Let's have 7 disks instead of 6...email FUNi!

[SSj_Rambo]

Hey everyone, don't forget to also e-mail FUNi and thank them for doing such a good job with Daizenshuu 1.

Edit: Gah! I meant Viz, not FUNi.

[Kuhan]

Wasn't that Viz?

[Big Boss]

Yeah, that was Viz.

[snaku]

Sent my email.

Dear FUNimation,

Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your recent acquisition of the Dragon Box masters. It has been the greatest wish of myself, and many Dragon Ball fans, to see the domestic release of the Japanese Dragon Box's. However, I do have some concerns over quality of these sets. The original Dragon Box DVDs featured six episodes per disc, with a single audio track. From what I gathered from the press release and the Otacon panel, FUNimation's Dragon Box will feature seven episodes per disc, with at least two audio tracks. The Japanese Dragon Box's are known for their near flawless picture and sound thanks to Pony Canyon's beautiful restoration. My worry is that at seven episodes per disc, and with an extra audio track, the bitrate will be compromised and the DVDs will not live up to the standard set by the Japanese Dragon Box.

I would like to see the FUNimation Dragon Box's expanded from six to seven discs per box, to ensure the best possible Dragon Ball Z experience for the hardcore fan base. I can speak for others in saying that we'd gladly pay at least an extra $5 per box to make this happen. Thank you for your time.

I hope they'll listen. I'd rather have an extra disc, than an 80 page book.

[Kendamu]

Yarp, that was Viz.

http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Ball-Illus ... 384&sr=8-1

[Kuhan]

so, email and thank Viz! lol More Daizenshuu! More Daizenshuu! Except... not... rude like that.

[SSj_Rambo]

Yes, that was Viz (and I did send my e-mail to Viz, so don't worry). It's really early over here, and I shouldn't even be awake right now. My bad.

[KKZ]

Here's mine:

Let me first say that I cannot wait for these Dragon Box Z releases. As a diehard fan of the series for more than a decade now, it's a huge priveledge to be able to purchase something I thought I'd never see in front of my eyes in physical form, let alone be able to own and proudly covet amongst all of my other beautiful DVD sets such as my various Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle DVDs, my limited edition wooden Basilisk DVD box set (Amazing work on this as well, guys), my beautiful Voltron tins, and tons more.

However, I'm a little worried about the amount of discs contained within these releases. With 7 episodes on only 6 discs, instead of the other way around, I fear the the audio and video quality may be worsened compared to the original Dragon Boxes and various Dragon Single releases of the series in Japan. I'm sure the Dragon Box footage cost an arm and a leg to purchase from Toei, and for you to buy such immaculate, beautiful quality only to have it be degraded, even slightly, would be a waste. Regardless of whether or not this set has 6 or 7 discs upon release, I will pre-order this set online as soon as I can or buy it as soon as it's released to retailers. However, I would be more than happy to pay full MSRP (or even more), rather than the likely discounted prices found in major outlets such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy, if you upped the disc count.

I hope you take this e-mail into consideration while you finetune and perfect this release, because I along with tons of other hardcore DBZ fans are rooting for this change to be made. If this issue is rectified, I guarantee that this release will be even more perfect than it already sounds. Thank you for your time!

[Daimo-Rukiri]

Just sent an e-mail, and here's what I wrote.

Dear FUNimation,

Thank you for purchasing the rights to the Dragon Ball Z DVD Box(Dragon Box), but I have a question why you're spreading 42 episodes on 6 disks when the original Dragon Boxs had 6 episodes per disks. You also have to take into account you're adding a English Track, Japanese track with or without subtitles and the X amount of episodes per disk. This is going to compromise quality.
If you can spread your disks to 7 instead of 6 you won't have to sacrifice quality and you can add the English audio track and subtitles.

Please also take into account the original bitrates of the Dragon Boxes, if you add 7 episodes per disk plus all the fixings you will have a lower video/audio quality and very low bit rate. But if you use 7 disks instead of 6 you can spread the episodes evenly and be able to add the extra audio track and subtitles.

Thank You!

- Erick P. Sitter

[bkev]

I remember when there were full-out letters mailed to funimation in protest of the season sets. That didn't work so well it seemed, but maybe this will!

[Kendamu]

I remember when there were full-out letters mailed to funimation in protest of the season sets. That didn't work so well it seemed, but maybe this will!

No, it did work out well. Because of our "We want Dragon Boxes" and "We want 4:3 because we're hardcore like that" letters, we're gonna be buying R1 Dragon Boxes in November. The reason it probably took so long is because Toei didn't wanna give 'em to FUNi and then FUNi wanted to wait until their Season Sets were finished.

