The International Version of the Buu-Kai Arc

[Flame Dragon]

That just ruins Kai for me. I watched some clips of Kai 1.0 in HD 1080p on YouTube and it looks absolutely gorgeous. The colors are amazing and it really makes everything pop out. It looks stunning, everything looks great.

Then right after i watched your clips from the Final Chapters.


The difference is mindnumbing.
The Final Chapters looks like a dried out painting, everything is so grey and lifeless.

Just for comparison sakes:



If the colors are not at least a bit better in the Blu-Ray release, then i'm out of here.

*sigh* Never trust Toei with everything.

[Gonstead]

You would at least think that with the international market, Funimation or whoever footing the bill for making these new episodes, they would at least go back to Q-Tech for the remastering.

Something feels fishy about all this. Toei is cheap, I'm sure we all know that but this just feels like a new low.

The score still sounding like cheap stuff crapped out from pressing the demo button on an 80's electronic keyboard, the possibility of no 4:3 alternative that was provided beforehand and the lazy remastering all merge together to form more clusterf*ck to add to the mountain of already plagued problems that this franchise has had to deal with in the past.

[DBZ_Lee]

The Green tint hasn't bothered me if I'm honest - there's nothing I can do about it, so no point in letting it spoil it for me.

The music placement in this version is at least marginally better than the Japanese one.

There's more reason to be upbeat about "our" version -

- Better, more consistent pacing
- No weird editing
- Better music placement (albeit only marginally)
- More "Kai" like in regards to the recap & NEP music matching the opening and the ending.
- Opening animation not revealing spoilers

I don't mind the filler being used in the way it is - serving its purpose to get the episode up to 20 minutes to maintain the content they want to cover in said episode.

Next Week's Episode title for #11 of "The Final Chapters":

11회 파란의 예감...수수께끼 전사 등장!!

Google Translates as:

"Feeling blue... a mystery warrior appears!"

I'd say it's a safe bet it's this title:

"A Troubling Premonition… The Appearance of a Mysterious Warrior!!"

[Android17]

So I've got a few questions for those who have had the opportunity to watch a few episodes of the International Version. I apologize if some of these have been answered already.

As a whole, how is the music placement compared to the Japanese version? Is it still wall-to-wall, or do we get more silent moments and breathing room? And have there been any particularly offensive examples of music placement so far?

Also, what are your thoughts on the pacing as a whole? Does it feel too slow? How is it compared to the rest of Kai?

And finally, is the green tint actually gone, less noticeable, or is it still there in it's entirety?

Thanks

[Puto]

I can answer the last question: the green tint is there, exactly the same as in the Japanese broadcast.

[DBZ_Lee]

So I've got a few questions for those who have had the opportunity to watch a few episodes of the International Version. I apologize if some of these have been answered already.

As a whole, how is the music placement compared to the Japanese version? Is it still wall-to-wall, or do we get more silent moments and breathing room? And have there been any particularly offensive examples of music placement so far?

Also, what are your thoughts on the pacing as a whole? Does it feel too slow? How is it compared to the rest of Kai?

And finally, is the green tint actually gone, less noticeable, or is it still there in it's entirety?

Thanks

I can answer pretty much all of it. The placement is marginally better at least - the Goku scene where he returns is the same, but the music changes when Goten meets him for the first time (making the scene much more appropriate music wise).

Thanks to kei17 for the footage:
International:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmsXopCeKcM

Japanese:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7CkNiOw-Uk#t=526

There is a lot more silence throughout the episodes, so the wall - to wall is gone. There is plenty of breathing room between scenes, as the "weird editing" that is present in the Japanese broadcast isn't there (hence more "padding" in the International version).

In regards to "offensive examples" of placement, for me, I felt this scene where Trunks' 1st opponent notices him backstage at the Budokai was a little too "serious" and I felt the Japanese Broadcast did it better (wow lol) though in all fairness, I prefer the silence at the start, but when his opponent approaches him, the music feels out of place.

International:
http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=ru8oi0% ... 9_9PfldWa-

Japanese:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTfAkDcnWxk#t=204
But that currently is the only gripe I have, and on the whole, the entire production seems well thought out in almost every way.

I can only give you my opinion in regards to the pacing - which has been a huge topic of discussion. For the most part, "The Final Chapters" covers around a chapter and a half per episode, some cover around 22 pages. This week's episode covered 40 pages, so it really depends on the content and how it was created originally.
The pacing feels natural to me, and much more entertaining than it's Japanese counterpart. In comparison to the rest of Kai, it feels the same, and here's how I reached that conclusion:

The Majin Buu Arc was written very differently to the previous Arcs of Dragon Ball, in that the Manga moved very, very quickly between scenes, things weren't as drawn out as the previous Sagas, so much so that a lot of people seemed to think Toriyama lacked enthusiasm for the Arc at that time.
Now, when you take that, and attempt to adapt it into an Anime which at that time, was being shown alongside the manga's production on a weekly basis - it is very difficult to stretch that content out enough to give the Manga a chance to get ahead enough.
So, more padding was required between scenes - as if you were to simply have a straight adaptation of the Manga literally frame by frame, it would look odd to say the least (and due to time restrictions imposed on Toei by Fuji TV, this is the end result of how the Japanese broadcast has turned out).

