The Dao of Dragon Ball Blog

Dragon Ball Director Praises Shen Yun

James Wong Director of Dragon Ball Evolution At Shen Yun

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’

A Dragon Ball Z Museum Powers Up!

Son Goku as a Child (Courtesty of NAMCO BANDAI Games America, Inc.)

Son Goku as a Child (Courtesty of NAMCO BANDAI Games America, Inc.)

A Dragon Ball Museum currently seeks funding for a tour around North America, and eventually the world.

I discovered the Dragon Ball museum while doing research for The Dao of Dragon Ball book and asked the owner if I could interview him for my Dragon Ball blog.

Luckily I also work part time for the Epoch Times Newspaper and decided it would make a great article.

I recently finished the article about a man named Mike Nilsen who holds the Guinness World Record for the “largest collection of Dragonball memorabilia” in the world.  He plans to tour it around the globe in the form of a Dragon Ball Museum.  You can read the full article here:

The printed article was published in the New York edition of the Epoch Times newspaper on October 15th.  A scan of the publication is available here:

I asked a lot of questions during the interview and received some great answers.  Unfortunately I could not include all of them in the article because of length requirements, so with Mike’s permission I have posted the full interview here on my blog:

More information about Mike and his museum can be found at the Dragon Ball Museum website.