Funimation's 30th anniversary collectible home video release

[KBABZ]

I'm hoping for a combination of Toei's highest quality masters (Like, seriously... Why use anything subpar when you have the good stuff on hand?)

Personally I'm hoping this is the case too. Otherwise, why would Toei be aligned with Funimation on this release in the first place??

[JohnnyCashKami]

AB Groupe and FUNimation are the two biggest anime-related companies who brought Dragon Ball to the West, but it seems FUNimation has the upper hand.

AB Groupe is now known as Mediawan Thematics.

[jaisonas]

I'm not asking much from funi, just make sure it looks like this

Spoiler:

Ugh, no. That's too bright, my guy. Vibrancy, not brightness. There's a difference & a fine line you need to hit. That shit hurts my eyes.

Thats a 35mm photo of that scene by toei btw, it is indeed a bit too bright but i was mostly focused on how clear it looked

[jjgp1112]

I'm not asking much from funi, just make sure it looks like this

Spoiler:

Ugh, no. That's too bright, my guy. Vibrancy, not brightness. There's a difference & a fine line you need to hit. That shit hurts my eyes.

Thats a 35mm photo of that scene by toei btw, it is indeed a bit too bright but i was mostly focused on how clear it looked

that's not a film reel. It's a cel scan

[Jord]

It's more that: 1, his source doesn't necessarily know for sure; 2, his source can make mistakes; and 3, what may be true at the point his source says it, mite change by the time the announcement comes. So...I'm gonna try to stay positive and not think that this release mite use the same degraded film that FUNi used for the Levels sets.

Exactly. Things are only confirmed when they're confirmed.

[Robo4900]

Ugh, no. That's too bright, my guy. Vibrancy, not brightness. There's a difference & a fine line you need to hit. That shit hurts my eyes.

Thats a 35mm photo of that scene by toei btw, it is indeed a bit too bright but i was mostly focused on how clear it looked

that's not a film reel. It's a cel scan

You're both right. It's a 35mm film still created for promotional purposes, using the original cel art. Toei have a ton of those, which they created before selling off the cel art. Digital scans of these 35mm stills have been used by Toei, MangaUK, etc. for years for various promo purposes.

The level of detail in that cel, you'd never see in an actual episode of Dragon Ball. Even those 35mm Namek episodes likely wouldn't have been on quite that high quality film stock, and I suspect the image you posted there was tampered with anyway to give an illusion of it being a bit better; it's already overcontrasted, I wouldn't be surprised if it was also digitally sharpened and otherwise touched up in a way that would be impractical to do on 24 frames per second of five hundred 22-minute episodes without some serious side-effects (sharpening filters tend to create pretty bad haloing if you don't calibrate them exactly right, as we saw on the Toei movie BDs).

Realistically, in terms of detail level and clarity, the Levels are the best Dragon Ball could ever look from its 16mm elements. And really, that's not an issue, in my book; rather grainy, but grain gives a nice texture, and the detail level can't be argued with.

Spoiler:

(Post-ep. 34 images taken from the remastering bonus feature from Level 1.1)

If you want the grainless look, the best you'll get is the scrubbed, soft, blurry, low-detail look of Kai.

Spoiler:

(Images from a post I made earlier in the camera pans thread)

I'll be the first to admit Kai's vibrance, hues... Really, its general colour grade, and the look it would have if they'd not applied the strong blurring/DNR, is very pleasant. If the new master went for a grade more like this but applied to a picture more like the Levels, I'd be pretty happy. Though I do honestly prefer the Level grade overall; again, I like the gritty, grindhouse look that really does feel like a show assembled from cels scanned onto film in the '80s and '90s, rather than the pristine, Disney-esque approach Toei tried to take with Kai.

Still, point is, the clarity of a screenshot from a 35mm promo still is impossible to achieve. Though it is worth noting a screenshot from the Levels doesn't really do justice to how the picture actually looks in viewing, since the constantly-moving nature of the grain in motion will mean the illusion it gives in a screenshot of being a noisy disguise to detail is completely gone in motion, simply giving the picture a neat film texture, with the lack of DNR meaning the underlying picture is rendered in incredible clarity, as anyone who's actually watched the Level footage will tell you.

