Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero character concepts revealed at SDCC 2021

The resurgence of the beloved Shonen Dragon Ball franchise is nothing short of a wish-worthy miracle made on the eponymous, glowing spheres of the series. Anime, a medium once difficult and expensive to violate, now dominates everything from trends to the American box office. The persistence of Dragon Ball is largely due to the steady hand of creator Akira Toriyama, who has expanded the stories of Goku and his friends into the epic scope of the recent rebirth. There is the best selling fighting game in Dragon ball fighterz to a satisfying but nostalgic return to the anime and manga with Dragon ball super. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the reinvention of the Broly series punchline into an empathetic hero with the smash hit of the 2019 feature film. Dragon Ball Super: Broly.

The horizon is nothing but blue skies and magic balls if Friday’s Comic-Con @ Home Dragon Ball special panel is any indication, which revealed new artwork and character designs for the film at come and newly appointed Dragon Ball Super: Super Heroes.

Before any news or information was revealed, the panel kicked off with those all too familiar guitar chords and the voice of legendary musician Hironobu Kageyama singing a rendition of Chala head Chala in all its glory. Queue all nostalgic tingling to wait for a new episode of Dragon ball z to begin.

Hosted by panel MC Sascha, the panel featured Japanese voice actor and voice of Goku Masako Nozawa, Shueisha and Dragon ball super (manga) editor Akio Iyoku and Toei Animation producer Norihiro Hayashida, whose work includes Dragon Ball Super: Broly and now Dragon Ball Super: Super Heroes.

“There are two ‘supers’ in there, which is great!” Iyoku commented on the revelation of the film’s new title. “We really wanted to emphasize that this movie is all about the superhero vibes. Toriyama is really focusing on the superhero aspects this time around. The new revelation of the title has come with a new never-before-seen teaser of Dragon Ball Super: Super Heroes. The short animation featured series star Goku warming up to a three-dimensional franchise logo, before the film’s new title popped up. While the clip isn’t from the movie itself, it does showcase the artistic and animation direction the team is looking for in the upcoming release.

Image: Toei Animation / Fumimation

The title and preview of the animation weren’t the only revelations to be found on the panel. With two of the guests in Iyoku and Hayashida dressed up as Goku and against a digital backdrop showing the Kame House Islands, the group immediately talked about Dragon Ball Super: Super Heroes, and its expected release date in 2022. Akira Toriyama is once again heavily involved in the creation and production of the film, much like he was in the years 2019. Broly movie.

“Toriyama wrote the original story, the screenplay, as well as the character design,” said Sascha. “He’s deeply involved in the structure of the story, of course, the character design and every detail of the dialogue.” Toriyama’s own words were then read on stage by Iyoku, as the creator addressed the panel and the virtual audience in a written note accompanied by his personal avatar doodle that will be familiar to fans of the manga.

A brand new movie since Dragon Ball Super: Broly is in preparation! Much like the previous film, I am heavily directing the production of the story and the dialogue for another amazing film. I really shouldn’t be talking too much about the plot yet, but be prepared for some extreme and entertaining fights, which can come with an unexpected character. We’re going to travel uncharted territory, in terms of visual aesthetics to give audiences an incredible journey, so I hope everyone looks forward to the new movie!

Toriyama’s dedication to the franchise and its renewal was a big milestone for the panel, especially when it comes to the creator’s direct involvement in the movies and the new manga series (which is still ongoing.) to Toriyama at the height of popularity of Dragon ball, who once admitted in an interview that he did not oversee any of Broly’s original film creations, The Legendary Super Saiyan.

“He played an important role in previous films, such as Battle of the gods, Resurrection F, and of course Broly“Says editor-in-chief Iyoku.” But I can say with confidence that he invested the most in this latest film! “

The panel also revealed official artwork by Super hero, including Piccolo’s character models, but with his iconic cape and without.

