AB vidéo has given up on continuing their Dragon Ball releases on Blu Ray

[Vegeta th3 4th]

The Kanzenban artwork for DB/Z is a really cool idea. I'm looking for Kanzenban style art for GT. Any ideas?

I've found a few but their resolution isn't very high. Seed of Might's Kanzenban release includes the cover art separately and they're extremely high quality.

[TechExpert2021]

That’s unfortunate. AB Groupe did their best to give us the best home video release of the 1986 DB anime (and it looks better than FUNimation's Blue Brick DVDs). And now it went the way of FUNimation's DBZ Levels BD sets.

If i can give one point to SEGA, is that they know their releases suck, and they have no problem with fans "fix" Sonic games or make great mods, sometimes even hire said fans (Christian Whitehead for example )

And on top of those, they also don’t have a problem with fan-games featuring their IPs, unlike Nintendo.

[eledoremassis02]

Not a fan of the whole AI upscale thing but I appreciate the color correction and Broadcast audio. Shame they couldn't get the masters and had to rely on basically ripping DVDs.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I guess the only slight hope for a proper HD release now will be for the 50th anniversary of the anime?

For a series as beloved as Dragon Ball it's a joke we should even have to contemplate having to wait that long for a decent HD remaster that will actually be completed.

Life is too short, it's not too much to ask that at this point we should have an official release that holds up. The Dragon Boxes were fine for the early 2000s, but the entire series is so long overdue a respectable upgrade.

[sangofe]

I guess the only slight hope for a proper HD release now will be for the 50th anniversary of the anime?

For a series as beloved as Dragon Ball it's a joke we should even have to contemplate having to wait that long for a decent HD remaster that will actually be completed.

Life is too short, it's not too much to ask that at this point we should have an official release that holds up. The Dragon Boxes were fine for the early 2000s, but the entire series is so long overdue a respectable upgrade.

I agree but the way Toei has talking to companies like AB, how they handled DBZ Kai, how they brushed off fans that came to them doesn't make me think anything is possible before then. If at all. And how would we know what their release would look like, considering they prefer SV over AB?

[GhostEmperorX]

Looks like it's time to pack it up, I guess. Possibly the last remaining hope for any good home release treatment has been scrapped, and anyone doing this officially who's not Toei will probably encounter the exact same situation all the time.
Not sure there's any reason to repeat the obvious at this point, it's beyond clear to anyone paying attention.

[Vegeta th3 4th]

Possibly the last remaining hope for any good home release treatment has been scrapped.

Seed of Might, a fan group, have done an excellent job color correcting DB, GT, and Z's two Specials. They're currently working on Z's anime & the original 17 movies. It may not be an official release, but it puts everything currently on the market to shame.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

They're currently working on Z's anime & the original 17 movies.

The movies have been white balanced. From what I heard they're undecided about whether or not they will do a full color correction. Hopefully they will get around to it though. Once Z is out we'll be so close to having all the classic material look as close to perfect as possible.

[Vegeta th3 4th]

The movies have been white balanced. From what I heard they're undecided about whether or not they will do a full color correction. Hopefully they will get around to it though.

They said that it was taking too long so they decided to release a white balance edition to hold people over for the full release. I personally like the white balance edition, so I won't lose any sleep if they decide to leave it at that.

Once Z is out we'll be so close to having all the classic material look as close to perfect as possible.

They hinted at a 2026 release, which will be just in time for my next re-watch. Seed of Might is by far the best thing to ever happen to the classic material of the franchise. Toei are insane for not hiring them, as they have so many series they could work on.

[sangofe]

The movies have been white balanced. From what I heard they're undecided about whether or not they will do a full color correction. Hopefully they will get around to it though.

They said that it was taking too long so they decided to release a white balance edition to hold people over for the full release. I personally like the white balance edition, so I won't lose any sleep if they decide to leave it at that.

Once Z is out we'll be so close to having all the classic material look as close to perfect as possible.

They hinted at a 2026 release, which will be just in time for my next re-watch. Seed of Might is by far the best thing to ever happen to the classic material of the franchise. Toei are insane for not hiring them, as they have so many series they could work on.

I really prefer to watch my anime in HD. I hope one day before I die there will be a new remaster of all the classic Dragon Ball series.

[Vegeta th3 4th]

I really prefer to watch my anime in HD. I hope one day before I die there will be a new remaster of all the classic Dragon Ball series.

Same here. In an ideal world we'd have an official release that's in 1080p, that's in the original 4:3 aspect ratio, that's color correct, and that uses the broadcast audio. Seed of Might's release thankfully has 3 of the 4 things I want. Maybe the day will come when Toei is under new management and they value their old releases, but I honestly don't see that happening.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I hope one day before I die there will be a new remaster of all the classic Dragon Ball series.

Me too, although it may seem unlikely now, perhaps as Vegeta th3 4th says one day TOEI could be under new management and we could see a drastic change within the company. Hopefully it happens before the original video masters have deteriorated to the point they become unusable.

They hinted at a 2026 release, which will be just in time for my next re-watch.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to rewatching Z when they've finished colour correcting it. I watched Seed of Might's releases of original Dragon Ball and GT. It was my first time rewatching with the broadcast audio and seeing things like the original Japanese title cards and next episode previews for the first time, so it was nice to have the purest experience of these shows possible with the best ever picture quality as the cherry on top.

