Funimation's 30th anniversary collectible home video release

[Shaddy]

It's not enough improvement to be justifiable, and the problems that remain are both serious and avoidable. We shouldn't be forced to take baby steps in undoing these problems that were already arbitrary. It's not something that just happened like aging Dragon Box footage, it's something they're actively fucking up themselves, like microtransactions in games. Removing it isn't a strength in favor of the product's quality that should be worth advertising, it's removing a prior fuckup that never needed to be a problem in the first place.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Once again FUNi drops the ball, but given their track record with the series releases the last decade plus with a few exceptions (Dragon Box.etc) i can't say i'm too surprised though i had definitely hoped that this new release would be good but sadly my expectations that they'd do it right were a little too high realistically speaking.

[KBABZ]

I think it's hyperbole to say the set has 100% no improvements (I think 4:3 is important, and IMO the colour grading is better than the Blu-Seasons), there just isn't enough for hardcores like us (aka the intended market) to consider supporting this.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

I think it's hyperbole to say the set has 100% no improvements (I think 4:3 is important, and IMO the colour grading is better than the Blu-Seasons), there just isn't enough for hardcores like us (aka the intended market) to consider supporting this.

I suppose this will satisfy those fans who want the series in all one go, but who also dislike the cropping of the Orange Bricks and Season BD's so at least they got the aspect ratio fixed and dialed the colors back.

[KBABZ]

I think it's hyperbole to say the set has 100% no improvements (I think 4:3 is important, and IMO the colour grading is better than the Blu-Seasons), there just isn't enough for hardcores like us (aka the intended market) to consider supporting this.

I suppose this will satisfy those fans who want the series in all one go, but who also dislike the cropping of the Orange Bricks and Season BD's so at least they got the aspect ratio fixed and dialed the colors back.

Yeah. The problem of course is accentuated pretty severely by the fact that this is supposed to be a premium, collectible release of the series for hardcore fans to celebrate Z's 30th anniversary. 4:3 is A step in this direction, but if Funimation knew the audience they're trying to cater this release to, there'd be more than that (no-to-light DNR and better grading specifically). As it is, this is a pretty flaccid attempt to honour their biggest property.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

I think it's hyperbole to say the set has 100% no improvements (I think 4:3 is important, and IMO the colour grading is better than the Blu-Seasons), there just isn't enough for hardcores like us (aka the intended market) to consider supporting this.

I suppose this will satisfy those fans who want the series in all one go, but who also dislike the cropping of the Orange Bricks and Season BD's so at least they got the aspect ratio fixed and dialed the colors back.

Yeah. The problem of course is accentuated pretty severely by the fact that this is supposed to be a premium, collectible release of the series for hardcore fans to celebrate Z's 30th anniversary. 4:3 is A step in this direction, but if Funimation knew the audience they're trying to cater this release to, there'd be more than that (no-to-light DNR and better grading specifically). As it is, this is a pretty flaccid attempt to honour their biggest property.

I mean, it sorta kinda corrects the most major flaw and by far biggest complaint by fans about those two releases which was obviously the chopping off of the top and bottom of the 4:3 frame to a fake widescreen presentation that it was never intended to be seen in, but at the same time the thing that really drags it down is the overzealous application of DNR because the Level sets showed us just what they could do without this stuff. Sadly, it seems they can't keep themselves from continually doing these things and not realize that when you eliminate the grain that you're removing the actual resolution of the image in of itself. That's why i own the Dragon Boxes, because it's the closest thing to how the show should be presented and although they do have some flaws they're the best quality release that they have put out in their entire history of home releases. I would love if this set was an equivalent of that in HD with the complete package, or even just a revival of the Level remaster even though it had it's own limitations.

[SqueakyBoots]

I don't think a full scale level sets quality restoration is feasible given the low cost of the set ($350 for 291 episodes is pretty damn inexpensive) but if we can convince Funi to use the raw film scans or a slightly cropped version of them just to eliminate the film edges, that would be the best quality we could possibly get.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

I don't think a full scale level sets quality restoration is feasible given the low cost of the set ($350 for 291 episodes is pretty damn inexpensive) but if we can convince Funi to use the raw film scans or a slightly cropped version of them just to eliminate the film edges, that would be the best quality we could possibly get.

I mean even just that would be good enough for a proper HD release of the series, certainly more so than the overly DNR'd smear fest that this 30th Anniversary set looks to be.