[Big Boss]

I remember when there were full-out letters mailed to funimation in protest of the season sets. That didn't work so well it seemed, but maybe this will!

This hasn't been released yet, so there's plenty of time for FUNi to change something so simple that will make their release superior. They listened to us about making the Season Sets spread across 6 disks instead of 5...

[bkev]

What I meant was that very few actual letters were sent.

Anyway, posted the main jist of this to funi forums. Hopefully a few of those guys will send letters too.

[Kaze no Mune]

Here's mine:

Before I get to the point of this e-mail, I'd like to first mention a few things. I'm a long time fan of Dragon Ball Z, and a long time supporter of Funimation's Dragon Ball Z releases. From the VHS releases in the late 90's, to the Season Sets that just recently finished, and now I plan to buy your Dragon Box Z releases as they come out. I am not the only one in this exact same boat. Many of the "hardcore" have spent hundreds, if not thousands, on Funimation's Dragon Ball Z releases. We've dreamt of owning a domestic release of the Dragon Boxes for a long time now. It is our holy grail, and because of this, we (the fans) have high hopes for the U.S. releases. Having said that, I'd just like to take a moment to say this: Thank you so much for doing this for us. This release is mind blowing for many fans in the community, and you have our deepest appreciation.

Now to the concerns that are shared far and wide among the members of DaizenshuuEX (which solely consists of the "hardcore" audience you're trying to cater to). The first and foremost concern that is unanimous among us is the picture quality. The Japanese Dragon Box singles were released with six (6) episodes to a disc, while the announced disc count for Funimation's Dragon Box Z volume 1 with a disc count of six (6) and an episode count of 42. That means 1 more episode per disc, along with the included English audio track. Many of us fear these factors will lead to a reduction in picture quality, and would rather see a higher disc count (and price) than to have our "holy grail" be imperfect in any way.

Two more concerns that we have are whether or not you will be including the extras, and if possible the presents that the original releases saw (the Goku and Piccolo figures). This may not be as big of a concern as the image quality among the "hardcore", but it is by no means small. Because we hold the original Dragon Boxes in such high esteem, and since you are catering to us specifically, we want these. You could easily get away with not including them, however that would completely miss the point I'm sure you're trying to make. These are 100% apart of the Dragon Box experience, and the omission of these would be a travesty.

In summary, the fans are happy with the direction you are going in. We are behind you 100%. However, we still remain worried about how you'll be treating one of the most important releases in Dragon Ball's U.S. history. We want the picture quality to be exactly the same; we want all of the extras; and we don't care if we have to pay a little more than $79.99 inorder to get all of this. So, please, hear our cries once again, and put our worries to rest. Do Dragon Box Z right!

I have a good feeling about this. It would be incredibly short sighted of them to ignore our pleas, but it is Funi. Here's to hoping our e-mails get through to them.

[RoarkVegeta]

Sent!

Hi there. My name is Mitchell Mason, I am huge fan of the Dragonball series. And I am more than delighted to see that you have obtained the Dragon Box masters. However, there may be a few issues:

1. The episode count. Dragon Box Z Volume 1 released by Toei has episode 42 on Disc 7. Your set has episode 42 on disc 6. I would like to have an extra disc. So the video quality isn't hurt.

2. Extras. I would like to see most of the extras from the Dragon Box sets from Japan. Mostly, the "OVA", The Plan to Eradicate The Saiya-jin, and the 2 DBZ TV specials.

Thank you very much for reading this. I'm looking forward to this release.

Best regards,

Mitchell

[RyujiOtogi]

I'm honestly not greatly concerned over this, but it doesn't hurt to give it a try. I sent an email.

Dear FUNimation,

As a 'hard core' fan of Dragon Ball, I am very excited for your release of the Dragon Box. In my opinion, it's the best thing you have ever done with Dragon Ball Z! I will definatley be buying them, even if they're a bit more expensive then the season sets. (we all know the increase in price is worth it, and compared to the costs of the Region 2 release it's a steal) I honestly never thought we would see these released in the U.S. However, one minor but noteworthy concern is the disc count. The original Japanese Dragon Box DVDs had 6 episodes per 1 disc, and contained only one audio track with no subtitles. We fear that putting 7 episodes to a disc with 2-3 audio tracks, optional subtitles, and possibly alternate angles will compromise video/audio quality. The inclusion of the never-before-seen episode previews will also add to the data quantity.

