Mobile Suit Z Gundam manga announced!

There's quite some interesting developments in Kadokawa Shoten as of lately, as Gundam Ace magazine and another Kadokawa magazine, Monthly Newtype, are collaborating this summer on a new manga magazine.

The magazine will feature tie-in manga for franchises in other media, and the announcement features images from Sunrise's upcoming Sacred Seven television anime series and BONES' upcoming Towa no Quon anime film series. More details will be provided in the next issue of Monthly Gundam Ace.

Also, more great news for mecha fans!

The June issue of Monthly Gundam Ace is also announcing that creator Hiroyuki Kitazume is drawing a new manga adaptation of Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise's Mobile Suit Z Gundam robot anime series in the next issue in May. Kitazume had worked as an animation designer on the Z Gundam television series, and then he designed the characters in the Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ and Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack sequels. Kenichi Matsuzaki, the scriptwriter who was responsible for the first Gundam series' scripts, setting, and science-fiction research, is acting as the supervisor of the new manga.

Matsuzaki is credited with Gundam's version of space colonies (based on physicist Gerard K. O'Neill's original concepts), Minovsky particle, and Solar System weapon. Kitazume had previously drawn the Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Deleted Affair ~ Portrait of Young Comet manga in Gundam Ace from the magazine's inaugural issue in 2001 to 2009. The character designer of the first Gundam series, Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, has also been drawing his Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin re-imagining of the first Gundam story since Gundam Ace's inaugural issue. The magazine happens to be celebrating its 10th anniversary in June.

Source: ANN

Toei Animation Incorporated got sued for 1 billion!

Japanese studio Toei Animation announced that a man, named Isaac A. Potter, Jr, filed a lawsuit against Toei's American subsidiary, Toei Animation Incorporated (TAI), over rights related to the Knights of the Zodiac (Saint Seiya in Japanese) anime series.

Potter alleges that TAI's Knights of the Zodiac infringed on his copyrights and trademarks. In addition to TAI, Potter named the United States of America as a defendant. Potter is seeking an injunction against TAI, US$1 billion in punitive damages, and additional statutory damages.

Toei adapted Masami Kurumada's 1986-1990 mythological fantasy manga Saint Seiya into a 1986-1989 television anime series of the same name. ADV Films and DiC Entertainment released the anime in North America in two versions: a version with English subtitles under the original name, and a version with English dubbing under the name Knights of the Zodiac. As such, Toei filed for registration on a U.S. trademark on "Knights of the Zodiac" for animation, trading cards, clothing, and toys on May 20, 2002, and received the registration on May 20, 2008. The dubbed Knights of the Zodiac version premiered on the American Cartoon Network on August 30, 2003.

The plaintiff and his brother Samuel J. Potter, under the name Potter Boys' Creations, obtained copyright protection for a drawing entitled "Zodiac Knights 2000" on October 10, 1995. They then filed a U.S. trademark for "Zodiac Knights 2000 ZK" for clothing, games, advertising, and other services on February 24, 1997, although the status of this trademark has been "abandoned" and "dead" since April 9, 1998. They also filed the trademark "Zodiac Knights 2000" separately in Indiana on March 1, 2004, and the status of that registration is "live."

In May of 2003, the Potters published a book called Zodiac Knights 2000 Featuring Creatures of the Knights: Creatures of the Knights (A New Era). Potter used the services of 1st Book Publishing, a company that offers to print books for authors seeking to self-publish their works.

Toei consulted with its legal representation and asserts that it finds no legal grounds for the plaintiff's current lawsuit. Toei said that it will fight the suit and could try to dismiss it. The studio added that it does not believe the suit will affect its business.

Talk about absurd!!! Looks like someone wants to churn money out of the wrong pothole!!!

The Ao no Exorcist contest on DeviantArt is on!

To celebrate the fact that the anime premieres on April (tentatively April 3rd since it's going to air on Sundays), we, at our group #Ao-no-Exorcist on DeviantArt are organizing a contest in which the winners get some nice prices!

Here's the info from our Ao No Exorcist page:

NEW CONTEST!

Contest Title: Risin' up, the Anime!

