Best Dragon Ball Releases

[Goku1085]

Hi guys! I didn't know where to post this topic. If by any chance I violate any of the rules of the site please feel free to remove it.

What I would really like to ask is if anyone knows where I could download the entire Dragon Ball franchise (all anime series, movies, special, OVAs etc.) in best quality cause I really want to archive my favorite series of all time in the best possible quality and format.

Thanks again for your time and work! Any help would be really appreciated and be life-saving.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Would you not buy the home releases? You will get better quality, and save much more time by getting the DVDs and Blu-Rays than you would with downloads, which are usually compressed and fall into the realm of piracy.

[Iberian_Saiyan]

So you're asking to pirate the animated series? Can't really help you on that here.

The best Dragon Ball releases are of course the Dragon Boxes and for Kai the Japanese Blu-rays (inc. Kai 1.0 and Kai 2.0).

[B]

Well, you're not allowed to ask for illegal downloads. But, in terms of legal options:

-The two most recent films, Battle of Gods and Resurrection F, are available on Amazon Video(1 / 2) and iTunes. The subtitled version and the dubbed version are separate releases, so pay attention to the cast list before you make your purchase. They're obviously available in HD.
-The first 153-episode TV series, Dragon Ball, is not available for digital purchase, from what I can find. You can stream it in its entirety on Hulu, subtitled, for free. The first five episodes of the dub are free. FUNimation's website offers the entire series based on varying levels of payment. Certain episodes are free, while the entire series can be viewed, dubbed and subbed Blue Brick footage, with a subscription. If you want to own it, your choices are the Blue Brick Season Sets or hunting down the original singles. Both have their ups and downs, but are not awful. If subtitles are not a dealbreaker for you, there is of course, the Japanese singles based off of the Dragon Box. They'll cost you an arm and a leg, though.
-The four Dragon Ball movies cannot be digitally purchased, from what I can find. They can be streamed, dubbed and subtitled, on FUNimation's website, provided you have a subscription(1 / 2 / 3 / 4). There was discussion on this forum back when they were first put online that the colors may be darker than originally intended/presented on the Dragon Box. If you want own them, there is FUNimation's Movie 4-Pack and Movie 1's single release(along with it's "uncut" new in-house dub). If subtitles are not a dealbreaker for you, there is of course, the Japanese singles based off of the Dragon Box. They'll cost you an arm and a leg, though, and are labeled as Dragon Ball Movies #14-17.
-English-subtitled Japanese episodes of Dragon Ball Z cannot be digitally purchased, from what I can find. The first 139 episodes of the dub, based on Orange Brick Season Set footage, can be purchased on Amazon Video. If you want to stream it, Hulu offers DBZ Episodes 1-10 and 245-291, dubbed and subtitled and based on Orange Brick footage, for free. These are the episodes available today, and may change week to week. FUNimation's website offers the entire series based on varying levels of payment. Certain episodes are free, while the entire series can be viewed, dubbed and subbed Orange Brick footage, with a subscription. There are a million places you can look to see what people think of the Orange Bricks. You could also hunt down the singles if you want to own the series. If subtitles are not a dealbreaker for you, there is of course, the Japanese singles based off of the Dragon Box. They'll cost you an arm and a leg, though.
-The original 13 Dragon Ball Z movies cannot be digitally purchased, from what I can find. You can stream them on FUNimation's website, dubbed and subtitled and based on "remastered" footage, so long as you have a subscription(search "dragon ball Z" without the quotation marks and all 13 pop up). If you want to own them, there is FUNimation's "remastered" double features, or hunting down their original singles. If subtitles are not a dealbreaker for you, there is of course, the Japanese singles based off of the Dragon Box. They'll cost you an arm and a leg, though.
-Dragon Ball GT is not available for digital purchase, from what I can find. You can stream the entire series subtitled on Hulu for free, or subtitled and dubbed on FUNimation's website with a subscription. This is all based on Green Brick Season Set footage. If you want to own it, there are the Green Brick Season Sets or you can hunt down the original singles. If subtitles are not a dealbreaker for you, there is of course, the Japanese singles based off of the Dragon Box. They'll cost you an arm and a leg, though.
-The 2008 Jump Super Anime Tour Special is not available for "regular" purchase anywhere. It was streamed with multiple subtitled language options when it premiered, and then offered as a special giveaway DVD to Japanese fans who entered a raffle for it. If you want that DVD, you'll have to hit eBay or Yahoo! Auctions Japan or something similar. This DVD also includes the ending animation and theme, "Orange Hero" by jealkb, which was not included in the initial online streaming. The JSAT is also offered on the Limited Edition Extended Cut of the Japanese release for Battle of Gods. So, it's never been available for digital download ever, and has never been made for easy consumer purchase like the Z and GT TV specials. I don't know why they do these things, but they do. FUNimation never licensed it, so there's no English dub or an R1 purchase option.
-Dragon Ball Kai's first 77 episodes can be digitally purchased on Amazon Video. I don't see any option or indication of language options, so I must assume it's the dubbed version. It doesn't seem you can stream the series anywhere, which is odd. It's available on DVD and Blu-ray home release.
-Dragon Ball Super is not available for digital download yet, as far as I can find. DVDs and Blu-rays are coming out as the series progresses. It's obviously in HD. It's not streaming anywhere in any country.

