New Dragon Ball Z Blu-Rays From Crunchyroll Coming August 1st

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Just listed for pre-order on Rightstuff.

Obviously we know not to expect any miracles from US home releases of this series. This is likely just going to be yet another repackage of the 30th anniversary discs, but with Crunchyroll's branding on the covers and before the main menus.

Unless I'm mistaken, in North America the steelbooks have either been overpriced since their release, and gradually went out-of-print while a lot of fans were undecided. In that respect this could be a cheaper way of owning the series for US and Canadian fans who just want to have the show in 4:3, and can't afford to import the Manga UK editions, which is something at least.

I hear some speculating these will be widescreen again like the Walmart exclusive 3 season bundles. I'm not convinced yet. Remember most Blu-Rays say 16:9 on the back cover anyway (including the level sets) so I'd take any product details with a pinch of salt until these hit store shelves.

https://www.rightstufanime.com/Drago...ason-1-Blu-ray
https://www.rightstufanime.com/Drago...ason-2-Blu-ray
https://www.rightstufanime.com/Drago...ason-3-Blu-ray
https://www.rightstufanime.com/Drago...ason-4-Blu-ray
https://www.rightstufanime.com/Drago...ason-5-Blu-ray
https://www.rightstufanime.com/Drago...ason-6-Blu-ray
https://www.rightstufanime.com/Drago...ason-7-Blu-ray
https://www.rightstufanime.com/Drago...ason-8-Blu-ray
https://www.rightstufanime.com/Drago...ason-9-Blu-ray

[MasenkoHA]

It's almost without a doubt going to be the 16:9 Blu-Ray season sets and not a re-release of the 30th anniversary 4:3 sets

I'm sure we'll get some type of overpriced special limited edition release in 4:3 for Dragon Ball Z's 35th anniversary next year though.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Looks like its just going to be the 2013/14 season Blu-Rays with Funimation's logo and branding being swapped out for Crunchyroll.

Still ridiculous that a 16:9 release is being pushed, the 30th anniversary edition and its repackages seemed like the one glimmer of hope that fight was won, unless, as you say, Crunchyroll are holding that back for the 35th anniversary release.

[MasenkoHA]

Funimation, and by extension Crunchyroll, seems to be under the belief that only the hardcore collector fans want the show in the correct aspect ratio and everyone else prefers the series to be in widesceen.

I don't think we're ever going to see Dragon Ball Z in 4:3 again outside of the next "LIMITED EDITION ONLY FOR REAL DRAGON BALL Z FANS A MUST HAVE FOR ANY COLLECTOR!!!!! release..which I would guess the 35th anniversary would be the next opportunity. Doesn't mean they will though.

[Hellspawn28]

Funimation, and by extension Crunchyroll, seems to be under the belief that only the hardcore collector fans want the show in the correct aspect ratio and everyone else prefers the series to be in widesceen.

I don't think we're ever going to see Dragon Ball Z in 4:3 again outside of the next "LIMITED EDITION ONLY FOR REAL DRAGON BALL Z FANS A MUST HAVE FOR ANY COLLECTOR!!!!! release..which I would guess the 35th anniversary would be the next opportunity. Doesn't mean they will though.

They will still probably use the 30th anniversary transfers for a 35th anniversary which I hear that they are not even good.

[Shaddy]

The version of the show used in the 30th BDs was fine before they smeared all the grain off and gamma-blasted it to oblivion. The problem is that they only have to release the show with decent-looking footage once, and they want to be able to hold that carrot-on-a-stick over fans' heads until the sun blows up.

[MasenkoHA]

The version of the show used in the 30th BDs was fine before they smeared all the grain off and gamma-blasted it to oblivion. The problem is that they only have to release the show with decent-looking footage once, and they want to be able to hold that carrot-on-a-stick over fans' heads until the sun blows up.

They honestly could have just re-released the DVD singles (including episode 28-67 ofc) in more affordable boxsets and called it day instead of doing....pretty much everything they did after

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

They honestly could have just re-released the DVD singles (including episode 28-67 ofc) in more affordable boxsets and called it day instead of doing....pretty much everything they did after

That was Lance Heiskell's original plan for the 'Rock the Dragon' collection, to have cheap DVD collections in Walmart for the original 276 episode run, rather than an overpriced collectors edition. Honestly would have been a much better idea, fans who grew up watching the show on Toonami would have the exact version they grew up with, and anyone that just wanted to watch the show in decent quality with its original aspect ratio, English or Japanese could do that, particularly if Funimation put out an "Edited Edition" and "Uncut Edition" for episodes 1-53 and the equivalent 1-67 respectively.

