Funimation's 30th anniversary collectible home video release

[Googaliemoogalie]

So the new steelbooks are the 30th anniversary in a new package?
if so...Worth it?
I stayed away from all the blu ray releases because none were better than my Dragonbox sets.
are these blu rays worth the upgrade?

[Matches Malone]

So the new steelbooks are the 30th anniversary in a new package?

if so...Worth it?

Yes, at least as far as we know.

I'd wait to see if Toei puts out their own remaster, but if you must have them I guess they're OK.

[KBABZ]

So the new steelbooks are the 30th anniversary in a new package?
if so...Worth it?
I stayed away from all the blu ray releases because none were better than my Dragonbox sets.
are these blu rays worth the upgrade?

It depends on what you want out of your anime releases! The Steelbooks are a much better proposition than the Black Brick presentation because it's much better value for money, not to mention packaging that is FAR less likely to scratch up your discs. And, over the previous Blu-Rays, they're in 4:3 presentation meaning you don't get a cramped picture.

As for the price, it's for sale at $10 more than the old Blu-Rays but at about the same price as Kai, so IMO it's very much worth it considering it's only superior to the old Blu-Rays and has no additional drawbacks. For me, the only major drawback is the amount of DNR still in play, but if you just want Z in HD, the steelbooks are easily the best way to do it right now, if not the most ideal one.

I'd wait to see if Toei puts out their own remaster, but if you must have them I guess they're OK.

The problem there is that there'd be no English subtitles on a Toei release.

[Matches Malone]

The problem there is that there'd be no English subtitles on a Toei release.

If Toei remasters them chances are Funimation will import them...then again, they didn't import their movie Blu-Rays.

[KBABZ]

The problem there is that there'd be no English subtitles on a Toei release.

If Toei remasters them chances are Funimation will import them...then again, they didn't import their movie Blu-Rays.

Probably because they were like "But we already have perfectly good scans of those movies!"

[Scsigs]

The problem there is that there'd be no English subtitles on a Toei release.

If Toei remasters them chances are Funimation will import them...then again, they didn't import their movie Blu-Rays.

Granted, they're probably having to wait a few years before licensing those masters, since they might be pretty expensive, some fans have problems with their presentation, & they already have their OWN remastered BRs, though them doing BRs of the DB movies would be great, mainly for Movie 2, which has a choppy framerate for no reason that they refuse to fix. I mean, how may years did they take to release Cowboy Bebop & Outlaw Star on BR over here after announcing they had the licenses to them years ago & after they'd been out on BR in Japan & maybe some other countries already? Pretty sure it was between 2 & 3 & mainly because the HD masters were expensive because they were newly-done & the shows were beloved here in the US by their fanbases (which, I think the studio probably took into account when setting the price). There's a bunch of reasons why they haven't done that already.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

The problem there is that there'd be no English subtitles on a Toei release.

If Toei remasters them chances are Funimation will import them...then again, they didn't import their movie Blu-Rays.

Granted, they're probably having to wait a few years before licensing those masters, since they might be pretty expensive, some fans have problems with their presentation, & they already have their OWN remastered BRs, though them doing BRs of the DB movies would be great, mainly for Movie 2, which has a choppy framerate for no reason that they refuse to fix. I mean, how may years did they take to release Cowboy Bebop & Outlaw Star on BR over here after announcing they had the licenses to them years ago & after they'd been out on BR in Japan & maybe some other countries already? Pretty sure it was between 2 & 3 & mainly because the HD masters were expensive because they were newly-done & the shows were beloved here in the US by their fanbases (which, I think the studio probably took into account when setting the price). There's a bunch of reasons why they haven't done that already.

Yes, because that frame issue with Sleeping Princess really sucks and apparently happened at some point in the remastering process. I have the 2005 DVD separate from the movie box since i already have the four pack and the quality of the masters for Blood Rubies, Mystical Adventure and Path to Power were actually very good overall.

[Vorige Waffe]

The problem there is that there'd be no English subtitles on a Toei release.

If Toei remasters them chances are Funimation will import them...then again, they didn't import their movie Blu-Rays.

Granted, they're probably having to wait a few years before licensing those masters, since they might be pretty expensive, some fans have problems with their presentation, & they already have their OWN remastered BRs, though them doing BRs of the DB movies would be great, mainly for Movie 2, which has a choppy framerate for no reason that they refuse to fix. I mean, how may years did they take to release Cowboy Bebop & Outlaw Star on BR over here after announcing they had the licenses to them years ago & after they'd been out on BR in Japan & maybe some other countries already? Pretty sure it was between 2 & 3 & mainly because the HD masters were expensive because they were newly-done & the shows were beloved here in the US by their fanbases (which, I think the studio probably took into account when setting the price). There's a bunch of reasons why they haven't done that already.

