Discussion regarding the entirety of the franchise in a general (meta) sense, including such aspects as: production, trends, merchandise, fan culture, and more.
Dragon Ball Ireland wrote: ↑Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:14 pm
Journalism is a dying art anyway, at least in its traditional form. Even a lot of the broadsheets you find these days are agenda driven and littered with opinion pieces, even with the COVID pandemic there has been a remarkable lack of reliable information. Good journalists are a minority now, and Dragon Ball is far from the only franchise without one to represent it.
There are plenty of good journalists out there, but the newspapers are increasingly becoming corrupt and/or devolving into clickbait hell.
jjgp1112 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:40 pm
Fuck's sake, screenshots of this bullshit ass release makes me irrationally angry. Because you can see a nugget of what we could've gotten.
Like, if this shit was gonna be an expensive ass limited premium release...why not actually do a full-on remaster and get good ROI????
As we've established before, they did do a full-on remaster... They just chose to put a shitty filter on top when preparing it for release, both times so far.
The point of Dragon Ball is to enjoy it. Never lose sight of that.
samuraix123 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 15, 2020 9:11 pm
I own it in too many fashions
I want a Samuraix123 fasion show!!
I second that request
1 per customer please.
The Dragonboxes are like a middle aged woman who still looks good through simply taking good care of her skin and body with maybe a tiny bit of makeup while the Orange Bricks are like a middle aged woman who get's 50 tons of botox, makeup and plastic surgery in order to look younger and as a result looks even worse. ~ ringworm128 Still recording Toonami broadcasts on VHS after all these years! #1 Paikuhan fan!
Matches Malone wrote: ↑Sat Aug 15, 2020 12:55 pmThere are rumors that Toei have been working on their own remaster for the original 3 anime (DB,Z,GT), so you might want to wait for that. If you have to have Z now, then these are by far better than Funimation's other options currently available.
Geekdom said in his video about these steelbooks there is a TOEI remaster in the works, and that it's taking a long time because they are doing a frame-by-frame remaster. Only time will tell if his sources are correct on this. Maybe in 2024 for the 40th anniversary of the franchise or the anime in 2026, but I don't see expect another release anytime sooner than that, so if anyone doesn't own the series and wants to support it I'd say buy this set, save up in case there's another release and then sell the current one if you need the extra cash. It's also TOEI we're talking about who aren't known for giving their series the treatment they deserve, at least in recent years, so I wouldn't be surprised if they don't do their own remaster. We'll see.
In regards to Toei doing their own remaster. If they were smart enough to keep the scanns of the show they did back in 2009 & 2012/13 from when Q-Tec & they did Kai, then they'd already have half the job done, like what we can assume FUNi have with their masters. Like, if they didnn't keep those scans on external hard drives & keep them in their vaults, I'd be very shocked. Granted, though, this IS Toei we're talking about, who refused the Z broadcast audio & don't have good film stocks for Sailor Moon apparently, so who knows?
The epic tale of how Sean Schemmel blocked me on Twitter:
I tagged him in a thread explaining how his performance wasn't rerecorded when FUNi were redoing parts of the early Z dub for the Orange Bricks.
He thought I was misrepresenting his work by saying he wasn't in something he was in.
I explained how that wasn't the situation & did a bit of a sarcastic kinda thing involving the rerecordings FUNi did for the Z dub to show how stupid that was.
He said they didn't record him & not use his recordings.
Blocked & he deleted his response tweets to me.
???
Profit...?
eledoremassis02 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 14, 2020 3:48 pm
Looks like this is getting a steelbook release.
"New anime announced by Funimation! Dragon Ball Z Steelbooks (in 4:3 aspect ratio)"
Source: RightStuff
Funimation is just milking DBZ to death at this point lol. I may pick these up as I want to own this series in its correct aspect ratio.
I just feel bad for the fans who bought the 30th anniversary release last year thinking that was a once in a lifetime release.
Ahhh I pretty much knew they were gonna do this when I bought the 30th set. lol that's why I said when I get it and now since I have the all the dragonboxes, there's zero point in ever rebuying the Z series again. I own it in too many fashions and have already now given two full complete set series of Z away.
For some reason it being in 4:3 is what made me think that a later release of the 30th Anniversary footage was not gonna be released. Like in my head I was like, "Okay, if Funimation likes to stick to one message about Dragon Ball Z, it's that nobody should ever see the top and bottom of the frame."
