Toei Taps European Licensing Partners for Dragon Ball

PARIS: Toei Animation Europe has appointed licensing agents in Iberia and Italy for Dragon Ball Super, the newest installment of the franchise from original creator Akira Toriyama.

El Ocho Licencias y Promociones (Spain and Portugal) and Starbright Licensing (Italy) have signed on to represent Toei’s comprehensive consumer products program for Dragon Ball Super, as well as its predecessors Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. Dragon Ball Super is due to debut on Boing in Spain and Italia 1 in Italy this winter.

“Buoyed by tremendous fan support and enthusiasm, we have great expectations for Dragon Ball Super in Iberia and Italy,” said Ryuji Kochi, the president of Toei Animation Europe. “We look forward to partnering with El Ocho and Starbright in realizing a fantastic and wide-ranging program.”

Giada Paterlini and Isabella Barone, co-founders of Starbright Licensing, added: “We are very excited about this opportunity of collaboration with Toei. Dragon Ball Super is one of the most interesting projects of the last years and we are confident that Italian consumers’ reaction will be extremely positive. Dragon Ball is ready to conquer a new generation of consumers and we are very proud to represent Toei in Italy, hoping this is the beginning of a long-term partnership.”

Eva Rubira and Pilar Fernández-Vega, co-founders of El Ocho Licencias y Promociones, added: “We are delighted to represent Dragon Ball in the Spanish and Portuguese territories. We know very well the Dragon Ball brand since the launch of the first series in Spain and we know it is a very successful brand, so we are sure that the new series, Dragon Ball Super, will achieve a lot of success. All [of] the team is very happy to be the agent of this amazing brand in Iberia.”