Is there any reason to buy DVDs/Blu-rays anymore when the episodes are streamed online?

[PhantomSaiyan]

You are at the literal mercy of heartless corporations if you dont own the series on home media.

Only if they have morals strong enough to hold them back from pirating

[TheGreatness25]

Honestly, I think it's a safe bet that Crunchyroll will keep the Dragon Ball library for as long as they're in business (or they lose the rights to stream Dragon Ball for some reason).

Personally, I ripped all my DVDs and Blu-rays and am planning to put them up on Plex after some editing (adding in the Latin American dub, English and Latin American closed captions, and as a very ambitious project, sync up the Blue Water and Westwood dub audio tracks). I was originally just going to use the Dragon Boxes as the video source, but am toying with the idea of throwing up the various releases (all with the different audio tracks and subtitles, etc.).

That's kind of the appeal of all the DVDs and Blu-rays--just seeing all the different versions. In a perfect world, I would just make all of the releases be different video tracks oer episode in one MKV file (like on the old DVDs where you can pick different "angles"), but Plex won't recognize them. As I said: super ambitious project, but I've been working on these things for a while in my own amateur, DIY, learn-as-you-go kind of way.

My collection isn't at my home because it's extensive. It lives on hard drives as ISO and MKV files. But, I'd still get them to support the series and to have all these different versions. If you don't care about that stuff and just want to watch it like most people do (without all the quirky things I'm interested in), then I'm pretty sure you'd be fine with Crunchyroll.

[PowerPhantom245]

Another importance about physical media (DVD/Blu-ray/4K UHD) is that they ALWAYS have higher/better quality (bitrates) than streaming.

When you OWN/purchase physical media, you own it forever; streaming tends to be removed from services frequently.
If you buy $100 worth of movies (5~7 packs) on streaming, they can remove it within few days (or hours) with (or without) notification, and money you spend would be wasted. $100 movie box sets are forever.

[BootyCheeksJohnson]

You get the video fully uncompressed when watching it on disc so it'll be a higher bit rate than the stream video which will be more heavily compressed. However this is irrelevant when nearly every home release of this franchise is incomplete or horribly made. So I guess the answer to your question would be "no".

[TheGreatness25]

If you buy $100 worth of movies (5~7 packs) on streaming, they can remove it within few days (or hours) with (or without) notification, and money you spend would be wasted. $100 movie box sets are forever.

As I previously mentioned, Crunchyroll will likely have its Dragon Ball content until it goes out of business or they lose their streaming rights. Yes, it could happen, but it's unlikely to for a long, long, long time.

As far as actually purchasing, we're talking about Amazon? To my understanding, if you purchase videos on Amazon, they don't take down your purchases, right? You basically have access to them until Amazon goes out of business? I don't know, I've never purchased a video on Amazon (would rather have it on DVD/Blu-ray and rip it).

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Crunchyroll may always have the rights to Dragon Ball, but they will only ever offer their version of the show, which is fine for some fans, but there are others (like myself) who like the alternate dubs.

If you want to own rarities like the Pioneer movie trilogy buying discs is the only way, as they may never be available to stream. Then you also have things like Kai, which a new release (streaming or otherwise) containing the Yamamoto score is out of the question, which also add value to the DVD and Blu-Ray releases.

[PowerPhantom245]

As I previously mentioned, Crunchyroll will likely have its Dragon Ball content until it goes out of business or they lose their streaming rights. Yes, it could happen, but it's unlikely to for a long, long, long time.

As far as actually purchasing, we're talking about Amazon? To my understanding, if you purchase videos on Amazon, they don't take down your purchases, right? You basically have access to them until Amazon goes out of business? I don't know, I've never purchased a video on Amazon (would rather have it on DVD/Blu-ray and rip it).

I mean if internet goes down, it's the same thing; you can't watch it!
Best thing about physical media? You don't need to be online to watch it.

If you want to own rarities like the Pioneer movie trilogy buying discs is the only way, as they may never be available to stream. Then you also have things like Kai, which a new release (streaming or otherwise) containing the Yamamoto score is out of the question, which also add value to the DVD and Blu-Ray releases.

A rare OOP release makes physical media something special.

[LostTimeLord]

Crunchyroll will likely have its Dragon Ball content until it goes out of business or they lose their streaming rights.

There's been a couple cases of digital Dragon Ball content 'disappearing' in the past few years. Super: Broly came with a "Funimation Digital Copy" that only lasted five years despite Funimation very much still being in business as Crunchyroll. Earlier this year, Microsoft Movies & TV shut down without any notice within weeks of Daima being released on that platform, and while our existing libraries will continue to work, there's no incentive for Microsoft to support said libraries in the future.

Even when the content isn't as risk, you're at the mercy of the app's owners continuing to support your specific hardware. Prime Video updated its PC app in the last year or so to remove support for UHD and 5.1 audio. YouTube Movies "temporarily" reverted many devices to 480p in October 2020, and five years later they still haven't undone that change. The iTunes app will inevitably be shut down as the Movies and Shows are migrated to Apple TV, but the new app only supports iTunes Extras through Apple-branded devices. And yet I have a DVD of Dragon Ball Z: Arrival that plays good as new, and I don't need to rely on Pioneer, or Crunchyroll, or Toei, or any one manufacturer of DVD Players to retain access to it.

[90sDBZ]

There's a bunch of reasons besides the obvious benefits of actually owning the show and adding to your collection.

