On October 6, 2011, FUNimation streamed a live interview on YouTube to help promote the Blu-ray release of Dragon Ball Z on November 8.

The guests included Gen Fukunaga (Founder and CEO of FUNimation), Matt O’Hara (Manager of DVD, Blu-ray and video production), and Christopher Sabat (voice of Vegeta, Piccolo, Yamcha, and also the ADR Director behind the English voice cast).

During the interview Gen hints that he would love to have more Dragon Ball Z in the pipeline, and has been trying to collaborate with TOEI and Shueisha to make that happen!

What does this mean for the series, and for fans?

DBZ Blu-ray Interview Transcript

Q: Gen is the founder, the CEO of FUNimation Entertainment. He is responsible for bringing Dragon Ball Z to the United States.

Q: Gen, can you tell us about Dragon Ball Z’s journey to the west.

Gen: Sure, well, it started back in the 90’s. Eventually we signed a deal and started FUNimation in 1994. But it took quite a while to negotiate the terms with TOEI because we were a startup, and it was such a big franchise overseas already by then. So they had told us we couldn’t have it at first. So it went through a long, arduous process of trying to convince them. My uncle, Nagafumi Hori helped a lot, to help bring that over. He works for TOEI on the live action side, he’s retired now, but he worked for TOEI there, and that helped as well.

[note that Nagafumi Hori was a producer at TOEI on the Tokusentai type series – shows similar to Power Rangers.]

Q: Dragon Ball Z has been in the United States for over 15 years now.

Gen: Yeah, I started the company when I was 10!

Q: What inspired you to really introduce Dragon Ball Z as a property in the United States? Were you a fan of it originally?

Gen: Yeah, well, I was a fan of anime in general. Especially [because] I lived in Japan in the eighth grade, which is perfect timing to get inundated with the great stuff that is over there. Got to see a lot of great shows. Nothing like it was in the U.S. at the time. Then when I was older I still didn’t see it in the U.S. It started that way. When I got to meet TOEI and I saw Dragon Ball Z it was kind of a no-brainer, in my opinion, “That’s the one title I want.” Of course, they said, “No, we have these other couple hundred titles, why don’t you pick one of these up, but not that one, that one’s too important.” But I was really persistent to get that particular title, because it was just so good.

Q: What do you think makes Dragon Ball Z so timeless as a property?

Gen: Like a lot of things in entertainment, it’s actually just back to the content. If you have really good storylines and great character development or endearing characters, that’s what drives good content. That is certainly the case with Dragon Ball Z. The content is excellent. The character development is excellent. The story lines and plots, and there are a lot of unique elements. Really, when you think back to the 90’s, there were a lot of innovative elements to that series that people have copied now over the years.

Q: In relation to the Blu-Ray, what can fans really expect out of the Blu-ray release coming up?

Gen: It’s the first time they’ve ever seen the film back to its original film footage. Honestly, when it was first brought over to the U.S., because anime wasn’t that big of a hit, how it was transferred over by the Japanese to ship us materials and make copies, it wasn’t top quality. They just transferred it over. There’s tape jitter, there’s tape cut marks, there’s scratches on the film, there’s a lot of things that were kind of issues, and really that’s the master we’ve been using for 17 years in the United States. But we actually got back in there, and through a big negotiation with TOEI got the original film, and we literally cleaned it up frame by frame by frame. Yeah. Got rid of all those imperfections. Color corrected it back to how the original production was when it was first shot. It looks just like the original original. That’s like, the ultimate.

Q: If you collected all seven dragon balls, what would your wish be?

Gen: I was hoping we could make more Dragon Ball Z! [laughter]. [We’re] trying to get TOEI and Shueisha to agree to all that!

Q: Believe me guys, we want it to happen as much as you guys want it to happen.

So What Do You Think?

Gen said, “I was hoping we could make more Dragon Ball Z! [laughter]. [We’re] trying to get TOEI and Shueisha to agree to all that.”

Since the series is over, what does Gen mean by “more Dragon Ball Z”? Does this mean that TOEI, Shueisha, and FUNimation are discussing the possibility of a new Dragon Ball series? Or does it simply mean more re-releases of the same usual content?

In the interview Gen says it with a slight pause, as if the negotiations are something he’s worked on for a while.

And the interviewer follows up and confirms that not only do the fans want “more Dragon Ball Z,” but so does FUNimation.

This isn’t a surprise considering that Dragon Ball is the series that made them super rich and successful.

What do you think? Will we see a new Dragon Ball series?

And for those who didn’t know exactly how FUNimation was started, or how they managed to secure the rights to Dragon Ball in the first place, this may have been an eye opener.

Essentially, Gen Fukunaga was able to secure the Dragon Ball license in the United States because of the influence of his uncle, Nagafumi Hori. Gen may have had his own strengths, but his uncle’s relationship with TOEI is what made it happen.

If you want to know more, I talk about this in a lot more detail in The Dao of Dragon Ball book.

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Gen Fukunaga Hints at More DBZ

Dragon Ball was alive at the 2011 Anime Expo in Los Angeles!

My fiancé and I snapped some pictures of a bunch of the Dragon Ball cosplayers.

I also wrote an article about the Anime Expo for The Epoch Times newspaper, which includes some great pictures and an interview with Dragon Ball fan, Nick Kossman.