[eledoremassis02]

those screenshots really got me excited. If they look like this or better I'm more than pleased. Like I said earlier if FUNI is providing the already scanned episodes. It's possible TOEI is cleaning it up, or scanning proper openings and NEP.

In terms of pricing, yea Japan charges a lot but I dont think that'll effect the US pricing because this is a limited set, and the other Blurays were not way out unreasonable.

[Robo4900]

those screenshots really got me excited. If they look like this or better I'm more than pleased. Like I said earlier if FUNI is providing the already scanned episodes. It's possible TOEI is cleaning it up, or scanning proper openings and NEP.

If Toei was cleaning it up, it'd be crap. And Funi do have the proper openings and NEPs, they just don't tend to use them.
Ideally, Toei would be scanning their negatives and such and sending those scans to Funi to be cleaned up and mastered for release.
More likely, though, Funi will do their own Level-style remaster of Z, Toei will import that with Funi having prepared versions for the Japanese market -- using Japanese OPs/EDs/title cards -- and if the release is successful enough, Toei works on their own remasters of DB and GT to release in Japan, and send to Funi for an English release, and they'll aim for a somewhat similar look to Funi's Z master; Funi do their own authoring on the masters Toei send them to localise them for the English market (OPs/EDs/title cards), and release it after Toei's done theirs.

In terms of pricing, yea Japan charges a lot but I dont think that'll effect the US pricing because this is a limited set, and the other Blurays were not way out unreasonable.

Indeed. In fact, because of import costs and the limited nature of this, I imagine we'll see both Japan and the US get the release at the same time, both priced quite high, but reasonably for the given territories, then later on, both will put out smaller volumes of the master as a more mass-market release, like Japan did with the DBoxes.

[eledoremassis02]

those screenshots really got me excited. If they look like this or better I'm more than pleased. Like I said earlier if FUNI is providing the already scanned episodes. It's possible TOEI is cleaning it up, or scanning proper openings and NEP.

If Toei was cleaning it up, it'd be crap. And Funi do have the proper openings and NEPs, they just don't tend to use them.
Ideally, Toei would be scanning their negatives and such and sending those scans to Funi to be cleaned up and mastered for release.
More likely, though, Funi will do their own Level-style remaster of Z, Toei will import that with Funi having prepared versions for the Japanese market -- using Japanese OPs/EDs/title cards -- and if the release is successful enough, Toei works on their own remasters of DB and GT to release in Japan, and send to Funi for an English release, and they'll aim for a somewhat similar look to Funi's Z master; Funi do their own authoring on the masters Toei send them to localise them for the English market (OPs/EDs/title cards), and release it after Toei's done theirs.

In terms of pricing, yea Japan charges a lot but I dont think that'll effect the US pricing because this is a limited set, and the other Blurays were not way out unreasonable.

Indeed. In fact, because of import costs and the limited nature of this, I imagine we'll see both Japan and the US get the release at the same time, both priced quite high, but reasonably for the given territories, then later on, both will put out smaller volumes of the master as a more mass-market release, like Japan did with the DBoxes.

That's weird, cause the level sets used the opening from one of the films. Toei has sad anything, not even a hint have they?

[PremiumSalt]

those screenshots really got me excited. If they look like this or better I'm more than pleased. Like I said earlier if FUNI is providing the already scanned episodes. It's possible TOEI is cleaning it up, or scanning proper openings and NEP.

If Toei was cleaning it up, it'd be crap. And Funi do have the proper openings and NEPs, they just don't tend to use them.
Ideally, Toei would be scanning their negatives and such and sending those scans to Funi to be cleaned up and mastered for release.
More likely, though, Funi will do their own Level-style remaster of Z, Toei will import that with Funi having prepared versions for the Japanese market -- using Japanese OPs/EDs/title cards -- and if the release is successful enough, Toei works on their own remasters of DB and GT to release in Japan, and send to Funi for an English release, and they'll aim for a somewhat similar look to Funi's Z master; Funi do their own authoring on the masters Toei send them to localise them for the English market (OPs/EDs/title cards), and release it after Toei's done theirs.

