Dragon Ball GT: Season 1 Discussion

[MagicBox]

Okay, I finally got around to listening to these, and the songs are just fantastic. I really wish they had used the original karaoke versions, because the melodies weren't quite as good in the English version, but in all honesty, we're lucky to have these at all. I loved "Dan Dan" and "Hitori ja Nai"; "Don't You See!" was definitely the worst of the three, but it was still nice and again, we're lucky to have these at all.

The credits were also a nice touch. Glad the original staff's finally getting credited. The ending song's title was misspelled, but that's the only oddity that I noticed. I have to ask, though. When the opening switches over to the second one, do the credits continue? If so, do they acknowledge the change in ending song? Also, how are the ending credits handled?

So, um... best DragonBall release ever? Somebody back me up here.

For you "bottom line" people:

The Good:
- Uncropped Fullscreen.
- Dub-with-Japanese-music track.
- English versions of the Japanese songs.
- Both versions of the opening animation are included.
- Both endings are included.
- The eyecatchers are intact.

The Bad:
- No alternate angles.
- The next episode previews are excluded.
- The "GT" logo has apparently been replaced in the opening animation.

I can easily live without the alternate angles, and the logo replacement doesn't bother me at all, really. The editing isn't as bad looking as I thought it was going to be. I can easily live with both of these changes. In all honesty, these two things are common in not only all of FUNi's releases, but in anime releases nowadays anyway.

The only flaw that bothers me is the missing episode previews. It's not a huge loss, but it irks me that this was the only series FUNi had them for and they're excluded. Agh. That's not nearly enough to make me pass on these, though, since FUNimation has just done a grade-A job here and I want to support this. This treatment makes me extremely excited for Dragon Ball's eventual release.

I do have a few more questions now. In addition to the ones I posted above, of course.

- How are the ending credits handled? Are they standard FUNi-fare and only acknowledge the dub staff or do they throw the Japanese cast/crew a bone?

- Since the openings have credits now, there are textless animations provided, right?

It's finally happened. FUNimation finally delivered in spades. This has no FUNi-DragonBall problems. The only issues people could have are general current-day anime release problems. They finally did it. This still feels like a dream.

EDIT: Wait, what? I'm gonna need a little more explanation on the eyecatchers issue.

[MajinVejitaXV]

So, um... best FUNimation DragonBall release ever? Somebody back me up here.

Corrected that for you ;p

I can easily live without the alternate angles, and the logo replacement doesn't bother me at all, really. The editing isn't as bad looking as I thought it was going to be. I can easily live with both of these changes. In all honesty, these two things are common in not only all of FUNi's releases, but in anime releases nowadays anyway.

Is it? Aside from FUNimation, who else does this? I'm trying to think of recent releases and I can't think of any. Most I've seen preserve original logos/title cards, unless I'm (and this is very possible) mistaken.

-Corey

[Super Sonic]

Is no next episode previews such a bad thing? Seeing as the ep is right after it, there's kinda no point to them on the sets except the last ep of the set.

I think so. They're part of the episodes, material Toei gave FUNi that're attached to all of the eps; they aired originally with the episodes in both Japan and America, were included on the prior DVDs, and are all around very fun (well, Japanese version of 'em anyhow). And they're really not a hassle to include, if you don't like them, scene-skip to the next episode. Not including them is just as bad as the lacking of the Japanese title cards IMO, because we know FUNi can include them and that they have included them, but they aren't. And that keeps these releases from being genuinely uncut, something I know we would've all pitched a fit about 3-5 years ago.

Interesting notion, Corey!

That's the other thing I wonder about. Only DB fans get up in arms about title cards not being there. Kenshin and Outlaw Star didn't use the Japanese title cards and no one complained about that.

[MagicBox]

Corrected that for you ;p

Right, right. True haha. That IS a better way of describing it.

Is it? Aside from FUNimation, who else does this? I'm trying to think of recent releases and I can't think of any. Most I've seen preserve original logos/title cards, unless I'm (and this is very possible) mistaken.

Hmm, I'm not too sure which releases do it and which ones don't, but from my experience with other company DVDs, the title cards are usually replaced and the logos sometimes (but not always) go with them. I'm sure we all know by now that FUNi's DVDs exclude them, but on the Viz Media, Manga Entertainment, and Geneon discs that I own, there are no alternate angles. Just English title cards and logos.

Perhaps each release is different and I'm just unlucky. If that's true, then sorry for giving the idea that every company leaves these things out. From my discs, though, I've had this problem.

So yeah, I'm pretty used to this situation.

[Levlik]

Ok, so I've noticed one more bad thing about this release. The eyecatchers have been significantly cut. While they're still there, the middle second or so has been cut in order to fit with the dub's eyecatcher music. While it's not deal-breaking, it's still an annoyance and it doesn't sound right.

Was it that way on the FUNi singles? I don't see why they'd do that now that they're including the Japanese music.

No, the singles had the eyecatchers in their entriety.

The problem now is that, originally, Funimation simply used two video tracks for the intro, eyectachers, and next episode previews (Of which the English video tracks had none). On the singles, it would play the normal video track, but when an eyecatcher came up, it would switch to another video track, and when they were done, it would switch again. This was kind of annoying because every time this happened there was a noticeable half-second long pause.

