Geekdom says remasters coming

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Doing something like this in HD would be crazy, and more than a little silly. They'd have to recreate, from scratch, every single title card, the OPs/EDs, all the Saban-era edits (which were very involved edit jobs!) as well as all the Funi-era edits if they're doing the TV versions (some of which were quite involved), all in HD. Very difficult, probably very costly, and if it's only 3 seasons, it'd have the Rock The Dragon problem of still just stopping part-way through the run, and everyone wanting more.

I never said anything about this new release being in HD, I just said I expect it to be on Blu-Ray. A lot of people seem to think the only benefit to having something on Blu-Ray is the vastly superior image and sound quality, which of course is a huge benefit but its not the only reason and it doesn't have to be for that purpose exclusively. SD Blu-Rays exist such as the aforementioned Beyblade sets, if that can get a release, surely so can the Saban and OG Funi dubs. I said it in a previous thread but I'll say it again, I highly doubt Funimation will release all 276 episodes in one box set. Its more likely they will release seasons 1-3 because they all used the Rock the Dragon opening and were all created in the 90s so commemorating them in one set (or one volume more specifically) makes sense. If it does well we will likely hear news about the rest of the edited dub being re-released next year.

The Rock The Dragon sets were a limited release and are bloody expensive now. Anyone such as myself who'd like to just goddamn watch the version I grew up on is utterly screwed over by that, so putting out the Saban episodes on DVD again would be perfectly fine. And maybe this time they wouldn't screw up the visuals and that one NEP (RTD's visuals were heavily washed-out and blurred in the mastering; it looks utterly crap compared to, say, Madman's original release. And RTD also was missing an NEP due to an authoring error).

I would also buy a repackaging of Rock the Dragon, even if it was only on DVD. I want to legally own all those episodes because I too have nostalgia for them. Manga UK haven't shown any signs of progress with acquiring the one from 2013 so at this point, and with a new release from Funimation relevant to Toonami seemingly coming importing another release is my best bet.

That said if Funi released it on DVD again unless they gave it an even more aesthetically pleasing deluxe release than Rock the Dragon they would see diminishing returns because there are a significant number of people who already bought it in 2013. That means they would be depending on the people who missed out on Rock the Dragon the first time and want a release that retains minor aspects of their original inhouse dub, such as Dale Kelly's narration. I can't see there being a big enough market for that alone.

BD won't be an option due to the expense of redoing everything in HD, and it'll be a collector's item for the nostalgia market anyway, so it'll just be a DVD. Only chance it'd be on BD is if it's an upscale, which would give us nothing except a driven-up price and some "IN HD" deceptive marketing.

Again, Funi don't have to redo everything in HD. People will be glad with a release of the original dub on Blu-Ray just to have more episodes per disc for binging purposes and on a more durable format.

Personally, I'd much rather see them give this treatment to something actually special and worth our time, such as the Westwood or Harmony Gold dubs; those were never on home video, so if they put that stuff out, it'd be the first time fans who grew up on that stuff would be able to see it since the original airings (yes, Funi's OG dub is somewhat lost, but at least the original home video release exists, so you have the uncut version of the original dub, and all releases since have stemmed from those recordings; Ocean/Blue Water fans have nothing past the original Saban & Pioneer run). Of course, it's never going to happen; they'd have to negotiate it with Toei, so it'd be much easier to just dig out the tapes they already have of their own version, throw it onto Amazon in America, and let it sell out and fill eBay with overpriced used copies.

I'd love to see the Harmony Gold and Westwood dubs get a home release too. Problem is all the former seems to have is a tape called 'Dragon Ball' in their vaults that is very expensive even just to access let alone remaster, and the latter contains additional edits so even if Funi cared about alternate dubs there would be less incentive for them to use it as an additional audio track. If Funimation do go ahead and rerelease their entire edited dub though I'd love for them to at least release the Westwood episodes without additional edits that can sync up to their own edited dub video as an audio track just to widen their potential customer base, and if the set does well release a Complete Set of the Westwood dub later on that only included that dub. I'd buy it twice just to support the version I grew up with, but sadly they will most likely never do it.

