Funimation's 30th anniversary collectible home video release

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SuperSaiyaManZ94
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by SuperSaiyaManZ94 » Sun Nov 24, 2019 12:09 pm

Robo4900 wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 11:03 am
kei17 wrote: Sat Nov 23, 2019 2:55 pm
dan2026 wrote: Fri Nov 22, 2019 11:01 am Can someone explain why they used DNR to remove all the grain and then add a layer of fake grain on top?
Because I don't understand at all.
My guess is that their restored masters are already smeared out from the beginning and they had to redo all the restorations from the beginning for a better remaster, so they chose to use the already available DNR'ed footage by making it somewhat more "authentic" with the fake grain.
Valid guess, but I'd say different. I've laid out much my thoughts on this stuff in the thread I opened for this purpose, but in addition to what I said there, I would say Funi had prepared the 30th anniversary masters to be a smeary, DNR'd mess with a screwed colour grading and a picture that's far more zoomed in than it should be, and only added the fake grain at the end after all the complaints, the idea being to still have their "clean" image, but to have it still have a tiny bit of fake grain on top to nominally address the complaints about the lack of grain.
Meanwhile, to do it properly and actually address the complaints, they would have had to go back to their cleaned-up, pre-DNR masters, figure out proper framing to zoom it in just past the edges of the film, attach proper title cards, sync up all the audio to these new files properly (remember, the current release just wholesale reuses the Season BD audio), etc. etc. Not hard to do, but more than they were willing to do for this cheap-ass release that they'd already shown footage from.

The 30th sets were clearly about as cheap and lazy a release as possible, so Funi deciding, at the end step, to just throw a fake grain filter on top just to, in their minds, shut the whining fans up, tracks 100% with the philosophies going into this.
Yeah it really does majorly suck that they don't want to put in the time or effort as this and previous releases (Season BD's.etc) clearly show, and though the Dragon Boxes aren't perfect in their own ways i for one am glad to have them as i'm not holding my breath that FUNi will do an actual good high definition release anytime soon if at all.

While they are indeed sixteen/seventeen year old transfers of first generation 16 and 35mm film by Toei, at least i can watch them and it actually looks acceptable which basically almost all of FUNi's own releases from the last decade plus most certainly doesn't.
Last edited by SuperSaiyaManZ94 on Sun Nov 24, 2019 12:47 pm, edited 1 time 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 Tylerman29 » Sun Nov 24, 2019 12:40 pm

I’m about to pull the trigger and just snag the Dboxes. With my luck they announce a reprint right after(doubtful). Guess I’ll either sell the 30th set off or keep it as a backup release in case I ever care about faulconer again.
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by Ryuji-Otogi » Sun Nov 24, 2019 12:42 pm

I’ve stopped trying to nitpick the quality of the remasters and at this point all I want is full screen DBZ. It’s become clear this series will never get the love it deserves in terms of a release that properly remasters the footage. We’ve been bitching and moaning about this since 2006, and I’m tired of bitching and moaning about the same thing 12 years later. I frankly would’ve been fine with these 30th anniversary BluRays. What I’m tired of is FUNi ONLY releasing full screen DBZ in limited print formats that get gobbled up right away and then the only way you can purchase them is second hand off eBay for $800+. Just ridiculous. Just put some vanilla DVD sets out that have full screen Dragon Ball, and I’ll shut up. Just get the damn aspect ratio right. That’s all I’m asking for, but apparently even that is still too much. Say what you want about the remasters being cheap and lazy, it’s this “let’s only make full screen DBZ limited print” practice that is pissing me off more than anything. Just pure crap.

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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by eledoremassis02 » Sun Nov 24, 2019 5:12 pm

