Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

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Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by Kingdom Heartless » Fri May 08, 2015 5:05 am

Wondering which of the two is the better choice? I actually have all the Madman sets, but the Blue Bricks actually seem to look pretty good.

Would they be considered an upgrade?
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Re: Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by Lord Beerus » Fri May 08, 2015 8:31 am

While I would consider the Blue Bricks an upgrade, is really isn't that great of upgrade, in all honesty. I mean Season 1 - 3 are plagued with blatant editing and remastering issues which reek of laziness on Funimation's part. And while the rest of the seasons (4 - 9) do get better, there are still some areas that Funimation could have done a lot better in remastering. Overall, if you're OCD about Dragon Ball releases, especially for those on Blu-Ray, go for it. But I don't really think you would need the Blue Bricks. As far as watching a constantly well remastered show goes, you can certainly live without them.

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Re: Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by dbboxkaifan » Fri May 08, 2015 8:41 am

Saga Sets > Blue Bricks

Pros:
+ Quality is unfiltered (it doesn't look blurry/smooth)
+ Japanese episode title credits
+ Bigger picture (without a zoom)

Cons:
- Episode 73 instead of actual subtitles it has dubtitles which is just all the more confusing to what they're really saying.
- Episode 81 skips to 83 part 2 during the break so to avoid it simply switch the audio track to English and then back to Japanese.
- You may notice some really bad compression on certain episodes because there are quite a lot of discs with way too many episodes, more than they should in fact.

Despite the cons, I'm still very satisfied with the Saga Sets and I'd take them over the Blue Bricks anyday.

By the way, Manga UK did not fix these issues (which is part of Season 3) as it was a straight copy of the Madman release with the only addition of Manga UK on it.
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Re: Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by TheKingOfKamehamehas » Fri May 08, 2015 7:21 pm

Lord Beerus wrote:While I would consider the Blue Bricks an upgrade, is really isn't that great of upgrade, in all honesty. I mean Season 1 - 3 are plagued with blatant editing and remastering issues which reek of laziness on Funimation's part. And while the rest of the seasons (4 - 9) do get better, there are still some areas that Funimation could have done a lot better in remastering. Overall, if you're OCD about Dragon Ball releases, especially for those on Blu-Ray, go for it. But I don't really think you would need the Blue Bricks. As far as watching a constantly well remastered show goes, you can certainly live without them.
I am pretty sure you are thinking about the orange bricks. :wink:
Also if you already have the Madman sets, stay with them. They are just as good as the Blue Bricks and they also have a lot of advantages than the Blue Bricks too which is what dbboxkaifan pointed out.
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Re: Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by Lord Beerus » Fri May 08, 2015 7:35 pm

TheKingOfKamehamehas wrote:
Lord Beerus wrote:While I would consider the Blue Bricks an upgrade, is really isn't that great of upgrade, in all honesty. I mean Season 1 - 3 are plagued with blatant editing and remastering issues which reek of laziness on Funimation's part. And while the rest of the seasons (4 - 9) do get better, there are still some areas that Funimation could have done a lot better in remastering. Overall, if you're OCD about Dragon Ball releases, especially for those on Blu-Ray, go for it. But I don't really think you would need the Blue Bricks. As far as watching a constantly well remastered show goes, you can certainly live without them.
I am pretty sure you are thinking about the orange bricks. :wink:
Also if you already have the Madman sets, stay with them. They are just as good as the Blue Bricks and they also have a lot of advantages than the Blue Bricks too which is what dbboxkaifan pointed out.
Well, the blue bricks are the lesser of two evils in my opinion compared to the orange bricks, regardless. But yeah, I'd stick with the Madman sets if you're not a hardcore Dragon Ball collector. The orange bricks at least get the job done.

