Funimation's 30th anniversary collectible home video release

[Scsigs]

Do you think Funimation might have some fun with the 30th Anniversary page on April 1st? Seems like a perfect opportunity to advertise a BRAND NEW 8K CINEMASCOPE ULTRA WIDESCREEN EDITION OF DBZ !!!

SOURCING THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE MASTERS FROM DEEP INSIDE OUR VAULTS, WE'VE REPLACED AND UPDATED ALL THE VISUAL EFFECTS USING STATE OF THE ART COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY WORTH OVER TEN MILLION DOLLARS, FOR A TRULY AUTHENTIC CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE THAT IS SURE TO BLOW YOUR FUCKING MIND!

THIS IS TRULY THE WAY IT WAS REALLY MEANT TO BE SEEN!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S POWER IS OVER 9000!!!!!!!!!!

(Yeah, pretty hilarious joke huh? I laughed even as i typed it.)

Subs: It's over 8000!

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

SOURCING THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE MASTERS FROM DEEP INSIDE OUR VAULTS, WE'VE REPLACED AND UPDATED ALL THE VISUAL EFFECTS USING STATE OF THE ART COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY WORTH OVER TEN MILLION DOLLARS, FOR A TRULY AUTHENTIC CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE THAT IS SURE TO BLOW YOUR FUCKING MIND!

THIS IS TRULY THE WAY IT WAS REALLY MEANT TO BE SEEN!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S POWER IS OVER 9000!!!!!!!!!!

(Yeah, pretty hilarious joke huh? I laughed even as i typed it.)

Subs: It's over 8000!

I've got another good one:

"The way it was meant to be seen."

(Translated into gibberish)

"yanena raichiru noya rachimo henachi hoya yama tsuna monanaho"

Yeah, it's a reference to the old Ultimate Uncut Edition ads with their random nonsensical Japanese translations.

[KBABZ]

In order to deliver a TRULY cinematic experience, we've cropped the footage from 16:9 to Anamorphic widescreen!

[JohnnyCashKami]

@ Robo4900

You're right that I don't have evidence of that in particular but to me it's more believable than saying it was a DVD feature no longer used or something. Then again, there's people on this community accusing someone without actually having proof and they firmly believe it but hey, I digress.

I do hope that this Dragon Ball Z 30th Anniversary Blu-ray release is as good as the Levels or even better.

[funrush]

In order to deliver a TRULY cinematic experience, we've cropped the footage from 16:9 to Anamorphic widescreen!

Don't give them any ideas!

[samuraix123]

Hey can someone update me with the basics of what's going on here? I just got back from alabama the other day and just buried my father yesterday so I haven't kept up with anything at all. will this be limited like the dragonboxes or will they rerelease these sets later on?

Okay, here's what we know (going off the assumption that AnimeMaakuo's information is good):

• The release will come with a statue of Son Goku and an art book.
• We were originally told we needed 2,500 votes, but it was upped to 3,000 (someone in marketing probably thought it was DBZ's 25th birthday, not its 30th).
• The footage is using Funimation's master that was used for the Level Blu-Rays.
• It will be in 4:3, as teased by the use of the 4 and 3-Star Dragon Balls in promotional material.
• There will be no censoring, possibly.
• It will not use the broadcast audio for the Japanese audio track.

And that's all we know so far, with only the first and second items having been officially confirmed by Funimation. We don't know the price, release timing, whether it's a limited release, or if there will be a more budget-oriented version of the discs.

Thanks. I haven't had a lot of time to keep up with stuff here lately.

[JohnnyCashKami]

The footage is using Funimation's master that was used for the Level Blu-rays.

So.. no NEPs?

[KBABZ]

The footage is using Funimation's master that was used for the Level Blu-rays.

So.. no NEPs?

I don't think so, remember that Funi's master was of course provided by Toei, so they were probably there.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

The footage is using Funimation's master that was used for the Level Blu-rays.

So.. no NEPs?

I don't think so, remember that Funi's master was of course provided by Toei, so they were probably there.

So i take that to mean this new Blu-ray release is apparently using the same set of third generation masters for the series as those though converted over to HD, only now it will be the entire 291 episode package this time with the same or at least a very similar style of mastering as the Level sets had been.

[Akamay]

Does Funimation usually show some video samples of their releases?
With everyone talking about the audio and video quality, I'm not as eager to throw my money at this release anymore given all that was mentioned so far.

If not, would they be likely to respond requests for samples? Like a youtube trailer or something like that?

Would kinda be a bummer to skip on it only to find out that the release was an improvement over the current BD retail release, but it would also suck to pay a ton of money for the set only for it to not be worth it.

[KBABZ]

So i take that to mean this new Blu-ray release is apparently using the same set of third generation masters for the series as those though converted over to HD, only now it will be the entire 291 episode package this time with the same or at least a very similar style of mastering as the Level sets had been.

If Animemaakuo's information is correct, then yes. It should be noted though that at this stage we don't know what the footage will ultimately look like, only that "it's the same master the Levels used", which implies that they'll look like the Levels but in no way confirms it. To my admittedly shaky knowledge, this is the master Funi has been using for all their releases since at least the Orange Bricks, so we have plenty of evidence regarding how good and how bad it can come out as on the other end.

Does Funimation usually show some video samples of their releases?