Theme: The AnE Anime! Artworks based on the trailers are good shot.
Start: March 1st*
End: June 1st*
*Dates may change if needed be.
Rules:

During te contest there will be a file named "Contest",that's where you must submit your art.
Before or after you submit your art you must comment on the blog post with something like: "I submited <link> for the contest." Just to let me know, so I can put your name and the link on the post. ALL SORTS OF ARTWORKS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Drawings, written works, whatever.
 The theme is the AnE anime, I highly recoment you all to watch the trailers again and base yourself on this.
It would be apreciated if you'd put on the Artist Comment part something like "This deviation is for the contest on the Ao no Exorcist group." with our link or banner, something like that.
It has to be Ao no Exorcist related.
It has to be an original piece, no stealing.
It has to be something made for this contest, not something you had already submited on the group.

 PRIZES!

 FIRST PLACE.
- Their Artwork on our Featured spot!
- Their Artwork featured on  Nakamura's blog, [link] !
- Get to choose 3 of the prize donators to make yourself a prize!

 SECOND PLACE.
- Their Artwork on our Featured spot!
- Get a prize from one of the prize donators to make yourself a prize!

 THIRD PLACE.
- Their Artwork on our Featured spot!
- Get a prize from one of the prize donators to make yourself a prize!

 FOURTH PLACE.
- Their Artwork on our Featured spot!


 PRIZE DONATORS!
- Just to remember you, those guys can also take part in the contest, just can't get a prize from themselves!

 dragonlurker
 mayamei
 Danyeda
 L3gitimat3
 jkingbudha


What are you waiting for? Do your best!

Feel free also to join our group anytime and always check out the latest updates on both the anime and manga of this great series by Kazue Kato!!!

Do girls get nosebleeds too?

While we mostly see the guys having nosebleeds when they see a extremely hot, sexy woman, I don't see the reason why girls, both in anime and manga, shouldn't.

Basically the reaction in the male and the female body is the same when we see someone extremely attractive or desirable. Our blood pulse increases and starts flowing into that certain part of the body, either voluntarily or involuntarily.

So, girls get nosebleeds when they a hot guy, specially if it's a bishonen character!

Bleach: To end or not to end?

Ok, so it's been quite a while since this manga was first published in 1999 and got its anime on 2004.

The story developed, we all fell in love with its unique characters that always offer something for someone, as it has sold thousands of copies in manga and DVDs around the world.

But since one of the main arcs that have motioned the very core of the story of the series came to an end recently in the manga, it's difficult to predict where the series will go. What's left? Bleach GT?

This even has impacted the anime with a rumor that it would end soon, with possibly a break and a relaunch, even the Technical Director couldn't exactly debunk the rumor.

I mean, it's quite obvious, isn't it?

It's interesting how the latest poll in this very blog shows how divided and polarized readers feel right now.

Could Bleach really last 10 more years without losing steam?

Barely 33% of the votes responded with a HELL yeah!, and a really close 32% responded with an absolute NO.

Ahh...nostalgic times

Yet the one important portion of voters is unsure with 'It frightens me' (6%), 'Hmm...not sure how it would turn out?' (11%) and 15% answered 'No way if it turns out like Dragon Ball', which sums still 32%!!!

You know, I'm not really fond of extending stories for the sake of doing so, or for editorial pressure, but I'd still bet on what KuboTaito-sensei has to offer.

After all, the Aizen arc could just well be 'the flashback/backstory' of Kurosaki Ichigo...

Noitamina timeslot will go through some changes

With the sudden(?) ending of the first season of Kuragehime, Fuji TV channel is changing a bit of its programming, adding series such as Anohana and C, which will premiere on April of this year.

Anohana is short for Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai. (Here we go again with long names!), whereas C is a story is set during the 21st century when the economic future of Japan is in doubt.

Another series, called No° 6, which is an adaptation of the novel by Atsuko Asano, will premiere on July, produced by studio BONES. It is a science fiction story set in a future model city in 2013. Raised as a top-ranking elite since the age of 2, a boy named Shion lives in an exclusive area in No. 6. On the night of his 12th birthday, he rescues a boy who calls himself "Nezumi" ("Rat"). Nezumi ran away from the city's Special Security Area. From that moment on, Shion's life is changed forever...

And Air Usagi Drop, based on the Usagi Drop manga, will also air in July. 30-year-old bachelor Daikichi comes home from his grandfather's funeral to discover a little girl named Rin in his garden. Rin is the 6-year-old illegitimate daughter of Daikichi's grandfather, and Daikichi decides to take her in when no one in the family accepts the responsibility.

