Toei Animation Reveals How The ‘Dragon Ball Super’ Movie Came About

The upcoming Dragon Ball Super: The Movie just goes to show you shouldn’t be afraid of getting no for an answer, at least at first.

Akio Iyoku, who is the head lead over the Dragon Room, recently gave an interview about the anticipated Dragon Ball Super film with creator Akira Toriyama. Thanks to the translation work of Herms98 we now have a better idea of how the project came about, and it really didn’t hit its stride until a few failed attempts. In the interview, Iyoku reveals that most of the work on the film was done via email, though they did meet in person around once every 2 months or so.

The project originated back in 2017 when the Dragon Room, Toei Animation‘s Dragon Ball brainstorming group, pitched a few ideas for a new movie to Toriyama. Those were mostly rejected by Toriyama, but Iyoku reveals the process did give Toriyama some ideas of his own.

Once it was decided that the film would be about Saiyans the project gained some momentum, with the first draft provided by Toriyama in May of 2017. He was concerned the film was too short at that time, so they expanded it, but it expanded too far, so now Toei is working on finding the perfect length.

Toriyama’s work extended beyond just the script though. He provided over 20 sheets of character and machine designs, as well as a new planet. He also helped the team find a new character designer, telling them to focus on finding someone who could make a character look great facing forward as opposed to facing to the side. It’s a small thing but makes a difference in the long run.

Dragon Ball Super: The Movie releases in Japan on December 14.

Currently, Dragon Ball Super airs its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m. It is also available to stream on FunimationNOW and Amazon Video. The Japanese language release of the series is complete and available to stream on FunimationNOW, VRV, and Crunchyroll.

If you want to catch up with the English dub, the first 52 episodes of Dragon Ball Super are now available to stream on FunimationNOW, VRV, and available to purchase on Amazon Video as well. The 52 episodes span the full range of what has aired in the North America and covers the “Battle of Gods” arc, “Revival of F” arc, the “Universe 6” arc, and bringing the series right up to the current TV airings of the “Future Trunks” arc.