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

[TVfan721]

It was ten years ago this month that Funimation released the first Orange Brick and hence, the first time Funimation finally released DBZ the way people had been fighting for (for the past 11 years at that point, 96-07) English dubbed Dragon Ball Z with the original background music left fully intact. Obviously there were issues with cropping but basically this was the first time Funimation started listening to the fans and gave them what they had been fighting a long time for and english-speaking countries were getting DBZ the same way every other country in the world was getting it. I remember this was the BIGGEST thing that Chris Psaros, Great Saiyaman 777, VegettoEX, and all the other big online names wanted and fought for. How did you react at the time and what are your thoughts? And how Funimation been doing with DBZ in the past 10 years?

[B]

There was nothing "wrong" with the Ultimate Uncut footage. They unceremoniously stopped releasing those, for whatever reason.

I feel this debacle was born out of unnecessary hubris; executives that could not leave well enough alone, too many cooks in the kitchen, etc. We will never know for sure, of course.

[sintzu]

It was the 1st time American fans were able to watch the show from beginning to end in English, Uncut with the original Japanese soundtrack. Based on how big the franchise was, I'm surprised it took them that long to release it like that.

With that out of the wat, they still messed it up by not only cropping it wrong but also messing up the colors and details. what makes this worse is that right after we got the dragon boxes so everyone who bought that release kind of wasted their money.

They did improve them for their Blu ray release but there are still some odd color choices in those as well. Although we now have all 291 episodes uncut in both formats, both are very flawed for what's considered by most the biggest anime in America so you'd think we'd have a perfect release for it like what other anime get but for some reason we don't.

[Super Sayian Prime]

It was ten years ago this month that Funimation released the first Orange Brick and hence, the first time Funimation finally released DBZ the way people had been fighting for (for the past 11 years at that point, 96-07) English dubbed Dragon Ball Z with the original background music left fully intact. Obviously there were issues with cropping but basically this was the first time Funimation started listening to the fans and gave them what they had been fighting a long time for and english-speaking countries were getting DBZ the same way every other country in the world was getting it. I remember this was the BIGGEST thing that Chris Psaros, Great Saiyaman 777, VegettoEX, and all the other big online names wanted and fought for. How did you react at the time and what are your thoughts? And how Funimation been doing with DBZ in the past 10 years?

I can't tell if you're joking or not. VegettoEX never fought for a heavily DVNR'd, cropped release of the show that focused on the English dub.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

As much as the OB's were not a good release, I think it has actually done more good than harm. Without the immense success of them I feel like FUNi wouldn't have had the financial backing to take a few risks with the franchise, 2 out of 3 of them paid off, we got the Dboxes complete and they even were thinking of getting more but unfortunately they didn't sell well enough, they took risk to re-dub for Kai I believe there was talk that they were just gonna clip old dub dialogue and then we got the risk of the level sets and this unfortunately did not workout. Yes it sucks that there is no 4x3 on the current market but a complete release did exist and I am pretty sure the most of the hardcore of hardcore got them, so I don't think it is a big deal, people want 16x9 in this day and age FUNi releases Wolfs Rain recently in BD in 4x3 and a bunch of people were complaining about it being in 4x3 it sucks but people do not want their mega awesome curved tv's to have black bars!

[Gaffer Tape]

It's interesting you bring up the music as your main point because, honestly, I tend to forget about that point when talking about the orange bricks. That victory ended up being so overshadowed by everything that was wrong with that release that it just didn't even matter anymore. It'd be like if you really, really wanted a milkshake. You've been craving one all day. Everyone knows you want one but keep you from having it. You're working at your job, thinking of nothing but milkshakes, craving them, yearning for them. And then finally you get home, and your best friend walks into the room, carrying a silver tray, which he places in front of you. And on that tray... is a milkshake! The fanciest milkshake you can imagine. You pick up the spoon, pick up the napkin, and prepare to dig in... and then you notice under the napkin is a Polaroid. And on that Polaroid is a photograph of your beloved dog, drawn and quartered. And suddenly you find you really don't have an appetite for milkshakes anymore.

[TVfan721]

It was ten years ago this month that Funimation released the first Orange Brick and hence, the first time Funimation finally released DBZ the way people had been fighting for (for the past 11 years at that point, 96-07) English dubbed Dragon Ball Z with the original background music left fully intact. Obviously there were issues with cropping but basically this was the first time Funimation started listening to the fans and gave them what they had been fighting a long time for and english-speaking countries were getting DBZ the same way every other country in the world was getting it. I remember this was the BIGGEST thing that Chris Psaros, Great Saiyaman 777, VegettoEX, and all the other big online names wanted and fought for. How did you react at the time and what are your thoughts? And how Funimation been doing with DBZ in the past 10 years?

