The event by Heritage was called “The Art of Anime and Everything Cool,” which took place last weekend. In a statement obtained by ComicBook.com, the auction house noted that not only was it one of its most profitable weekends of the year, but also that the anime items on the block sold for over US$3 million: “The sale realized $3,148,639 to beat the record high set last September, with numerous lots far exceeding their initial estimates. More than 5,000 bidders competed for their slices of history online, over the phone, and in person – by far the largest turn-out yet.”

Anime Gets the Spotlight at Auction

There were numerous items from various anime on sale at the auction, with franchises like Cowboy Bebop, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Akira and more being represented. However, the biggest amount went to Dragon Ball Z, where an animated cel of Vegeta’s “Final Atonement” sold for $144,000. A cel is a traditional form of animation where characters or objects are drawn onto celluloid sheets and eventually put onto backgrounds for the animation. This means that individual cels can sometimes house important historical moments from series and movies.

The moment from Vegeta’s Final Atonement comes from the Dragon Ball Z “Buu Saga,” where Vegeta makes a deal with Babidi to gain more power so that he can finally beat Goku. However, when Majin Buu is resurrected, Vegeta chooses to willingly sacrifice himself via his Final Explosion attack so that Majin Buu can be killed, while Vegeta’s son Trunks, along with Goten, can get away safely. Sadly, the attack doesn’t work, and Majin Buu survives, but the moment remains one of the most moving scenes in Dragon Ball history.

The popularity of the Dragon Ball franchise continues today, and a new series was recently announced at New York Comic Con called Dragon Ball Daima. This series will be a bridge between Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super, telling an original tale by series creator Akira Toriyama. In it, a conspiracy leads to a wish being made to Shenron that transforms the Z Fighters into children, including Goku, Vegeta, the Supreme Kai and more. The cast must then travel across new worlds to discover who this group is and how to return to their adult forms.

Dragon Ball Daima will air in Fall 2024.

Source: ComicBook.com