I think that's everything. Someone like Kei17 could probably chime in on Japanese digital purchase/streaming options that I'm unaware of.
EDIT: Duh, Kai.

[Lord Beerus]

The Blu-Ray season sets for Kai. In my opinion, that's the best release the original the anime has ever gotten. Yes, even better than the original Dragon Box release and the FUNi Level sets.

[ShaneisMC]

The Blu-Ray season sets for Kai. In my opinion, that's the best release the original the anime has ever gotten. Yes, even better than the original Dragon Box release and the FUNi Level sets.

Kai Blu Rays in Parts for Yamamoto score, cut filler, and incredible dub. Dragon Boxes for original Japanese anime run. Without question the two best ways to own the series.

[Iberian_Saiyan]

The Blu-Ray season sets for Kai. In my opinion, that's the best release the original the anime has ever gotten. Yes, even better than the original Dragon Box release and the FUNi Level sets.

What kind of logic is this? It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

[Lord Beerus]

The Blu-Ray season sets for Kai. In my opinion, that's the best release the original the anime has ever gotten. Yes, even better than the original Dragon Box release and the FUNi Level sets.

Kai Blu Rays in Parts for Yamamoto score, cut filler, and incredible dub. Dragon Boxes for original Japanese anime run. Without question the two best ways to own the series.

Yeah. If you're a huge fan of the dub, the Kai Blu-Ray season sets are the way to go. If you wanna be authentic and view the show for how it was originally, the Dragon Box sets are best bet, even if crack is cheaper than those sets.

The Blu-Ray season sets for Kai. In my opinion, that's the best release the original the anime has ever gotten. Yes, even better than the original Dragon Box release and the FUNi Level sets.

What kind of logic is this? It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Great dub, immensely reduced filler, fantastic score on both accounts and the picture itself is very decent at the least. There's perfect logic behind me preferring the Kai Blu-ray season sets.

[Danfun64]

The main advantage of the Kai Parts compared to the Kai Seasons is the Yamamoto score for Parts 1-4. Otherwise, I think the releases are pretty much the same. Same video quality, same audio tracks (different music aside), etc.

Here's my opinion (only concerns English and Japanese releases):

