DB30YEARS Read online

  A big hint comes from Toyble in mid-2012.

  Toyble releases a message stating that, “due to a variety of circumstances...” he will be unable to give his fan-comic much more attention. The message is accompanied by what is obviously a silhouette of Beat from Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission. Confirmation from Toyble himself?

  MIKE (“VegettoEX”) is one of the co-founders of Kanzenshuu. He has lots of V-Jump issues.

  Who is Bardock?

  He’s Goku’s father…but what else do we know for sure?

  By Lance Rumowicz

  Perhaps out of all of Dragon Ball’s diverse cast, Bardock, Goku’s father, is its most unique character....which is very interesting considering that, design-wise and vocally, he’s basically a Goku-clone accessorized with evil. And even in that regard, he was beaten out of the gate by a good three months by his sinister, botany-loving doppelgänger, Tullece, from the third DBZ movie. Still, despite his meager appearances in any Dragon Ball medium, Bardock stands out. In the past, that was because the story he inhabited was far more sinister and tragic than any other Dragon Ball had told. While that is still the case, more recent outings have made him almost as memorable for his confusing and contradictory histories unparalleled in the Dragon World.

  Designed by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru and revised by Toriyama himself, Bardock debuted 17 October 1990 as the protagonist—although not hero—of Dragon Ball Z’s first double-length television special, “A Final, Solitary Battle. The Father of Z-Warrior Son Goku, Who Challenged Freeza.” On paper, the idea of a prequel wherein Goku’s near-identical father faces off against Freeza sounds like the worst kind of fan-servicing tripe. In reality, the “Bardock Special” managed to avoid most of the prequel pitfalls. Bardock isn’t a famous hero. He doesn’t “see the light” and become a good guy. He doesn’t even care about his son until he becomes aware that the boy could kill Freeza in his stead. He’s a murderous thug, and all of his plans to rebel fail. His “epic showdown” with Freeza is barely even noticed by the latter. No, Bardock is just a standard lackey, albeit achieving pathos due to a telepathic curse that allows him to see the unpleasant fate he has in store, but lacking any way to do anything about it. It was the kind of story that Dragon Ball, with its upbeat tone and persistently happy endings, had never told, and was in fact, the kind of story that Toriyama himself admitted he lacked the ability to tell. Instead, he gave the special what could be considered the highest of honors: he included a brief flashback to Bardock’s final moments in a chapter of his own manga. It was shockingly unprecedented, but it seemed that Toriyama had incorporated this “filler” work into his own Dragon Ball continuity!

  For years, that was Bardock’s legacy. However, the second decade of the 21st century brought with it an influx of new Bardock stories in practically every medium imaginable, with each one seeming to produce a different take on the character. The now-defunct, Korean-produced and Toriyama-supervised video game, Dragon Ball Online, was released in 2010. In it, players assume the role of a member of Time Patrol and travel back to pivotal moments in the Dragon Ball chronology to ensure history isn’t knocked off-kilter. On a few occasions, though, their efforts are hindered by a mysterious masked man, who turns out to be Bardock. The game’s time-traveling villain, Mira, had apparently brainwashed him and whisked him through time after saving him from the explosion of Planet Vegeta in the Bardock Special.

  Apparently the idea of a time-traveling Bardock caught on. When 2011 rolled around, the arcade game Dragon Ball Heroes had granted Bardock a Super Saiyan transformation and needed a new story to help promote it. To that end, the powers that be hired Naho Ooishi, already a DB veteran with her Dragon Ball SD series, to create a sequel to the famed Bardock Special. The result was a three-chapter tale entitled Episode of Bardock. Ooishi is a self-proclaimed Bardock fan, so it seems odd that the “episode” seemed to forget what made the Bardock Special...special. It turns out that Freeza’s planet-annihilating blast doesn’t kill Bardock but instead flings him back in time where he can become the reluctant hero of a group of cute little aliens, defeat Freeza’s ancestor, and apparently become the basis for the entire Super Saiyan legend. He’s no longer a villain but just another grumpy Uncle Piccolo. He no longer dies a pointless death but soundly achieves his revenge against Freeza’s race. He’s no longer a forgotten mook but might just have become one of the most important figures in the entire Dragon Ball mythos. Perhaps this is the reason why most great tragedies don’t have sequels...

