Dragonball Z - Season 3 Set

bkev · Post by **bkev** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 7:50 pm

I don't know if this review's been posted before, but here's one from amazon...

Darth Kommissar wrote:Dragon Ball Z Season Three: Frieza Saga

INTRODUCTION:
The Dragon Ball series needs no introduction. Akira Toriyama's legendary franchise has won audiences over all the world round, and remains popular long after the series has ended its initial run. Unfortunately, the series has received poor treatment on DVD - despite uncensored episodes in all their original Japanese glory, fans have been screwed over for a long time - twenty-five bucks for a measly three episodes. And to make things worse, fans got stiffed once again when FUNimation stopped doing the Ultimate Uncut Editions of the early episodes. They aimed to redeem themselves through the Season boxes, but these have met with a mixed reaction.

OVERVIEW:
The Dragon Ball Z Season Three Box Set is slated for release on September 18, 2007 (though some retailers will probably get the set early, as they did for the earlier sets.) The set consists of six discs comprising over eight hundred minutes worth of episodes, supposedly remastered in a widescreen, high-definition format from the original master tapes. There are two English audio tracks (the broadcast one and a revised one), as well as the original Japanese with English subtitles. A booklet of character profiles and episodes is included. The set also includes some modest bonus features.

REVIEW:
Did FUNimation correct the problems of earlier sets that caused so much debate and disappointment? To put it bluntly, NO. I'm glad to see FUNimation releasing these cheap sets, but it's clear they aren't reading the reviews people are writing for these sets. If something was wrong with an earlier set, it's a problem here too. Read on and see.

-THE GOOD-
-FINALLY, DRAGON BALL Z AT A DECENT PRICE! It took FUNimation long enough on this one. The whole "twenty-five bucks for three episodes" thing had gotten on my nerves long enough. My hat goes off to FUNimation for finally following the example of companies who release the American TV show DVD sets, and offering them at a price any fan can afford.
-REMASTERED PICTURE QUALITY. As far as what can be seen on the screen goes, the picture has never looked sharper. FUNimation remastered the picture quality from the original film prints, and it does look marginally better than earlier transfers (the whole "widescreen" issue is not forgotten, I'll cover that in the "THE BAD" section of my review.)
-THE BOOKLET IS A NICE ADDITION. The character profiles are great, definitely for fans who are just getting into the series and need a more elaborate idea of what the characters are like. It's nice to have a brief summary of what happens in each episode, too, so I can pick out right what episode I want to watch.
-SEVERAL HUNDRED MINUTES OF DBZ! For the low price, this is a hell of a deal, and it definitely beats buying the series separately if you haven't already started doing that.
-TWO DIFFERENT "PLAY ALL" MODES - STANDARD AND MARATHON. If you absolutely must watch every episode from start to finish, starting/ending credits and all, the standard play all mode works well. But if you just want to watch the episodes and nothing else (uninterrupted by credits and the like), the marathon mode cuts them out so you can watch episodes only. An awesome feature I wish more TV shows on DVD have.
-FINALLY, EYECATCHERS! The eyecatchers (which are the "we'll be right back" messages that were shown on TV with the shows before and after the commercial breaks) have FINALLY been included in a FUNimation release of the series! About time! I'd been pissed off for years that FUNimation put these on their original DB and DBGT DVDs and not the Z ones, but they've redeemed themselves.

-THE BAD-
-THE "WIDESCREEN" ISSUE. This is the thing that's causing the big controversy about the sets, and rightfully so. I don't care what FUNimation, the remastering crew, or the loyalists may say, THESE SETS ARE CROPPED. END OF DISCUSSION. The featurette on the Season One DVD regarding remastering implies that you're getting more of the picture and a more cinematic experience on the DVD. NO WAY. Look at the comparison screen caps people are posting and you'll see right away what's wrong. After the fiasco earlier sets' cropping sparked, I can't believe FUNimation did it again! Supposedly, this was due to the tops and bottoms of the film frames being damaged, and those sections being tougher to fix, but come on! Any fan of the series will tell you the picture quality on older DVDs was just fine. Why couldn't FUNimation just use the same transfers they used for the Ultimate Uncut Edition DVDs?
-MAJOR ISSUES WITH THE SO-CALLED "REVISED" ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRACK. Supposedly they were gonna go back and correct inconsistencies and make a more accurate dub. Yeah, right! It's identical to the "aired" English track, from what I can tell. There's still stupid dialogue galore and plenty of "dimension" talk, which gets annoying. Revised? I think not. Why can FUNimation do great dubs of other animes like Full Metal Alchemist, but their dubs of DBZ are always horrible?
- ISSUES WITH THE SUBTITLES. Kakarotto is spelled "Kakarrot" in the subtitles. This is my big issue with the subtitles, since it creates a plot hole come the Fusion era. Saiya-Jin is Saiyan. These are just a few of the annoying issues in the Jap translation.
-BAD PACKAGING FOR THE DISCS. Since there are six discs, they overlap, and this gets very annoying at times. Couldn't they have done individual slim-cases instead, like most TV shows on DVD do?
-WEAK BONUS FEATURES. Speaks for itself. To be expected.
-STILL MISSING THE "NEXT EPISODE" PREVIEWS. Why the hell can't FUNimation put these on a DVD!? They could do it for GT, so why not Z? And don't tell me not having these isn't a big deal. Goku and the other characters narrate them, so they're as vital to the episodes as anything else. It's not uncut without these.
-VERY BAD ENDING POINT. The DVD ends when the Z-Fighters return to Earth following the Frieza battle. It does NOT include the Garlic Jr. episodes and the return of Frieza/Trunks debut. In other words, THERE IS NO CLOSURE TO THE FRIEZA STORYLINE IN THIS SET. I would gladly have paid more for a set that wrapped up the story, and I'm sure plenty of fans will agree.