I was hoping something along those lines would happen for the 30th anniversary edition, because the remastered dub (which far less fans grew up with) has been given far too much special treatment, especially for the Frankenstein project it was.

I also see the Resurrection F Collector's Edition is back, so least there's something nice for fans who haven't purchased the movie yet.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

They honestly could have just re-released the DVD singles (including episode 28-67 ofc) in more affordable boxsets and called it day instead of doing....pretty much everything they did after

That was Lance Heiskell's original plan for the 'Rock the Dragon' collection, to have cheap DVD collections in Walmart for the original 276 episode run, rather than an overpriced collectors edition. Honestly would have been a much better idea, fans who grew up watching the show on Toonami would have the exact version they grew up with, and anyone that just wanted to watch the show in decent quality with its original aspect ratio, English or Japanese could do that, particularly if Funimation put out an "Edited Edition" and "Uncut Edition" for episodes 1-53 and the equivalent 1-67 respectively.

I was hoping something along those lines would happen for the 30th anniversary edition, because the remastered dub (which far less fans grew up with) has been given far too much special treatment, especially for the Frankenstein project it was.

I also see the Resurrection F Collector's Edition is back, so least there's something nice for fans who haven't purchased the movie yet.

Which is funny in of itself, since FUNi only put the 53 edited (of the original 67 on the uncut side) episodes that the Ocean Studios cast did on the RTD set when it's not even the group of VA's that are so intricately synonymous with the dub version nowadays and also the ones they've mostly distanced themselves from for the most part since 2005 when the UUE redub of the Saiyan and Namek arcs (as well as the redubs of Z movies 1-3) came along. Then they didn't even bother releasing the rest of the ORIGINAL in house 54-276 dub in similar collections, because yeah that hack job Frankenstein's monster patchwork of a partial dub originally created for the Orange Bricks is NOT what ran on Toonami from 1999-2003.

[MasenkoHA]

I'm in a minority because I prefer the partial redub with the original Japanese score to the original dub with the Faulconer score.

It's not good. It just suck less. Promotes the dub from being unwatchably terrible to watchably terrible.

That was Lance Heiskell's original plan for the 'Rock the Dragon' collection, to have cheap DVD collections in Walmart for the original 276 episode run, rather than an overpriced collectors edition. Honestly would have been a much better idea, fans who grew up watching the show on Toonami would have the exact version they grew up with, and anyone that just wanted to watch the show in decent quality with its original aspect ratio,

It would have been great for people who wanted to relive that Toonami nostalgia but useless for almost everyone else. I wouldn't watch the crappy original Funi dub just to see the show in it's correct aspect ratio.


Just release the 291 episodes uncut in boxsets as they were on the dvd singles in Japanese/Original English audio would have been fine. And release the old Funi/Ocean dub for those fans too.

The people who actually care about the edited Funi dub from Ginyu Assault onward are probably a microscopic niche tbh.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

It would have been great for people who wanted to relive that Toonami nostalgia but useless for almost everyone else. I wouldn't watch the crappy original Funi dub just to see the show in it's correct aspect ratio.

The people who actually care about the edited Funi dub from Ginyu Assault onward are probably a microscopic niche tbh.

I think the idea would have been to release the singles dub in boxsets, as that was uncut and could be synced to the Japanese audio track. Of course there's also things like edited episode 68, which would have to have been a special feature in addition to the uncut equivalent because its 30 minutes long.

I agree there really wouldn't be much of a demand for the edited Funimation dub post-Ginyu Assault. The original episodes 1-53 are different, the inclusion of the Ocean Studios cast and Ron Wasserman score make for a more unique experience, and indeed it was how Dragon Ball Z was going to be dubbed before the decision was made to take everything inhouse.

[MasenkoHA]

It would have been great for people who wanted to relive that Toonami nostalgia but useless for almost everyone else. I wouldn't watch the crappy original Funi dub just to see the show in it's correct aspect ratio.

The people who actually care about the edited Funi dub from Ginyu Assault onward are probably a microscopic niche tbh.

I think the idea would have been to release the singles dub in boxsets, as that was uncut and could be synced to the Japanese audio track. Of course there's also things like edited episode 68, which would have to have been a special feature in addition to the uncut equivalent because its 30 minutes long.

