issue of V-Jump since then continues to include a tiny blurb toward the back saying it will be on hiatus the following issue — this remains true even as of this December 2024 issue. No concrete word on the series’ possible return has been announced.
While other artists such as Yoshitaka Nagayama and Yūji Kasai have contributed manga adaptations of Dragon Ball video games before (primarily in Shueisha’s Saikyō Jump magazine), Toyotarō contributed a special one-shot manga for Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 alongside the game’s launch back in October 2016. In Japan, the chapter was included within the game’s guide book, while internationally the chapter was included within a special “Time Patroller’s Guide” booklet accompanying the game’s Collector’s Edition.
This is in addition to “Kaiōshin (Mini)” played by Yumiko Kobayashi which was previously announced. Masako Nozawa continues as the “Mini” version of Son Goku (as well as Son Goten per the episode’s end credits).
Additionally, creditless versions of the series’ opening and ending themes — “Jaka ☆ Ja~an” and “NAKAMA” respectively — were shared on Toei Animation’s YouTube channel:
During yesterday’s “Dragon Ball DAIMA Special Panel” at New York Comic Con, various announcements were shared regarding the show’s production, English dub, as well as integration into ongoing video game content.
Moderator Monica Rial (current English voice of Bulma) first led the audience through materials and experiences available at the Dragon Ball booth there at New York Comic Con, followed by updates for specific video games.
A short trailer for the recently-released Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO confirmed Vegeta: Mini and Glorio as playable characters in the forthcoming second downloadable content pack.
Goku: Mini will make his way to Dragon Ball XENOVERSE 2 as a playable character within the “Future Saga: Chapter 2” downloadable content pack. A free trial will also be available to players to give him a spin.
The previously-teased additional content coming to Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot will be Dragon Ball Daima-focused as well, with an all new “Daima: Adventure Through the Demon Realm” expansion coming across two packs.
Lip service was also paid to the two primary mobile video games. Dragon Ball: Dokkan Battle has new campaign to recruit Goku and Vegeta through an ongoing login bonus, and these can be “awakened” into Goku: Mini and Vegeta: Mini by clearing the missions that start on October 21. There is likewise a Daima-focused campaign in Dragon Ball Legends right now celebrating the start of the anime, with its own special login with bonus items, as well as Goku: Mini for players to score.
The new “Fusion World” version of the Dragon Ball Super Card Game likewise has Daima cards entering the mix. Cards showcased include (NOTE: English spellings and character name changes presented as-is here): Son Goku (Mini): DA, Chi-Chi (Mini): DA, Krillin (Mini): DA, Son Goten (Mini): DA, Android 18 (Mini): DA, Vegeta (Mini): DA, Bulma (Mini): DA, Trunks (Mini): DA, Hercule (Mini): DA, Majin Buu (Mini): DA. Starter decks (FS06 and FS07) are on their way November 8th, and another booster pack is coming in February 2025 set to include Glorio: DA and Panzy: DA cards.
To wrap up the video game announcements, next year’s Dragon Ball Games Battle Hour 2025 will be held January 18-19, 2025 at the Shrine Hall in Los Angeles, California.
At this point Dragon Ball franchise Executive Producer Akio Iyoku was welcomed to the stage, where he noted it’s been a full year since New York Comic Con last year (where Dragon Ball Daima was officially announced), and that it was great to be back.
Stephanie Nadolny was also introduced and officially confirmed as the English dub voice for Goku: Mini in Dragon Ball Daima. Nadolny took over the role from Saffron Henderson (Vancouver cast) and Ceyli Delgadillo (Texas cast) before her to voice young Goku in FUNimation English dub productions including the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT television series, the third Dragon Ball movie, and the 10th anniversary Dragon Ball movie. In the time since, young Goku has been played in video games, flashback material, etc. by Colleen Clinkenbeard.
The forthcoming theatrical debut of Dragon Ball Daima‘s first three English dubbed episodes was promoted, running in the US and Canada from November 10th to 12th.