[Robo4900]

I never said anything about this new release being in HD, I just said I expect it to be on Blu-Ray. A lot of people seem to think the only benefit to having something on Blu-Ray is the vastly superior image and sound quality, which of course is a huge benefit but its not the only reason and it doesn't have to be for that purpose exclusively. SD Blu-Rays exist such as the aforementioned Beyblade sets, if that can get a release, surely so can the Saban and OG Funi dubs. I said it in a previous thread but I'll say it again, I highly doubt Funimation will release all 276 episodes in one box set. Its more likely they will release seasons 1-3 because they all used the Rock the Dragon opening and were all created in the 90s so commemorating them in one set (or one volume more specifically) makes sense. If it does well we will likely hear news about the rest of the edited dub being re-released next year.

I guess they could do it on Blu-Ray, but people would probably get antsy if it's not HD.

That said if Funi released it on DVD again unless they gave it an even more aesthetically pleasing deluxe release than Rock the Dragon they would see diminishing returns because there are a significant number of people who already bought it in 2013. That means they would be depending on the people who missed out on Rock the Dragon the first time and want a release that retains minor aspects of their original inhouse dub, such as Dale Kelly's narration. I can't see there being a big enough market for that alone.

The big thing would be the fact that it'd be the entire run.
If they just did the first few seasons, then whatever they do it'll be competing with RTD. It's going to be "Collectible", so it's going to be on the same kind of level, so unless it's the entire run, and therefore has the draw of having the entire original in-house Toonami dub of Z, it will be largely pointless.

Again, Funi don't have to redo everything in HD. People will be glad with a release of the original dub on Blu-Ray just to have more episodes per disc for binging purposes and on a more durable format.

In theory I agree with you.
In practice, I'm sure piles and piles of people will complain that their Blu-Ray isn't HD and it's a swizz, especially if it's a really expensive set that only contains like 8 discs for 276 episodes.
I could see Funi trying this for a budget release, but if it's a collector's item, it'll be DVDs, it'll be a huge set, and it'll cost a bloody fortune.

I'd love to see the Harmony Gold and Westwood dubs get a home release too. Problem is all the former seems to have is a tape called 'Dragon Ball' in their vaults that is very expensive even just to access let alone remaster, and the latter contains additional edits so even if Funi cared about alternate dubs there would be less incentive for them to use it as an additional audio track. If Funimation do go ahead and rerelease their entire edited dub though I'd love for them to at least release the Westwood episodes without additional edits that can sync up to their own edited dub video as an audio track just to widen their potential customer base, and if the set does well release a Complete Set of the Westwood dub later on that only included that dub. I'd buy it twice just to support the version I grew up with, but sadly they will most likely never do it.

Westwood could never be on a release with other tracks. It'd have to be its own release. Only way you could put this stuff on another DVD would be GT, which was mostly uncut and could be adapted to fit quite easily, with only one episode having any cuts over dialogue, but Funi will never put a release out with an alternate dub alongside one of their own dubs, sadly. They've shown this with their repeated failure to include the Pioneer dubs on their releases of the first three Z movies.
Still, I'm sure a standalone release would have an audience comparable to a hypothetical in-house Funi Toonami dub boxset. The only barrier would be negotiating with Toei. Funi could just cheaply throw their tapes onto a DVD and get it out there with some thrown-together menus and an artbook, and it'd make a huge pile of cash, just like they did with RTD.
Meanwhile, Westwood would require them actually talking to Toei, and getting ahold of the tapes.
And that's very sad... The Westwood dubs of DB, Z, and GT were all rather brilliant for what they were, and I'd absolutely love to own them. I'm sure even USAers who never saw these dubs on TV originally would be interested in seeing the legendary Westwood Ocean dub, the famed more-accurate dub of GT, and the fondly-regarded alternate DB dub.

'Course, if anything like this did happen, it'd probably only cover Z. And... That's a shame, but a Westwood Z release is better than nothing. I'd be very happy to see that.

As for Harmony Gold... Toei may have a copy somewhere.
The tape transfer problem you refer to really was more a case of, back when Derek Padula was inquiring about this, there was no financial incentive to get the thing transferred; Funi weren't looking to do a release, it would just be transferred for preservation purposes, which unfortunately just isn't a priority for a business. If Funi seriously wanted to do a release, they'd almost certainly transfer it, and probably reach out to some TV stations to see if they can get some U-Matic tapes or something. I'm sure they'd find a copy somehow, if they wanted to.
The problem is wanting to.
I'm not sure they would, even for the 5 episodes + 2 movies it would cover.
Could be a perfect basis for a boxset of failed/dead-end dubs with historical value if you packaged it with BLT DB. Get some of the people who worked on these dubs to record some interview footage, throw together a couple of documentary features, and you have a really nice basis for a 4-5xDVD box about the early history of Dragon Ball dubbing.

