Funimation's 30th anniversary collectible home video release

[eledoremassis02]

I... just... what?

I'm not sure how it is you think that a licensee can just use whatever materials they want on an American home video anime release — independent of how they received said materials, what condition they're in, what format they're in, etc. — without approval from the original rights-holder, but that's just not true.

Some companies are far more giving and open than others in terms of entertaining new ideas and supplemental materials that may have not originated with them, but there's not a single example I'm aware of where an American company just threw something on there without approval.

I second this. I also have to say, if you're not going to support this set that's 100% acceptable and I am fully supportive of the disappointment but can we please be a bit more constructive in this thread, I'm getting tired of seeing the same five posts about this set sucking, not buying it, cursing out FUNimation, putting down people who want to/did purchase or posts about FUNi secretly having the ability to this, this and this with no source. If this set upsets people, and they've already decided FUNimation always craps on the Dragon Ball Franchise, then Id suggest you'd stop visiting this thread because trust me, you'll be a lot happier. I think we can all agree that the Level sets were a fluke, and from a purist standpoint, they were not the perfect release either (hence part of the reason they failed).

I would like to see more people sharing their letters to FUNimation, more comparison photos (perhaps with the season sets and Dboxes).

Also, I do wish they didn't use the Singles in the trailer as that's misleading because those masters were Digibetas and not the 16mm film. it also makes me wonder if they're not 100% confident of their own DNRing because showing the grainy level set and showcasing how smooth they can make it look (similar how they showed the light DNRing in the level sets to showcase how they could mimic the original master). And since they hit 3000 maybe a video on how they are remastering assuming this won't be a special feature (if there are any)

[VegettoEX]

Don't misunderstand; my post was solely about FUNimation's mythic ability to include whatever audio tracks fans may or may not have provided to them.

This ability does not exist. This is not reality. This is not how the world works.

I am on the side of:

- FUNimation is purposefully misdirecting the greater fandom at large about this set, as they have continued to do for every single home video release they have ever made
- The people in charge of this set are, at best, misguided about every single aspect of video preservation and production
- People supporting/pre-ordering this release are actively working against their own interests, as well as the interests of other fans, and further harming the ability of other fans and companies worldwide to produce and receive a genuinely-faithful, proper, historically-accurate, archival-quality version of the show
- People need to keep being told that their continued support of this stuff is a bad thing.
- I have absolutely no hope or faith that anyone in charge of this franchise in the east or west at this point in time is capable of producing what it deserves any more.

[KBABZ]

I'm getting tired of seeing the same five posts about this set sucking, not buying it, cursing out FUNimation, putting down people who want to/did purchase or posts about FUNi secretly having the ability to this, this and this with no source.

I agree with this too. As much as I don't like how this set is going down overall, I am happy for those who have been able to secure it.

Side-note: Also getting preeeeeetty tired of people posting a pre-order count update to get attention.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Don't misunderstand; my post was solely about FUNimation's mythic ability to include whatever audio tracks fans may or may not have provided to them.

This ability does not exist. This is not reality. This is not how the world works.

I am on the side of:

- FUNimation is purposefully misdirecting the greater fandom at large about this set, as they have continued to do for every single home video release they have ever made
- The people in charge of this set are, at best, misguided about every single aspect of video preservation and production
- People supporting/pre-ordering this release are actively working against their own interests, as well as the interests of other fans, and further harming the ability of other fans and companies worldwide to produce and receive a genuinely-faithful, proper, historically-accurate, archival-quality version of the show
- People need to keep being told that their continued support of this stuff is a bad thing.
- I have absolutely no hope or faith that anyone in charge of this franchise in the east or west at this point in time is capable of producing what it deserves any more.

Yes no doubt, i mean we can certainly say that FUNimation has dropped the ball on their various home releases of the series in a lot of ways since at least 2007 and almost every one of them since then has had something that makes them much less than ideal. Really, the Dragon Boxes are the closest thing we have had released from them which nearly fits that description even with their flaws. And speaking for myself, i chose to hunt them down despite the crazy high prices they go for because i care about the series enough to not settle for the two crap, DNR smear fest cropped releases they have on the market as the de facto releases of the series which is really quite sad honestly. I just want to own a version of the show in it's intended way but unfortunately that's not readily available here right now, so basically that left me with no other alternative than the long and drawn out process of searching for the Dragon Boxes. As daunting of a journey that has been, i believe that speaks for itself in terms of how i personally value having an actually acceptable 4:3 release that presents the series as close to how it should be as possible.

