Season Four set arrives 2/19/2008

[Brakus]

I know I'm late to the party, but I was at the FUNimation panel at AWA, and FUNimation *always* announced the Season 4 Boxset coming out in February 2008. They also announced the Bardock/Trunks TV Specials DVD coming out in February as well.

I think this fits their "three times a year" schedule they seem to be following for these boxsets. I think they've spaced the releases far enough apart to tide people over to the next boxset. I myself just finished with Season 2 not too long ago and I'm just now starting Season 3. (Worst Piccolo Line Ever is on that first disc, I believe -- it's so bad, even Chris Sabat hated it!)

EDIT: I didn't realize how long this thread became, and how it got that long.... but just my 2 cents after skimming through it:

-- I like the English dub + Japanese BGM. It was the way the series was meant to be heard, after all. Why some people think that others might find it weird to hear English dub + Japanese BGM is beyond me. I also like some of the revised dialogue on certain episodes - you can definitely tell the revised dialogue once you get into the 60's.... they sound less like trying to voice match the Ocean cast and more like their own voices. (I mean, I never realized how much Sabat was trying to voice match Scott McNeil's Piccolo in those early FUNi English dubs until I started with Season 3.)

-- Despite its flaws, people seem to like the Season Boxsets. This forum may be very vocal in its hate for the Boxsets, but in reality it's just a drop in the bucket in the anime community.

-- Could the reason why there's no official "stateside" version of Dragonbox footage be that Toei might not want other regions outside Japan to have it? They pulled all the Sailor Moon stuff out of R1 a few years ago, even the remastered Sailor Moon sub/Japanese-only releases ADV put out...

[ect5150]

So I'm definitely going with ect5150 if he's seen the cells.

Note: I'm not the definitive source on the cells. I don't own one, so I'd rather someone who did step in. My knowledge on the subject is hearsay.

[MajinVejitaXV]

-- Despite its flaws, people seem to like the Season Boxsets. This forum may be very vocal in its hate for the Boxsets, but in reality it's just a drop in the bucket in the anime community.

Yeah, but keep in mind that most of the anime community didn't care about DragonBall Z to begin with. Hell, Chris Beverage of AnimeonDVD even basically cited DragonBall Z as a series that he said not to expect many reviews about. It was laughable, partially because of elitism but also partially because of FUNimation's treatment of the series.

-- Could the reason why there's no official "stateside" version of Dragonbox footage be that Toei might not want other regions outside Japan to have it? They pulled all the Sailor Moon stuff out of R1 a few years ago, even the remastered Sailor Moon sub/Japanese-only releases ADV put out...

Well, while I admittedly know jack about Sailor Moon, wasn't it handled rather...err, crappily in America? I know they had a laughable attempt to localize it, then a live action series that was attempted and aborted in the developmental stages, etc.

Besides, it's proven that the DragonBox footage is up for license. Spain has it, they just decided to play with the color saturation >_>;;

-Corey

[Brakus]

Yeah, but keep in mind that most of the anime community didn't care about DragonBall Z to begin with. Hell, Chris Beverage of AnimeonDVD even basically cited DragonBall Z as a series that he said not to expect many reviews about. It was laughable, partially because of elitism but also partially because of FUNimation's treatment of the series.

That's kinda odd considering DBZ was a "gateway drug" for many people to get into other anime series. I mean, my friends saw it on TV, and even though they eventually got into other series, they still have fond memories of watching DBZ after school or after college classes in the afternoon.
(Let's not get into how they didn't realize that the music was changed, the footage was altered for TV broadcast TV-Y7-FV standards, etc.; most of my friends didn't have fansubs/raws to watch the show like the Japanese.)

Well, while I admittedly know jack about Sailor Moon, wasn't it handled rather...err, crappily in America? I know they had a laughable attempt to localize it, then a live action series that was attempted and aborted in the developmental stages, etc.

ADV Films started putting out whole season, uncut, Japanese-only boxsets of Sailor Moon. I'm not sure if they were remastered, but they were in Japanese only. About a year after ADV started that, Toei pulled Sailor Moon from all the R1 licensors, not just ADV. I guess Toei is rather possessive of its properties, not just DBZ.

Besides, it's proven that the DragonBox footage is up for license. Spain has it, they just decided to play with the color saturation >_>;;

Spain is an R2 country, as is Japan. Perhaps Toei doesn't want anyone outside of R2 to get Dragonbox footage? Who knows, it's just something to chew on....

p.s. I wanted a Piccolo getup like you have in your avatar!

[MajinVejitaXV]

That's kinda odd considering DBZ was a "gateway drug" for many people to get into other anime series.

True, but a lot of people are "afraid of their roots." I can admit that the Tekkaman Blade dub was my first anime, followed by DragonBall and then DragonBall Z in English (didn't see the Japanese until 1998-99, and that was after I had seen the Mexican dub on Telemundo).

