GMA Has Virtually Every Dragon Ball Movie Except One; Race for DB Super is On

The ‘Dragon Ball’ franchise has long been associated with GMA since the mid-1990s.

From the first ‘Dragon Ball’ anime to ‘Dragon Ball Z’ and then ‘Dragon Ball GT’, GMA has aired them all. Even the remastered version of ‘Z’ called ‘Dragon Ball Z Kai’ has also been aired on the Kapuso network.

Just recently, movies of the ‘Dragon Ball’ franchise were being aired on GMA every weekend mornings. Titled ‘Dragon Ball Fight Presents’, it features a 45-minute DB film that is aired in two parts (23 minutes each), with the exception of the 70-minute ‘Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan’ (aka ‘The Burning Battle’ in the teasers) which aired for four parts.

While GMA has the rights to most of the older DB movies, it was ABS-CBN who ended up with the most recent one (not including ‘Resurrection: F’, which is yet to be released). Earlier this year, ABS-CBN managed to acquire the rights to the ‘Battle of Gods’ film, and aired it on Channel 2 and Hero during the month of January.

Yesterday morning, ABS-CBN re-aired ‘Battle of Gods’ (teaser video above), hours after GMA aired the second part of ‘Bio-Broly’ (known as ‘Attack the Super Warrior’ in the teasers). Talk about doing a favor.

By all means necessary, the rights to ‘Dragon Ball’ are now being disputed by the two network giants. And as the franchise entered its third decade, a new series in on the horizon.

Starting July 5 in Japan, a new ‘Dragon Ball’ anime will be released, entitled ‘Dragon Ball Super’. The new anime is expected to arrive soon in the Philippines, but it remains uncertain as to who will air the new series.

Of course, it will go down to the two heated rivals in the television industry. GMA may have long been associated with the DB franchise, but ABS-CBN is also looking to give a new spin to the popular anime series.

That said, the fans of Goku and the gang will have to wait. This is definitely an exciting time for the Filipino anime community, as one of the most iconic animes in the world will have a new adaptation coming soon.

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GMA’s Astig Authority To Be Reduced In Favor of Heart of Asia Reruns

GMA’s anime fans should expect another rude awakening next week.

Starting this Monday, GMA’s Astig Authority block will be reduced to two hours. This will give way to yet another Heart of Asia rerun in ‘Secret Garden’.

The Koreanovela first aired on the Kapuso network four years ago via the Telebabad block. It starred Hyun Bin of ‘My Name is Kim Sam Soon’ fame, and Ha Ji Won of ‘Hwang Jini’ fame.

‘Secret Garden’ will relegate ‘Knock Out’ (known in Japan as ‘Hajime no Ippo’) to an earlier timeslot, while replacing ‘Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic’ in the morning lineup.

Over the years, GMA’s animes have been able to fare well against their ABS-CBN counterparts, despite being criticized for frequently re-airing them on a seemingly annual basis. Classic animes like ‘Ghost Fighter’ (known in Japan as ‘YuYu Hakusho’), the ‘Dragon Ball’ series and ‘Slam Dunk’ remain popular with anime fans, while new titles are also attracting new viewers.

This despite the fact that GMA rarely promotes the programs of the Astig Authority block at all, in contrast to ABS-CBN’s Umaganda.

The same cannot be said for their Asianovelas, though. While Heart of Asia had some decent success and heavy promotion, it never earned quite the same following as the animes of Astig Authority, especially when they were re-aired for a second time and beyond.

That said, it was a mistake for the Kapuso network to sacrifice Astig Authority in favor of a Heart of Asia rerun, especially with ABS-CBN a non-factor in the early morning hours. GMA’s success in the early mornings is due in part to its animes, and giving way for an Asianovela will definitely hurt their loyal anime fanbase.

For now, though, they are giving their Asianovela fans a second chance. If successful, they should look forward to either another or a new Asianovela, otherwise they will need to once again extend the Astig Authority block.

‘Secret Garden’ returns this Monday after ‘Knock Out’ and before ‘Two Mothers’.