Dragon Ball International

Category: News

  • POP UK responds to fan enquiry about airing Dragon Ball Kai

    The former Sony Pictures Television broadcaster, which is now owned by Narrative Entertainment has responded to a fan enquiry about them airing Dragon Ball Kai.

    POP previously aired Dragon Ball Super, which premiered in the UK and Ireland in July 2019, has been in reruns since and only in the last few months been removed from POP’s schedule, although many promotional videos can still be found on their website suggesting they have not lost the rights yet.

    Dragon Ball Kai previously aired in the UK and Ireland on the now defunct channel Kix (owned by another one of POP’s previous owners CSC Media), but despite a lot of rumours at the time the channel ended up airing the Funimation dub, allegedly because TOEI gave them no other option. This may have been because Manga UK’s season DVDs of Dragon Ball Z, which contained the Funimation dub were being released at the time as a means of avoiding marketing confusion, or Funimation might have pulled some strings, but unfortunately clarity was never given on this.

    It is worth noting both WOW Unlimited and Toon-A-Vision negotiated with TOEI to acquire the rights to Ocean Productions’ English dub of Dragon Ball Kai, and the company’s long standing producer Diana Gage has previously said fans should make their voices heard if they wish for this dub to see the light of day.

    It would inevitably be a great opportunity for POP if they were to air Dragon Ball Kai with an English dub that is not widely available or seen, and has a built-in fanbase with actors like Brian Drummond and Scott McNeil, but until then the best that can be hoped for is enough fans reach out to them advising they seek out the Ocean dub.

  • Original Dragon Ball’s return to Cartoon Network India seems to be postponed

    The previously announced return of original Dragon Ball to Cartoon Network India appears to have been postponed based on two sources.

    In its place Dragon Ball Super appears to be airing from 2pm-3:45pm following another airing of Dragon Ball Z movie 7 Super Android 13 at 1pm. The movie was previously shown on May 7th last year, and Dragon Ball Super has been airing at the same timeslot since June of this year.

    If episode descriptions are anything to go by it seems Cartoon Network India will be rerunning the series from episode 1, as this listing from TVWish suggests the Battle of Gods arc is being aired, although this arc began its most recent rerun at the beginning of July.

    This may be a placeholder, as this has happened before. Alternatively, as another fan I’ve spoke to suggested it is possible Cartoon Network India plans to air original Dragon Ball after the Bardock special, which debuts on September 1st and follow it up with a rerun of Kai.

    In any case watch this space for further updates on India and the original series return after almost 15 years.

  • Bardock: The Father of Goku to debut in India on September 1st

    As we previously reported Bardock: The Father of Goku, the Takao Koyama and Katsuyuki Sumisawa-penned TV special is set to air for the first time ever in India on the native Cartoon Network, which has had massive success with the Dragon Ball over the past two years with Super, Kai and various movies.

    The special, which has commonly been mistaken for a movie, possibly because it had the same runtime as any of the 17 original movies is in fact a TV special, and during its first ever release on October 17, 1990 it aired on Fuji Television, like the rest of the series between Dragon Ball Z episodes 63 and 64, so it is in fact every bit as much a part of the TV anime as the 291-episode series that aired during the same timeslot.

    Now Cartoon Network India, which is set to air the first Dragon Ball Z TV special, and for the first time in nearly 15 years broadcast the original Dragon Ball series has announced a premier date.

    September 1, 2024, the special will air on Cartoon Network with five dubs in different languages – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada at 1pm. This will be a week after original Dragon Ball returns to Cartoon Network.

    Similarly when Dragon Ball Kai premiered last year with episodes 1-7 on its debut date, Dragon Ball Z movie 5 followed a week later before episodes 8-14 of Kai, so presumably the Bardock special will follow a similar pattern.

    There may be more or less episodes of original Dragon Ball premiering the week before, although the Bardock special is airing later than Dragon Ball Z movie 5 did so Cartoon Network India may be taking their time with dubbing it more so than they did with Kai, which all 167 episodes of were aired between April 16th and November 12th last year.

    When I find an upcoming Sunday schedule for Cartoon Network India I will be sure to update this.

    In any case it is great that Indian audiences finally have a way of legally watching and supporting the much loved TV special, and hopefully History of Trunks will follow, and more of TOEI’s Dragon Ball catalogue if ratings are good.

  • Dragon Ball going strong on Polsat Games

    Nearly six years after its premier on Polsat Games Dragon Ball remains a mainstay on Poland’s first independent TV station, which is offered as part of the nation’s largest satellite provider Cyfrowy Polsat.

    The innovative broadcaster allows viewers to switch from the Polish dub to Japanese audio with a remote. Not too shabby for a linear channel, and a wonderful way of giving viewers the freedom to choose whatever version they prefer or are in the mood for watching.

    Dragon Ball Super, which Polsat Games at the time aired weekdays at 4pm allowed the channel to reach 1.4 thousand homes and became their most popular programme.