Ryuji-Otogi wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 12:42 pm I’ve stopped trying to nitpick the quality of the remasters and at this point all I want is full screen DBZ. It’s become clear this series will never get the love it deserves in terms of a release that properly remasters the footage. We’ve been bitching and moaning about this since 2006, and I’m tired of bitching and moaning about the same thing 12 years later. I frankly would’ve been fine with these 30th anniversary BluRays. What I’m tired of is FUNi ONLY releasing full screen DBZ in limited print formats that get gobbled up right away and then the only way you can purchase them is second hand off eBay for $800+. Just ridiculous. Just put some vanilla DVD sets out that have full screen Dragon Ball, and I’ll shut up. Just get the damn aspect ratio right. That’s all I’m asking for, but apparently even that is still too much. Say what you want about the remasters being cheap and lazy, it’s this “let’s only make full screen DBZ limited print” practice that is pissing me off more than anything. Just pure crap.
I am 100% in your camp. I pre-ordered this and ended up cancelling it cause I had some money issues and the negativity around this set didn't convince me not too. Things are a lot better now and I recall missing out on the early dragon boxes. I ended up getting 1,3,5,6,7 but never got to complete it and sold them off cause I'd never have the full series in that set (I used singles and such but the quality is night and day) . I ended up getting so concerend over finding the best quality that it ended up taking the fun out of the the franchise. I decided I'm not gonna miss this chance again and nabbed this we 30th set on eBay for a little more than retail. Now you can say I threw my money away but A, Funimation didnt directly get my money. I buy a lot of stuff from funi used anyway because I don't agree with a lot of what they do. And B. Unlike the dragon box (packing aside) this had stuff to sell off and I am going to be able to knock this set down to 75 dollars and have the series in a very space saving way and if I continue with Swagbucks perhaps even free. So it's a big win for me.
This set is indeed not perfect and could be a lot better but it has addressed a lot concerned I had with other releases. Whites are not pure white, contrast isn't blown up destroying any dark details their masters are able to hold and overall the colors aren't too bad tho not consistent and it's in 4x3, one of our biggest gripes since the levels were canceled. The DNR processes does take me out of the show for a second from time to time but I'm enjoying it and overall feel satisfied, it does look better than the season Blu-ray simply because the image jnst zoomed in. If that doesn't make me a hardcore fan or someone that doesn't care for quality, then at the end of the day I guess I am but at least I'm able to enjoy dbz again and hope you guys will get the chance too one day, I mean yes it's not HD (but apparently this set isnt either) but if you got the dragon boxes you pretty much got the best of the best so enjoy them :)

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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by Robo4900 » Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:06 pm

eledoremassis02 wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 5:12 pm
Ryuji-Otogi wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 12:42 pm I’ve stopped trying to nitpick the quality of the remasters and at this point all I want is full screen DBZ. It’s become clear this series will never get the love it deserves in terms of a release that properly remasters the footage. We’ve been bitching and moaning about this since 2006, and I’m tired of bitching and moaning about the same thing 12 years later. I frankly would’ve been fine with these 30th anniversary BluRays. What I’m tired of is FUNi ONLY releasing full screen DBZ in limited print formats that get gobbled up right away and then the only way you can purchase them is second hand off eBay for $800+. Just ridiculous. Just put some vanilla DVD sets out that have full screen Dragon Ball, and I’ll shut up. Just get the damn aspect ratio right. That’s all I’m asking for, but apparently even that is still too much. Say what you want about the remasters being cheap and lazy, it’s this “let’s only make full screen DBZ limited print” practice that is pissing me off more than anything. Just pure crap.
This set is indeed not perfect and could be a lot better but it has addressed a lot concerned I had with other releases. [...] The DNR processes does take me out of the show for a second from time to time but I'm enjoying it and overall feel satisfied, it does look better than the season Blu-ray simply because the image jnst zoomed in. If that doesn't make me a hardcore fan or someone that doesn't care for quality, then at the end of the day I guess I am but at least I'm able to enjoy dbz again and hope you guys will get the chance too one day, I mean yes it's not HD (but apparently this set isnt either) but if you got the dragon boxes you pretty much got the best of the best so enjoy them :)
The thing is, they could have put out DBZ in full screen without shitty DNR at any time since 2011, but they have refused to do so. You literally can't excuse this set, because it could have been everything we've been asking for, it could have been a proper release that the hardcore fans are asking for, but they chose not to make it that. They deliberately chose not to give us a Level-like release, even though they have the masters in the vaults for all 291 episodes.

So, "this set is not perfect and could be a lot better but it has addressed a lot concerned I had with other releases" is just naive. It's what they want you to think. So they could squeeze $350 out of you. And then in five years they'll do the exact same thing again. "Oh, it's less bad than the last set" people will say. But ultimately, they'll still be holding back the Level masters that they could have put out in 40-episode boxes for low prices in 2011, but have consistently refused to.

There is no excusing this set, there is no "it's not perfect but". You can try to make yourself feel better about dropping $350 on this shit, and sure, if you can get yourself to a place where you can tolerate it, fine. But this release is shit, and Funi deliberately chose to give us this instead of a new set using the Level-ready masters that they have on-hand for all 291, and they had no justifiable reason to do it this shitty way over the way the fans actually want; it would have cost the precise same amount for them to make.

If you can find a way to enjoy this shit, fine, but don't pretend this is something that requires a particularly good eye to care about. Funi deliberately gave us an inferior product where they didn't have to, and that makes the production of this release morally wrong.
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by Ryuji-Otogi » Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:15 pm

