The Spirituality of Dragon Ball Premiering at AM2 Convention
I’m going to give my first Dragon Ball panel presentation! It will be at the AM2 (Animation, Manga and Music) Convention in Anaheim, California on June 16, 2012, from 4 – 5 pm.
The subject of the panel is “The Spirituality of Dragon Ball.”
Here’s the official description:
Exciting!
It’s an hour long show and there will be time at the end for questions. Plus you’ll be able to meet me in person. Who’d want to miss out on that, right?
The poem on the image above says:
“Coming…
I Am Coming Over the Mountain for You
I Am Coming Through the Stars and the Sky
I Am Coming Out From Where I Am
I Am Coming for You…”
That means I want the room packed with Dragon Ball fans. Let’s do this!!
Even if you don’t live in California, get on your Immortal Dragon and fly there!! The world is counting on you!!!
More info about the convention can be found at the AM2 website, along with the other panelists mentioned on Anime News Network.
Dragon Ball Art – Vegeta Paintings
The Prince of all Saiyans has awakened!
It’s time to explore Vegeta’s life through digitally painted Dragon Ball fan art.
Over the course of writing The Dao of Dragon Ball book and interacting with fans, I’ve been surprised by how much love there is for Vegeta. I had thought Goku was the most popular character.
But it turns out that Dragon Ball fans absolutely adore Vegeta’s attitude, his raw Saiyan strength, and his stylish hair line.
His transformation from a cold blooded killer to a family man over the course of hundreds of episodes is an iconic example of the power of redemption and personal change.
Vegeta now stands as one of the most recognizable characters in this or any other series. There’s no mistaking Vegeta when you see him!
Now we take a moment to look back on the life of a soul that sought the value of its self worth. A Saiyan who lost his tail and became a man.
Dragon Ball Art – Goku Digital Paintings
Dragon Ball art is alive and well in the Dragon Ball fan community.
The previous post about Dragon Ball Paintings displayed fine art created with a brush.
Today’s article unveils digital art created with a mouse or pen, yet equally fine.
Using the following images of fan created works I have attempted to tell Goku’s story.
There may be a few pieces missing, but the hardcore dragon ball fans know where to fill in the blanks.
The majority of images are from the Deviant Art website, and I have given credit where I could.
Enjoy…
Dragon Ball Art – Paintings
Saluti, and welcome to “Galleria di Dragon Ball.”
The Dragon Ball community is really amazing. Aside from being one of the largest fan bases in the world, it is also filled with a lot of talented artists.
This is because Dragon Ball inspired many people to become artists, whether it be in drawing, painting, digital art or comic book illustration.
Most of us, including myself, began by copying the art of Akira Toriyama. Those who persisted in their artistic training became better and better, eventually reaching the level of fine art, as you’ll see here.
Fine art is a representation of the best that a culture has to offer.
The fine art presented here is an example of the best that Dragon Ball fandom has to offer.
Dragon Ball might appear to be a simple series, but its effect on society has been rather large, and the artists wouldn’t have created these works of art without being inspired in their hearts.
The works are traditional paintings, using acrylics, oils or other natural materials
I have done my best to give credit where it’s due.
As you scroll downward, try to imagine that you are viewing the paintings in a real art gallery.
Please enjoy, and Grazie Mille.
Dragon Ball’s White Rabbit of the Moon
Happy Easter, Dragon Ball Fans. To celebrate this day I’ve decided to dedicate a blog post to our favorite talking bunny, Boss Rabbit.
Who is Boss Rabbit? Don’t remember him? Well that’s not surprising considering he’s only in a single issue and episode. But even if you do, I doubt you know his full story.
In this article you’ll learn about Boss Rabbit’s origins in Dragon Ball as well as his roots in Japanese, Chinese and Indian legends as the white rabbit of the moon. Yes, it goes that far back!
Boss Rabbit’s depiction in Dragon Ball is simple and comical, but Akira Toriyama manages to connect him to an ancient source at the very end.
You may have been confused by this reference since it was intended for a Japanese audience. Today you’ll finally learn what it’s all about.
Follow me as we dive into the rabbit hole and see how far down it goes.
continue …
Dragon Ball Hoshi Explained
“Dragon Ball Hoshi is the new official Dragon Ball series.”
Have you heard of this before? The internet is abuzz.
In this Google Trends image you can see that searches for “dragon ball hoshi” became a noticeable trend in July, 2011. Searches rose sharply in August before taking a dip, and then increased dramatically in early November to December.
So what is it about? Is it even real?
Today you’ll learn what Dragon Ball Hoshi truly is and find out why it matters so much to Dragon Ball fans!
Dragon Ball AF Explained
Dragon Ball AF. You hate it, you love it, or maybe you’ve never heard of it. In any case, I doubt you know the full story.
It’s a truth that Dragon Ball fandom is and always has been intense. Regardless of their preferred version, Dragon Ball fans absolutely love their Dragon Ball.
Just before Dragon Ball GT concluded its original television run in Japan in 1997, a rumor spread about a new official series called Dragon Ball AF. Fans wanted the series to continue.
The only problem is that it was never true.
And you might suppose we could end this article right here. But as with everything involving Dragon Ball and its impact across the world, there’s a lot more to the story.
Dragon Ball AF was originally the creation of an unknown fan that evidently had a strong desire for a fourth Dragon Ball anime series.
A single image appeared on the web of a hypothetical Super Saiyan 5 Goku with a “Dragon Ball AF” logo on it, and from there it spread like wildfire.
The rumor grew gradually over the years and took on a life of its own, spawning many fan creations, illustrations, videos, episode listings, action figures, and even high quality fan manga based on the collective rumors.
For example, who is this guy fighting Goku?
Images like this confused the heck out of new Dragon Ball fans. And those who circulated lies about Dragon Ball AF preyed on the gullible nature of fans who simply wanted to see more of their favorite characters.
The desire for a new Dragon Ball series is so strong that even today the rumor is still actively spread that Dragon Ball AF is the next official series from Toei, and that the videos and images “leaked” on YouTube will arrive in “the next year or two.” New fans continue to fall for it, and the cycle continues.
Despite all the time that it has been around, if you search online for an explanation of Dragon Ball AF, you will only find bits and pieces of info. A short wiki article here, some crudely Photoshopped images there, a guy saying it’s not real while another screams back that it is, followed by immature insults and a link to fan made manga. There are, maybe, two good sources on the topic. Unless you spend hours putting the pieces together, you’ll be confused or simply dismiss the whole thing outright.
Because of Dragon Ball Z Kai’s and Dragon Ball GT’s second syndication on TV, there is now a new generation of Dragon Ball fan looking to see what happens next.
With the realization that people are still being confused, I set out to discover the true story behind Dragon Ball AF and write the definitive article.
Along the way I found a captivating story to tell.
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