Ever since the release of Box 1 on November 30, 2022 Dragon Ball fans have been able to enjoy the best official release of the original series thus far, but it appears that the long hope for a Box 2 is coming to an end.
It has now been reported that numerous sources, including some from France have confirmed that AB Video will no longer be continuing their Blu-Ray releases of the original Dragon Ball.
This is unfortunate, as there had been various reports that gave fans hope that AB were not giving up on the second volume.
Not long after the first volume was released, according to Kanzenshuu veteran sangofe on episode 90 of the podcast Dragon Ball cast the cover art designer confirmed that he finished the design for Box 2.
Nonetheless for years the question about when this would be released remained unanswered, and as expected AB Video could not confirm anything that was yet to be scheduled for a release date.
In December 2023 the company confirmed on Twitter/X that there was “no information at the moment”.
Two months later, according to one comment on Youtube a source close to AB confirmed that the conception of Box 2 posed a problem because TOEI were very nitpicky.
This didn’t bode well for AB and TOEI’s relationship, despite the fact that the latter seemingly proudly displayed the former’s logo on the list of home video partners on their website.
Now it seems that the long awaited follow-up to the much loved Dragon Ball Blu-Ray set will not be coming because AB finally got fed up of dealing with TOEI and didn’t want to use upscales.
For years AB’s staff reiterated that they hadn’t given up, but if the recent revelation from industry sources is to be believed even they had their limits when it came to putting up with TOEI’s demands.
Contrary to popular belief the Blu-Rays were not cancelled because of AB’s decision to use the broadcast audio, but simply because they wanted to go above and beyond to make this release the best it could possibly be.
Indeed while AB were waiting for raw Dragon Box masters TOEI were insisting they use the masters done by another European distributor – Selecta Vision. AB did not want to settle for this option, as like many fans they were not a fan of this remaster, which was released in Spain.
It is truly a shame that yet another great home release has seemingly been cancelled, like Funimation’s level sets from 2011.
What this will mean for the future of French home releases for the 1986-1997 Dragon Ball TV anime remains uncertain.