The manga has been running in Shodensha's Feel Young women's magazine since 2005, and Yen Press will publish the third manga volume in North America in March.

(source: Anime News Network)

Happy New Year!

2011 certainly bodes for a great year of changes in the manga and anime industry, as we can see that digital and online media is overtaking everything. Companies are looking to stream their own content on their own websites to help combat illegal distribution.

There could be quite some interesting developments for this year!

More details and guidelines on the YenPress manga talent search

I've been doing too much errands lately and I can't believe that I haven't started yet, despite already having a 'neemu' (draft).

Yenpress stated that this is not a 'contest' per se, there's no winner, and that they can offer as many contracts as they wish but they can also decide to not offer anything to anyone if they don't deem that the quality of the stories and art is not good enough.

They had quite a conflict in making the sizes of the sheet clear, but now they attached a sheet in their site. You can click on it to download or go at theit site here.

Also, Yenpress indicated more guidelines to clear the doubts and questions:

In response to the questions asked so far:


-Dimensions : As mentioned above, as long as the proportions are maintained, the size of the paper you use does not really matter. The proportions don’t have to be exact, as long as it’s close.
-32 pages : We really prefer you make your story exactly 32 pages, but we won’t make a fuss if you are +/- 2 pages.

 -Self-published or web comic experiences are allowed.
 -Teamwork also allowed.

-It has to read left to right. American Style, not Japanese style, remember this.

-On the title page, include your title/name. The logo doesn’t have to be fancy, and the title page doesn’t necessarily have to be a full page of art. If you can find a way to make it part of your story, that’s also fine.
-You don’t have to be in the States to enter.
-There’s no age limit, but if you are under 18 and we like your work, a parent or a guardian will need to sign any contracts or other paperwork.
-We do not seek copyrights for creator-submitted work. Anything submitted will remain the sole copyright of the creator. If we are interested in your submission, we will provide you with a contract outlining our terms.
-Nothing has to be digitally done. You can work with a pen and paper and scan/photocopy them to send to us. We do not want to receive anything via email, that’s it.
-At the end of the day, the instructions are more like a guideline for those you have no idea where to start. If you already know how to do the pages, use your best judgment to show your ability. To stress it again, this is not a CONTEST, so there are no “winners” per se. If we find many submissions that strike our fancy, we might offer multiple contracts, but at the same time, there’s no guarantee that any contracts will be offered. -It all depends on the quality of the submissions we receive. Please note that we are looking for PROFESSIONAL-level work.
Thank you!

Allright folks, let's do our best!

UPDATE: Thanks to user Loominate from Deviantart, who provided a sheet that can be of help for those who still are having trouble in adjusting the pages, it's in Photoshop format. You can use it as a separate or template layer, so you can adjust the page that matches exactly its dimensions.

Here's the link:

http://loominate.deviantart.com/art/Yen-Press-Talent-Search-600dpi-187949806

XD

Is Aizen a lame villain?

After reading the 'Ask John' segment at Animenation, I wonder how Captain Aizen from Bleach really fares in comparison to the villains that John showcases.

The problem I see with Aizen is that he's so ridiculously powerful, God-like and distant that it was only recently in the manga that we started to know what his true motivations were. At least with Light Yagami from Death Note we could see how he thought and how he strived to create the perfect world from the very beginning.

He's charismatic and bishounen, which makes him attractive and palatable. Plus, the scene where he goes 'Superman' on the entire Soul Society after obtaining the Hogyoku is priceless.

He spent all those years playing the 'nerd' captain, the tender, calm and spiritual one, just to find out that it was an illusion from his zanpakuto, Kyoka no Suigetsu, able to achieve total and complete hypnosis.



Not to forget how he stopped Ichigo's bankai with a finger, and the whole groupie relationship with Hinamori is just sadistic.



But overall, he has a sorta pimp personality (only rivaled with Grimmjow) that is reminiscent of those nostalgia villains from the 80's, just with a more suave touch.

Is Saint Seiya such a commercial failure?

With the news of the second season of Lost Canvas making it straight into DVD rather than being aired on Japanese TV, I can't help but ponder what's going on with this classic series by Masami Kurumada.