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Re: Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by Ajay » Fri May 08, 2015 7:44 pm

Lord Beerus wrote:Well, the blue bricks are the lesser of two evils in my opinion compared to the orange bricks, regardless. But yeah, I'd stick with the Madman sets if you're not a hardcore Dragon Ball collector. The orange bricks at least get the job done.
Huh? Are you confusing the Blue Bricks:
for the FUNi Season Sets?:
I don't understand what your posts are talking about, otherwise.
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Re: Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by Lord Beerus » Fri May 08, 2015 7:57 pm

AjayLikesGaming wrote:
Lord Beerus wrote:Well, the blue bricks are the lesser of two evils in my opinion compared to the orange bricks, regardless. But yeah, I'd stick with the Madman sets if you're not a hardcore Dragon Ball collector. The orange bricks at least get the job done.
Huh? Are you confusing the Blue Bricks:
for the FUNi Season Sets?:
I don't understand what your posts are talking about, otherwise.
I'm talking about the Funi Blu-Ray season sets.

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Re: Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by Quebaz » Fri May 08, 2015 8:09 pm

Lord Beerus wrote: I'm talking about the Funi Blu-Ray season sets.
Right, so you misunderstood what this thread was about because that has nothing to do with OP's question. Maybe if you didn't spend all your time spamming one line posts or parroting opinions, you might actually have the time to read topics before you shitpost.
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Re: Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by Gonstead » Fri May 08, 2015 8:10 pm

Lord Beerus wrote: I'm talking about the Funi Blu-Ray season sets.
Then why did you even post in this topic in the first place?
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Re: Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by bkev » Fri May 08, 2015 8:14 pm

The Blue Bricks are pretty blurry thanks to aggressive DNR, and unlike the Madman/earlier FUNi saga sets they don't include the Japanese title cards. However, the improved bitrate is definitely worth the upgrade - especially if you watch your stuff on a big screen TV.

As for the zooming? I concede that it's pretty bad, but the show is still watchable. It's really down to your personal taste as to which you find worse.
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Re: Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by ABED » Fri May 08, 2015 8:19 pm

Cons:
- Episode 73 instead of actual subtitles it has dubtitles which is just all the more confusing to what they're really saying.
- Episode 81 skips to 83 part 2 during the break so to avoid it simply switch the audio track to English and then back to Japanese.
I'm not sure what you're referring to, I own the Saga sets and they don't have this problem.
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Re: Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by Kingdom Heartless » Fri May 08, 2015 11:05 pm

ABED wrote:
Cons:
- Episode 73 instead of actual subtitles it has dubtitles which is just all the more confusing to what they're really saying.
- Episode 81 skips to 83 part 2 during the break so to avoid it simply switch the audio track to English and then back to Japanese.
I'm not sure what you're referring to, I own the Saga sets and they don't have this problem.
The sets I own do have this problem.

Whether I was watching on a big TV was mentioned.... it's a 55" TV so video issues can be somewhat noticeable.
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Re: Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by Lord Beerus » Sat May 09, 2015 12:46 am

Right, so you misunderstood what this thread was about because that has nothing to do with OP's question.
Sorry, my mistake. My mind always interpreted "Blue Brick" as the blu-ray season sets. :oops:
Maybe if you didn't spend all your time spamming one line posts or parroting opinions, you might actually have the time to read topics before you shitpost.
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Re: Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by TripleRach » Sat May 09, 2015 12:51 am

Quebaz wrote:Right, so you misunderstood what this thread was about because that has nothing to do with OP's question. Maybe if you didn't spend all your time spamming one line posts or parroting opinions, you might actually have the time to read topics before you shitpost.
While you're right about the fact that he clearly misunderstood the question, this is not the way we talk to each other here. You don't have to like everyone, but personal insults are not appropriate.
ABED wrote:I'm not sure what you're referring to, I own the Saga sets and they don't have this problem.
I think those issues were unique to the Madman version (which apparently carried over to the Manga UK version as well). I don't remember the FUNimation version having those issues, but I sold my copy a long time ago.
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Re: Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by Zenkai » Sat May 09, 2015 1:00 am

Quebaz wrote:
Lord Beerus wrote: I'm talking about the Funi Blu-Ray season sets.
Right, so you misunderstood what this thread was about because that has nothing to do with OP's question. Maybe if you didn't spend all your time spamming one line posts or parroting opinions, you might actually have the time to read topics before you shitpost.
It was an honest mistake. The op didn't specifically say which series he was talking about and 'Blu-ray' does have a variation of the color 'blue' in its name.

