Funimation's 30th anniversary collectible home video release

[eledoremassis02]

Then of course they mislead fans with trailers that have a lot of deceptive speak and misinformation.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=miXN6645TfM&t=51s

Welcome to marketing, unfortunately, at least in this video they mention multiple times that the 16x9 aspect ration was in fact new. And while "Original Japanese film" is quite misleading it's not wrong either. It's original film struck in Japan. Now, this https://youtu.be/JDelwuyToVw?t=20 is a straight-up lie because they relay the information that it comes from the Japanese masters. They tote this lie up until season 5 where it just becomes "uncut and remastered" which makes me wonder if someone did complain. People just want that instant gratification. I mean, look how many people bought these but knew they were not "how they were originally meant to be seen" but they needed season two or if was the first time to get the whole series uncut, or it was cheap or they wanted them to add to their collection. Many of us, myself included, are guilty of this. And at least we got the Dragon Boxes, they screwed us on that too but at least some of the hardcore fans got them. And outside of the color issues, those are how the show was meant to be seen. In SD, Japanese title cards, proper credits, (misplaced) NEP. So, we actually did get very close to the definitive edition, its just not spruced up for the new age.

Yeah, and i do get that but at the same time it's a shame FUNi went with such a devisive release style that did more harm than good in the long run. The season sets were a good idea on paper but the quality of the video on the discs themselves really kills it. The simple fact is DBZ is a show that was produced in a particular era in 4:3 and should be presented as such, not butchered by having 20% of the vertical image chopped off and a bunch of grain removal filters that destroys the detail of the image.

I think they were just following what the big boys were doing. Everyone was either stretching or "opening" their framing for HDTVs. heck they were even ahead of the animated curve as Kai (albeit more professional *and ironically* TV and only a few releases) did widescreen cropping and Simpsons did (worse) years later as well. I think the biggest negligence is the DNR erasing lines. A competent company would have fixed it early and done a replacement program but here we are over 10 years later and not only are the season sets still out but they still have that issue.

All in total for FUNi releases (not accounting Kai and Buu Kai)

DBZ
4:3 -
Singles (not complete *uncut*/Ultimate Uncut canceled)
Dragon Boxes
Level Sets (not complete *canceled*)
30th Bluray

16:9-
Season DVDs
Season Blurays
Best of DVDs (not complete *by design*)

Looking at how they come out it really gives the idea that FUNimation is gut reacting. We've had 2 complete 16x9 releases and 2 complete 4:3 (3 if we count ocean edited dvds). The main issue is that they were limited runs (video quality aside) but on the other side of the coin, while they were limited they were more competent releases (yes even while marginal the 30th set not being as blown out color-wise and retaining the original aspect ratio is, by default, more competent) *this isn't aimed at anyone* I'm just saying it now so I don't have to later. 30th set was also a one shot complete release, it could have been canceled like the level sets if done in volumes.

Side question: I was away for most of the Dbox run. Was there a fear that those were gonna be canceled ala ultimate uncut? It seems like no one knew they were limited, but did people but these with the idea they might not be finished?

[KBABZ]

Side question: I was away for most of the Dbox run. Was there a fear that those were gonna be canceled ala ultimate uncut? It seems like no one knew they were limited, but did people but these with the idea they might not be finished?

I mean, they technically aren't finished because they didn't cover OG DB and GT. Dragon Box Z was already a complete package so Funimation just had to license and localize that one set of products, compared to the Ultimate Uncuts which were made progressively as they went along.

---

Side-bar: kinda over bashing the Black Bricks for no reason right now.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Side question: I was away for most of the Dbox run. Was there a fear that those were gonna be canceled ala ultimate uncut? It seems like no one knew they were limited, but did people but these with the idea they might not be finished?

I mean, they technically aren't finished because they didn't cover OG DB and GT. Dragon Box Z was already a complete package so Funimation just had to license and localize that one set of products, compared to the Ultimate Uncuts which were made progressively as they went along.

---

Side-bar: kinda over bashing the Black Bricks for no reason right now.

They only licensed the Dragon Box masters for Z back in 2009, i don't think the original series or GT was part of it.

[LettuceJUMP]

Hey guys,
Been enjoying the resurgence of this topic this week.
I respect everyone’s opinions in this release. Definitely did not satisfy the hardcores again.
But for me...this is my favorite release yet.
I have uninformed friends who own the season orange bricks or season blu-rays and don’t know better.
On my 75” tv the dragon boxes didn’t do it for me. And are hard to find. Loved the level sets but we know what happened there. Kai is decent but even that switches to 16x9 in final chapters and has image issues. This new release has been my new go to. And i have very little confidence that they will make a “new” “better” 4:3 natural looking with grain set. How would they even market it? They tried that with this one.

Maybe the 40th anniversary will see “uncut raw” images. But for now...this is my favorite release. Although it has obvious shortcomings. If that makes me (insert name calling here) then I’ll accept that.

[Different]

This set definitely got more hate than it deserved IMO. It's not perfect but it's good enough, looks better than the Dragon Boxes since it has better colors and on a big TV, the Dragon Boxes are pretty ugly..

[Tylerman29]

This set definitely got more hate than it deserved IMO. It's not perfect but it's good enough, looks better than the Dragon Boxes since it has better colors and on a big TV, the Dragon Boxes are pretty ugly..

