NYCC / Dragon Ball Daima : Executive Producer Akio Iyoku, Voice Actors Stephanie Nadolny & Aaron Dismuke

NYCC / Dragon Ball Daima : Executive Producer Akio Iyoku, Voice Actors Stephanie Nadolny & Aaron Dismuke

©Photo by Courtesy of Toei Animation Inc – © Toei Animation In

Dragon Ball Daima : The world English dub premiere of “Dragon Ball DAIMA”, the newest series in the Dragon Ball universe, will debut in U.S. theaters, featuring the first three episodes of the series. Before the film, there will be a special introduction from the Japanese voice of Goku, Masako Nozawa.

Director : Aya Komaki, Yoshitaka Yashima
Producer : Akio Iyoku 
Distributor : Fathom Events
Genre : Action, Adventure, Anime
Original Language : Japanese
Release Date (Theaters) : Nov 10, 2024, Limited
Runtime : 1h 23m
Dragon Ball Daima
Photo by Courtesy of Toei Animation Inc – © Toei Animation Inc
Q&A with Executive Producer Akio Iyoku, Voice Actor Stephanie Nadolny, Voice Actor Aaron Dismuke. Moderated by Monika Rial. Translator Mikey

 

Q : Welcome, Iyoku-san.

Akio Iyoku: Hello, guys! I’m Akio Iyoku, the executive producer of the Dragon Ball Franchise, and I’m looking forward to Today. Let’s have some fun! So I want to sayid’s been about a year since I saw you guys last time in New York. So I’m very happy and flattered to be back. I’m sure you guys are really excited for what we have in store. So stay tuned and let’s have some fun.

Q : I’m about to spice things up a little bit, we have another wonderful guest to join us. You guys are gonna freak, please welcome Stephanie Nadolny. Welcome, we are so thrilled to have you here, and I’m sure many of you are familiar with her but for those who aren’t, could you give them a little introduction. 

Stephanie Nadolny: My name is Stephanie, I’m a singer and voice actor, I specialize in character voices, I’m just really excited to be here. I was Goku in Dragon Ball, Gohan in Dragon Ball Z.

Q : Some of you may have already heard but there is a really great Dragon Ball Daima event coming up soon. Isn’t that right, Iyoku-san!

Akio Iyoku: So, English dubbed versions of Dragon Ball Daima Episodes 1 through 3 are going to be released in theaters in North America. So that’s US and Canada from November 10th to 12th. These are gonna be the dubbed versions. I encourage everyone to go to theaters and experience this on the big screen.

Q : Awesome. I believe we have a video. Roll that video.

Akio Iyoku: Roll that video!

Q : You guys don’t miss your chance to see Dragon Ball Daima on the big screen, tickets are on sale now! This is really exciting for Iyoku-san. 

Akio Iyoku: Yeah, I’m really excited to hear your guys reaction to this.

Q : And, I’m sure many of you have noticed, but doesn’t the voice of Goku Mini sound kind of familiar? Yeah! You guessed it! Our special guest, Stephanie, is the voice of Goku Mini in the English dub of Dragon Ball Daima! 

Stephanie Nadolny: It’s great to be here. It’s my first New York Comic Con. I’m already blown away by the crowds and cosplay. I’m super excited, uplifted, and totally inspired. I love the story, the voice acting, and the animation is phenomenal. I’m empowered, Yeah!

Dragon Ball Daima

Photo by Courtesy of Toei Animation Inc – © Toei Animation Inc

Q : Alright, let’s get this party started! Are you guys ready for a special experience? at New York Comic Con. Alright, let’s jump right into discussing the all new anime series, Dragon Ball Daima. We will be hearing a lot from Iyoko-san, which is good. Alright you guys, at last year’s New York Comic Con, we had the pleasure of announcing to the world, for the first time, that Dragon Ball Daima was in the works.

And finally, just last week, the first episode of Dragon Ball Daima was released across various platforms. Has anyone here had the chance to see it? If you have, would you like to put your arms in the air? That’s so great to see how many of you have already watched it! Iyoku-san, this is amazing, it’s gotta feel great seeing such an enthusiastic reaction from the audience.

Akio Iyoku : I’m honestly speechless right now because Daima would not have been possible were it not for all the fans in this room right now. So thank you guys.