It's really unfortunate that no readily accessible, non cropped/DNR'd 4:3 release is available here right now, and frankly i don't have my hopes up that FUNi is going to deliver there anytime soon.

[JohnnyCashKami]

Also, I do wish they didn't use the Singles in the trailer as that's misleading because those masters were Digibetas and not the 16mm film. it also makes me wonder if they're not 100% confident of their own DNRing because showing the grainy level set and showcasing how smooth they can make it look (similar how they showed the light DNRing in the level sets to showcase how they could mimic the original master). And since they hit 3000 maybe a video on how they are remastering assuming this won't be a special feature (if there are any)

That's marketing, bud.

If they had used the UUE, Dragon Box Z or the Level Sets footage they know it would look inferior so they picked a version that looks just watchable. Had FUNi used one of those three sources, no one would defend FUNimation or call us "whinny."

[jaisonas]

FUNi probably has their remaster 90% complete at this point- internally, they're most likely starting work on the Blu-ray compression and authoring phase- if the timeline between authoring and release with other anime distributors also applies to FUNi, if they aren't they'd probably be behind schedule on a project this big.

Essentially, they can't go back to fix the DNR'd mess if they wanted to unless they delay it and re-start the video compression and BD authoring phase as a result.

If having to switch over to a better quality transfer means delaying the sets by a few months or more, so be it. I will gladly wait however long it takes for them to put together a good quality definitive release as long as they do it right.

They dont have to revert to a better transfer, they can just revert to the video without dnr applied. I'm sure Funi dont just rescan the films every time they remember to put out a new release

[eledoremassis02]

Don't misunderstand; my post was solely about FUNimation's mythic ability to include whatever audio tracks fans may or may not have provided to them.

This ability does not exist. This is not reality. This is not how the world works.

I am on the side of:

- FUNimation is purposefully misdirecting the greater fandom at large about this set, as they have continued to do for every single home video release they have ever made
- The people in charge of this set are, at best, misguided about every single aspect of video preservation and production
- People supporting/pre-ordering this release are actively working against their own interests, as well as the interests of other fans, and further harming the ability of other fans and companies worldwide to produce and receive a genuinely-faithful, proper, historically-accurate, archival-quality version of the show
- People need to keep being told that their continued support of this stuff is a bad thing.
- I have absolutely no hope or faith that anyone in charge of this franchise in the east or west at this point in time is capable of producing what it deserves any more.

I do agree with some of these points, but also this has sadly become the standard. Like I stated before, Batman TAS has done DNR and removed much if not all of the grain, heck even brighten the Tim Burton films (as they have done) ruins the intent of the original lighting and mood and hopefully, the 4k fixed this issues that have been prevalent since the VHS. Or even Universal that DNR's almost all their older films or James Cameron who did this https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?go=1&a=0 ... 8&i=13&l=1

Perhaps the people here that want a stellar proper restoration are working against their own interests if the bought this, but to the people that just want the series in full in 4x3, what other option is there? Would you now be ok with people to download the series illegally now? Kai to me also don't look that great as the DNR that has blurred the image too much and removed the grain, it's only acceptable there because they tried to modernize it and still it's not Z, its a separate product. Should I bash people who spend lots of money on the Dragon Boxes because, yes while they are the best release out there, they were a lazy set from TOEI, they just happened to have the stuff we as fans in the US hadn't had before.

I agree with having absolutely no hope or faith that anyone in charge of this franchise in the east or west at this point in time is capable of producing what it deserves anymore. Sadly the time of a proper restoration went, but this is why supporting the level sets was important but I feel the fans here always find something to pick apart, and while it's because we're here because our passion for Dragon Ball is so high, it has gotten to the point where you have to take a step back. I refuse to bash people and punish them because they couldn't get the Dragon Boxes, level sets were canceled or disliked the season blurays. However, Id say there is justification for the people who bought it, that won't watch it because they have to have every release there is and yet I still am not going to go to bash them.