Robo4900 wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:06 pm
eledoremassis02 wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 5:12 pm
Ryuji-Otogi wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 12:42 pm I’ve stopped trying to nitpick the quality of the remasters and at this point all I want is full screen DBZ. It’s become clear this series will never get the love it deserves in terms of a release that properly remasters the footage. We’ve been bitching and moaning about this since 2006, and I’m tired of bitching and moaning about the same thing 12 years later. I frankly would’ve been fine with these 30th anniversary BluRays. What I’m tired of is FUNi ONLY releasing full screen DBZ in limited print formats that get gobbled up right away and then the only way you can purchase them is second hand off eBay for $800+. Just ridiculous. Just put some vanilla DVD sets out that have full screen Dragon Ball, and I’ll shut up. Just get the damn aspect ratio right. That’s all I’m asking for, but apparently even that is still too much. Say what you want about the remasters being cheap and lazy, it’s this “let’s only make full screen DBZ limited print” practice that is pissing me off more than anything. Just pure crap.
This set is indeed not perfect and could be a lot better but it has addressed a lot concerned I had with other releases. [...] The DNR processes does take me out of the show for a second from time to time but I'm enjoying it and overall feel satisfied, it does look better than the season Blu-ray simply because the image jnst zoomed in. If that doesn't make me a hardcore fan or someone that doesn't care for quality, then at the end of the day I guess I am but at least I'm able to enjoy dbz again and hope you guys will get the chance too one day, I mean yes it's not HD (but apparently this set isnt either) but if you got the dragon boxes you pretty much got the best of the best so enjoy them :)
The thing is, they could have put out DBZ in full screen without shitty DNR at any time since 2011, but they have refused to do so. You literally can't excuse this set, because it could have been everything we've been asking for, it could have been a proper release that the hardcore fans are asking for, but they chose not to make it that. They deliberately chose not to give us a Level-like release, even though they have the masters in the vaults for all 291 episodes.

So, "this set is not perfect and could be a lot better but it has addressed a lot concerned I had with other releases" is just naive. It's what they want you to think. So they could squeeze $350 out of you. And then in five years they'll do the exact same thing again. "Oh, it's less bad than the last set" people will say. But ultimately, they'll still be holding back the Level masters that they could have put out in 40-episode boxes for low prices in 2011, but have consistently refused to.

There is no excusing this set, there is no "it's not perfect but". You can try to make yourself feel better about dropping $350 on this shit, and sure, if you can get yourself to a place where you can tolerate it, fine. But this release is shit, and Funi deliberately chose to give us this instead of a new set using the Level-ready masters that they have on-hand for all 291, and they had no justifiable reason to do it this shitty way over the way the fans actually want; it would have cost the precise same amount for them to make.

If you can find a way to enjoy this shit, fine, but don't pretend this is something that requires a particularly good eye to care about. Funi deliberately gave us an inferior product where they didn't have to, and that makes the production of this release morally wrong.
I appreciate your sense of consumer activism, and in principle, I agree with you. But really, the only people having these types of conversations are DBZ super fans on the Internet. I too want a proper remaster of the series, and I don’t mean to excuse or reward poor releases from the company. It’s just gotten to the point where I want to enjoy the series, and getting hung up on these sorts of things prevents me from doing so. I just want full screen DBZ, ya know? If these sets weren’t prohibitively expensive, I would’ve bought one already. I wish they would just do another print of the Dragon Boxes, honestly. Maybe when Japan releases the series on BluRay we’ll have another chance at a U.S release. One can only hope.

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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by Arian » Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:30 pm

Ryuji-Otogi wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:15 pm
Robo4900 wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:06 pm
eledoremassis02 wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 5:12 pm
This set is indeed not perfect and could be a lot better but it has addressed a lot concerned I had with other releases. [...] The DNR processes does take me out of the show for a second from time to time but I'm enjoying it and overall feel satisfied, it does look better than the season Blu-ray simply because the image jnst zoomed in. If that doesn't make me a hardcore fan or someone that doesn't care for quality, then at the end of the day I guess I am but at least I'm able to enjoy dbz again and hope you guys will get the chance too one day, I mean yes it's not HD (but apparently this set isnt either) but if you got the dragon boxes you pretty much got the best of the best so enjoy them :)
The thing is, they could have put out DBZ in full screen without shitty DNR at any time since 2011, but they have refused to do so. You literally can't excuse this set, because it could have been everything we've been asking for, it could have been a proper release that the hardcore fans are asking for, but they chose not to make it that. They deliberately chose not to give us a Level-like release, even though they have the masters in the vaults for all 291 episodes.

So, "this set is not perfect and could be a lot better but it has addressed a lot concerned I had with other releases" is just naive. It's what they want you to think. So they could squeeze $350 out of you. And then in five years they'll do the exact same thing again. "Oh, it's less bad than the last set" people will say. But ultimately, they'll still be holding back the Level masters that they could have put out in 40-episode boxes for low prices in 2011, but have consistently refused to.

There is no excusing this set, there is no "it's not perfect but". You can try to make yourself feel better about dropping $350 on this shit, and sure, if you can get yourself to a place where you can tolerate it, fine. But this release is shit, and Funi deliberately chose to give us this instead of a new set using the Level-ready masters that they have on-hand for all 291, and they had no justifiable reason to do it this shitty way over the way the fans actually want; it would have cost the precise same amount for them to make.