[JohnnyCashKami]

The small adjustments that FUNimation did aren't really much of an improvement, if anything it's just slightly better. It's like comparing the Season Sets on DVD to the Season Sets on Blu-ray, the BD version is a bit better than the DVD but as a whole? Not really.

It's sad that Dragon Ball Z keeps getting screwed by these companies and then you have fans defending them as if they're doing a good job. Guess I'll stick to the Level Sets (001-039) and the Dragon Boxes Z (040-291).

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

The small adjustments that FUNimation did aren't really much of an improvement, if anything it's just slightly better. It's like comparing the Season Sets on DVD to the Season Sets on Blu-ray, the BD version is a bit better than the DVD but as a whole? Not really.

It's sad that Dragon Ball Z keeps getting screwed by these companies and then you have fans defending them as if they're doing a good job. Guess I'll stick to the Level Sets (001-039) and the Dragon Boxes Z (040-291).

Same here, because it seems no matter what they just can't deliver on giving us non butchered version of the series.

[KBABZ]

I don't think a full scale level sets quality restoration is feasible given the low cost of the set ($350 for 291 episodes is pretty damn inexpensive) but if we can convince Funi to use the raw film scans or a slightly cropped version of them just to eliminate the film edges, that would be the best quality we could possibly get.

Honestly I disagree with this assessment. If Funi did only a basic crop, some light colour-correction and some light DNR if they ABSOLUTELY had to, it could come out cheaper than their existing process.

[sangofe]

I don't think a full scale level sets quality restoration is feasible given the low cost of the set ($350 for 291 episodes is pretty damn inexpensive) but if we can convince Funi to use the raw film scans or a slightly cropped version of them just to eliminate the film edges, that would be the best quality we could possibly get.

Honestly I disagree with this assessment. If Funi did only a basic crop, some light colour-correction and some light DNR if they ABSOLUTELY had to, it could come out cheaper than their existing process.

Their current project is probably scripts that encode automatically, so it really only costs them electricity and hard ware. Man power only for selective cropping.

[Vegard Aune]

You know what FUNi should do? And feel free to send this on to them because I feel like I, a non-American who can't even play Region A BDs, am not the right person to tell them so...

Do a super-quick, bare-bones release of their raw film scans, cropped no more than what's necessary to avoid the damaged edges and tape marks, with no extras, as a budget release that they could just sell on their website or something. Preferrably with the original title cards kept intact. They could call it the "Classic Edition" or something, and just emphasize that this is a warts-and-all presentation of exactly what Toei initially provided them with. One neat bonus they could do is use the Level remasters for however many episodes they have them for, but that's not necessary. Since this would just be a bare-bones BD pressing of material they already have, kept as-is with next to no further work done to it, it would cost basically nothing for them beyond the physical manufacturing costs, and as long as they keep this hypothetical release in print, or use it for online streams, then they can go on and do whatever attempts at remastering or making the show look new that they want, and we can just happily ignore them because we'll have the show as we want it.

[KBABZ]

You know what FUNi should do? And feel free to send this on to them because I feel like I, a non-American who can't even play Region A BDs, am not the right person to tell them so...

Do a super-quick, bare-bones release of their raw film scans, cropped no more than what's necessary to avoid the damaged edges and tape marks, with no extras, as a budget release that they could just sell on their website or something. Preferrably with the original title cards kept intact. They could call it the "Classic Edition" or something, and just emphasize that this is a warts-and-all presentation of exactly what Toei initially provided them with. One neat bonus they could do is use the Level remasters for however many episodes they have them for, but that's not necessary. Since this would just be a bare-bones BD pressing of material they already have, kept as-is with next to no further work done to it, it would cost basically nothing for them beyond the physical manufacturing costs, and as long as they keep this hypothetical release in print, or use it for online streams, then they can go on and do whatever attempts at remastering or making the show look new that they want, and we can just happily ignore them because we'll have the show as we want it.

Hell I wouldn't even mind not applying a crop at all. I find there's a lot of charm to the rounded edges and stuff on the sides, almost like a little window.

[Robo4900]

You know what FUNi should do? And feel free to send this on to them because I feel like I, a non-American who can't even play Region A BDs, am not the right person to tell them so...

