Bandai Namco’s push to shove Western political and ideological nonsense into our games has been a colossal financial disaster. But just as they were circling the drain, they got thrown a lifeline in the form of DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO, an arena fighter leaning on the powerhouse that is Akira Toriyama’s legendary franchise temporarily halting the company’s downward spiral.
We already reported on the flaming train wreck that was Unknown 9: Awakening, a game penned by Kim Belair of Sweet Baby Inc. If you don’t know, Kim and her company are infamous for hijacking other studios’ work under the pretext of “authentic ethnic representation” and the whole “diversity and inclusivity” charade.
These moves are part of the greater DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) agenda, corporate buzzwords funded by behemoths like BlackRock. The deal is simple: the more a company bends over backward for this ideological fluff, the more investment they rake in from ESG-backed hedge funds.
So Unknown 9: Awakening, created by Reflector Entertainment, a studio Bandai Namco scooped up in 2020 just for this project flopped. And not just a little. We’re talking levels of failure rivaling Sony’s concord, with a sad peak of 285 concurrent players on PC at launch.
And even that number’s shaky because the game was bundled with select AMD Ryzen and Radeon hardware, meaning a chunk of those 285 probably didn’t even pay for it.
Bandai Namco’s Western ventures, heavily influenced by BlackRock’s ESG-driven “societal inclusivity” nonsense, have likely racked up losses in the hundreds of millions when accounting for the acquisition of Reflector Entertainment.
As a result, the company’s Japanese division has been cornering employees into quitting by isolating them, dodging the need to pay severance. On top of that, they’ve axed several proposed games based on major Japanese franchises like One Piece and Naruto, as well as a Nintendo project.
But then along came DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO, saving the day. Critics and fans are loving it, and it’s been reported to have sold over 3 million copies within the first 24 hours, making it one of the fastest-selling Dragon Ball games ever.
The massive success and glowing praise from the community seem to have reminded Bandai Namco what people actually want to play.
Bandai Namco shared its latest sales numbers in a press release this week, as reported by Japanese outlet PR Times. According to the statement, DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO, which dropped on October 10, 2024, smashed through the 3 million unit mark in less than 24 hours.
Naturally, Bandai Namco’s staff were patting themselves on the back, especially considering their other projects have been crashing and burning.
Take Unknown 9: Awakening, for example. The game peaked at a pitiful 285 players on PC, while DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO, developed by Spike Chunsoft, hit a whopping peak of 122,554 players, with around 50,000+ sticking around daily even a week later. That’s not just a gap, it’s a chasm.
The reason for this stark contrast is pretty clear. Unknown 9: Awakening was dragged for its awful story, penned by Sweet Baby Inc CEO Kim Belair, revolving around revenge and magic. Its protagonist? Described as “strong” and “empowering” in all the most cookie-cutter ways for a racially inclusive Indian female lead, except she was horrifically designed, making “ugly” an understatement.
DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO, on the other hand, is built on the ever-popular Dragon Ball franchise, crafted by the legendary Akira Toriyama, who tragically passed away earlier this year. His work practically introduced Japanese animation to the global stage, for better or worse, given the West’s growing influence over anime.
Hardcore fans of Japanese anime and manga have every reason to be frustrated as Western ideals like “blackwashing” and the erasure of lolicon/shotacon elements push their way into the industry, a direct result of Japanese animation taking America by storm.
Dragon Ball continues to dominate globally, while the politically “diverse” and “inclusive” Unknown 9: Awakening has been an absolute disaster for Bandai Namco. Meanwhile, their arena fighter, based on Akira Toriyama’s legendary franchise, is flying off the shelves worldwide.
Despite its global success, DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO saw far lower sales in its homeland as per Famitsu, moving just 63,922 copies on the PS5 in Japan during its first week. This figure even fell short of ATLUS’ latest release, Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Regardless, DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO is just another reminder that gamers, no matter their background, are united in wanting fun and engaging entertainment not corporate-approved “inclusivity” or “authenticity.”
However, it’s not all sunshine for DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO. Despite the massive success, Bandai Namco’s commitment to ESG and DEI has taken a toll on the game’s authenticity, at least for English-speaking players. The localization work has been nothing short of a disaster.
Before each match in the game, characters engage in pre-fight banter, ranging from playful taunts to encouraging words, or even straight-up threats of violence. Sounds great, right? Well, not when the translations butcher the tone and impact of these interactions, leaving many fans frustrated at how the characters spirit was “lost in translation.”
One particularly memorable instance of pre-fight dialogue in DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO is taken directly from the Dragon Ball manga, highlighting the dynamic between Vegeta and a younger Trunks. In this exchange, Vegeta, impressed by Trunks’ rapid growth and curious about his strength, challenges his son by saying, “Try to hit me.”
Trunks, confused but respectful, replies, “That’s impossible, dad! You’re too strong.” In response, Vegeta makes an enticing promise: “Just do it. If you land one blow on my face, I’ll take you to the amusement park.”
Excited by the prospect, Trunks eagerly responds, “Really?! You?! Okay!” and unleashes a full-force attack on his father, determined to win that amusement park trip, and to everyone’s surprise, he actually succeeds.
This exchange perfectly captures the father-son relationship between Vegeta and Trunks: tough love, competitiveness, and a hint of affection, all wrapped in classic Dragon Ball humor.
For fans who prefer authentic experiences with accurate translations, free from cringe-worthy slang, buzzwords, and politicized nonsense, Bandai Namco’s localization for DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO is a major letdown.
In the original exchange between Vegeta and Kid Trunks, which faithfully captured their relationship in Japanese, the localization team altered Trunks’ innocent excitement to the trendy, out-of-place line: “No cap?! Let’s go!” Vegeta’s line about the amusement park remains unchanged, even Goku isn’t spared, featuring a line reminiscent of “fuck around and find out.”
Despite the botched localization, DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO has been a monumental success for Spike Chunsoft and Bandai Namco as its publisher. The game’s diverse audience, especially in America, includes plenty of “tourists” who may claim to love Dragon Ball unconditionally but are more than dismissive of themes prevalent amongst Japanese anime and manga, what with Toriyama himself having been lolicon icon.
Regardless, the game’s success is undeniable and offers a financial lifeline for Bandai Namco amidst their losses from Western-developed projects that can barely muster a fraction of the player base Sparking! ZERO has achieved.
With Western projects continually flopping and attracting less than 1% of the concurrent players seen on PC for DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO, it’s clear where the audience’s true interests lie.