In fairness, that delay must've been because of licensing agreement between Funimation and Bandai/Sunrise, as something similar happened with Sentai Filmworks' release of their Sunrise shows. What didn't make sense was Funimation using filtered masters with a fake grain layer over it, ala the 30th Anniversary DBZ bluray.

[coltigore]

I would have bought this release or the steelbook, but no broadcast audio sucks. Didn't fans send copies of the broadcast audio to Sabat and he said they might get used? or am I dreaming again..?

[eledoremassis02]

I would have bought this release or the steelbook, but no broadcast audio sucks. Didn't fans send copies of the broadcast audio to Sabat and he said they might get used? or am I dreaming again..?

He did say he would try but the speculation is either FUNi won't or Toei won't let them. They haven't even used the Dragon Box audio and had to clean up their own so I'd go with TOEI being a stickler for the audio for some reason.

[Scsigs]

I would have bought this release or the steelbook, but no broadcast audio sucks. Didn't fans send copies of the broadcast audio to Sabat and he said they might get used? or am I dreaming again..?

He did say he would try but the speculation is either FUNi won't or Toei won't let them. They haven't even used the Dragon Box audio and had to clean up their own so I'd go with TOEI being a stickler for the audio for some reason.

If we look at it objectively, first they'd have to get permission from Toei. If Toei would be ok with FUNi using those masters, which I don't know why they wouldn't considering they allow FUNi to put out BRs of the show before they do, as well as BRs of the movies & specials, as well as let them dub & release Res F & Super: Broly at roughly the same exact time as Japan, of which they give them full quality masters (green tint on Super: Broly notwithstanding) & a 5.1 surround sound mix of the Japanese audios.
Second, they'd need to sync the audio to the episodes, since they probably have just the raw audio without any syncing to their masters.
Third, they need to put it on the discs.

It's all just weird with this shit, since Toei doesn't seem to want to use the audio for some reason, even though they have access to it. What. kind of world is this when the BBC will take whatever sources they can for the old Doctor Who episodes they wiped from the 60s, even going to the trouble of having the episodes animated to the recordings of the audio from the original broadcasts & the shooting scripts to recreate the visuals as best as possible, but Toei won't accept the better-quality audio for episodes they have the visuals for? They have the BBC's dream in the palm of their hands, but they won't firmly grasp it.

[jelleline89]

I would have bought this release or the steelbook, but no broadcast audio sucks. Didn't fans send copies of the broadcast audio to Sabat and he said they might get used? or am I dreaming again..?

He did say he would try but the speculation is either FUNi won't or Toei won't let them. They haven't even used the Dragon Box audio and had to clean up their own so I'd go with TOEI being a stickler for the audio for some reason.

I thought Sabat lost interest in getting it released when the BA leaked online.

[Scsigs]

I would have bought this release or the steelbook, but no broadcast audio sucks. Didn't fans send copies of the broadcast audio to Sabat and he said they might get used? or am I dreaming again..?

He did say he would try but the speculation is either FUNi won't or Toei won't let them. They haven't even used the Dragon Box audio and had to clean up their own so I'd go with TOEI being a stickler for the audio for some reason.

I thought Sabat lost interest in getting it released when the BA leaked online.

Where'd you hear that & why would the audio being leaked online stop them from using it on an official release?

[jelleline89]

He did say he would try but the speculation is either FUNi won't or Toei won't let them. They haven't even used the Dragon Box audio and had to clean up their own so I'd go with TOEI being a stickler for the audio for some reason.

I thought Sabat lost interest in getting it released when the BA leaked online.

Where'd you hear that & why would the audio being leaked online stop them from using it on an official release?

Pretty sure someone involved in the BA arrangement mentioned in the BA thread before it got locked because I remember asking myself why it should even matter if it got leaked online since it would still be superior to the current audio masters being used.

[Scsigs]

I thought Sabat lost interest in getting it released when the BA leaked online.

Where'd you hear that & why would the audio being leaked online stop them from using it on an official release?

Pretty sure someone involved in the BA arrangement mentioned in the BA thread before it got locked because I remember asking myself why it should even matter if it got leaked online since it would still be superior to the current audio masters being used.

Seems like it shouldn't matter, especially if it's higher quality than what they've been using.

[ArmenianPepsi]

I would have bought this release or the steelbook, but no broadcast audio sucks. Didn't fans send copies of the broadcast audio to Sabat and he said they might get used? or am I dreaming again..?

He did say he would try but the speculation is either FUNi won't or Toei won't let them. They haven't even used the Dragon Box audio and had to clean up their own so I'd go with TOEI being a stickler for the audio for some reason.

