GT Singles vs GT Green Boxes, which should I get?

[PremiumSalt]

It occurs to me that the only DB series I don't own in any form is GT. While I strongly dislike it, I'd still like to have it in my collection for completionists sake. Which R1 release is better?

[sintzu]

The Green boxes will cost you less $$$ and space and you get more like the Japanese music. They also look very close to each other so there's no reaosn to waste so much on the singles.

[Danfun64]

The Singles are practically Dragon Box quality (as Funi received a proto Dragon Box master of GT back in the day)... or at least they would be if it wasn't for Funi's macroblocking issues of the time. One advantage that's undeniable is that both the Japanese audio and the Funi English dub are treated more authentically than they are treated in the Green Bricks. The Japanese side of things benefits from a complete Japanese presentation, with episode openings, endings and title cards that match the Dragon Boxes. The English dub has the "proper" dub opening and ending. Also, both the Japanese and English have NEPs. The Green Bricks have better encoding, but are DVNR'd and slightly zoomed in. There are no NEPs, and only one viewing angle... so the Japanese OP, ED, and Eyecatch animations are shoehorned in when played with the English dub, especially with the Johnson replacement score. That's another thing, the Green Bricks have an English dub with Tokunaga score option...which IMO fits as well as oil and water. If you were hoping for the OPs and EDs to have Japanese language credits for authenticity's sake, you're not getting that either. The OPs get faithful English translations of the original Japanese credits, while the EDs credits mainly reflect the Funi "remaster".

One option you're not considering is the Madman R4 singles of GT. They have all the advantages of the R1 singles, and they have better picture quality. However, in place of macroblocking you have to deal with potentially irreversible NTSC to PAL blending. Also, they're very hard to find.

[TheQuazz]

Depends on what you're looking for.

If you're a dub guy, it's probably best to go with the Green Bricks. These sets have two dub tracks, one with the US BGM and one with the original Japanese, which many consider the superior score for the show. The singles only have the dub music on the English track.

However, if you just want to watch GT in Japanese or if you think you'll prefer the US score for the dub, I'd strongly recommend the singles. The picture is vastly superior and they actually include the Next Episode Previews (both in Japanese and English!) and the Japanese title cards, something which the box sets don't. The Green Bricks have this ugly filter over them that ruins the image IMO, but the singles are near Dragon Box quality (minus macroblocking).

[TheQuazz]

One option you're not considering is the Madman R4 singles of GT. They have all the advantages of the R1 singles, and they have better picture quality. However, in place of macroblocking you have to deal with potentially irreversible NTSC to PAL blending. Also, they're very hard to find.

Wait, the Madman singles are rare? Aw man, I just saw a near-complete set of them in a pawn shop the other day for like $30. Damn, don't tell me I missed out

[Danfun64]

They're rare mainly because there are so few online places where you can find them AFAIK. Amazon Australia launched in 2017, and I'm certain that the only Australian GT releases on there are the AU equivalent of the Green Bricks. The only reason the singles of OG DB from Madman are still around is that the singles discs have been repacked as "fatpacks", which are still sold by Madman to this day.

[JohnnyCashKami]

The Sing!es are definitely superior so track those down, but if not, the Green Bricks are pretty good too.

[Puto]

The Singles are practically Dragon Box quality (as Funi received a proto Dragon Box master of GT back in the day)... or at least they would be if it wasn't for Funi's macroblocking issues of the time. One advantage that's undeniable is that both the Japanese audio and the Funi English dub are treated more authentically than they are treated in the Green Bricks. The Japanese side of things benefits from a complete Japanese presentation, with episode openings, endings and title cards that match the Dragon Boxes. The English dub has the "proper" dub opening and ending. Also, both the Japanese and English have NEPs. The Green Bricks have better encoding, but are DVNR'd and slightly zoomed in. There are no NEPs, and only one viewing angle... so the Japanese OP, ED, and Eyecatch animations are shoehorned in when played with the English dub, especially with the Johnson replacement score. That's another thing, the Green Bricks have an English dub with Tokunaga score option...which IMO fits as well as oil and water. If you were hoping for the OPs and EDs to have Japanese language credits for authenticity's sake, you're not getting that either. The OPs get faithful English translations of the original Japanese credits, while the EDs credits mainly reflect the Funi "remaster".

One option you're not considering is the Madman R4 singles of GT. They have all the advantages of the R1 singles, and they have better picture quality. However, in place of macroblocking you have to deal with potentially irreversible NTSC to PAL blending. Also, they're very hard to find.

IIRC, the GT bricks weren't actually zoomed in. The rest of what you said is still valid though.

[DHM211]

If you could I would get the singles. The Green Bricks look atrocious, even worse then the later DBZ Orange Bricks. Honestly, it looks like someone converted a VHS tape onto DVD.

Single:


Green Brick:

[JohnnyCashKami]

If you could I would get the singles. The Green Bricks look atrocious, even worse then the later DBZ Orange Bricks. Honestly, it looks like someone converted a VHS tape onto DVD.

Single:


Green Brick:

To be honest, those two screens look almost identical to me for some minor differences.

If the Green Bricks had featured the original GT logo for the Japanese version I'd have gone with it. You could say the metallic GT logo was a deal-breaker for me.

Still, I'm grateful for the existence of the bricks as I got the two GT booklets which admittedly don't really have any special info but it's cool to own it. Never got my hands on the DB Blue Brick booklets, though.

