Funimation's 30th anniversary collectible home video release

[Scsigs]

Kai TFC's BRs actually came out in 2017 in the US.

Well, thanks Google. It wasn't listed on the Kanzenshuu site and I put my trust in you!

I mean, even Wikipedia has the right dates. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_D ... e_releases

[linkdude20002001]

The Levels look excellent besides the crushed blacks and very minor macroblocking, but the former could be solved with a better source to work from and the latter could be fixed with better encoding. Hopefully that kind of approach is taken and improved upon.

But that's exactly the problem I have with it: the crusht blacks. I'm not saying that the Levels sets are a bad idea or a bad attempt; I'm complaining about the Levels sets becuz on the source they used for remastering. The only reason I brot up how I dislike the look of the Levels sets in the first was to say "I sure do hope they don't use the poor quality film for THIS remaster or else it'll look as bad as the Levels sets".

Guys, remember that the Level crushing was because of the film prints from the early run. Not only did the crushing become far less pronounced as the set went on as far as it did, but because it was an artefact of the film itself, remember that this is really what the original airing prints would have looked like.
So, while the negatives at Toei would provide a better overall picture, there is something to be said for the Levels as they were presenting a look closer to how the show would have looked if you'd watched one of the TV prints when they were fresh.

Personally, I love the look of the Levels; it's a proper reproduction of what the original film looked like, the picture is sharp as a tack, every detail clear and evident (unlike Kai, which was so soft and blurry, it would often had less detail than the Dragon Boxes), and the gritty texture of the cels, the film, etc. comes through magnificently. It feels like you're watching a show perfectly preserved and rendered from its origins in the late '80s/early '90s, which is how a restoration of this material should feel, especially for a show with a somewhat gritty, grindhouse look to it like Dragon Ball does.
You're not watching some scrubbed, disgusting, soft, faux-digital-looking mess like the HD remaster of Buffy or some of the worse-looking Disney animated classic remasters, you're watching this '80s/'90s show, as it should be seen; with all the grit of the original production on full display, not disguising it behind a shiny sheen that attempts to make it fit in with the overly-clean look of the modern run. Warts and all.

I would prefer to see it remastered from Toei's negatives, particularly since that would allow those 35mm Namek arc episodes to shine in the detail and clarity one would expect from that (Funi only has 16mm of the run of Z), but if they are using the Level masters, that will be more than acceptable.

In addition to what I said to Kuwabara above, I don't think anyone is complaining about the Levels sets becuz they want the image to be scrubd free of grain, or to be soft and terrible-looking. We WANT the grain, and we WANT as much of the film's original detail as possible; We just don't want the damage and degradation of a copy of a copy of a copy the original film. Ideally this new set would made from the best source Toei has in their archive, and remasterd with the utmost care to make the show look as if it was scand at 1080p the day it was made.

But the DBoxes sold really poorly anyway.

How did they sell poorly? At one point, at least one of the boxsets sold out before the entire colletion was out, so Funimation had to rush to print more (of a release they likely weren't planning on ever reprinting).

There's also the Ocean dub 1-53 episodes. I'm not talking merely about the dub, but the way they are cut. Then of course there are the dubs, which I would now include in this list. There's the ocean dub, in house dub, the remastered version.

Even Funimation's dub alone has an overwhelming number of versions: Version 1 Uncut (unreleased), Version 1 Edited (for broadcast), Version 2 Uncut (for Uncut home video), Version 2 Edited (for Edited home video), Version 3 (for the Ultimate Uncut Special Edition broadcast and home video), Version 4 with original Japanese music (for the Orange Bricks), and Version 4 with "TV broadcast" music (for the Orange Brinks). Plus you could potentially mix-and-match the use of "Mister Satan" versus "Hercule" between the different versions. I want a separate "Funimation's Dragon Ball Z" box set that has all these rebubs and versions, but that will surely never happen.

[Robo4900]

I'm sorry but imo the level sets quality is not good. There's too much grain from the film's gen copying to get a good image, especially compared to pic's from Bardock's remaster which was also 16mm film

Spoiler:

Grain is what's used to preserve quality. As I've mentioned already, the earlier episodes of Star Trek TNG had a lot of grain depending on the scene because the film was from 1986/87. Hell, even newer stuff like How I Met Your Mother has grain in some scenes & that series was made at 16:9 1080p (the bar scenes, depending on the angle or shot, have a HEAVY amount of grain in the darker areas of the bar, especially earlier on for that series in particular) from the get-go. Considering they're 3rd generation film masters, where there's a ton of duplication grain on top of the native grain of a show from 1989, I don't think we could've asked for much better.

Indeed. In fact, the lack of grain in the Bardock master is a count against it; the Bardock master generally is a bit lacking in detail, it's generally a bit soft, because the DNR was too strong; the grain was pulled back too far.