A little off topic, but has anyone removed this sticker in the back? Is there an error in the level count or did they forget to write "Disc made in mexico". I'm reaaaaaaaaaaallly tempted lol
eledoremassis02 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 15, 2020 11:47 pm
A little off topic, but has anyone removed this sticker in the back? Is there an error in the level count or did they forget to write "Disc made in mexico". I'm reaaaaaaaaaaallly tempted lol
Please don't, it's just a temporary urge, you peel it now and it'll haunt your dreams for the rest of your life
First time Dragon Ball fan as of March 2020. Still learning the ropes. Nothing much else to say,
VanceRefrigeration wrote: ↑Sat Aug 15, 2020 3:19 pm
People shouldn't get their hopes up about Geekdom's rumor of the Toei remaster. I wouldn't be surprised if he just heard from some Funimation employee that a "new remaster" was coming, which was just the 30th Anniversary set, and the "from Toei" part was referring to the 16mm film coming from Toei. And so it all got miscommunicated into "a new remaster from Toei". Of course, that doesn't mean that Toei won't ever do a remaster sometime in the future, but I get the feeling that this Geekdom rumor just ain't it.
Remember that Geekdom has been talking about this since before the 30th sets.
At one point, Toei posted various screenshots of cels on Twitter, and Geekdom made a huge fuss "see! this is what Toei's been working on!", and he outright made fun of people who told him he was wrong...
When the 30th sets were announced, he said "oh, these are the toei sets that i know are coming! you can all trust me on this, i'm legit!!", then he doubled down on that when we saw the first previews, and didn't admit his fault until after the sets were actually out.
When the Spanish Blu-rays were announced, he did the same dance again.
And now he's doing it yet again, despite there being no real confirmation.
The thing people have to understand is this -- Geekdom isn't a journalist. He doesn't report news, he talks about his opinion, he talks whatever rumours he's heard, and he's ultimately aiming to just get clicks. That's not a criticism of him as a person, or as a YouTuber, that's just a fact about the nature of his channel.
I'm sure he's a nice guy, and a lot of people like his online persona, but he is not a journalist, and you're gonna be disappointed if you watch his videos expecting for serious journalism, rather than the equivalent of going down the pub with a guy who's been in the scene for a few decades and hears a lot of the goings-on.
... So yeah, don't take his talk of a new Toei remaster seriously.
I'm gonna back you up here. Geekdom was constantly hyping up the 30th anniversary sets as this truly great remaster from Toei themselves with FUNi footing part of the bill, which we should've known was some kind of bullshit when Japan didn't have any Blu-Rays, or even DVD reissues, announced. Geekdom's a lot like Edwin's Generation, only a lot less of a sociopath. He likes to have these connections with certain people & gain street cred, but he's as much in the dark on certain things as much as us & gets ahead of himself a lot. He's not an authority on these things & he blindly trusts a lot of the information he's given about things that aren't out or haven't happened yet, a lot like how he's certain the Super anime will come back sooner rather than later. Odds are, Toei might be waiting for the manga to get a while ahead before adapting the story arcs into another anime series, or they're wanting to adapt them into movies since a lot more people praised the last 3 movies than the Super TV series. Kinda like how, what would be, Sailor Moon Crystal's last 2 seasons are getting converted into several movies that are adapting the arcs from the manga instead, or maybe the Boruto show. We just don't know right now.
Him taking cell scans as proof that Toei was working on a true HD remaster is just bad, considering there's absolutely no way the show would ever look like the cells unless they retook the pictures of them. It's just not possible to do that with film stock. We constantly see FUNi's continual efforts to try & it leads to awful results.
Thing is, with these sets, which I'll give him credit for, in his video on their listings, he's not holding out hope that it's a better remaster than last year's. He openly disparaged FUNi's lackluster efforts. This, I'll give him, as he clearly learned from the videos on the 30th anniversary set & the backlash he got. He's not a journalist, but he learns from at least some of his mistakes. How consistent he is about it is the question, though. If another BR set gets announced without a trailer at some point & he starts spouting that shit again, I think he's leaving himself wide open to getting critical feedback & people can legitimately call him out for it. Other than that, time will tell what we'll see in the future. Hopefully good video quality.
Dragon Ball Ireland wrote: ↑Sat Aug 15, 2020 5:16 pm
I'm not going to pretend Geekdom has never made any mistakes, he has admitted to them himself, but in general I think he has great intentions and does want to lead the fandom in the right direction with regards to their information. He is good friends with the voice actors, the staff at Funimation and is known by others who have worked on the series, including some in Japan. All of whom I think trust him for a reason. Much like with Super 2.0 life happens, plans change and what he was told months ago may have altered course but there is still some truth to his scoops, but we may not know what that is for some time.