[MasenkoHA]

. They've shown this with their repeated failure to include the Pioneer dubs on their releases of the first three Z movies.

Which is why I doubt we’ll ever see a Westwood or Blue Water dub release by them. Outside of cashing on some sweet sweet 1998 Toonami nostalgia with Rock the Dragon I think they rather act like any English dub not done by their ADR studio doesn’t count or exist.

Am I salty the Pioneer movies are out of print and really expensive on Amazon? You bet

Still, I'm sure a standalone release would have an audience comparable to a hypothetical in-house Funi Toonami dub boxset.

I think a Westwood dub release in the UK and Canada would do well for sure

Spoiler:

And if by snowball chance in hell they could get the Ocean cast to dub edited episodes 54-108 even if they used the Funi toonami ADR scripts verbatim I would have to find a way to obtain them myself

. I'm sure even USAers who never saw these dubs on TV originally would be interested in seeing the legendary Westwood Ocean dub, the famed more-accurate dub of GT, and the fondly-regarded alternate DB dub.

Your average Dragon Ball US consumer in the US doesn’t even seem to be aware that an alternate English even existed much less that there was a dub in the US with a different cast than Funimation. I’ve seen way to many American Dragon Brawl Zeeee fans who think Chris Sabat and Sean Schemmel and co were always the voices

And those Americans who have come across it seem mostly dismissive of it and kind of ignore the dub they hold to a golden standard also sounds like complete ass.


'Course, if anything like this did happen, it'd probably only cover Z. And... That's a shame, but a Westwood Z release is better than nothing. I'd be very happy to see that.



Dragon Ball Z: The Toonami cut would probably have the best chance than anything and even then I’m skeptical.

[Robo4900]

Which is why I doubt we’ll ever see a Westwood or Blue Water dub release by them. Outside of cashing on some sweet sweet 1998 Toonami nostalgia with Rock the Dragon I think they rather act like any English dub not done by their ADR studio doesn’t count or exist.

Am I salty the Pioneer movies are out of print and really expensive on Amazon? You bet

Heh. Fair.
Still, I think RTD proves they're willing to acknowledge the other dubbing in the context of putting out a limited-edition rare boxset, albeit one done on the cheap as a cash-in.

Your average Dragon Ball US consumer in the US doesn’t even seem to be aware that an alternate English even existed much less that there was a dub in the US with a different cast than Funimation. I’ve seen way to many American Dragon Brawl Zeeee fans who think Chris Sabat and Sean Schemmel and co were always the voices

And those Americans who have come across it seem mostly dismissive of it and kind of ignore the dub they hold to a golden standard also sounds like complete ass.

Heh. Fair. Still, the RTD boxset did pretty well, so it shows there is a market for this, if only a somewhat limited one...? It's hard to tell, given how limited the run of the RTD sets was.

Dragon Ball Z: The Toonami cut would probably have the best chance than anything and even then I’m skeptical.

Agreed.

But if there's any chance Funi will do anything outside of their own current in-house "Remastered dub" material, I will push my agenda to get the alternate dubs released in some form as hard as I possibly can.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Am I salty the Pioneer movies are out of print and really expensive on Amazon? You bet

The Pioneer movies can still be found on Ebay from time to time for decent prices. I picked up the box set for under $20 including shipping some time ago and as I recall they were going for a similar price recently enough.

The Saban dub is a lot harder to find a good deal on however. The cheapest I've seen is $200 for all the singles, which is a lot to pay for 53 episodes, takes up a lot of shelf space and Rock the Dragon is unfortunately no cheaper. This is why Manga UK owe it to fans in the UK and Ireland that have had more exposure to the Canadian cast than any other country to license Rock the Dragon to make it affordable and keep that original dub that all English speaking countries received in circulation.

Your average Dragon Ball US consumer in the US doesn’t even seem to be aware that an alternate English even existed much less that there was a dub in the US with a different cast than Funimation. I’ve seen way to many American Dragon Brawl Zeeee fans who think Chris Sabat and Sean Schemmel and co were always the voices

I never understood this. As far as I'm aware the Saban dub was rerun in the US until 2005. Anyone part of the pre-Kai generation surely must have seen it at some point or they are just flat out denying it out of loyalty to their preferred cast they had for most of the series.

