Just how "uncut" is uncut DB / DBZ

[MajinVejitaXV]

The show can be uncut without including eyecatchers, just like it can be uncut without including the theme song, or like the manga can be uncut even if it doesn't include the title pages.

That's the most unique definition of the term 'uncut' that I've ever heard O_o;;

And again, my gripe isn't with the lack of eyecatches so much as the additional footage that was cut to make the absense of the eyecatches make sense. Literacy ftw.

-Corey

[Super Sonic]

What are these 'eye catches'? Why does anyone care?
Eye catches are the lead-out and lead-in clips for the mid-show commercial. They're in most anime, and are kind of a tradition for anime fans. Some western cartoons have eye catches too, but they're never included on dvd releases, and many times are cut from broadcast as well.

The only ones I know of that have them are G.I. Joe and Transformers. Other syndicated shows like He-Man and TMNT don't. And let's face it, the ones that were on networks just had whatever the network's one was.

[Eclipse]

What are these 'eye catches'? Why does anyone care?
Eye catches are the lead-out and lead-in clips for the mid-show commercial. They're in most anime, and are kind of a tradition for anime fans. Some western cartoons have eye catches too, but they're never included on dvd releases, and many times are cut from broadcast as well.

Thank you. With that set, I agree that the eye-cathes are extremly disruptive. Think about it for a moment. You're watching it, your hopes are high, what's gonna happen, is he gonna do this or that, are they gonna die, when BAM! Eye-catch.

That pretty much kills the moment you're in. I understand if some people might want it for nostalgia reasons, but otherwise, why should they be in there?

[MajinVejitaXV]

That pretty much kills the moment you're in. I understand if some people might want it for nostalgia reasons, but otherwise, why should they be in there?

Simple. Anime shows have eyecatches animated by the studio. As a result, episodes are formatted so that eyecatches are integrated into the show (Freeza points at Goku, eyecatch/commercial, show comes back and Freeza points at Goku again, taunts and fires a blast), so if you remove the eyecatch you either have awkwardly redundant footage (Kuririn summoning Shenron twice in a row, anyone?) or you have to edit to smooth the transition and you miss out on sometimes cool little snippits (we lost some Freeza dialogue in the clip I posted, part of Bardock's charge on Freeza's henchmen in that special and when I bought the Trunks: Mysterious Youth VHS way back in the day part of the SSJ transformation was cut).

Also, DBZ employs a "direct transition" method, in other words the eyecatch breaks right in. Most American shows have a fade-out/in transition, so if there is no eyecatch on the DVD (Gargoyles, for example), it doesn't feel as awkward. No additional editing needed. Plus, if I'm not mistaken, most American shows have eyecatches done directly by the television stations, so...yeah, no eyecatches on the DVD's because the studios didn't do them. They just insert generic transitions and the TV station does the rest, if anything.

-Corey

[tarsonis]

The only ones I know of that have them are G.I. Joe and Transformers. Other syndicated shows like He-Man and TMNT don't. And let's face it, the ones that were on networks just had whatever the network's one was.

And now that you mention it, I always liked Toonami's bumpers/eyecatches better anyway. Their various intros to DBZ over the years were great also.

[VegettoEX]

Only skimming the thread, so I don't know if anyone's brought this up...

But one of the reasons I prefer to have the eyecatches (in addition to what Corey's explained about the duplicate scenes before/after) is that it reminds me so much of that amazing, new, and special feeling I had a decade ago watching my fansubs (many of which had the commercials, too). That's why I miss the episode previews, too... hearing those little "Head-Cha-La" jingles just brings a smile to my face and reminds me of how much I loved the show (and still do).

When those things aren't present, I'm broken out of that flow I've so well trained my mind and emotions to follow over the years.

[BoxerGloves]

I get what you're saying, VegEX.
But hey, we're just fans. What can we do about those type of things? The missing eyecatchers were FUNimation's fault. And Toei is the one who's responsible for the absent previews. And although recently, FUNimation started bringing back the eyecatchers to their DBZ DVDs, the chances of previews ever appearing on the American DBZ home releases are the same as the orginal Japanese version of the show being put out in stereo, or better yet, 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. So in other words, none.

[Blitzen]

I get what you're saying, VegEX.
But hey, we're just fans. What can we do about those type of things? The missing eyecatchers were FUNimation's fault. And Toei is the one who's responsible for the absent previews. And although recently, FUNimation started bringing back the eyecatchers to their DBZ DVDs, the chances of previews ever appearing on the American DBZ home releases are the same as the orginal Japanese version of the show being put out in stereo, or better yet, 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. So in other words, none.

If enough people complain, or atleast make thier opinion heard, it will better the chances, even if by a small fraction. Not all Toei shows are next-episode previewless (Boys over Flowers and Saint Seiya, for instance), and if FUNimation were to negotiate for the same masters as the region 2 release, it's entirely possible they'll be able to retain next episode previews too.

[desirecampbell]

The only ones I know of that have them are G.I. Joe and Transformers. Other syndicated shows like He-Man and TMNT don't. And let's face it, the ones that were on networks just had whatever the network's one was.

Hmm, I don't watch a lot of TV anymore, but I distinctly remember Gargoyles sometimes having eye catches and sometimes not

But one of the reasons I prefer to have the eyecatches (in addition to what Corey's explained about the duplicate scenes before/after) is that it reminds me so much of that amazing, new, and special feeling I had a decade ago watching my fansubs (many of which had the commercials, too). That's why I miss the episode previews, too... hearing those little "Head-Cha-La" jingles just brings a smile to my face and reminds me of how much I loved the show (and still do).