As far as I am aware he wanted the entire edited dub as it aired on Toonami from 1998-2003, he even tried to get the Cartoon Network bumpers. It was never going to be the uncut version via the singles. Just what was shown on tv

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Honestly, for the most part when i watch dubbed DBZ i just go with Kai. I know it's not a perfect dub much like how it isn't a perfect product in of itself from a technical and production aspect (That's mostly on Toei's part of course) but between the original Z dub and Remastered and the former i'll take it every time. Seriously, i simply cannot bring myself to watch the latter two, because the first was awful and shows just how amatuer the FUNi cast was in the early 2000's while the second was them trying to make their stuff from a certain point seem less bad but it was an inconsistent, patch worked attempt with only marginal improvements.

As far as the original Japanese version of DBZ goes, i have rips of my Dragon Boxes (as well as DB and GT) with the nice clear broadcast audio synced up to them, so i'm pretty much set and satisfied as far as my own personal viewing preferences go. Still, it's a damn shame that both FUNi and now Crunchyroll has and continues to make dreadfully poor decisions home video wise the likes of which i haven't seen most others really do.

[GTx10]

Wait people dislike the "Uncut Funi Dub" found on the Orange Bricks? That is a new one. I honestly never knew that. (Personally I only recall the Uncut dub using edited lines during the Namek Saga. Because Yamucha says the next dimension like once and I remember Vegeta sounding like modern Sabet then early Sabet between certain lines.) But other than that saga I recall the lines being Uncut.
Although the Uncut dub does have moments of scenes without proper sound effects.

So anyway are these new releases basically Blu-ray Orange Bricks?

(Disclaimer: I own the Blue, Orange, and Green bricks and I am perfectly happy with them.)

[MasenkoHA]

Wait people dislike the "Uncut Funi Dub" found on the Orange Bricks? That is a new one. I honestly never knew that. (Personally I only recall the Uncut dub using edited lines during the Namek Saga. Because Yamucha says the next dimension like once and I remember Vegeta sounding like modern Sabet then early Sabet between certain lines.) But other than that saga I recall the lines being Uncut.
Although the Uncut dub does have moments of scenes without proper sound effects.

They don't hate the uncut dub, they hate the partial redubbing found on the Orange Bricks onward for being revisionist or half-assing it depending on who you ask (i.e Sabat redubs Vegeta for the Frieza and Garlic jr sagas but none of his other characters and Schemmel does zero redubbing)

The next dimension is a weird carryover from when the episodes were still meant to present continuity with the Saban era dub. Since there was no next dimension when Funimation went and redubbed the first two seasons now it's just bizarre and nonsensical but eh.

So anyway are these new releases basically Blu-ray Orange Bricks?

They're not really new since its the Blu-ray season sets from 2013 but yes

(Disclaimer: I own the Blue, Orange, and Green bricks and I am perfectly happy with them.)

I own the Blue Bricks too and they're fine but the preference for the English dub (meaning no Japanese title cards and only crediting the English cast and crew aside from Toriyama, the series director, and the music lyricist and composers) and the missing 2nd opening and 1st, 3rd, and 4th ending (which is Toei's fault) brings them down for me

[Lance Freeman]

I got the GT complete set from a few months back and it's literally just the green brick discs in a new box, complete with 2009-era Funimation branding, so I suspect this is just going to be a repackaging of existing discs. That being said... why are they going back to the 2013 masters after making such a huge fuss about the 30th anniversary sets being in 4:3? I know "the way it was meant to be seen" is a meme around these parts but COME ON...

[sangofe]

It's such a sad thing that CR is being even worse than FUNimation with the Dragon Ball releases. I never thought that would be possible.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

why are they going back to the 2013 masters after making such a huge fuss about the 30th anniversary sets being in 4:3? I know "the way it was meant to be seen" is a meme around these parts but COME ON...

Most likely the same reason the level sets were canned even though Steve Franko confirmed that he completed work on all 291 episodes, to push the narrative that "4:3 didn't sell", and kill off any demand for the aspect ratio.

It's no surprise Funimation never went the same route as Manga UK and released a standard edition for the 30th anniversary discs, because their goal was to engineer a situation where the fans can be convinced the original aspect ratio is this premium product that is only viable if they are willing to pay over the odds for it. In actuality the level-style remaster for all of Dragon Ball Z was sitting in their vault the whole time, they wouldn't have even had to lift a finger, they literally could have continued the level sets rather than release the season Blu-Rays in 2013, yes they would have retailed at over $30 on release day, but they would have inevitably went down in price and all the fans would have been happy. Instead they spent money on adding DNR on top of Franko's beautiful transfer and wasted their time cropping the image (which anyone who wanted could have just used the Zoom feature on their TV remote anyway).

It's such a sad thing that CR is being even worse than FUNimation with the Dragon Ball releases. I never thought that would be possible.

