April 08, 2025

Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone Commentary (S4E3)

50 minutes

It's FINALLY time for Dragon Ball Z! Kind of! Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by ...getting into our first DBZ discussion by tackling the 1989 movie, Dead Zone.

In this episode:

Jelli and Bekinney recuperate from their hard-fought battle

We sync up our audio commentary for the listeners

We discuss some of the production facts about the film Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone such as its 1989 release at the Toei Manga Matsuri film festival, the film's box office, and the production team working on the film

We talk about the other films released alongside the movie: Akuma-kun: The Movie, Mobile Cop Jiban, the Movie, and Himitsu no Akko-Chan's first movie

We delve into the background behind the Toei Manga Matsuri – Toei Cartoon Festival and its inception in 1969 and other such festivals around the country such as Toho's Champion Festival

Contextualizing the box office of the film

Shedding light on Yuji Ikdeda, art director for Dr Slump and Dragon Ball

Delving into Kozo Morishita, a producer for Dragon Ball GT and important figure in Dragon Ball history

Morishita's work on Transformers The Movie (1986), as well as Tiger Mask and UFO Robot Grendizer, Fist of the North Star, Devilman, Mazinger Z, Cutey Honey, and Wolf Boy Ken

Morishita's fame for Transformers and subsequent changes to Saint Seiya

Mark Menza and Nathan Johnson, composers for the American music to these movies, working with the Bruce Faulconer team

We discuss the different dubs created for the film by studios such as Creative Products, Speedy, and Funimation

Breaking down the movie's characters and their inspirations, Garlic Jr, Sansho, Nicky, and the crystal used to seal away Garlic

Comparisons between the Dead Zone and Superman's Phantom Zone

and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual as we react to this wickedly fast-paced film

Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.

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April 08, 2025

Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone Commentary (S4E3)

50 minutes

In this episode:

Jelli and Bekinney recuperate from their hard-fought battle