Doesn't Funi care about releasing DBZ in its original AR?

[ABED]

It's a serious moment. Trunks can't yet destroy the Cell or cyborgs in his timeline, but he's helping prevent Cell's birth in an alternate timeline.

Anyway, yes, FUNi does care, but they'd rather listen to the fans who vote with their wallet than an online poll. Unfortunately, this issue is of their own making. No one was clamoring for widescreen DBZ until they created that option. As to the whole "the widescreen DBZ sold better than 4:3". Well, yeah, when you get more episodes at a better price, it's bound to sell better.

[DB1984]

And not perfect. The Dragon Boxes are slightly out of sync and don't have the best audio. Neither the right colors.

Factoid: The most annoying instance of badly synced audio on the Dragon Boxes is on episode #055 and #056 of the original series, the ones with the Dr. Slump crossover.

[Bardo117]

Of course widescreen sold more, it wasn't a limited release.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Well there was no indication during the Dragon Box or level set run that either would be limited, they were cancelled due to underwhelming sales, which you could argue was a result of the former lacking the Faulconer soundtrack, and the latter being too expensive during its launch, especially for people who had already bought the Orange Bricks, Dragon Boxes or both.

[DemonRin]

Well there was no indication during the Dragon Box or level set run that either would be limited

That's not true. They repeatedly hammered home that the Dragon Boxes were released "In Limited Quantities" in Japan, and when asked, they confirmed it was a limited release as well. Here's a blog post of theirs that refers to the DBoxes specifically as Limited. They also finished their run as the entire series was released in all 7 DBoxes before the release was discontinued due the aforementioned limited edition quality.

The Level sets were totally cancelled tho... which is a shame. The video they showed hyping them up originally showed the remastering process and they were working on later episodes, so we know they produced more episodes in the "Level" format than they are releasing...
But yeah, I mirror the sentiment that... on some level, I'm sure there are folks there who care about the AR of the show just like how Chris Sabat obviously cared enough about the series to make sure the Kai dub was as accurate as it was... but FUNi is gonna fall back on what they think will sell the best, and even if it's based on faulty logic, they think that's 16:9.

Who knows tho? Maybe we'll get a Limited Edition "Dragon Box" version of DBZ on Blu in 4:3!.... or not... I've basically given up on FUNi doing anything as cool as the Dragon Boxes ever again... so much so that I've been working on making professional looking Dragon Box packaging for the original DB Series to house my collection in lol.

[VegettoEX]

That's not true. They repeatedly hammered home that the Dragon Boxes were released "In Limited Quantities" in Japan, and when asked, they confirmed it was a limited release as well. Here's a blog post of theirs that refers to the DBoxes specifically as Limited. They also finished their run as the entire series was released in all 7 DBoxes before the release was discontinued due the aforementioned limited edition quality.

Yes, it was absolutely true. The survey you linked is from 2013, two full years after the seventh Dragon Box came out.

We're talking about CONTEMPORARY marketing at the time, not post-release. It was during an ANNcast interview, halfway through the Dragon Box releases (specifically, one month after the fourth box came out), that "limited" was actually used and confirmed for the first time.

There was no other way at the time to know that the Dragon Box sets would be disappearing as quickly as they did.

[DemonRin]

Ok, maybe this is a semantics thing then? At the point they confirmed they were limited, they were still in print weren't they? You're right that it wasn't right away at jump street, but by the time FUNi confirmed they were limited, you could still at that time pick up DBoxes 1-4 for a reasonable price right?

[VegettoEX]

Ok, maybe this is a semantics thing then? At the point they confirmed they were limited, they were still in print weren't they? You're right that it wasn't right away at jump street, but by the time FUNi confirmed they were limited, you could still at that time pick up DBoxes 1-4 for a reasonable price right?

No. Boxes two and four were already notoriously difficult to get at that point (and would only get worse), thus the question and concern that FUNimation hadn't been clarifying.

[DemonRin]

I remember DBox 2 getting a restock at some point didn't it? But ok, I was wrong on that detail then, the post I was responding to is still wrong by stating the DBoxes were "Cancelled due to underwhelming sales" like the Level sets were.

FUNi may have dropped the ball on letting people know the sets were limited in the first place, or they may have changed the release plans mid-release, but we don't know that plans even changed at all, much less whether or not low sales contributed to it, and the DBox release did finish its run with the entire series seeing release, unlike the actually-cancelled Level sets.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I'll admit I may have been wrong about the Dragon Boxes being cancelled due to sales, and the point in time at which it was announced they would be limited. The Dragon Boxes would have finished anyway provided sales were decent seen as how it was TOEI's remaster, and Funi just had to port it over for their version. With the level sets it was Funimation's remaster, and allegedly the process was too expensive to continue.

The whole thing about Boxes 2 and 4 is interesting, wasn't it mentioned somewhere that less of them were produced than the remainder of the Boxes and that's why they are so much more expensive?

[Iberian_Saiyan]

It's a serious moment. Trunks can't yet destroy the Cell or cyborgs in his timeline, but he's helping prevent Cell's birth in an alternate timeline.

Anyway, yes, FUNi does care, but they'd rather listen to the fans who vote with their wallet than an online poll. Unfortunately, this issue is of their own making. No one was clamoring for widescreen DBZ until they created that option. As to the whole "the widescreen DBZ sold better than 4:3". Well, yeah, when you get more episodes at a better price, it's bound to sell better.