[KBABZ]

Never got my hands on the DB Blue Brick booklets, though.

Yeah I got those five and all they had were leaflets saying "We're saving money on paper by printing this thing on paper telling you that we saved on paper by not printing an ENTIRE booklet".

[Robo4900]

The singles have better picture quality, didn't mess with the logo, and includes NEPs. However, the dub track uses the US score.

The bricks have worse picture quality, did mess with the logo, and is missing NEPs. However, there is a dub track that uses the Japanese score.

I would say that whatever you do, watching the Funi dub of GT is a bad option, so my recommendation is to buy the singles, and watch subbed.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I'd go with the green bricks honestly, regardless of which release has better picture quality and is more faithful, we'll probably hear news of TOEI remastering GT in the next few months and releasing a Blu-Ray set, which will blow both the bricks and singles out of the water and may get a Region 1 release.

The Complete Series set can also be bought for dirt cheap right now, so it will save you money and shelf space if this Blu-Ray release happens.

Yes I know Funi never released DB or GT Dragon Boxes, but because neither series has been released on Blu-Ray if TOEI remaster the series I'm betting there's a good chance they will get released and be the definitive releases for both series.

[JohnnyCashKami]

I'd go with the green bricks honestly, regardless of which release has better picture quality and is more faithful, we'll probably hear news of TOEI remastering GT in the next few months and releasing a Blu-Ray set, which will blow both the bricks and singles out of the water and may get a Region 1 release.

The Complete Series set can also be bought for dirt cheap right now, so it will save you money and shelf space if this Blu-Ray release happens.

Yes I know Funi never released DB or GT Dragon Boxes, but because neither series has been released on Blu-Ray if TOEI remaster the series I'm betting there's a good chance they will get released and be the definitive releases for both series.

GT is probably the least likely one to get a Blu-ray treatment while Z the most probable, and DB in the middle of it all. Isn't GT the least popular Dragon Ball series in Japan? So, there isn't a whole lot of reason for TOEI to remaster the series in high definition whereas Z and DB are extremely popular and successful.

Dragon Ball GT has the advantage that it's only 64 episodes but this isn't about quantity.

By the way, "R1" is in relation to the DVD region. R1 = US/CA, R2 = PAL/JPN.

[KBABZ]

By the way, "R1" is in relation to the DVD region. R1 = US/CA, R2 = PAL/JPN.

Huh, I never knew that! I always thought it was for Release.

[Robo4900]

I'd go with the green bricks honestly, regardless of which release has better picture quality and is more faithful, we'll probably hear news of TOEI remastering GT in the next few months and releasing a Blu-Ray set, which will blow both the bricks and singles out of the water and may get a Region 1 release.

The Complete Series set can also be bought for dirt cheap right now, so it will save you money and shelf space if this Blu-Ray release happens.

Yes I know Funi never released DB or GT Dragon Boxes, but because neither series has been released on Blu-Ray if TOEI remaster the series I'm betting there's a good chance they will get released and be the definitive releases for both series.

GT is probably the least likely one to get a Blu-ray treatment while Z the most probable, and DB in the middle of it all. Isn't GT the least popular Dragon Ball series in Japan? So, there isn't a whole lot of reason for TOEI to remaster the series in high definition whereas Z and DB are extremely popular and successful.

Dragon Ball GT has the advantage that it's only 64 episodes but this isn't about quantity.

By the way, "R1" is in relation to the DVD region. R1 = US/CA, R2 = PAL/JPN.

If Japan does a HD master, it would almost certainly be all three series. After all, the Dragon Boxes were all three series, and despite the popularity being somewhat uneven, all three series are pretty damn gigantic in Japan. Though, as with the DBoxes, I imagine we'll get Z first, since that's the most popular. Toei would probably release DB next, then GT.
In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if it's exactly like the DBoxes; Z in two volumes first, then DB in one volume, then GT, all limited releases in novelty boxes, then over the next few years, smaller individual discs and such of the released boxes.

[KBABZ]

If Japan does a HD master, it would almost certainly be all three series. After all, the Dragon Boxes were all three series, and despite the popularity being somewhat uneven, all three series are pretty damn gigantic in Japan. Though, as with the DBoxes, I imagine we'll get Z first, since that's the most popular. Toei would probably release DB next, then GT.

Minor note: I've always found it a tad irritating that the phrase "Dragon Box" is associated with what's actually called Dragon Box Z, so when I talk about my Dragon Box covering the original series I have to go out of my way to point that out like I did just now!

[eledoremassis02]

Id get the singles too, I had them for a while and condensed them into 6 disc cases making it a little bigget (shelf space wise) than the green bricks

[JohnnyCashKami]

Id get the singles too, I had them for a while and condensed them into 6 disc cases making it a little bigget (shelf space wise) than the green bricks

That's cool. I repackaged mine to two fat packs like Madman's DB Saga sets in 2 boxes.

[Danfun64]

By the way, "R1" is in relation to the DVD region. R1 = US/CA, R2 = PAL/JPN.

R2 from JPN is NTSC, not PAL. A Japanese DVD player that doesn't support PAL will be unable to play, say, the MangaUK DVD releases.

On a different note, much like how not all R2 releases are PAL, not all PAL releases are R2. Remember that Australia/Madman uses R4 for it's DVDs.