This is particularly true with the Dragon Ball franchise and some of the ongoing weird situations on streaming;

-Japanese Z on Crunchyroll is a bizare mishmash of different home releases. Some episodes are Dragon Box footage, while others are cropped 16:9 Orange Brick footage (or Season Blu-rays, I forget which).

-English Z lacks the option for the Faulconer score on Crunchyroll, and is also limited to 16:9 despite a more recent 4:3 home release existing.

-Kai supposedly has a weird history on streaming, with some episodes being Uncut while others are the Edited Nicktoons version. This might have been fixed, although I don't know for certain.

-Daima's English dub inexplicably still isn't available in the UK on either Crunchyroll or Netflix, so can't be watched legally until a home release happens or another company picks up the rights.

[LostTimeLord]

Also:
- The dubbed version of Dragon Ball Super on Crunchyroll is the Adult Swim version, with abridged credit sequences and without the dub's home video revisions.

Daima's English dub inexplicably still isn't available in the UK

At this point, I'm just assuming that the BBC has it and is waiting for a more strategic broadcast/streaming date (possibly alongside the Egghead arc of One Piece???).

[Yellow Flower King]

Or Maybe Pop. Pop still has ratings and Smyth's pours money on the channel to keep airing DB products.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Looks like home video is still growing in the UK:

The report mentions that the the BBFC is classifying more anime than ever before for physical media release in the UK. "In 2025 so far, anime has accounted for nearly a quarter (24%) of content classified by the BBFC for release on DVD and Blu-ray – a proportion that has more than doubled in recent years."

[PowerPhantom245]

Looks like home video is still growing in the UK:

The report mentions that the the BBFC is classifying more anime than ever before for physical media release in the UK. "In 2025 so far, anime has accounted for nearly a quarter (24%) of content classified by the BBFC for release on DVD and Blu-ray – a proportion that has more than doubled in recent years."

Isn't home video market bigger in Europe/UK than North America/USA?
I know Arrow Video UK has been releasing tons of movies on BD/4K UHD that has yet to be released in America.
I don't know how big streaming market it is in Europe.

[Yellow Flower King]

Looks like home video is still growing in the UK:

The report mentions that the the BBFC is classifying more anime than ever before for physical media release in the UK. "In 2025 so far, anime has accounted for nearly a quarter (24%) of content classified by the BBFC for release on DVD and Blu-ray – a proportion that has more than doubled in recent years."

This is so encouraging. ESPECIALLY because to realease anything on Home Video in the UK you need to pay a huge amount to have your content verified by the BBFC.

[Von]

-Daima's English dub inexplicably still isn't available in the UK on either Crunchyroll or Netflix, so can't be watched legally until a home release happens or another company picks up the rights.

Since Spain just announced the physical release WITH the Spain-SPA (and probably Catalan) dubs, I wuld guess Toei Europe is FINALLY waking up and DOING SOMETHING for the Euro-Dubs / availability.

(the fact that there's still no French dub despite France being literaly the second consumer of manga / anime, both in raw numbers and in per capita numbers, is still baffling to me)



As for the reason behind owning physical copies:
Netflix JPN is removing DB/Z/Kai at the end of the year.

So, to quote a great philosopher: PHYSICAL MEDIA IS FOREVER, BUY LASERDISK

[PowerPhantom245]

As for the reason behind owning physical copies:
Netflix JPN is removing DB/Z/Kai at the end of the year.

So, to quote a great philosopher: PHYSICAL MEDIA IS FOREVER, BUY LASERDISK

What a poor timing, since next year is 40th anniversary of the original!
A perfect reason why PHYSICAL HOME VIDEO is important.
I really hope original series would get Blu-ray release; even SDBD is still profitable.

[MasenkoHA]

As for the reason behind owning physical copies:
Netflix JPN is removing DB/Z/Kai at the end of the year.

So, to quote a great philosopher: PHYSICAL MEDIA IS FOREVER, BUY LASERDISK

What a poor timing, since next year is 40th anniversary of the original!
A perfect reason why PHYSICAL HOME VIDEO is important.
I really hope original series would get Blu-ray release; even SDBD is still profitable.

Something similar happened to Buffy on Netflix USA. Was on there for years only to get removed on the show’s 20th anniversary in 2017

[Von]

(source for Netflix JPN's removal: https://x.com/antarou_db/status/1998368 ... 65473?s=20

(Andy is in Japan and posted a pic)

[PowerPhantom245]

Something similar happened to Buffy on Netflix USA. Was on there for years only to get removed on the show’s 20th anniversary in 2017

(source for Netflix JPN's removal: https://x.com/antarou_db/status/1998368 ... 65473?s=20

(Andy is in Japan and posted a pic)

I don't understand the mentality of removing a show/movie on anniversary year.
Things are looking really awkward with Netflix these days, so it makes perfect sense this is happening (I think).
How long was Dragon Ball series on Netflix?

[demonontheleft]

I don't understand the mentality of removing a show/movie on anniversary year.
Things are looking really awkward with Netflix these days, so it makes perfect sense this is happening (I think).
How long was Dragon Ball series on Netflix?

It's probably all a failure to renew licenses or just no desire to, it all sucks a lot. Streaming is incredibly convenient but its also a revolving door of what shows or movies are gonna be available.

As unrealistic as it is, would love to see a service that lets you download a movie straight to your computer. But that's just asking to get ripped and sent online lol.