A very important 10 year anniversary just passed (and your opinion on it)

[theoriginalbilis]

Even though I've said many times that the Orange Bricks aren't great, I'm glad I bought them.

Before the OBs came out, my collection was a mish-mash of random FUNi DVD singles, dusty ol' VHS fansubs, torrented DBox RAWs, and VHS tapings off Cartoon Network.

I was able to catch many unseen episodes in Japanese and fill the gaps thanks to the OBs. The original Kikuchi score added to the dub was a nice bonus as well. I was willing to tolerate the picture deficiencies TBH. Plus, this release style proved successful enough for FUNi (and other anime publishers) to start releasing shows in a season/collection format. No one wants to go back to the days of paying for 3 to 4 episodes on a disc for $30.00.

TL;DR: They have problems, but the pros (audio tracks/packaging) do outweigh the cons (video quality) for me. An okay release. We eventually got better DB releases down the line anyway.

[SHINOBI-03]

When I first joined the community the Ultimate Uncut Edition was still brand new. I don't know if I'd say "sadly" I didn't have any of them, but I know I'd p!ssed off if I did collect them only to be cancelled and replaced with an inferior product. Not that the OB were inferior, but knowing the thought process behind them and the questionable marketing lies they went with, it did give me a bad taste in my mouth when it was only option to have all the series in a consistent format but in the way it was not to be had. I'm glad the Dragon Box came out and I thank everyone who managed to make that possible for now I have the best version of the series and didn't waste my money on the OBs (except for two but that was it).

[TheGreatness25]

I can't believe that it's been ten years... That's crazy. I bought Season One in February (I believe) of 2007. I can't believe it's been that long ago. I was 18, I had a very decently paying job at the time, walked into Virgin in Times Square after work, saw it, and said, "Oh hell yes." Actually, the orange bricks led me to this forum. I came across the podcast episode that reviewed them and that prompted me to not only join the forum, but also to go and buy everything that came out on singles. I knew that the Ultimate Uncut line was cut off and I still bought it just to have a piece of 4x3.

Can't believe it's been 10 years. Well, I don't hate the orange bricks, but I can say with a degree of certainty that I'll never watch them again, despite them taking up so much space in my closet. It's not just that I have the 4x3s (the orange bricks are more convenient anyway than switching out the DVD after every third episode) or the Dragon Boxes (which I'm almost afraid to touch for fear of ruining them), but the fact that I have the Blu-rays.

[coola]

I mostly remember review of first box from now banned user, i think he was called MajinVegetaxv, he ended his review with photo of box on grass outside window And then we had joy of Dragon Box Z finally getting released here, and another let down, when it turned out to be limited release, and to this day, 16:9 Orange Bricks on DVD or Blu-Ray are only way to watch series, if you don't want to pay arm and leg for Dragon Boxes

[Jinzoningen MULE]

What? This post makes no sense since these DVD sets came out in 2007 and DBZ has been a huge fandom way before 2007. These sets sold well because they are affordable, easy to find (Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy or major retail place had them) and the nostalgia factor. The Orange Bricks didn't do that much to the fandom in the US.

I don't know if they did much for your generation, but it did have an impact on the longevity of the series as a whole. Keep in mind that for 6 years, they were the only reasonable way to own the whole thing. The singles were likely quickly out of stock in most stores, and you would have had to pay a fortune in shipping costs to collect the whole thing (and you wouldn't be able to own the whole thing). This is what new fans were seeing. Granted, if the Orange Bricks were exactly the same, but less awful, it would have had the same impact, but that's not all that relevant to reality. The Orange Bricks (and online piracy, but fuck that) are what brought, and still bring new fans in. It's unfortunate, but like it or not, that is the case.

[ABED]

You make it sound like there was this whole new generation of DB fans, but the season sets came out only 5 or so years after the series stopped airing.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

You make it sound like there was this whole new generation of DB fans, but the season sets came out only 5 or so years after the series stopped airing.

I may have blown it up a bit to be theatrical for the sake of the anniversary (ironically enough). That's not quite what I meant, it was "helpful" in bringing in new fans.

[MarcBigleague]

You make it sound like there was this whole new generation of DB fans, but the season sets came out only 5 or so years after the series stopped airing.

I may have blown it up a bit to be theatrical for the sake of the anniversary (ironically enough). That's not quite what I meant, it was "helpful" in bringing in new fans.

I think you are right Jinzoningen. Not necessarily because of the DVDs making huge sales or whatever, but more because of the effect they had on the internet. There were a lot of people uploading DBZ clips to youtube with the word "Remastered" at the end of it and the show was 16:9 now so people said WOW. I remember there was a youtuber called dbzantossj who had maybe 1,000,000 subscribers just from uploading DBZ remastered clips. But then toei took his channel down XD. Some people said he was Dbzanto (biggest DBZ games person on youtube) but I was friends with dbzanto back in the day and he kept telling me he wasn't dbzantossj. There were so many new channels on youtube called "DragonBallZHD" "OriginalDragonBallZHD" "DragonBallZ720pHD" etc etc and they were just uploading orange brick but upscaled to 720p so people thought "wow old anime in HD" and this was only in 2007-2009 so yeah it helped make DBZ popular a bit more, I say.

[TheGreatness25]

Realistically, the orange bricks only came out about a year and a half after the Ultimate Uncut episodes aired; they aired in the summer of 2005, if I'm not mistaken. So I don't know how well the orange bricks did in bringing in new fans so much as Kai did. I think I'd credit Kai for bringing in a younger generation of fans, but I do think that now people who never even thought about owning DBZ started to buy the orange bricks because of the price per episode. These things were practically a steal, to be honest. I personally know people who had a little bit of causal interest in DBZ who bought the orange bricks just because they were so affordable and convenient (one orange brick replacing 10 DVDs).