If the Bardock special had as much grain as the Levels, it would be a far better, clearer, sharper master.

In addition to what I said to Kuwabara above, I don't think anyone is complaining about the Levels sets becuz they want the image to be scrubd free of grain, or to be soft and terrible-looking. We WANT the grain, and we WANT as much of the film's original detail as possible; We just don't want the damage and degradation of a copy of a copy of a copy the original film. Ideally this new set would made from the best source Toei has in their archive, and remasterd with the utmost care to make the show look as if it was scand at 1080p the day it was made.

Yes, but again, we can get that from the Levels, and in fact, the Levels being from the slightly-crushed prints they're from arguably gives us a closer look at what the film looked like when it was fresh, because that's what the prints sent to TV stations and such would have looked like.
The negatives at Toei would give a nicer picture, but people are talking about this like it's another one of these nonsense dealbreakers; as if it using Funi's film masters instead of Toei's would mean it's an entirely worthless product.

Yes, Toei's masters would give us a nicer picture... But it's not like it's the release being compromised in an irreconcilable way.

[Char Aznable]

I'm sorry but imo the level sets quality is not good. There's too much grain from the film's gen copying to get a good image, especially compared to pic's from Bardock's remaster which was also 16mm film

Spoiler:

Grain is what's used to preserve quality. As I've mentioned already, the earlier episodes of Star Trek TNG had a lot of grain depending on the scene because the film was from 1986/87. Hell, even newer stuff like How I Met Your Mother has grain in some scenes & that series was made at 16:9 1080p (the bar scenes, depending on the angle or shot, have a HEAVY amount of grain in the darker areas of the bar, especially earlier on for that series in particular) from the get-go. Considering they're 3rd generation film masters, where there's a ton of duplication grain on top of the native grain of a show from 1989, I don't think we could've asked for much better.

Indeed. In fact, the lack of grain in the Bardock master is a count against it; the Bardock master generally is a bit lacking in detail, it's generally a bit soft, because the DNR was too strong; the grain was pulled back too far.

If the Bardock special had as much grain as the Levels, it would be a far better, clearer, sharper master.

Yeah but between that and the fact that it doesn't completely fill up my widescreen television, how the hell am I supposed to enjoy it properly!?

[Robo4900]

Indeed. In fact, the lack of grain in the Bardock master is a count against it; the Bardock master generally is a bit lacking in detail, it's generally a bit soft, because the DNR was too strong; the grain was pulled back too far.

If the Bardock special had as much grain as the Levels, it would be a far better, clearer, sharper master.

Yeah but between that and the fact that it doesn't completely fill up my widescreen television, how the hell am I supposed to enjoy it properly!?

[JohnnyCashKami]

Jeez, I didn't realize fans here were so nitpicky. As long as I have the DB/Z movies in full screen, DB/Z/GT in Dragon Box/Level quality and Dragon Ball Kai on Blu-ray with the Yamamoto score I'm all good. Of course, I do want this upcoming Z release to be even better than the Dbox/Level but in case it isn't, then that's alright, there's always the Dragon Boxes. ^_^

Yeah but between that and the fact that it doesn't completely fill up my widescreen television, how the hell am I supposed to enjoy it properly!?

Just press 'Zoom' on yer TV and the screen will be filled up.

[AnimeMaakuo]

Just as I thought, the broadcast audio will not be in this release. Sorry folks!

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Jeez, I didn't realize fans here were so nitpicky. As long as I have the DB/Z movies in full screen, DB/Z/GT in Dragon Box/Level quality and Dragon Ball Kai on Blu-ray with the Yamamoto score I'm all good. Of course, I do want this upcoming Z release to be even better than the Dbox/Level but in case it isn't, then that's alright, there's always the Dragon Boxes. ^_^

Yeah but between that and the fact that it doesn't completely fill up my widescreen television, how the hell am I supposed to enjoy it properly!?

Just press 'Zoom' on yer TV and the screen will be filled up.

I mean i am just fine with how my Dragon Boxes look, though i guess i am one of those few who don't endlessly harp and nitpick over every little minute detail about the flaws even though i acknowledge they are there.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Just as I thought, the broadcast audio will not be in this release. Sorry folks!

It figures, though i didn't really have overwhelming expectations on that happening either as great as it would've been.

[JohnnyCashKami]

I mean i am just fine with how my Dragon Boxes look, though i guess i am one of those few who don't endlessly harp and nitpick over every little minute detail about the flaws even though i acknowledge they are there.

Some try to CC episodes of Dragon Ball's franchise but that's a process that can take months or years to achieve and besides, I'm fine with the colors of the Dragon Box. What matters to me most is the picture quality and the audio quality (the muffled audio of Z sucks hard but DB's and GT's aren't too bad although OBA is definitely way better).