Now that they're using the Japanese video footage for everything, there's a problem: Funimation's eyecatcher music is a bit shorter than the original music. Instead of doing what they did with the singles, I suppose they figured it would be easier just to cut the footage entirely to fit with the alloted time of the English dub music. This does not present a problem with the intro and closings, however, because the "Grand Tour" song is not on any track.

[Yi Xing Long]

Wow, Broly's Va is a singer? They really didn't put his talent to use in the past, did they.

He also plays Ed in Full Metal Alchemist. He sang the English version of the One Piece OP "We Are."

[bkev]

o.o; why not just let their be silence for awhile?


Oh, right. Almost forgot which company we were dealing with here.

[Super Sonic]

With Pioneer/Geneon, Chobits and Ai Yori Aoshi have them, but have an english translating track, that translates the theme songs, signs, and titles. With Viz I own/seen, the third Inuyasha movie has alternate angles for the title and credits, but the series doesn't. The first two Naruto boxsets, leave everything in Japanese, and don't have English translated signs or title cards like they do on tv, though unlike tv, they put the Shonen Jump logo over the title. Good thing DB and YYH came before that magazine, or else we'd see it on them too.

[Captain Awesome]

So, um... best FUNimation DragonBall release ever? Somebody back me up here.

Corrected that for you ;p

I would agree if the previous single releases didn't have the next episode previews .

That said, I'm still grabbing them up just because of the sheer awesomeness of English Opeing/Endings.

[SonEric84]

Hmm, I only have one set of the old GT release, and English versions of the Japanese songs definitely have my interest peaked. So I think I'll be buying these.

[Super Ghost Kamikaze]

I would agree if the previous single releases didn't have the next episode previews .

That said, I'm still grabbing them up just because of the sheer awesomeness of English Opeing/Endings.

I can't justify spending $1 per minute for english-language footage when we have a perfect release that is readily available in the form of the box sets of the singles. The main issue with those is price, though.

[SonEric84]

Anyone know if the English versions of the opening/endings have shown up on youtube yet? I'd really like to hear them.

[DBHighDefinition]

Anyone know if the English versions of the opening/endings have shown up on youtube yet? I'd really like to hear them.

Heres the opening theme:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DpOG2VN9GGk&fmt=18

[Raki]

I would agree if the previous single releases didn't have the next episode previews .

That said, I'm still grabbing them up just because of the sheer awesomeness of English Opeing/Endings.

I can't justify spending $1 per minute for english-language footage when we have a perfect release that is readily available in the form of the box sets of the singles. The main issue with those is price, though.

Afterwhile the prices of those should drop to the floor. I want the season sets over the singles so I'm going with the sets. No reason not to tell Funimation with my dollar that this is a step in the right direction.

[Captain Awesome]

I would agree if the previous single releases didn't have the next episode previews .

That said, I'm still grabbing them up just because of the sheer awesomeness of English Opeing/Endings.

I can't justify spending $1 per minute for english-language footage when we have a perfect release that is readily available in the form of the box sets of the singles. The main issue with those is price, though.

I personally wish I had waited a little before picking up GT, Madman slashed the prices of each boxset by 20 dollars .

The GT singles are to me the best release FUNimation have ever put out Dragonball-wise, but that's coming from the perspective of a fan of the original Japanese version, But for those interested in a dub track with actual music and not the incoherent bassy ramblings of Menza, I completely understand this set being the definitive release especially considering the English opening/endings and the price.

It's just sad that they cut the next episode previews, thats what stops these sets from being "perfect" in my eyes.

[SonEric84]

Anyone know if the English versions of the opening/endings have shown up on youtube yet? I'd really like to hear them.

Heres the opening theme:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DpOG2VN9GGk&fmt=18

Thanks! They did a pretty good job...can't wait to see the endings.

[Tweaker]

I'm still confused in regards to the eyecatcher issue. Can somebody provide a comparison video so I can work out exactly what the differences are?

[fps_anth]

This looks like some good stuff! The dubbed Dan Dan doesn't sound bad at all (I am a fan of Vic's One Piece song dubs), and the video quality looks really nice. It's a bummer that the original title cards weren't included, but come on, it's a FUNimation release. They were bound to fuck something up. I'm just happy that it's the title cards as opposed to, say, the video being cropped

[MagicBox]

I just realized.

What if FUNi decides to dub the DBZ songs as a result of all this positive feedback?

......

I don't want to buy the damn movies a third time!!!!

[Levlik]

I'm still confused in regards to the eyecatcher issue. Can somebody provide a comparison video so I can work out exactly what the differences are?

Since my DVD ripper is on the fritz, you'll have to suffice with audio, sorry.

Here it is normally:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x071wK6JAnM

Here is what you get on the season set:
http://www.mediafire.com/?wadn3xmdm2x

Also, from skimming around, I've noticed it changes randomly. The first episode cut part of the first eyecatcher out, but leaves the second eyecatcher intact, while some episodes cut both, and some leave both. So far it seems most of the episodes on the first disk cut both, though.