The adidas Dragon Ball Z collection was one of 2018’s most hotly-anticipated drops. Leaks and rumors floated around for nearly a year before the collection finally began to drop in the fall. With hype that high the finished product was bound to disappoint on some level. That said, it’s pretty undeniable that the first wave of adidas DBZ kicks were, uh….Not Great, Bob, as they say.
It’s easy to play armchair quarterback and point to where the collaboration went wrong but the thing most sneakerheads and DBZ fans are likely to agree on is that adidas focused far too heavily on new, weird silhouettes like the Prophere and Deerupt when the basis for a collaboration with such high stakes should have been classics. Superstars, Ultra Boosts, and maybe some of the company’s basketball sneaker lineup would have likely gone over far better.
That said, it appears that adidas and DBZ are far from done. And by the looks of it, the first of the new kicks is already a marked improvement over the original lineup.
While no official word on a continuation of the collaboration has been made, a recent leak revealed the first of what is rumored to be a full new lineup of adidas x DBZ sneakers. This one takes the adidas Nizza Hi and gives it a colorway inspired by a somewhat out-of-left-field character.
The original lineup focused heavily on big-name heroes and villains like Goku, Trunks, and Cell. It looks like the upcoming launch will feature at least one slightly-more-obscure one in the form of the Nizza Hi Oolong. First appearing in Dragon Ball, Oolong is a talking pig/shapeshifter who teams up with Goku and Bulma on their quest to find the legendary Dragon Balls. He’s a dry wiseass with intensely pervy energy, hence the most notable feature on the shoes being, uh, a pair of underwear that should look familiar to any fans of the manga or anime.
In addition to that unique feature, the shoe features a clean white upper and Oolong’s face right on the ankles. The midsole is a bright pink with the bottom rocking a bright lime green.
(Photo Credit: adidas)
It’s a huge step in the right direction for adidas’s ongoing collaboration with Dragon Ball Z, with the shoe already topping most of the previous designs in quality and style. If adidas can manage to stick the landing on the rest of these kicks — and maybe drop some heat in their upcoming collaboration with Naruto — they’ll have sneakerheads and weebs alike in the palm of their hand.
Look for the Dragon Ball Z x adidas Nizza Hi “Oolong” to release very soon at select retailers and adidas.com.
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