So, by making each box set have 7 discs, with 6 episodes each, the quality we've wanted for so long will be preserved. I assure you that the 'hard core' fans will be willing to pay a few extra bucks if needed for the best Dragon Box experience possible. I will be buying either way. Many others will to-- I'm sure no one will buy the overly expensive Japanese DVDs anymore knowing a Region 1 release is on the horizon. So we beleive you've plenty of room to correct this issue before release in the Fall. Thanks for the time and consideration.

[Haseowolf]

Sent'ed. Fingers crossed...

How to make the Dragon Box even better!

Dear FUNimation,

The recent news of the Dragon Box seeing a North American release really has the community on its head. We never thought we'd see this in a million years. It's really quite stunning! It will really the definitive release of the series in the States. A couple of questions and concerns have arisen and I would hope you could take the time to address them:

The most pressing concern is quality. Yes, you have the original Japanese track on the set, but will also be including a dub. What track will this be? Dub with Japanese BGM or Dub with Broadcast audio? Will they be in stereo or 5.1? All these things added to the disc have to be taken from somewhere and the last thing that should be affected is the video, which you have obviously paid very much to obtain. I think the best way to go about it and avoid any quality loss would be to make the sets 7 discs instead of 6. This would free up a lot of space as the original Japanese release of the Dragon Box had less than a gig of space on the discs with only 6 episodes per disc. This way, the video does not suffer, and those hoping for quality audio tracks gets each release wanted.

A question of small importance, but important nonetheless, is what extras will be included in discs on the set? Will they be the same extras available in the Japanese Dragon Box release? Or others?

With this release announcement, many people in the Dragon Ball community have renewed respect for you and are extremely appreciative of the lengths you gone to to appease the fan base. You have really done a spectacular job and we hope you can continue to surprise us.

Thank you so much for your time. All responses are greatly and humbly appreciated.

Randy Thompson
Age 21
Minnesota

[Rory]

First of all, I would like to express how delighted I am that FUNimation is bringing the Dragon box to the US (and by extension, other English speaking countries). I can imagine it would've taken a severe amount of effort purchasing this from TOEI and Pony Canon, but you are making many Dragonball fans happy with this.
My only worry about this set though, is although it looks as if nothing has been changed, I am a little concerned about the amount of content being put onto these DVDs.
As I'm sure you already know, these DVDs originally had 7 discs, 6 episodes per disc, with only one audio track. This allowed not only the image, but also the audio to be as high quality as possible. I have noticed that your release will contain 6 discs, with 7 episodes per disc, and (at least) 2 audio tracks. Though I am enthralled by this announcement, I cannot help but worry what this compression will do to the quality of the video and audio. Would it be possible to have a release with 7 discs instead of 6? This way, there would be no worries of any compression issues.
I'm sure with this release, you are trying to please the "Hardcore" fan, and to do this, I suggest that the presentation remain as perfect as possible.

One more question, I'm sure that the Jump Anime Special was reffered to right before the "big reveal" of this set, but I was wondering if we'd also be recieving the "OVA" The Plan To Erradicate The Saiya-Jin, which was contained in the original Dragon Box. This has not seen a release anywhere outside of Japan, and it'd be fantastic if it were included in this release, even if it were just subtitled. I'm sure the Jump Anime Special will be released sometime in the future, but it'd also be great if it were contained in this set (which would make it a superior product than the original Dragon Box). This would also benefit you greatly, as I'm sure many importers would buy this product as soon as they heard of its release. Also, will the 2 specials (Trunks and Bardock) be included with this release.

Thank you very much for reading this email, I know it has been quite long, but I appriciate you taking the time to not only read my questions, but hopefully answer them too. I look forward to having the Dragon Box in my collection, and thank you once more for this dream come true!

- Rory McHugo

[MarcFBR]

No doubt I'll be snaking my way onto the next podcast to go over potential video quality on these sets, but I'd figure I'd comment based on calculations and comparisons with bitrates (prior to me comparing numbers I have to content from the actual Dragonbox, which I'll be doing later today thanks to a friend).

More disks is always nicer, but even if it is 6 disks...

I wouldn't worry to much.

But more disks is always nicer.

[ect5150]

>> Weren't you defending "how video compression has drastically changed since 2003." in the other thread

Yes I was. And I still stand by it.

However, according to Corey, FUNi use really outdated encoders. And I don't want to take any risks. No one in their right mind would, we want this release to be perfect.

All is true, but even with more advanced encoders, more bitrate = better quality. High quality actually requires more bitrate. What if there is a chance the R1 could surpass the R2 encoding quality? Its possible, but it requires the higher bitrates... thus the request for less eps per disc.

Also, with several of us on the boards actually trying to re-time the subtitles and the audio, I wonder how FUNI is making out with it. That makes me wonder about any english tracks.