Production materials from original franchise author Akira Toriyama were then shared with the audience. Iyoku confirmed that the Demon Realm is a world that was specifically designed for Daima by Toriyama, and that they paid a lot of attention to how Toriyama illustrated it as they produced the show. A particular troll that lives in the Demon Realm was highlighted, and it was explained that Toriyama didn’t just do the backgrounds, but the creatures and people who live in this world. An illustration of the troll specifically was then shared, followed by Glorio’s vehicle from the main key visual. Toriyama’s details including the inside layout and how it’s propelled. The audience was told to be on the lookout for this kind of detail in the show, as Toriyama was very particular about mechs, and thought a lot about how they move, and even how they are propelled in a different way because of being in the Demon World. An illustration of Glorio himself was then shown; Iyoku didn’t go into detail on his character, but just laughed and noted that he is indeed mysterious.
Alongside this design showcase, voice actor Aaron Dismuke was welcomed to the stage and confirmed as the English voice of Glorio.
A video message from opening and ending theme song artist Zedd was then shared:
What’s up New York Comic Con? This is Zedd, and I wanted to drop by and say hello, and I also wanted to share how excited I am for Dragon Ball Daima. I got to work on the theme song and end title with C&K and Ai, and it’s a dream come true. It was on the list of things I’ve dreamed of doing in my live because I grew up with Dragon Ball, and it’s been a huge inspiration for me, not just because I love the show, but the theme songs have been amazing and they’ve inspired me musically. So for me to get to work on these songs and hopefully inspire other people is… is a dream come true! So anyway, I just wanted to share how excited I am, and I hope you’re having an amazing time over there at New York Comic Con, and I’ll see you soon. Peace.
Rial, Nadolny, and Dismuke all reflected on the panel and Zedd comments before Iyoku wrapped things up with closing comments of his own, noting the series’ attractive characters, unpredictable story, and great action.
The panel closed with a group photo, and a transitioned into a screening of the (original Japanese language) first episode of the series.
Dragon Ball Daima has begun, and with it comes updates to our “Episode Guide” here at Kanzenshuu!
The main page for Daima now contains a running list of episodes, and the first episode’s page is also (more or less) complete! Each of these episode pages moving forward will contain a full translation of the respective episode’s credits, a complete synopsis, and various notes including those about the simulcast translation and any quirks in the Japanese script, notable cast and crew, and any animation differences from material seen thus far in trailers.
As part of this overall update, the “Cast Guide” has also been updated with the new and adjusted voice cast roles, and our “Animation Staff Database” has crossed the threshold of 1,000 individuals!
Bandai Namco — by way of social media posts, a PDF shared on their official website, and PR postings — announced that the new video game Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO sold three million copies in its first full 24 hours of release.
The announcement does not specify or go into any further details regarding pre-orders and early access (which technically began back on 08 October 2024, ahead of the game’s formal, wide release on 11 October 2024).
The company attributes the sales success to an international partnership of over 30 offices, with specific marketing initiatives tailored to each territory (including a road tour in North America, and other game events across Europe, South America, and Asia).
Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZEROreleased on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (via Steam) 10 October 2024 in Japan, and 11 October 2024 internationally. As opposed to the completely separate Dragon Ball Z (“Budokai”) series developed by Dimps which came before it, the Sparking! series — developed instead by Spike — featured 3D arenas with an over-the-shoulder camera angle. The new game’s title of Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO falls more in line with the original trilogy’s naming scheme in Japanese. The three Sparking! games — the original, NEO!, and METEOR — hit the PlayStation 2 over the course of 2005 to 2007, with the Nintendo Wii also receiving ports of the second and third games. The game series was released numerically under the “Budokai Tenkaichi” moniker internationally. A fourth games — Tag Vs. in Japan; Tenkaichi Tag Team internationally — was released on the PlayStation Portable in 2010. Spike (as Spike Chunsoft) later went on to also develop the crossover fighting games J-Stars Victory VS in 2014 and Jump Force in 2019.
The September 2021 issue of Shueisha’s Saikyō Jump magazine kicked off a “Dragon Ball Super Gallery” series in commemoration of the Dragon Ball franchise’s upcoming 40th anniversary. The celebration aims to have different artists all contribute their own spin on the original 42 tankōbon covers, with the images and an accompanying comment published as the magazine’s back cover.
