Earlier today, Anime News Network reported that Shueisha, the publisher behind the Dragon Ball mangas, and recenttly the Toyotaro version of Dragon Ball Super, have announced and I quote:
"...a new department called the "Dragon Ball Room" in June that focuses specifically on Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball property. Akio Iyoku, the editor-in-chief of Shueisha's V Jump magazine (where Toriyama and Toyotaro's Dragon Ball Super manga is currently serialized), is heading the new department.
The department is working to provide new ideas for content for Dragon Ball, and to optimize and expand the brand. Iyoku commented that the department is "only thinking about Dragon Ball."
Dragon Ball creator Toriyama commented on the new department, saying that the team was one he could put his trust in. He joked, "It's really great that I don't have to do anything now." "
Basically what this means is that Shueisha now has a Dragon Ball-only department that deals only with the Dragon Ball franchise with plans to expand it further. The group may also determine which stories of the Dragon Ball franchise may be regarded as canon, past, present, or future. This is even if creator Akira Toriyama is not involved.
You can imagine this as similar to the Lucasfilm Story Group, which handles the entire Star Wars franchise and determines which is and which is not canon. Or how Warner Bros. deal with the DC Expanded Universe and declaring that the TV shows of Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow, are not canon to the movies.
I would think that Shueisha and Toei, both companies who own the manga and anime, respectively, and by extension Bandai, who owns the mercnahdise, may have realized how big the Dragon Ball franchise is even after Dragon Ball Z ended many years ago. When you think about it, Dragon Ball is one of the few Japanese franchises that is not just well known in Japan for generations, but also has a global recognition. There's a reason why Goku is being compared to Superman not because of what they can do. But because these two characters are well-known throughout the world.
If you're a company whose product is a huge hit around the world and there's quite a consumer demand for it, you'd be a fool not to capitalize on it. And this is exactly what Shueisha is doing right now. Make more Dragon Ball because demand is high, and rake in all the profits. Best of all, this is for the long term. So expect to see more Dragon Ball in the coming years or decades, even.
Some are worried that this may further degrade the quality of Dragon Ball, however. I can neither agree or disagree on that. It's common business practice to spend as less as possible to make as much as possible. But looking at the Box-Office performances of Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, and even Michael Bay's Transformer films, the mentality is so long as a well-known character is there, people will come to see it, irregardless of quality.
So, even if Goku would look pretty terrible, so long a it's Goku, Dragon Ball fans will see it anyway. But I would advice Shueisha and Toei to not push their luck on that and try their best to make the franchise as good as possible in terms of quality, and not rely solely on brand recognition alone to make bank.
So for the fans of the Dragon Ball franchise, this is good news as it means that even if you have Grandkids, or even Great-Grandkids, there will be plenty of Dragon Ball stories to tell.
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