[MasenkoHA]

I never understood this. As far as I'm aware the Saban dub was rerun in the US until 2005. Anyone part of the pre-Kai generation surely must have seen it at some point or they are just flat out denying it out of loyalty to their preferred cast they had for most of the series.

Toonami pretty much stopped rerunning the Ocean episodes when they got the in-house stuff in 1999.

[PremiumSalt]

I never understood this. As far as I'm aware the Saban dub was rerun in the US until 2005. Anyone part of the pre-Kai generation surely must have seen it at some point or they are just flat out denying it out of loyalty to their preferred cast they had for most of the series.

Toonami pretty much stopped rerunning the Ocean episodes when they got the in-house stuff in 1999.

That seems like an...odd decision to me. Considering that, early on, FUNimation was trying (and mostly failing) to make their in-house dub to seem like a seamless continuation of the Saban/Ocean one, I fail to see what the rationale behind them not re airing Ocean stuff would be.

[VegettoEX]

Didn't they just keep (or at least would occasionally find themselves) starting over at Raditz each time they caught back up until a new batch of episodes was ready to air?

Furthermore, the syndication channels retained their rights to the initial two seasons and started rebroadcasting them in odd blocks once it caught on again, so they were regularly in rotation back in two spots.

[eledoremassis02]

I never understood this. As far as I'm aware the Saban dub was rerun in the US until 2005. Anyone part of the pre-Kai generation surely must have seen it at some point or they are just flat out denying it out of loyalty to their preferred cast they had for most of the series.

Toonami pretty much stopped rerunning the Ocean episodes when they got the in-house stuff in 1999.

That seems like an...odd decision to me. Considering that, early on, FUNimation was trying (and mostly failing) to make their in-house dub to seem like a seamless continuation of the Saban/Ocean one, I fail to see what the rationale behind them not re airing Ocean stuff would be.

I think part of it of because they were getting new episodes, and because they re-aired the Ocean dub while the newer episodes were getting dubbed that , me and I'm sure others, just got tired of seeing them and it makes it seem like Namek was some kind of purgatory

[MasenkoHA]

Didn't they just keep (or at least would occasionally find themselves) starting over at Raditz each time they caught back up until a new batch of episodes was ready to air?
.

At a certain point they just started rerunning the current season during the season breaks.

Like I very specifically remember when Vegeta sacrficed himself to destroy Majin Boo it simply went back to the first episode of the broadcast season (the otherworld arc) and did it like twice.

I definitely don’t recall seeing a single pre-in house episode after 1999

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Didn't they just keep (or at least would occasionally find themselves) starting over at Raditz each time they caught back up until a new batch of episodes was ready to air?
.

At a certain point they just started rerunning the current season during the season breaks.

Like I very specifically remember when Vegeta sacrficed himself to destroy Majin Boo it simply went back to the first episode of the broadcast season (the otherworld arc) and did it like twice.

I definitely don’t recall seeing a single pre-in house episode after 1999

Funny you say that because i distinctly remember them re running the Ocean dubbed episodes on Toonami some time in 2002, it was definitely while the Buu arc was still in it's first run so it might have been in a break between episodes.

[PacificOceanDub]

Oh yeah, they definitely still aired Ocean stuff on Toonami in the US. I distinctly remember, because I moved to Texas in May 2003, the Buu saga had just finished up, and they started back over with Raditz.

[Spencer_23]

Just because some Dragon Ball YouTuber says so, doesn't mean it's actually happening. Wait and see.

Geekdom is typically right on this stuff, but I’m not taking his word as a confirmed announcement at this point. That’s why I was asking if anyone else had any knowledge of this happening. Obviously I’m in wait and see mode right now. Bring info or don’t comment.

He’s hit or miss at best. I remember him STRONGLY claiming Broly would never be a thing lol

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Just because some Dragon Ball YouTuber says so, doesn't mean it's actually happening. Wait and see.

Geekdom is typically right on this stuff, but I’m not taking his word as a confirmed announcement at this point. That’s why I was asking if anyone else had any knowledge of this happening. Obviously I’m in wait and see mode right now. Bring info or don’t comment.

He’s hit or miss at best. I remember him STRONGLY claiming Broly would never be a thing lol

To be fair before the recent movie everyone laughed at the notion of Toriyama writing Broly into the story. Same thing with Evil Goku but look now. I wouldn't put anything past this franchise now.