The 69 was produced because Toei recognized that if they were to cut this Arc like they did the previous 3 - it would look odd, so they decided to remove all of the story contradicting stuff (at least so far, from what I have seen).
In our version, for the large part, they don't seem to have edited the footage to match the manga exactly, they have left it where it was originally, if it was within the same chapter, they just leave it, by doing it this way, they retain the scenes the way they were originally, so the editing doesn't look weird, and it gives smooth transitions between each one.
Because the Japanese Broadcast version have had to (due to Fuji TV's restrictions) remove a lot of the padding, which has resulted in weird editing, and because they don't have the time to leave breathing room, have had to replicate the manga to the "nth" degree - frame by frame at times, otherwise, it would be incredibly confusing to watch.

Our version may not be 100% to the letter, but it is by far the better one, and much more entertaining. From what I could gather, there was more of the Goten Vs. Trunks fight content left in than the Japanese one.

The bottom line is, Kai is doing what it was meant to in the first place - be more faithful to the original manga. The footage has been edited as much as possible whilst it is acceptable editing wise to do so, the dialogue has been altered, also.
The mess that removing the padding has caused is what you're seeing in the Japanese version for the most part - I have actually enjoyed some of those episodes, but there have been times where the editing has caused some major issues, cutting from footage that clearly wasn't made to be cut in this way is the problem, and the only way around it is to either keep the padding the way they have for the International Version, or re-animate (a ship in which I think sailed long ago).

[TheKingOfKamehamehas]

I can answer pretty much all of it. The placement is marginally better at least - the Goku scene where he returns is the same, but the music changes when Goten meets him for the first time (making the scene much more appropriate music wise).

Thanks to kei17 for the footage:
International:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmsXopCeKcM

Japanese:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7CkNiOw-Uk#t=526

I still think the cut is meh. I rather have sweet music for the whole thing, but its still a lot better! Agreed with the Trunks one. The only huge problem now then is the Green Tint

[Android17]

I see, thanks for the info! That's good to hear about the music placement, the wall-to-wall score was one of my biggest concerns for the international version. I'm actually liking Sumitomo's score quite a lot so far, with a few exceptions (that disco track will never be fitting in any scene ever). It seems now my only gripe will be the green tint, but I'm sure I'll be able to get over even that quick enough.

Is there any possibility that the green tint may be a TV-only thing, and won't be present on the DVD releases?

[Flame Dragon]

Please for the love of Kami, make Funimation fix the green tint.

[DBZ_Lee]

In regards to the green tint, it really does depend on if it's fixable or not, the best case scenario would be for FUNimation to outsource it to Q-Tec, but I really can't see that happening.

kei17 did say a while back that certain countries received masters with a green tint for BoG.

http://www.kanzenshuu.com/forum/viewtop ... 20#p776311

So, I guess it is a case of wait and see what happens with the home releases - the 1st DVD Release for the Buu Arc will hit Japanese retail on 2nd September, so not too long to wait now.

[Cure Dragon 255]

I once got a mit irked when people said Korea had the best DB dubs. But now I see they are right. Goten is SUPER CUTE.

[TheGmGoken]

I once got a mit irked when people said Korea had the best DB dubs. But now I see they are right. Goten is SUPER CUTE.

Told ya. Goten is the best in all dubs especially the Korean one. Though they're multiple cases when you can debate which region got the best dubs

[Cure Dragon 255]

Well, Laura Torres(Latin American Spanish) gives the Korean voice actress a run for her money! And can she SCREAM like
Laura?

[DBZ_Lee]

I got some new footage of "The Final Chapters" this morning - tried to capture some scenes I didn't get the other day from Episodes 7 & 8.

Recap for #6:
https://vid.me/YOk

Footage from #7
https://vid.me/Thb

Footage from #8
https://vid.me/8rw

[Puto]

So, wait. You managed to get 9 minutes straight of an episode yet you still weren't able to get the opening? Are these songs cursed or something?!

[kei17]

So, wait. You managed to get 9 minutes straight of an episode yet you still weren't able to get the opening? Are these songs cursed or something?!

The opening and ending seem to be cut on the online streaming for some reason.

[Puto]

Supposedly it does play, just 3 minutes before the actual episode? Or so DBZ_Lee said last time…

I have some good & bad news - the opening was shown they showed it 3 minutes before the start of the episode - but unfortunately, the irritating pay prompt came on at the exact same moment.

[DBZ_Lee]

Supposedly it does play, just 3 minutes before the actual episode? Or so DBZ_Lee said last time…

I have some good & bad news - the opening was shown they showed it 3 minutes before the start of the episode - but unfortunately, the irritating pay prompt came on at the exact same moment.

It did on Saturday, I tried to get it today, but Anibox wanted me to sign in and present a code to prove my age in order to access the stream - unfortunately, this took me past the time where the opening would play.
Provided it doesn't happen again Saturday, I should be able to get it.

[Puto]

You know, those constant stops asking to pay to watch more — is that something anybody can pay, or does it require a Korean credit card? Because if it's not very expensive, I'd probably be willing to shell out the fee for a month in order to ensure we get that opening once and for all.

[Flame Dragon]

In regards to the green tint, it really does depend on if it's fixable or not, the best case scenario would be for FUNimation to outsource it to Q-Tec, but I really can't see that happening.

kei17 did say a while back that certain countries received masters with a green tint for BoG.

http://www.kanzenshuu.com/forum/viewtop ... 20#p776311

So, I guess it is a case of wait and see what happens with the home releases - the 1st DVD Release for the Buu Arc will hit Japanese retail on 2nd September, so not too long to wait now.

Really? I have seen fansubbers fixing it.
If fansubbers can do it, then Funimation can definitely do it.