ADV Films started putting out whole season, uncut, Japanese-only boxsets of Sailor Moon. I'm not sure if they were remastered, but they were in Japanese only. About a year after ADV started that, Toei pulled Sailor Moon from all the R1 licensors, not just ADV. I guess Toei is rather possessive of its properties, not just DBZ.

Didn't Toei pull the license from all regions, not just R1?

Spain is an R2 country, as is Japan. Perhaps Toei doesn't want anyone outside of R2 to get Dragonbox footage? Who knows, it's just something to chew on....

I don't quite think it's a region thing so much as a "Japan vs. Everywhere else" thing. If anything, Region 2 countries like Spain and the UK get stuff quite a bit after us in a lot of cases. I doubt Toei feels like solidarity with their region similar brethren (though, if they do, Blu-ray would be an advantage to us since we're in the same region for that ;p).

p.s. I wanted a Piccolo getup like you have in your avatar!

Heh, my girlfriend and I actually found that picture on some cosplay website. We were looking at the mostly bad versions people put together and that one had a special place for us. I made an icon out of it, and if I ever met the guy I'd shake his hand. I could never do that, though I did show up to work yesterday in facepaint like David Lee Roth had on the cover of "Eat 'em and Smile"

[TripleRach]

Didn't Toei pull the license from all regions, not just R1?

Yes. Though the license wasn't suddenly pulled per se; the different licenses, at least in R1, expired at different times over the span of a year, year and a half, and Toei wouldn't renew them. (DiC/ADV and Classic-R in early 2004, Geneon and the movies in late 2004, and Geneon and S-SuperS in mid 2005.) There's just some mysterious international license lockdown which may or may not have something to do with the Japanese DVDs or some supposed giant feud with Takeuchi.

(For the record, the R1 Sailor Moon DVDs were absolutely not remastered. Especially ADV's masters, which looked and sounded like they'd been rotting in DiC's basement since 1995.)

Anyway, I doubt this applies to FUNimation and Dragon Box masters, though. Spain was apparently able to secure the masters, so it's not like Toei is being 100% stingy. We don't know for certain if FUNi even tried getting the Dragon Box masters. Maybe they did try and didn't like the price, so they asked for film prints instead and decided to do their own cleanup process. Or maybe they never tried, and only ever wanted film prints to edit and telecine as they saw fit.

[russ869]

-- Despite its flaws, people seem to like the Season Boxsets. This forum may be very vocal in its hate for the Boxsets, but in reality it's just a drop in the bucket in the anime community.

Not to start talking about who's a "real fan" or anything but I don't really consider myself a real fan of Dragonball. I only got really interested in the series as something other that the aforementioned "gateway drug" recently. I know if this was any other series we were talking about I wouldn't dream of buying some cropped mess of a release. (although these old film shows get rather tricky to make good for DVD without spending big money...)

For instance, I always think in comparison how there is no way I would ever buy the "Director's Cut" of the "Rurouni Kenshin - Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Tsuioku Hen" OVA, even though it was a release that was cropped by the Japanese studio.

[MajinVejitaXV]

I don't think the Widescreen is the greatest release ever, but I mentioned it somewhere, what if they want to show the series again in years to come? 5 years from now they want to show DBZ. Do you think on Cartoon Network HD (everyone will have an HDTV by that time, come on), you think they'd show the 4:3 DBZ? No way. I guess it's kind of thinking into the future.

I think they'll show it in 4:3 and pillarbox it, like nearly all the HD stations do with material made in 4:3. Those who aren't hacks tend to notice the importance of OAR. Sorry.

-Corey

[ect5150]

I don't think the Widescreen is the greatest release ever, but I mentioned it somewhere, what if they want to show the series again in years to come? 5 years from now they want to show DBZ. Do you think on Cartoon Network HD (everyone will have an HDTV by that time, come on), you think they'd show the 4:3 DBZ? No way. I guess it's kind of thinking into the future.

I think they'll show it in 4:3 and pillarbox it, like nearly all the HD stations do with material made in 4:3. Those who aren't hacks tend to notice the importance of OAR. Sorry.

I still stand by my own idea. As we move into HD, and HD discs are cheaper to produce (either BluRay or HDDVD), box sets could be released with BOTH. Having some discs with the 4:3 presentation and the other discs with 16:9 presentation. Some things actually have been released that way.

If FUNI did THAT with DragonBox footage... could ANYONE complain? (so long as their encoding process was as good as the Japanese releases and its at a reasonable price?)

[MajinVejitaXV]

If FUNI did THAT with DragonBox footage... could ANYONE complain? (so long as their encoding process was as good as the Japanese releases and its at a reasonable price?)