Q : All right, let’s dive right in and ask Iyoku-san about key features to look out for in Dragon Ball Daima. The official trailer was released, and the setting Demon Realm is unlike anything we’ve seen in Dragon Ball series, so is that a world Toriyama sensei created from scratch for Dragon Ball Daima?

Akio Iyoku : Yes, that is correct. The demon realm you see is a world specifically designed for Dragon Ball Daima. Today for the first time, I’d like to share some illustrations Toma Sensei did himself. It’s the first time these have been shown outside his office. Are you excited to see that?

Q : Iyoku-san! This is such an honor! Stephanie, bringing the inside scoop. Can you believe it?

Stephanie Nadolny: We are also incredibly lucky! Oh, my goodness.

Akio Iyoku : Alright, let’s see the next slide.Alright, take a close look everyone. This is one of the scenes or settings of the Daima world. It’s not like any other world we’ve seen in the Dragon Ball universe until now.

We really paid close attention to how Toriyama sensei illustrated this as we built the world and setting of the Daima series. Can you see something, Monika?

Q : Oh, I was going to say there’s a little town in the distance. Here’s what I was really looking at though. Down in the bottom right corner, There’s a creepy looking little I’m not sure what that is. Is that a creature? 

Akio Iyoku: Did you guys see that? So, really good eye to you, Monika and everyone in the audience, so what you see here is a creature called the Troll, which lives in the Demon Realm. Toriyama sensei didn’t just do the background, but also took a lot of meetings that were in his mind and put them to paper including the creatures and the people who live in these worlds, they were all illustrated by Toriyama sensei. I also brought with me an illustration of this troll , so let’s go ahead and check that out!

That’s definitely a troll. So Toriyama sensei had books of these types of illustrations. He really fleshed out this world and the setting, you can really tell his characteristics and his signature style in the artwork.

Q : Now, I noticed something. If we could go back to that last slide that we have. There’s a plane in the middle. I’m not even sure you call a plane, but it looks very familiar. Is that something we’ve seen before?

Akio Iyoku: I think some of you may have noticed it’s the same plane in some of the other artwork revealed in Dragon Ball Daima. So let’s look at the main key visual. So you can see the vehicle Glorio is riding in the back left corner of this illustration. So this was also designed by Toriyama Sensei, so I’d like to take a close up look at the vehicle, here we go.

Dragon Ball Daima

Photo by Courtesy of Toei Animation Inc – © Toei Animation Inc

Q : Wow. And Toriyama Sensei is a really detailed man. So he actually has the inside layout as well as how this vehicle is propelled. He thought about everything. And you’re going to see a lot more of this in the show, so please stay tuned and stay excited. I love that Toriyama sensei designed the interiors and exteriors. These vehicles and machines are the charms of the Dragon Ball series. Would you agree?

Akio Iyoku: Absolutely, Toriyama sensei is a very particular when it comes to  mechanics.So, he actually thinks about how they would function, how they would move, we’ve got small mechanics like this one all the way to really large ones that are all going to show up in the show. This shape is amazing.

It’s the same for small things, but it’s the same for big mechanics. And it may seem hard to see from this illustration but because we are in the Demon Realm, these vehicles are propelled in a completely different way. So I know it looks like it may not fly just at a first glance, but it does, and you’ll see why. So now that we’re talking about this, you saw Glorio piloting this earlier, right?I’d like you to look at one of Toriyama sensei’s illustrations of Glorio.

Q : He’s so cool looking! I love it! What kind of character is he? Is he a good guy, or bad guy? 

Akio Iyoku:  I can’t go into too much detail just yet but I can say he is a mysterious character.

Q : Alright everyone, now that Iyoku-san has introduced us to the character of Glorio, we have another surprise for you today. The English voice actor of Glorio will be joining us on the panel. This is the first time we’re revealing this casting information, You are hearing it first. Any guesses on who it might be? Alright, I’m not gonna make you do that. The fantastic actor is well known for his roles as Alphonse Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist. Please welcome Aaron Dismuke! 

Aaron Dismuke : Hi! I’m Aaron Dismuke. ‘ll be the English voice of Glorio. Thank you for having me.

Q : How does it feel to be on stage for the Dragon Ball Daima special panel at New York Comic Con? 