Stop repeating this silly statement over and over. They do not look better than the dragon boxes..not in this reality or any other. Colors are marginally better but that doesn't matter when the whole thing is smeared to hell. On a 4K 65 inch the DBoxes still look the best outside of the Levels.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

This set definitely got more hate than it deserved IMO. It's not perfect but it's good enough, looks better than the Dragon Boxes since it has better colors and on a big TV, the Dragon Boxes are pretty ugly..

It definitely isn't better than the Dragon Boxes, now granted it no doubt may be a little better when compared to the fake widescreen Orange Bricks and Season BD's although that isn't a very high bar overall but not an actual good release like those although the positives of the 30th set (mostly correct aspect ratio.etc) get negated due to the excessive DNR still being present in large amounts.

[PremiumSalt]

Apparently Madman will be releasing this for Australia:

https://www.madman.com.au/catalogue/vie ... ion-bluray

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Apparently Madman will be releasing this for Australia:

https://www.madman.com.au/catalogue/vie ... ion-bluray

This isn't surprising considering Manga UK weren't able to sell out the copies they got from Funimation. Wouldn't rule out the possibility either company worked out a deal with Madman to try clear the remaining stock. How else can they call it a 30th anniversary edition if it's a year late?

[KBABZ]

If they cut out all the collectibles and sell it for like $150NZD then I MIGHT consider it, haha.

[Matches Malone]

I'm surprised they haven't released this in standard sets yet.

[Robo4900]

I'm surprised they haven't released this in standard sets yet.

They may not do that at all, given the poor sales.

[10gigtriforce]

I'm surprised they haven't released this in standard sets yet.

They may not do that at all, given the poor sales.

i wouldnt be surprised if they didnt due to that. but it does kinda look like their in person/in store sales may be dong better than online for the nostalgia grabbers. so that may be part of it.

[Scsigs]

I'm surprised they haven't released this in standard sets yet.

They know it wouldn't sell too well. Everyone who owns any of the shitty DBZ releases from the last 13 years is either satisfied or not wanting a different release for whatever reasons they have. It's why they only release DBZ in 4:3 in collector's sets despite having masters ready to go. It's no different than Disney putting their films back in the vaults for a while before rereleasing them in new formats eventually & price gouging the shit out of them or Nintendo's artificial scarcity. Only in this instance, no one has perfect masters. The early-2000s DVDs have poor bitrates, the Orange Bricks have terribly forced cropping, awful color correction, & awful DVNR, the Dragon Boxes have terrible color correction, the 2013/14 BRs have cropping, awful color correction, & awful DVNR, & the 2019 BRs have bad framing, awful color correction, & awful DVNR. No one wins here.
Except FUNi, who profit off of either stupidity, or fans who knuckle under.

[mikezilla2]

Shit costs to much forget that !

https://www.madman.com.au/catalogue/vie ... ion-bluray

[TheGreatness25]

"An iconic set worthy of a legendary series! Packed full of everything you could wish for… and more."



I have to give them this: they really stick with their position and power through despite anyone with access to the internet vetting able to see a sea of complaints that severely outweigh the positives. Why not just stick to the selling points? "Here's your chance to own the series in its intended 4:3 aspect ratio for the first time -- and possibly the last time -- on Blu-ray!" No need to overhype it as the greatest thing since Akira Toriyama sat down to draw this thing.

[KBABZ]

No need to overhype it as the greatest thing since Akira Toriyama sat down to draw this thing.

Well clearly they don't think that because to them it'd take Toriyama four whole years until he'd draw anything noteworthy with Dragon Ball.

[TheGreatness25]

No need to overhype it as the greatest thing since Akira Toriyama sat down to draw this thing.

Well clearly they don't think that because to them it'd take Toriyama four whole years until he'd draw anything noteworthy with Dragon Ball.

Ah, good point. I kind of admire their perseverance. You could have solid negative reviews across the board from video quality to extras features, to packaging, and they still stay the course, promoting it as "OMFG diz iz soopir ameyzinggg!"

[ArmenianPepsi]

"An iconic set worthy of a legendary series! Packed full of everything you could wish for… and more."



I have to give them this: they really stick with their position and power through despite anyone with access to the internet vetting able to see a sea of complaints that severely outweigh the positives. Why not just stick to the selling points? "Here's your chance to own the series in its intended 4:3 aspect ratio for the first time -- and possibly the last time -- on Blu-ray!" No need to overhype it as the greatest thing since Akira Toriyama sat down to draw this thing.

Yeah you're right, but what what product ever 100% truthfully marketed itself? There is always some sort of lie in there.

[Scsigs]

"An iconic set worthy of a legendary series! Packed full of everything you could wish for… and more."



I have to give them this: they really stick with their position and power through despite anyone with access to the internet vetting able to see a sea of complaints that severely outweigh the positives. Why not just stick to the selling points? "Here's your chance to own the series in its intended 4:3 aspect ratio for the first time -- and possibly the last time -- on Blu-ray!" No need to overhype it as the greatest thing since Akira Toriyama sat down to draw this thing.

Yeah you're right, but what what product ever 100% truthfully marketed itself? There is always some sort of lie in there.

Well, yeah, but lies in most marketing campaigns are often small & can be overlooked. FUNi's marketing campaigns have so many lies, including contradictory ones from their earlier campaigns, when it comes to DBZ that it's genuinely frustrating. I've never seen a company continually cynically mismanage home video releases of 1 TV show before. DBZ should've been faithfully remastered back in 2011/12 in its entirety like they were planning & those should be the masters continually put into new reprints, not slightly better rereleases. 6 mainline releases in 20 years & only 1 is of any actual quality. It's sad.