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

[B]

I'll be getting these DBZ 16x9 AR Blu-rays and I'm fine with it because I already own the Dragon Box Z Collection and I do appreciate trying to do something different rather than the same.

Wow! I guess it's good to know the economy hasn't hurt some people, and will buy things because it's a nice thing to do for a company.

[Ryuji-Otogi]

As for a potential HD release from Toei, with how lazy and complacent they have been with licensing the 16:9 FUNimation DVD footage through-out the English speaking market, how can any of us be so sure they won't take a look at how the cropped footage has been selling better than the 4:3 footage and produce a cropped version of their own?

There is definitely no possibility of that actually happening. Vertical cropping is strongly hated there and I don't know any unnecessarily cropped to 16:9 home video releases of old shows in Japan. The Japanese don't like "cinematic feeling" as much as the U.S. people seem to do.

Anything is possible. They released the Kai DVDs cropped in Japan.

[kei17]

Anything is possible. They released the Kai DVDs cropped in Japan.

That is a completely different example because it was promoted as, and in way actually was, a new show. It was to differentiate it from Z. I'm pretty sure there have never, never been any unnecessarily cropped DVD/Blu-ray releases of old 4:3 shows in Japan, and if something like these season sets got released there, fans would keep bashing the distributor in a burning rage until they cancel it. They prefer the raw.

[Im insaneFromEarth]

Anything is possible. They released the Kai DVDs cropped in Japan.

That is a completely different example because it was promoted as, and in way actually was, a new show. It was to differentiate it from Z. I'm pretty sure there have never, never been any unnecessarily cropped DVD/Blu-ray releases of old 4:3 shows in Japan, and if something like these season sets got released there, fans would keep bashing the distributor in a burning rage until they cancel it. They prefer the raw.

I wish we could do that, but it seems like Funimation wont hear us. They seem like that want to go for the new generation of fans, I just don't know =(

[KingofWisdom]

To be fair, part of the problem is that FUNimation has terrible quality footage for Dragon Ball Z. Catering to us either requires an extensive frame by frame remaster or more Dragon Boxes, and that likely isn't cheap.

[kei17]

To be fair, part of the problem is that FUNimation has terrible quality footage for Dragon Ball Z. Catering to us either requires an extensive frame by frame remaster or more Dragon Boxes, and that likely isn't cheap.

From what I saw in Kai, it's not that different from Toei's. Instead, FUNi's prints seem to have less color fading and color cast, which means they're easier to color correct.

[dbboxkaifan]

Wow! I guess it's good to know the economy hasn't hurt some people, and will buy things because it's a nice thing to do for a company.

Unlike others here, I only have Dragon Box Z for the complete DBZ anime series whereas others have various releases of it.

Besides I don't have my DBOX Z locally so it'll be good to rewatch DBZ again but now in HD/16*9.

[JulieYBM]

Anything is possible. They released the Kai DVDs cropped in Japan.

That is a completely different example because it was promoted as, and in way actually was, a new show. It was to differentiate it from Z. I'm pretty sure there have never, never been any unnecessarily cropped DVD/Blu-ray releases of old 4:3 shows in Japan, and if something like these season sets got released there, fans would keep bashing the distributor in a burning rage until they cancel it. They prefer the raw.

The only case I can think of is Gundam SEED and SEED Destiny on Blu-ray. Mind you, both were cropped and received new animation done from scratch so that might have had something to do with it.

[OutlawTorn]

Anything is possible. They released the Kai DVDs cropped in Japan.

That is a completely different example because it was promoted as, and in way actually was, a new show. It was to differentiate it from Z. I'm pretty sure there have never, never been any unnecessarily cropped DVD/Blu-ray releases of old 4:3 shows in Japan, and if something like these season sets got released there, fans would keep bashing the distributor in a burning rage until they cancel it. They prefer the raw.

I wish we could do that, but it seems like Funimation wont hear us. They seem like that want to go for the new generation of fans, I just don't know =(

That's the thing, we can but it has to be a message delivered to what they care most about: their wallet. IF FUNimation didn't care about the consumer and just did what they want, they would have just finished the Level sets as planned but the return on their investment couldn't justify it. If people simply refused to buy the season blu-rays then that would send the message loud and clear that it's not the product they want. Otherwise, if FUNimation sees the blu-rays selling like the DVD counterparts, it's just telling them that people prefer the cropped footage and they would have no reason to even consider a future 4:3 release.

