Will we ever get a 4K Dragon Ball Z release from Funimation?

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TheMajinRedComet
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Re: Will we ever get a 4K Dragon Ball Z release from Funimation?

Post by TheMajinRedComet » Mon Jan 24, 2022 11:54 am

I don't know if the source material is up to snuff even in Japan. Do we even know how much of DB is on 30mm. Plus I imagine that Funi copy of a even lower quality. We might get a 2K upconversion with a new HDR pass. I wish Funi would get a copy of the OG DB materials because at least they would release something. Toei does not seem to have any interest in the DragonBall franchise on Blu ray.
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Re: Will we ever get a 4K Dragon Ball Z release from Funimation?

Post by LostTimeLord » Mon Jan 24, 2022 2:20 pm

Dragon Ball Ireland wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 8:45 am They released Akira, as well as Transformers the Movie and Ghost in the Shell in the UK.
Those were all cases of Funi localising (or simply copying) an pre-existing disc from an international release. They're yet to create 4K masters themselves, as far as I'm aware. Then again, Funi doing their own scans/remasters for DBZ was pretty unique, so it wouldn't be totally unprecedented.

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Re: Will we ever get a 4K Dragon Ball Z release from Funimation?

Post by Lance Freeman » Sun Jan 30, 2022 8:45 am

Well, they certainly COULD do it one day. I think the real question is, and will always be, how are they going to ruin it THIS time? Let's be honest here, their track record with Z specifically is not great.

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Re: Will we ever get a 4K Dragon Ball Z release from Funimation?

Post by Jord » Sun Jan 30, 2022 8:51 am

I think they will. Funimation is a great company. We should trust them.

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Re: Will we ever get a 4K Dragon Ball Z release from Funimation?

Post by Lightningexpose » Sun Feb 06, 2022 6:06 pm

I don't think we'll see a physical DBZ UHD release. Even short anime haven't been put on UHD despite us being so many years into the UHD format. It's only this year we're seeing the first ever UHD of any anime TV series, and that's only in the UK (Future Boy Conan, 26 episodes).

However, I think a 4K remaster of DBZ is possible for streaming. Lots of HD remasters happen now specifically for streaming, and Blu-rays come way later if at all. Detective Conan has had 120+ episodes remastered so far just for streaming and I think more eps coming (it has like 300 cel animated episodes I think).

Down the line, 4K streaming might become even more popular. Right now on <50 inch TVs, 1080 and 4K probably don't look too different to people to care, but if even bigger screens become mainstream then 4K content might be in more demand and ofc nobody but nerds care about physical home video so I think it'll be streaming where companies see demand for 4K remasters.

Also Funi surely hopes to milk DBZ a bit more and 4K is the most obvious "new" thing they can do with it.

And also for what it's worth, Toei recently did a 4K scan of an old 70s live action series that was shot on 16mm. They did this for broadcast, not BD. They scanned the 16mm negatives in 4K. So that might at least answer anyone's idea of "b-but it's le 16mm and 16mm isn't for 4k"

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Re: Will we ever get a 4K Dragon Ball Z release from Funimation?

Post by M16U3L2015 » Wed Feb 09, 2022 4:14 pm

I don't think they will, the masters they have are not adequate to make a 4K remaster.

Since they are second or third generation copies of the original masters, the grain would be too much at that resolution.

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Re: Will we ever get a 4K Dragon Ball Z release from Funimation?

Post by Gilby1385 » Wed Feb 09, 2022 6:19 pm

Jord wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 8:51 am I think they will. Funimation is a great company. We should trust them.
Hahahahaha!

Oh, wait, you're serious? Let me laugh even harder.
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Re: Will we ever get a 4K Dragon Ball Z release from Funimation?

Post by Aim » Wed Feb 09, 2022 7:54 pm

TheGreatness25 wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 3:35 pm No, it's not "the best" that they could release. In fact, they posted some shots of their totally untouched, not "remastered" film, and that arguably looked better than their 30th anniversary release. Funimation's Level set release, where they legitimately made frame-by-frame restoration, arguably looked better than their 30th anniversary release.

It's all subjective, I guess. People hammer Funimation for the decisions that they've made with the 30th anniversary release regarding colors, grain removal, and artificially adding grain back in. People have also criticized Funimation for using the Japanese audio that they already had instead of the "better" broadcast audio that was passed onto Chris Sabat, who allegedly said something to the effect that he'd try to have it used--to be fair, I never expected this to happen and would be absolutely shocked if Funimation used fan-sent audio rather than what they have.

But, Funimation loves Dragon Ball Z as a moneymaker, so I have zero doubts that a terrible 4K release will be pumped out sooner or later. Unfortunately, 4K will be the gimmick. We would have to wait for a second 4K release to see what they decide to add to it.

Also, from my understanding, Dragon Ball Z has pretty much maxed out its specs on Blu-ray, so a 4K release just basically has the ability to put more episodes per disc. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, as I'm a total dummy when it comes to video and audio.
IIRC Sabat tried to use it but Toei said no

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Re: Will we ever get a 4K Dragon Ball Z release from Funimation?

Post by SorikaiWolf89 » Thu Jul 28, 2022 6:18 pm

With the amount of seemingly endless releases that Funimation has already released it’s obvious as day that DBZ is still their ultimate cash cow

As long as fans new and old are still willing to buy the franchise again and again then I think that Funime (as I call it) will most definitely eventually release a 4K version sometime probably in the near future or maybe on its 35th or 40th anniversary

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Re: Will we ever get a 4K Dragon Ball Z release from Funimation?

Post by Majin Man 101 » Fri Jul 29, 2022 11:44 pm

Before worrying about a 4K release of Dragon Ball Z, we still have yet to get a proper HD restoration of any of the 3 original series on blu-ray. Toei is dragging their feet hard on this and while on confident that it will happen one day, it is sad that it hasn't happened yet as of 2022. It is possible that Crunchyroll (Formerly Funimation) could theoretically do a 4k transfer, but if they destroy the picture quality again like they have done in almost every "HD" release of Dragon Ball Z, then there would not even be a reason to be excited about a 4K.

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Re: Will we ever get a 4K Dragon Ball Z release from Funimation?

Post by mikezilla2 » Tue Aug 09, 2022 11:36 pm

SorikaiWolf89 wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 6:18 pm With the amount of seemingly endless releases that Funimation has already released it’s obvious as day that DBZ is still their ultimate cash cow

As long as fans new and old are still willing to buy the franchise again and again then I think that Funime (as I call it) will most definitely eventually release a 4K version sometime probably in the near future or maybe on its 35th or 40th anniversary
as pointed out it wont be under the funimation banner so i guess the Thread Can end :P

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