In terms of pricing, yea Japan charges a lot but I dont think that'll effect the US pricing because this is a limited set, and the other Blurays were not way out unreasonable.

Indeed. In fact, because of import costs and the limited nature of this, I imagine we'll see both Japan and the US get the release at the same time, both priced quite high, but reasonably for the given territories, then later on, both will put out smaller volumes of the master as a more mass-market release, like Japan did with the DBoxes.

That's weird, cause the level sets used the opening from one of the films. Toei has sad anything, not even a hint have they?

Did they? I've never seen that stated anywhere.

[eledoremassis02]

If Toei was cleaning it up, it'd be crap. And Funi do have the proper openings and NEPs, they just don't tend to use them.
Ideally, Toei would be scanning their negatives and such and sending those scans to Funi to be cleaned up and mastered for release.
More likely, though, Funi will do their own Level-style remaster of Z, Toei will import that with Funi having prepared versions for the Japanese market -- using Japanese OPs/EDs/title cards -- and if the release is successful enough, Toei works on their own remasters of DB and GT to release in Japan, and send to Funi for an English release, and they'll aim for a somewhat similar look to Funi's Z master; Funi do their own authoring on the masters Toei send them to localise them for the English market (OPs/EDs/title cards), and release it after Toei's done theirs.


Indeed. In fact, because of import costs and the limited nature of this, I imagine we'll see both Japan and the US get the release at the same time, both priced quite high, but reasonably for the given territories, then later on, both will put out smaller volumes of the master as a more mass-market release, like Japan did with the DBoxes.

That's weird, cause the level sets used the opening from one of the films. Toei has sad anything, not even a hint have they?

Did they? I've never seen that stated anywhere.

They used the Dead Zone opening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChAk8wD44aw. You can tell by the Eirin code on the bottom right when the Z logo pops up. https://www.kanzenshuu.com/movie/dbz-01/

I just checked the season bluray https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzZ8s8ka_Eo and it seems they used the anime one. So I'm guessing it's a FUNi mistake?

Do the Openings match the right episodes for the season blurays?? Cause I know that was an issue on the singles

[Bardo117]

I just wanna purchase this set, spare me the politics.

[KBABZ]

I'll be the first to admit Kai's vibrance, hues... Really, its general colour grade, and the look it would have if they'd not applied the strong blurring/DNR, is very pleasant. If the new master went for a grade more like this but applied to a picture more like the Levels, I'd be pretty happy. Though I do honestly prefer the Level grade overall; again, I like the gritty, grindhouse look that really does feel like a show assembled from cels scanned onto film in the '80s and '90s, rather than the pristine, Disney-esque approach Toei tried to take with Kai.

Agreed. I've said it before, but my biggest issue with Kai is how it tries to make the show look newer than it actually is, from the grade to the eyecatches & OP/EDs, DNR, widescreen with TFC, the score and more.

[Scsigs]

I just checked the season bluray https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzZ8s8ka_Eo and it seems they used the anime one. So I'm guessing it's a FUNi mistake?

I hate to be the one who brings this up here, but why do people refer to the show as "the anime" while the movies get called "the movies" like they are? They're ALL anime. One's a TV show & the others are movies. The animation style, production company, & country of origin/production make them anime by default (that's why I take issue with people calling Avatar an anime, btw, since none of its production touched Japan outside of the Japanese dub).

[KBABZ]

I just checked the season bluray https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzZ8s8ka_Eo and it seems they used the anime one. So I'm guessing it's a FUNi mistake?

I hate to be the one who brings this up here, but why do people refer to the show as "the anime" while the movies get called "the movies" like they are? They're ALL anime. One's a TV show & the others are movies. The animation style, production company, & country of origin/production make them anime by default (that's why I take issue with people calling Avatar an anime, btw, since none of its production touched Japan outside of the Japanese dub).

