FUNimation’s “Frequently Asked Questions” section for their potential forthcoming 30th anniversary Dragon Ball Z Blu-ray set has increased the previously-listed 2,500 necessary fan reservations to 3,000:
WHY 3,000 UNITS?
This is the minimum build order for sets from our printers. This minimum makes sure that we can sell the product to you at an affordable price.But wait…didn’t you say 2,500?
Sorry! We let Goku do the math and, well…mistakes were made.
The website continues to offer no additional, concrete details on this potential set (release timeframe, aspect ratio, packaging information, or bonus inclusions beyond the nebulous “new bonus content” and “full-sized hardback artbook” and “exclusive collectible figure”). Email addresses are being collected, though no pre-order information is actually available.
An upcoming 30th anniversary set was initially revealed in the February 2019 issue of the License Global trade magazine, where senior manager of licensing and marketing at Toei Animation, Lisa Yamatoya, noted a forthcoming announcement in conjunction with FUNimation.
FUNimation’s last version of the Dragon Ball Z television series on Blu-ray saw its release across nine volumes in 2013-2014 in a cropped widescreen aspect ratio with heavy digital video noise reduction and color adjustments. This followed a cancelled 2011 release with an intent to remain faithful to the original presentation (including its original 4:3 aspect ratio). Meanwhile, the Dragon Ball Z Kai series — a 20th anniversary “refresh” using the existing Dragon Ball Z video footage — was also seeing a television broadcast and home video release on DVD and Blu-ray.
5 Comments
This “fan reservation” model sounded odd to me when it was first announced and it feels even fishier now that they’ve changed the number. I really doubt FUNimation is lacking in data about how successful a collector’s set would be given all the merchandise and media they’ve been selling over the years. This really just seems like a ploy to beef up their mailing list so they can better target fans and market to them directly. I’m excited to see what the Blu-Ray set will include but too skeptical to give them my information under this guise.
This is so annoying, I get they all want to make money but can they stop being so greedy and stop acting like hey we know what you want and that’s merch and not only that but even more merch and more merch to come and we have something very exciting to announce soon and it’s merch.
Like c’mon just announced the damn anime already Jesus Christ.
Just a little bit more transparency and they’d get so much more fan engagement. I mean… I THINK we can safely say it’ll be 4:3, with the promo image and the fact that Funimation can’t possibly be stupid enough to make the same mistake a third time. I think we’d all be happier if we knew about potential censorship issues, and I know I’d sleep soundly if I knew about the price and any potential post-launch plans.
What makes people so sure this is a new remaster and not just a repackage of the current Blu-rays with expensive junk thrown in? Why would FUNimation potentially remaster the whole series (or at least have it provided to them by Toei), only for them to hold it hostage until fans pre-order a certain amount?
Well, Funimation already has a massive, all-in-one bundle of the existing BDs; it’s Amazon exclusive and crops up during the holiday season. It doesn’t make sense for Funimation to go through this much trouble to just say “Hey, we’re putting this mega set out year round.”.