I wouldn't complain, but I can pretty much assure you it won't happen. It's the same reasoning behind why we won't see FUNimation release "remastered" 4:3 DBZ now: It's cost prohibitive. Besides, the market for films has steadily been moving towards OAR releases for the past decade, both for the purpose of preserving artistic integrity and for lower production costs. People need to learn that, with the large variety of aspect ratios available to production companies, a picture won't always fill up your television (unless you have an ungodly expensive projection setup that resizes the physical screen).

-Corey

[Castor Troy]

If FUNi started making Blu Ray or HD DVD DBZ discs with the Dragon Box masters, then I'll forgive them for everything bad they've done with the series.

It can be done. All they need to do is fork over the money. I just got a PS3 and after seeing how great it can look, I'm kind of high right now.

[MajinVejitaXV]

If FUNi started making well done Blu Ray or HD DVD DBZ discs with the Dragon Box masters, then I'll forgive them for everything bad they've done with the series.

I admit, I'll buy the Broli movies to see if they're capable. The million dollar question is: Did Toei telecine the footage at 1080p?

I just got a PS3 and after seeing how great it can look, I'm kind of high right now.

I just got Spiderman 3 the other night, and while I wasn't wowed by the movie...the quality is amazing. I have about 50 Blu-rays and love the format. Hopefully the stirring about Warner going Blu exclusive will pan out and this silly format war will end.

Now, back to Guitar Hero 3!...or work...

[ect5150]

I wouldn't complain, but I can pretty much assure you it won't happen.

It's cost prohibitive.

Cost Prohibitive translates into 'we can't make as much money' ... but chances are they could still afford the DBox masters.

However, I completely agree with you. I think there isn't a monkey-ass's shot in hell we'd get it. I think they'll push out the exact same transfer we are seeing on the orange boxes onto BluRay once the orange boxes are finished (or at least close to being finished). I was only stating how they could please almost everyone.

[MajinVejitaXV]

Cost Prohibitive translates into 'we can't make as much money' ... but chances are they could still afford the DBox masters.

Oh yeah, don't get me wrong, they can afford to do it and profit a nice bit. It's just instead of making X millions of dollars, they could only make Y million. It's idiotic, but intelligent from a business perspective. They know their audience doesn't care about fidelity, so they do a chop-job and people gobble it up (some even praise it...wow, if I used the DragonBox footage and ran it though VirtualDub, I think I'd make their heads explode ;p).

I was actually referring to having the two aspect ratios though, not procuring the DragonBox masters. I honestly wish we could know what the price difference is between licensing those masters from Toei vs. FUNi getting film masters and having VP&T do the work.

-Corey

[SonGokuGT]

Now we even have Disney cropping "The Jungle Book" to a 16:9 format... is this going to be a trend!? At least give the option to see it cropped for HDTVs or the original 4:3 ratio...

[MajinVejitaXV]

Now we even have Disney cropping "The Jungle Book" to a 16:9 format... is this going to be a trend!? At least give the option to see it cropped for HDTVs or the original 4:3 ratio...

Wow, they did? That's sad...

-Corey

Edit: Hm, I'm reading some reviews that state that (like the DragonBall movies) the film was matted for it's original theatrical presentation. I have no idea though.

[shenron002]

However, I completely agree with you. I think there isn't a monkey-ass's shot in hell we'd get it. I think they'll push out the exact same transfer we are seeing on the orange boxes onto BluRay once the orange boxes are finished (or at least close to being finished). I was only stating how they could please almost everyone.

There's no doubt about it! As much as I hate it and you guys hate it, the "Big Orange Brick" footage is here to stay!

To be honest, I haven't seen any TV series or seasons sets yet, for any show on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD.

I don't know if this has been posted yet, but take a look at this;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrl1hlWIPD8

[SatoSky]

However, I completely agree with you. I think there isn't a monkey-ass's shot in hell we'd get it. I think they'll push out the exact same transfer we are seeing on the orange boxes onto BluRay once the orange boxes are finished (or at least close to being finished). I was only stating how they could please almost everyone.

There's no doubt about it! As much as I hate it and you guys hate it, the "Big Orange Brick" footage is here to stay!

To be honest, I haven't seen any TV series or seasons sets yet, for any show on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD.

I don't know if this has been posted yet, but take a look at this;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrl1hlWIPD8

Who does the new voice for Nappa? That guy has no emotion in his voice at all.

[Toniofalcon]

If FUNi started making Blu Ray or HD DVD DBZ discs with the Dragon Box masters, then I'll forgive them for everything bad they've done with the series.

It can be done. All they need to do is fork over the money. I just got a PS3 and after seeing how great it can look, I'm kind of high right now.

This is what I see happening.

[Raki]

As far as I'm concerned,Funimation can do anything with the DBZ license and make money with it. If they got the license for the Dragonbox footage,that would be no different. It would sell out too.