  If that wasn’t a big enough shock to the fandom, an unexpected one would occur in 2014 after Toriyama wrapped up his light-hearted Dragon Ball prequel, Jaco the Galactic Patrolman. For the collected edition of Jaco’s run, Toriyama included a bonus chapter entitled “Dragon Ball Minus.” The publicity centered around the fact that fans would, for the first time, be introduced to Goku’s mother, Gine, but Bardock was once again the star. Strangely enough, though, “Minus” appeared to blatantly contradict all the previous Bardock stories entirely and also managed to rewrite Toei Animation’s creation into a completely different character. Goku’s origin always bore a resemblance to that of Superman’s, but in this the parallels were unmistakable. This new Bardock is Jor-El! He’s a mass-murdering Jor-El, but that’s about the only difference. This Bardock is a family man who comes home to his loving wife and son after a hard day of slaughtering indigenous people. He loves his son so much that, upon deducing Freeza’s plan to annihilate their race, sacrifices his own life to launch the boy into space and to safety. Moreover, the chapter is so short that it reads more as a bullet point list of events rather than an actual narrative. Regardless if “Minus” is a betrayal or an improvement, this was definitely not the same Bardock fans had known for 24 years.

  But what does all this mean for Bardock? Who is Bardock anymore? Doomed henchman? Time renegade? Saiyan legend? Doting father? Now that Toriyama himself has weighed in on the issue, is the original Bardock Special going to be swept under the rug like Dr. Frappe? At the moment, it seems difficult to say for sure. The only certainty about Bardock is how uncertain all his creators seem to be.

  LANCE hangs out at Kanzenshuu and produces the “Dragon Ball Dissection” manga review video series: youtube.com/MistareFusion

  Episode of Bardock: All the Copies

  I fell into the hole the first time, and the second time…

  By Mike LaBrie

  My name is Mike, and I have a problem.

  I bring it upon myself, really. I get too wrapped up in projects and feel the need to complete collections that no sane person on the planet would actually worry about filling out.

  This is how I ended up with five complete versions of Episode of Bardock. Five versions. Of something I only sorta kinda like.

  It started out innocently enough: we learned that Naho Ooishi, previously only known for her manga adaptation of the 2008 Jump Super Anime Tour special and Dragon Ball SD, was going to be writing a “sequel” to the Bardock TV special. Great! I’ll pick up the three requisite issues of V-Jump. Maybe it will get collected into one volume in the future, and I’ll pick up that compiled version for convenience.

  Three chapters in the August, September, and October issues of V-Jump. Animated adaptation included on a double-feature DVD (alongside Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans) in the March 2012 issue of Saikyo Jump. Collected manga reprint as an insert in the April 2012 issue of V-Jump (with two bonus pages!). Included as a bonus video feature in the Xbox 360 video game Dragon Ball Z for Kinect in October 2012. “Super Kanzenban” bonus inclusion in the March 2014 issue of V-Jump.

  We have to be done now, right?

  ‘Cuz Episode of Bardock shouldn’t rival my DBZ Movie 1 collection.

  MIKE (“VegettoEX”) is one of the co-founders of Kanzenshuu. He has lots of Bardock stuff.

  History of Dragon Ball Merchandise

  How has Dragon Ball merchandise changed over the years? Japan's foremost DB collector tells all.

  By Peking Duckr />
  Dragon Ball Merchandise Flourishes

  Just as Dragon Ball turns 30 this year, Dragon Ball merchandise has close to three decades of history. In 1986, as broadcast of the Dragon Ball TV series began, a large variety of items came on the market from a large variety of manufacturers. The toy-maker Epoch produced dolls and board games; the stationery company Showa Note produced notebooks, pencils, and erasers; and the food-products company S&B came out with corn snacks and biscuits packaged with bonus items. A video game from Bandai was released as well. In 1987, Bandai came out with “eraser dolls.” You could purchase two for ¥100 from a vending machine called “Gachapon,” although the sculpting technology at the time was not great, and they were not colored.