    And while Super was the first Dragon Ball TV anime to receive a traditional dub it has not been the last, as last year Polsat Games began airing Dragon Ball Kai, which it continues to air alongside Super to this day.

    Currently Polsat Games airs Dragon Ball Kai weekdays from 9am-10am, 12:30pm-2pm, 3:30pm-4:30pm while Dragon Ball Super airs Monday-Friday from 11am-12:30pm. On weekends Polsat Games treats viewers to various quintuple airings of both Super and Kai, with the former airing Saturday from 2pm-4:30pm, Sundays 8am-10:30am and the latter airs Sunday from 11am-1:30pm, 2pm-4:30pm.

    As we speak the morning and afternoon weekday timeslots for Dragon Ball Kai have wrapped up the Saiyan arc and now begin with the early Namek arc, although the timeslots around midday on the same days are in the middle of the Cell arc. Dragon Ball Super has also finished up another rerun of the Goku Black arc and is to begin another rerun of the Tournament of Power arc.

    For more information see the full listings for Polsat Games on the week this article was written.

    With so much time allotted to Dragon Ball on their channel it seems safe to assume that Polsat Games and Studio PDK, the dubbing facility behind the recent Kai dub will have their eyes on Dragon Ball Daima whenever that is being licensed for Poland.

    I hope fans will get it, this recent surge of Polish Dragon Ball dubs is long overdue considering there was one time when all they had was Dragon Ball Z movies 12-13.

  • Piccolo Daimaō arc begins on Anibox in South Korea

    As we speak Dragon Ball episode 103, the second episode of the Piccolo Daimaō arc has just aired in South Korea on the Daewon Media-owned channel AniBox.

    The original Dragon Ball anime began airing on AniBox on Christmas eve last year, marking the first time in 16 years the series was shown on the channel.

    Currently AniBox air Dragon Ball on Sundays starting with 1 rerun of the last week’s newest episode at 8pm followed by 3 new episodes from 8:30pm-10pm.

    Champ TV previously dubbed all of original Dragon Ball but as Daewon Broadcasting acquired Champ Vision from Tcast in March of last year the channel was absorbed into the broadcasting giant and integrated into another Daewon channel AniOne.

    This broadcast features a new Korean dub as it is very common for shows to be redubbed, reportedly due to broadcasting rights and dubbing often being cheaper than the cost of licensing other channel’s dubs.

    Credit goes to the knowledgeable Korean dub expert wjbraden for confirming when this dub began.

  • Original Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT airing on the same day on Le Tele and other current Paraguayan broadcasts as of August 2024

    As reported on the Kanzenshuu forums both original Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT recently aired during the same day on the free Paraguayan channel La Tele.

    It is not known when original Dragon Ball’s current run on La Tele began, but based on the pace at which it was being shown it is speculated to have been July 10, 2023 where it aired Mondays to Fridays at the 9am timeslot. The channel hasn’t listed either Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball GT on its website, but a fan noticed the former while channel surfing yesterday:

    Thanks to Cure Dragon 255 for the live screencaps

    For anyone interested in catching Dragon Ball GT keep an eye on La Tele, as was the case with original Dragon Ball it could appear unexpectedly.

    The original series was previously airing on fellow Grupo Vierci channel Telefuturo since September 18, 2021, on this channel it aired Saturdays at 1:30pm and Sundays at 2pm with the Cloverway masters other channels like Tooncast, ETC and RPC used.

    Original Dragon Ball concluded on La Tele the last week of October 2023 and on the 25th of that month the TOEI-exclusive sequel to Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT took its timeslot. It is assumed Dragon Ball Z didn’t take its predecessor’s place because it was airing on Telefuturo (where it currently airs with a triple bill Saturdays from 6:30pm-8pm and Sundays at 7pm and 7:25pm), which was a sister channel.

    Dragon Ball GT has been airing with “remastered” video tracks that are of a lower resolution than the original betacam tapes with title cards, which have been distributed by TOEI (who took over Cloverway’s operations in the mid-2000s when they set up operations in Latin America) since 2016 with audio sourced from fan recordings.

    Dragon Ball Z also currently airs on the Warner Channel on the same day with 8 episodes between 11:01am and 14:41pm on Sundays and double bills various times on weekdays, including tomorrow at 7:45pm and 8:15pm, Tuesday at 7:58am and 8:25am as well as 8:08pm and 8:37pm, Wednesday with three double bills 6:28am-7:21am, 8:12pm-9:08pm and 5:08am-6:10am, Thursday at 8:38pm-9:36pm and 5:29am, finally rounding up with a single timeslot Friday at 6am.

    Dragon Ball has long had a dedicated fanbase in Latin America, many Paraguayan and Argentinian fans in particular were introduced to the series through the now defunct Pramer-owned channel Magic Kids.

  • Crunchyroll announce November 2024 solicitations, including new Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super Complete Series Blu-Ray collections for their store

    The leak has been confirmed to be true, as Crunchyroll have announced their November 2024 slate, which does indeed include a new Blu-Ray boxset for Dragon Ball Z.