The classic 1986 series had the seal of character animators Shingo Araki and  Michi Himeno, which marked an important point in the making of future anime series.  

Despite being a cult 80's hit with 114 episodes and 5 movies, the making of the Hades saga into anime took 12 years when the first OVAS of Chapter Sanctuary came out in 2002.

It's important to note that the Saint Seiya anime had huge success in Europe and Latin America, but this series wasn't dubbed to English until 2003, when it aired on Cartoon Network, and even then, only 32 episodes were aired. English speaking audiences still have to conform to English subtitles IF they buy the DVDs.

The quality of the first 13 OVAS was phenomenal and they were aired by Animax channel, but you could slowly see a decline in the Inferno Chapter, until we got to see the abysmal and embarrasing Elysium Chapter that put an indefinite and low-key end to the classic manga's adaptation.







Just when you thought that Saint Seiya was done for, a new manga based on the previous life incarnation of the original story characters came out and it's none other than Lost Canvas.

This new version by mangaka Shiori Teshirogi, started to be serialized in 2006 in Weekly Shonen Champion magazine by Akita Shoten, and as of today it has achieved 20 volumes, having a great reception among fans. Then why is the anime adaptation a failure? Quality is not an issue here as the episodes are greatly animated, have great pacing and follow the storyline to a T. Its style is quite reminiscent of D-Grayman.


However, it doesn't seem to have a good reception among the die-hard, purist fans who are not fond of the new drawing style and the look of the armors, aside from being dissapointed on how the last OVAS of the classic series were done in such an anticlimatic quality.

Plus, it has been a frequent complaint that the storyline of Lost Canvas is almost the same as the original, with slightly few variations that allows us to explore certain characters that weren't explored in the classic manga.



Saint Seiya's success has been quite a mixed bag, with more than 25 million copies of the manga sold worldwide, it made the 25th place in TV Asahi's list of the 100 most popular television series, and it has inspired many artists like Tite Kubo himself.

YenPress is looking for fresh talent manga artists!

Do you love to draw? Are you an aspiring manga artist? Then this is your chance as YenPress is having a talent search contest, that consists of submitting a 32 page short story before January 3rd, 2011.

YenPress is a New York based publisher that is soon going to launch Yen Plus Magazine, and your work could be published there if they like it enough!

This is their info on their guidelines, that can be accessed here:

THE YEN PRESS NEW TALENT SEARCH!


Who is eligible: Any artist who has NEVER BEEN PUBLISHED may enter.


What to send: Create a 32-page short story using the page parameters below:




Size of each page of printed digital art should be 7 inches wide by 10-3/8 inches tall. The live area of each page is 4-3/4 inches by 8-1/8 inches (that is, 1-1/8 inches from the edge of the page). Please keep panels and “important art” (speech bubbles, text, and art that is critical to telling your story) within this live area. As long as these proportions are maintained, you may size your pages as you wish.


You do not need to create color pages or a cover, but please include a full page title page of art with space for a title logo and your credit.


Deadline: January 3, 2011


If your submission catches our eye, you may receive a contract for publication in YEN PLUS!


Send a photocopy or printout of your completed short story and your contact info to:


Attn: New Talent Search
Yen Plus
237 Park Ave. 13-114
New York, NY 10017


The fine print: Please do not send original art as no art will be returned. We will not be able to respond or provide feedback on all inquiries. If we are interested in your submission, we will contact you. Please do not attempt to contact the editors directly.

If you're starting out, this could be a great opportunity. Remember, artists that have never been published before.

Weekly Special Feature: The quality of animation in Bleach

I don't know if it's only me, but rewatching the first few episodes I could see why I was hooked up so much on this series to the point of madness.

It was that the quality of animation helped convey a more dramatic, mysterious, dark and esoteric tone to the story. That reflected on the fights too.





So, what really happened to the quality of animation in Bleach? Has it really suffered?

I think that given the pace of the story and how we as an audience got used to Bankais and Resurreciones, the quality has just got more mundane. The only exception being the fight between Ichigo and Ulquiorra.



But after watching the latest episodes I think it is picking it up.

Thus the new anime season begins!

We have new exciting series as well as the return of classic ones.

The significant change we're seeing this year is the emergence of Crunchyroll as an alternative to free fansubs, which means that studios are aware of the anonymous gigantic audience worldwide that demand to see their work.

