Dragon Box Footage on Crunchyroll?

[CashMane]

So I got curious last night and decided to fire up my crunchyroll to check and see what release of dbz was on there. Turns out when you select the Japanese option, it contains (what I assume) is the Dragon Box Footage! It contains the NEPs which is what leads me to believe that this is the Dragon Box When you select the dub, it switches to the 2013 blu ray footage which is still kinda gross, but I'm curious to know how long this was a thing? Is this really the dbox footage?

[TechExpert2021]

I believe Crunchyroll did use the Dragon Box masters for the Japanese version of DBZ.

No wonder the same can't be said for OG DB and DBGT because IIRC Crunchyroll uses FUNimation's respective Brick masters for both series (although the DBGT Green Brick masters are based on the initial unfinished DBGT Dragon Box masters), even if you watch them in their original Japanese.

I've finally hit 200 posts!

[Kendamu]

When watching in Japanese on CR:

Episodes 1-74 (and any others not mentioned below) are Dragon Box.

Episodes 75, 80, 82, 92, 99, 105-106, 142, 157, 159, 161, 168-169, 172, & 178 are 16:9 Orange Bricks DVD squished to 4:3

Episodes 254-291 are 4:3 Dragon Box stretched to 16:9

This same problem existed on the Funimation streaming service. Crunchyroll has been made aware as well and they haven't done anything about it.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

This is indeed a holdover from FunimationNow, fans first noticed it in early 2022. At the time there were no NEPs but it's good they added them, means anyone that wants the authentic Japanese experience they can get it.

It just goes to show there was nothing stopping Funimation from re-releasing the Dragon Box footage, they just refused to do so for years. Why they didn't use it for the dub? I can only guess that for whatever reason, like the aspect ratio they think footage without excessive DNR is for the purists and not a bare minimum.

[MasenkoHA]

When watching in Japanese on CR:

Episodes 1-74 (and any others not mentioned below) are Dragon Box.

Episodes 75, 80, 82, 92, 99, 105-106, 142, 157, 159, 161, 168-169, 172, & 178 are 16:9 Orange Bricks DVD squished to 4:3

Episodes 254-291 are 4:3 Dragon Box stretched to 16:9

This same problem existed on the Funimation streaming service. Crunchyroll has been made aware as well and they haven't done anything about it.

We can't just release Dragon Ball Z without fucking it up. We have a reputation to maintain- FuniRoll, probably

[PowerPhantom245]

We can't just release Dragon Ball Z without fucking it up. We have a reputation to maintain- FuniRoll, probably

Shouldn't it be Crunchymation?
It sounds snazzier. lol

[theoriginalbilis]

When watching in Japanese on CR:

Episodes 1-74 (and any others not mentioned below) are Dragon Box.

Episodes 75, 80, 82, 92, 99, 105-106, 142, 157, 159, 161, 168-169, 172, & 178 are 16:9 Orange Bricks DVD squished to 4:3

Episodes 254-291 are 4:3 Dragon Box stretched to 16:9

This same problem existed on the Funimation streaming service. Crunchyroll has been made aware as well and they haven't done anything about it.

Oh wow... I didn't know that so many Japanese episodes had those problems on Crunchyroll. Now I feel bad for recommending CR to some folks as a way to watch the Dragon Box versions for cheap. I guess fan restorations really are the ideal way to view DBZ until Toei and Shueisha get their acts together, huh?

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I guess fan restorations really are the ideal way to view DBZ until Toei and Shueisha get their acts together, huh?

Yup, Seed of Might's colour correction for original Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT is the absolute best either series has ever looked. As I understand it they'll be finished Dragon Ball Z next year and then we'll have a near perfect way of watching the entire classic anime trilogy.

Of course for obvious reasons no one can advise where to find these releases on here, but they're out there and will probably only become more widely circulated over time (some fans have started bootlegging this restoration and some unofficial dubs like the Uyghur dub are synced to it).

Even if TOEI get their act together I have no faith they will put out a Blu-Ray that looks as nice. I'd fully expect no colour correction, green tint or hell even censoring from them.

[TechExpert2021]

I guess fan restorations really are the ideal way to view DBZ until Toei and Shueisha get their acts together, huh?

Yup, Seed of Might's colour correction for original Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT is the absolute best either series has ever looked. As I understand it they'll be finished Dragon Ball Z next year and then we'll have a near perfect way of watching the entire classic anime trilogy.

We also got the new SoM color-corrected versions of the pre-BoG Dragon Ball movies.

