Funimation's 30th anniversary collectible home video release

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Vegard Aune
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by Vegard Aune » Sat Mar 30, 2019 7:50 am

All things considered, if this release does indeed use the same film prints and we have to deal with some darker detail being lost... Yeah that would be a bit of a shame but I don't think it would be a dealbreaker. While I haven't looked super close at how the Levels looked, overall what I've seen indicates that they are the best the show has ever looked. And it would certainly be an immense improvement over anything else FUNi has released. Again, if we get the whole show looking more or less like that... we will finally have a consistent, easily available version of the show that isn't an outright insult to the product. Which is a super low bar, to be sure... but honestly a Level style remaster for the entire show would put us way, way above it.

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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by JohnnyCashKami » Sat Mar 30, 2019 8:01 am

Vegard Aune wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 7:50 ameasily available version of the show
Well, for the lucky 3k pre-order customers at least.

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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by KBABZ » Sat Mar 30, 2019 8:20 am

JohnnyCashKami wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 8:01 am
Vegard Aune wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 7:50 ameasily available version of the show
Well, for the lucky 3k pre-order customers at least.
To be clear, none of the signatures or emails are for pre-orders, they're for expressions of interest. Nobody is guaranteed a copy yet.

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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by Forte224 » Sat Mar 30, 2019 9:16 am

KBABZ wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 8:20 am
JohnnyCashKami wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 8:01 am
Vegard Aune wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 7:50 ameasily available version of the show
Well, for the lucky 3k pre-order customers at least.
To be clear, none of the signatures or emails are for pre-orders, they're for expressions of interest. Nobody is guaranteed a copy yet.
3000 is also the number of pre-orders they will need once those go live. But that's simply a minimum pre-order number, there's nothing indicating that's all that will be available.

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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by ect5150 » Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:31 am

Vegard Aune wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 7:50 am All things considered, if this release does indeed use the same film prints and we have to deal with some darker detail being lost... Yeah that would be a bit of a shame but I don't think it would be a dealbreaker.
I agree here... especially when I see those green sky pics from the Vegeta fight again from the DBox. I believe it was green during the Kai remaster too, correct?

As someone who first saw that battle on VHS fansub copies from Japan (multiple gen copy I'm sure) - that sky wasn't green. I feel the levels set was closer to the original broadcast.
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by KBABZ » Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:37 am

Forte224 wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 9:16 am
KBABZ wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 8:20 am
JohnnyCashKami wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 8:01 am Well, for the lucky 3k pre-order customers at least.
To be clear, none of the signatures or emails are for pre-orders, they're for expressions of interest. Nobody is guaranteed a copy yet.
3000 is also the number of pre-orders they will need once those go live. But that's simply a minimum pre-order number, there's nothing indicating that's all that will be available.
I wouldn't call them pre-orders as such...

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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by SuperSaiyaManZ94 » Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:54 am

ect5150 wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:31 am
Vegard Aune wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 7:50 am All things considered, if this release does indeed use the same film prints and we have to deal with some darker detail being lost... Yeah that would be a bit of a shame but I don't think it would be a dealbreaker.
I agree here... especially when I see those green sky pics from the Vegeta fight again from the DBox. I believe it was green during the Kai remaster too, correct?

As someone who first saw that battle on VHS fansub copies from Japan (multiple gen copy I'm sure) - that sky wasn't green. I feel the levels set was closer to the original broadcast.
Yeah, and that has to do primarily with the slight degradation of the film's colors and such from when it was originally processed for the TV broadcast to when Toei and Pony Canyon went back and restored the film as best as they possibly could at the time to create the masters for the Dragon Boxes in 2002/2003.
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by Forte224 » Sat Mar 30, 2019 11:39 am

KBABZ wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:37 am
Forte224 wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 9:16 am
KBABZ wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 8:20 am
To be clear, none of the signatures or emails are for pre-orders, they're for expressions of interest. Nobody is guaranteed a copy yet.
3000 is also the number of pre-orders they will need once those go live. But that's simply a minimum pre-order number, there's nothing indicating that's all that will be available.
I wouldn't call them pre-orders as such...
There will be pre-orders eventually, and 3000 will be required. It's a separate thing.