Dragon Ball Cosplay!

Check out this amazing Dragon Ball cosplay!!

Goku, by Monica Johnson

Future Trunks, by Yuu Jin

Future Trunks, by Yuu Jin

Yajirobe, by Patrick E Carino

Adult Gohan, by Nick Kossman

Angel Goku, by Jah’lon Escudero

Angel Goku, by Jah’lon Escudero

Goku, by Ivan

Goku, by Ivan

I

Kamehameha!!

Freeza and his #1 fan

Vegeta welcomes challengers

Vegeta!

Eternal Fandom

Dragon Ball Z Kai at the FUNimation booth

From the looks of things, Dragon Ball is still alive and well.

There were some other Dragon Ball cosplayers out there, but I didn’t get pictures.

I only attended the Expo on Saturday, July 2, 2011, but there were still a lot of Dragon Ball fans genuinely wearing their fandom on their sleeves. Hopefully next year there will be even more.

It was a lot of fun meeting fellow Dragon Ball fans, and it’s nice to know that the series is still represented at major conventions.

One of the cool things I stumbled across was a booth run by www.anifashion.com. They had an orange and blue hooded jacket that resembles Goku’s martial arts uniform, with Kanji on the front and back.

I asked about the jacket and the young woman at the booth said that it was their best seller. They only had 1 left, out of the original 20 they came with. I was surprised since Dragon Ball’s popularity had been eclipsed by other series, like Naruto. She said she was surprised too; especially that it wasn’t just young men buying it, but all age groups and genders.

Perhaps Dragon Ball Kai gave the series’ fandom a booster shot, and now it’s becoming popular again.

Or maybe the fandom for this series will always live eternal.

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Dragon Ball Cosplay at Anime Expo 2011

If you’re going to Anime Expo this year and want to get together, then drop me a line on the contact form or via facebook.

I’m going as a journalist for The Epoch Times, and also because it’s a good opportunity to be nerdy and have some fun.

For those who don’t know, Anime Expo is the largest anime and Japanese pop culture conference in North America. Hundreds of thousands of people come every year during the 4th of July weekend. Next year I want to be there to promote my Dragon Ball book.

I’d love to meet with you so we can talk about Dragon Ball or simply hang out, play games and become friends.

And it will also be interesting to see what type of a presence Dragon Ball has at this years conference. The last two years have been rather sparse, aside from an occasional cosplayer.

Hope to see you there!

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Attending Anime Expo

Goku says, "Good Luck!!"

The recent earthquake in Japan has caused a lot of grief and heartache. Akira Toriyama wrote a message to the Japanese people wishing them good luck in their recovery. He said:

Hang in there~!!

To all the victims,

This is truly awful, but please don’t give up,
and hang in there no matter what!

- Toriyama Akira

(Translation by Hujio, from Kanzentai.com)

The Weekly Shonen Jump Editors also wrote a message below Toriyama’s illustration, wishing everyone a speedy recovery.

In Toriyama’s illustration, Goku and Arale-Chan from Dr. Slump ride aboard the Kinto-un while a golden Immortal Dragon flies behind them and the 7 dragon balls follow our hero upward into the sky.

Goku’s cheerful appearance and the overall symbolism imply an optimistic rebirth and a long life; an eternally youthful state of perseverance and rising ever higher.

Japan, perhaps now more than ever, needs the dragon balls and a hero like Goku to save the day.

Update! (Mar 28, 2011)

Shueisha and Toriyama have collaborated along with other manga artists in a relief effort.

Shueisha released a video that allows people to contribute their “genki” to the genki-dama (spirit bomb) and send it to Japan. By watching the video Shueisha will donate a small amount of money to the affected areas.

Toriyama also drew some new art along this same theme, found on the Japanese Shonen Jump site, where it can be downloaded as a wallpaper.

The art contains a drawing of Goku holding the genki-dama above his head, and Mister Satan is cheering the world on, saying “Thank you everyone!! The genki-dama is getting bigger and bigger!!”

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Hang in There, Japan!

James Wong at Shen Yun

The Shen Yun performing arts company finished its encore tour in Los Angeles on July 11. James Wong, the director of Dragonball: Evolution was in the audience with his family and praised the Shen Yun show.

An article was written for The Epoch Times newspaper to convey his feelings.

From the article:

James said, “I think it’s incredible. The dancers are amazing, the synchronicity of the dances, the tradition, the traditional dances, along with the costumes, is fantastic. I’m really impressed.”

“His most recent film, Dragonball: Evolution (20th Century Fox) is based on the hit comic book and animated series Dragon Ball that finds its roots in traditional Chinese and Japanese culture, notably from Journey to the West, a Chinese classic. The triumphant climax of the epic Journey to the West is retold in Shen Yun as the final performance of the show. The Buddhist Monk Xuanzang and his faithful guardian, The Monkey King, make a glorious return to Tang Dynasty China where they distribute the Buddhist teachings to future generations.”

As a contributor to The Epoch Times I was asked to write this article because of its relationship with Dragon Ball. Shen Yun’s display of authentic traditional culture incorporates The Monkey King legend that inspired Akira Toriyama to create Dragon Ball. And I was happy to help with this unique synchronicity.

The full article: Hollywood Director Recommends Shen Yun: ‘It’s Spectacular’

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Dragon Ball Director Praises Shen Yun