Someone mentioned earlier that Funimation didn't provide any pre-release footage for the Cowboy Bebop set and that turned out to be a disappointment. That said, DBZ has gotten so many releases over the years and pertinently already has two HD releases (Blu-Bricks and Kai, sorta), so if Funimation are as smart with marketing as they think they are, they'd give us a look to convert those on the fence that this is better than their part effort.

In order to deliver a TRULY cinematic experience, we've cropped the footage from 16:9 to Anamorphic widescreen!

Don't give them any ideas!

THE WAY IT WAS MEANT TO BE SEEN

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

So i take that to mean this new Blu-ray release is apparently using the same set of third generation masters for the series as those though converted over to HD, only now it will be the entire 291 episode package this time with the same or at least a very similar style of mastering as the Level sets had been.

If Animemaakuo's information is correct, then yes. It should be noted though that at this stage we don't know what the footage will ultimately look like, only that "it's the same master the Levels used", which implies that they'll look like the Levels but in no way confirms it. To my admittedly shaky knowledge, this is the master Funi has been using for all their releases since at least the Orange Bricks, so we have plenty of evidence regarding how good and how bad it can come out as on the other end.

Does Funimation usually show some video samples of their releases?

Someone mentioned earlier that Funimation didn't provide any pre-release footage for the Cowboy Bebop set and that turned out to be a disappointment. That said, DBZ has gotten so many releases over the years and pertinently already has two HD releases (Blu-Bricks and Kai, sorta), so if Funimation are as smart with marketing as they think they are, they'd give us a look to convert those on the fence that this is better than their part effort.

In order to deliver a TRULY cinematic experience, we've cropped the footage from 16:9 to Anamorphic widescreen!

Don't give them any ideas!

THE WAY IT WAS MEANT TO BE SEEN

I guess we'll see soon enough as to what it will ultimately look like, though at this point what with AnimeMaakuo's hints from the FUNi rep he spoke with and everything then signs are pointing toward that likely being the case here. Since it was said this is not a Toei provided remaster then i am leaning toward this being a release of the complete Z series in Level style quality which would actually be pretty good for overall for the release given how the first 34 episodes looked on the aborted previous release even with the flaws of the masters. Again we shall see, but honestly it's not going to surprise me if that's what we can be expecting this set to be.

Also that heavily cropped Kai shot is just so hilarious.

[Robo4900]

While I'm no expert on the technical details, among the broader anime fandom, it's well-known that Funi's alternate angles introduced significant macroblocking to the shows that featured them.

It cut the video bitrate in half, which resulted in the macroblocking.

So ultimately, it's a good thing they ditched them and improved their overall video quality.

That’s DVD. Blu-ray Discs don’t have alternate angles, but rather, alternate chapters. You can include two separate chapter directions for the two separate audio tracks. I think it could even be used to skip scenes for the inclusion of the Edited versions of Funimation’s dub, or even the AB Groupe / Ocean dub.

DVD could also do this, but it often went unused.

[Jord]

It's looking more and more like the 4/3 teaser could be related to the data on which they announce new details but I guess we'll find out soon enough. I'm just curious to learn what the aspect ratio will be and if they will use broadcast audio.

[jaisonas]

I'm not asking much from funi, just make sure it looks like this

[JohnnyCashKami]

It's looking more and more like the 4/3 teaser could be related to the data on which they announce new details but I guess we'll find out soon enough. I'm just curious to learn what the aspect ratio will be and if they will use broadcast audio.

AnimeMaakuo has said that it's 4:3 AR, Uncut and no OBA. No OBA is no surprise, tbh.

[Jord]

It's looking more and more like the 4/3 teaser could be related to the data on which they announce new details but I guess we'll find out soon enough. I'm just curious to learn what the aspect ratio will be and if they will use broadcast audio.

AnimeMaakuo has said that it's 4:3 AR, Uncut and no OBA. No OBA is no surprise, tbh.

Yeah...I'll just wait for an official announcement instead of relying on someone the internet that says he heard it from "official sources".

[Scsigs]

I'm not asking much from funi, just make sure it looks like this

Spoiler:

Ugh, no. That's too bright, my guy. Vibrancy, not brightness. There's a difference & a fine line you need to hit. That shit hurts my eyes.

[JohnnyCashKami]

Yeah...I'll just wait for an official announcement instead of relying on someone the internet that says he heard it from "official sources".

AM isn't just some internet guy, he released the DBZ OBA lossless for everyone but sure, it's worth waiting for FUNimation/TOEI to announce it all themselves.

If this doesn't have NEPs then that's gonna suck, somewhat even more than missing out on OBAs.

[linkdude20002001]

It's more that: 1, his source doesn't necessarily know for sure; 2, his source can make mistakes; and 3, what may be true at the point his source says it, mite change by the time the announcement comes. So...I'm gonna try to stay positive and not think that this release mite use the same degraded film that FUNi used for the Levels sets.

I'm hoping for a combination of Toei's highest quality masters (Like, seriously... Why use anything subpar when you have the good stuff on hand?) and FUNi's Levels-set-style remastering. I know some others wouldn't pay it, but I'd pay $1,000 for this kind of release. I feel like Toei would want to charge more than that for it, but it'd be a fair compromise between a Japanese pricing and a United States-ian pricing.