I don't want to get into the business of attacking or defending him. All I'm saying is that people shouldn't get their hopes up. After two years of saying a remaster is coming, he has very frequently made assumptions about that topic. Any time a company says they're doing a BD release, he will be the first to say something like "See, this is the remaster I was talking about all along", and so his legions of fans get excited. When it comes to people with inside sources, this sort of thing happens all the time. Sometimes plans will change. Sometimes, they are lied to. And sometimes, there is a misunderstanding. In this particular case, I think it was a misunderstanding. "Remaster from Toei", probably meant "remaster [made] from [materials given to us by] Toei", aka the 30th Anniversary set.
Spoiler:
Robo4900 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 15, 2020 5:46 pm
At one point, Toei posted various screenshots of cels on Twitter, and Geekdom made a huge fuss "see! this is what Toei's been working on!", and he outright made fun of people who told him he was wrong...
When the 30th sets were announced, he said "oh, these are the toei sets that i know are coming! you can all trust me on this, i'm legit!!", then he doubled down on that when we saw the first previews, and didn't admit his fault until after the sets were actually out.
When the Spanish Blu-rays were announced, he did the same dance again.
And now he's doing it yet again, despite there being no real confirmation.
This time he says there are "facts proving it" that there's a Toei remaster coming. What proof? What facts? Even if some company employee told him something was on the way, they wouldn't go out of their way to send him proof. So yeah, one little thing he was told (which was probably a misunderstanding), has been exaggerated into a proven fact. I just don't buy it. But hey, I'd love to "take the L" on this at some point, as he likes to say.
I'm assuming what Geekdom asked the employee is something along the lines of, "Is this a remaster from the original film?" & the employee said, "Yes," but Geekdom thought he meant for Toei's 1st gen film elements, not FUNi's 3rd gen ones. I agree. Something got miscommunicated somewhere. FUNi is also a company known for blatantly lying to their customers over & over, as well as some of the staff in the BR extras from the season sets blatantly lying to the camera, as well as last year's blogpost that completely tried to pull a fast one with the stupid fans who don't know jackshit about film remastering. So, maybe miscommunication, maybe lying, maybe a bit of both. We don't know for sure.
Thing is, it was a FUNi employee who told him, not a Toei one, so he should've been more cautious with his information spreading. He may take pride in being a friend of some of the FUNi staff & VAs, but he's not a trusted person with their stuff. They're not just gonna tell a YouTuber everything just because he asks. Particularly if any of them are under an NDA to not discuss it until things are properly announced. Until FUNi & Toei themselves announce something in a joint effort, as well as we see announcements in Japan, no one should be taking anything without the biggest grains of salt.
eledoremassis02 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 15, 2020 11:47 pm
A little off topic, but has anyone removed this sticker in the back? Is there an error in the level count or did they forget to write "Disc made in mexico". I'm reaaaaaaaaaaallly tempted lol
Spoiler:
Please don't, it's just a temporary urge, you peel it now and it'll haunt your dreams for the rest of your life
Trust me, don't peel it off. Did that for one of my Kai BRs. The adhesive will tear off part of what's printed on there at least & it's not good. I regretted it almost instantly.
The epic tale of how Sean Schemmel blocked me on Twitter:
I tagged him in a thread explaining how his performance wasn't rerecorded when FUNi were redoing parts of the early Z dub for the Orange Bricks.
He thought I was misrepresenting his work by saying he wasn't in something he was in.
I explained how that wasn't the situation & did a bit of a sarcastic kinda thing involving the rerecordings FUNi did for the Z dub to show how stupid that was.
He said they didn't record him & not use his recordings.
Blocked & he deleted his response tweets to me.
???
Profit...?
I'm talking about the Level set Blu-rays, but the fact that they also didnt finish the Ultimate Uncut DVDs says something about how this release has a risk of going unfinished.
"This release"? You mean the anniversary set Re packaged? That would be good, actually.
I'd rather Funimation get a track record of finishing their DBZ releases because right now it's kind of sketchy. I don't care whether or not you or I like the release. I just want them to see it through to the end and I want 4:3 DBZ available go the masses so I can just say, "Yeah, buy this one," to folks instead of going on a paragraphs long rant about the pros and cons of each release until they fall asleep.
Matches Malone wrote: ↑Sat Aug 15, 2020 12:55 pmThere are rumors that Toei have been working on their own remaster for the original 3 anime (DB,Z,GT), so you might want to wait for that. If you have to have Z now, then these are by far better than Funimation's other options currently available.