DB in Japanese: Toei Dragon Boxes with subtitles ripped from the Blue Bricks using thejeremymenace's script.
Best 100% legal DB in Japanese: Toei Dragon Boxes if you don't need subtitles, Singles if you do (if you only want R1 releases, you will need the first blue brick, then acquire the post Saga of Goku singles. If you're willing to mix region codes, get the R4 Saga of Goku sets, then the R1 of the rest of the singles).
DB in English (Harmony Gold dub): No legal release exists, however, a Spanish version of the Movie 1-Movie 3 double feature has been sold on VHS form, but is rare. A complete copy of the Movie 1-Movie 3 double feature in English can be found on a certain private torrent site.
DB in English (BLT dub): R1 Saga of Goku Singles
DB in English (AB Groupe Blue Water dub): No legal release exists. Try to find YTV recordings, as they have the least amount of censorship. The most common recording is taken from Toonami UK.
DB in English (Funi dub): Blue Bricks, they're in surround sound.
DB in English (AB Groupe "Big Green" dub): No legal release exists. Have fun finding these.
DBZ in Japanese: Funi Dragon Boxes will subtitles ripped from the Blue Bricks using thejeremymenace's script. Alternately and when possible, take the Level Blu-Rays video with the Toei Dragon Box intro, closing, NEPs, and audio (and maybe the leaked Kei17 audio for the episodes) and sync everything using the Toei Dragon Box frame count, giving you the best JP quality possible.
Best 100% legal DBZ in Japanese: Toei Dragon Boxes if you don't need subtitles, Funi Dragon Boxes if you do.
DBZ in English (Saban-Ocean Dub): Rock the Dragon Collection. Also, get the first single for the alternate audio track the first few episodes have.
DBZ in English (Pioneer Dub): Laserdiscs. The DVDs probably have heavy compression issues due to how early in the format's lifetime they came out.
DBZ in English (Speedy Dub): The movies are available on Video CD. Apparently they also dubbed the series proper, but most of their series releases are from the Saban dub, although on of their releases (concerning Gohan and the Robot episode) might be otherwise.
DBZ in English (Fillipino Dub): Only legally exists as a soundtrack. A poor quality encode of a Movie 5-Movie 6 double feature, and a trailer for Movie 10 have been released online through less than official channels... that's all...
DBZ in English (Funi dub): VHS if you want the cut version, DVD singles if you want the uncut version. If you're willing to go on a scavenger hunt, search for the original Toonami broadcasts, especially for the earliest episodes (Goku's arrival on Namek to the end of the Freeza saga) and the last few episodes of the Cell Games saga, due to the former only available on omnibus format (removing most of the narration) and the ladder having the narrator replaced.
DBZ in English (AB Groupe Ocean Dub): No legal release exists. Try to find YTV recordings, as they have the least amount of censorship. The most common recording is taken from Toonami UK.
DBZ in English (AB Groupe "Big Green" dub): Dutch dvds containing this dub as an alternate audio track. They might not have everything released by AB Groupe, however.
DBZ in English (Funi "Ultimate Uncut dub): Get the singles until the point they were cancelled. Afterwards, you'll have to search for Toonami broadcasts for the rest...
DBZ in English (Funi "Orange Bricks" partial redub: Orange Bricks
DBZ in English (Funi "Dragon Box" partial redub (does this exist, or are the only revisions made for the Orange Bricks?): Level Blu-Rays until the point they were canceled. Then you have to choose between the Season Blu-Rays for the original US soundtrack or the Funi Dragon Boxes for the japanese soundtrack.
DBGT in Japanese: Unfortunately, thejeremymenace's subtitle conversion script doesn't cover the Singles, which are the best release for DBGT with subs (contain NEPs which the Green Bricks lack). You might need to sync the Singles subs with the Toei Dragon Boxes by hand... Additionally, you'll want to sync the Animax audio to the Dragon Boxes as well, which isn't easy to find.
Best 100% legal DBGT in Japanese: Toei Dragon Boxes if you don't want subs. Singles if you do.
DBGT in English (Funi dub): Singles if you don't mind Menza. Green Bricks if you want the Japanese soundtrack (due to being the only release with the English dub and Japanese soundtrack...)
DBGT in English (AB Groupe Blue Water Dub): No legal release exists. Try to find YTV recordings, as they have the least amount of censorship. The most common recording is taken from Toonami UK.
DBGT in English (AB Groupe "Big Green" Dub): Only exists as a special, if it exists at all... No legal release exists. Have fun finding these.
DBZ Kai in Japanese: Get the Japanese Blu-Rays, rip the US subtitles, find HDTV recordings of the episodes with the Yamamoto score that the Blu-Rays lack. Put them together. Done
Best 100% legal DBZ Kai in Japanese: Japanese Blu-Rays if you don't want subtitles. US Parts if you do.
DBZ Kai in English: Get the parts. There are a wide variety of fan audio tracks for you to choose from. The Yamamoto revival project is pretty much complete. The Music revival project has Yamamoto, Faulconer, and a more faithful placement of Kikuchi, but all releases are beta and the project seems to be on hold.
Best 100% legal DBZ Kai in English: Parts 1-4 for Faulconer, Seasons 1-2 for Kikuchi. After that point, it doesn't matter, because the rest of the series is in Kikuchi.

