Dragon Ball Series Releases - What FUNimation Got Wrong

[TheGreatness25]

I don't think FUNimation got anything wrong. Like I said during their Season Set release, every imperfection that was on the releases, was a chance to release something else. They didn't get anything "wrong", because it benefited them. They released the Season Sets as an improvement to the singles because of the Japanese musical track and smooth picture, as well as price and amount of episodes per release. Then people got the Dragon Box because... they got it right! But no dub track and no special features. So onto the Blu-rays! If they had the perfect release, then it would end at that and Dragon Ball would cease to be their gold mine.

[thedarkuniter]

Dragon Box Sets- As far as I know, nothing.

Well, it's missing the "story mode" feature (the equivalent to the "marathon mode" in their other releases) and the menus aren't animated. But I'm sure FUNi had to cut those to save space or something.

I think the theory was that there wasn't enough space on the menu for Story Mode.

But compared to the Japanese boxes, they're obviously missing most of the extras (most importantly the TV specials). FUNimation also didn't seem to use the disc space very wisely, at least for Boxes 1-5. I think they could have fit an extra audio track on there (IE, dub with Faulconer music), which would have made them more appealing to dub fans. Honestly, I think they would've been better off using a Faulconer track instead of a dub+Kikuchi music track, just because it would appeal to a bigger crowd. The "hardcore" purist crowd typically prefers the Japanese audio anyway.

I kinda disagree about that. Typically, modern anime releases have a dub track with the original score unless it's a company like 4Kids or something, so basically Funimation was following the standard for most anime releases by just including the dub with the original score. Should they include the dub with the replacement score to appeal to more people? Maybe...still, it would go against this "limited release" thing they have going on. A hardcore purist could be anyone, really; a sub purist, a dub purist, so it's not limited to one group.

[TonyTheTiger]

Thing is, though, the purists in either direction already have their preferred version. The hardcore subbies have the Japanese track and the hardcore dubbies have the broadcast track. The dub+Kikuchi is a Frankenstein monster of a creation. The rewritten dialogue often clashes with the score since it wasn't designed around it and the insert songs are completely missing. It's effectively a mere curiosity that few people would consider their favorite version. It's a neat feature and I get why they chose that one as opposed to the Faulconer score (on more than one level, even, given the rocky relationship). But it's presence essentially satisfies nobody.

As for Story Mode, that omission is just baffling, especially considering the Orange Bricks had it. They could have easily hidden the option somewhere even if it would have altered the main menu a bit. There's some room to the right of the "Play All" option.

[thedarkuniter]

I do agree about the story mode, that was one of the features I did like if I wanted to marathon Z without the openings or endings; it's such a shame they didn't include that feature for the Dragon Box. You're also right about the audio probably not appealing to both sides; the Japanese fans and the English fans who like Kikuchi's score would be satisfied, just not the dub fans who like the broadcast score. Then again, Kai is not satisfying people in many different ways: the dub ( in terms of casting, not the actual dialogue), the removal of the Majin Boo saga, the redrawn scenes, and the music scandal. Good thing Funimation is including all three audio tracks on their Blu-ray with Dragon Box like picture quality which I guess is now the ultimate set for Dragon Ball Z fans from all different groups.

[AgitoZ]

Good thing Funimation is including all three audio tracks on their Blu-ray with Dragon Box like picture quality which I guess is now the ultimate set for Dragon Ball Z fans from all different groups.

So the Blu-Rays are gonna have something on par with the Dragon Books?

[thedarkuniter]

Probably not, but in terms of audio options, the Blu-ray sets would appeal to all sides.

[GotenDaisuki]

Well, the Dragon Boxes have another problem, but it wasn't FUNimation's fault, so I guess it doesn't count.
The Next-Episode Previews go after the Ending theme, which was the incorrect order based on the original TV airings. I know it was done to make it look like how a modern anime would be, but you can simply "override" the problem with chapter skipping.

And, the Orange Bricks had the same problem as Dragon Ball's Season Sets did, to some extent. The opening has the wrong animation starting with "Version 2" (Nappa and Vegeta walking through the flames; Gohan running across Shen-long) instead of "Version 1" (Kinto'un Flying through the flames; a shot of some random mountains). I'm not sure, but I think "Version 3" (A hand being constructed) was put in correctly.

[Puto]

Interestingly, Movie 1's double feature had the right opening, creditless. So it's not as if they didn't HAVE it... Though it still had the wrong scene for the capsule flying towards the screen (it's supposed to be a white ball in the first version, and have Vegeta it in for the rest of them; FUNimation's M1 incorrectly has Vegeta).

[jpdbzrulz4sure]

Interestingly, Movie 1's double feature had the right opening, creditless. So it's not as if they didn't HAVE it... Though it still had the wrong scene for the capsule flying towards the screen (it's supposed to be a white ball in the first version, and have Vegeta it in for the rest of them; FUNimation's M1 incorrectly has Vegeta).

