Why is it that other anime geet pristine home/anniversary releases, yet the Dragon Ball franchise keeps getting ruined?!

[ABED]

It could also be because all HD content on Blu-ray is widescreen by definition, with uncropped 4:3 footage being represented through pillar boxing.

How is it widescreen "by definition?"

Blu-Rays always have their picture in 16:9 so that they work smoothly with modern TVs. So for example, a 4:3 show will have the side bars as part of the video, while an anamorphic movie will have the bars on the top and bottom as part of the video too.

Is this different from what DVDs did for older shows that are 4:3 like Cheers?

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

How is it widescreen "by definition?"

Blu-Rays always have their picture in 16:9 so that they work smoothly with modern TVs. So for example, a 4:3 show will have the side bars as part of the video, while an anamorphic movie will have the bars on the top and bottom as part of the video too.

Is this different from what DVDs did for older shows that are 4:3 like Cheers?

I can't generalize because I doubt it's on all televisions, but the one I use (which is widescreen) presents 4:3 Blu-Rays in full screen with black bars by default, but the 4:3 DVDs I have like Father Ted fill the screen.

[KBABZ]

How is it widescreen "by definition?"

Blu-Rays always have their picture in 16:9 so that they work smoothly with modern TVs. So for example, a 4:3 show will have the side bars as part of the video, while an anamorphic movie will have the bars on the top and bottom as part of the video too.

Is this different from what DVDs did for older shows that are 4:3 like Cheers?

I believe so. To my admittedly limited understanding, what DVDs did was tell your TV to force a particular aspect ratio on the footage.

[Vorige Waffe]

All DVDs are 720x480 and interlaced. When it comes to aspect ratios they're flagged to display at a particular ratio. When a disc is flagged in 4:3, it's basically squezzed slightly to fill that. For 16:9, it's anamorphic and will either be stretched to fill a widescreen TV or have black bars on top if it's on a 4:3 TV.

[DBZAOTA482]

FUNimation sees as long as it has the Dragon Ball name, they don't have to invest much time and money into a quality video release because casual fans would just eat it up.

[zekken1]

Everything in Z up to the end of the Namek is better experienced in Kai. But after that OG DBZ is the definitive edition. And yes i'm a Bruce Faulconer stan, like how is it not better than the original. I mean I kinda see the point in that the music doesnt take that many breaks. But the up sides totally outshine that and actually make the scenes more nostalgic

[KBABZ]

Everything in Z up to the end of the Namek is better experienced in Kai. But after that OG DBZ is the definitive edition. And yes i'm a Bruce Faulconer stan, like how is it not better than the original. I mean I kinda see the point in that the music doesnt take that many breaks. But the up sides totally outshine that and actually make the scenes more nostalgic

You should check out the Falcoulner Kai project, it's Kai but replaces the music with Falc. And that's it, it keeps matches Kai's use of silence but otherwise mimics the Orange Bricks with the selection.

[Psajdak]

When people continue to be fine with crap, more crap will continue to be made.

[zekken1]

Everything in Z up to the end of the Namek is better experienced in Kai. But after that OG DBZ is the definitive edition. And yes i'm a Bruce Faulconer stan, like how is it not better than the original. I mean I kinda see the point in that the music doesnt take that many breaks. But the up sides totally outshine that and actually make the scenes more nostalgic

You should check out the Falcoulner Kai project, it's Kai but replaces the music with Falc. And that's it, it keeps matches Kai's use of silence but otherwise mimics the Orange Bricks with the selection.

Thanks:) I actually also like the filler in DBZ Cell saga tho

[Xeogran]

Everything in Z up to the end of the Namek is better experienced in Kai.

With censorships and bad quality redraws? No thanks. I like the Saiyan arc fillers too, they have a lot of charm. Kai's rushedness paradoxically makes it a chore to watch.

[TheGreatness25]

I love the "because fans support it!" argument. It basically shifts the blame onto the fans and takes the full blame off of Funimation. "Oh, the fans bought the orange bricks, so that's why Funimation keeps putting out bad releases!" Oh, it's the fans' fault? It's the fault of the fans who bought the orange bricks so they could actually own a complete version of the series? It's the fans' fault that the only affordable complete collection was the orange bricks? If the fans' fault that the Dragon Boxes were "limited edition" and -- oh yeah -- the original MSRP was $80? That's the fans' fault, right? It's also the fans' fault that they didn't go and buy the Level Sets, which were not advertised as limited edition, nor were expected to be canceled. But, it's the fans' fault that the next product -- much more economically friendly -- was 16:9 because of all of those terrible fans who bought the orange bricks. But finally, it's the fans' fault for buying what might be the only complete Blu-ray release in 4:3.