    Dragon Ball Z

    The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Crunchyroll Exclusive


    Goku—the strongest fighter on the planet—is all that stands between humanity and villains from the darkest corners of space. Joined in battle by the Z-Fighters, Goku travels to distant realms in search of the magic powers of the seven Dragon Balls!

    Dragon Ball Super

    The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Crunchyroll Exclusive


    After 18 years, we have the newest Dragon Ball story from creator Akira Toriyama.

    With Majin Buu defeated, Goku has taken a completely new role as…a radish farmer?! With Earth at peace, our heroes have settled into normal lives. But they can’t get too comfortable. Far away, the powerful God of Destruction, Beerus, awakens to a prophecy revealing his demise at the hands of an even more formidable being. When his search for the Saiyan God brings him to Earth, can Goku and his friends take on their strongest foe yet?

    As Crunchyroll re-released Funimation’s 2013/2014 Dragon Ball Z Blu-Rays replacing the company’s logo with their own, it is likely the Dragon Ball Super Blu-Rays will get similar treatment.

    Don’t expect these Blu-Rays to contain the 30th anniversary discs, as the cover art suggests it will be the heavily criticized cropped Blu-Rays. The only noticeable difference here is amended disc art to be more consistent with the new box, so nothing to write home about.

    Thankfully none of the Dragon Ball Super releases have had any issues, and fans can buy any copy from the US, UK or Australia and be satisfied with the picture and audio quality as from the 2010s onward TOEI began to standardize everything.

    Both boxsets are due for release on November 5, 2024 in North America. There has been no word, as-of-yet if these will be released in the UK or Australia where Manga UK and Madman Entertainment respectively used to release a lot of the same titles as what Funimation released in the US. So don’t be surprised if both come to Region B territories.

    To pre-order see below:

    Dragon Ball Super

    Dragon Ball Z

  • New Dragon Ball Z Complete Series Boxset coming from Crunchyroll?

    A new Complete Series Blu-Ray collection seems to be coming if the recent leak on Rightstuff is to be believed.

    If true, fans in North America can expect a new collection of all 291 episodes of Dragon Ball Z from November 5th this year with a price as low as $142.49.

    This is not the first time Crunchyroll has released all of Dragon Ball Z since the rebrand from Funimation, as an Amazon-exclusive set was released last year.

    It is unlikely the discs will be anything other than Funimation’s 2013/2014 16:9 cropped Blu-Rays, so if anyone has this release, either from its original print run, the rebranded Crunchyroll sets or even the 2007-2009 season sets this release is probably worth skipping.

  • Bardock : The Father of Goku expected to premier on Cartoon Network India around the same time as original Dragon Ball with five new dubs

    In a recent Instagram post second Hindi Vegeta voice actor Prasad Barve said “Young vegeta something new coming up soon”, leading his followers to believe the Bardock : The Father of Goku TV special was coming to Cartoon Network India.

    It has just been confirmed by Senpai Network that the special Toriyama famously loved but said he would never write himself will indeed be dubbed and airing on Cartoon Network India.

    In what has become the expected standard the much revered special will be broadcast in five native languages, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. No Indian dubs are known to exist or have aired.

    Often mislabelled as a movie, Bardock : The Father of Goku is a special that aired on Fuji TV alongside the Dragon Ball Z anime, and in India it is expected to air alongside original Dragon Ball, just as Cooler’s Revenge was shown the same day episodes 1-7 of Kai premiered back in 2023.

    It is always great to see older content being dubbed, Uttam Pal Singh, head of Cartoon Network India has said to fans privately the channel was looking into more Dragon Ball licenses, Dragon Ball GT was expected after Dragon Ball Kai, although One Piece was aired instead.

    It will be certainly interesting to see what else Cartoon Network India sets their eyes on, only time will tell when they will receive Dragon Ball Daima.

  • After almost 15 years original Dragon Ball is returning to Cartoon Network in India

    Recently Cartoon Network India have teased a new series as “the adventure that started it all”, on the same day local online news reporter Senpai Networks confirmed the show coming to national TV was indeed the original Dragon Ball, and just announced is the premier date and timeslot.

    Sundays at 2pm starting August 25th

    And there’s more. As was the case with Dragon Ball Super, Dragon Ball Kai and Dragon Ball Z movies 5-9 and 12-13, which were all shown since 2022 five dubs were produced in different languages – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.

    This is great news, original Dragon Ball did once air on Cartoon Network with a Hindi dub, and from what one fan has said it was a massive flop with only the first 49 episodes being dubbed and the channel suffering a loss.

    As was the case with Kai, original Dragon Ball will be getting a new Hindi dub and not a rerun of the older dub, but Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada will be new audios.

    Still wonderful, not only to see original Dragon Ball getting more exposure, but the massive amount of dubbing will mean it appeals to a wider variety of Indian fans.

    Watch this space for updates on these dubs.

Category: News