The new gadget is part of the celebrations for the Dragon Ball anime’s 30th anniversary, which first aired on February 26, 1986.
Oh how we love you, Premium Bandai. For those of us now-adult anime fans who grew up in the 80s and 90s, they’ve provided us with so many chances to indulge in our childhood fantasies, from elegant Sailor Moon makeup and Evangelion teacups to a six-foot-tall $40,000 Godzilla figure.
And now to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Dragon Ball anime, we have yet another reason to thank them for ensuring that our wallets never have any cash in them, thanks to their upcoming release of the Complete Selection Animation Dragon Radar.
▼ Celebrating 30 years of the internationally beloved Dragon Ball anime
Longtime Dragon Ball fans have undoubtedly dreamed many a time about going on adventures to collect the seven dragon balls and summon Shenron, who can grant any wish they desire. While we’ve never actually seen the Eternal Dragon materialize in this world (to our knowledge at least), our hopes just got a little bit higher after the announcement that Dragon Ball protagonist Bulma’s hand-built dragon ball tracking device is now available for anyone to pre-order. Even better, its sleek design and size are faithful to the original story, right down to the Capsule Corporation logo on the front. It really can’t get any better than this for fans of the anime!
▼ Shenron: “I will grant you any one wish.”
Check out this exciting promotional clip to see the Dragon Radar in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75eurZKISdo
Let’s take a look at its individual features in more detail:
The Dragon Radar is illuminated by an LED screen with moving images and text. It even has a built-in internal directional sensor and a triaxial acceleration sensor which let you know when you’re approaching a (fictional) dragon ball after following the on-screen targets. You can magnify or reduce the map’s scale by twisting the handle. The system also preserves the various clicking, beeping, and background music sounds heard in the Dragon Ball anime, matched to a variety of lighting patterns.
To use the gadget, simply activate “search mode” and begin your quest! Follow the on-screen hints to move closer and closer to the legendary dragon balls. Once you’ve finally collected all seven of them, Shenron will appear to grant you any one wish you desire–don’t be startled to hear his booming voice.
In addition, Bulma’s longtime Japanese voice actor, Hiromi Tsuru, contributes several voice clips to make your adventure even more authentic. Some of the lines you may hear her saying include:
“Dragon Radar activated!”
“Son-kun, we’re going to look for the dragon balls!”
“We’re getting closer.”
“There was a response on the Dragon Radar.”
“Gi-girls’ panties!?” [Writer’s note: It makes sense if you’ve seen episode 12 of the Dragon Ball anime]
Finally, you can enjoy your journey even more by setting the device’s background music to the series’ opening theme song “Makafushigi Adventure!” (「魔訶不思議アドベンチャー！」), ending theme song “Romantic Ageru yo” (「ロマンティックあげるよ」), and background track “Shenron Appears” (「神龍出現」) once you’ve progressed a bit further in your quest.
Pre-orders for the Dragon Radar are now ongoing until January 31, 2017 at 11 p.m. on Premium Bandai’s website. All orders received by then will be shipped in March. While the handy gadget will set your wallet back a hefty 10,800 yen (US$95), that’s a small price to pay in exchange for receiving any wish you want, right?
In the meantime if you want to live the Dragon Ball life as realistically as you can, be sure to check out the Dragon Ball cafes where you can stuff your face with food just like Goku.
Source/images: Premium Bandai