And Finally, FUNimation should not be doing a proper restoration of the series until they have all the materials to do so. We don't know fully what they have or what they're keeping from us. Is there a record of something acknowledging that FUNi has the NEP? I don't expect Japanese title cards on this release either, neither did Level sets (does that not make them a proper release of the original material?). Perhaps the only way to fix this is for one of the people here who are doing their own remasters, get a job at FUNimation and show the what they're capable of

Also, I do wish they didn't use the Singles in the trailer as that's misleading because those masters were Digibetas and not the 16mm film. it also makes me wonder if they're not 100% confident of their own DNRing because showing the grainy level set and showcasing how smooth they can make it look (similar how they showed the light DNRing in the level sets to showcase how they could mimic the original master). And since they hit 3000 maybe a video on how they are remastering assuming this won't be a special feature (if there are any)

That's marketing, bud.

If they had used the UUE, Dragon Box Z or the Level Sets footage they know it would look inferior so they picked a version that looks just watchable. Had FUNi used one of those three sources, no one would defend FUNimation or call us "whinny."

Yes and no because they used the Dragon Box to show how much better the level sets were which might as well be an insult because the levels had crushed blacks and werent an actual represntation to how it was ment to be seen because they even showed the lycris that were clearly missing in the level set openings.

[SqueakyBoots]

FUNi probably has their remaster 90% complete at this point- internally, they're most likely starting work on the Blu-ray compression and authoring phase- if the timeline between authoring and release with other anime distributors also applies to FUNi, if they aren't they'd probably be behind schedule on a project this big.

Essentially, they can't go back to fix the DNR'd mess if they wanted to unless they delay it and re-start the video compression and BD authoring phase as a result.

If having to switch over to a better quality transfer means delaying the sets by a few months or more, so be it. I will gladly wait however long it takes for them to put together a good quality definitive release as long as they do it right.

They dont have to revert to a better transfer, they can just revert to the video without dnr applied. I'm sure Funi dont just rescan the films every time they remember to put out a new release

Yeah, that was what I meant.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

Bandai are re-releasing the Grandista Goku this August the one they used the most of the mould for this set's "exclusive figure". That's just makes that even more hilarious.

This set is such a fail on every level. Disappointed people succumbed to the hype. I am still gobsmacked the packaging being as bland as it is and people thinking it's good, a black box is something one can hardly show off.

[eledoremassis02]

Bandai are re-releasing the Grandista Goku this August the one they used the most of the mould for this set's "exclusive figure". That's just makes that even more hilarious.

This set is such a fail on every level. Disappointed people succumbed to the hype. I am still gobsmacked the packaging being as bland as it is and people thinking it's good, a black box is something one can hardly show off.

This is all reminiscent of the Batman TAS set. All the complaints as followed from Bluray.com forums
-Bland Boxset Artwork
-DNRing of the images
-Brighter more poppier colors
-The controversy surrounding this one-shot that made people remove their pre-order

Spoiler:

-Distorted Audio (on select episodes)
-Bonus item (A cheap booklet and 3 Funkopot keychains that aren't even from their Batman TAS line)
and of course, there were other issues too
- Production order and not Broadcast order
And it happens with almost every release of anything, the color timing is wrong, does not include original sound mix, lack of inspiring cover art. It got to the point where I got so picky that collecting media just stopped being fun. I recognize the importance of preservation, but when it comes to companies like Universal, and WB (non archive dept) and FUNimation, I just come in not expecting much. I HOPE for better releases but when they ultimately let me down, I stopped letting it bother me because I stopped enjoying somthing I used to get so much enjoyment out of.

[JohnnyCashKami]

Bandai are re-releasing the Grandista Goku this August the one they used the most of the mould for this set's "exclusive figure". That's just makes that even more hilarious.

This set is such a fail on every level. Disappointed people succumbed to the hype. I am still gobsmacked the packaging being as bland as it is and people thinking it's good, a black box is something one can hardly show off.

This is all reminiscent of the Batman TAS set. All the complaints as followed from Bluray.com forums
-Bland Boxset Artwork
-DNRing of the images
-Brighter more poppier colors
-The controversy surrounding this one-shot that made people remove their pre-order

Spoiler:

-Distorted Audio (on select episodes)
-Bonus item (A cheap booklet and 3 Funkopot keychains that aren't even from their Batman TAS line)
and of course, there were other issues too
- Production order and not Broadcast order
And it happens with almost every release of anything, the color timing is wrong, does not include original sound mix, lack of inspiring cover art. It got to the point where I got so picky that collecting media just stopped being fun. I recognize the importance of preservation, but when it comes to companies like Universal, and WB (non archive dept) and FUNimation, I just come in not expecting much. I HOPE for better releases but when they ultimately let me down, I stopped letting it bother me because I stopped enjoying somthing I used to get so much enjoyment out of.