  The next year, in 1988, Carddass went on sale for ¥20 each from vending machines. At that time in Japan, collectible cards existed as bonuses with sweets, but the custom of buying the cards themselves didn’t really exist yet. You could even say that it’s thanks to the debut of the Carddass that trading cards took root so strongly in Japan. Dragon Ball Carddass were sold from 1988 until 1997, with total sales exceeding 1 billion cards. In 1989, the title of the TV series changed to Dragon Ball Z, and many different manufacturers brought out not just toys, but things like music CDs, clothing, shampoo, bath salts, drinks, and bicycles, as well.

  Why Do Dragon Ball Products Sell?

  Dragon Ball was an outstanding “product” for the makers, as well: since the story was always changing, new characters appeared, and sometimes the main character even grew in years and height, they too were constantly able to put out new products. In fact, the stationery items from Showa Note came out with new designs once every three months, because the characters and story elements in the designs from three months earlier were already out of date. To go along with the ever-changing story, all sorts of products were sold between the years of 1990 and 1995, as can be seen in Daizenshuu vol. 7.

  V-Jump Magazine

  In 1993, V-Jump was inaugurated as a sister publication to Weekly Shonen Jump. This magazine was founded by Toriyama’s first editor, Kazuhiko Torishima, based on the strategy of promoting a mix of media in “games, manga, anime, and hobbies,” which is now commonplace. Toriyama’s contributions to the magazine were extremely impressive, as well. The Toriyama-designed Dragon Quest series, Chrono Trigger, and Tobal No. 1 were all featured in the magazine, and manga included Go! Go! Ackman by Toriyama himself, and The Brief Return of Dr. Slump and Savings Warrior Cashman, drawn by the animator Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru. The advertising-effect for products featured in this information-magazine was incredible.

  The Decline of Dragon Ball Merch

  In 1995, Dragon Ball’s serialization ended, and in 1996, Dragon Ball GT began, but the number of makers of Dragon Ball products gradually declined. This is thought to be a result of foundering ratings for the TV series and worsening merchandise sales. And then in 1997, with the release of the PlayStation game Dragon Ball: Final Bout, sales of Dragon Ball merchandise in Japan all but came to a halt.

  The Dragon Ball Boom Reignites

  It’s thought that the major sparks that reignited the Dragon Ball boom were the release of the PlayStation 2 game Dragon Ball Z (Dragon Ball Z: Budokai internationally), the first Dragon Box set in 2003, and the start of the Data Carddass game machines in 2005. The game-information magazine V-Jump actively promoted these through Dragon Ball features, which helped popularity climb back up. The latter half of the Aughts is an era that also saw pre-painted collectible figures released into the world. Almost all such figures in the 1990s were in the form of “garage kits,” with resin parts that had to be first assembled and then painted before they could be considered “complete.” With the arrival of PVC figures, anyone was now able to easily obtain figures that were painted from the outset.

  In addition, now that the generation of children who read Dragon Ball in serialization have become parents, they have looked to Dragon Ball as something that they can enjoy together with their own children. The economic power of these adult fans is now quite substantial, which will likely spur the release of a variety of additional merchandise going forward.

  Thanks to the birth of new hobbies and improvements in technology, new Dragon Ball merchandise continues to be born into the world even now, 20 years after the end of the manga in serialization.

  PEKING DUCK has spent 25 years as a Dragon Ball collector, amassing anything and everything Dragon Ball-related, including figures, toys, cards, stationery, food products, and more. Has also appeared on the TV program HokoTate: pekindbz.blog90.fc2.com

  Dragon Ball Fandom: A Personal Introspective

  One fan’s reflection on his own fandom, its many twists-and-turns, and how it continues to evolve

  By Heath Cutler

  Dragon Ball, the series that has become such a large part of my life, turns thirty this year. I myself am in my thirties, and many of my closest friends here are as well. It makes one truly look back at their journey with true fondness...to see where you once were and to see how far you have come. Not only has the series evolved over this long stretch of time, but we as fans—as people—have changed as well. Many of us are no longer kids, but have grown to be kids at heart. The age range of fans varies so drastically these days that it now encompasses children in kindergarten to full-grown adults with children of their own. But at the center of it all is one thing: Dragon Ball!