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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by superrayman3 » Sat Mar 30, 2019 12:03 pm

Could someone upload the level version of the infamous crater shot from episode 1?
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by SqueakyBoots » Sat Mar 30, 2019 1:13 pm

If the new remasters resembled the level sets but covered the entire series, I'd be happy. Yeah it'd be better if they use Toei's original film negatives instead of the copied over ones Funimation has (Would probably also make the remastering process easier if they had the originals, I'd imagine.) but either way is a huge upgrade compared to what we've gotten in the past.

I mean look at this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQUioljjGcU I don't think a better looking version of this scene exists. I can tell the team behind this remaster wanted to respect the show's age instead of trying to make it look modern like other remasters tend to do and it looks all the better for it. Only criticism I have is that maybe the colors could be a hair brighter.

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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by SuperSaiyaManZ94 » Sat Mar 30, 2019 1:18 pm

SqueakyBoots wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 1:13 pm If the new remasters resembled the level sets but covered the entire series, I'd be happy. Yeah it'd be better if they use Toei's original film negatives instead of the copied over ones Funimation has (Would probably also make the remastering process easier if they had the originals, I'd imagine.) but either way is a huge upgrade compared to what we've gotten in the past.

I mean look at this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQUioljjGcU I don't think a better looking version of this scene exists. I can tell the team behind this remaster wanted to respect the show's age instead of trying to make it look modern like other remasters tend to do and it looks all the better for it.
Yeah, the Level sets were pretty good quality releases themselves even if not complete package wise like Toei's first generation master prints are. If the new BD set is using the same or a similar type of process to those, but this time around for the entirety of the series then i see this being a damn near almost perfect and definitive release about like how the Levels were intended to be before they unfortunately went belly up.
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by KBABZ » Sat Mar 30, 2019 9:24 pm

Forte224 wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 11:39 am
KBABZ wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:37 am
Forte224 wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 9:16 am
3000 is also the number of pre-orders they will need once those go live. But that's simply a minimum pre-order number, there's nothing indicating that's all that will be available.
I wouldn't call them pre-orders as such...
There will be pre-orders eventually, and 3000 will be required. It's a separate thing.
First I've heard of it.

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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by Robo4900 » Sat Mar 30, 2019 9:29 pm

superrayman3 wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 12:03 pm Could someone upload the level version of the infamous crater shot from episode 1?
I don't have it on hand, but it's a bad shot to measure the overall quality by; the first couple of Z episodes have always looked poor on releases other than DBox and Kai; I think the film stock they were using at the time was just awful, and tended to crush much more heavily than the kind of stuff Toei used for a lot of the rest of the run. The early episodes look significantly better on the Dragon Boxes, since they're not two or three generations down like the TV prints Funi are using, or that the DigiBetas were struck from, but even 20 episodes in, it looks significantly better compared to episode 1, particularly on a print-sourced master like the Levels.
SqueakyBoots wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 1:13 pm I mean look at this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQUioljjGcU I don't think a better looking version of this scene exists. I can tell the team behind this remaster wanted to respect the show's age instead of trying to make it look modern like other remasters tend to do and it looks all the better for it. Only criticism I have is that maybe the colors could be a hair brighter.
It's worth noting that video does no justice to how beautiful the scene looks; the Level BDs were very high-bitrate, and had grain everywhere. The way YouTube compresses that down is not flattering to the original look. So, watching it from the original BD, it would look even better! :)
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by Forte224 » Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:02 pm

KBABZ wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 9:24 pm
Forte224 wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 11:39 am
KBABZ wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:37 am
I wouldn't call them pre-orders as such...
There will be pre-orders eventually, and 3000 will be required. It's a separate thing.
First I've heard of it.
"In the coming weeks, we’ll reveal full details of the set and open a reservation period for fans to reserve their copy of this must-have collector’s edition. And while we’d like to just wish it into creation with the Dragon Balls, we’re going to need at least 3,000 of you super fans to help make this happen!

We’ll have full details and artwork to reveal soon—and you won’t want to miss out! Be sure to keep up-to-date by signing up for emails"

Seems pretty clear to me.

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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by KBABZ » Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:06 pm

Forte224 wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:02 pm "In the coming weeks, we’ll reveal full details of the set and open a reservation period for fans to reserve their copy of this must-have collector’s edition. And while we’d like to just wish it into creation with the Dragon Balls, we’re going to need at least 3,000 of you super fans to help make this happen!