[Iberian_Saiyan]

What kind of logic is this? It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Great dub, immensely reduced filler, fantastic score on both accounts and the picture itself is very decent at the least. There's perfect logic behind me preferring the Kai Blu-ray season sets.[/quote]
For English dub fans the best way to go about getting Kai is through the Kai Blu-ray Parts 1-4 for the original broadcast music and then the rest, well, they would need to find their methods or stick to the tacky outdated music that doesn't quite fit the show's modern-feeling. With that aside, it cannot and shouldn't be compared to the Dragon Boxes Z / Level Blu-rays as one thing's Kai and the other's Z.

P.S. I love the Z score but it was just so badly handled in Kai that I just can't stand it.

[SSGSS Goku]

We don't talk about pirated links on Kanzenshuu, but there are many good legal releases.
For Dragon Ball, I'd say go for the Blue Bricks unless you want the Japanese title cards, which you can get the double disk sets, but the Saga of Goku set was only released in Australia. Plus they're out of print.
For Z, I'd go with the Blu-Rays at the moment unless you want it in 4:3. In that case, you can get the 7 Dragon Boxes, but they'll cost you from $800 to > $1000 for the whole set depending on the condition since they're out of print.
For the Dragon Ball movies, get the Movie 4 pack. Very cheap and the only set that includes all 4 movies in the FUNimation dub
For the Z movies, I'd get the Blu-Ray double features. In most instances, the quality and colors seem pretty good. If you don't want to pay as much for the double features, get the DVD Movie 4-Packs.
For Kai, get Parts 1-8 on Blu-Ray or DVD if you can afford the first 4, which are out of print. The first 4 include the Yamamoto track on them. If you can't, there's always the Blu-Ray and DVD Season Sets. Although, there is no Yamamoto score. For now, the Majin Buu arc of Kai isn't available from FUNimation, but if you understand French or Japanese, you can get the French box sets for the Final Chapters from Amazon France. Although, they are Region 2 DVD and Region B Blu-Ray
For GT, I'd recommend the Green Bricks. They've been really cheap and look really good plus they come with the English dub with the Japanese score, although they include the English title cards. If you want the Japanese title cards, get the singles, but they are out of print plus they don't have the English dub with the Japanese score
For Yo Son Goku and His Friends Return, I believe the only official release is on the Limited Edition of Battle of Gods for Japan, which can be bought for around $35 used on Amazon.com
For Super, of course it is not dubbed by FUNimation yet. However, Toei has box 1 and 2 available, but they cost a lot of money.
Then there's a bunch of other specials that have their release on various video games: Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans, Episode of Bardock, etc

Hope this helped

[z_cherub]

"I love the series its my favorite!"

"How do I steal money from all of the people that made it possible?!"

You just piss right off, kid.

[Tanooki Kuribo]

Hi guys! I didn't know where to post this topic. If by any chance I violate any of the rules of the site please feel free to remove it.

I'm always so amused by these "if it's against the rules, please remove" type of comments. If you weren't sure, you could have EASILY looked back on the rules to check. The same rules that you JUST agreed to TWICE.

[Wezenheim]

For the Dragon Ball movies, get the Movie 4 pack. Very cheap and the only set that includes all 4 movies in the FUNimation dub
For the Z movies, I'd get the Blu-Ray double features. In most instances, the quality and colors seem pretty good. If you don't want to pay as much for the double features, get the DVD Movie 4-Packs.

Is there any quality difference between the Dragon Ball movie pack and the single DVDs? The Dragon Ball movie box (with movies 2-4) is a pretty cheap item on Ebay and I was curious. I'm also not too sure about the difference between the Z movies quality wise.