These will be the series streamed for the remaining of this year:

Crunchyroll Fall Streams:

Letter Bee 2,
The World God Only Knows (Kami Nomi zo shiru sekai)
Squid Girl
Sora No Otoshimono Forte
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
Fortune Arterial
Super Robot Wars OG
Otome Yokai Zakuro

Funimation will stream: Toaru Majutsu no Index II

Whereas The Anime Network will stream Hyakka Ryoran Samurai Girls

So, which animation software do Japanese studios use? (2)

Doing a further research within LinkedIn Animation groups here, it turns out that the program SoftImage XSI is now Toonz and it is used by Studio Ghibli for their productions. This is especifically their Story Planner PRO software:



There are a whole variety of 2D and 3D animation programs out there for professional-looking projects. There is really no standard for the industry, but rather certain programs that certain studios and people use.

For example, a popular program among digital animation students is Digicel Flipbook and also TV Paint.






Another great program is Plastic Animation Paper, or PAP. If you want an organic paper and drawing, classic feel, this is it for you. The PRO version is FREE! http://plasticanimationpaper.dk/ However, this program doesn't have the technology to color your animation, but it's great to achieve basic traditional animation easily.



Whereas Toon Boom has been used by American studios such as Disney, Warner Bros, Cartoon Network, Cookie Jar, O Entertainment, Film Roman, Fox, etc.



But if you want to keep it simple, then Adobe Illustrator along with Adobe Flash can be the route to go. There's plenty of tutorials available in torrentz sites that may help you without spending a dime, and it will let you have the knowledge to achieve what you want. You can add special effects later with Adobe After Effects.

If you want to especifically create anime without much hassle, then SmithMicro's Anime Studio Debut or Anime Studio Pro can be the best option. They are the same developer of Manga Studio Debut and Manga Studio EX. 



The most important thing that you should keep in mind is that you can use any of these programs, as long as they feel comfortable and manageable. No program is really better than the others. The main idea is to achieve the exact results you want in your project :)

So, which animation software do Japanese studios use? (1)

Most professional studios have their own software developed exclusively for them, yet two programs are the most used by professional animation artists:

One is Autodesk Softimage XSI, and the other is Celsys Retas Pro.

However, most of the great quality animation we see today is still hand drawn in the traditional way, scanned frame by frame, and then with the help of these programs you can add additional effects and more realism, in sort of a post-production stage.

OR, with the help of a digital tablet, some artists prefer to draw directly on the computer and then handle and process the frames at their will.

Autodesk Softimage XSI is a complex program that relies heavily on 3D graphics, just like 3D Max Studio. Still, it's incredible what you can achieve with it for any kind of effect, be it in movies, ads or video games.



Yet Celsys Retas Pro is more preferred by animators, because you can create 2D animation that still looks done traditionally, without too much intervention of 3D, except in backgrounds and settings, as we know that making everything look 3D makes it look like a video game or a bad CGI movie and that's not the idea.



Definitely Celsys Retas Pro is more oriented to create the anime we all know and love.

Saint Seiya: is Kagaho of Bennu the previous encarnation of Ikki of Phoenix?

With the great success of The Lost Canvas, the prequel series of Saint Seiya with an original spin has continued to gather the excitement of fans, old and new alike.

There has been quite a controversy over the web on the matter of the coincidences and similarities between Kagaho and Ikki.

The imagery is obvious and speaks for itself:

Having almost the same armor, the same looks, their renegade and reckless attitude.

The author, Masami Kurumada, and the co-author of the Lost Canvas series, Shiori Teshirogi, have neither confirmed or denied if Kagaho is in fact, Ikki's previous life.The constelation of Bennu represents the Egyptian myth version of the Phoenix, the celestial star of Violence, need I say more??

But as we know, mangakas will always prefer to leave things open.

Black Butler author is vehemently against illegal copies and downloads of her work

This is quite amusing as Yana Toboso, the author of this manga, also known as Kuroshitsuji, felt like she didn't want to preach, but she finds herself very annoyed when fans write her something in the lines of: "I read them (the manga) from ROMs I borrowed from a friend. LOL", or
"I found and watched all of them (the anime) on an overseas video site!", or
"I became a fan with the second season, and then I watched the entire first season on an overseas video site. lol It was very amusing!" 