I forgot about episode previews entirely! Granted, I never watch them. but forgetting they exist is kind of strange

[Super Sonic]

The only ones I know of that have them are G.I. Joe and Transformers. Other syndicated shows like He-Man and TMNT don't. And let's face it, the ones that were on networks just had whatever the network's one was.

Hmm, I don't watch a lot of TV anymore, but I distinctly remember Gargoyles sometimes having eye catches and sometimes not

I was referring to how their dvds had them. Gargoyles on dvd definately doesn't have them.

[Domon]

Also, DBZ employs a "direct transition" method, in other words the eyecatch breaks right in. Most American shows have a fade-out/in transition, so if there is no eyecatch on the DVD (Gargoyles, for example), it doesn't feel as awkward. No additional editing needed. Plus, if I'm not mistaken, most American shows have eyecatches done directly by the television stations, so...yeah, no eyecatches on the DVD's because the studios didn't do them. They just insert generic transitions and the TV station does the rest, if anything.

That's the single biggest reason why I prefer having the eyecatches in anime DVDs. Most anime I've seen just "suddenly" goes to the eyecatch without any fade-out or anything. The eyecatch, at least makes the transistion from the breaks smoother. If more anime did fades-out/in, then this would be more of a non-issue as the transistion problem would simply not exist(or not to the degree it would now). Plus, they're part of the show for me. If they were missing, I'd feel like I'm missing out on getting the entire experience(same with missing next ep. previews).

I also wish more DVDs of American tv shows included the eyecatches, as an extra, at least. I certainly wish they had them on the TMNT dvds, as I felt they were part of the experience of that show... Though as said, the issue here is not as bad as in anime for fade-out/in reasons. If more American shows did have "sudden transist" between the breaks, then there would be more of a demand to keep the eyecatch in(well, I should be saying "commerical bumpers" in this paragraph since it's talking about non-Japanese shows, but whatever...).

[Pang_Tong]

Eyecatches annoy me greatly. And I do mean greatly. I can respect keeping them in the DVD releases for the sake of completion and integrity of remaining truely uncut, but why is there no option to deactivate them? Oh, why? They ruin tense moments.

[Rocketman]

If they were missing, I'd feel like I'm missing out on getting the entire experience(same with missing next ep. previews).

Not getting the whole experience by missing a preview for an episode you're going to be seeing in a few seconds?

[BoxerGloves]

If they were missing, I'd feel like I'm missing out on getting the entire experience(same with missing next ep. previews).

Not getting the whole experience by missing a preview for an episode you're going to be seeing in a few seconds?

Uh, excuse me, how 'bout missing a next episode preview not "for an episode", but for all 291 episodes?

[Pang_Tong]

I think they should keep them, but with the option of programming your disk to skip them if you don't want to watch them. It's a nice thing to include, to be sure, for completists - however, it seems to break up the flow if you're going to be watching the episode in a minute anyway.

[Rocketman]

If they were missing, I'd feel like I'm missing out on getting the entire experience(same with missing next ep. previews).

Not getting the whole experience by missing a preview for an episode you're going to be seeing in a few seconds?

Uh, excuse me, how 'bout missing a next episode preview not "for an episode", but for all 291 episodes?

But... you don't need a preview. The episode will play in just a couple of seconds. Why watch the preview when you can watch the actual episode?

[MajinVejitaXV]

But... you don't need a preview. The episode will play in just a couple of seconds. Why watch the preview when you can watch the actual episode?

Sometimes the previews had new animation that wasn't in the actual episodes. Plus, you miss out on some interesting banter between characters.

-Corey

[tarsonis]

I think they should keep them, but with the option of programming your disk to skip them if you don't want to watch them. It's a nice thing to include, to be sure, for completists - however, it seems to break up the flow if you're going to be watching the episode in a minute anyway.

In DBZ's case I think either eyecatches or 2 or so seconds of empty space should remain. As it was pointed out earlier, DBZ directly transitions to the eyecatch without fading out. We've seen before that the scene prior to and immediately following the eyecatches is sometimes duplicated. Not having space of some sort between two almost identical scenes would be awkward.

[Pang_Tong]

I think they should keep them, but with the option of programming your disk to skip them if you don't want to watch them. It's a nice thing to include, to be sure, for completists - however, it seems to break up the flow if you're going to be watching the episode in a minute anyway.

In DBZ's case I think either eyecatches or 2 or so seconds of empty space should remain. As it was pointed out earlier, DBZ directly transitions to the eyecatch without fading out. We've seen before that the scene prior to and immediately following the eyecatches is sometimes duplicated. Not having space of some sort between two almost identical scenes would be awkward.

Perhaps you have a valid point there. I suppose I can always edit the episodes I own on DVD in my computer, as long as I use them for my personal entertainment only. It's such a hassle, though.

[Domon]

I think they should keep them, but with the option of programming your disk to skip them if you don't want to watch them.

Like the chapter skip button? Most previews are set up as their own chapters anyhow.

But... you don't need a preview. The episode will play in just a couple of seconds. Why watch the preview when you can watch the actual episode?

Again; part of the experience. Beside, you can chapter skip the previews on most dvds, so why gripe about this? It's far too easy to make this a non-issue nowadays.

In DBZ's case I think either eyecatches or 2 or so seconds of empty space should remain. As it was pointed out earlier, DBZ directly transitions to the eyecatch without fading out. We've seen before that the scene prior to and immediately following the eyecatches is sometimes duplicated. Not having space of some sort between two almost identical scenes would be awkward.

So... they should edit in blank space? Doesn't sound so "unedited" in that case. If there's going to be a couple moments of nothing, one might as well leave the eyecatch in anyhow.