'Dragon Ball Super: Broly' Interviews Explain Akira Toriyama's Involvement

A new interview with the director of Dragon Ball Super: Broly gives an idea of how much involvement the series' creator, Akira Toriyama, had in making the film.

The interview was conducted by the official Dragon Ball website. The director, Tatsuya Nagamine, offered all kinds of new information — from teasers about the plot and the new characters to the particulars of production. The whole thing was translated by Twitter user Todd Blankenship, who offered a summary of the takeaways to English-speaking fans.

"Nagamine says they're adapting Toriyama's script pretty much as-is apart from the action scenes," Blankenship wrote. He added that the team could not go by Toriyama's script word-for-word, as it would have led to a movie nearly three hours in length. With only 90 minutes to work with, employees on every part of the production worked to trim down what they could.

Nagamine says they’re adapting Toriyama’s script pretty much as-is apart from the action scenes. But the original script would've made for twice the scheduled 90 minute run time, so everyone involved has worked to trim it down, though the run time has still been slightly extended

— Todd Blankenship (@Herms98) August 5, 2018

In the end, the movie was reportedly still extended a bit to make room for Toriyama's story. An official run time has not been announced just yet.

Nagamine worked as the series director on the Dragon Ball Super anime for some time before landing the job on the movie. After he left, Ryota Nakamura picked up directing duties for the Universe Survival saga, which Nagamine offered his compliments on. He added that Toriyama himself had worked hard on that storyline.

In his younger days, Nagamine said that he worked under Shigeyasu Yamauchi, who directed Dragon Ball Z: Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan. He admitted that it was hard to take on the Dragon Ball Super reboot, feeling that he could not possibly out-do his one-time mentor. He decided to focus on bringing Toriyama's vision to the character he already knew so well, and making sure the villain looked strong in the process.

Of course, Nagamine is a long-time Dragon Ball fan himself, who said that he grew up on the original anime. Like many others who are working on the project, he raved about the story they had cooked up. He feels that it will be an enjoyable film for those long-time fans and newcomers alike, which is especially important as the Dragon Ball fandom ages and tries to get their offspring interested.

Blankenship translated another interview from the official Dragon Ball site, where producer Norihiro Hayashida described Dragon Ball Super: Broly as a "grand space opera."

The DB Official Site has an interview with DBS movie producer Norihiro Hayashida. He reaffirms (DB Room chief) Akio Iyoku’s previous statement that the film will be a “grand space opera”: “I wondered if DB could pull that off, but it all clicked once I read the storyline.” https://t.co/mdrjkLjloH

— Todd Blankenship (@Herms98) July 29, 2018

"The DB Official Site has an interview with DBS movie producer Norihiro Hayashida," he tweeted. "He reaffirms (DB Room chief) Akio Iyoku's previous statement that the film will be a 'grand space opera': 'I wondered if DB could pull that off, but it all clicked once I read the storyline.'"

Dragon Ball Super: Broly hits theaters in Japan on Dec. 14. It is expected in the U.S. some time in January.