A Battle Over the Rights to Dragon Ball Begins Following the Passing of Akira Toriyama
In 2016, Shueisha and Dragon Ball Creator/IP Owner Akira Toriyama developed the "Dragon Ball Room" department to be in charge of all Dragon Ball affairs.
V-Jump Editor in Chief Akio Iyoku to was chosen be the head of this department. Iyoku has a decades long relationship with Akira Toriyama and as such, he was Toriyama's right hand man at Shueisha.
Iyoku's “possessive attitude” towards Toriyama properties began causing internal strife in the Dragon Ball Room offices.
Things came to a head when Iyoku greenlit a Sand Land movie adaptation in 2022 without running it through any superiors.
It's rumored he was going to be moved to a different department over this... At this point, Iyoku resigns from his position at Shueisha as head of Dragon Ball Room and in September 2023 he started his own company called Capsule Corp Tokyo.
Capsule Corp Tokyo was given the rights to Dragon Ball video games and anime. While Shueisha retained the rights to the manga.
This move was never fully sorted out before Toriyama passed away in March of 2024.
Companies such as Bandai, who produce Dragon Ball's INSANELY lucrative video games, are left confused as to who to consult regarding creative decisions.
It's said that business meetings are vaguely set up through emails where "all relevant parties" are invited because neither company wants to address each other by name.
The Toriyama family will have to decide whether Shueisha or Capsule Corp will take the creative lead moving forward and how both companies will cooperate for the good of the franchise.