posted on by Ken Iikura-Gross
Chinese streaming platform bilibili brought in 2024 with a New Year musical
The New Year season is a time for TV to air special over-the-top programming. In Japan, there are 4-hour long broadcasts of SASUKE (known as Ninja Warrior abroad), comedy shows, the two-day long Hakone Ekiden, and the NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen, among many others. While streaming services are slowly catching up, the Chinese streaming service bilibili brought in the New Year with an amazing musical performance of Dragon Ball.
©Bird Studio/Shueisha, Toei Animation © 2024 BiliBili
A 12min Dragon Ball x Bilibili show held in China for new year eve.
Featuring Hiroki Takahashi singing “Makafushigi Adventure” song.
Full video >> https://t.co/9Eu7Eyq2Mw
Note: 2024 is also the year of Dragon Ball 40th anniversary. pic.twitter.com/q7ovGEkDZa— Catsuka (@catsuka) January 3, 2024
The nearly 12-minute-long Dragon Ball musical was performed by the youth dance group O-DOG and featured many of the iconic moments throughout the series. These include the first meeting of main character Son Goku and his wife Chichi and their marriage, the introduction of once villain turned ally Tien Shinhan, the introduction of series mainstay Vegeta and his first battle with Goku, and the final battle with evil incarnate Majin Buu. While some liberties were taken with the musical, it’s incredibly entertaining, particularly the section where Goku and Vegeta fuse into Vegito. However, it is a bit sad that characters such as Piccolo, Freiza, and Cell were overlooked for runtime.
The finale of the musical gave those in attendance and viewers a special treat: a live performance of Dragon Ball‘s first theme song, “Makafushigi Adventure!”, by original performer Hiroki Takahashi. What made this performance special was how the O-DOG dancers playing the principal Dragon Ball characters were engaging in comedic bits in the background—harkening back to the original comedic concept of the series.
The bilibili Dragon Ball musical was certainly one of the best ways to bring in the new year, especially considering how 2024 is the year of the dragon according to East Asian calendars. The full video is available on Bilibili. However, due to region locking, the video may not be available in your region. If you’re a Dragon Ball fan and you can access the musical, it is definitely a must-see event.
Sources: Bilibili, Catsuka’s Instagram page and Twitter account via Next Shark, Yahoo News
