Hey guys, help me figure it out.

[Sicario]

Hey DB fans

First off, I have always been a fan of Dragonball, I started watching it on Toonami in the 90's. Now, I joined the US Marine Corps a little over a year ago, and need a great show to watch during my off time. The thing is, I have NO IDEA what box set to buy. I want uncut footage, no cropping, with both original score and Bruce's score(sorry guys, I grew up in FUNi North America). I have heard great things about the Dragon Box, and mixed reviews on the orange bricks. Or should I wait for Dragonball Kai, OR should I just buy all of them?

As I'm in the service and don't have a ton of free time on my hands right now, I ask you guys forgive me for not using Google to find my information, but I figured If anyone can help me with my choice, its you guys here. Thank you guys and gals at Daizenshuu for keeping DB alive for a new generation of viewers.

oorah

[VegettoEX]

Welcome!

The first thing I'll do is point you on over to our "Reviews" section. Anything you want to know about the current Dragon Box sets will be covered over in there. We also address comparisons to/with the prior orange bricks and Kai, so that might be all you need. There is a review of the first Japanese Blu-ray release of Kai in there, too, so at least the look at the content of it should help out a bit. We launched the section after the orange bricks were complete, but you can check out our review of the first one from 2007 back on Episode #0065 of our podcast (apologies for the old sound quality!). As for a domestic release of Kai itself, our review is still in the works, but our buddies over at The Fanboy Review and Kanzentai already have some takes up.

In the long run, it really comes down to a couple key questions you need to ask yourself:

• What is my pure nostalgia of the old English dub compared to my interest in what the show truly is?
• How dedicated do I want to get / how much time to I want to sink in to learning more and experiencing more?
• How much cash do I want to drop on this?

There's at least one product out there for you -- possibly two, and almost certainly not three or more.

What am *I* going to suggest? Picking up the Dragon Box sets and exclusively watching the series in Japanese .

[Nils_McCloud]

uncut footage, no cropping, with both original score and Bruce's score

The only thing that comes close to that are the single dvd releases from years ago. They aren't cropped, are uncut, have the original Japanese and the Faulconer score, but have quite a few lesser qualities as well. No episode previews, occasionaly incorrect opening animations (please refer to the great article Mr. Ex wrote about the history of DB dvd-releases) and the picture quality of course just isn't the best out there (though by no means as bad as the season sets).

If you're willing to let go of the Faulconer score (I'm attached to that music too, I know what it's like , but I got over it ) the Dragon Box sets are the way to go. It's a better option than the butchered, cropped picture that the season sets have to offer. You might wanna check out the dvd section.

Your choice .

[SuperSaiyan3Goku]

Well, here are the current "versions" of Dragonball Z that have been released:

- Single DVDs. (2002-2006) These are the first (or second, if you count the first 2 seasons) of Funimation's releases of Dragonball Z. These feature non-cropped footage, both Uncut English (With Bruce Falconer's score) and original Japanese. These feature no episode previews, sometimes wrong episode openings (As Cha-La-Head-Cha-La has a few different variations)

- Remastered sets. This was the first time Funimation gave us the entire series with Falconer's music and Japanese version, AND Japanese music with the dub. The major downside is the cropped footage, to make it "edgier". I prefer not buying these, save your money.

- Dragonbox sets. This is the best Dragonball Z release that Funimation has put out, splitting the 2 Dragonball Z Dragonboxes from Japan into 7 sets, with the great picture, sound quality, and the 2 Dragonbooks split into 7, so all the info can be crammed in. I personally 100% recommend these sets as I have the first 3, and they are fantastic.

You say you want the series uncut, un-cropped, and with Falconer's score. Then I say you hunt down the single releases. When Dragonball Z was released in the states, Pioneer/Funimation released the first two "seasons" of Z, with a completely different voice cast, and different music. Starting with the Freeza "saga" they replaced their current cast with the one they have now. They also brought in Falconer, and that's how it's been for the rest of the series. Funimation DID release half of the Saiyan episodes on DVD in a "Ultimate Uncut Edition" line. They stopped half-way, and didn't even get to Namek. All those episodes are included in the "remastered" sets, and even the Dragonboxes. The Dragonboxes only have the Japanese score, with no Falconer music to be seen. So it's really your choice, I don't recommend spending your money on ALL of their Z releases, just the one you want.

[Vegeta Jr]

Did the singles have subtitles though? I don't remember them having any.

[Nils_McCloud]

Did the singles have subtitles though? I don't remember them having any.

Sure, by the honorable Mr. Simmons.

[Haseowolf]

Did the singles have subtitles though? I don't remember them having any.

The edited dub only singles didn't, if that's what you are remembering. FUNi released edited, dub only version of the singles alongside unedited, hybrid singles.

[VegettoEX]

Did the singles have subtitles though? I don't remember them having any.

The edited dub only singles didn't, if that's what you are remembering. FUNi released edited, dub only version of the singles alongside unedited, hybrid singles.