[CashMane]

When watching in Japanese on CR:

Episodes 1-74 (and any others not mentioned below) are Dragon Box.

Episodes 75, 80, 82, 92, 99, 105-106, 142, 157, 159, 161, 168-169, 172, & 178 are 16:9 Orange Bricks DVD squished to 4:3

Episodes 254-291 are 4:3 Dragon Box stretched to 16:9

This same problem existed on the Funimation streaming service. Crunchyroll has been made aware as well and they haven't done anything about it.

That’s so crazy to find out there’s such a weird mishmash of episode quality like that. Kind of reminds me of how Kai on Hulu is the uncut version then for some reason in the middle of the Cell arc, it switches to the edited Nicktoons cut. Even in streaming, dbz cannot seem to catch a break T_T

[TechExpert2021]

When watching in Japanese on CR:

Episodes 1-74 (and any others not mentioned below) are Dragon Box.

Episodes 75, 80, 82, 92, 99, 105-106, 142, 157, 159, 161, 168-169, 172, & 178 are 16:9 Orange Bricks DVD squished to 4:3

Episodes 254-291 are 4:3 Dragon Box stretched to 16:9

This same problem existed on the Funimation streaming service. Crunchyroll has been made aware as well and they haven't done anything about it.

We can't just release Dragon Ball Z without fucking it up. We have a reputation to maintain- FuniRoll, probably

Had Funimation/Crunchyroll released DBZ properly remastered with the correct aspect ratio and colors with no DVNR nowadays, the Funiroll dub fanboys would mostly have been turned off by a perfect DBZ release from them.

[Rory]

Episodes 75, 80, 82, 92, 99, 105-106, 142, 157, 159, 161, 168-169, 172, & 178 are 16:9 Orange Bricks DVD squished to 4:3

I had to actually sign in to check this myself. Just when you thought cropped 16:9 was the worst way to view this series. Absolute mess.

[SuicidalZerg]

When watching in Japanese on CR:

Episodes 1-74 (and any others not mentioned below) are Dragon Box.

Episodes 75, 80, 82, 92, 99, 105-106, 142, 157, 159, 161, 168-169, 172, & 178 are 16:9 Orange Bricks DVD squished to 4:3

Episodes 254-291 are 4:3 Dragon Box stretched to 16:9

This same problem existed on the Funimation streaming service. Crunchyroll has been made aware as well and they haven't done anything about it.

I knew this was the case, it's the reason I actually ended up cancelling my Crunchyroll sub some time ago. But actually getting a list of the episodes that have these issues? I applaud the sacrifice of your eyes to this endeavor.

[Kendamu]

When watching in Japanese on CR:

Episodes 1-74 (and any others not mentioned below) are Dragon Box.

Episodes 75, 80, 82, 92, 99, 105-106, 142, 157, 159, 161, 168-169, 172, & 178 are 16:9 Orange Bricks DVD squished to 4:3

Episodes 254-291 are 4:3 Dragon Box stretched to 16:9

This same problem existed on the Funimation streaming service. Crunchyroll has been made aware as well and they haven't done anything about it.

I knew this was the case, it's the reason I actually ended up cancelling my Crunchyroll sub some time ago. But actually getting a list of the episodes that have these issues? I applaud the sacrifice of your eyes to this endeavor.

The only reason I did it is because last time I sent them a support email about it they said they couldn't do anything about it unless I had the exact episode number. So, I sent them another support email with the exact episode numbers, and nothing has changed.

[TechExpert2021]

When watching in Japanese on CR:

Episodes 1-74 (and any others not mentioned below) are Dragon Box.

Episodes 75, 80, 82, 92, 99, 105-106, 142, 157, 159, 161, 168-169, 172, & 178 are 16:9 Orange Bricks DVD squished to 4:3

Episodes 254-291 are 4:3 Dragon Box stretched to 16:9

This same problem existed on the Funimation streaming service. Crunchyroll has been made aware as well and they haven't done anything about it.

I knew this was the case, it's the reason I actually ended up cancelling my Crunchyroll sub some time ago. But actually getting a list of the episodes that have these issues? I applaud the sacrifice of your eyes to this endeavor.

The only reason I did it is because last time I sent them a support email about it they said they couldn't do anything about it unless I had the exact episode number. So, I sent them another support email with the exact episode numbers, and nothing has changed.

I guess Funimation/Crunchyroll doesn't care about this issue at all. Now it's DBZ on Crunchyroll (and the Funimation streaming service) being DBZ with a mix of the Dragon Box masters in 4:3 (and in stretched 16:9 for episodes 254-291) and the Orange Brick masters in squished 4:3 for episodes 75, 80, 82, 92, 99, 105, 106, 142, 157, 159, 161, 168, 169, 172, and 178.