We’ll have full details and artwork to reveal soon—and you won’t want to miss out! Be sure to keep up-to-date by signing up for emails"

Seems pretty clear to me.
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by Forte224 » Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:07 pm

KBABZ wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:06 pm
Forte224 wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:02 pm "In the coming weeks, we’ll reveal full details of the set and open a reservation period for fans to reserve their copy of this must-have collector’s edition. And while we’d like to just wish it into creation with the Dragon Balls, we’re going to need at least 3,000 of you super fans to help make this happen!

We’ll have full details and artwork to reveal soon—and you won’t want to miss out! Be sure to keep up-to-date by signing up for emails"

Seems pretty clear to me.
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Haha, it's cool. Just wanted to make the distinction clear as it is a bit confusing.

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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by SuperSaiyaManZ94 » Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:12 pm

Robo4900 wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 9:29 pm
superrayman3 wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 12:03 pm Could someone upload the level version of the infamous crater shot from episode 1?
I don't have it on hand, but it's a bad shot to measure the overall quality by; the first couple of Z episodes have always looked poor on releases other than DBox and Kai; I think the film stock they were using at the time was just awful, and tended to crush much more heavily than the kind of stuff Toei used for a lot of the rest of the run. The early episodes look significantly better on the Dragon Boxes, since they're not two or three generations down like the TV prints Funi are using, or that the DigiBetas were struck from, but even 20 episodes in, it looks significantly better compared to episode 1, particularly on a print-sourced master like the Levels.
SqueakyBoots wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 1:13 pm I mean look at this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQUioljjGcU I don't think a better looking version of this scene exists. I can tell the team behind this remaster wanted to respect the show's age instead of trying to make it look modern like other remasters tend to do and it looks all the better for it. Only criticism I have is that maybe the colors could be a hair brighter.
It's worth noting that video does no justice to how beautiful the scene looks; the Level BDs were very high-bitrate, and had grain everywhere. The way YouTube compresses that down is not flattering to the original look. So, watching it from the original BD, it would look even better! :)
I think shots like the one below show the poor image quality of the multi generational masters that FUNimation has of the series really shows, here's a comparison of a shot of Goku in episode 1 which in particular is the worst looking out of them on FUNi's releases with a capture off my Dragon Box of the exact same scene.

FUNi: (I capped this years ago from the copy of the first UUE single that i used to have but no longer own)

Image

Dragon Box:

Image
Last edited by SuperSaiyaManZ94 on Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:37 pm, edited 9 times in total.
DB collection related goals as of now:

1.) Find decent priced copy of Dragon Box Z Vol. 4 (Done)

2.) Collect rest of manga

3.) Get rest of Daizenshuu (2-7)

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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by linkdude20002001 » Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:12 pm

Ooh, nice comparison. Anyone got that in Levels quality?
Robo4900 wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 9:29 pm It's worth noting that video does no justice to how beautiful the scene looks; the Level BDs were very high-bitrate, and had grain everywhere. The way YouTube compresses that down is not flattering to the original look. So, watching it from the original BD, it would look even better! :)
Yeah, I was just gonna say... It looks like garbage, so that's not a very good exampel for how good they look. YouTube killd the video with compression.
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by KBABZ » Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:20 pm

SuperSaiyaManZ94 wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:12 pm I think shots like the one below show the poor image quality of the multi generational masters that FUNimation has of the series really shows, here's a comparison of a shot of Goku in episode 1 which in particular is the worst looking out of them on FUNi's releases with the Dragon Box version of the exact same scene.

FUNi: (I capped this years ago from the copy of the first UUE single that i used to own but no longer have)
Personally I think that's more down to the colour grading. The "crush the blacks" approach to Goku's hair results in a loss of detail in the shaded parts of the trees, and the blue of Goku's undershirt is severely dark and undersaturated, much like the greens in the Blue Bricks:

Image

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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by jjgp1112 » Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:22 pm

Well one thing is that Funi's version of episode 1, for whatever reason, is in ESPECIALLY worse condition than all of the other episodes. I remember Mike commenting on that in his review of Level 1.1 and it being a consistent thing across all of their releases, and I think even a rep confirmed it.
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