I'm fairly sure the only edited DVDs FUNimation put out post-1999 were of some of the movies. VHS, sure, there was the edited and "uncut" versions. DVDs? Nope, TV series was always only uncut.

[Haseowolf]

Did the singles have subtitles though? I don't remember them having any.

The edited dub only singles didn't, if that's what you are remembering. FUNi released edited, dub only version of the singles alongside unedited, hybrid singles.

I'm fairly sure the only edited DVDs FUNimation put out post-1999 were of some of the movies. VHS, sure, there was the edited and "uncut" versions. DVDs? Nope, TV series was always only uncut.

But then what's up with this?
http://community.funimation.com/tm.aspx?m=33947

Scrolling down to the DBZ TV series single releases it says they were available in two flavors: Edited Dub Only and Bi-lingual Unedited.

Is something amiss?

[VegettoEX]

I think you're mis-reading and combining sections.

At the risk of explaining what we already know, episodes "1" through "53" (corresponding to 1-68) were first produced in an edited, dub-only format... and were released to DVD in an edited, dub-only format. This would be "seasons one and two" as produced by FUNimation and distributed on home format by Pioneer through 1998.

Things shifted in 1999 when syndication was out the window and everything was internal to FUNimation. VHS was dub-only but had edited and "uncut" versions, while DVD had uncut English/Japanese.

Pretty much all there is to it.

[Haseowolf]

Taken right from the "Season Three" DVD's onward:

(Pictured Above: Volumes 19, 28, 31, 34, 46, & 50.)

These were FUNimation's first wave of DBZ DVDs after they become their own distributor. In an effort to please every kind of fan, most of these DVDs were released in two formats: edited and unedited. The edited versions contained only the English television version of the show, and the unedited versions contained an uncut English dub along with the original Japanese version with subtitles. Both versions had the same coverart images, and could only be told apart by an area at the lower-right corner of the front of every volume, which either said "Edited English Version Only" or "Contains 2 Uncut Versions." Now, you're probably wondering how FUNimation managed to spread out these episodes onto 69 different volumes. The answer is simple: each volume only contains about three or four episodes per disc. If you feel you may be interested in collecting these uncut DVDs, make sure your wallet can handle the investment. Also, at three episodes per disc, these DVDs will take up a great deal of shelf space. Keep in mind that these DVDs are out-of-print and won't be as easy to find as they used to be.

It only says "most," not "all," but it's talking about TV series releases and not the movies. I'm not trying to be a dick or anything, I just wanna make sure I know the truth.

[VegettoEX]

Huh. Missed that part.

Don't know what to tell you. They're wrong.

[ShiningMoon]

Assuming I'm thinking of the right thing with the "singles" (the DVDs with about three episodes apiece?) one or two of mine have the Funi dub and Japanese with subs, where the subs are just the words from the dub. >.< (Making it extremely obvious when lines were added that weren't there before -- "I don't hear any voices, but words keep popping up on the screen.")

Sorry if I'm not thinking about the right thing, but just a note I wanted to make (that's been bugging me for some time). I didn't buy them especially earlier than any of the other, similar DVDs, but they were from the Freeza arc.

Aaand, to answer the question (even though I claim to be in no way even approaching the credibility of others around here, insofar as go opinions on this type of stuff), if there's any way you can do without the Faulconer score...the Boxes. I have a handful of the singles (if they are what I'm thinking of), and the first three Boxes, and I far and away recommend the Boxes. Of course, I got them planning on watching the eps exclusively in Japanese, so...

[Gaffer Tape]

Assuming I'm thinking of the right thing with the "singles" (the DVDs with about three episodes apiece?) one or two of mine have the Funi dub and Japanese with subs, where the subs are just the words from the dub. >.< (Making it extremely obvious when lines were added that weren't there before -- "I don't hear any voices, but words keep popping up on the screen.")

While I believe they had a separate dubtitle track to go along with the dub, there was never a bilingual release by FUNimation that only had dubtitles. It was possible to mix and match to watch one with the other, but it wasn't default. You can bet the fanbase would have been up in arms if they had tried to get away with just slapping on dubtitles. Simmons was on board from the very first Ginyu-Assault disc.

And Mike's right... that paragraph is just wrong. There were never any edited, dub-only discs from episodes of season 3 onwards. Only some of the movies had an edited, dub-only release. I'm not sure who wrote that, but it doesn't sound like official FUNimation PR. For one, it doesn't seem like they'd outwardly admit a low episode count. Two, the blurb "2 Uncut Editions" was never specifically used. Their standard line was, "Includes 2 Versions: English Uncut Version & Original Japanese Version Subtitled in English."

[Innagadadavida]

Hey DB fans

First off, I have always been a fan of Dragonball, I started watching it on Toonami in the 90's. Now, I joined the US Marine Corps a little over a year ago, and need a great show to watch during my off time. The thing is, I have NO IDEA what box set to buy. I want uncut footage, no cropping, with both original score and Bruce's score(sorry guys, I grew up in FUNi North America). I have heard great things about the Dragon Box, and mixed reviews on the orange bricks. Or should I wait for Dragonball Kai, OR should I just buy all of them?