Seed of Might is by far the best thing to ever happen to the classic material of the franchise. Toei are insane for not hiring them, as they have so many series they could work on.

For sure, I know Seed of Might have worked on Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop and as a result get requests for colour correcting other anime, but I don't blame them for only doing a few series because it's very time consuming and obviously they don't get paid for it.

If they were TOEI employees or even freelancers for any other major anime producer they could be properly rewarded for the job they do and have more incentive to work on other shows if they so desired. I'm just grateful that Dragon Ball is one of the shows they chose to do as a passion project.

[Cold Skin]

Too bad, I know they wanted the best quality, but the first part was already great as it was!
I respect them for trying to get the best and even for delaying things while trying to negociate as hard as they could! I was fine with that.

But when it kept failing due to Toei's stubborn attitude and they saw it would go nowhere, they shoud have just gone with the quality they already had, saying "we'll keep going with the same footage, we could have had better, but it's already way better than most - if not all - other official versions available".

Really, I'm not the forgiving type with old footage that looks/sounds old, if it was too low quality, I would have said "yeah, well, it's not that great" without mercy, and yet I had great pleasure watching this first half! I would have bought a second half of the same quality without a second thought!

Keep in mind that it's possible they could have continued the same way with DBZ, as a natural continuation.

It's very rare that French DB products get unfinished, all of our DB products here usually continue until the end! It's really an exception!
I would never have expected that, it's such a shame.

[Vegeta th3 4th]

It's very rare that French DB products get unfinished, all of our DB products here usually continue until the end! It's really an exception!
I would never have expected that, it's such a shame.

Toei just continues to prove how little respect they have for the classic era of the franchise. Can you even buy DB, Z, & GT in Japan outside those dragon box singles they released in the late 2000s ?

[Cold Skin]

^ Not from what I know, which is baffling for such a legendary franchise in its own country!

[Vegeta th3 4th]

^ Not from what I know, which is baffling for such a legendary franchise in its own country!

Dragon Ball is divided into 26 sets.
Dragon Ball Z is divided into 49 sets.
Dragon Ball GT is divided into 11 sets.
The movies are divided into 17 sets.
Z's Specials have their own set.
GT's special can't be bought at all.

What the actual hell ? That's over 100 sets to own the series legally in Japan. That doesn't take into account whether or not they're still in-print, meaning that it could be even harder to own if you have to buy each set from a private seller. Why haven't they collected them into smaller box sets ? I just don't get this company at all. As much shit as a I give Funimation for their handling of the franchise, at least I can legally own it without any issues, as crappy as they may be.

[Cold Skin]

^ This is quite a mess.
And the fact that they haven't produced an HD remaster of DB and DBGT is incredible!

Even DBZ should get such a treatment for those who want the original, but I understand more how they could go "well, you've got Kai, that's good enough!".
But DB and DBGT didn't have any Kai-like treatment and nothing has been done to make them available in proper, cleaned up HD.

The anime series that they keep exploiting with countless popular side products nowadays don't get cleaned up to current standards in its own country, to be decently watchable by newer generations and therefore sell even more products based on characters from said series!

[lansing]

I don't understand why couldn't they just keep it on with the DVD source? Why rage quit now?

[MasenkoHA]

^ This is quite a mess.
And the fact that they haven't produced an HD remaster of DB and DBGT is incredible!

Even DBZ should get such a treatment for those who want the original, but I understand more how they could go "well, you've got Kai, that's good enough!".
But DB and DBGT didn't have any Kai-like treatment and nothing has been done to make them available in proper, cleaned up HD.

The anime series that they keep exploiting with countless popular side products nowadays don't get cleaned up to current standards in its own country, to be decently watchable by newer generations and therefore sell even more products based on characters from said series!

I think Toei cares about Og Dragon Ball and GT about as much as Crunchymation does (not at all).


Some of their licensees like Selecta Vision have done full blu ray release of original Dragon Ball so nothing is stopping Toei from using those they just don’t want to. I would maybe hazard a guess Toei isn’t comfortable with some of the content in original Dragon Ball if their censoring of Z movies is any indication but I’ve heard their old kids shows with equally racy material has gotten high def home video release so idk.

With the 1986’s 40th anniversary and GT’s 30th anniversary next year it would be cool if Toei did something, but I’m not holding my breath.

[sangofe]

^ This is quite a mess.
And the fact that they haven't produced an HD remaster of DB and DBGT is incredible!

Even DBZ should get such a treatment for those who want the original, but I understand more how they could go "well, you've got Kai, that's good enough!".
But DB and DBGT didn't have any Kai-like treatment and nothing has been done to make them available in proper, cleaned up HD.

The anime series that they keep exploiting with countless popular side products nowadays don't get cleaned up to current standards in its own country, to be decently watchable by newer generations and therefore sell even more products based on characters from said series!

I think Toei cares about Og Dragon Ball and GT about as much as Crunchymation does (not at all).


Some of their licensees like Selecta Vision have done full blu ray release of original Dragon Ball so nothing is stopping Toei from using those they just don’t want to. I would maybe hazard a guess Toei isn’t comfortable with some of the content in original Dragon Ball if their censoring of Z movies is any indication but I’ve heard their old kids shows with equally racy material has gotten high def home video release so idk.

With the 1986’s 40th anniversary and GT’s 30th anniversary next year it would be cool if Toei did something, but I’m not holding my breath.

The question is can we trust them to do good results or use a company that will give good results?