March 18, 2024 : Happy Saiyan Day… Yes, It’s A Thing
How am I just hearing about this now?! Apparently, March 18th is Saiyan Day. If you’re asking why, first… shut up. Second: apparently, 3-1-8 in Japanese is San-Ichi-Hachi; and when that is shortened, it sounds like “Saiyan”. I’m not sure I get it, but does that really matter?
I can’t find how long Saiyan Day has been around or its origins. Based on my search on the interwebs, it is at least 6 or 7 years old. It also seems to be really popular with the Dokkan video game, which I do not play. Still, I fully endorse this. Time to hop on this train!
posted by Pi Visuals at 11:36 pm
Tags: DBZ , Saiyan DayComment
March 10, 2024 : RIP Akira Toriyama
In super sad news, Akira Toriyama passed away.
There isn’t much to say. Like many, DBZ was the gateway to my love of anime. As such, I owe a lot to Akira Toriyama. His work brought joy to countless people. He was a true original.
posted by Pi Visuals at 12:41 am
Tags: Akira Toriyama , DBZComment
September 16, 2023 : Stellar DBZ Branded Shirts
Over the last few months, this basketball shirt has dominated the rotation when I lace up:
This was a solid gift for sure, but it got me thinking: What about Vegeta’s skills on the court? It’s probably ‘Air Goku’ fits better visually. Still, why isn’t there equally killer apparel for Vegeta? That’s when I came across:
You did it again, Internet!
posted by Pi Visuals at 12:28 am
Tags: DBZComment
April 15, 2023 : C2E2 2023 In The Books!
Two weekends ago the joy that is C2E2 took place. I went last Summer, but this was the first Spring C2E2 since 2020… i.e. before the world ever heard of Social Distancing. As expected, it was a fun filled weekend with plenty of great costumes, including this gem:
I only hit one panel, and per usual, didn’t buy any artwork; but all felt right with the world. I must say the DBZ cosplay felt underrepresented. That prompted me to at least consider dusting off the Vegeta costume for next year (April 26-28!) with my Goku wingman. We’ll see if it comes to fruition, but to be honest, it’s something I’ve thought about the past few years. We last dressed up in 2017!
posted by Pi Visuals at 12:27 am
Tags: C2E2 , DBZComment
December 25, 2022 : Join the Team, Goten
Gohan lasted about 8 years. Piccolo is now past that age; and while it has been mostly running without issue, limitations are now starting to appear. Specifically, it is unable to update to Windows 11, and Adobe will be releasing an update soon that will no longer be stable with its current GPU. The HDD also crapped out this summer, which fortunately didn’t result in the loss of many files.
As such, I already planned for a new computer last December to happen this year (it was also beneficial to do it this calendar year for tax purposes). I originally wanted to do it this summer, but I got sidetracked. With Black Friday sales providing the impetus, I finally started the process and purchased the components:
There were several starts and stops… the biggest one being me buying laptop RAM (doh!), but I also had limitations on when I was able to devote time to the build. That said, I was finally able to finish things up. The end result? Goten:
A big thank you to Moridin for returning the favor and doing the leg work on this build. I haven’t had a chance to give Goten a spin and see how he runs. In fact, he isn’t set up in my pipeline yet – I still need to figure out where he will physically sit – but it’s only a matter of time before that happens. In the meantime, I’m please the process is over, and I can finally check this off my to-do list!
posted by Pi Visuals at 9:44 pm
Tags: DBZ , PipelineComment
August 20, 2022 : This Weekend’s Top Movie? Dragon Ball Super, Of Course
The new Dragon Ball Super movie premieres this weekend, and expectations are that Crunchyroll’s first global release will take the top spot at the box office. This seems bizarre; but it is probably a mix of the weak box office lineup and the rise in popularity of anime.
Then again, considering the recent success of other anime movies combined with the Dragon Ball brand, perhaps it makes sense. I’m not sure I’ll watch it in the theaters, but it is on my radar so I’m hopeful I get to watch it sooner rather than later.
As a side note, I finally watched the Broly movie. Meh… at least story wise. The visuals were definitely solid. Here’s hoping Super Hero does a better job of merging the two.
posted by Pi Visuals at 1:14 am
Tags: DBZComment
May 14, 2022 : A New Dragon Ball Super Movie
There is a new Dragon Ball Super movie coming out this summer, which also happens to be Crunchyroll’s first global theatrical release. The trailer looks interesting for a few reasons:
First off, Red Ribbon Army (could be cool). Secondly, Gohan looks bad ass (he better). Thirdly, a lot of the animation sequences uses 3D – not just for the background and camera movements, but also the characters. This is the second Dragon Ball Super movie. The first was Dragon Ball Super: Broly (Battle of Gods and Resurrection F were considered DBZ), which I vaguely remember but didn’t watch.
Broly used 3D periodically, but it still predominantly kept with the 2D pipeline. I’m not sure if Super Hero is fully 3D, but it definitely uses significantly more. This could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the execution.
We’ll see, but I’m intrigued. Also, I need to watch Broly.
posted by Pi Visuals at 12:09 am
Tags: DBZComment
October 31, 2021 : Remembering Some Halloween Fun
In tribute to the day, here’s a Halloween Throwback:
It’s crazy to think this was 5 years ago! The costume required the most amount of planning and work compared to any of the others I’ve done, but it was also the most well received and recognized.
Sadly, Halloween costumes has been sparse for me since this bad boy. Hopefully a trend that will be reversed in the near future.
posted by Pi Visuals at 12:50 am
Tags: DBZ , HalloweenComment
October 8, 2021 : The Saiyan Saga In A Nutshell
I wholeheartedly approve of this (obviously):
The video is by an animator from Spain, and apparently he is working on a video for the Frieza saga. His Twitter page has some stills and gifs from that project.Â
Being about DBZ pretty much had me hooked, but I found it really funny and enjoyed the character design. I think the sound effects really pushed it over the top for me, though.
posted by Pi Visuals at 10:45 pm
Tags: DBZComment
September 22, 2018 : Welcome Aboard, Trunks
It’s a few weeks late, but I wanted to welcome the newest member of the family… my digital family that is. I finally got a new laptop, and his name is Trunks:
My previous laptop is about 8 years old, and running my production programs has become rough. Onsite work for clients was an exercise in patience.
I considered other brands, but Dell has been solid for me in the past. As such, I got the G7. It’s a gaming laptop but has the specs required for motion graphics related software. The price was reasonable (and per Kramer, can be written off) and has been great from a performance perspective.
Trunks accompanies my desktop, Piccolo. Naming wise, the order of DBZ related computers from Oldest to Newest is: Vegeta, Gohan, Tien, Piccolo, Trunks. Vegeta has long since left this world, Gohan is on his way out, and Tien is strictly used for back up (he was received second hand).
I’ve considered gathering the Dragonballs to resurrect the computers of yore, but who needs 1GB of RAM with 20GB of space? They might as well get renamed to Yamcha…
posted by Pi Visuals at 1:28 am
Tags: DBZ , PipelineComment