James Gisante attended the Dragon Ball DAIMA New York Comic Con panel for CBR on Thursday, and here’s her panel recap – BC
Only a year ago, the latest animated series in the Dragon Ball saga was revealed at New York Comic Con, so it’s only fitting that Dragon Ball DAIMA was one of the first major panels at this year’s conference. Although this is advertised as a Dragon Ball DAIMA panel, it was a comprehensive panel that also included news on merchandise, video games, and in-person events that fans will be able to look forward to for a while.
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Monica Rial, who provides the English voice of the main character, Bulma, kicked off the festivities. In addition to getting the crowd excited early Thursday morning, Rial announced all the exciting things scammers could find at the Dragon Ball booth on the main floor of the show. Rial also announced that the Dragon Ball DAIMA The North American tour would begin in November, starting at the Mall of America before moving on to the American Dream Mall and finally ending its tour at the West Edmonton Mall.
Moving on to the gaming side, the panel highlighted not only the latest video game in the long-running franchise; Dragon Ball: Zero Spark but older console games such as Dragon Ball: Xenoverse 2 And Dragon Ball Z: Scratch as well as mobile games like Legends and Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle. Each game will benefit from a DLC highlight ALWAYS to some extent, some games offer free trials to entice players to join in the fun. But the fun isn’t limited to TV screens, as it’s a popular card game. Dragon Ball Super World Fusion Card Game was also highlighted as February will celebrate its first anniversary and in January the first ever “Battle Hour” event will be held.
Before the panel moved on to the proclaimed “main event,” Dragon Ball franchise executive producer Akio Iyoku joined the stage as well as Kid Goku’s returning English voice actor Stephanie Nadolny. Nadolny, who was making his very first appearance at New York Comic Con, had already voiced the younger version of Goku in the original. Dragon Ball series and Dragon Ball GT.
Iyoku revealed to the crowd (through a translator) that ALWAYS will make its dub debut in select North American theaters November 10-12. The announcement was followed by a trailer highlighting some of the series’ English-speaking voices, including the official reveal of Nadolny’s return as Goku. Nadolny then spoke about his excitement regarding his return and even gave the crowd a taste of the character’s distinct voice.
A brief question-and-answer session revealed that the new world presented ALWAYSThe “Demon World” was designed specifically for the series by the franchise’s late creator, Akira Toriyama. The crowd then sees original artwork by Toriyama which serves as the basis for this new demon world as well as some of its inhabitants. One of these residents was a new character, Glorio.
Glorio was front and center throughout the panel, being included in featured products, video games as well as all promotional art. Toriyama’s concept art showing the creation of this new character excited the crowd, as Iyoku was hesitant to reveal whether Glorio would be good or evil and simply called him “mysterious”. As the buzz continued to build around Glorio, the crowd didn’t have to wait long to discover that his English vocals would be provided by Aaron Dismuke of Fullmetal Alchemist And Dr. Stone fame. Dismuke admitted to being overwhelmed by his experience in New York, but overall excited to be part of the festivities.
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Could the NYCC crowd organize a Kamehameha group?
After guests took turns showcasing the new series’ visuals, it was revealed that musical performer Zed had provided both the opening theme and end title music for the series. ALWAYS. Zed then provided a video message talking about the honor and dream of providing the music for the show.
Before the panel moved on to air the first episode of the series, the crowd participated in a photo opportunity with the stage guests leading a Kamehameha group. After several failed attempts, Nadolny managed to get the crowd in sync in an epic display of geekdom. While Nadolny was with the crowd in person, another Goku joined via video message as legendary Japanese voice actress, Masako Nozawa shared her excitement for ALWAYS and once again he led the (now laughing) crowd in a final Kamehameha.
The energy of the panel was electric as Dragon Ball once again enters a whole new era in its long history. Although many viewers had already watched the first episode of the new show, audiences remained happy to watch it alongside their dedicated community.