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Re: Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by TheGreatness25 » Sat May 09, 2015 1:11 am

I believe that the Madman and "Blue Brick" quality is similar. It depends what you really want out of the quality. Do you care if it looks a lot like the Dragon Box? Is that a priority for you?

QUALITY

Here's a comparison with using MPC-HC screenshots (someone on this very site recommended taking screenshots using MPC to keep the original colors, etc.)

Dragon Box
Image

Singles
Image

"Blue Bricks
Image


Dragon Box
Image

Singles
Image

"Blue Bricks"
Image


Dragon Box
Image

Singles
Image

"Blue Bricks"
Image


Dragon Box
Image

Singles
Image

"Blue Bricks"
Image


You be the judge on the quality yourself. After all, it's your opinion.

PRESENTATION
You be the judge as far as presentation goes. The "Blue Bricks" are very uniformed sets. They are the same color, they have the same look to them, the only real difference is the picture on the front cover. The background looks the same. The discs look the same. The singles also have this, but they are much more colorful. Plus, the "Blue Bricks" are basically paper squares, while the singles are actual disc cases. The "Blue Bricks" take up more space also.


DISC COUNT
The "Blue Brick" release has 25 discs in total. The singles have 22 discs in total.




Ultimately, it's up to you. I got the "Blue Bricks" so that I could watch them on my PS3/4, to be honest. I mean that and the fact that I have collector's syndrome. But quite honestly, I like the Madman DVDs. If you have the choice between the two, I'd say probably get the "Blue Bricks," but if you already have the Madman DVDs and you're satisfied and you're not a super collector, then just stick with them in my opinion.

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Re: Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by dbboxkaifan » Sat May 09, 2015 9:39 am

ABED wrote:I'm not sure what you're referring to, I own the Saga sets and they don't have this problem.
The Madman versions (R4, R2) suffer from those issues while the R1 doesn't thankfully. Could someone point out which Saga Set & discs that episode 73 and 81 belong to?

My R4 Saga Sets are in a different place so I can't check currently and if I stumble across a deal for these two discs (R1 edt.) I'd get 'em.
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Re: Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by sayian_nation_ » Sat May 09, 2015 10:40 am

The only thing you can do is buy them both. That's what I did lol. I'm giving it a while before I fully watch the series again on the Saga sets. I'd love to have the dragon box though as well, someday.

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Re: Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by TheGreatness25 » Sat May 09, 2015 11:32 am

Saiyan_nation_ wrote:The only thing you can do is buy them both. That's what I did lol. I'm giving it a while before I fully watch the series again on the Saga sets. I'd love to have the dragon box though as well, someday.

You know, I went on eBay to find a Dragon Ball Dragon Box for you, thinking I'd find several for a few hundred dollars. I don't know what your financial situation was like, but I thought I'd show you what they got going on there anyway. But the only ONE I found was for like $980 or something. YIKES! I saw so many of them on eBay for WAY less just a few weeks ago.

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Re: Dragon Ball: Madman sets vs. Blue Bricks?

Post by Adamant » Sat May 09, 2015 11:55 am

dbboxkaifan wrote: The Madman versions (R4, R2) suffer from those issues while the R1 doesn't thankfully. Could someone point out which Saga Set & discs that episode 73 and 81 belong to?
It's the "Fortuneteller Baba Saga" set, which used to be pretty expensive due to its low print run, but a quick Ebay search reveals it's pretty cheap nowadays.

And yeah, the problems with this set only apply to the Madmad/Manga UK versions, the Funi version is fine.
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