Dragon Ball Z "Seasons" On Blu-ray: News & Discussion

[SupremeSSJ]

How will FUNi handle DB on Blu-Ray. I would be pretty mad if they messed with that being that the blue bricks are good enough.

[dbboxkaifan]

How will FUNi handle DB on Blu-Ray. I would be pretty mad if they messed with that being that the blue bricks are good enough.

The blue bricks are a good enough release for the casual English market, so they shouldn't be wasting time with a Blu-ray release but rather give us what we want: Dragon Box Dragon Ball!

[SupremeSSJ]

How will FUNi handle DB on Blu-Ray. I would be pretty mad if they messed with that being that the blue bricks are good enough.

The blue bricks are a good enough release for the casual English market, so they shouldn't be wasting time with a Blu-ray release but rather give us what we want: Dragon Box Dragon Ball!

Exactly

[dbboxkaifan]

I already own the US Dragonbox Z and the GT Singles in their respective 4 boxsets which feature the Japanese credits + NEPs so really that's all that's missing right now from the market.

To be honest, the packaging for the DBGT Boxsets is far better than the US Dragonboxes since each disc have their own DVD case and it's not in top of another like it was cramped on the Dragonboxes (this means the discs could get scratched easily and unfortunately). Well, let's not forget that the paper wasn't always glued properly.

And lastly, the 7th Dragon Box wasn't symmetrically correct with the rest so this kind of annoyed me too.

Dragonboxes Z are far from the perfect release that people praise it to be, but frankly, it's the best so far.

[KingofWisdom]

We certainly won't get anything better than the Dragon Box unless Toei does do that HD remaster.

[SupremeSSJ]

I own them to. Why did they do that with the last 2 boxes.

[Undercooked Sausage]

Those answers were pure garbage and gave us zero information whatsoever. I'd rather them just not say anything then spout worthless PR drivel.

Thank Kami I have my dragonboxes, and it's a pity that many don't.

My main concern is that if Toei ever does do an HD remaster, they likely won't get released or localized here because these bullshit sets are "good enough."

Really hope this release bombs, horribly, though I know it won't because everything is terrible.

[KingofWisdom]

Unfortunately, if this release were to bomb, that would likely kill any chance of getting more Dragon Box releases. But it doesn't seem like that's happening, anyway.

[Fennekin]

After reading the Q&A, I'm now convinced FUNimation has no intention of ever listening to what the consumers want.

Well, they do listen to what the consumers want...

sure, more and more people prefer high definition

First of all, you're wrong. They don't. Second, don't quote parts of my post if you have no reason to. Thank you.

[KingofWisdom]

Well, the fact that this release is selling well (just look at season one's rank on the Amazon best sellers) tells us that they are indeed doing what the fans want. It's just not what we want.

[Fennekin]

We don't know that. Like what was said in the past, the whole poll might have been a hoax, with 16:9 planned the whole time and for us to believe the majority wanted it when they never existed.

[KingofWisdom]

Regardless, it's definitely selling. So, again, it's the vocal minority who is upset. Even if the majority of the people polled voted for a 4:3 aspect ratio, it's hardly representative of the entire fanbase. If the average Z fan actually wanted an uncropped release, then these Blu-ray seasons would not be selling as well as they are. Even with people picking up the first one just to evaluate the quality.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

First of all, you're wrong. They don't.

How am I wrong? FUNi had a survey asking what the fans want, and the winner seems to be 16:9 (unfortunately).

Second, don't quote parts of my post if you have no reason to. Thank you.

How did I have no reason to post parts of your post? Your post showed why FUNi chose 16:9, because most fans wanted 16:9 apparently.

Also, you don't have to be polite in public if you act like a dick for no reason in a PM about the same thing.

[theoriginalbilis]

Just for the record, even though I paid for this new and have watched a great deal of it, I still wouldn't recommend anyone go out and buy this release unless you absolutely have to have original DBZ on Blu-Ray. Wait for them to get marked down or something...

It's an improvement over the Orange Bricks to be sure. There are aspects about the remastering I like, but there are significant flaws I think even non-videophiles will notice. This is just personal opinion, but they're still not as easy on the eyes nor as good a visual representation of the series as the Dragon Boxes or Kai.

