Iconic anime studio Toei Animation was hacked on March 6, causing substantial damage to the internal systems of the studio. As a result, a few anime projects were postponed by several weeks, but theDragon Ball Super: Super Herofilm seemed to have been hit the worst, as its release date was pushed back indefinitely.
Originally due to hit the big screens onApril 22,Dragon Ball Super: Super Herofans have been anxiously awaiting an update.Toei Animation has officially announcedthat the film will air in Japan on June 11, with an international release date soon to follow. This film focuses predominantly on Piccolo, Gohan, and Pan, as they face the Red Ribbon Army and their newest androids, Gamma 1 and Gamma 2, presumably set in a time period before the Peaceful World Saga.
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UsingCGI in Anime is nothing new, as animators often rely on computer-generated graphics to create background scenery or visual effects such as auras or energy blasts. Generally, however, the rule of thumb is that the characters themselves are animated in the traditional 2D format, which is then overlayed with the CGI.
TheDragon Ballfranchise has experimented with this process in the past, most notably withBattle of Gods,Resurrection F,andDragon Ball Super: Broly,which have been hit-and-miss since fans have mixed reactions about the CGI use. However, Toei Animation feels confident that they have discovered the perfect formula and has decided to work withmore CGI than ever before, andDragon Ball Super: Super Herowill be released in Japan in 3D, IMAX 3D, and 4DX.
Several popular Anime were affected when Toei Animation was hacked, includingOne Piece,Digimon,Dragon Quest,andPretty Party PreCure, which all suffered delayed release dates as the studio rectified the corrupted data. All of these series managed to return to the air by April 17, however,Dragon Ball Super: Super Herohas been delayed further by a few months, which is likely due to all the CGI animation.
CGI animation involves arendering processwhereby the data input and the imagery are synced to form the final product, which is a very timely process. On average, a single second of animation contains between 24 and 30 frames (images), and to render each frame takes about 24 hours. Therefore, each second of CGI footage can take around 9 days to completely render, causing a significantly extended delay in production. Even the slightest damage to theDragon Ball Super: Super Herodata would affect the highly anticipated film’s release date.
It is also possible that the hackers specifically targeted the newDragon Ball Superfilm, focusing most of their damage on the project and hitting Toei Animation where it hurts the most. The attack on the studio was a “randsomware” situation, whereby the hackers threatened to continue with their criminal activity unless they were paid off. Because the hype has been building aroundDragon Ball Super: Super Herosince October 2021,Toei Animation was likely the most concernedabout this project’s safety. The hackers probably assumed that specifically corrupting theDragon Ball Superdata would get the best results, and inevitably caused the most contamination here.
