Will we ever get a good home release of Dragon Ball Z in the States ever again?

[BootyCheeksJohnson]

Funimation has had time, and time, and time, and time again to get it right. And, each time we get disappointing results.
So does anyone think or know if we'll ever get a good Blu-ray remaster from Funimation or Toei? Like, the recent movie remasters they put out, but fully uncensored? Or is that just a pipe dream at this point in time?
I'd even be happy with just a second wave of Dragon Boxes.

Also will we ever get a fully uncensored and relocalized version of the original manga? Because Viz has never made due on their promises either when it comes to uncut Dragon Ball. And, they keep refusing to update their old fairly outdated translation.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Who knows? I mean they do have the materials and a decent set of film masters (albeit not as good looking as the ones Toei has in their cold storage vaults) by which to make a good release though for quite franly ridiculous reasons continue not to. Thing is, if they weren't so bent on filtering and oversaturating the footage to oblivion each time or on some certain releases cutting off the top and bottom of the image to a fake widescreen presentation then it would be fine. At this point though, i'm going to hang onto my Dragon Boxes because i'm not betting on FUNi getting their act together and putting out a proper edition of DBZ.

[TheGreatness25]

I think there's a very low chance for the anime. I think there's even less of a chance for the manga. Viz continues to change things in the manga to localize them, even down to changing the "Kame House" writing to "Turtle House." It seems like the only way to truly enjoy the manga is by looking at the original Japanese one.

For the home video, I've given up on Funimation. There's a disconnect there.

[MasenkoHA]

, even down to changing the "Kame House" writing to "Turtle House." I

Can’t believe they’re going even further in localization than 1996 FUNimation.


What’s next? Calling the Kamehameha the Hawaiian King Turtle pun wave?

[Koitsukai]

, even down to changing the "Kame House" writing to "Turtle House." I

Can’t believe they’re going even further in localization than 1996 FUNimation.


What’s next? Calling the Kamehameha the Hawaiian King Turtle pun wave?

Well, the spanish dub, at least for GT had that attack as Vital Wave.

[Jord]

, even down to changing the "Kame House" writing to "Turtle House." I

Can’t believe they’re going even further in localization than 1996 FUNimation.


What’s next? Calling the Kamehameha the Hawaiian King Turtle pun wave?

Well, the spanish dub, at least for GT had that attack as Vital Wave.

I actually like that name. Sounds more menacing than the original name. Like, it hits the vital spot.

[TheGreatness25]

, even down to changing the "Kame House" writing to "Turtle House." I

Can’t believe they’re going even further in localization than 1996 FUNimation.


What’s next? Calling the Kamehameha the Hawaiian King Turtle pun wave?

Kind of crazy, right? This led me to buying the Super manga in Japanese. I might not be able to read it, but at least I will have the uncensored version in my possession forever.

[Robo4900]

Funimation has had time, and time, and time, and time again to get it right. And, each time we get disappointing results.
So does anyone think or know if we'll ever get a good Blu-ray remaster from Funimation or Toei? Like, the recent movie remasters they put out, but fully uncensored? Or is that just a pipe dream at this point in time?
I'd even be happy with just a second wave of Dragon Boxes.

Even if Toei did a good version, Funimation wouldn't release it. After all, Toei did do that HD version of the movies, but we've not seen that in English speaking territories yet.

There's clearly no desire within Funimation to release Dragon Ball properly. Even if, by some miracle, Toei did it right, that wouldn't change Funimation's home video department's shitty decisions.

[FPSSJ4_Goku]

I've completely given up on FUNimation by now. They've screwed us all over with their home releases far too often. If you really want a good home release of Dragon Ball Z, then go torrent the series or buy the Dragon Boxes on eBay. Sure, you might not be able to pay your bills that month, but it's worth it

(THIS WAS A JOKE, PLEASE DO NOT TAKE IT SERIOUSLY)

[Robo4900]

or buy the Dragon Boxes on eBay

Even though you're joking, it always bothers me when people suggest this. The only thing helped by spending upwards of a thousand dollars on a DVD set is a scalper's wallet.

The reality is that if you care about supporting the official release, your options are the season DVDs, Blu-rays, and steelbooks, which are all total crap.
If you just want to watch the show in a good format, there really is no choice that I or anyone else here can condone, because there's just no morally okay way of buying the show in a good format; either you support a scalpers' market that sells individual volumes of the Dragon Boxes for $200, or you're pirating stuff. And even then, the Dragon Boxes are merely okay; the very baseline of an acceptable DVD release from 2003 (except Funi released them in 2009 and didn't include the US music dub track, and they only ever released Z... ).

It's pretty frustrating. There's just no good option. And there probably never will be, honestly.

[Demon Prince Piccolo]

Short answer: No.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

"Good" is in the eye of the beholder. For some the orange bricks are awful, but the Blu-Rays are "good enough". I've heard fans who always hated Funimation's releases settle for the 30th set and steelbooks, even if being 4:3 doesn't fix all the problems.

At this rate the best case scenario is that every new release will be slightly better than the last, which I wouldn't be suprised if it is Funimation's plan. Although people are getting really sick of buying Dragon Ball Z over and over again, to the extent even if something as good or better than the Dragon Boxes comes along not enough people may care anymore.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

or buy the Dragon Boxes on eBay

Even though you're joking, it always bothers me when people suggest this. The only thing helped by spending upwards of a thousand dollars on a DVD set is a scalper's wallet.

The reality is that if you care about supporting the official release, your options are the season DVDs, Blu-rays, and steelbooks, which are all total crap.
If you just want to watch the show in a good format, there really is no choice that I or anyone else here can condone, because there's just no morally okay way of buying the show in a good format; either you support a scalpers' market that sells individual volumes of the Dragon Boxes for $200, or you're pirating stuff. And even then, the Dragon Boxes are merely okay; the very baseline of an acceptable DVD release from 2003 (except Funi released them in 2009 and didn't include the US music dub track, and they only ever released Z... ).