It’s an honor to get to be involved with Dragon Ball like this! I’ve drawn my comics in admiration of Goku’s light-hearted, strong, and reassuring character! No matter when and where I read from, he’s right there, looking cool with a sense of humor — he’s the greatest character!
Saikyō Jump is currently a monthly magazine published in Japan by Shueisha under the “Jump” line of magazines. The magazine began as a quarterly publication in 2012, went monthly in 2013, went bimonthly in late-2014, and returned to a monthly format in 2021 (including a digital release for the first time). The magazine’s focus is spin-off and supplementary manga series aimed at a young audience, while also including game promotions, news coverage, and more. The magazine currently serializes content such as Yoshitaka Nagayama’s Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Meteor Mission! manga series, which just came to an end this same issue — new Dragon Ball Super Divers content is scheduled to begin next issue.
For calendar year 2019, Shueisha reported Saikyō Jump‘s circulation down at 130,000, with readership as 58.5% upper elementary school, 28% lower middle school, 11% middle school, and 2.5% high school or older.
With the conclusion of the Dragon Ball Heroes card-based arcade game series, the transition to Dragon Ball Super Divers, and a few ongoing manga milestones, the lineup in Shueisha’s Saikyō Jump magazine is shaking things up with new ongoing entries and special one-shots.
Saikyō Jump: October 2024 Issue
After a single one-shot chapter back in 2020 and then 37 full chapters in regular serialization, Yūji Kasai‘s Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Avatars!! came to a close in the October 2024 issue. A fifth collected volume should theoretically finish out the series with a bump to its page count — though nine chapters remain, the first four collected volumes contained seven chapters each.
The full colorization of Akira Toriyama’s Sand Land also came to a close in the October 2024 issue. The colorization spanned the full original 14-chapter run. No collected edition has been announced, and no continuation is present in the November 2024 issue — for example, there is no Anime Comic adaptation of the streaming series’ original second story arc now running in the magazine.
After 12 full chapters in serialization (themselves following a wealth of chapters from the previous four series), Yoshitaka Nagayama‘s Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Meteor Mission! came to a close in the November 2024 issue. A second collected volume has been announced for this December, which should contain the final six chapters and complete the series.
Next-issue-previews from the November 2024 issue detail a wealth of content coming in the December 2024 issue.
Naho Ooishi will return to the print pages of Saikyo Jump for a “Special Edition” (特別編 Tokubetsuhen) of Dragon Ball SD in the December 2024 issue. A splash alongside the announcement notes that it will be in celebration of Dragon Ball‘s 40th anniversary, and that there will be a “special announcement” about Dragon Ball SD to accompany it. Though in recent years Dragon Ball SD has otherwise been relegated to online video content, Ooishi did make a brief return to print back in July 2022 with another “Special Edition” in support of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
Other Dragon Ball content next issue will include a feature on the Dragon Ball Super Divers game itself, a special poster with the second key visual for Dragon Ball Daima, and a “Vegeta (Mini)” card for the Dragon Ball Super Card Game.
The December 2024 issue of Saikyō Jump will be released 01 November 2024 for ¥700. Pre-orders for the print magazine have not yet opened on Amazon Japan.
The upcoming card-based arcade game Dragon Ball Super Divers is set to launch 07 November 2024 in Japan.
Similar to predecessors like Dragon Ball Heroes, types of cards for Super Divers will include Normal, Rare, Super Rare, and God Rare. Some of the initial God Rare character (and their respective attack) cards will include:
Son Goku: God Kamehameha
Vegeta: God Galic Cannon
Son Gohan (Boyhood): Explosive Kamehameha
Trunks (Teenager): Burning Attack
Broli: Gigantic Break
Bardock: Final Spirit Cannon
Majin Boo (Good): Majin Kamehameha
Son Goku (Daima): Nyoibō
Vegeta (Daima): Smash Blow
Game modes will include those where you play through missions ripped straight from the original story, different scenarios where you come up against certain enemies and have a chance to find a Dragon Ball, tournament brackets (including online battles), etc.
Players will be prompted to move their cards around the gameplay area to power-up and execute certain actions (again, similar to Dragon Ball Heroes before it).
Dragon Ball Super Divers is set to replace the existing Dragon Ball Heroes run from the last 13 years. Super Divers was originally announced last May.