Definitely, Crunchyroll could have at least reinstated the Japanese title cards and next episode previews from the GT single DVDs. I have no doubt there will be no difference between these repackages of the 2013/14 season sets other than the logo and copyright information being switched, much like the recent GT Complete Series set the discs will probably have the exact same art. They don't give a damn, home video will never be any more than an afterthought for them at best.

[MasenkoHA]

why are they going back to the 2013 masters after making such a huge fuss about the 30th anniversary sets being in 4:3? I know "the way it was meant to be seen" is a meme around these parts but COME ON...

Most likely the same reason the level sets were canned even though Steve Franko confirmed that he completed work on all 291 episodes, to push the narrative that "4:3 didn't sell", and kill off any demand for the aspect ratio.

It's no surprise Funimation never went the same route as Manga UK and released a standard edition for the 30th anniversary discs, because their goal was to engineer a situation where the fans can be convinced the original aspect ratio is this premium product that is only viable if they are willing to pay over the odds for it. In actuality the level-style remaster for all of Dragon Ball Z was sitting in their vault the whole time, they wouldn't have even had to lift a finger, they literally could have continued the level sets rather than release the season Blu-Rays in 2013, yes they would have retailed at over $30 on release day, but they would have inevitably went down in price and all the fans would have been happy. Instead they spent money on adding DNR on top of Franko's beautiful transfer and wasted their time cropping the image (which anyone who wanted could have just used the Zoom feature on their TV remote anyway).

Here's the thing, I don't think Funimation is perpetuating a myth or engineering a situation (intentionally anyways) I think they're looking at sales figures without bothering to figure out why they are the way the way the are.

"The Dragon Boxes didn't sell as well as we would have liked" Well, yeah, the Dragon Boxes were 80 bucks a pop, came out during an economic recession, and almost immediately after the Orange Bricks were released. Most consumers aren't going to immediately rebuy the same show for triple the cost just because it's a better quality version

"The orange bricks outsold Kai 2:1" Back in the day the common perception of Kai was the Toonzai version with no blood, explosion sparkles, milk in Roshi's glass, breathing corpses, and Blue Popo was the default version of Kai and not an overtly censored version of a mildly censored recut. So of course most fans bought the more hardcore version

"Tne bricks sold better than the level sets" if I know next to nothing about Dragon Ball Z's proper aspect ratio and how the show should look of course I'm gonna buy a DVD set with 39 episodes for $20 versus 17 episodes for like $30 just because blu-ray. And I'm sure the Blu-ray season sets sold a lot better than the level sets because...more episodes for a similar or cheaper price.


It is frustrating that Funimation didn't at least just repackage the level set masters for the 30th anniversary release instead of just, iirc, restoring the blu-ray season sets master to the proper aspect ratio with the same DNR applied.

[GTx10]

Wait people dislike the "Uncut Funi Dub" found on the Orange Bricks? That is a new one. I honestly never knew that. (Personally I only recall the Uncut dub using edited lines during the Namek Saga. Because Yamucha says the next dimension like once and I remember Vegeta sounding like modern Sabet then early Sabet between certain lines.) But other than that saga I recall the lines being Uncut.
Although the Uncut dub does have moments of scenes without proper sound effects.

They don't hate the uncut dub, they hate the partial redubbing found on the Orange Bricks onward for being revisionist or half-assing it depending on who you ask (i.e Sabat redubs Vegeta for the Frieza and Garlic jr sagas but none of his other characters and Schemmel does zero redubbing)

The next dimension is a weird carryover from when the episodes were still meant to present continuity with the Saban era dub. Since there was no next dimension when Funimation went and redubbed the first two seasons now it's just bizarre and nonsensical but eh.

So anyway are these new releases basically Blu-ray Orange Bricks?

They're not really new since its the Blu-ray season sets from 2013 but yes

(Disclaimer: I own the Blue, Orange, and Green bricks and I am perfectly happy with them.)

I own the Blue Bricks too and they're fine but the preference for the English dub (meaning no Japanese title cards and only crediting the English cast and crew aside from Toriyama, the series director, and the music lyricist and composers) and the missing 2nd opening and 1st, 3rd, and 4th ending (which is Toei's fault) brings them down for me

I apologize for the late reply and I understand. Although the rush job is Meh at times I don't see anything else they could have done. They had to put dubbing into the things they cut it out from the TV version.so I can see why it is like that.
But who wanted the edited TV broadcast audio for these Uncut sets? Isn't that what the Rock the Dragon set was for? I remember when I picked up the Bricks I was happy to see Uncut video and audio. (Mostly for the audio. Haha)

Unrelated, walmart is selling blu-ray Orange Bricks. Where does that fit into all this mess?