It's pretty frustrating. There's just no good option. And there probably never will be, honestly.

I guess i'm one of the lucky ones in that regard, because i bought most of them piecemeal on eBay for between $50 to $80 with exception of Box 1 which i'd gotten for a dirt cheap $25 used at a movie store a few years ago (This was a real shocker, as i never expected one to be somehere like that of all places) and Box 4 which was about $200 and the most i had to pay second hand in terms of a single set. It was time consuming for sure and took me about four years to get them all, but bargain hunting was my only option because there's no way i was going to drop a grand on a full Dragon Box set all at once no matter how tempting it may have been.

I know the Dragon Boxes aren't the absolute perfect release, but honestly i'm glad to have them because the majority of FUNi's other releases out there are garbage and far from representing how the show should look. It's at least a good way to watch DBZ that isn't DNR smeared and oversaturated to oblivion.

[Demon Prince Piccolo]

I definitely paid more than I'd have liked to for the Dragon Boxes, but it's nothing compared to what I see them going for currently.

[MyVisionity]

It's definitely possible, but more than likely at least a couple decades away, if not a few more.

I think fans might do better just to move past the idea of owning the series. It's probably better to just focus on watching/reading it instead, and making the most out of whatever you gain from doing so.

[FPSSJ4_Goku]

or buy the Dragon Boxes on eBay

Even though you're joking, it always bothers me when people suggest this. The only thing helped by spending upwards of a thousand dollars on a DVD set is a scalper's wallet.

The reality is that if you care about supporting the official release, your options are the season DVDs, Blu-rays, and steelbooks, which are all total crap.
If you just want to watch the show in a good format, there really is no choice that I or anyone else here can condone, because there's just no morally okay way of buying the show in a good format; either you support a scalpers' market that sells individual volumes of the Dragon Boxes for $200, or you're pirating stuff. And even then, the Dragon Boxes are merely okay; the very baseline of an acceptable DVD release from 2003 (except Funi released them in 2009 and didn't include the US music dub track, and they only ever released Z... ).

It's pretty frustrating. There's just no good option. And there probably never will be, honestly.

I mean, you really only have six choices.

1: Buy Dragon Ball Kai (best option if you wanna watch it in English)
2: Buy the shitty DVDs/Blu-Rays (best option if you're too broke to do the third option)
3: Buy the Dragon Boxes and risk not being able to pay your bills (best option if you're willing to risk eviction)
4: Torrent the series (best option I can recommend)
5: Watch it on anime websites with awful Japanese audio and awful Orange Brick video quality (best option if you're broke like me)
6: Buy the old as fuck VHS and original DVD release of Dragonball Z that FUNi produced in the 90s. But I'm warning you, there's 86 releases in all, and it can cost you upwards of $2,000 if you buy them all.

There really isn't any good way to watch Dragon Ball Z in North America

[linkdude20002001]

The answer the main question at hand, I'd say it's entirely possible, but not worth even hoping for. Like how we just randomly got the Dragon Box Z sets, or the Rock the Dragon set, or the Full Color comics... Dreams DO come true...some-times.

The only thing helped by spending upwards of a thousand dollars on a DVD set is a scalper's wallet.

People selling their old DVDs isn't scalping. Even if the box sets sell for a lot now. Scalpers are people who prevent you from ever being able to buy it in the first place, by buying up all the stock, and then selling it to you for more than MSRP to line their own pockets.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

6: Buy the old as fuck VHS and original DVD release of Dragonball Z that FUNi produced in the 90s. But I'm warning you, there's 86 releases in all, and it can cost you upwards of $2,000 if you buy them all.

The singles can be found for much cheaper if you buy them as a bundle. I got most of them for under $200 from a seller on Ebay. If anyone is going to go that route though I'd suggest making sure your at least getting all the Freeza singles as they can be very expensive to buy on their own. You'll also need some substitute for episodes 28-67 as they are not available uncut on either the Ultimate Uncuts or the Pioneer singles (which have the great Ocean cast, but are edited and not bilingual, so best bought as a companion to the uncut version, not a replacement for it), so unless your willing to fork out the insane prices for Dragon Box 1, and especially 2 you may need to put up with the season DVDs/Blu-Rays until at least the episode where Goku shows up to fight Commander Ginyu.

[BootyCheeksJohnson]

or buy the Dragon Boxes on eBay

Even though you're joking, it always bothers me when people suggest this. The only thing helped by spending upwards of a thousand dollars on a DVD set is a scalper's wallet.

The reality is that if you care about supporting the official release, your options are the season DVDs, Blu-rays, and steelbooks, which are all total crap.
If you just want to watch the show in a good format, there really is no choice that I or anyone else here can condone, because there's just no morally okay way of buying the show in a good format; either you support a scalpers' market that sells individual volumes of the Dragon Boxes for $200, or you're pirating stuff. And even then, the Dragon Boxes are merely okay; the very baseline of an acceptable DVD release from 2003 (except Funi released them in 2009 and didn't include the US music dub track, and they only ever released Z... ).

It's pretty frustrating. There's just no good option. And there probably never will be, honestly.

I mean, you really only have six choices.

1: Buy Dragon Ball Kai (best option if you wanna watch it in English)

Kai is also a different (but also somehow not really) beast entirely from the original Z. And, unfortunately it has its own share of problems. Like: censored art, inconsistent "accurate" English dub, inconsistent musical score, etc. Also Boo Kai... I think the less said about that mess the better.

[FPSSJ4_Goku]

Say, how much storage do you have on your PC?