Are the Season Sets 4-9 better than the first 3?

[Namekjin]

I'm thinking about buying them or should I just wait 'till the Dragon Boxes come out?

[Ashy-kun]

1) Define "better".

2) Considering you're on THIS message board, most people are gonna tell you "Wait for the Dragon Boxes".

[oXdanXo]

Up to you, I'm getting both because I want Bruces' score.

[jjgp1112]

Yeah, the quality gets progressively better up to Season 6, and then it stays consistent. Sharp picture, no disappearing lines, etc

[Gaffer Tape]

But still miscolored (although arguably less so) and still lacking the tops and bottoms of every single frame (unarguably so). I'd say wait for the Dragon Boxes.

[Codarik]

I say seasons 7-9 are the best, there are some moments with missing lines in seasons 5 and 6 but it's still good. I personally like the quality of season 9 the most, the cropping doesn't bother me at all in that set.

[SolarBlade52]

Not really. The picture still has instances where the detailed lines go missing, the colors are still bleached and over saturated, and it still lose 20% of picture due to cropping.
I recommend the Dragon Boxes. Best DBZ release ever.

But it's totally up to you whether you want to buy the Dragon Boxes or the Orange Bricks.

[Cipher]

The later sets look better than the first few, but still nowhere near as good as the blue bricks, green bricks and double-features.

[gokuhan72]

Later sets definitely look better than the previous season sets. But in my opinion, it comes down to if you want Falconers score and are willing to sacrifice what is it 20% of the picture cut or something due to 16:9 ratio?
Or wait for the Dragonboxes if you want arguably the best remaster of DBZ but are willing to sacrifice Falconers score.

[Namekjin]

I have not really tried listening to Bruce Faulconer's score since I got into the series in May 2010 through DBZ Kai but I have pretty much since watched the DBZ English Dub but I have recently stuck to the Japanese Version.

[DemonRin]

The Dragon Boxes really are the best release of Z, Go with them.

The picture is not Cropped at all, the Colors are as close as you can possibly get to the original broadcast, the frame jitter is greatly reduced, and the audio fidelity on the Japanese version is the best its ever sounded on a US DVD, plus it comes with the Next Episode previews, which while admittedly minor, are still a neat part of the show no other release has. Not to mention the packaging is Amazingly sturdy, well put together, and really nice looking, and on top of that, you get the wonderful Dragon Book Extras.

The only downsides are the Price, which isn't that bad. If you get them during a Right Stuf or Amazon sale, they aren't that much. I've seen them regularly as low as 35 during those sales at Right Stuf as low as 30 during that rare awesome sale at Amazon.

The second downside is a conditional downside. If you are a fan of the Bruce Faulconer score, your preferred score is not on this set. If you either don't like the Faulconer score or it doesn't mean enough to you that it would make-or-break your purchase, then this isn't a problem.

The only real advantages that the Orange Bricks have is Price and current availability. They're really cheap now, and the whole series is out, while the Dragon Boxes are only at the beginning of the 25th Budokai arc as of a couple of weeks from now.

But really, the Orange bricks are only 10-15 bucks more right now, but there are overall 2 more of them than the Dragon Boxes, so, adding up all the prices, factoring in catching the DBoxes during a sale when they're at their leas expensive, you really only pay 20-40 bucks more for the WHOLE series, and with how much more you get in them... it's really worth it...

[Gaffer Tape]

The only real advantages that the Orange Bricks have is Price and current availability. They're really cheap now, and the whole series is out, while the Dragon Boxes are only at the beginning of the 25th Budokai arc as of a couple of weeks from now.

I guess you missed the depressing news that Box 5 has been delayed until April...

[jjgp1112]

The later sets look better than the first few, but still nowhere near as good as the blue bricks, green bricks and double-features.

I think the GT sets look like shit. The last few season sets are more or less on par with the double features. The blue bricks don't look all that great either. All it is is just the DB singles but really blurry.

[CODii]

Moral of the story is this. Unless you are in love with Faulconer, or absolutely must watch the episodes right now, wait for the Dragon Boxes.

[Ultimate_DB_Fan]

Seasons 6 through 9 have the best coloring, but it's only the last three sets that don't have the line disapearing problem. Some of that is still present in season 6.

[Cipher]

The later sets look better than the first few, but still nowhere near as good as the blue bricks, green bricks and double-features.

I think the GT sets look like shit. The last few season sets are more or less on par with the double features. The blue bricks don't look all that great either. All it is is just the DB singles but really blurry.

Really? I can see minor amounts of blurring when I do a side-by-side comparison, but shit. I owned most of the old singles before I got the "Complete Series" set last month. I'll watch the remastered footage any day. There's minor, minor blurring, and as far as I can tell, no other problems except dirt and scratches that didn't get removed. Considering how bad the grain and damage are on the singles, plus the terrible encoding, it's a godsend.

I also fail to see that the blue bricks are very blurry. People even complained that the last few looked too much like the old two-disc sets. They seem to do a fine job of minimizing the grain on Funimation's masters while preserving detail.

The Dragon Box still sets the standard, but I just can't see anyone recommending another Region 1 release of GT or Dragon Ball over the green and blue bricks. At least in terms of footage quality.