I can't tell if you're joking or not. VegettoEX never fought for a heavily DVNR'd, cropped release of the show that focused on the English dub.

Way to put words in my mouth. I'm referring to the original BGM being used in the English dub only, which is completely true. The replacement music was the biggest issue everyone had. I openly acknowledged that there were still other issues present such as the cropping.

[90sDBZ]

Well I for one think that they definitely did more good than harm. As a UK fan, importing the Funimation singles back in the day would have cost a ridiculous amount and would have also been very time consuming. For someone like myself who was still in school it was even more hopeless. Not to mention the fact that all the Pioneer DVDs for the early episodes were Region 1 only. Thanks to the Orange Bricks I was able to gradually import the entire series without going broke financially. Aside from that the Bricks are also quite shelf friendly. And of course they later got an actual release here too, which helped to build up the hype and word of mouth that lead to Resurrection F being a huge Box Office success in the UK.

I can now acknowledge the flaws in the picture due to having them pointed out to me countless times online, but had I never had the issues pointed out to me chances are I'd have gone on thinking it was a perfect release like many others still do. Even now they still get regular reviews on Amazon UK and it's mostly very positive with people being really satisfied with their purchase. Personally I can still watch the Bricks without being particularly bothered by the picture.

I think one of the main things that bothers people about it is the fact that they could have just left the picture alone and it likely would have been just as successful, if not more so due to the minority of people that care about details buying it too.

As the OP mentioned it was also the first time the English dub could be watched with the Japanese score too, which was a new way to experience the series for many people and helped some ease their way into trying the Japanese version. I'm a Faulconer guy myself so was relieved to find out that it too was included as an option for the release, and is one of the main reasons I've never been too interested in the Dragon Boxes, although I will acknowledge that they have the better picture. As many have said before I think the Level sets would have been the best release for everyone, but I'll still be happy to buy the Blu-ray Season sets if they ever get a UK release.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

The orange bricks served their purpose, despite their flaws with the cropping and remastering process, they did good and bad for the franchise wherever possible.

For their time they were a nice happy medium for the original Funimation dub (for the most part) fans, Japanese dub fans and fans who wanted the dub with Kikuchi's score.

The pricing also made a huge difference for the people who had to import or even US fans who could only get 3 episodes per DVD from the singles at $25 a pop.

They also served as a launching pad for the everlasting Dragon Ball home release collections, which only became bigger with the Dragon Boxes (for a better visual product and one focusing on the sub), Kai sets, movie double features, Ball and GT sets, etc.

So overall, not the best the fandom could have asked for but a satisfactory placeholder for many who either just wanted to own all of Z or had money to buy it as an option and defaulting to a better release when it came along.

[Vorige Waffe]

Considering most people here already hated the quality of voice acting, regardless of the music, celebrating these quite frankly garbage releases for giving us "English dubbed DBZ with the Kikuchi score" as some sort of milestone doesn't make up for how terrible the video was. It also, if anything, it showed how godawful Funimation's quality of dubbing DBZ was, especially the Ginyu/Freeza/Cell arcs. Not to mention the quality of Funimation's isolated music track sounded horribly muffled compared to the their crystal clear stems of their dub audio. I recall Sabat saying that one of the reasons they replaced the score to begin with was because the Toei's M&E tracks sounded pretty bad, and even after tons of filtering still don't sound too great.

[Hellspawn28]

I remember I was hype for these sets because I can own the series without buying so many volumes and having so many DVD's take up my shelve. I remember having the Japanese music with proper subs was a deal breaker to me because I remember the single DVD's never had the Japanese music and had awful subs. So I got Season 1 for my 16th birthday in 2007 and I was so let down by it. I give up on the sets after Season 3 which I got for Christmas in 2007 and I was like "Well these sets are not going to get any better. I hope Funimation to get the DB boxes soon!".

Having the old dub from 1999-2003 and 2005 Ultimate Uncut dub with the Japanese music won't make those dubs any better to me. They are still shit to me and I didn't think the remaster dub of the Freeza saga was still not very good.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

So many harsh feelings... So many mixed feelings!

On one hand, it was the first affordable way to own the entirety DBZ affordably. It had the Japanese and English tracks, plus a 5.1 Kikuchi-dub mix. I basically ushered in a new era of popularity for the series in my neck of the woods.

On the other hand... well... Do I even need to list the negative aspects of the Orange Bricks? Simply put, they destroyed the footage in several important ways.