If you can find a way to enjoy this shit, fine, but don't pretend this is something that requires a particularly good eye to care about. Funi deliberately gave us an inferior product where they didn't have to, and that makes the production of this release morally wrong.
I appreciate your sense of consumer activism, and in principle, I agree with you. But really, the only people having these types of conversations are DBZ super fans on the Internet. I too want a proper remaster of the series, and I don’t mean to excuse or reward poor releases from the company. It’s just gotten to the point where I want to enjoy the series, and getting hung up on these sorts of things prevents me from doing so. I just want full screen DBZ, ya know? If these sets weren’t prohibitively expensive, I would’ve bought one already. I wish they would just do another print of the Dragon Boxes, honestly. Maybe when Japan releases the series on BluRay we’ll have another chance at a U.S release. One can only hope.
You say you partially agree yet you're ignoring the most important aspects of what Robo said.

FUNimation could have put out the UUSE/Mexican full screen masters AS-IS on Blu-ray and it would have been more well-received than this sham they call a remaster. They actively chose to tarnish the details of the footage, in addition to zooming in on it, but because it's in a square frame, you accept and appreciate that. You don't have to be a super-duper-hardcore "Intranets" fan to see that this needed to be recalled immediately.

You're entitled to your opinion at the end of the day, I suppose. But when we delve into what's right and wrong, there's no overlooking what the demons at FUNimation have done here.
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by Robo4900 » Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:40 pm

Ryuji-Otogi wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:15 pm I appreciate your sense of consumer activism, and in principle, I agree with you. But really, the only people having these types of conversations are DBZ super fans on the Internet. I too want a proper remaster of the series, and I don’t mean to excuse or reward poor releases from the company. It’s just gotten to the point where I want to enjoy the series, and getting hung up on these sorts of things prevents me from doing so. I just want full screen DBZ, ya know? If these sets weren’t prohibitively expensive, I would’ve bought one already. I wish they would just do another print of the Dragon Boxes, honestly. Maybe when Japan releases the series on BluRay we’ll have another chance at a U.S release. One can only hope.
I understand, but... Again, Funi have had the capability to do this release for nearly a bloody decade. The only way we'll get a release that isn't shit is to keep talking about it, I'm afraid. Whether that means more affordable 4:3 sets, or just some kind of new limited set that does what the Levels did again.

We have to spread the word. Get people like Ajay and Geekdom talking about this. Otherwise, the casual fans will continue picking up whatever sets Funi are hyping up at the time, and Funi will continue to ride the tide of us accepting their shitty releases.

Again, it would have taken literally zero effort for Funi to have put the 30th set out using the Level masters of all 291 episodes. Everyone should know that despite having gorgeous HD masters in their vaults, Funi are giving us shit that barely has standard-def detail. And the only way for everyone to know, is to talk about it.
Remember, all the talk of how bad the OBs and Season BDs were was always contained to just the hardcore fans. The only time it got outside that, was when Geekdom finally manned up and put out his "Why the Orange Bricks suck" video... In which he was very kind about the Season BDs, and was nearly ten years late to the party on explaining to consumers why the OBs are a bad buy (therefore the damage was already done), and at that time we didn't know that Funi could've put out the Level masters for all 291 episodes for no cost... And then recently, when the 30th sets were announced and previewed, he was outright shilling for them, saying "This is probably just temporary masters, I heard Toei was doing a remaster!!" and such. He was cheering this shit on. And as far as the casual fans are concerned, he's the most knowledgeable voice on Dragon Ball.

I understand you're tired of this shit after over a decade of dealing with it, but just sending a Tweet or two, keeping the conversation going in the most nominal way, that's all anyone need do. Imagine if all 13000 people who "Like"d Ajay's video on the Funi 30th sets, all Tweeted one message (Something like "#ReleaseTheRaws #WTFunimation"). As it stands, I watched this happen. Literally five people Tweeted anything about this. Funi has got us exactly where they want us: We're so tired out by ten years of this that, now we're finally in a position where we could make a difference, no one wants to spend the energy to just send a damn Tweet. :L
It's not too late, of course. But if no one wants to even spend two seconds making a Tweet, then it's a miracle Funi even gave us these deliberately-shitty sets.

I dunno what else to say, really. It's just a really shitty situation, and doing something about it takes like zero effort. Maybe we fail, and we lose, what, a minute of our time in doing so?... It just baffles me that no one cares about doing anything to comabt this, y'know?
Arian wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:30 pm You say you partially agree yet you're ignoring the most important aspects of what Robo said.

FUNimation could have put out the UUSE/Mexican full screen masters AS-IS on Blu-ray and it would have been more well-received than this sham they call a remaster. They actively chose to tarnish the details of the footage, in addition to zooming in on it, but because it's in a square frame, you accept and appreciate that. You don't have to be a super-duper-hardcore "Intranets" fan to see that this needed to be recalled immediately.