OVERALL:
My overall reaction to this set, just like previous releases, is a mixed bag. As much as I like FUNimation offering so many episodes for so cheap a price, the whole "widescreen" issue is just too much of a pain. I'm a firm believer of "if it ain't broke don't fix it", and I wish they'd used the "Ultimate Uncut Edition" transfers instead of these travesties. Final verdict? A mixed bag. Only get it if the cropping issue doesn't bother you.

EDITION NOTES:
Expect it to be readily availale at your favorite anime retailer come release date.

I think this guy pretty much sums it up real well.

jjgp1112 · Post by **jjgp1112** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 7:53 pm

That guy's too picky. Complaining about the subtitles? And why the hell would they end it during the Garlic Jr. Saga?

Lavender Saiyan · Post by **Lavender Saiyan** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 7:59 pm

Li'l Lemmy wrote:
Lavender Saiyan wrote:I really wish Schemmel came back and re-recorded his emotional lines. I would love to hear an updated Schemmel.
If you recall the original Jon Allen interview (The Schemmel Experience) from way back when, there's a lot about Schemmel's personal feelings toward his Freeza saga recordings-- he's apparently very, very proud of it despite having been so new to the character at the time, and I think that this is part of the reason why we haven't heard any re-recorded lines this far in.

Well, that and of course his claim that the Freeza episodes were not the best experience for him creatively.

Kinda contradictory, if you ask me.

~Da Lemmy

Well I did find some of his emotional lines to be very good for an actor just starting out as a character. But we all know they would be better if he were to Re-Dub.

jjgp1112 · Post by **jjgp1112** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 8:10 pm

I really wanted Sean to redub Goku because I was hoping he would you use the badass voice for SSJ1 Goku that he used for SSJ3 and SSJ4 Goku. that it would've shown how big his personality change was.

russ869 · Post by **russ869** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 8:58 pm

Cosmodious wrote:To start with I have a PAL PS2, a PAL DVD player and pretty much PAL everything since I'm in the UK.

YAY! I just brought Seasons 1 & 2 and I was playing them on my PS2 (With a region free cheat disc) and I loved them (it was the first time I have owned any DBZ episodes)

So then I pre-ordered Season 3 from Amazon.com.

Then I thought...hmm, it would be helpful if these played on my normal DVD player. Too bad they can't...

Then I decided to try one and it worked! YAY!!!

Most Funimation DVDs are region coded for regions 1 (US, etc.), 3 (UK, etc.), and 4 (um... Australia I think?). I'm not sure how the PAL/NTSC compatiblity works into that but it's not that surprising that these work in your player.

russ869 · Post by **russ869** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 9:37 pm

Ok, for those who asked I pulled the Season 4 trailer and uploaded it to youtube. Is that Eric Vale's voice!?!?!!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=d5gCc-W-ou8

Here's what the box will look like:

Post by **TripleRach** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 9:40 pm

bkev wrote:I think this guy pretty much sums it up real well.

Oh, that guy. That's mostly a copy-paste of his reviews for the first two sets. I remember debunking one of his reviews in another thread, since he clearly has no idea what he's talking about on some points. To his credit, he did at least fix the part about claiming Steve had always used "Kakarotto" or suggesting that the subtitles be placed on the "black bars." But his complaint about the subtitle translations are still fanboy nonsense, and he's still completely wrong about the eyecatches.

I just don't like seeing so much misinformation and lack of research in something that could have been a pretty good non-technical review. It hurts his credibility, and could lead to said misinformation spreading.