Geekdom said in his video about these steelbooks there is a TOEI remaster in the works, and that it's taking a long time because they are doing a frame-by-frame remaster. Only time will tell if his sources are correct on this. Maybe in 2024 for the 40th anniversary of the franchise or the anime in 2026, but I don't see expect another release anytime sooner than that, so if anyone doesn't own the series and wants to support it I'd say buy this set, save up in case there's another release and then sell the current one if you need the extra cash. It's also TOEI we're talking about who aren't known for giving their series the treatment they deserve, at least in recent years, so I wouldn't be surprised if they don't do their own remaster. We'll see.
In regards to Toei doing their own remaster. If they were smart enough to keep the scanns of the show they did back in 2009 & 2012/13 from when Q-Tec & they did Kai, then they'd already have half the job done, like what we can assume FUNi have with their masters. Like, if they didnn't keep those scans on external hard drives & keep them in their vaults, I'd be very shocked. Granted, though, this IS Toei we're talking about, who refused the Z broadcast audio & don't have good film stocks for Sailor Moon apparently, so who knows?
The epic tale of how Sean Schemmel blocked me on Twitter:
I tagged him in a thread explaining how his performance wasn't rerecorded when FUNi were redoing parts of the early Z dub for the Orange Bricks.
He thought I was misrepresenting his work by saying he wasn't in something he was in.
I explained how that wasn't the situation & did a bit of a sarcastic kinda thing involving the rerecordings FUNi did for the Z dub to show how stupid that was.
He said they didn't record him & not use his recordings.
Blocked & he deleted his response tweets to me.
???
Profit...?
"This release"? You mean the anniversary set Re packaged? That would be good, actually.
I'd rather Funimation get a track record of finishing their DBZ releases because right now it's kind of sketchy. I don't care whether or not you or I like the release. I just want them to see it through to the end and I want 4:3 DBZ available go the masses so I can just say, "Yeah, buy this one," to folks instead of going on a paragraphs long rant about the pros and cons of each release until they fall asleep.
Why should people buy this, though?
Well hypothetically you can suggest to somebody who is curious about DB to obtain the DBox, but unless they are the type who would want to spend upwards of $1000 to obtain legitimate copies of a show they have never seen, they will have to resort to piracy.
These steelbooks, aka 30th Set 2 Electric Boogaloo, when they release will be the only reasonable way to buy and own DBZ in 4:3 unless you want to steer someone towards watching Kai. For a first time viewer, these will do the job of presenting the show in a close approximation to how it's supposed to be seen.
Yes these will still be a far ways off from being a truly great way to watch the show, but it's still a step up from the Orange Bricks and 2013 Season Sets, and for somebody just trying to get into DB, they wont have that info to know why it's bad in the first place. Bogging someone down with a college thesis over DB's troubled home media history would probably turn them off.
First time Dragon Ball fan as of March 2020. Still learning the ropes. Nothing much else to say,
i was wondering when this was going to happen xD while its not my cup of tea release, i am glad it may help get 4:3 dbz into the hands of casuals. since my personal biggest gripe with the OB and season sets was the crop. yeah my dboxes will still be better, but if it helps the general public come to terms with dbz should never be 16:9 i can live with it
I wouldnt 100% trust toei on a competent remaster tbh. The movies blurays were questionable, with a couple having funimation tier DNR and the dragon quest remaster although with great colours, also has a lot of DNR.
"This release"? You mean the anniversary set Re packaged? That would be good, actually.
I'd rather Funimation get a track record of finishing their DBZ releases because right now it's kind of sketchy. I don't care whether or not you or I like the release. I just want them to see it through to the end and I want 4:3 DBZ available go the masses so I can just say, "Yeah, buy this one," to folks instead of going on a paragraphs long rant about the pros and cons of each release until they fall asleep.
Why should people buy this, though?
It's not my job to sell this to you. If you don't wanna buy it I have zero problem with that. There's always the even more garbage Blu-ray seasons and the Orange Bricks for you to buy (provided you dont have the DBox or a lot of time and money to get the DBox). Or you can just read the damn manga.
It does not bother me how you choose to spend your money.
I'd rather Funimation get a track record of finishing their DBZ releases because right now it's kind of sketchy. I don't care whether or not you or I like the release. I just want them to see it through to the end and I want 4:3 DBZ available go the masses so I can just say, "Yeah, buy this one," to folks instead of going on a paragraphs long rant about the pros and cons of each release until they fall asleep.
Why should people buy this, though?