You're entitled to your opinion at the end of the day, I suppose. But when we delve into what's right and wrong, there's no overlooking what the demons at FUNimation have done here.
Yes, that. I can't overstate the importance of the fact they have the Level masters for all 291 episodes in the vaults ready for release, but yes, that is true. They do also have the original standard-def digibeta masters. Hell, back in 2007, they would have had a much better "Season" release by just putting those out untouched. They were more than good enough for DVD. The UUE DVDs looked really good, after all. But, instead, we got shit.
Funi have a consistent pattern of having a good option and a bad option, and either both cost the same, or the bad option costs more, and they choose the bad option. It's baffling, and really shitty of them as a company.
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by eledoremassis02 » Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:57 pm

Robo4900 wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:06 pm
eledoremassis02 wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 5:12 pm
Ryuji-Otogi wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 12:42 pm I’ve stopped trying to nitpick the quality of the remasters and at this point all I want is full screen DBZ. It’s become clear this series will never get the love it deserves in terms of a release that properly remasters the footage. We’ve been bitching and moaning about this since 2006, and I’m tired of bitching and moaning about the same thing 12 years later. I frankly would’ve been fine with these 30th anniversary BluRays. What I’m tired of is FUNi ONLY releasing full screen DBZ in limited print formats that get gobbled up right away and then the only way you can purchase them is second hand off eBay for $800+. Just ridiculous. Just put some vanilla DVD sets out that have full screen Dragon Ball, and I’ll shut up. Just get the damn aspect ratio right. That’s all I’m asking for, but apparently even that is still too much. Say what you want about the remasters being cheap and lazy, it’s this “let’s only make full screen DBZ limited print” practice that is pissing me off more than anything. Just pure crap.
This set is indeed not perfect and could be a lot better but it has addressed a lot concerned I had with other releases. [...] The DNR processes does take me out of the show for a second from time to time but I'm enjoying it and overall feel satisfied, it does look better than the season Blu-ray simply because the image jnst zoomed in. If that doesn't make me a hardcore fan or someone that doesn't care for quality, then at the end of the day I guess I am but at least I'm able to enjoy dbz again and hope you guys will get the chance too one day, I mean yes it's not HD (but apparently this set isnt either) but if you got the dragon boxes you pretty much got the best of the best so enjoy them :)
The thing is, they could have put out DBZ in full screen without shitty DNR at any time since 2011, but they have refused to do so. You literally can't excuse this set, because it could have been everything we've been asking for, it could have been a proper release that the hardcore fans are asking for, but they chose not to make it that. They deliberately chose not to give us a Level-like release, even though they have the masters in the vaults for all 291 episodes.

So, "this set is not perfect and could be a lot better but it has addressed a lot concerned I had with other releases" is just naive. It's what they want you to think. So they could squeeze $350 out of you. And then in five years they'll do the exact same thing again. "Oh, it's less bad than the last set" people will say. But ultimately, they'll still be holding back the Level masters that they could have put out in 40-episode boxes for low prices in 2011, but have consistently refused to.

There is no excusing this set, there is no "it's not perfect but". You can try to make yourself feel better about dropping $350 on this shit, and sure, if you can get yourself to a place where you can tolerate it, fine. But this release is shit, and Funi deliberately chose to give us this instead of a new set using the Level-ready masters that they have on-hand for all 291, and they had no justifiable reason to do it this shitty way over the way the fans actually want; it would have cost the precise same amount for them to make.

If you can find a way to enjoy this shit, fine, but don't pretend this is something that requires a particularly good eye to care about. Funi deliberately gave us an inferior product where they didn't have to, and that makes the production of this release morally wrong.
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by jjgp1112 » Sun Nov 24, 2019 8:13 pm

It's been 10 years since the Orange Bricks first came out. I think at this point, hopefully most of us who were around then have more important things to worry about than the umpteenth shitty release for Dragon Ball Z.
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by Ryuji-Otogi » Sun Nov 24, 2019 9:56 pm

Arian wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:30 pm
Ryuji-Otogi wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:15 pm
Robo4900 wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:06 pm

The thing is, they could have put out DBZ in full screen without shitty DNR at any time since 2011, but they have refused to do so. You literally can't excuse this set, because it could have been everything we've been asking for, it could have been a proper release that the hardcore fans are asking for, but they chose not to make it that. They deliberately chose not to give us a Level-like release, even though they have the masters in the vaults for all 291 episodes.

So, "this set is not perfect and could be a lot better but it has addressed a lot concerned I had with other releases" is just naive. It's what they want you to think. So they could squeeze $350 out of you. And then in five years they'll do the exact same thing again. "Oh, it's less bad than the last set" people will say. But ultimately, they'll still be holding back the Level masters that they could have put out in 40-episode boxes for low prices in 2011, but have consistently refused to.

There is no excusing this set, there is no "it's not perfect but". You can try to make yourself feel better about dropping $350 on this shit, and sure, if you can get yourself to a place where you can tolerate it, fine. But this release is shit, and Funi deliberately chose to give us this instead of a new set using the Level-ready masters that they have on-hand for all 291, and they had no justifiable reason to do it this shitty way over the way the fans actually want; it would have cost the precise same amount for them to make.

