VIZBIG or Tankobon?! The Big Decision!!

[Golden Lockhart]

First, I shall relay my tale.

I am just three volumes away of completing the Dragonball tankobon. Afterwards, I am going to start collecting the Dragonball Z manga. Now here is where I'm having the struggle:

The tankobon have the neat covers on each issue and the spine picture is darn nifty. Three of these (at least at the local Borders) are $26 even.

The VIZBIG Dragonball Z could be censored even more than the tankobon. Neither the spine art or the front cover art is there but it's three volumes for $17.99!

So, could you fellow readers help me decide which is the best way to enjoy the epic manga? If this subject is already in another thread, kindly let me know.

Thank you.

[Herms]

I'd say just get the tankoubon. It will be a long time before all of the DBZ VIZBIG are out, and they have more censorship than the tankoubon, and leave most of the color pages in black and white. Although they are cheaper, and buying them as they are released would be much friendlier on your wallet then buying up all of the tankoubon back to back, so if money is a major consideration, go with the VIZBIG.

[Super Ghost Kamikaze]

Another note:

Buy them 2 at a time from Amazon, and you get them for less than $14 each with free shipping.

[SSJ2bardock]

My personal experience with the tankobon has been satisfying so I'd recommend them.

[Super Sayian Prime]

Isn't Viz going to be releasing a DBZ manga boxset, or is that just for DB? If it's for Z, I'd say wait for that and see what's people's opinion on it.

[omegacwa]

I was lucky enough to recently get all of the Dragon Ball tankobon (not Z which I already had, which is a mixed bag of unedited and edited ones) off eBay for dirt cheap, and not only were they brand new, they were the original unedited printings.

[Captain Awesome]

Isn't Viz going to be releasing a DBZ manga boxset, or is that just for DB? If it's for Z, I'd say wait for that and see what's people's opinion on it.

In the previews magazine at my local comic book store, it had both the DB and Z boxes pictured, they're basically the original Viz tankobon releases in tin suitcases. The main thing that's tempting about the boxsets, is simply getting the entire series in one go (okay, technically two ) but these are just the Viz tankobon in a shiny metal box.

The Viz big however have a far better print quality, and some colour pages, however so far they are edited in the same way the second printings of the Viz tankobon were, with some additional dialog edits, and they're really god damn heavy.

I'm in the middle of the road about it, I just picked up DBZ Vizbig #2 just because it was so cheap, but I prefer the tankobon format, so if I'm able to get the boxes for a decent price online, I'll jump ship, but for now the Viz big are the right price.

[fps_anth]

If you have that many tankobon, I say you just get the rest that you need and avoid the long wait for the Viz Big that you require.

Unless, of course, you're really patient and want those color pages.

[Captain Awesome]

Fixed now

Unless, of course, you're really patient and want half those color pages.

[Super Ghost Kamikaze]

Well, some math.

There are 26 DBZ volumes(right?). So if you got the big Viz things for $14 a pop, that's like paying for every third volume. So basically, you end up saving on 8-9 volumes, or basically "Over 50 bucks".

Singles at $7 a pop: $182
VIZBIG at $14 a pop: Something like $120.

That dollar difference is not insignificant.

[Super Saiyan Turlast x4]

Captain Awesome, have you heard any additional information about the Hardcover Editions? I really want to know how those are supposed to be, since they sound interesting.

I think you (Golden) should continue to get the Tankoubon if you really don't care about the color pages. It all depends on how you want your collection to be in my opinion.

[rackhami]

The VIZBIG Dragonball Z could be censored even more than the tankobon.

A (not-so-)quick intro:

I own all forty-two volumes of DB(Z) in the smaller tankoubon-sized format Viz switched to in the mid-2000s as well as most of the larger graphic novels Viz published in the early 2000s. As others have catalogued, there are a number of differences between the original, oversized graphic novels Viz put out and the smaller tankoubon they're currently publishing. I don't know if they've made additional edits to later editions of the smaller tankoubon; I'd have to check some of my older small-sized volumes against the newer stuff at Borders. I also own the three VIZBIG volumes currently available (volume one of DB and volumes one and two of DBZ).

I did a quick flip through of the DBZ VIZBIG volumes, and according to what I checked, the artwork doesn't appear to be altered or censored (at least, not in any new ways). However, Viz has removed a number of profanities present in the smaller tankoubon. Here's one example, the first I found, actually:

Volume two of DBZ (fourth printing May 2005), page 61:

PICCOLO: I shudder to think what would have happened if those Saiyan bastard were to have transformed into that monster...

(Note: The typo re: the Saiyan bastards is present in the book itself; it is not mine.)

DBZ VIZBIG volume one (first printing May 2008), page 207:

PICCOLO: I shudder to think what would happen if those Saiyans transform like that...

Again, I did not do an in-depth examination, I just double-checked a few key passages that stuck out in my mind.

Sadly, though Viz was kind enough to thoroughly remove any and all questionable/scandalous/PG-rated language, they did nothing to improve Piccolo's frequently absurd dialogue in the first tankoubon (courtesy Trish Ledoux? I think?). I'm still trying to puzzle out how some of those sentences work.

So! Enough with the rambling, I feel! Based off a quick glance:

+ NO: New edits of the artwork.
+ YES: New edits of the dialogue.