As I'm in the service and don't have a ton of free time on my hands right now, I ask you guys forgive me for not using Google to find my information, but I figured If anyone can help me with my choice, its you guys here. Thank you guys and gals at Daizenshuu for keeping DB alive for a new generation of viewers.

oorah

Well, what most people here won't tell you is that, objectively, the orange bricks aren't that bad. Yes, they are a money grubbing lie put out to appeal to the less informed, but there are some pros in addition to that long list of cons. They have some vibrant colors, nice progressive encodes, absolutely awesome price-points (I think you can buy bundles of two at Wal-Mart for $40), and the original American broadcast audio track. Many members here will fight you tooth and nail to tell you that they're absolute shit and should not be considered for a second, but they are a nice alternative to the superior-in-every-way, but expensive and incomplete Dragon Box release. They are cropped, though. If that bothers you more than the exclusion of the American broadcast music, I'd say spring for those Boxes. But if that's the kind of thing you can overlook for the sake of saving a few pennies, then by all means, check out those bricks.

The original series and Dragon Ball GT, however, do not share the cropping issue with the Orange bricks. They have all the pros without that big fat con. If you're looking to check out the series from the beginning, FUNimation has almost finished rounding off the collection with Dragon Ball season 5. With the original 4:3 aspect ratio in-tact, superior original music (specifically GT), and lighter remastering that interferes with the picture less, the Blue bricks and Green bricks are excellent products and cheap to boot.

I couldn't be a bigger whore for FUNimation if I had it tattooed on my ass.

[Metalwario64]

They have some vibrant colors

If your definition of "vibrant" is washed out, with horribly overblown contrast, making brighter colors and darker colors too extreme to the point where the brighter colors and darker colors are lost, pitiful color correction that adds in color-casts that tint the skin colors from blue-ish to green-ish depending on the episode (and Goku's gi has an ugly green tint in the earlier episodes, and an overly powerful red tint in the later episodes), then yeah, the colors are vibrant...

expensive and incomplete Dragon Box release.

How is $30-$35 expensive? By the time they are released, that is the typical price at Rightstuf!. Of course, the price is higher at most other retailers, and even Rightstuf! charges more during the pre-order period, but if you are patient, the Dragon Boxes will cost about the same as the Orange Bricks used to cost before their price drop.

[Innagadadavida]

See what I mean?

[Gaffer Tape]

I don't see how bringing up legitimate criticisms is MetalWario64's way of "fighting tooth and nail to prove they're complete shit."

[theoriginalbilis]

My recommendation if you were going to go out and buy right now?

Dragon Ball = Blue Season Sets (uncut, same music track for both languages, proper aspect ratio, inexpensive, and it's a consistant, complete release. Also, this is the only way to get the first several episodes uncut.)

Dragon Ball Z = This is where things depend on the buyer... Both versions have their pros and cons...
-Orange Season Sets: PROS - The first complete/consistant release of all 291 episodes; has two English dubs with US broadcast/JPN music tracks as well as the original Japanese dub. Also, these sets have dropped in price, so you could easily get the entire series for less than $200 if you shop right. CONS - Video is cropped, resulting in roughly 20% of the footage missing to fit into a 16:9 widescreen ratio. Half-assed "remastering" job results in blurry, less detailed footage, and altered colors. Some of the English voices have been redubbed with less than stellar results.
-Dragon Box Sets: PROS - Best looking Dragon Ball Z release done by FUNimation so far. The remastering has all of the footage and colors as originally intended. This is the only release of DBZ with the "next episode" previews. Great-sounding Japanese and English audio. "Collector's Edition" styled packaging. You pay for what you get. CONS - The English track ONLY contains the Japanese music, so if you're a fan of that US music, you're out of luck. Slightly higher price point than the Season Sets, but you get what you pay for. Also, the Z Dragon Boxes are still being released and won't be completed until 2011.

I personally recommend the Dragon Boxes for Z, due to it being the best quality out of the 2 releases. But the Season Sets aren't a bad choice either if you MUST watch the show now, and it contains the US music (even though I could care less about Americanized music.)

Dragon Ball GT = Green Season Sets (uncut, both American/Japanese dubs with US music and Japanese music, newly performed opening themes, proper aspect ratio, inexpensive, complete series plus the TV special in just 2 sets.)

You might want to consider renting Kai on Netflix or watching Kai on TV in order to see if you'll enjoy it or not...

[ShiningMoon]

While I believe they had a separate dubtitle track to go along with the dub, there was never a bilingual release by FUNimation that only had dubtitles. It was possible to mix and match to watch one with the other, but it wasn't default. You can bet the fanbase would have been up in arms if they had tried to get away with just slapping on dubtitles. Simmons was on board from the very first Ginyu-Assault disc.

The discs that I have are indeed after that, so, I guess they must be there somewhere. I'll have to take a look; now I feel really dumb for not being able to find the proper subtitles. Clearly I just wasn't looking hard enough. Thanks!