I'm not a fan of Batman TAS but doesn't that Blu-ray shot show more detail than the other versions?

[SqueakyBoots]

Funimation updated the reservation page to reflect that the 3,000 goal has been met and the progress bar has been replaced with one counting down the number of sets still available before the maximum 6,000 limit. I don't see any new info.

[eledoremassis02]

Bandai are re-releasing the Grandista Goku this August the one they used the most of the mould for this set's "exclusive figure". That's just makes that even more hilarious.

This set is such a fail on every level. Disappointed people succumbed to the hype. I am still gobsmacked the packaging being as bland as it is and people thinking it's good, a black box is something one can hardly show off.

This is all reminiscent of the Batman TAS set. All the complaints as followed from Bluray.com forums
-Bland Boxset Artwork
-DNRing of the images
-Brighter more poppier colors
-The controversy surrounding this one-shot that made people remove their pre-order

Spoiler:

-Distorted Audio (on select episodes)
-Bonus item (A cheap booklet and 3 Funkopot keychains that aren't even from their Batman TAS line)
and of course, there were other issues too
- Production order and not Broadcast order
And it happens with almost every release of anything, the color timing is wrong, does not include original sound mix, lack of inspiring cover art. It got to the point where I got so picky that collecting media just stopped being fun. I recognize the importance of preservation, but when it comes to companies like Universal, and WB (non archive dept) and FUNimation, I just come in not expecting much. I HOPE for better releases but when they ultimately let me down, I stopped letting it bother me because I stopped enjoying somthing I used to get so much enjoyment out of.

I'm not a fan of Batman TAS but doesn't that Blu-ray shot show more detail than the other versions?

Not really, the problem with the DVDs is that they're interlaced and encoded horribly. If anything it just highlights some of the poorer animation in the series. And "extra" footage doesn't seem to be much. But that's the least amount of problems but I enjoy the set for what it is. As far as detail in that shot, it's not how it was originally seen (and that's what caused all the commotion)

Also, 6000 count is on now for the 30th set. But how did they got from 3021 / 3000 to 2979 / 6000

[Daimo-Rukiri]

Good question...
It was at 3015 last time I checked now back to 2975.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Good question...
It was at 3015 last time I checked now back to 2975.

That's just the weirdest thing, an error perhaps????

[SqueakyBoots]

That blu-ray screenshot for Batman looks leagues better than the dvd screenshot. I'm not familiar enough with that show to know what tone of red the sky is supposed to be but the way you can see detail on the building in the blu-ray screenshot versus it being a silhouette on the dvd tells me that the latter is probably darker than it should be. They would not have bothered drawing in all the windows if they were meant to be invisible.

[Freeza Soldier #156]

Good question...
It was at 3015 last time I checked now back to 2975.

They are showing how many sets are left out of 6000 instead of how many have been ordered. They are saying that there are 2975 sets left available to order.

[eledoremassis02]

That blu-ray screenshot for Batman looks leagues better than the dvd screenshot. I'm not familiar enough with that show to know what tone of red the sky is supposed to be but the way you can see detail on the building in the blu-ray screenshot versus it being a silhouette on the dvd tells me that the latter is probably darker than it should be. They would not have bothered drawing in all the windows if they were meant to be invisible.

But when you look at the broadcast shot (right next too the bluray) you see that details is not there, and the lighting does not make sense with the moon. But regardless, the bluray doesn't not represent the final outcome and I did not want to buy it on that regard (Batman and Dragon Ball are my tops) Same thing with the 60s Batman not having the re-run narration in the first episode that wasn't in the original broadcast (that made WB go and make a replacement program where they put the narration in)

But I got the Batman TAS set because I collect Batman stuff, and even with all these issues, I still enjoyed it. I wish it would of had grain, and not the audio issues, and more accurate colors but I got so picky I just had no fun doing what I love doing.

[KBABZ]

Does this mean that the only company treating DB properly is ViZ?

[eledoremassis02]

Does this mean that the only company treating DB properly is ViZ?

Even that's debatable. I find the translation ok, but a lot of people think it could be much more faithful, plus we have censorship still. Sadly the full colors, while nice are debatable because they are not how they were originally intended. They're kinda like the Mangas kai as far as release goes. Like this Z I got so picky that I sold my VIz manga and I have the Japanese Mooks and singles and I really haven't looked at them since. I can read Japanese, but I do regret selling my digest versions.