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

[dbboxkaifan]

I've just been looking on the Amazon page again, and it's really sad to see this with a significantly lower score than the orange bricks, when it's actually a better product.

The problem is that Amazon allows people to post their comment (not real review about the product) before the physical item is released to the market letting them praise or trash as they please and that's just misleading for a new customer.

Imagine if all the US Dragonboxes Z had a 1 star on all of the boxes that would mean they're horrible.

[KingofWisdom]

Nah, it would just mean that a select group of people thinks they're horrible. But, really, people should not be deciding whether or not to purchase a remaster entirely on the Amazon user rating. Even reviews should be taken with a grain of salt.

[Fizzer]

Nah, it would just mean that a select group of people thinks they're horrible. But, really, people should not be deciding whether or not to purchase a remaster entirely on the Amazon user rating. Even reviews should be taken with a grain of salt.

I'm just imagining someone thinking "oh, Dragon Ball Z, I always hear about that, maybe I'll check it out. It only has two stars after that many reviews? It must be pretty crappy. I won't bother"

[KingofWisdom]

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #861 in Movies & TV. To put that into perspective, Miyazaki's widely popular Spirited Away is #586 in Movies & TV. For Japanese animation, and a series that has been milked this much, it's doing well.

[G1GACANN0N]

Imagine if all the US Dragonboxes Z had a 1 star on all of the boxes that would mean they're horrible.

Except 95% on this forum would know they aren't horrible. Can't say the same about this new release.

[DragonBoxZTheMovies]

Some of you are seriously taking way too much offense from Chris Sabat cracking a joke. There's no way he seriously meant that DBZ was only successful because of him. Kami forbid the guy himself make a joke about how he was every third character when the in-house dub started, not like the fandom's been making the same joke for years or anything.

I heard Chris Sabat's voice discovered a cure for cancer.

On a more serious note, it's neat that they're using Kikuchi's music in the background of that special feature. Really reminds us of how far we've come (in some ways, at least).

I must admit, I am a little curious about these sets since I've been meaning to pick up all of Z at some point and I missed the boat with the Dragon Boxes. I've been trying to avoid getting involved in this thread, since I just don't understand any of this "video-talk" and the only thing I'd be able to contribute is whether I like it or not. As a result, I'm really looking forward to Kanzenshuu's review of the thing so I can get all of the important information in one place, since I feel like I've missed out on quite a bit of it. I have a hunch that it may end up being episode 65 all over again, though- except with less caring.

[Famicon3DS]

Is the Japanese audio any better this time around? If so, I might consider buying it more.

[qjz123]

Is the Japanese audio any better this time around? If so, I might consider buying it more.

Check this out
Season Set Blu Ray vs Dragon Box:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnzM9CHWDfo

[B]

On a more serious note, it's neat that they're using Kikuchi's music in the background of that special feature. Really reminds us of how far we've come (in some ways, at least).

It honestly gave me subtle nerdrage. It's another bogus PR-friendly behind-the-scenes featurette for another terrible DBZ release, and yet they're so... sure of themselves, I suppose? The atmosphere of the whole thing is authoritative and they've even sat down the president of the company to spin yarn at us, and yet we all know the product is shit. In fact, they spend more time on the show's history and the formation of the company; one person is talking about the remastering and four others are waxing nostalgic. Combine all of this with the use of the original score, something they made a conscious decision to not feature in their broadcast dub because producing their own cheap score meant they received royalties whenever it was on television, and I feel slightly mocked, to be honest.

[theoriginalbilis]

Is the Japanese audio any better this time around? If so, I might consider buying it more.

Having listened to various comparison videos since I bought it, and judging it by what I remember from my experience with the Dragon Boxes... the audio is mostly the same for the Japanese track, except that the Blu-rays are at least a little louder.

It might be sliiiiightly less muffled and clearer than the Orange Bricks and Dragon Balls due to FUNimation going in and adjusting the audio on all three audio tracks. It's still nowhere near the quality of the original broadcast audio, but it's certainly listenable and serviceable enough.

I'm no audiophile, but that's what it's like to me.

On a more serious note, it's neat that they're using Kikuchi's music in the background of that special feature. Really reminds us of how far we've come (in some ways, at least).

For all the weird decisions they've made with the DBZ brand and its footage over the years... at least they are no longer afraid to acknowledge DBZ as Japanese, and are more celebratory of it's Japanese roots; despite the fact that they seem overly compelled to crop and "modernize" the footage.

[MagicBox]

I have a hunch that it may end up being episode 65 all over again, though- except with less caring.

... Episode 65?

*checks*

You mean the Orange Bricks were reviewed nearly 290 podcast episodes ago?!

My God, we're getting so old...

[TheMajinRedComet]

Its very interesting that Funi has no problem with Zenkai Power. It has been the default in most of modern releases but for some reason they are not allowed to touch Cha La with a ten foot pole. I wonder how the rights issues could be so different between two anime tv songs from the same time period in the 80s?

