Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball franchise is one of the most popular action manga and anime franchises today, and has spawned several spin-offs, video games, movies, merchandise, and much more. But while the official series is beloved by many, there are just as many who have fond memories of watching one of the most popular spins on the anime, Dragon Ball Z: Abridged. Premiering its first episode back in 2008, Team Four Star has confirmed that they are ending the series after its strong ten plus year run and have no plans to continue adapting the remaining material of the series.
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Started by Scott T. Frerichs, Nick Landis, and Curtis Arnott (who go by their nicknames KaiserNeko, Lanipator, and Takahata101 respectively), Dragon Ball Z: Abridged took some of the most memorable moments of the original anime and made it even more special in their own way. But as Frerichs noted on an official statement to Team Four Star’s official Patreon page, the team just can’t quite muster the spirit to continue it anymore beyond its natural end.
After releasing a statement earlier this week that shocked fans with the abrupt end of the project, Frerichs discussed the the team’s thought processes behind the final decisions, “Recently, we publicly announced that DBZA will not continue via the original footage ala our classic method of Abridging. However, we talked publicly about possibly moving forward with the Buu Saga via the same animation provided in the ShortZ. Unfortunately, after serious deliberation, we currently find this process untenable.”
Elaborating further, Frierichs stated the following, ” The ending of the Cell Saga gave us a sense of finality that is impossible for us to escape. We put our hearts and souls into making that finale stand out, and everything we’ve worked on with the original footage since has left us feeling hollow…Many shows lose steam as time goes on as the creators extend their work far beyond its natural lifespan; we’re feeling that with this…”
When discussing the timeline of decision, it goes back to the public cancellation of the Bojack Unbound special, “It started late August/early September. We’d been working on the script for Bojack since May, and had been struggling to get anything of substance down on paper. While it wasn’t a complete wash, we weren’t happy with the bulk of it. We’d also restarted the scripting process a couple times, trying to approach it from different angles, but we found ourselves at wit’s end.”
Frierichs has confirmed that Team Four Star will be continuing on with their other non-Dragon Ball Z Abridged related projects, but as for now, Dragon Ball Z Abridged has come to an end with 60 episodes in all. Spanning from the Saiyan saga to the Cell saga, and 12 movie specials, this project will certainly live on with many! You can read more of Team Four Star’s official statement here.
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Image Credit: Marvel Comics