I doubt Dragon Ball would be what it is today in the English-speaking world without the Bricks. Also, to be absolutely fair, people vastly unfavorably misremember how bad the Bricks actually turned out. It's not like they're unwatchable, more like intermediately frustrating. The worst part about them were the lies that Funimation pushes so hard in those old ads.

Without that old advertising baggage, they're digestible. I guess that's what I think about the release 10 years after the fact.

[Vorige Waffe]

I remember having the Japanese music with proper subs was a deal breaker to me because I remember the single DVD's never had the Japanese music and had awful subs.

The single DVD subs were fine, for the most part. You did have some early Ginyu sets where the cursing was replaced with words like "DARN!", but that went away quickly. There was also that one Trunks DVD with giant misaligned subs that Funi quietly phased out with a disc using more readable subs.

I doubt Dragon Ball would be what it is today in the English-speaking world without the Bricks.

DBZ was already gigantic in the English speaking world long, long before the bricks came out, at least by a good 6 years or so. I know people don't like to remember it, but it was already in 2002 that talks of making a Hollywood live-action Dragon Ball were underway. All the bricks did was cement Dragon Ball as an evergreen Japanese franchise that was highly exploitable outside of Japan, and maybe draw in some newer, non-video savvy fans because of how affordable they were.

[Gyt Kaliba]

Say what you will about the release, it's still better than having nothing, or an incomplete collection - at least, it is in my book.

The 'Season Sets' came along at a really interesting point in my life too, as the first set came out shortly before I graduated. Getting that set in was almost a bigger deal for me than graduating honestly. I was beyond excited to finally have a chance to own the entire series in an easily collectable format, compared to trying to track down a bajillion VHS tapes like I'd been trying to do before. Even better, it allowed me to finally have the Japanese version tot check out as well. And then the GT sets came out, and finally the original anime series. Prior to Kai and all this other new wave of stuff, I was able to finally own the entire franchise. And outside of the two Dragon Boxes I managed to nab (One and Five), it's still the Season Sets I work with when watching the anime.

So yeah, I'd call it a worthwhile anniversary to remember, personally.

[Hellspawn28]

I doubt Dragon Ball would be what it is today in the English-speaking world without the Bricks.

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.

[sintzu]

The Orange Bricks didn't do that much to the fandom in the US.

I think it did a lot of good. It more than likely introduced new fans to the franchise who wouldn't have been fans if they had to buy 80+ sets to own the entire story.

If someone bought one of the old sets and liked it, chances are they would've dropped it after finding out how much more they needed to see just a part (an edited part no less) of the story. GT was reduced from 20+ parts to 2, DB from 11 to 5 and the movies from 17 singles to 4 sets.

That's a big deal for someone trying to get into something new.

[ABED]

The Orange Bricks didn't do that much to the fandom in the US.

I think it did a lot of good. It more than likely introduced new fans to the franchise who wouldn't have been fans if they had to buy 80+ sets to own the entire story.

If someone bought one of the old sets and liked it, chances are they would've dropped it after finding out how much more they needed to see just a part (an edited part no less) of the story. GT was reduced from 20+ parts to 2, DB from 11 to 5 and the movies from 17 singles to 4 sets.

That's a big deal for someone trying to get into something new.

Unfortunately it introduced them to a version of the show that was inferior. There are many people that bought it and now prefer widescreen regardless of whether it's artificial or not.

Of course the price point and shelf space were big deals, but there's no reason to think it wouldn't have sold just as well had they not cropped it.

[sintzu]

There are many people that bought it and now prefer widescreen regardless of whether it's artificial or not.

There's no reason to think it wouldn't have sold just as well had they not cropped it.

I prefer widescreen just not what they did to it. what they should've done is release it in 4:3 and let people fit it to their screen with their remote, that way they wouldn't have lost as much picture as they did. If not that then they should've let Toei do it cause overall they did a good job with Kai.

Not only would it have sold the same but they would've made more money cause they wouldn't have spent anything on cropping it.

[floofychan333]

I wasn't even around until 2000 and I didn't know Dragon Ball existed until about 2013 or 2014. Nonetheless, I'm extremely happy they released Z with the Kikuchi score because I don't think anything with incessant and boring synth BGMs that don't evoke any emotions would be any fun to watch.

[ABED]

There are many people that bought it and now prefer widescreen regardless of whether it's artificial or not.

There's no reason to think it wouldn't have sold just as well had they not cropped it.

I prefer widescreen just not what they did to it. what they should've done is release it in 4:3 and let people fit it to their screen with their remote, that way they wouldn't have lost as much picture as they did. If not that then they should've let Toei do it cause overall they did a good job with Kai.

Not only would it have sold the same but they would've made more money cause they wouldn't have spent anything on cropping it.

I prefer widescreen... when a show is made in widescreen.