[Toparaman]

Is this really going to sell like the Orange Boxes? I'm pretty sure casual fans are just going to stick with those. It reminds me of Nintendo's current situation with the Wii U. The Wii was very appealing to casual audiences, but they aren't really interested in a "new and improved" version.

Blu-Ray is much more of an enthusiast/purist format than DVD; most people who just want to watch a movie/series in "HD" are going to go for streaming or downloading.

I will say though that whatever filtering algorithm Funi is using to make the show look modern is quite impressive. Then again, colorization of B&W films was impressive too, and that got put to a stop fairly quickly.

And really, isn't part of the appeal of watching old stuff being transported to a different era? These modernization attempts are offensive because they basically imply that old is inherently bad.

Anyway, I'm preaching to the choir here, but I just had to vent.

[eledoremassis02]

And really, isn't part of the appeal of watching old stuff being transported to a different era?.

This is a great point. You might be able to pass the newer dub with dub music...but how will the Japanese audio , even cleaned up, will never sound like the original broadcast. Wont it be awkward to have super modern looking art with obvious hand animated animation with not so good Japanese audio?

[Roland_ELoG]

If somebody really wants to modernize the show, they should reanimate, shot for shot, the Bad Animation Days.

That would be new.

[kei17]

That is a completely different example because it was promoted as, and in way actually was, a new show. It was to differentiate it from Z. I'm pretty sure there have never, never been any unnecessarily cropped DVD/Blu-ray releases of old 4:3 shows in Japan, and if something like these season sets got released there, fans would keep bashing the distributor in a burning rage until they cancel it. They prefer the raw.

The only case I can think of is Gundam SEED and SEED Destiny on Blu-ray. Mind you, both were cropped and received new animation done from scratch so that might have had something to do with it.

That was one of the exceptions because as you pointed out, it received new animation to extend the framing and improved badly drawn animation. It was almost a remake.



I guess the fans would have boycotted the release if it had been only cropped.

[JulieYBM]

That was one of the exceptions because as you pointed out, it received new animation to extend the framing and improved badly drawn animation. It was almost a remake.



I guess the fans would have boycotted the release if it had been only cropped.

Some of the episodes were also merged and extended, lowering the episode count while extending the length of some episodes. The removed episodes were recap episodes, which I guess everyone's mileage will vary on. Like you said, they really are like remakes, so I'm more tempted to call them Kidou Senshi Gundam SEED HD, rather than Kidou Senshi Gundam SEED.

The collage you posted actually reminds me of how much I dislike Hirai's designs, though. Man, those are killer. I think most of the animation changes were fan service related, although one or two new cuts of mecha animation did make their way into both shows.

[Roland_ELoG]

Now we just need Gundam Wing Kai. Cut it down to 08th MS Team length. Then I could rewatch it EVERY YEAR instead of never.

Putting filters on bad art is just not a good way to cover it up.

[KingofWisdom]

It makes it look worse. What's wrong with an animation looking its age?

[Roland_ELoG]

It makes it look worse. What's wrong with an animation looking its age?

My suspicion is that most anime doesn't pull the kind of market share FUNimation wants. Since Dragon Ball Z was one of the things that broke barriers in a way (we probably all know some people who like DBZ but "don't like anime"), they're trying to use it as a gateway for new fans time and time again.

The fear then, perhaps unfounded, is that if the animation looks its age new fans won't latch onto it as readily. Man I don't even know what I'm talking about, it seems plausible but ridiculous at the same time.

[KingofWisdom]

Well, that does make sense. Even the general anime fanbase in the US won't typically watch "old school" series unless there's nostalgia to be had. It's always about the new, hot stuff.

[ect5150]

It makes it look worse. What's wrong with an animation looking its age?

I tend to agree. While I like seeing the new DB specials and new movie, I still like the older animation styles. I think we (society) are beyond anything that would produce animation like that again.




You just don't see anything like the above anymore (at least I don't). The new stuff looks too clean - which can be good depending on what it is, but the newer/cleaner animation seems to be missing something to me.

[eledoremassis02]

You just don't see anything like the above anymore (at least I don't). The new stuff looks too clean - which can be good depending on what it is, but the newer/cleaner animation seems to be missing something to me.

Totally agree with this statement. Sometimes Z looked bad, but there was a lot of times when it looked great. The new animations not bad either, but there is somthing about hand drawn animation