While the designs are classic in their look, Iyoku and Hayashida joked with the MC panel about a “radical change” in Piccolo’s designs, which includes a change in shading on the telltale shoulders of the Namekian. Typically pink in the TV series, he now sports a yellow undertone along his arms, as well as a new shade of red on his belt, where it was blue in the original series.

“It’s the same color as in the manga, which is why I didn’t notice!” Sascha said, pointing out that this was another clue to Akira Toriyama’s attention to detail.

Image: Toei Animation / Fumimation

The next new design was that of a slightly older Pan, the daughter of Gohan and Videl. In the Dragon ball super Previous series and film, Pan was still a toddler, but now wears a kindergarten uniform. It alludes to the idea that the new movie will move forward in time by several years. Iyoku called Pan “an integral part of the new film”.

The new design continues, with Krillin in an updated police uniform, featuring a bright yellow and purple design very different from the classic uniform he wore. Dragon ball super. The panel also showed how Krillin underwent a subtle design change, now with black pupils on a white sclera, a change from the look of her eye skin in previous versions.

Image: Toei Animation / Fumimation

The host moved things forward to start discussing world building and the artistic design of Earth in the new film, specifically asking Hayashida to tout the team’s design philosophy. “We paid a lot of attention to detail this time,” he said against the new artistic concepts of Piccolo’s house, sitting on top of a mountain at the foot of a lake and lush vegetation. . The art panel provided by Toriyama was one of the very first looks at exactly where Piccolo lives. His house is similar to the designs of the Namekian house found during the Namek and Frieza sagas of Dragon ball z, with large bulbous windows and a white exterior.

Realizing that Piccolo’s house has a mailbox, Nozawa noticed that “some of my colleagues would say, ‘Piccolo doesn’t send mail, so he doesn’t need a mailbox! a comment that made the panelists crack. “We talk about things like that during recording,” she said. The panel announced that we’ll see what the interior of Piccolo’s house looks like in the film, finally bringing the fantasies of anime nerds everywhere to life.

Piccolo’s artistic revelation prompted panelists to talk about the intrigue of Dragon ball and anime in general. “There are a lot of different worlds we can visit in the anime that we normally can’t in our own world,” Nozawa said, “and I think that’s one of the best things about it. ” The discussion focused on the different places and worlds of Dragon Ball; be it lush jungles, barren mountain peaks, or literally the far reaches of space, the series has never been limited like some of its contemporaries have in the past. Sitting on a stage designed to resemble the iconic Kame House, Sascha said he just wanted to open the door and enter, much to the approval of the entire panel.

On a more serious note about the production of the new film, Toryiama found himself a bit toasted about his commitment to the new film, with Iyoku saying “As we make more films, Toriyama-sensei’s involvement becomes deeper. He was deeply involved in the last film Broly‘also, but it is even more invested this time. The producer noted that even as script writing was completed on Broly that Toriyama was already on this new project although the film then in progress is still in post-production.

“I feel like Toriyama-sensei is always challenging us to do something new,” said Hayashida. “Even with the same characters, it changes something about them slightly,” referring to the seemingly light design choices of Piccolo, Krillin, and surely other characters to come.

And speaking of other characters, the panel also came up with the first original character design for the new film, with a piece of art made by Toriyama himself of a gray alien dressed in a cape and a uniform worthy of a sort of corpsman. Panelists were silent on this character’s name or origins, but mentioned that it was one of Toriyama’s many works of art that they usually don’t show to the public.

Overall, the panelists failed in their duty not to be able to bring this news to fans directly in San Diego, but they ended the panel gushing with enthusiasm for Super hero. The project seems like a real labor of love for Akirya Toriyama, with his energy binding the project together.

“My challenge is to build a team that can make all of this a reality,” said Iyoku. “Toriyama-sensei has put so much effort into making this movie and invested everything he’s got in it, so we’re trying to match his energy to create the best possible product.”

Dragon Ball Super: Super Heroes is scheduled for release in 2022.