Yes, I'm talking about the Season Sets, those dreaded things that people are actually scared to talk about now because they stir up so much resentment. Frankly, I'm disappointed they're as polarizing as they are. The current contentment among fans with a mediocre product really bothers me; it's as if they don't actually care enough about the series to really want nor expect a better treatment for it.
I was initially excited to hear about these new DVDs (I had been out of touch with the DBZ fandom for quite some time at this point, and word of a new product served as a re-initiation of sorts), but when I heard about how they had been remastered in "widescreen" format, I was immediately skeptical. Knowing full-well that this was a TV series that began in the 80s, I wondered if it was really possible to present it in this way without stretching, cropping, or otherwise altering the original. Maybe there was more on the sides? I decided to do some investigation.
Well, my curiosity ultimately led me here, where I stumbled upon a thread in which Corey was discussing the edits made, what FUNimation was saying vs. what they were actually doing, and putting up comparative screencaps so anyone could plainly see what was going on. I was very impressed, not only with the quality of this work, but that there were still even Dragon Ball fans out there, and that they weren't taking any shit.
This was really the deciding factor in my registration here, as it was very reminiscent of the golden days of Dragon Ball Z fandom. Myself introduced to the series through the dub, it was not until coming across Chris Psaros' DBZ:Uncensored page one day, that I was introduced to a (notably lengthier and more graphic) presentation of the show that I never even knew existed. This really opened up my eyes, and as a fan I felt disappointed and cheated that I was getting a parred-down version of the best (and only) animé I had seen since Pokémon.
I felt it was my duty to inform anyone willing to listen about the changes that had been made, and that the series was actually a lot better than what we were getting. I connected a great deal with the ideology of sites like the Dragon Ball Z Otaku Alliance, as here was a group of fans that, even after the shut down of DBZ:U, were still demanding better treatment of the show.
It was through sites like these, and the people dedicated to their respective mission statements, that DBZ was rescued from the depths of HFIL as it started getting less absurd edits, uncut releases, and even bilingual DVDs. None of these things ever would have happened if there weren't an appropriate demand from the fans.
Of course, we never got everything we ever wanted. The English dialogue was still less-than-stellar, and we wouldn't get the Japanese Background Music for a while, but since it was finally available visually unedited and in Japanese, the focus shifted to other dubs as it seemed that there was nothing left to fight for.
That is, until we got screwed with the UUE line discontinuation, but by that time it didn't seem like enough to cause a lot of commotion about; it mainly became a thorn in everyone's side as a lot of us waited around for the eventual reissue, which would hopefully be a lot better.
But its replacement was, and is in fact, much much worse. Of course, one could never tell this from the description, touting its "film master" scan source, accurate colors, frame-by-frame restoration process, 1080p HD, and more visible screen area… irony at its best, in lieu of the fact that not ONE of these things actually turned out to be true—the film was not a master copy and actually damaged in some areas; the colors, although not as washed out as in previous releases, were still way off from the original; the restoration was completely automated and resulted in what otherwise would have been completely-avoidable detail loss; it wasn't HD at all and actually had a 2.25× smaller resolution than advertised; and although there was a slight gain in screen area on the left and right, the top and bottom were both cut rendering 25% of the original, previously-present picture missing!
It is absolutely baffling, given Dragon Ball Z's long drudge through the mud, and its history of dedicated fans pulling it up from there, that anyone could ever accept these releases as sufficient to what we deserve. If this kind of a stunt were pulled on us 10 years ago, it wouldn't have been swept under the rug the way it has been today. But in the anticlimax of its original wave of U.S. popularity, the fans have become very accepting of what is a very shoddy DVD release, whether anyone wants to admit that or not.
The major defenses for supporting the Orange Boxes are pathetic at best, the most prominent of which being "Well, it's cheap." Of COURSE it's cheap; it's because not a lot of effort was put into it and by pricing a popular franchise cheaply it ensures a large heap of profit. This isn't to say that profit is bad, or that cheaper DVDs weren't a major concern for us (considering how much they were charging for 3-episode-per-disc iterations before), but the point that has been made so often and bears repeating is that a low price does not justify the purchase of a shitty product. It's as simple as that. By buying something that does not meet our—the fans, and ultimately the very consumers these products are aimed at—very reasonable quality expectations, you are fueling the business practices that make stuff like this happen in the first place. "Uncut" is a huge misnomer for this release, as it is quite literally a butchering of the show.
We all recognize the urge to finally own the complete series, but the very least anyone can do is hold out until something better is in place. It was a long time coming simply getting to this point, but if most of us can go a decade without owning Dragon Ball Z, we can certainly wait however long is necessary to make an effectual statement.