For Toboso, downloading illegal copies of the Black Butler manga and its anime adaptation "is the same as shoplifting or leaving a restaurant without paying the bill.(...) we creators and voice actors will not eat; this is no joke, we will starve and die. This is not 'lol.'"

She then added that this goes against the Law of Equivalent Exchange, and that if this trend continued, she wouldn't have a job anymore. "Unauthorized videos + downloads are wrong, absolutely!" 

Could she be overreacting or does she have a point? If I put myself in her position, I find that I would be pretty F**cking pissed if too many people just downloaded my work like that, but then again, I would also be campaigning for people to support and buy my work.

After all, it's not like everyone can afford money to simply buy a book when they need to eat or pay the rent.
I know for a fact I can't pay $300 to have a legal Windows 7, so that's why I downloaded it, so that'd be a matter of each one's conscience, I guess.

Trailer for Avatar: the last airbender

Will Hollywood go wrong again with live-action adaptations?

This is the last trailer for the 'Avatar: the last airbender' movie by M. Nigh Shyamalan (haven't liked his work except for those two movies with Bruce Willis) that just hit the screens the last month.



So far, it looks like it will be another case on 'why Hollywood fails' archive. But at least the effects and the technical aspect of the movies looks greatly done, yet again there's no heart to the story and no empathy for the main character whatsoever.

Hollywood and its failure on making good live action adaptations of anime series (II)

Speed Racer (2008)

This film adaptation made by the Wachowski brothers seemed to have everything in favor to be a big blockbuster: a team of writers and directors who knew the manga since childhood, a cast formed by Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci and Susan Sarandon, as well as the actor who plays Racer X.

However, it tanked at the box office, despite the high budget of $120 million, with a local revenue of just $43 million, and even less acceptance in cinemas worldwide, totaling $93 million, which translated to a break even.

The fans of this manga by Yatsuo Toshida were not happy. Why?

Despite the unique aesthetic (if somewhat kitsch) inspired by the atmosphere of the classic 60s anime show, the main argument did not convince at all. For many people in the audience it seemed cliché, predictable, unnecessary, and too heavy in visual effects and CGI that didn't contribute at all to the story.

Another thing that the fans hated was: WHERE IS THE MACH 5 BUTTON????? A key element of the entire series, in which the writers took a unforgivable license with. Again the old rule comes to play: if it's not broken, don't fix it.

Yet the main problem was that the general public never watched the anime, even less the manga and they didn't know what to do with a film that they couldn't understand, given the amount of 'winks' and 'easter eggs' to the fans, with situations in which the writers assumed that everyone would know or be familiarized with.

When it comes to adaptations, there's no doubt that Hollywood hasn't fully understood that the thing that really matters and has its own weight is the story, adapted in a realistic manner so that everyone can relate to it.

Hollywood and its failure on making good live action adaptations of anime series (I)

Just as it usually happens with American comics (save a few exceptions, cough *The Dark Knight* cough), live action adaptations of anime/manga series have traditionally been an utter failure in box offices worldwide.

With the upcoming opening of Avatar: The Last Airbender this month on your nearest cinema, we can review the why and what will happen in the future with pending live action anime adaptations.

We have to keep in mind that Japanese cinema is still the ideal media for live action adaptations of animes, even if audiences are reduced to locals and fans.


Dragon Ball Z: Evolution (2009):

This adaptation had James Wong as a director and a less than ideal cast  to play the characters, neither Chow Yun Fat or James Marsters could save this lackluster (they didn't look like the characters anyway!). The project started with a completely wrong approach, as if they didn't understand what the manga was about at all.

Even Krillin and Tien got removed from the script because they weren't considered relevant. And if we take the $100 million budget,it's difficult to know in what they spent it.

Rather than creating a solid script with specific details that was faithful to the manga and capture its essence, the film had this super tacky Mortal Kombat, Power Rangers, B-movie feel that leaves a bad taste in your brain after the credits roll . Ultraviolet was not so bad, if you look at it.

No wonder that fans of the original manga by Akira Toriyama consider it a total shame.

The images speak for themselves.





Sometimes I can't help thinking that if we had a real movie of Dragon Ball, with all the drama involved, at least half an hour would go only in the fight of Goku and Vegeta gathering strength XD. I don't know if a series or miniseries would be better in this case.