Tanooki Kuribo · Post by **Tanooki Kuribo** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 9:45 pm

Ok, for those who asked I pulled the Season 4 trailer and uploaded it to youtube. Is that Eric Vale's voice!?!?!!

Thank you so much.

russ869 · Post by **russ869** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 9:58 pm

Here are some videos (not mine) uploaded by someone else who got the set early. There's a few pics of the booklet in the first one.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=e7asQQ9Gq9Y& ... ed&search=
http://youtube.com/watch?v=UkG3itAPEx8& ... er&search=

MajinVejitaXV · Post by **MajinVejitaXV** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 10:01 pm

TripleRach wrote:
bkev wrote:I think this guy pretty much sums it up real well.
Oh, that guy. That's mostly a copy-paste of his reviews for the first two sets. I remember debunking one of his reviews in another thread, since he clearly has no idea what he's talking about on some points.

Ugh, that thread also makes reference to the time someone stole my review for Season 1 and tried to use it for Season 2. Oh, the stupidity that ensued...

-Corey

Li'l Lemmy · Post by **Li'l Lemmy** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 10:18 pm

russ869 wrote:Ok, for those who asked I pulled the Season 4 trailer and uploaded it to youtube. Is that Eric Vale's voice!?!?!!

Most definitely, and he even sounds a little like Trunks while doing it.

~Da Lemmy

TheMajinRedComet · Post by **TheMajinRedComet** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 12:28 am

Coming soon... hmmm..... Hopefully before Christmas. Vegeta's death redub was great not just because of the acting, but because Japanese music also.

Chuquita · Post by **Chuquita** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 1:39 am

Wow. Very interesting and informative interview.

Thanks for posting it.

I find this particular quote funny:

Yeah, I mean, I know some of their actors and they're doing a great job, but if I was on that show I probably couldn't stand it

because he actually DID end up on Pokemon a couple years ago. XD
(He was Lucario and some kid named Jimmy).

Lavender Saiyan · Post by **Lavender Saiyan** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 1:47 am

Oh ya, that's Vale. Awesome Trailer, I loved hearing him do it. Though I wish he did an all-out Trunks voice. But I guess it would be weird t have it sound exactly like a character doing the trailer. But man that Box Art is kickin.

Duo · Post by **Duo** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 3:36 am

This begs the question - will any of Mr. Vales lines be redubbed?

Because, while he did stand as one of the good points of the FUNi dub, his early episodes were really...off.

Ironically, I don't care anyway.

Snail · Post by **Snail** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 6:14 am

Ugh..that fourth season box art looks terrible; almost as bad as the first.

Strongbad456 · Post by **Strongbad456** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 7:10 am

Terrible? Nah. I like it. It's a cool image of Trunks.

xzero · Post by **xzero** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 7:29 am

I've gotta clarify something I mentioned on a previous page. I said that all of Gohan's lines were redubbed, which was true for a couple of episodes. I just watched 'Deja Vu' and at this point, I think we're seeing a mixture of new and old lines. There are definitely a few new recordings, but largely they used the originals here. Also, Frieza Form 2 only had about 5 lines redubbed, although I give them credit for the added minor swearing.

I believe Frieza form 1 and probably 4 were redubbed (I haven't seen form 4 yet -school+internship=little DBZ

) because of the continuity issue. Frieza sounded different in season 2's redub, so to keep the old version would sound strange. I know this happened with Goku, but Linda Young was apparently still available. Frieza's true form sounded very different in the end of Z and in GT, much closer to the form 1 voice. Forms 2 and 3 don't matter. They are contained to about 5 episodes and never appear again, so redubbing them entirely is a waste. Form 4, however, recurring on three ocassions (Trunks, Buu, and Super 17) should have some continuity. As an aside, it is nice to see some cursing added; I remember that being a big complaint back in the day.

Captain Awesome · Post by **Captain Awesome** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 7:48 am

Snail wrote:Ugh..that fourth season box art looks terrible; almost as bad as the first.

What bugs me more than the art is just the layout of these things, the fact that companies approve this kind of design makes a graphic design student like myself, rather sick.
I only own the first season set, but I hate the look of the box so much, I'm considering sitting down with illustrator and photoshop and making a decent cover.

And I am probably the most lazy person, well ever.

Eclipse · Post by **Eclipse** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 7:56 am

Duo wrote:This begs the question - will any of Mr. Vales lines be redubbed?

Because, while he did stand as one of the good points of the FUNi dub, his early episodes were really...off.

Ironically, I don't care anyway.

So...you wanna see my sword?

Hmm...32 episodes..How far does that take us to?
BTW, can I request (like I previously did a half dozen pages back) a screen comparison (or just two screenshots) of the SSJ Transformation between the season sets, and FUNi's DVDs?