Well, yes, it was a serious moment but the way they scripted the scene with the tune made to the picture it, gave it a completely different feeling than it was originally intended.

[ABED]

Gotcha, and while I agree that the dub score goes with the dialog better, I still can't stand that music, so I'll take the clash.

[B]

And not perfect. The Dragon Boxes are slightly out of sync and don't have the best audio. Neither the right colors.

At the risk of sounding dismissive of people interested in it, these problems aren't necessarily easy fixes. The materials were almost certainly not taken care of properly and they aged. Toei didn't set out to muffle the audio the way FUNimation set out to lop off 20% of the footage. Every time I see how huge that broadcast audio thread is, or the multiple color correcting ones, I kind of scratch my head. It has always felt, to me, like a case of "I know there's something better out there, and I want the best!" without the proper approach to how we ended up with what we have. The Dragon Boxes, in all its "flaws", are what Toei has; outside of the realm of conspiracy theories, they're not keeping anything from us, unlike FUNimation, a company that just flat-out refuses to offer Dragon Ball Z unedited. They have excess Dragon Boxes in their vault and didn't sell off every copy they had. Whose insane idea was to put them in a vault?

[Iberian_Saiyan]

And not perfect. The Dragon Boxes are slightly out of sync and don't have the best audio. Neither the right colors.

At the risk of sounding dismissive of people interested in it, these problems aren't necessarily easy fixes. The materials were almost certainly not taken care of properly and they aged. Toei didn't set out to muffle the audio the way FUNimation set out to lop off 20% of the footage. Every time I see how huge that broadcast audio thread is, or the multiple color correcting ones, I kind of scratch my head. It has always felt, to me, like a case of "I know there's something better out there, and I want the best!" without the proper approach to how we ended up with what we have. The Dragon Boxes, in all its "flaws", are what Toei has; outside of the realm of conspiracy theories, they're not keeping anything from us, unlike FUNimation, a company that just flat-out refuses to offer Dragon Ball Z unedited. They have excess Dragon Boxes in their vault and didn't sell off every copy they had. Whose insane idea was to put them in a vault?

They sold one or two Dragon Boxes Z at a convention they were and even then, it wasn't for its RRP but jacked up prices. You'd think they'd not try to scalp their own fans but well, it's capitalism.

[ABED]

"You'd think they'd not try to scalp their own fans but well, it's capitalism." It was also capitalism when they sold them at reasonable prices. Sorry if this is off topic, but this comes off as you using the term as a pejorative. No one forced those buyers to accept those higher prices.

[Bardo117]

Ok, maybe this is a semantics thing then? At the point they confirmed they were limited, they were still in print weren't they? You're right that it wasn't right away at jump street, but by the time FUNi confirmed they were limited, you could still at that time pick up DBoxes 1-4 for a reasonable price right?

No. Boxes two and four were already notoriously difficult to get at that point (and would only get worse), thus the question and concern that FUNimation hadn't been clarifying.

Didn't you post an article on your website sometime after all 7 boxes were released showing all the low prices of the DBoxes on Amazon? Getting the DBoxes was always easy, until they ran out

[Bardo117]

And not perfect. The Dragon Boxes are slightly out of sync and don't have the best audio. Neither the right colors.

At the risk of sounding dismissive of people interested in it, these problems aren't necessarily easy fixes. The materials were almost certainly not taken care of properly and they aged. Toei didn't set out to muffle the audio the way FUNimation set out to lop off 20% of the footage. Every time I see how huge that broadcast audio thread is, or the multiple color correcting ones, I kind of scratch my head. It has always felt, to me, like a case of "I know there's something better out there, and I want the best!" without the proper approach to how we ended up with what we have. The Dragon Boxes, in all its "flaws", are what Toei has; outside of the realm of conspiracy theories, they're not keeping anything from us, unlike FUNimation, a company that just flat-out refuses to offer Dragon Ball Z unedited. They have excess Dragon Boxes in their vault and didn't sell off every copy they had. Whose insane idea was to put them in a vault?

Who came up with that theory lmao, them having extra dragon boxes in some vault sounds preposterous

[Ajay]

Who came up with that theory lmao, them having extra dragon boxes in some vault sounds preposterous

FUNi do have extra Dragon Boxes lying around in a vault. They received a shit load of criticism lately for selling them at a convention at scalpers' prices.

[Iberian_Saiyan]

"You'd think they'd not try to scalp their own fans but well, it's capitalism." It was also capitalism when they sold them at reasonable prices. Sorry if this is off topic, but this comes off as you using the term as a pejorative. No one forced those buyers to accept those higher prices.

No one did, you're correct on that but there are fans that rather than think with their head it's with their wallet so regardless of its price, they'll purchase it.

[LuckyCat]

"You'd think they'd not try to scalp their own fans but well, it's capitalism." It was also capitalism when they sold them at reasonable prices. Sorry if this is off topic, but this comes off as you using the term as a pejorative. No one forced those buyers to accept those higher prices.

No one did, you're correct on that but there are fans that rather than think with their head it's with their wallet so regardless of its price, they'll purchase it.

And it's those people who ruin it for everyone else. You do understand that FUNimation only charges those prices because that's what the demand is for those items. They aren't the standard release, they're collectors items for people with a lot of money to spend on Dragon Ball.