Dragon Ball Z "Seasons" On Blu-ray: News & Discussion

[AnimeMaakuo]

Just for fun (too see what we might have gotten) I merged the two together, with some photoshop to fill the gaps.

Goku's undershirt pushes more toward purple it seems.

Here:

[eledoremassis02]

That might have been a bit of my fault since I adjusted it a bit. Though it seems a bit on the purple side on the level/season blu ray as well

[qjz123]

Dragon ball z season 1 blu ray youtube screen shot

Dragon ball z level 1.2 screen shot

Dragon ball z kai blu ray screen shot

Dragonbox screen shot

Orange brick screen shot

[Ajay]

Hrm, that's very interesting.

I do appreciate the extra width since they're going with a crop for this release. Certainly not set on purchasing but I won't pretend these aren't piquing my interest at least a little now.

I just not too sure if that's the edge of frame or just some shitty cloning.

But yes, doesn't change the fact that cropping is idiotic.

EDIT: Whilst the screenshots are here, this actually identifies the problem I have with Kai's transfer. Regardless of whether you're looking at the Blu-Ray or DVD, it just has such a hazy and soft look to the line art compared to the original.

[qjz123]

I just not too sure if that's the edge of frame or just some shitty cloning.

It definitely looks like the edge of the frame if you look at the other screen shot I posted of Goku's shoes you'll see that it also blurs towards the edge.

[qjz123]

Damn it guys it's fake. I just looked at the video of how Funimation was remastering the level blu rays and that's where that guy on youtube got all his screen shots from damn. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moAy02J2fd8 The scenes where they show Steve Franko's transfer.

[Ajay]

Eurgh, that's a shame.

It depresses me watching that footage. Everything was going so well aside from some crushed blacks here and there. Such a shame it was cancelled.

[eledoremassis02]

I think you are right qjz123. If these are infact fake, it seems they did try to touch up the ends of the film a bit and change some of the color. If they are not fake, then it's very very very odd they only show screen caps from that were used in the video you posted. Anyways...here some screenshots put together.

[Rukura]

Just for fun (too see what we might have gotten) I merged the two together, with some photoshop to fill the gaps.

Goku's undershirt pushes more toward purple it seems.

The top part of his right sleeve is oddly blurry. More so than the rest of the frame, even. (Aside from the very edge on the right)

[Fizzer]

Shit, I was just starting to rejoice that this looked like a levels-quality release with selective cropping

You know, I might sell my Dragon Boxes for that, since they're so overpriced.

[dbboxkaifan]

These comparisons don't really make much sense since the footage of these sets hasn't been shown so it's just people giving mere guesses.

Orange Bricks in 1080p HD will be a cheap and lucrative way as all of it is already done, so FUNimation doesn't have to spend money making stunning looking releases for the market.

[eledoremassis02]

These comparisons don't really make much sense since the footage of these sets hasn't been shown so it's just people giving mere guesses.

Orange Bricks in 1080p HD will be a cheap and lucrative way as all of it is already done, so FUNimation doesn't have to spend money making stunning looking releases for the market.

The earlier ones were because we though that 90% chance they might be real and we were seeing how they compared to what we though they were photoshops of (Blu ray and Orange brick)

The last one is to show how they matched up with what we now believe to be where he got the images from (steves original transfer). However, it looks like they photoshoped enhanced the edges a bit (which another user stated.) This just provided evidence of that.

[Brad Redfield]

Found about the whole widescreen debacle a little bit ago.

Thank god I have the Dragon Boxes... otherwise I'd be pissed.

[kei17]

Ah, I had forgot that trailer with the raw transfer footage. So it was that. Anyway, I hope this release will have as much picture as those shots so that cropping becomes less annoying.

[eledoremassis02]

Ah, I had forgot that trailer with the raw transfer footage. So it was that. Anyway, I hope this release will have as much picture as those shots so that cropping becomes less annoying.

You and me both Kei lol. I too hope they're similar. If they are, I might trade in the orange bricks I do have and upgrade.

[DragonBalllKaiHD]

Man, these Level set screenshots blow all other releases out of water by a wide, wide margin. Toei will probably never be able to match Funimation's Level sets if they ever decide to do Blu-Ray.

[Daimo-Rukiri]

Man, these Level set screenshots blow all other releases out of water by a wide, wide margin. Toei will probably never be able to match Funimation's Level sets if they ever decide to do Blu-Ray.

Err... yes they can, they do have a better master than funimation.

Hmm the video seem odd, why bother showing 16x9 in the video? Was Funimation planning this from the beginning?

[DragonBalllKaiHD]

Man, these Level set screenshots blow all other releases out of water by a wide, wide margin. Toei will probably never be able to match Funimation's Level sets if they ever decide to do Blu-Ray.

Err... yes they can, they do have a better master than funimation.

Hmm the video seem odd, why bother showing 16x9 in the video? Was Funimation planning this from the beginning?

And? Look at the Dragon Box. They had an original master, and yet the Dragon Box looks bleached and has odd colors. And not to mention that the Level sets almost look the same as what Dragon Ball Z looked like when it was originally broadcasted in 1989.

[Fulicer]

And? Look at the Dragon Box. They had an original master, and yet the Dragon Box looks bleached and has odd colors. And not to mention that the Level sets almost look the same as what Dragon Ball Z looked like when it was originally broadcasted in 1989.

That restoration was done years before the level sets. They didn't do any color-correction from the looks of if either -- mostly clean-up. Also, that version was meant to be released on DVD as opposed to Blu-ray.

Old VHS tapes are not the best way to understand how DBZ looked like back in the day. For starters the colors information is likely not as accurate as the original film.

TOEI probably has a bigger budget. If they put enough money into it, they could produce a better version because they have the original film masters. No crushed blacks. The Level Sets are the best versions one could hope given the source material. But like I said, TOEI has the original film negatives.

[bkev]

Keep in mind that TOEI never does the restoration work themselves. Much like FUNimation, they outsource it to a video production company. For the Dragonboxes, it was Pony Canyon. Q-Tec did Kai's rescan/touch-ups as well as those for Fist of the North Star.

Based on the quality of the former, if TOEi were to release Q-Tec's work on DBZ, it's no question that the Levels sets would look better.