I'm of two minds re: the profanity issue. I don't think it's that big a deal, so long as they find clever ways around it (by which I mean, do not make Vegeta bust out the dangs and the hecks). BUT I recognize that it can contribute to a general change in tone, and that by censoring a character's dialogue, you can alter the character. (Hello! I am an embittered Eyeshield 21 fan who feels that altering Hiruma's habit of calling people "fucking [fatass/manager/etc.]" to "damn [fatty/manager/etc.]" basically defangs the character. And let's not even get into the ridiculous cries of "darn it!" that populate Bleach. So, yeah, I understand why people would be upset with Viz deciding to clean up the dialogue in DB(Z) yet again.)

Moving on!

In terms of paper quality, VIZBIG is definitely superior. The pages are crisp and incredibly smooth (oh my goodness, so smooth!), and what color pages they've allowed are gorgeous. I love huge and unwieldy omnibuses - seriously, I adore them - so the size and weight of the VIZBIG editions don't bother me; they're actually the major selling point (for me). A single VIZBIG volume is actually slimmer than the three individual tankoubon when they're grouped together, but it's taller and substantially heavier (thanks in large part to the quality of the paper and the binding, I imagine), so while it's more convenient with regards to storage, it might not be as convenient when traveling or reading. The VIZBIG editions are also distinctly lacking with regards to bonus features, which appear to consist entirely of (some) color pages and a comprehensive title page gallery. I've no idea how well the VIZBIG volumes will hold up in the long run, but the individual tankoubon seem to hold together quite nicely. The tankoubon also have an edge up on the VIZBIG editions, given the latter is still being released, though in the long run, you'll probably save quite a bit of money investing in the VIZBIG editions as opposed to the individual tankoubon (unless you can find a decent deal on a full or partial set at eBay, Amazon, etc.).

[Levlik]

Volume two of DBZ (fourth printing May 2005), page 61:

PICCOLO: I shudder to think what would have happened if those Saiyan bastard were to have transformed into that monster...

(Note: The typo re: the Saiyan bastards is present in the book itself; it is not mine.)

DBZ VIZBIG volume one (first printing May 2008), page 207:

PICCOLO: I shudder to think what would happen if those Saiyans transform like that...

Ok, that's awful strange. Here's what my Volume 2 looks like, it's the first printing from November of 2000:


The translation was originally "soldiers". How odd. So, it went from no profanity, to added profanity (complete with a grammatical error)...to no profanity again. I seriously had no idea Viz actually went and ADDED offensive language in their later revisions.

[Captain Awesome]

Captain Awesome, have you heard any additional information about the Hardcover Editions? I really want to know how those are supposed to be, since they sound interesting.

Nothing that we haven't heard already, it sounds to me like they're the same thing Viz has done for Naruto, a hardcover copy of one volume.

[rackhami]

Ok, that's awful strange. Here's what my Volume 2 looks like, it's the first printing from November of 2000:


The translation was originally "soldiers". How odd. So, it went from no profanity, to added profanity (complete with a grammatical error)...to no profanity again. I seriously had no idea Viz actually went and ADDED offensive language in their later revisions.

That is seriously weird! I could understand slipping in profanity in the original oversized run, when they were still trying to advertise it as suitable for teens (as opposed to their current prevalent All Ages policy), but it's very strange that Viz would alter the text to add profanity to the later All Ages edition.

Has anyone here read the original Japanese and if so, could you weigh in as to which (bastards v. soldiers) is the more accurate translation?

[Herms]

The original line goes like this:

saiyajin no yatsura ga an'na bakemono ni nattara to omou to zotto suru ze...

yatsura basically means "guys". yatsu is an informal way of referring to someone, and adding the "ra" makes it plural. Throughout DragonBall, it's fairly common for character x to refer to character y as "y no yatsu", which would come out to roughly "that guy y", although in actual translations this tends to get left out, since it usually sounds arkward. I can kind of see how they got "bastards" from it, since it is informal and all, but yarou is what's usually translated as "bastard", since it's much ruder. Translating it as "soldiers" is rather out of left field. I'd say leaving it out entirely is the best thing.

For the record, aside from "bastards/soldiers", the rest of the translation is spot on.

[SSJ Helldog]

In the previews magazine at my local comic book store, it had both the DB and Z boxes pictured, they're basically the original Viz tankobon releases in tin suitcases. The main thing that's tempting about the boxsets, is simply getting the entire series in one go (okay, technically two ) but these are just the Viz tankobon in a shiny metal box.

Ok, metal box is lame. It's like goth girls using lunch boxes as purses. But any word on the prices of these sets? I'll probably go with the cheaper of the options between these and the VizBig.

[rackhami]

Herms: thank you! I'm super late with saying so and I apologize.

For the record, aside from "bastards/soldiers", the rest of the translation is spot on.

That's very reassuring! So, yeah, I'm going to go ahead and assume that in at least this one instance, the VIZBIG translation is the more accurate translation.

Thank you! :)

[Herms]

Herms: thank you! I'm super late with saying so and I apologize.

Sure, no problem. Incidently, is that Lum in your avatar? Then I take it you were already familiar with the word yatsura.

[Rory]

Since I JUST bought all the manga (finally), I doubt I'll be buying any more VIZBIGS.
I'm happy with my wall spread Dragonballs.