Aaron Dismuke : Overwhelming. You know how Dragon Ball warriors can sense power levels? I’m feeling a lot of power from y’all.

Q : Yes! Dragon Ball fans, all the power! As an actor, it is always nice to be cast, but what was your reaction when you found out you’d be voicing Gloria? 

Aaron Dismuke : Oh my gosh, I was in denial. You always try to hedge your bets so you don’t get hurt when you’re auditioning. I was like okay, I got to audition, that’s good enough, I mean this was amazing but I wanted Glorio. I auditioned for a few characters, but I wanted to audition for Glorio, so after that I told myself that’s good enough, you are on the short list, that’s amazing. Then I found out that I got cast, and I was like, okay, it’s gonna be a small character, tiny, and that’s great, be happy. Then I found out it was Glorio.

Dragon Ball Daima

Photo by Courtesy of Toei Animation Inc – © Toei Animation Inc

Q : So have you seen the first episode yet? 

Aaron Dismuke : Yes, it’s so good. I’m really excited for y’all. The lighting, the use of light and shadow, and the character designs, that’s really cool. The ecosystem of this world is just amazing and I think y’all are gonna love it.

Q : All of the art we’ve seen is stunning. Do you have a passion for the visual beauty of this? New installment.

Aiko Iyoku : We certainly paid a lot of attention to all the visual expressions that you see in Dragon Ball Daima. So I hope you guys get to see and experience a different side or angle to Dragon Ball that you’ve never seen before.

Q :  Absolutely! And I hope everyone here will appreciate the beauty of the visuals when we watch the first episode together. I cannot wait. But first, let’s talk about the theme song for Dragon Ball Daima.

We all know that music can set the tone for a show, and this new series is no exception. The opening theme from the first episode is called Jaka Jaan. What did you think? Get you hyped up? Jakajan is produced by Grammy Award winner Zedd. Now we have another surprise for you. A special video message for the Dragon Ball Daima panel. Are you ready to see it?

Here’s a message from Zedd, who produced the opening and ending themes for Dragon Ball Daima. Let’s take a look.

Zedd: What’s up at New York Comic Con? This is Zedd, I wanted to share how excited I am for Dragon Ball Daima. I got to work on the theme and end title with C&K and I,  it’s a dream come true. It was on the list of things that I’ve dreamed of doing in my life because I grew up with Dragon Ball, and it’s been a huge inspiration for me, not just because I love the show, but the theme songs have been amazing, and they’ve inspired me musically, so for me to get to work on these songs and hopefully inspire other people is a dream come true. Anyway, I just wanted to share how excited I am, and I hope you’re having an amazing time at New York Comic Con, see you soon. Peace.

Q : Thank you so much, Zedd, for that special message. Alright, my friends, we’ve heard a lot about the latest information, and we’ve gotten some behind the scenes stories about Dragon Ball Daima. Stephanie, now I would like to hear your thoughts on Today’s panel, Stephanie, was it everything you hoped it’d be and more? 

Stephanie Nadolny: As a fellow musician and vocalist, pretty much my whole life, I’ve been involved in a lot of the anime themes, Yu Hakusho, Sayonara Bye Bye, Kiddy Grade, Case Closed, I’ve done about eight or nine of them, and directed a few people, As a musician and singer, I’m blown away. I’ve been listening to it. I love it.

Q  : And Aaron, do you have anything to add?  

Aaron Dismuke : That song was a total bop. I was thrilled to find out Glorio is gonna be in the video games. I did not know that before today. I get to work for it!

Q : Anything to say, Iyoku-san?

Akio Iyoku: I think Dragon Ball Daima has everything from being a very attractive character, moving story no one can predict, and intense action. The charm of Dragon Ball is packed.

I think Dragon Ball Daima has everything from the really attractive characters and moving story, and really intense action. It takes the best parts of Dragon Ball into one show.

So I’m assuming everyone in this room already likes Dragon Ball, but after watching Dragon Ball Daima, we want you to love Dragon Ball even more. So I know it’s weird coming from me, but we put a lot of effort into this and I think it’s a great show. So please be excited for it.

Dragon Ball Daima

Photo by Courtesy of Toei Animation Inc – © Toei Animation Inc

If you like this Q&A, share your thoughts below! 

Check out more of Nobuhiro’s articles.

Here’s the trailer of the film. 

Comment (0)

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here