News

Electronic Dragonball Scouter, Wristbands Revealed (Updated)

Not-So-Daily Link of the Day: On February 8, Bandai announced Dragonball Items Neo, four gadgets with electronic lights and sounds inspired by Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball fighting manga and anime. Bandai notified retailers of this series last month, but did not publicly describe the details of each item until this past Friday. The items will be released in Japan at the end of February for 525 yen (about US$4.90) each, including one lemon-soda-flavored candy.

The series includes two wristbands that will automatically "shout" attack calls in Son Goku's voice when the user makes the appropriate hand gestures. For example, the Son Goku Voice Band (Kamehameha ver.) will utter "KA—ME—HA—ME—" when the user presses his or her wrists together while forming the chi energy blast. The Son Goku Voice Band (Genki Dama ver.) will shout "Minna no genki o ora ni wakete kure!" when the user raises his or her hands up in the air to form the sphere of the worlds' life energy.

The series also features a replica of a Dragonball. The ball splits in half to reveal an electronic light that projects a silhouette of the Shenlong dragon. The final item is the Scouter chi-detection headset that is featured prominently in the Dragonball Z story arc. The Scouter beeps when a side button is pressed, and the red-tinted eyepiece will reveal the fighting abilities of Goku and his Freeza nemesis on the included cards. (Think Tech Specs from The Transformers toys of the Eighties. )

In related news, Pony Canyon has created an unusual train poster campaign for its Japanese Dragon Ball GT DVD release. Upon entering a train, riders come face-to-face with a ceiling-hung poster with a gaping hole in it. Only when they look behind the poster will they see another poster of two hands forming a Kamehameha energy blast with the first DVD volume.

Source: +D LifeStyle, Mainichi Shimbun

Update: "Aura" corrected to "ora." Thanks, sailorspazz.