"There will probably never be another U.S. release; this is the best we'll be able to do," seems to be the prevalent attitude, which is very defeatist and makes absolutely no sense to me. By merely accepting that there will never be another U.S. release (which no one knows for sure, as the Broly Blu-ray discs just came out and we can reasonably assume the current masters, however shitty they may be, are 1080p) you are ensuring that there will never be one; or at least, never a decent one. It sends the message that fans are ignorant and/or do not care about the quality of the release, so if FUNimation knows they can still make money off of a half-assed attempt they will never again put their backs into anything DBZ-related.
If you are adamant about this belief, or simply can't wait any longer for another release, there's always the Dragon Boxes, which (although Japanese-only) are here already. "But I can't afford the Dragon Boxes," is often the response, or: "I'll never be able to find them." The Dragon Boxes, albeit rare, are still purchasable like any other commodity, so if one can not afford them at a certain point in time one needs only to save up until one can. If, however, it seems too extravagant to track down and import them all, the singles are much more easily-obtained, so if the Japanese discs are the only other alternative for you, it is still within the realm of possibility to attain them.
Then of course we are brought to the dub fans, whom I personally have nothing against. I am a "dub fan" in a modest sense as that's what I was introduced to, and there are some very funny and/or nostalgic moments in it for me. But this needn't force a blind eye to all of the sets' other faults, as any future presentation—preferably with the correct aspect ratio, colors, and a decent encode—could be played with the same Stereo and 5.1 mixes found on the current discs. Understandable as it is, wanting to own the latest English version is still a very weak excuse excuse for settling for so much compromise.
And that's exactly what this is: settling. The final and most vexing argument is that a person simply "doesn't care about" the missing 25%; that nothing is "going on there" anyway (save, oh I don't know, the top of people's heads?). This is simply the lazy fan's answer to blaringly obvious problems: ignorance. By downplaying an issue or pretending it doesn't exist, that person no longer has to deal with it and is then free to point the finger at everyone else for "overreacting" or being "videophiles." Now, I know everyone has their own tastes and priorities when it comes to personal viewing experiences, but something I think we can all agree on is that we would prefer to have more picture than less picture if given the option; no?
Would we also not prefer it if outlines did not disappear, rather than disappear, on random frames… even if they only disappear during brief interludes?
Would it not be easier, as well, to have a DVD with (at least fairly) accurate colors when shipping, so we do not have to fiddle with them ourselves in order to try and match what they should have looked like in the first place?
Would it be too much to ask for an animé licensing company, with plenty of years experience and a proven track record for nearly every other title they've done, to treat the fans of its earliest property, who have been with it the longest, with a little respect and not consistently lie to them about the nature of their product, even when they are caught lying red-handed?
We deserve better. There is no legitimate reason not to be behind a correctly-done DBZ release. Fans, ourselves included, have accomplished great things for the properties they love in the past… the prevalence of non-Pan&Scan'd, anamorphic films on DVD in virtually every other video market is testament to that. And yet, when I look around on the Internet, the sets have gotten rave reviews on pretty much every major site that's done an article on them. People buying into the hype defend it to the death on YouTube. It's become a top-seller for animé DVDs on Amazon. Even on this board, I see people saying they actually like these things, that they actually look better than other releases. Really? Have our standards sunk so low that we can't even admit to ourselves that we're getting a raw deal? We're supposed to be the fans that know better. The sets are up to "Season Four" and still going strong. None of this should be the case.
What it all basically boils down to is: we haven't done anything about it. Let's recap, shall we?
What we did:
- Talked to FUNi represenatives
- Petitioned against them
- Argued amongst ourselves
What we should have done:
- Raised awareness - Since FUNi demonstrated to us that they wouldn't take our concerns seriously, the most effective strategy is not to talk to them, but talk to the fans. Let them know exactly what's going on. This easily could have been accomplished with a web site—there is no DBZ:U for the current generation. Links to this site could be posted any and everywhere that there is likely to be confusion about the sets.
- Petitioned en masse - When the FUNi rep told us a petition might change some minds, what she most likely meant was a lot of fucking petitions. The ones we did send in were only people from this board, and a few of us at that. If we really wanted to make an impact we'd have to send in hundreds if not thousands of letters, so that they would be impossible to ignore. This would have to be a large-scale, inter-site effort.
- Boycotted the sets - If a business statement is to be made, it should be made in the language most businesses understand: money. Rather than caving in and doling out the cash for these because of the pricetag, we should have shown some restraint and gotten others to follow in our footsteps. If we never allowed the discs to become the hotcakes that they are, we'd send a message to FUNi that we aren't going to settle for less than what we deserve.
oh wait that was in the original 
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