Funnily enough I DO consider Avatar to be anime because of the art direction and storytelling qualities. To me, anime is a genre under the broader genre of cartoons (which include West, Far East and Eastern Europe, among others). That also doesn't get into things like Chinese and Korean animation apparently not being anime, which gets interesting when you think about series though of as Western but animated in Asia, like G1 Transformers (contrasting with the Energon trio, which are more obviously anime).

ANYWAY, people call it "the anime" because most people think of anime as being a TV show of some sort (hence the distinction between anime, OVA and movie, which is a bit arbitrary for sure, especially between OVA and movie).

[Char Aznable]

I just checked the season bluray https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzZ8s8ka_Eo and it seems they used the anime one. So I'm guessing it's a FUNi mistake?

I hate to be the one who brings this up here, but why do people refer to the show as "the anime" while the movies get called "the movies" like they are? They're ALL anime. One's a TV show & the others are movies. The animation style, production company, & country of origin/production make them anime by default (that's why I take issue with people calling Avatar an anime, btw, since none of its production touched Japan outside of the Japanese dub).

I think people tend to equate the term 'the anime' = TV series. I tend to call it the TV series myself, but when people say 'the anime' I know they're referring to the TV series and the movies are their own separate entity.

[linkdude20002001]

It’s not even “an anime”, it’s “a cartoon”. We don’t go calling animated shows and movies from OTHER countries by weird names. The Japanese would call even SpongeBob SquarePants “an anime”. Just like how they don’t use the word “manga” they way English speakers think they do. “Manga” actually means “cartoon”, and can technically refer to both comics and animations.

Also, “Code Lyoko is not an anime!” is something I’ve heard a lot growing up, but it is. “Anime” is originally a French word adopted by the Japanese.

[eledoremassis02]

I just checked the season bluray https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzZ8s8ka_Eo and it seems they used the anime one. So I'm guessing it's a FUNi mistake?

I hate to be the one who brings this up here, but why do people refer to the show as "the anime" while the movies get called "the movies" like they are? They're ALL anime. One's a TV show & the others are movies. The animation style, production company, & country of origin/production make them anime by default (that's why I take issue with people calling Avatar an anime, btw, since none of its production touched Japan outside of the Japanese dub).

It's like saying ''the show''. It's the same reason why people say ''have you seen the anime?'' I dont consider avatar or teen titans to be anime either. But it also begs the question, what is anime? Is it a term? A style? Is Vampire Hunter D bloodlust an anime even tho it was pretty much a coproduction. Or the boondocks? Or the japanese animated epsiodes of Batman the animated series? Or since toei outsources to korea and the Philippines, does it make it less of an anime? I'm also pretty sure in japan the show was reffered to as ''anime'' and the movies as ''eiga''(movies)

[VegettoEX]

For Dragon Ball specifically, "The anime" vs. "The movies" is one of those word-cutting, implied-meaning kind of quick differentiating descriptions a la "The Ocean Dub" where everyone clearly knows what they're talking about and what they mean (until someone demonstrates that they don't). Don't really see it as anything to even discuss or point out.

[HakkaiBills93]

AB Groupe and FUNimation are the two biggest anime-related companies who brought Dragon Ball to the West, but it seems FUNimation has the upper hand.

AB Groupe is now known as Mediawan Thematics.

For what i know AB Group aka Mediawan is not really into animation like before, most of theirs rights expire and they couldn't renew them (that's why mangas channel air the same things since almost 2 years that's why series like captain tsubasa road to 2002 have been aired from july until january and that moero top stricker air in hd since july continuously restarting after it end) i remember reading something about Toei that took AB group in some kind of disgrace , they even loose db rights few years , that's why group like kaze get db kai rights, they surely had to renegociate to get db super but mainly AB group aka Mediawan is not the big group it used to be, we'll see if something better goes with mediawan but for what i see now i am not confident