The Dragon Ball franchise could be in flux following the death of Akira Toriyama, as rights to the property have become tied up in a messy negotiation.
Dragon Ball Daima, the latestanime showfeaturing Goku and his friends, arrives this October. As Akira’s swansong from the iconic story he created, expectations are high.
We should probably enjoy it while it lasts, because the future of the legendary Shonen appears unclear due to unresolved issues surrounding ownership, according to a new report from Weekly Tokyo Keizai.
‘Dragon Ball’ IP is currently stuck in a battle for its rights after Akira Toriyama’s unfortunate passing.Check out this very important article in this week’s Weekly Toyo Keizai for details! 🚨#DragonBall#DragonBallDaimapic.twitter.com/DXSbz1s9ia
Akio Iyoku, a former editor at V Jump who led the Dragon Ball Room at Shueisha, set up Capsule Corporation Tokyo after leaving the latter. He had a close working relationship with Akira, who purportedly “trusted” Akio more than anyone else at the company.
But that still left Shueisha as a hurdle to any future releases, and now that Akira’s gone as a negotiating partner, conversations remain ongoing.
“Meetings about Dragon Ball were organized very vaguely, with ‘all relevant parties’ being invited, which subtly included both Iyuko and Shueisha representatives, making the coordination extremely stressful,” an unnamed insider stated.
“The disputes have been ongoing and remain unresolved.”
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Anthony McGlynn is a Senior Anime Writer on Dexerto’s UK team. An expert on animes like Demon Slayer, Solo Leveling and My Hero Academia, he also has over 10 years experience covering games and pop culture for outlets such as Variety, IGN, Den of Geek, PCGamesN, PCGamer, The Digital Fix, and many more. You can contact him at: anthony.mcglynn@dexerto.com
