San Jose Mercury News (CA) 7-6-1997

8/24/2001

SECTION: Front Section, Front Section, Page 1A

LENGTH: ??? words

HEADLINE: A NEW ICON POISED FOR ASSAULT ON POP CULTURE

BODY:

Memorize this: ''Dragon Ball Z.''

You'll need to know, because ''Dragon Ball Z'' -- a Japanese TV cartoon edited and dubbed for an all-ages U.S. audience -- is the jumping-off point for what looms as a national phenomenon. A gotta-tape-it, gotta-get-the-toys and gotta-download-more-pictures phenomenon.

''I don't know if it will get as big as 'Power Rangers,' but it has a chance to be close,'' said Seiji Horibuchi, president of a San Francisco company that hopes to publish English versions of ''Dragon Ball Z'' comic books.

Internationally, anything ''Dragon Ball'' has been a blockbuster commodity for years. But the franchise was languishing in minor cult recognition in this country until a Sunnyvale husband-and-wife team, Gen and Cindy Fukunaga, obtained broad licensing rights through a family connection with the controlling Japanese company.

Their first TV cartoon effort, just called ''Dragon Ball,'' in 1995 didn't quite click. But the ''Dragon Ball Z'' series, distributed by ''Power Rangers'' producer Saban Entertainment, has been picking up steam since its premiere last September.

The cartoon is being pitched to TV stations as a one-hour block for next season instead of just 30 minutes, and the U.S. merchandising pipeline is about to start spewing everything from action figures to a much-anticipated video game for the Sony PlayStation. Some collectors already are avidly chasing international editions of the products.

''If you look at the empirical data, the property has done $3 billion outside the U.S.,'' said Gen Fukunaga, a former Tandem Computers product manager who has realized his Silicon Valley start-up dream as FUNimation Productions.

''It could easily be that kind of phenomenon here,'' he said, ''and I think it's finally kicking in.''

The action figures, starting to ship this month from Bandai America, are expected to drive little kids into frenzy and confront American parents with a full-blown Mutant Ninja-Morphin level of mania.

But there's another factor, too: Teenage boys and 20-something men can develop the kind of attachment to ''Dragon Ball Z'' they usually reserve for girls, Mad magazine and ''Star Wars.''

During the May TV ratings sweeps in the Bay Area, the only program on KOFY (Ch. 20) that did better with boys 12 to 17 was ''Unhappily Ever After,'' which features fantasy date Nikki Cox.

In fact, even though ''Dragon Ball Z'' runs on KOFY in the inconspicuous slot of 10 a.m. Sundays, it had better sweeps ratings with teen boys than prime-time mega-hits such as ''The X-Files'' and ''Friends.''

Teens are clearly the nexus, but they're not the upper limit of the ''Dragon Ball Z'' appeal. Some of the momentum is related to a booming American interest in any Japanese animation -- there's a major ''anime'' convention in Los Angeles this weekend -- and a big chunk of West Coast pop culture has become Pacific Rim pop culture, for all age groups.

''I had one adult come in and drop $90 on Dragon Ball stuff,'' said Mel Nash, one of the owners of the Legends of Sports & Fantasy collectibles store at Vallco Fashion Park in Cupertino.

Near the other end of the mall, the Miller's Outpost store features a display of ''Dragon Ball Z'' T-shirts near its entrance.

''It's brand new, but we think it's really going to take off,'' said Frederick Ford, a Miller's vice president.

And when the New York Times recently asked one Manhattan librarian about Internet use by kids at his branch in Chinatown, he said they were more interested in ''Dragon Ball Z'' than sexually explicit material.

So, what's it all about? Well, that's about as easy to explain as the U.S. tax code.

Fundamentally, the plot is about seven mystical, crystal balls that, when gathered together, will summon a dragon capable of granting one wish for anything.

Ho-hum? Not to fantasy gamesters, who realize that ''Dragon Ball Z'' is about the eternal battle between good and evil, with the fate of the Earth at stake. Ho-hum? When the evil Saiyans from the planet Vegeta would be putting out the lights everywhere from Tokyo to Tulsa if not for the heroic Goku, his pure-hearted wife Chi Chi and their son Gohan?

It has the kind of kick, punch, maim-and-destroy action that makes children's TV advocates whimper in dismay. There's also a slapstick quotient, and FUNimation edits out the worst violence with ''digital painting.'' But it's still in the smash-crush-blast category.

Sherwin Abesamis, a UCLA junior with a World Wide Web site devoted to everything ''Dragon Ball,'' is captivated by the complexity of the characters' personalities and relationships.

''What I like is the way they grow up and mature,'' said Abesamis, 19. ''You can't see it unless you step back and look at the entire story. Over time, they change a lot.

''In general, I think the popularity of 'Dragon Ball Z' is the fighting. But not for me. I like the character development.''

Abesamis says the U.S. liftoff for ''Dragon Ball Z'' is reflected in an explosion of Internet activity.

Before the program's launch last September, says Abesamis, there were about 20 Web sites devoted to ''Dragon Ball.'' Now, he says, there are more than 300.

The ''Dragon Ball'' history is much more straightforward than its plotting. It started as manga -- Japanese comic book writing -- and became an enduringly popular animated feature in that country. It went on to record sensational TV ratings in Europe, and it's spreading through Central and South America. There are hundreds of episodes in inventory.

''There's something special about this,'' said Fukunaga, ''and we seem to be right on the edge of seeing it all happen here, too.''

Author:MIKE ANTONUCCI, Mercury News Popular Culture Writer

Illustrationphotos (2)

PHOTO: RICK E. MARTIN -- MERCURY NEWS

Gen and Cindy Fukunaga of Sunnyvale have obtained broad licensing rights to 'Dragon Ball Z' in its various ramifications.

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PHOTO: Gohan of 'Dragon Ball Z' cartoon

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