It's similar to what they did with DBZ Kai on Hulu in which they gave Hulu a mix of edited Nicktoons masters and uncut home-release masters of certain episodes of DBZ Kai.

How totally incompetent they are.

[BootyCheeksJohnson]

This is indeed a holdover from FunimationNow, fans first noticed it in early 2022. At the time there were no NEPs but it's good they added them, means anyone that wants the authentic Japanese experience they can get it.

It just goes to show there was nothing stopping Funimation from re-releasing the Dragon Box footage, they just refused to do so for years. Why they didn't use it for the dub? I can only guess that for whatever reason, like the aspect ratio they think footage without excessive DNR is for the purists and not a bare minimum.

Supposedly Funimation could only get the Dragon Box license from Toei on the condition that they didn't touch the video whatsoever, as Toei wanted to keep the Dragon Boxes as a premium Japanese release. Now I don't know what that license entails for rereleases on physical and streaming, but if it can be streamed without issue (aside from the numerous presentation issues) then I don't know what could be holding them back from releasing this footage again.

[Kendamu]

This is indeed a holdover from FunimationNow, fans first noticed it in early 2022. At the time there were no NEPs but it's good they added them, means anyone that wants the authentic Japanese experience they can get it.

It just goes to show there was nothing stopping Funimation from re-releasing the Dragon Box footage, they just refused to do so for years. Why they didn't use it for the dub? I can only guess that for whatever reason, like the aspect ratio they think footage without excessive DNR is for the purists and not a bare minimum.

Supposedly Funimation could only get the Dragon Box license from Toei on the condition that they didn't touch the video whatsoever, as Toei wanted to keep the Dragon Boxes as a premium Japanese release. Now I don't know what that license entails for rereleases on physical and streaming, but if it can be streamed without issue (aside from the numerous presentation issues) then I don't know what could be holding them back from releasing this footage again.

Dragon Box Z footage has been streamed legally and successfully in the past. This is just a huge technical flub on their part that they're unwilling to fix.

If DBox footage was that big of a deal in terms of rights, CR would've just used the same 16:9 Bluray footage for the Japanese version that they already do for their English version. If they wanted to throw us a bone with 4:3 and the rights were an issue, they have their own 4:3 Bluray release they can turn to for footage.

[TheGreatness25]

Had to check it out for myself. They really did it, didn't they? They took a 16:9 picture and just... squished it to fit 4:3? Who worked on this??? Lol That's ridiculous.

[theoriginalbilis]

If DBox footage was that big of a deal in terms of rights, CR would've just used the same 16:9 Bluray footage for the Japanese version that they already do for their English version. If they wanted to throw us a bone with 4:3 and the rights were an issue, they have their own 4:3 Bluray release they can turn to for footage.

I'm not a fan of the 30th Anniversary footage (too smeary/blurry), but I do not understand why it hasn't been made the default version at this point on streaming or home release outside of laziness. At least it'd be better than footage that's cropped or squished. Like... these guys paid for this "remastering" process, and they've only released it in super limited quantities a couple of times. Feels like Crunchyroll just doesn't want to spend a few extra bucks to replace the video files.

There's a (small) part of me that thinks we may get a new HD/Blu-Ray release from Toei or Crunchyroll someday, but c'mon, the iron's never been hotter. Daima, Sparking! ZERO, and poor Toriyama's passing have only increased the demand for DragonBall products.

[TechExpert2021]

If DBox footage was that big of a deal in terms of rights, CR would've just used the same 16:9 Bluray footage for the Japanese version that they already do for their English version. If they wanted to throw us a bone with 4:3 and the rights were an issue, they have their own 4:3 Bluray release they can turn to for footage.

I'm not a fan of the 30th Anniversary footage (too smeary/blurry), but I do not understand why it hasn't been made the default version at this point on streaming or home release outside of laziness. At least it'd be better than footage that's cropped or squished. Like... these guys paid for this "remastering" process, and they've only released it in super limited quantities a couple of times.

Yeah, the 30th Anniversary BD masters of DBZ should've been the default version of DBZ for home video releases and streaming in English-speaking countries, despite the awful remastering with excessive DVNR+sharpening slapped onto it. But Funimation/Crunchyroll still thinks that DBZ in 4:3 is only for hardcore fans and that DBZ in faux-widescreen cropped 16:9 is for everyone else.