  Each fan has their own story, their own introduction to the series. For many it is the same, but to each it is unique. To each fan, the series shares something different, something that intrigues them. The series provides us all with an outlet to a common adventurous world centered on a country bumpkin. While it is true that the series has evolved as much as we fans have over the past years, it cannot be ignored that the meaning of the series has changed within each of us. For some, the series is simply a window back into their past, a vehicle for nostalgia if you will, while to others the appealing natures of the series have completely changed over time. What intrigued us about the series all those years ago may not be what intrigues us today.

  As much as we convince ourselves that we are in control of our own fandom, it is also largely influenced by its origin. In the United States, our fandom has always been divided, due in large part to how the series was introduced. Dragon Ball was an experiment. While other series had paved the way, it was Dragon Ball that was used as a stepping stone to help shape the landscape of the modern anime and manga industries as we see them today, and its fandom paid the price. Many modern day series do not see such a divide within their fandom thanks to simulcasting episodes and chapters, providing more accurate translations, and an overall complete shift in dubbing practices to maintain the integrity of the original series.

  At the same time this division also makes the Dragon Ball fandom very unique, providing diverse opinions and discussions. It has further separated this fandom from any of its peers, setting it apart in so many ways. No other series has quite the checkered past, or such a complicated history, as Dragon Ball. New fans that have been tossed into the fray quickly become aware of this fact. It is within this unique and complicated history that we find ourselves, the fans, trying to make sense of it all. We all bring our own history along with us, which shapes our opinions of what the series is to us.

  I was about 14 when a childhood friend of mine first mentioned Dragon Ball Z to me. It was a new cartoon I had never heard of airing on TV right after school. At the time I was already interested in similar animated TV series, such as ThunderCats and Voltron, but I really had no idea about their background. After a few episodes of Dragon Ball Z I was hooked, absolutely intrigued with the story and characters, and I was driven to know more about the series, more so than I had been with any other series up to that point.

  Along came the Internet and its hundreds of fansites to my rescue, or so I thought. The Internet in those days was equivalent to the Wild West, with no law or order. You could do, or say, just about anything. We were all so yo
ung then, with a shiny new toy in front of us which we didn’t quite yet know how to wield. It was at this time that I began working on web design, teaching myself code and learning how to use photo-editing software. For me, web design and Dragon Ball have always been inextricably linked. In my mind the two are inseparable.

  As time went by and the series became more widely available to fans, my intrigue shifted from the series’ story elements to its production. Now in college, I wanted to know how the series was made and who made it. I became infatuated with learning the ins-and-outs of Dragon Ball’s production process and researching the production staff that had created it. It was shortly thereafter that the Dragon Boxes were announced in Japan, and my infatuation hit an all-time high as I became engrossed with sorting through episode credits. For the first time, I could actually see who did what on each episode of the series. I was astounded by how much I could learn from this. But there was one issue: I barely knew a lick of Japanese and therefore had no way of deciphering the credits.

  It was because of this moment that I first began learning Japanese. If it were not for this series and my blinding passion for answers, I can safely say I never would have attempted such a thing. From then on, Japanese opened up a window into a world I could only have dreamt of in 1998, one I never thought I’d find myself in. It has allowed me to delve into the series I love more than I ever thought possible. It opened up the world of Japanese goods and collectibles, including the original collected volumes of the series, their associated guidebooks, and much more. My collection has been ever-growing since, with no end in sight.

  Since then my attention has swayed from subject to subject, and I find myself always looking for more answers. Most recently my attention has switched back to the very beginning, researching the series’ original serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump. Much of the research is due in large part to the unprecedented access we have to materials in Japan thanks to Julian. Every day is now a new adventure of its own, providing us tidbits about the series once lost to time. To be able to hold original issues of Weekly Shonen Jump in my hands, as I scour their pages, takes me back—if only for a brief moment—to a feeling of what it must have been like picking up a brand new issue and reading it for the first time, not knowing what was going to happen in that chapter. It is truly indescribable.