Well hypothetically you can suggest to somebody who is curious about DB to obtain the DBox, but unless they are the type who would want to spend upwards of $1000 to obtain legitimate copies of a show they have never seen, they will have to resort to piracy.
These steelbooks, aka 30th Set 2 Electric Boogaloo, when they release will be the only reasonable way to buy and own DBZ in 4:3 unless you want to steer someone towards watching Kai. For a first time viewer, these will do the job of presenting the show in a close approximation to how it's supposed to be seen.
Yes these will still be a far ways off from being a truly great way to watch the show, but it's still a step up from the Orange Bricks and 2013 Season Sets, and for somebody just trying to get into DB, they wont have that info to know why it's bad in the first place. Bogging someone down with a college thesis over DB's troubled home media history would probably turn them off.
They are, but no English release except the Dragon Boxes are worth it. So I'd suggest people don't buy it at all. A new release in HD that's better will happen. It's inevitable.
sangofe wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 1:48 am
They are, but no English release except the Dragon Boxes are worth it. So I'd suggest people don't buy it at all. A new release in HD that's better will happen. It's inevitable.
After all this time I don't have any faith in the dream release we're looking for to ever happen. If it does then I'll be glad to have been wrong!
sangofe wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 1:48 am
They are, but no English release except the Dragon Boxes are worth it. So I'd suggest people don't buy it at all. A new release in HD that's better will happen. It's inevitable.
After all this time I don't have any faith in the dream release we're looking for to ever happen. If it does then I'll be glad to have been wrong!
Agreed. If anything, a new HD release seems impossible.
How many times can you re-release a series it starts to harm sales? They've already done DVDs, then widescreen Blu-rays, and now fullscreen (but not really) Blu-rays. The gimmick for the 30th remaster was that it was finally fullscreen and in high definition, so how would they even start marketing another one, fullscreen again but with less cropping?
The market for DBZ on home video is already oversaturated, I can't imagine FUNi wanting to go through this process again and possibly lose money on it. Casual fans may not be willing to double dip if they own a previous release, and it's up in the air just how many hardcore fans will buy it on a proper remaster alone. For instance, how many would still boycott a new release for not including broadcast audio?
It'll be interesting to see how the Steelbooks sell with fans who couldn't drop a large sum for all the seasons last year. I truly do think these will sell better than many would like to admit, and that'll be the end of it. Even with a gargantuan title like DBZ, you can only put out so many versions of it before it starts to lose sales.
sangofe wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 1:48 am
They are, but no English release except the Dragon Boxes are worth it. So I'd suggest people don't buy it at all. A new release in HD that's better will happen. It's inevitable.
After all this time I don't have any faith in the dream release we're looking for to ever happen. If it does then I'll be glad to have been wrong!
Agreed. If anything, a new HD release seems impossible.
How many times can you re-release a series it starts to harm sales? They've already done DVDs, then widescreen Blu-rays, and now fullscreen (but not really) Blu-rays. The gimmick for the 30th remaster was that it was finally fullscreen and in high definition, so how would they even start marketing another one, fullscreen again but with less cropping?
The market for DBZ on home video is already oversaturated, I can't imagine FUNi wanting to go through this process again and possibly lose money on it. Casual fans may not be willing to double dip if they own a previous release, and it's up in the air just how many hardcore fans will buy it on a proper remaster alone. For instance, how many would still boycott a new release for not including broadcast audio?
It'll be interesting to see how the Steelbooks sell with fans who couldn't drop a large sum for all the seasons last year. I truly do think these will sell better than many would like to admit, and that'll be the end of it. Even with a gargantuan title like DBZ, you can only put out so many versions of it before it starts to lose sales.
I'm on the same page as you. I think this is pretty much it for DBZ in either here or Japan and 4:3 DBZ on Blu-ray (that's not part of some special mega-collection that comes with extra crap I don't want and stupid cardboard sleeves) and I've been waiting on it since HD-DVD was a thing. I'm done waiting. I'm done caring. I'm gonna grab this *vaguely gestures* ehhh release and move on with my life. I've got bigger fish to fry nowadays. If the Dragon Ball Blue Bricks are good enough for me then so are the DBZ Steelbooks.
Anyone who still wants to fight it out with Funi or wait on Toei, that's cool and I won't judge you for sticking it out a little longer.
I pretty much knew they were gonna do this when I bought the 30th set. lol that's why I said when I get it and now since I have the all the dragonboxes, there's zero point in ever rebuying the Z series again. I own it in too many fashions and have already now given two full complete set series of Z away.