[JohnnyCashKami]

Just as I thought, the broadcast audio will not be in this release. Sorry folks!

It figures, though i didn't really have overwhelming expectations on that happening either as great as it would've been.

Well, it's still alright. 4:3 AR + Uncut will still make for a great Dragon Ball Z home release for the English market which doesn't exist right now. I mean, there was the Dragon Box Z release but that was a Limited Edition product and it vanished.

FUNimation cheapened out on the disc stacking plastic as that wasn't too well glued and sticking those glue balls was also a terrible idea. Some of us ended up ripping a small part of it due to it, even though we were extremely careful while trying to get rid of it (should've used a hair dryer, yeah, I know).

[Scsigs]

Just as I thought, the broadcast audio will not be in this release. Sorry folks!

It figures, though i didn't really have overwhelming expectations on that happening either as great as it would've been.

Well, it's still alright. 4:3 AR + Uncut will still make for a great Dragon Ball Z home release for the English market which doesn't exist right now. I mean, there was the Dragon Box Z release but that was a Limited Edition product and it vanished.

FUNimation cheapened out on the disc stacking plastic as that wasn't too well glued and sticking those glue balls was also a terrible idea. Some of us ended up ripping a small part of it due to it, even though we were extremely careful while trying to get rid of it (should've used a hair dryer, yeah, I know).

Ever get any of the Doctor Who Blu-Ray released? Holy god, those are terrible with the cases & disc trays. Like, what were they thinking? Just use regular cases, BBC!

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Just as I thought, the broadcast audio will not be in this release. Sorry folks!

It figures, though i didn't really have overwhelming expectations on that happening either as great as it would've been.

Well, it's still alright. 4:3 AR + Uncut will still make for a great Dragon Ball Z home release for the English market which doesn't exist right now. I mean, there was the Dragon Box Z release but that was a Limited Edition product and it vanished.

FUNimation cheapened out on the disc stacking plastic as that wasn't too well glued and sticking those glue balls was also a terrible idea. Some of us ended up ripping a small part of it due to it, even though we were extremely careful while trying to get rid of it (should've used a hair dryer, yeah, I know).

Though i already do have most of the Z Dragon Boxes i'm still considering this new release if it turns out to be nearly as good as others here are saying, i'll wait until we have much more detailed info on the specs and the price before deciding to go for it or not at this point.

[linkdude20002001]

Just as I thought, the broadcast audio will not be in this release. Sorry folks!

Well, I guess at least we have confirmation now that there’s no hope for the broadcast audio to be used for a home release. Stupid Toei... Hopefully the fans who have it will release the audio in its highest possible quality so it can be syncht to the new release. I’m absolutely going to fill up my new 8TB external harddrive with this new set if it looks good.

[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?

[AnimeMaakuo]

Just as I thought, the broadcast audio will not be in this release. Sorry folks!

Well, I guess at least we have confirmation now that there’s no hope for the broadcast audio to be used for a home release. Stupid Toei... Hopefully the fans who have it will release the audio in its highest possible quality so it can be syncht to the new release. I’m absolutely going to fill up my new 8TB external harddrive with this new set if it looks good.

I’ve already released the raw audio, as well as some other goodies on a piracy website. Happy hunting!

[JohnnyCashKami]

I’ve already released the raw audio, as well as some other goodies on a piracy website. Happy hunting!

Yep. Thank you for that, everyone is eternally grateful you did because if it ain't gonna be featured on this release then I'd not get my hopes up for any other set.

The DBGT OBA is also complete on there but a lossless version has yet to be released. DB OBA is slowly coming along, only about 20 out of 153 audios have surfaced.

[Char Aznable]

It was a huge stretch to think that Toei was going to allow what are essentially fan recordings to be placed in an official release. I'm sure if it was entirely up to FUNimation it would be included. I for one was not holding out hope on that, I just hope it's not worse than Dragon Box audio like the movie remaster (which again if that comes out here, I hope they're uncensored and with better audio). For the broadcast audio, at least it's out there if you want it.

[DBZ_Lee]

Anyone heard anything in regards to price yet?.

[superrayman3]

Just as I thought, the broadcast audio will not be in this release. Sorry folks!

I expected nothing less from Toei's laziness (seriously is including broadcast audio now that it's out there in its entirety really too much to ask for? especially since this release is supposed to COMMEMORATE one of Toei's biggest series in their history and yet they've decided to fuck the fans over when it comes to audio yet again), all I have to say is Toei better not use a new scan of the old optical tracks because those would almost certainly be barely audible by now (I wouldn't be surprised if the optical tracks were nothing more than tape hiss at this point or pretty close to it considering how quickly they've been degrading).