It wasnt the fans who discontinued the Ultimate Uncut line, which led to the orange bricks being the only COMPLETE collection on DVD at the time.

It wasnt the fans who made the Dragon Boxes limited edition.

It wasnt the fans who discontinued the Level Sets without warning and then re-created the Ultimate Uncut/orange brick situation all over again with Blu-ray.

These are decisions that are on Funimation's shoulders and their shoulders alone. I'm sorry -- do they not know that people want a release with the entire picture intact? Do they not know that people don't want washed out colors? What kind of additional road map do they need? They need some kind of special hand-holding to know that fans just want a good release? Well, they've been told for years and they don't seem to care.

The fans who buy all of those releases do it to support Dragon Ball and it's the reason why Funimation continues to make money on it and continues coming out with releases that slowly get better. If nobody bought the orange bricks, DBZ would've been dead since 2007 and we wouldn't get jack except an incomplete DVD set and trying to hunt down the Japanese Dragon Boxes for obscene prices.

So, stop blaming the fans. This all rests on Funimation.

[VegettoEX]

If nobody bought the orange bricks, DBZ would've been dead since 2007 and we wouldn't get jack except an incomplete DVD set and trying to hunt down the Japanese Dragon Boxes for obscene prices.

That's... demonstrably untrue looking at the rest of the success of the franchise's merchandise at that time, combined with the fact that FUNimation was owned by the publicly-traded Navarre corporation at that point in their history, who would have required them to try another home video release option. (We know this for a fact. We've been told this. Always be putting out DBZ.)

I don't disagree that it doesn't rest exclusively on the shoulders of fans, but at the same time, this likewise does not rest solely on the shoulders of FUNimation, either. FUNimation and general fandom entered into an agreement that blown out colors and cropped footage is the easiest path to a symbiotic, working, profitable relationship... and not all of us signed up for that.

[TheGreatness25]

If nobody bought the orange bricks, DBZ would've been dead since 2007 and we wouldn't get jack except an incomplete DVD set and trying to hunt down the Japanese Dragon Boxes for obscene prices.

That's... demonstrably untrue looking at the rest of the success of the franchise's merchandise at that time, combined with the fact that FUNimation was owned by the publicly-traded Navarre corporation at that point in their history, who would have required them to try another home video release option. (We know this for a fact. We've been told this. Always be putting out DBZ.)

I don't disagree that it doesn't rest exclusively on the shoulders of fans, but at the same time, this likewise does not rest solely on the shoulders of FUNimation, either. FUNimation and general fandom entered into an agreement that blown out colors and cropped footage is the easiest path to a symbiotic, working, profitable relationship... and not all of us signed up for that.

I understand what you're saying, but I also remember why I bought the orange bricks even though it took me 30 seconds to figure out that they were crap from the moment I popped "Season 1, Disc 1" into my PS3. My purchase of this set was not my way of telling Funimation, "Hey! This thing you're doing is great! Make more!" It was my way of owning the complete version of the series in an economic fashion (both price-wise and episode count-wise). Sure, back then, I would've likely passed on it if I knew that a much better release was coming down the pike. But at that point, I owned roughly 1/4 of the series on DVD, which already took up a bunch of space and wasn't exactly easy on the pockets of a broke college kid with a retail job.

But really, what was the alternative? How could a fan like myself "support the official release" and not get these? What were the fans' options at that time? Find the Japanese Dragon Boxes? Highly unlikely at that time. Get the singles while spending a ton of money, widdling out a bunch of space, and just have a gap in the series anyway? I mean, that's not great. Or illegally downloading the series?

There was no right answer for this. And I don't think that the fans -- paying fans, at that -- should be scolded or shamed or whatever word you want to use, for trying to own the series that they love. There simply weren't any good options and that's not on the fans, that's on the company who limited the options. Maybe the fans wouldn't settle (which is the only word to use) for these types of releases if they had any assurance that they'd ever get a decent release.

[MetaMoss]

The primary audience for the vast majority of other anime is enthusiasts. Dragon Ball (well, really just Z) is such a mass-market property that you can grab a season or two of it with your groceries at Walmart. That's the main difference.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

The primary audience for the vast majority of other anime is enthusiasts. Dragon Ball (well, really just Z) is such a mass-market property that you can grab a season or two of it with your groceries at Walmart. That's the main difference.

That's true, and we have DVDs like 'Best of Goku', 'Best of Vegeta' etc for that reason, although arguably since they all contain the remastered dub these releases and the Seasons are still not ideal.

The original pitch for Rock the Dragon was for it to be a series of bare bones boxsets covering the entire 276 episode edited dub rather than a deluxe/limited edition collection that stopped at episode 53. If Funimation went ahead with this and continued the Level sets for fans who wanted those the home media market for this series would be a whole lot healthier.