Preorders for the DRAGON BALL ADVERGE SUPER HERO SET will be available on Premium Bandai until Thursday, February 9!

These three characters from Dragon Ball Super: SUPER HERO make up the lineup. The two giant-sized figures perfectly recreate the large-scale battle that took place at the end of the film, and when we heard about their huge stature and high-quality molding, we just had to see these figures up close and personal! And while we were at it, we took a sneak peek at the DRAGON BALL ADVERGE 16 lineup coming in April!

We asked Katahira, the person in charge of planning, all about the figures contained in these two sets.

In part 1 of this article, we'll be focusing on the DRAGON BALL ADVERGE SUPER HERO SET, talking about how they looked beyond the movie when it came to coloring Cell Max and the utterly unique way you can display Orange Piccolo (Giant-Size)!

Preorders Launched Half a Year After the Film's Premier!

――When did you start designing this product?

We started talking about making products for Dragon Ball Super: SUPER HERO early on, but I didn't get to see an advance screening of it or anything. I saw it after its premiere in June.

Dragon Ball Super: SUPER HERO
Released theatrically in Japan on June 11, 2022

Immediately after seeing the film, I had a meeting with the sculptor, who worked hard to create preliminary sculptures in a short amount of time. The first time we revealed the fully-colored samples to the public was at Jump Festa 2023 about a month ago, and we barely made it in time.

The display at Jump Festa 2023

Thanks to everyone's hard work, we're able to get these fully-realized Orange Piccolo and Cell Max figures into everyone's hands in record time.

DRAGON BALL ADVERGE SUPER HERO SET
Shipping planned for the end of May

The Giant-Sized Battle Was Amazing!!

――Can you give us your thoughts of the movie after you saw it?

I was struck by the animation quality! And the way the story was about master and student, with Piccolo encouraging Gohan to train and Gohan finding the inspiration to go beyond his limits, was really touching.
I also liked the Dragon Ball-esque lighthearted moments, like how Bulma had been using Shenron to wish for a slightly higher rear-end and the like.

I had no prior knowledge of the new transformation, so I just watched with anticipation and was shocked when Piccolo, who's ordinarily green, suddenly turned orange.
The battle between Orange Piccolo and Cell Max was so intense, I felt like it would be really interesting to bring them to life as figures.

Orange Piccolo and Cell Max's mega-sized battle

The Incredibly Colored and Detailed Cell Max!!

――Were you thinking of making merchandise out of characters while you were watching the movie?

When Cell Max emerged, my eyes were glued to the screen. While I was watching, I was thinking about what poses would look good as a figure. When he yelled while surrounded by Gohan and the others, I knew that was the pose I wanted.

Scene of Cell Max yelling in the movie

That scene of him being surrounded by everyone really made the sheer size and fearsomeness of the character stand out, and I knew DRAGON BALL ADVERGE was the only line that could do it justice.

The two giant-sized characters alongside standard-sized figures from DRAGON BALL ADVERGE
Being able to compare the size difference between the two was a lot of fun!

――What did you pay special attention to when making Cell Max?

There's a lot I could mention, but from a development standpoint, all the spots in Cell Max's design made him costly to develop. But he's a new character and one of the first figures from the movie customers can get from us, so keeping all his details and impact from the movie intact was something I kept in mind while we made him.
For example, there are parts that might look like the same color, but while his palm has a shine to it, there's no shine around the muscle fibers of his joints.

The luster helps represent Cell's tough exterior!

Cell Max is about three times bigger than our usual DRAGON BALL ADVERGE figures, so there was a lot of information to go over. We went over each part in detail, thinking carefully each step of the way. It was really tough.

From his fingernails to the soles of his boots,
every last detail is perfect.

Look at His Back!! Orange Piccolo (Giant-Sized)!

――You recreated the part where Orange Piccolo (Giant-Sized) walks towards Cell Max, right?

The poses during the heat of battle were great, but Orange Piccolo (Giant-Sized) looked so strong and reliable when he lumbered towards Cell Max to face him head on, so that's what I wanted to accurately recreate.

I wanted to convey his resolve to handle the problem himself and how cool he looked from behind. That's what makes this figure so unique; he looks great when displayed from behind, too.

Check out how muscular his back is!

A Surprise Showing from Gotenks' Failed Fusion!

――It looks like a lot of attention was also paid to Gotenks (failed fusion) in this lineup!

It's a funny scene, but when this version of Gotenks cracked Cell Max's head, everyone realized they had a chance to beat Cell Max. Gotenks (failed fusion) is what gave everyone hope, and Orange Piccolo took the next step, then Gohan Beast delivered the finishing blow. They all worked as a team, which is why I wanted this fused pair included in the lineup.

――Gotenks (failed fusion)'s shape really lends himself well to the distorted proportions the DRAGON BALL ADVERGE series is known for.

Very true. The same can be said of Dr. Hedo who we'll see when we look at DRAGON BALL ADVERGE 16, but his unconventional shape is perfectly distorted. He definitely sticks out amongst all the muscular characters Dragon Ball is known for.

――It seems like these three characters in the DRAGON BALL ADVERGE SUPER HERO SET were brought to life because they stood out to you as being exceptional when you watched the movie.

Yes. I made sure to pack them full of everything I wanted to give to the fans.



Preorders for the DRAGON BALL ADVERGE SUPER HERO SET will be available until Thursday, February 9 23:00 (JST) on Premium Bandai. Don't miss out!
https://p-bn.jp/su/06p567aajeu/

In Part 2, we'll take a look at the figures in DRAGON BALL ADVERGE 16, which you'll want to have displayed alongside the DRAGON BALL ADVERGE SUPER HERO SET!
Check it out here!

[Part 2] DRAGON BALL ADVERGE 16 Available for Preorder! A Huge Gathering of Characters from Dragon Ball Super: SUPER HERO!!