[Jinzoningen MULE]

I think I'd credit Kai for bringing in a younger generation of fans, but I do think that now people who never even thought about owning DBZ started to buy the orange bricks because of the price per episode.

Dragon Ball was at its financial peak in 2007 over here. That's 3 years before Kai began airing, and the exact year the Orange Bricks release kicked off. Take that for what you will.

[Cipher]

I bought the first three releases and the ability to own nearly forty episodes at that price point was part of what got me back into the series. The price-to-episode ratio was at the time, and continues to be, a good thing.

The footage, however, was a shockingly bad thing for a product with any kind of oversight. The vanishing outlines are flabbergasting. I regret the lessons FUNimation seems to have taken from the sets as well, as any quality footage would have moved with that MSRP. The widescreen aspect ratio and poor remastering are things we're still paying for to this day, and which, by way of aggressive spin, have actually polluted fan culture in a weird and unfortunate way, if you look at the sheer volume of SaiyanAngerBuddyDBZHD1080 or whoever' further blown-out videos on YouTube. (I am minorly fascinated by this phenomenon and the psychology behind it. What goes through your head as you're further saturating a clip of a children's show to upload to YouTube via your all-caps-titled channel? Do you know it's not HD? Who are you? How could this possibly happen with one person, let alone so many? Speak to me; I want to know. I'm completely serious.)

We got a release style we desparately needed, but with arbitrary video decisions the company is now too timid to move away from and which have led to an extremely weird subgenre of armchair videophiles the fanbase seems to be saddled with.

[samuraix123]

It felt good at the time buying these sets because all I had were either recorded episodes from Toonami or once in a blue moon I'd go to walmart and see the tapes and buy them and when you live in the area that I do, you're not always going get dragonball or anime stuff in the electronic section (even today! believe it or not)
My friends and family would buy the tapes while they were out and about because they knew I liked it and was trying to collect it all so I have multiple copies of the same tapes lol
I had actually forgotten about Ocean as well until I watched the orange bricks and noticed a few things were different and wondered what was up so I bought the ocean dvds after that lol then later on through the years after acquiring what I have I gave my complete set of the orange bricks to my brother. I will admit I was upset that the series was cropped and lines of animation would get deleted here and there during shaking scenes but at the time it was better than nothing. haha

[TheGreatness25]

To be honest, I always see the orange bricks in stores. I rarely see anything Dragon Ball-related besides the orange bricks. Occasionally there's a Kai release or movie pack that I see, but really, I can almost guarantee seeing an orange brick when I go to a store like Best Buy, Target, or Wal-Mart. To think that this is 10 years after its release, is pretty impressive. I still can't believe it's been that long.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

To be honest, I always see the orange bricks in stores. I rarely see anything Dragon Ball-related besides the orange bricks. Occasionally there's a Kai release or movie pack that I see, but really, I can almost guarantee seeing an orange brick when I go to a store like Best Buy, Target, or Wal-Mart. To think that this is 10 years after its release, is pretty impressive. I still can't believe it's been that long.

Funny. In my area, you can't go into the video section of the store without seeing the DBZ Season 1 Blu-ray, but that's all they have. I bet I've seen a dozen Season 1's just in the past few months, and all in different stores.

[Lord Beerus]

The Orange Bricks were very much a necessary evil. The quality of the release itself was pretty terrible in some areas, but it was still very much watchable. It was also the most convenient way to access the series for many original fans and newcomers to the show. And as a fan of Dragon Ball in the UK, it was really the only way to watch the show from beginning to end, with the original score, and at a reasonable price.

[Cipher]

The Orange Bricks were very much a necessary evil. The quality of the release itself was pretty terrible in some areas, but it was still very much watchable. It was also the most convenient way to access the series for many original fans and newcomers to the show. And as a fan of Dragon Ball in the UK, it was really the only way to watch the show from beginning to end, with the original score, and at a reasonable price.

The thing is, though, the "evil" parts weren't necessary at all.

Forty episodes of Dragon Ball Z and a low price point were the only elements necessary to ensure the sets flew off the shelves.

Even if they were worried about the grainy second or third generations masters they'd been using, a much lighter hand on the DVNR settings and maintaining the 4:3 aspect ratio would have done just fine.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

The Orange Bricks were very much a necessary evil.

Not the phrase I would use, since it would have been cheaper and easier for them to just leave it alone. More like a tolerable evil.

[MarcBigleague]

Quite frankly, I think the Dragon Ball Z orange bricks are uncredited pioneers. How many other TV Shows/movies/animes were "remastered" before FUNimation kept throwing around "DORAGON BORRU ZETTOO REEMASUTARUDOO" XD haha

Nowadays "remastered" is a household name...

[Cipher]

Quite frankly, I think the Dragon Ball Z orange bricks are uncredited pioneers. How many other TV Shows/movies/animes were "remastered" before FUNimation kept throwing around "DORAGON BORRU ZETTOO REEMASUTARUDOO" XD haha

Nowadays "remastered" is a household name...

This is ... not accurate.

[MarcBigleague]

Quite frankly, I think the Dragon Ball Z orange bricks are uncredited pioneers. How many other TV Shows/movies/animes were "remastered" before FUNimation kept throwing around "DORAGON BORRU ZETTOO REEMASUTARUDOO" XD haha

Nowadays "remastered" is a household name...

This is ... not accurate.

I usually say "those are good points you make" but I won't because there's no explanation in your response

Please provide an explanation so I can say this and respond back.