Do a super-quick, bare-bones release of their raw film scans, cropped no more than what's necessary to avoid the damaged edges and tape marks, with no extras, as a budget release that they could just sell on their website or something. Preferrably with the original title cards kept intact. They could call it the "Classic Edition" or something, and just emphasize that this is a warts-and-all presentation of exactly what Toei initially provided them with. One neat bonus they could do is use the Level remasters for however many episodes they have them for, but that's not necessary. Since this would just be a bare-bones BD pressing of material they already have, kept as-is with next to no further work done to it, it would cost basically nothing for them beyond the physical manufacturing costs, and as long as they keep this hypothetical release in print, or use it for online streams, then they can go on and do whatever attempts at remastering or making the show look new that they want, and we can just happily ignore them because we'll have the show as we want it.

I'd buy this, and consider it my definitive way of watching.

But Funi will never do this, because it would mean they wouldn't be able to take some tiny baby-steps improvement a couple of years later for their next crappy release that fans will tolerate because it's not quite as awful as the last crap they took on their doorstep.

I don't think the Ultimate Uncut Editions had next episode previews. But the other episodes all did (except for maybe for the two episodes that were combined into one to remove most of the gruesome death of Kulilin).

Y'know what, though... I think you're actually only kind of half-right, and I was wrong.

I think Funi's original NEPs from the 68+ Z dub had edited footage; the footage was shuffled around, and wouldn't fit the uncut Japanese NEPs.

So, maybe that's a reason why they didn't include the NEPs; not only did the UUE episodes not have NEPs, but the 68+ NEPs (at least, for several of the ones I've seen) would be unusable.

They included them all in their Rock the Dragon Set. It's truly one of the best home video releases I've ever seen. Beats anything put out by Toei by a longshot. The ONLY thing missing was the special recap they put before Episode One on the original DVDs, which probably wasn't aird on TV, thus why it wasn't on the set.

Well, Rock The Dragon was a bit iffy in video too. They blurred and washed out the video really heavily, making it the worst quality of the three DVD releases of the Saban dub. The only edge it has is that it has the uncensored dialogue in the first two episodes, and it includes the Saban-dubbed Tree Of Might.

Not only is the video crappy, but the audio bitrate is lower than the Madman DVDs, and unlike the Madman DVDs, it's missing the NEP for episode 10 (Madman included all the NEPs).
RTD also cut out several of the parts that were intended to be cutaways to ad-breaks, but haphazardly done; Madman would keep the episode fading to black, staying black for a mo', then fading back in to the next thing. RTD would cross-fade from just before the fade to black, to just after. So, you don't get clean audio of the end of one segment fading out, or the start of the next segment fading in.

And, the crowning moment of awful of this release was the fact it was made limited edition.
Making a release "Collectible" simply means anyone who wants to enjoy its contents but didn't have the money in the window of a few months it was out, or didn't know about it until months later, is utterly screwed. As it stands, it's significantly more expensive than buying the original DVD singles, and it's a worse release.

So, in my view, while it's not as bad as Funi's post-single Z releases, it's still a pretty crappy release.
Especially when you know that the original intention of Rock The Dragon was to put it out as a low-cost release of the entire original TV-edited Z dub, and put it out on regular store shelves for casual fans of that dub to pick up so they can relive their childhoods, and potentially as an edited alternative to the main Z dub for parents to buy for kids.
It was going to be a cheap, mass-market thing using the untouched, final DigiBeta masters of the original dub, meaning everyone who wanted it could have easily got it, at an affordable price.

But instead, Funi cut it off at 53, released it as one, giant, overpriced box, and limited it so it's now just as ridiculously overpriced as a Dragon Box.

Sure they probably would have to have Dale Kelly voice some of the next episode previews, but inconsistency is fine. On some of the singels, they had no qualms with an episode ending with Kyle Hebert, and then suddenly switching to Kelly for the next episode preview. OR they could just give us Kelly for as many episodes as possible. That'd be the most consistent. And best. :p

Funi wouldn't include the Kelly voiceover. Way I see it, if they'd wanted to include the NEPs, they'd have had Kyle Hebert record all the missing or Kelly-dubbed NEPs while they were doing the Orange Brick redubs. They had film at that point, which would mean they'd have almost certainly had video and Japanese audio of the NEPs at that juncture.

[sangofe]

You know what FUNi should do? And feel free to send this on to them because I feel like I, a non-American who can't even play Region A BDs, am not the right person to tell them so...