If you can find a way to enjoy this shit, fine, but don't pretend this is something that requires a particularly good eye to care about. Funi deliberately gave us an inferior product where they didn't have to, and that makes the production of this release morally wrong.
I appreciate your sense of consumer activism, and in principle, I agree with you. But really, the only people having these types of conversations are DBZ super fans on the Internet. I too want a proper remaster of the series, and I don’t mean to excuse or reward poor releases from the company. It’s just gotten to the point where I want to enjoy the series, and getting hung up on these sorts of things prevents me from doing so. I just want full screen DBZ, ya know? If these sets weren’t prohibitively expensive, I would’ve bought one already. I wish they would just do another print of the Dragon Boxes, honestly. Maybe when Japan releases the series on BluRay we’ll have another chance at a U.S release. One can only hope.
You say you partially agree yet you're ignoring the most important aspects of what Robo said.

FUNimation could have put out the UUSE/Mexican full screen masters AS-IS on Blu-ray and it would have been more well-received than this sham they call a remaster. They actively chose to tarnish the details of the footage, in addition to zooming in on it, but because it's in a square frame, you accept and appreciate that. You don't have to be a super-duper-hardcore "Intranets" fan to see that this needed to be recalled immediately.

You're entitled to your opinion at the end of the day, I suppose. But when we delve into what's right and wrong, there's no overlooking what the demons at FUNimation have done here.
You’re putting a lot of words in my mouth. You guys get so passionate about this stuff like it’s a political debate. You guys are like, arguing with me when I’m not even arguing with you. lol I said I agree, that FUNi’s remasters suck and it’s a shame they won’t do better. All I expressed was that I wished FUNi would release DBZ in full screen in an affordable way, and that I am personally tired of worrying so much about the quality of the remasters. There are tons of other books, manga, comic books, movies, TV series that I invest time and money into, as well as things like following my favorite football team, working 60 to 80 hours a week, my love life, social life, etc. that after 12 years of disappointing DVD set after disappointing DVD set for one show that I like, that all I really personally give a damn about at this point is an affordable way to own DBZ in full screen. I’ve made my attempts at consumer activism. Google Dragon Box reprint and a thread that I started on this website will be one of the top results on the first page, along with a picture of a handwritten letter that I sent to FUNimation. lol I’m on your side with this. I’m just a guy that’s worn out from it all. Sorry if my apathy towards the whole thing upsets you guys, I just have too many other things going on in my life to even have any emotions left for nerd-raging about DNR’d cartoon shows. I’m not fighting with y’all and I’m not saying your opinion isn’t valid and I’m not saying you shouldn’t voice your outrage. I only came in here to share my personal opinion, and, something I don’t think has been touched on in this thread—which is the fact that FUNi won’t make full screen DBZ affordable. They think only fanboys want full screen DBZ, and that everyone else doesn’t care. Unfortunately they may be right about that. These guys aren’t going to do a proper remaster, lol, they won’t even really do full screen. Just limited prints that go out of stock and never get made again. FUNi sucks. At this point I’ve resigned myself to pirating Dragon Box DBZ. I watch DB, GT, and Super via my FUNimation streaming membership and collect the Kai BluRays. If FUNimation releases full screen DBZ for the masses, they will likely get my money for that. 🤷🏻‍♂️

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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by Arian » Sun Nov 24, 2019 10:10 pm

Ryuji-Otogi wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 9:56 pmI only came in here to share my personal opinion, and, something I don’t think has been touched on in this thread—which is the fact that FUNi won’t make full screen DBZ affordable. They think only fanboys want full screen DBZ, and that everyone else doesn’t care. Unfortunately they may be right about that. These guys aren’t going to do a proper remaster, lol, they won’t even really do full screen. Just limited prints that go out of stock and never get made again. FUNi sucks. At this point I’ve resigned myself to pirating Dragon Box DBZ. I watch DB, GT, and Super via my FUNimation streaming membership and collect the Kai BluRays. If FUNimation releases full screen DBZ for the masses, they will likely get my money for that. 🤷🏻‍♂️
Okay, this guy gets it. Sorry if you feel you were misrepresented, that wasn't my intention, it's just that you get a lot of people who will condemn any criticism towards FUNimation and their bonehead practices and will beg us to stop or paint us like fanboys the same way the company themselves do. But you hit the nail on the head, good sir!

As far as I'm concerned, FUNimation is the devil and will never improve. Scratch that. Even if they do improve, I've lost the ability to care at this point, I would still hate them for all that they've done, all of the wasted opportunities, wasted talent, scummy business dealings over the years, it's over. You will not get me to praise FUNimation with all that we now know about them and everybody they've screwed over and will continue to screw over.
Was the hate for Kai largely unjustified?
Super Saiyan Prime wrote:It's an edited, cynically produced, cheap recut with a poorly utilized ancient score and awful scene recreations that later got traded in for a weird green tint.