Just to clear something up, FUNimation made the textless version of the first opening themselves by taking the opening 1-specific scenes (well, two of them at least) from movie 1's opening, airbrushing out the credits, and splicing them into the textless opening 2. If you actually watch the scene with Kinto-Un flying through fire and look in the spots where the music credits of movie 1 would appear, you can clearly tell it's been tampered with.

[GotenDaisuki]

If you actually watch the scene with Kinto-Un flying through fire and look in the spots where the music credits of movie 1 would appear, you can clearly tell it's been tampered with.

I knew something was out of place. Those certain scenes were terribly grainy as well.

[Puto]

Interestingly, Movie 1's double feature had the right opening, creditless. So it's not as if they didn't HAVE it... Though it still had the wrong scene for the capsule flying towards the screen (it's supposed to be a white ball in the first version, and have Vegeta it in for the rest of them; FUNimation's M1 incorrectly has Vegeta).

Just to clear something up, FUNimation made the textless version of the first opening themselves by taking the opening 1-specific scenes (well, two of them at least) from movie 1's opening, airbrushing out the credits, and splicing them into the textless opening 2. If you actually watch the scene with Kinto-Un flying through fire and look in the spots where the music credits of movie 1 would appear, you can clearly tell it's been tampered with.

Figured it was something like that. Still, nice that they went through the effort... Ironically, the one scene they missed is the one that is already completely clean in Movie 1, so they wouldn't need to actually airbrush out anything for that one.

[MCDaveG]

Dragon Box is awesome, but as it's for hardcore fans, I really miss that they didn't included the extras and as TV specials are part of the series run, they should have included too, but that's minor to the extras..... Animated menu is the last thing I will complain about.

[JulieYBM]

The Dragon Boxes are missing quite a bit, actually.

While a lot of us have seen that article and agree that it shows how much better the japanese Dragon Boxes could have been (be it regarding possible extra features)...where's the connection to the FUNimation release in comparison to what Toei put out?

I didn't see a necessity in focusing on a connection between what Toei put out and what FUNi put out in the opening post. Still, the original versions of several next episode previews are not included, so it's hard to say each episode of Dragon Ball Z is complete. Then again, those NEPs were probably recreated by Fuji TV separate from Toei, so I suppose we did get the original versions of the NEPs.


While I'm at it, I'm very happy FUNimation received the complete episode #291 for release on Dragon Box Z Volume Seven. Having that preview really helps me feel like I own all of Dragon Ball Z, even if it's not in the right order.

[xzero]

Let me first detail a *flawless* DB/Z/GT series DVD/Blu Ray release:

--All 508 episodes in either DBox quality or better (slightly more vibrant colors) [and no, I don't want to argue and sidetrack this thread with some nonsense about "You don't like the DBox video quality? How dare you!" I think it's acceptable, but I tend to prefer the later season sets in terms of their colors. Just personal preference.]
--2 Angles for Title Cards
--Fully and consistently dubbed with the current Kai cast
--Original Japanese audio in whatever the best quality available happens to be
--All of the movies in a single set, redubbed and with optimal video quality
--The Faulconer & Johnson dub score and Menza dub score as an optional audio track over the new voices (re-edited so that it doesn't sound out of place in light of new dialogue)
--The original crappy dub as an optional audio track for nostalgia purposes
--Extras (behind the scenes at Funi, interviews with dub cast, interviews with Japanese production team and VAs, etc.)

As I see it, this is what would please the most people, as it really has every option in the audio department you could want and presents a complete set content-wise. If you don't like the Faulconer dub music? Japanese BGM it is. Same for the Menza stuff for GT. Don't like the original dub? Well, there's a brand new version here, but even if you don't like that, the Japanese version is an option. The point isn't a question of wasting disc space for the old stuff; it's providing a complete, comprehensive release with everything on it.

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Now here's what we have thus far as far as content missing:

-Singles, DB double packs: next episode previews missing except for GT, some eyecatchers missing, original dub (which was expected, but still a problem in this context), no Japanese BGM option
-Season Sets: still missing next episode previews, inconsistent dub for Z, bad video quality for about 2/3 of Z
-DBox Sets: dub BGM option not present (I know it's not the intent for these sets, but that is what makes it an imperfect release for the widest fanbase), no dubbed next episode previews, same inconsistent dub as Z

[MCDaveG]

Interestingly, Movie 1's double feature had the right opening, creditless. So it's not as if they didn't HAVE it... Though it still had the wrong scene for the capsule flying towards the screen (it's supposed to be a white ball in the first version, and have Vegeta it in for the rest of them; FUNimation's M1 incorrectly has Vegeta).

Wait, it's a capsule with Vegeta??? I always thought it's some namekian face!!!