NYCC 2018: ‘Dragon Ball Super: Broly’ Panel Recap

Toei Animation brought Dragon Ball Super: Broly to New York Comic-Con in a big way. Read on to find out everything that happened at its huge panel.

1. Monica Rial (Bulma’s English voice actress) introduces Dragon Ball Super: Broly, highlighting Broly’s return to the franchise and Akira Toriyama’s greater involvement in the film. Broly will have a new side shown to him. She hypes the fight scenes, and that the animation will definitely be what fans will love.
2. Akio Iyoku, Norihiro Hayashida, Masako Nozawa (Goku’s Japanese voice actress), are brought to the stage. Rial asks Nozawa how it feels to be at a panel in front of so many fans. Nozawa’s ecstatic and doesn’t know how to describe it. Iyoku is hyped to be there because the film is so close to being finished.
3. Rial asks what it was like working with Toriyama on the film. Nozawa says it was very flattering for her that Toriyama said he hears her voice and “the pen moves.” It’s a much different experience working with Toriyama. Iyoku says there are a lot of new characters, many of which Toriyama designed. Hayashida says it’s the most Toriyama’s been involved in Hayashida’s 20 years in the industry.
4. When asked what will make the film different from other films, they note that Toriyama’s art has gotten slicker and admittedly slender, but as characters “go up the food chain” they get bigger and bigger. Fans will notice the difference for themselves in the character design.
5. Yamaguro-san would take the designs before and design them for the anime before, but Naohiro Shintani is now overseeing character designs for animation. He won it through a major audition process. Hayashida notes that the staff went through every Toriyama art form and transformed it for the full film.
6. Rial asks what the three of them can tell us about the film, Nozawa notes her lips are sealed and she will not “ruin it for anyone.” She encourages fans to see the film for themselves. She does mention that Broly is the villain, and jokes that he’s muscular. They say that the battle scenes are all top notch in the film, as well. Nozawa says she was in the studio and had to recall if she in fact had said any dialogue. It was battle scene after battle scene, a lot of fighting in her recordings.
7. In a message to North American audiences, they did their very best to release the film in the United States so soon after its release in Japan. Nozawa says fans won’t be able to keep their eyes off the screen. Hayashida says it will feel like a new Dragon Ball experience thanks to changes of style in the transformations, but also the new environments and planets as well.
8. Rial then introduces Sean Schemmel (Goku’s English voice actor), and asked how Schemmel has changed his approach to the role after meeting Nozawa. He responds that Goku’s been a constant (like Nozawa mentioned a bit earlier), but he can alter the energy now that he’s been able to experience her work since the early days of the series. Nozawa, to her fellow Goku, says it’s been a long time since they’ve seen one another, and he hasn’t changed at all.
9. Rial then introduces Christopher Sabat (English voice of Vegeta), Jason Douglas (English voice of God of Destruction Beerus), Ian Sinclair (English voice of Whis). Rial asks the cast what they’re excited about from the film, and Douglas and Sinclair respond that they’re happy to be in the film itself. Sinclair’s excited because it’s Toriyama’s Broly, he needs it. He’s a huge Dragon Ball fan.
10. Rial says they’re in the process of dubbing (and that Sabat knows too much about the film) and asks what they can share. Sabat can’t say much, but confirms it’s gorgeous. He’s seen a rough version of the film, it’s cool, has cameos, and both expected and unexpected things will happen. Sinclair’s excited to see the origin story. He’s excited to see Goku’s mother Gine, especially.
11. Rial introduces Vic Mignogna (English voice of Broly) and asks how it feels to return to the role. He’s excited for the fight scenes as well, and jokes that some will die. When asked how he feels about Broly as a character, Mignogna says he’s always loved the character and is happy he’s made the jump to Dragon Ball Super.
12. Nozawa, however, does not agree. She states, “At first glance, there’s not even a fragment worth liking or loving about this character. He is the epitome of a villain, but maybe on a second thought just a fragment.”
13. The Japanese subbed trailer and English dub trailers are shown. It’s the first time Nozawa has seen the trailer herself. She’s as surprised as everyone else. Now that fans have seen the trailer, Nozawa says fans have got to see the full film.
14. Rial confirms Sonny Strait will return to portray Bardock in the English dub, but the voice of Goku’s mother, Gine, is still being kept under wraps for now. As far as the new trailer, Schemmel mentions that he can’t wait to see how many more levels the film can go from here as each new look has been more impressive.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly officially launches in Japan this December. Funimation will be bringing the film to theaters in the United States on January 16th as well, and fans of the English dub are just waiting to find out which theaters the film will release in. You can read its synopsis below:

“This is the story of a new Saiyan. Earth is peaceful following the Tournament of Power. Realizing that the universes still hold many more strong people yet to see, Goku spends all his days training to reach even greater heights. Then one day, Goku and Vegeta are faced by a Saiyan called ‘Broly’ who they’ve never seen before. The Saiyans were supposed to have been almost completely wiped out in the destruction of Planet Vegeta, so what’s this one doing on Earth? This encounter between the three Saiyans who have followed completely different destinies turns into a stupendous battle, with even Freeza (back from Hell) getting caught up in the mix.”