[MagicBox]

Have they ever confirmed it was due to rights issues? They used "HEAD-CHA-LA" with no problems on the FUNiBoxes and half of their "remastered" movie releases.

I know it's an assumption, but I really think they're just stubbornly trying not to alienate the nostalgic Toonami fans by making sure the American rock opening is the first thing you hear when you play an episode.

[qjz123]

Its very interesting that Funi has no problem with Zenkai Power. It has been the default in most of modern releases but for some reason they are not allowed to touch Cha La with a ten foot pole. I wonder how the rights issues could be so different between two anime tv songs from the same time period in the 80s?

I don't think it has anything to do with Funimation not having the rights to use Cha La. They use the same rock theme across all of their newer releases excluding the dragon boxes because they don't want to alienate the general fan base. I assume Funimation's thought process for this decision is that fans who want to here Cha La can just switch to the japanese track and for the general fan who just leaves the default track on will here a standard rock theme that won't drive them away. As far as them still using Zenkai Power as the closing theme Funimation probably just figures that most people don't watch the ending credits or care about the closing theme.

[theoriginalbilis]

Have they ever confirmed it was due to rights issues? They used "HEAD-CHA-LA" with no problems on the FUNiBoxes and half of their "remastered" movie releases.

I know it's just an assumption, but I really think they're just stubbornly trying not to alienate the nostalgic Toonami fans by making sure the American rock opening is the first thing you hear when you play an episode.

I honestly believe it's an oversight by the whomever is charge the authoring for each style of release.

[ErikB]

Is the Japanese audio any better this time around? If so, I might consider buying it more.

Check this out
Season Set Blu Ray vs Dragon Box:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnzM9CHWDfo

I'm no audiophile but I'll say that, at least to my ears, it seems the Japanese audio is quite a bit cleaner as well as being louder. So there's a plus for this release anyway.

[MagicBox]

I honestly believe it's an oversight by the whomever is charge the authoring for each style of release.

Hmm, I suppose that could be true, too. I'd like to think that FUNi would have picked up on it by now if it truly were an oversight, but anything's possible. I just wish we could find out for sure why the song keeps getting replaced.

Oh, crap! I could have asked them that for the Q&A...

[Vegard Aune]

During certain shots, yes. When Goku and Piccolo are double-blasted by Raditz (where Piccolo loses his arm,) the shots of the two falling as the blasts destroy mountains in the background, there's a noticeble pan upward. Also, when Gohan bursts out of Raditz's space pod, they pan-and-scan upward to follow Gohan. It doesn't look like a natural camera pan though, it looks like a digital pan.

Oh my... That sounds atrocious...

...I'd say if they're gonna crop a 4:3 show to 16:9 anyway, adding a few extra pans where a flat-out static crop would inevitably result in an awkward image seems like the lesser of two evils.

I'm curious, what would be the perfect release for you?

Level set masters, only with the original Japanese credits and title-cards kept intact. Also original broadcast audio would be a plus. As would the previews.
Alternately a Dragon Box style remaster in full HD, with some proper color-correction applied. Also original broadcast audio would be a plus.

Mind you, the way things are going, I'm perfectly content with just keeping my DBoxes.

[Ajay]

Is the Japanese audio any better this time around? If so, I might consider buying it more.

Check this out
Season Set Blu Ray vs Dragon Box:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnzM9CHWDfo

I'm no audiophile but I'll say that, at least to my ears, it seems the Japanese audio is quite a bit cleaner as well as being louder. So there's a plus for this release anyway.

A lot of the low end has been removed and the highs are certainly a lot smoother. It's a pretty decent job and I'm sure a good amount of time was spent on trying to isolate hiss out of the wind sound effects.

You can get similar effects to this with some basic EQ in VLC but I'll give them this one, for sure. A pretty solid job. I would have to check the quieter scenes to see whether it was a fully automated process...in which case you'll find subtler SFX being removed.

That YouTube video only has 128kbps audio whereas the Blu-Ray will have a much higher bitrate and better-no compression so it has the potential to sound even better.

I think if there's one complaint I have, it's that, because the low end has been so heavily cut, the highs can be a little piercing because of the source's low quality. Unfortunately no smoothing is really going to fix that. The initial boomy sounds from Dboxes and Level Sets covered that fairly well so I guess it's what you find more pleasing to your ears.

Overall though, It's pretty decent.

[SupremeSSJ]

Is the Japanese audio any better this time around? If so, I might consider buying it more.

Check this out
Season Set Blu Ray vs Dragon Box:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnzM9CHWDfo

I'm no audiophile but I'll say that, at least to my ears, it seems the Japanese audio is quite a bit cleaner as well as being louder. So there's a plus for this release anyway.

it really is an nice upgrade in the audio.