The story of Kai's production is far more interesting than the actual product.
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by funrush » Mon Nov 25, 2019 12:05 am

Well, there's numerous opportunities for Funi to get DBZ right, but none of them are in the near future. 35th anniversary, 40th, etc. Maybe a non-anniversary remaster. DBZ in 4K, as pointless as that sounds. And these opportunities will probably dwindle as physical media seems like it's on the way out/will be just for niche collectors.

There's always Toei. If Toei comes out with a great HD release first, I might just import &or pirate that and Funi can kiss the potential money goodbye. Not that I'm advocating piracy but goddamn, Funi's been meticulously, insultingly shitty about the releases for this show. The mass releases look bad and the good releases wind up being unfinished or limited. If they hate my wallet so much, so be it, I'll wait on Toei because chances are they'll get it right first. But who knows how long that'll take.

This 30th anniversary release might be the best so far out of the finished ones? Maybe? The bar's kinda low. I don't know if this is just a planned obsolescence thing, where they never quite get it right so they have an excuse to release the show again in a couple years. IDK. But we're entering the 2020s and there's still no definitive way to watch what is probably the biggest shonen of all time (except maybe One Piece)

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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by SpiritBombTriumphant » Mon Nov 25, 2019 2:10 am

Robo4900 wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 7:40 pmYes, that. I can't overstate the importance of the fact they have the Level masters for all 291 episodes in the vaults ready for release, but yes, that is true.
There is no definitive proof of that. It's just--at this point--a conspiracy theory you have. I saw your thread and there simply isn't a point in having the level set remastering work completed just to keep it to themselves. And nothing you showed offered definitive proof, just reasons you believe it. Stop trying to fake news the community with "the fact they have the Level masters for all 291 episodes in the vaults ready for release." Unless you have definitive, 100% undeniable proof (you don't).

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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by DHM211 » Mon Nov 25, 2019 3:43 am

Look, I don't like DNR any more then the next guy, but at the end of the day, if done properly, it can look quite good. Funimation just seems to have a problem ever since the season blu-rays came out with applying weird filters to their remasters, on top of DNR'ing it, and making everything look water-colory.

Proper DNR - a lot of people point to Kai 1.0 as an example, but honestly its way to soft for me. Outside of the 35mm episodes, I can barely tell the difference between it on DVD and Blu-ray. Kai TFC (international cut) and the 2018 TV Special Remasters, however, look quite sharp.

Kai TFC (color corrected)

2018 Bardock remaster
The above screenshots look quite pleasing, better than Kai 1.0 and far better than anything Funimation has put out since 2013. Not to mention these are both compressed 720p screenshots, I'd imagine they'd look significantly better in uncompressed 1080p.

Contrary to popular belief, Funimation IS capable of competent DNR. Orange Brick Seasons 8 and 9 look really good imo.
Would anyone really complain if this is what the 30th anniversary set looked like, but in 4:3? Maybe some of you would, but I wouldn't :lol: .

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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by TheMajinRedComet » Mon Nov 25, 2019 11:18 am

It would be nice if we had some more non Saiyan saga image comparisons. I think it disingenuous to say they are holding back a level set quailty remaster in thier vaults. We know that remaster was not finished. Now I dont understand why they didnt use all the level episodes that they had on this release. From what I have watched these episodes look noticeably better than the season sets and that is something to be happy about. Plus they aren't cropped. One day we might get that perfect release that pleases everyone but until than you can hold out or settle. There is nothing wrong with either choice. The sad truth is that the release that will continue to sell well long after we are gone will be the orange brick.
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by Robo4900 » Mon Nov 25, 2019 1:56 pm

SpiritBombTriumphant wrote: Mon Nov 25, 2019 2:10 am There is no definitive proof of that. It's just--at this point--a conspiracy theory you have. I saw your thread and there simply isn't a point in having the level set remastering work completed just to keep it to themselves. And nothing you showed offered definitive proof, just reasons you believe it. Stop trying to fake news the community with "the fact they have the Level masters for all 291 episodes in the vaults ready for release." Unless you have definitive, 100% undeniable proof (you don't).
Funimation outright said they put X amount of work into the Season BDs, the same amount as they put into the Levels, they specifically talked about how sometimes it can take a full week for one engineer to do.