Do a super-quick, bare-bones release of their raw film scans, cropped no more than what's necessary to avoid the damaged edges and tape marks, with no extras, as a budget release that they could just sell on their website or something. Preferrably with the original title cards kept intact. They could call it the "Classic Edition" or something, and just emphasize that this is a warts-and-all presentation of exactly what Toei initially provided them with. One neat bonus they could do is use the Level remasters for however many episodes they have them for, but that's not necessary. Since this would just be a bare-bones BD pressing of material they already have, kept as-is with next to no further work done to it, it would cost basically nothing for them beyond the physical manufacturing costs, and as long as they keep this hypothetical release in print, or use it for online streams, then they can go on and do whatever attempts at remastering or making the show look new that they want, and we can just happily ignore them because we'll have the show as we want it.

Use their email form. They won't know you're not a legal customer.

[Char Aznable]

And, the crowning moment of awful of this release was the fact it was made limited edition.
Making a release "Collectible" simply means anyone who wants to enjoy its contents but didn't have the money in the window of a few months it was out, or didn't know about it until months later, is utterly screwed. As it stands, it's significantly more expensive than buying the original DVD singles, and it's a worse release.

So, in my view, while it's not as bad as Funi's post-single Z releases, it's still a pretty crappy release.
Especially when you know that the original intention of Rock The Dragon was to put it out as a low-cost release of the entire original TV-edited Z dub, and put it out on regular store shelves for casual fans of that dub to pick up so they can relive their childhoods, and potentially as an edited alternative to the main Z dub for parents to buy for kids.
It was going to be a cheap, mass-market thing using the untouched, final DigiBeta masters of the original dub, meaning everyone who wanted it could have easily got it, at an affordable price.

But instead, Funi cut it off at 53, released it as one, giant, overpriced box, and limited it so it's now just as ridiculously overpriced as a Dragon Box.

The packaging style is my least favorite aspect of the Rock the Dragon set. If you put DVDs in a book, you're going to get scratched discs. Guaranteed! I bought a brand new, sealed Rock the Dragon set and when I cracked it open sure enough several of the discs have scratches because you shouldn't put DVDs in a book. I tested them and luckily they work just fine, it's just annoying. I also have to be careful taking the discs in and out of the book. The book is cool, I just wish it could've been a regular DVD boxset. Even if I had limitless money I'm sure buying another copy would also have scratched discs just because of the packaging style.

[KBABZ]

The packaging style is my least favorite aspect of the Rock the Dragon set. If you put DVDs in a book, you're going to get scratched discs. Guaranteed! I bought a brand new, sealed Rock the Dragon set and when I cracked it open sure enough several of the discs have scratches because you shouldn't put DVDs in a book. I tested them and luckily they work just fine, it's just annoying. I also have to be careful taking the discs in and out of the book. The book is cool, I just wish it could've been a regular DVD boxset. Even if I had limitless money I'm sure buying another copy would also have scratched discs just because of the packaging style.

Yeah I hate it when DVD makers get too cute with the disc handling. The "brick" layout for me works the best if you also want to show off artwork. Kai's works great too because the inside cover shows the episode distribution, alternating between black and yellow to denote the discs. Very thoughtful design there.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

The packaging style is my least favorite aspect of the Rock the Dragon set. If you put DVDs in a book, you're going to get scratched discs. Guaranteed! I bought a brand new, sealed Rock the Dragon set and when I cracked it open sure enough several of the discs have scratches because you shouldn't put DVDs in a book. I tested them and luckily they work just fine, it's just annoying. I also have to be careful taking the discs in and out of the book. The book is cool, I just wish it could've been a regular DVD boxset. Even if I had limitless money I'm sure buying another copy would also have scratched discs just because of the packaging style.

Yeah I hate it when DVD makers get too cute with the disc handling. The "brick" layout for me works the best if you also want to show off artwork. Kai's works great too because the inside cover shows the episode distribution, alternating between black and yellow to denote the discs. Very thoughtful design there.

That book style of packaging used for the RtD set certainly was not thought out very well, it would have been much better if FUNi had done something more along the lines of the Dragon Boxes to hold the discs minus the stacked setup. I'll bet if i were to buy a copy in the future it would most likely show up with scratched discs even if it were in brand new condition because that kind of design just doesn't protect the discs adequately enough.

[Jon Jon]

Has anyone else noticed that the preorder number keeps decreasing? We are back in the 2800s now.