As for the OP, I'm not quite sure if you are implying you want to download the series for free or not, but I don't want to assume. If you are implying that, then that isn't something the site really condones. If you aren't, then the lists above me are already very nice. SSGSS Goku's is pretty good, although the GT singles are still pretty cheap and are a little better than the Green Bricks from what I understand. Depends on what you are looking for though. The best ways to view the show are really expensive!

[SSGSS Goku]

For the Dragon Ball movies, get the Movie 4 pack. Very cheap and the only set that includes all 4 movies in the FUNimation dub
For the Z movies, I'd get the Blu-Ray double features. In most instances, the quality and colors seem pretty good. If you don't want to pay as much for the double features, get the DVD Movie 4-Packs.

Is there any quality difference between the Dragon Ball movie pack and the single DVDs? The Dragon Ball movie box (with movies 2-4) is a pretty cheap item on Ebay and I was curious. I'm also not too sure about the difference between the Z movies quality wise.

As for the OP, I'm not quite sure if you are implying you want to download the series for free or not, but I don't want to assume. If you are implying that, then that isn't something the site really condones. If you aren't, then the lists above me are already very nice. SSGSS Goku's is pretty good, although the GT singles are still pretty cheap and are a little better than the Green Bricks from what I understand. Depends on what you are looking for though. The best ways to view the show are really expensive!

Thanks. Anyways, I do not own the singles, but they might be a little better than the 4 Pack, which I do own. You may need to find someone who owns both the singles and movie pack to confirm it. Although, if you do get the singles, there is a single Movie 1 release by FUNimation, although it will look the same as the one on the movie 4 pack since it's says "Digitally Remastered"
Edit: It doesn't say digitally remastered and neither does the Movie 4 Pack, but it is in the same type of packaging as the Movie 4 Pack is, so I'd assume it's the same quality and colors as the Movie 4 Pack

[Ozotto]

Only ones you'll be able to get easily and at a fair price are Orange Bricks and Blu Rays.
You might be able to find a Rock The Dragon collection.

You can get DBZ Kai Blu Rays as well, but it has no filler, and Mr. Popo is blue.

[Wezenheim]

Only ones you'll be able to get easily and at a fair price are Orange Bricks and Blu Rays.
You might be able to find a Rock The Dragon collection.

You can get DBZ Kai Blu Rays as well, but it has no filler, and Mr. Popo is blue.

What? I'm pretty sure Mr. Popo is not blue on any of the Kai home releases. Kai does have filler, but a lot less of it.

[Soppa Saia People]

Only ones you'll be able to get easily and at a fair price are Orange Bricks and Blu Rays.
You might be able to find a Rock The Dragon collection.

You can get DBZ Kai Blu Rays as well, but it has no filler, and Mr. Popo is blue.

Unless there's some obscure release that I don't know about, all Kai releases have been uncut (besides DUDE MAH TRUCK). So that means no Blue Popo.

[Tanooki Kuribo]

Only ones you'll be able to get easily and at a fair price are Orange Bricks and Blu Rays.
You might be able to find a Rock The Dragon collection.

You can get DBZ Kai Blu Rays as well, but it has no filler, and Mr. Popo is blue.

What? I'm pretty sure Mr. Popo is not blue on any of the Kai home releases. Kai does have filler, but a lot less of it.

He's not. He's only blue in the Toonzai version. Nicktoons left him his original color.

[Wezenheim]

Only ones you'll be able to get easily and at a fair price are Orange Bricks and Blu Rays.
You might be able to find a Rock The Dragon collection.

You can get DBZ Kai Blu Rays as well, but it has no filler, and Mr. Popo is blue.

What? I'm pretty sure Mr. Popo is not blue on any of the Kai home releases. Kai does have filler, but a lot less of it.

He's not. He's only blue in the Toonzai version. Nicktoons left him his original color.

So weird to see this misconception still sticking around! I was almost 100 percent sure that Funimation didn't and wouldn't include that edit in any official release, but I didn't want to say for certain because I don't own any of them yet.