This, along with the fact the tape marks are gone on the 30th sets leads to one reasonable conclusion.
And hey, remember, Funimation literally threw out the 4:3 vs 16:9 poll results because they didn't agree with the results. They spun a lot of bullshit on their blog post about the 30th sets... I really don't think it's a leap to say they're doing what they're doing with full knowledge of the fact the fans don't want it, and just deliberately engineering a situation where they can continually re-release the show in still-shitty-but-incrementally-less-shitty-than-last-time formats so they can keep milking the show.
Try to slander me and compare me to alt-right crazies/conspiracy theorists and other liars if you want, but if all you can offer me is ad-hominem tripe and "i don't believe you", then I'm not sure I have anything to say to you.
Thanks for the sig quote.
TheMajinRedComet wrote: Mon Nov 25, 2019 11:18 am It would be nice if we had some more non Saiyan saga image comparisons. I think it disingenuous to say they are holding back a level set quailty remaster in thier vaults. We know that remaster was not finished. Now I dont understand why they didnt use all the level episodes that they had on this release. From what I have watched these episodes look noticeably better than the season sets and that is something to be happy about. Plus they aren't cropped. One day we might get that perfect release that pleases everyone but until than you can hold out or settle. There is nothing wrong with either choice. The sad truth is that the release that will continue to sell well long after we are gone will be the orange brick.
"We know that remaster was not finished" -- We know that the Level Blu-rays did not fully release. We also know from the Level 1.1 preview clips that their work was at least mostly done up to about where Trunks shows up back in 2011. And we know that the 30th sets are missing tape marks at the bottom of the frame, and the Season BDs were described as using this 5-person in-depth remastering process...

Yes, it's probably too much to say they literally have Level 5.2 in the vaults as it would have been if that line had continued, but I've avoided saying that; it seems quite clear to me that they have cleaned-up footage of all 291 episodes, without awful smeary DNR on it.
DHM211 wrote: Mon Nov 25, 2019 3:43 am [snip]
Good points all-round. And yeah, people overrate Kai 1.0, it's just too soft. It's a shame those last two seasons of the OB were cropped; if they were 4:3, they would honestly be a pretty good way to watch.
Last edited by Robo4900 on Mon Nov 25, 2019 2:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by SuperSaiyaManZ94 » Mon Nov 25, 2019 2:10 pm

The thing that really gets me is no matter how much FUNi tries to justify their overdone DNR and other remastering crap it still didn't need to be done, heck as i've likely noted in this very thread before if they'd have just taken their UUE/singles masters with just some minor tweaking for better encoding and quality and put those on the Orange Bricks back in 2007 then it would've been a legit good release, unlike the absolute smear fest garbage that got released.
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by Robo4900 » Mon Nov 25, 2019 2:12 pm

SuperSaiyaManZ94 wrote: Mon Nov 25, 2019 2:10 pm
The thing that really gets me is no matter how much FUNi tries to justify their overdone DNR it still didn't need to be done, heck as i have likely noted in this very thread before if they'd have just taken their UUE/singles masters with just some minor tweaking for better encoding and quality and put those on the Orange Bricks back in 2007 then it would've been a legit good release, unlike the absolute smear test garbage that got released.
Yep.

I think the OBs, one could largely attribute to them just getting in over their heads and being a bit stupid. But at this point, I can't wrap my head around whatever mental gymnastics some people like to invent that they have no choice but to release the show like this...

The commonly-spread information that the Season BDs were cheaper to remaster than the Levels has no basis in reality, and at this point, I feel confident in outright calling it a lie, whether it was intentionally misleading or not. Dunno who started it, but nothing has ever been stated to point to this, and there's no evidence of any kind. It's just people grasping at straws to find a justifiable reason for why the Levels were so poorly managed, and ultimately cancelled in favour of the shit we actually got.
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Re: Funimations 30th anniversary collectible home video release

Post by SuperSaiyaManZ94 » Mon Nov 25, 2019 2:19 pm

Robo4900 wrote: Mon Nov 25, 2019 2:12 pm
SuperSaiyaManZ94 wrote: Mon Nov 25, 2019 2:10 pm
The thing that really gets me is no matter how much FUNi tries to justify their overdone DNR it still didn't need to be done, heck as i have likely noted in this very thread before if they'd have just taken their UUE/singles masters with just some minor tweaking for better encoding and quality and put those on the Orange Bricks back in 2007 then it would've been a legit good release, unlike the absolute smear test garbage that got released.
Yep.

I think the OBs, one could largely attribute to them just getting in over their heads and being a bit stupid. But at this point, I can't wrap my head around whatever mental gymnastics some people like to invent that they have no choice but to release the show like this...

(The commonly-spread information that the Season BDs were cheaper than the Levels is a lie. Dunno who started it, but nothing has ever been stated to point to this. It's just people grasping at straws to find a justifiable reason for why the Levels were cancelled in favour of the shit we actually got)
So true, they have dropped the ball on most of Z's releases so many times in the last decade plus that it just makes me sick. It legitimately shocks me that their smeared to oblivion, fake widescreen releases have somehow become the standard while the proper 4:3 version that it should be presented in remains unavailable in an easily purchasable form aside from secondary markets, and they still stubbornly refuse for whatever reason aside from the limited sets to release it.

Yeah, the Dragon Boxes may not be perfect as you've noted previously but i don't realistically see FUNi putting out a better release anytime in the near future at this point so even with their flaws i'm holding tight to them.
Last edited by SuperSaiyaManZ94 on Mon Nov 25, 2019 2:53 pm, edited 3 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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