[Geekdom101]

Just because some Dragon Ball YouTuber says so, doesn't mean it's actually happening. Wait and see.

Geekdom is typically right on this stuff, but I’m not taking his word as a confirmed announcement at this point. That’s why I was asking if anyone else had any knowledge of this happening. Obviously I’m in wait and see mode right now. Bring info or don’t comment.

He’s hit or miss at best. I remember him STRONGLY claiming Broly would never be a thing lol

Yeah, me and about 10,000 other people about 3 years ago. What a joke of a reach.

Hit or miss?

Some of ya'll legit sound like clowns when you say this, no offense. I've broken more stories in the past 3 years than anybody and if you don't believe me, ask some of the mods on this very board. Ask Ajay, Herms, Redux, Terez. Some of YOUR people about my credibility and see what they say.


So here's ANOTHER one for ya... cause i love ya (legit I do)


30th Anniversary Remasters ARE coming.
Will be announced VERY soon.
Z first (presumably)
4:3
Audio is also stellar
WILL be localized

[superfan2024]

Geekdom is typically right on this stuff, but I’m not taking his word as a confirmed announcement at this point. That’s why I was asking if anyone else had any knowledge of this happening. Obviously I’m in wait and see mode right now. Bring info or don’t comment.

Geekdom101 is a sketchy dude so I don't rely on his "inside" information. Rather, what's out there and announced by the companies themselves.

TOEI has remastered the Dragon Ball Movies 1-4, Dragon Ball Z Movies 1-13 as well as Dragon Ball Z's TV-Special 1 (Bardock: The Father of Goku) so we can make a guess that they're possibly remastering the Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and/or Dragon Ball GT series for a Blu-ray release (and it'd too be on Amazon Prime Japan / Netflix Japan).

That said, don't forget SV is remastering Dragon Ball, too.

I remember making a video telling everybody that they were going to remaster the entire series in 2019 and 2020 and that was literally six months ago.

Here we are and that we still have non-believers.

I could have Toriyama on my channel someday some people will still say I'm "sketchy" and nonsense like that.

K, believe what you want

Geek! When you say "better/new audio quality" you mean the broadcast audio?!

[Robo4900]

So here's ANOTHER one for ya... cause i love ya (legit I do)


30th Anniversary Remasters ARE coming.
Will be announced VERY soon.
Z first (presumably)
4:3
Audio is also stellar
WILL be localized

Thanks for the scoup, dude. Makes me very hype.

Do you happen to know if there's likely to be the same kind of censorship and DNR we saw on the movie BDs?

Geek! When you say "better/new audio quality" you mean the broadcast audio?!

I think that's the only possible takeaway here.

[Geekdom101]

Geekdom101 is a sketchy dude so I don't rely on his "inside" information. Rather, what's out there and announced by the companies themselves.

TOEI has remastered the Dragon Ball Movies 1-4, Dragon Ball Z Movies 1-13 as well as Dragon Ball Z's TV-Special 1 (Bardock: The Father of Goku) so we can make a guess that they're possibly remastering the Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and/or Dragon Ball GT series for a Blu-ray release (and it'd too be on Amazon Prime Japan / Netflix Japan).

That said, don't forget SV is remastering Dragon Ball, too.

I remember making a video telling everybody that they were going to remaster the entire series in 2019 and 2020 and that was literally six months ago.

Here we are and that we still have non-believers.

I could have Toriyama on my channel someday some people will still say I'm "sketchy" and nonsense like that.

K, believe what you want

Geek! When you say "better/new audio quality" you mean the broadcast audio?!

To be honest, I am not 100% sure if it is or just cleaned up but it sounds majestic.

[Godgoku95]

I remember making a video telling everybody that they were going to remaster the entire series in 2019 and 2020 and that was literally six months ago.

Here we are and that we still have non-believers.

I could have Toriyama on my channel someday some people will still say I'm "sketchy" and nonsense like that.

K, believe what you want

Geek! When you say "better/new audio quality" you mean the broadcast audio?!

To be honest, I am not 100% sure if it is or just cleaned up but it sounds majestic.

HEY Geekdom should i import the Japanese blu-rays if they get something we can't get?

[Geekdom101]

Geek! When you say "better/new audio quality" you mean the broadcast audio?!

To be honest, I am not 100% sure if it is or just cleaned up but it sounds majestic.

HEY Geekdom should i import the Japanese blu-rays if they get something we can't get?

Watch my new videos. They'll be localized.