I don't necessarily regret the purchase, but I don't feel compelled to pre-order/buy the future sets new or anything. I'll be buying future Seasons used or perhaps during a really generous sale. I already own the Dragon Boxes and Kai, so I can wait a while personally.

My personal rating regarding video quality (from best to worst):
...
1) Dragon Ball Kai (Took everything good about the Dragon Box footage and made the colors & brightness just perfectly pop)
2) Dragon Boxes (Best representation of the series' in it's broadcast days. No missing footage.)
3) Levels Blu-Rays (the best nth-level footage removed from the source can look, superb detail)
4) FUNI singles (OK-looking masters in proper aspect ratio, but very poor compression)
5) Season Sets Blu-Rays (Sharp with decent colors, but the cropping and filtering removes the "filmed for TV" look entirely)
6) "Orange Bricks" Season Sets (blurred, cropped, with outlines disappearing. I've seen VHS footage of DBZ that looked better.)

[G1GACANN0N]

Of course they're selling well. Plasma TV's are better than LED TV's, Blu-ray is better quality than Netflix, real instruments are better than synthesized music/pop/techno, but most people prefer the latter of all these. Just because Funimation made this release to appeal to the lowest common mouth-breating denominator doesn't mean they're any good. The world is full of people who are either stupid, ignorant or simply don't know any better.

[Valentine]

Do you ever think it would be possible for funi to do a kickstarter for people like us to pay for the series to be remastered how we like? All I really want is steves transfer, 3 audio tracks and some minor fixes to damage with next to no grain reduction like the level sets. Let alone the same treatment for the films and Bardock\trunks specials to be left in 4:3.

[Kuwabara]

Of course they're selling well. Plasma TV's are better than LED TV's, Blu-ray is better quality than Netflix, real instruments are better than synthesized music/pop/techno, but most people prefer the latter of all these. Just because Funimation made this release to appeal to the lowest common mouth-breating denominator doesn't mean they're any good. The world is full of people who are either stupid, ignorant or simply don't know any better.

Oh give me a break, two out of three of those examples are highly subjective. Under many circumstances, I wouldn't demonize anyone for preferring LED TVs or electronic music.

[Tanooki Kuribo]

Regardless, Funimation are a bunch of fucking hacks.

Actually, they're not. They handle every other anime pretty well.

[Metalwario64]

Yeah, it's not the whole company, it's their Dragon Ball team of "Super Geniuses".

1) Dragon Ball Kai (Took everything good about the Dragon Box footage and made the colors & brightness just perfectly pop)
2) Dragon Boxes (Best representation of the series' in it's broadcast days. No missing footage.)
3) Levels Blu-Rays (the best nth-level footage removed from the source can look, superb detail)
4) FUNI singles (OK-looking masters in proper aspect ratio, but very poor compression)
5) Season Sets Blu-Rays (Sharp with decent colors, but the cropping and filtering removes the "filmed for TV" look entirely)
6) "Orange Bricks" Season Sets (blurred, cropped, with outlines disappearing. I've seen VHS footage of DBZ that looked better.)

That's about what I'd say, although I'd put the Orange Bricks 6-9 in number 4 above the singles. Those look really nice I think.

How will FUNi handle DB on Blu-Ray. I would be pretty mad if they messed with that being that the blue bricks are good enough.

They don't have film for Dragon Ball, so until they do, we're not getting any.

[qjz123]

I just watched the first episode of the new Season 1 blu ray and I noticed one thing right off the bat and I compared it to my level sets to make sure. The 5.1 english track on the new blu rays is much better sounding on my surround sound system then the 5.1 track on the level sets. There is a lot more bass and surround activity. The scene that stood out to me was when Raditz's space pod is flying down to earth the sound effects are much more robust on the new blu ray they have a lot more bass, they're louder and they made much better use of the rear surround speakers. When I popped in my level sets to compare the audio of that particular scene it sounded much weaker and less involving. I would assume that if you where just listening through your tv's speakers you wouldn't notice a difference. I just wanted to give my first impressions of this release at least as far as the audio goes.