As I periodically browse in and out of the forum... NO DRAGON BOXES?!

[Bardo117]

Still left wondering, no news on any DragonBoxes? I might be beating a dead horse here, but has there been no news on this? GT Boxes? Japan Blu-Ray DragonBoxes? Anything worth collecting in the DVD/Blu-Ray world?

[Jinzoningen MULE]

The only ones ever to be released in English were of Z's 291 episodes, and they've been discontinued for years. However, Funimation just recently switched some of their streaming footage to Dragon Box video. It doesn't necessarily mean anything special, but it would be great if they transitioned the whole thing.

[Hellspawn28]

The Dragon Boxes are old news. Funimation is going to focus on Super and we have Blu-Rays as well. Toei could do Blu-Rays of the Dragon Boxes, but I don't see it happening anytime soon.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

Toei could do Blu-Rays of the Dragon Boxes, but I don't see it happening anytime soon.

Kai is Toei's HD DBZ, so that'll probably never happen.

[TheGreatness25]

If Kai is Toei's HD DBZ, why can't the same hold true for Funimation? Funimation put a lot of effort into "redeeming" themselves through Kai and will now go forward with Super. I don't see Funimation needing to release anything else Dragon Ball related. I don't feel that they ever took the other releases (Dragon Ball, GT, the movies) seriously because Dragon Ball Z was their big money-maker. I always felt like the other content was released just for the sake of releasing everything. And so now that they have their Kai (without the complaints that plagued Z every time that Funimation stepped up to the plate) and they have Super, I don't really see Funimation investing even more money to revive a series that might be very popular, but they milked to death and lets face it -- they will get flack no matter how they release it because their presence on the release (the dub) will always be viewed negatively.

I think that Funimation won't touch the other Dragon Boxes because even their biggest, most popular money-maker apparently didn't do well enough in sales to warrant more of them.

[Bardo117]

So what you're saying is, our golden days of DB related Collectibles is over? (Collectibles in regards to Digital Media)

[superrayman3]

I think that Funimation won't touch the other Dragon Boxes because even their biggest, most popular money-maker apparently didn't do well enough in sales to warrant more of them.

"Sigh" I've said it before and I'll say it again we don't know how the Z DBOX's sold when they were released as no sales numbers have been released for them and until we see tangible sales numbers for them any assumptions about them not selling well is nothing but speculation at best, the same goes for them selling well, although I honestly think a greater argument can be made that they actually did sell well or at least met FUNi's expectations because of how much demand still exists for them, but maybe that's just me.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

If Kai is Toei's HD DBZ, why can't the same hold true for Funimation? Funimation put a lot of effort into "redeeming" themselves through Kai

Not really. It was a run of the mill dub being created as if it were a new product. To get to that point may have required a push, but there's nothing objectively special about Funimation's Kai dub. Now that it's completed, I'd even say it's still a step or two down from a typical anime dub.

Funimation could easily prioritize Kai if they wanted to, but it wouldn't be in their best interest. Z is the product that kicked traditional shonen off in the US, not Kai. Z is the product with the name recognition, with the pre-existing popularity, not Kai. Z is the version the established fanbase has an attachment to, not Kai. The fact that Funimation made Z Blu-rays after Kai was underway is proof enough that they came to the same conclusion I did.

You also have to keep in mind that Toei was only really marketing to new fans with Kai (Heroes was already a pretty relevant thing by the time Kai came along, so DB was somewhat mainstream). Funimation took the opposite approach, primarily targeting old fans who wanted a more faithful script. When they made the decision to primarily target the less common, hardcore fans, rather than building on the fans they made with Z, its fate was sealed as a side-product in the English speaking world.

[TheGreatness25]

Objectively, Kai had a relatively accurate script and they kept the Japanese BMG -- that in it of itself is Funimation redeeming themselves from Z.

And about the Dragon Box sales, fine, we haven't seen numbers, but there's a reason why the prices dropped significantly from the first box (which was $80 MSRP) and mid-way through, they decided that this was a "limited edition" release. Yes, it's all speculation, but at the end of the day, the fact of the matter is that for whatever reason, they saw no purpose in releasing it anymore. So you can call it sales, you can call it whatever you want, but there's something that got into Funimation to have them pump the brakes on that release.

So if they're not interested in releasing their heavy-hitter, I doubt they'd care a lot about releasing the rest. Let's not forget that they implied that they got rights to the movies (if "implied" meant "confirmed"), but for whatever reason, they pulled the plug on that before they even started.

I'll admit that I speculate that it's sales-related because I really don't see what else it could be. But yes, you're right, I don't know how well or not well they sold.

[SqueakyBoots]

I feel that the problem with home releases of Z is that there were too many of them. If I recall correctly, the Dragon Boxes started being released not long after the Season Sets had finished and around the same time Kai was starting. I'm counting Kai as another release of Z since it's pretty much a reedited version of the same show so that's three separate releases within only a few years. Since the Season Sets were the cheapest, that was what most people bought. That's just how it is. Not everyone knows about the poorer quality of them or they can deal with it for the cheaper price. Same reason why the Level Set blu-rays ended up being cancelled, I think. They started almost immediately after the Dragon Boxes were finished. They hadn't even finished Kai 1.0 yet. No one wanted to buy the show again that quickly.

I guess what Funimation didn't get is that the Season Sets were the best selling release because they were the cheapest and easiest to find. Nothing to do with their quality or being cropped into widescreen. All that can really be done at this point is hope that they get it right next time. (I'm sure there inevitably will be a next time after Super is done and over with.)

[TheGreatness25]

I guess what Funimation didn't get is that the Season Sets were the best selling release because they were the cheapest and easiest to find. Nothing to do with their quality or being cropped into widescreen. All that can really be done at this point is hope that they get it right next time. (I'm sure there inevitably will be a next time after Super is done and over with.)

I don't think that Funimation doesn't know this. The problem is that many people simply don't care. I have a friend who used to watch Dragon Ball Z, but was never huge into it. He saw that the orange bricks were so cheap and he decided to get it. Because he wasn't really a huge fan, he couldn't care less about the quality as long as he got to watch the story. That's how some people are. That was the perfect demographic for Funimation to hit. The Dragon Boxes weren't for that fan, but the Blu-rays were.

I'll agree that a huge issue was that Funimation was cranking them out one after the other after the other. The same series was released in three different ways within years of each other. I get that. But I really don't think that time will mend that. I feel that for those that were exhausted with owning DBZ won't suddenly find themselves rushing to stores to buy it just because more time passed if they already have the singles or orange bricks or Dragon Boxes or whatever. Time is not the real problem. This was evident when just shortly thereafter they released their Blu-rays which also seem to be doing just fine, as they're still around without having been canceled.

I think that price plays a huge role. They can release the Dragon Box in a cheap way with the light boxes and soft-cover books, etc. but choose not to. They should go for it with Z and see how it works out because for whatever reason, they held off on the movies, Dragon Ball, and GT. So there must be a reason for that. My theory is that it's been unproven that their investment would pay off. So we'll see, but I doubt that they'd go down that route again since they have so much new stuff to work with.

Kai was like a miracle to Funimation. Funimation had been going to the same old well over and over and over and over again until it was almost completely dry. And then the heavens parted and they got Kai. And then the heavens parted again and they got Battle of Gods. So on and so forth. Funimation execs must have been doing cartwheels down the hall when they found out about the new content.