It's all just weird with this shit, since Toei doesn't seem to want to use the audio for some reason, even though they have access to it. What. kind of world is this when the BBC will take whatever sources they can for the old Doctor Who episodes they wiped from the 60s, even going to the trouble of having the episodes animated to the recordings of the audio from the original broadcasts & the shooting scripts to recreate the visuals as best as possible, but Toei won't accept the better-quality audio for episodes they have the visuals for? They have the BBC's dream in the palm of their hands, but they won't firmly grasp it.

That's corporate politics for you. Turning down what we would see as a very one-sided, beneficiary, lucrative proposition for such mysterious reasons. We will probably never get a straight answer. Or if we ever do, it'll probably be for some bizarre obscure reason no one would've been able to think of before.

[darkknightkryta]

So the new steelbooks are the 30th anniversary in a new package?
if so...Worth it?
I stayed away from all the blu ray releases because none were better than my Dragonbox sets.
are these blu rays worth the upgrade?

It's actually a different encode. I'm watching the Blu-ray on powerDVD so it's not letting me take a screenshot so I can't post any right now. The colour saturation is significantly lower. Still more than the Level Sets, but a lot, and I mean, a lot lower than the 30th set. I haven't had a chance to play with the saturation, but it looks like the colour grading is correct. Reduce the saturation and it should be identical to the Level Sets, vs the 30th that needs a slight tint shift. There's more grain. Most likely fake grain, but it helps. The sharpening filter is still there, but the DNR smearing isn't so it doesn't look smeared. The sharpening filter hurts the overall image, but I imagine that was applied at the capture phase. They tried using a blur filter for the 30th to help mitigate it (The sharpness filter), but I guess they decided to just add extra grain and remove the blur filter instead. Overall, in my opinion, it actually looks good. At worst, I think it's acceptable for most.

Bonus: Playing the footage using CRT Royal filter in Retroarch actually gets rid of that sharpness filter. The 30th and I would imagine this, look stunning there.

[eledoremassis02]

So the new steelbooks are the 30th anniversary in a new package?
if so...Worth it?
I stayed away from all the blu ray releases because none were better than my Dragonbox sets.
are these blu rays worth the upgrade?

It's actually a different encode. I'm watching the Blu-ray on powerDVD so it's not letting me take a screenshot so I can't post any right now. The colour saturation is significantly lower. Still more than the Level Sets, but a lot, and I mean, a lot lower than the 30th set. I haven't had a chance to play with the saturation, but it looks like the colour grading is correct. Reduce the saturation and it should be identical to the Level Sets, vs the 30th that needs a slight tint shift. There's more grain. Most likely fake grain, but it helps. The sharpening filter is still there, but the DNR smearing isn't so it doesn't look smeared. The sharpening filter hurts the overall image, but I imagine that was applied at the capture phase. They tried using a blur filter for the 30th to help mitigate it (The sharpness filter), but I guess they decided to just add extra grain and remove the blur filter instead. Overall, in my opinion, it actually looks good. At worst, I think it's acceptable for most.

Bonus: Playing the footage using CRT Royal filter in Retroarch actually gets rid of that sharpness filter. The 30th and I would imagine this, look stunning there.

Do you have Leawo? I use that and use PrintScreen to take a screenshot for the 30th

Here's a 30th shot from episode 2 to compare

[Scsigs]

So the new steelbooks are the 30th anniversary in a new package?
if so...Worth it?
I stayed away from all the blu ray releases because none were better than my Dragonbox sets.
are these blu rays worth the upgrade?

It's actually a different encode. I'm watching the Blu-ray on powerDVD so it's not letting me take a screenshot so I can't post any right now. The colour saturation is significantly lower. Still more than the Level Sets, but a lot, and I mean, a lot lower than the 30th set. I haven't had a chance to play with the saturation, but it looks like the colour grading is correct. Reduce the saturation and it should be identical to the Level Sets, vs the 30th that needs a slight tint shift. There's more grain. Most likely fake grain, but it helps. The sharpening filter is still there, but the DNR smearing isn't so it doesn't look smeared. The sharpening filter hurts the overall image, but I imagine that was applied at the capture phase. They tried using a blur filter for the 30th to help mitigate it (The sharpness filter), but I guess they decided to just add extra grain and remove the blur filter instead. Overall, in my opinion, it actually looks good. At worst, I think it's acceptable for most.

Bonus: Playing the footage using CRT Royal filter in Retroarch actually gets rid of that sharpness filter. The 30th and I would imagine this, look stunning there.

Cool. So, this is actually an ok substitute for the DBoxes?

[mute_proxy]

Cool. So, this is actually an ok substitute for the DBoxes?

It's just a repackaged 30th anniversary set, nothing was done differently with the footage, the guy saying otherwise is wrong.

You can find plenty of comparisons for the 30th set to decide, most people will say it's not a good substitute.

(I am ordering the non steelbook edition of this though)