Was the Level remastering REALLY too expensive, though? Almost certainly not.

[Kendamu]

I'm sure I'm not the first person to say this, but I'm thoroughly convinced that this was ready to go in 4:3 before the Blu-ray season sets came out and they cropped it to 16:9 despite what fans voted for in the survey about DBZ Blu-rays.

They're just selling the season sets to us again in a special limited edition format with garbage cardboard sleeve packaging.

[Scsigs]

I'm sure I'm not the first person to say this, but I'm thoroughly convinced that this was ready to go in 4:3 before the Blu-ray season sets came out and they cropped it to 16:9 despite what fans voted for in the survey about DBZ Blu-rays.

They're just selling the season sets to us again in a special limited edition format with garbage cardboard sleeve packaging.

I mean, the remastering work would've definitely came before cropping. Cropping would've been the very last step for what they did for the season BRs.

[KBABZ]

I'm sure I'm not the first person to say this, but I'm thoroughly convinced that this was ready to go in 4:3 before the Blu-ray season sets came out and they cropped it to 16:9 despite what fans voted for in the survey about DBZ Blu-rays.

They're just selling the season sets to us again in a special limited edition format with garbage cardboard sleeve packaging.

I mean, the remastering work would've definitely came before cropping. Cropping would've been the very last step for what they did for the season BRs.

Correct. Funimation may be dumb, but they're not "destructive edits" dumb when it comes to them making a product (that only applies to what they decide to try and sell to us at the end).

[superfan2024]

I'm still not sure as to why Funi couldn't just finish the Level Sets but this time under the "DBZ 30th Anniversay Blu-Ray" brand...

The level sets are basically Funi's masters put on film with damage removed, but what we actually got was a lousy saturated DNR-ed image.

[Scsigs]

I'm still not sure as to why Funi couldn't just finish the Level Sets but this time under the "DBZ 30th Anniversay Blu-Ray" brand...

The level sets are basically Funi's masters put on film with damage removed, but what we actually got was a lousy saturated DNR-ed image.

Because, "we can't actually give the people something they may want, oh no! We still gotta make money on this franchise until we run it into the ground. We can't count on Toei making new entries into the franchise & the toy companies aren't paying us enough, so rerelease Z again! What? We already have too many shit releases? Fuck it! Do another one with enough changes that we can justify it to the buyers! Who cares? It's DBZ. People buy this shit up."
Seriously, this is literally how they treat us & the show. It's awful.

[Apslup]

One thing that should be considered in all of this is that the Level Sets came out just 2 months after the Dragon Boxes finished releasing. The Level Sets, like the Dragon Boxes, where more aimed at the hardcore Dragon Ball fans, not average consumers. Why would you spend your money on the Level Sets when you just had the Dragon Boxes?

However, I do agree with you. It's criminal that Funi is so incompetent that they can't even widely re-release one of their highest-grossing series properly without having it be botched beyond belief or extremely expensive.

[Scsigs]

One thing that should be considered in all of this is that the Level Sets came out just 2 months after the Dragon Boxes finished releasing. The Level Sets, like the Dragon Boxes, where more aimed at the hardcore Dragon Ball fans, not average consumers. Why would you spend your money on the Level Sets when you just had the Dragon Boxes?

However, I do agree with you. It's criminal that Funi is so incompetent that they can't even widely re-release one of their highest-grossing series properly without having it be botched beyond belief or extremely expensive.

Actually, I'm pretty sure they were aimed at everyone & with everything they had, it seemed like they were trying to hit right in the middle of their previous 2 DVD sets; the Orange Bricks & the Dragon Boxes. They had all the audio options the Bricks & every release since has had as well & they had the aspect ratio & picture clarity that the DBoxes had, as well as more episodes per disc. The problem was the price per set with the amount of episodes & the timing. Had these come out in 2014/15 like the season sets, giving the previous releases time to rest, the levels would've had a better run, no doubt about it.
As long as FUNi actually admitted to lying about the "getting more picture" or "the way it was meant to be seen" bullshit they spewed back in 2007, the casual fanbase would've been fine. If people in other fandoms for other franchises here in the US can deal with shows made before 2008/9 that weren't future proofed to be in 16:9 on future TVs or live action shows shot on film or a film equivalent that allowed the studios to open up the frames on the sides to eliminate the black pillars, as long as it's not like Star Trek TNG where they had equipment & production crew people standing where the frames would be cut off on the sides, I think the casual DBZ fanbase can deal with 4:3, especially since every other DB series before Super is still in 4:3 on their home releases & I doubt FUNi cares enough to lie about their aspect ratios to market them like Z since they don't make as much money. They may not like it, but they could either deal with it, or force crop the frames to 16:9 themselves with their TV remotes. I'd rather have some people do that themselves rather than everyone being forced to watch the same cropped bullshit.