Possibility of a 4:3 Kai-Buu Arc

[Darkblade1995]

Like we all know, the Buu arc for Kai has been confirmed to be in 16:9 AR on the Japanese DVD and Blu ray boxsets. And we of course all hoped that we would be able to see the Buu arc in its original 4:3 AR. But with the confirmation of the Japanese Blu rays, the Korean broadcast, and French broadcast being shown in 16:9, our hope for a 4:3 Buu arc was (at least for me) gone. But then I began to think about it. And in France Kai was always in 16:9. And I looked up some videos of the earlier arc of Kai and noticed that they were also in 16:9 in Korea. So I thought that a 4:3 version was still possible. Yet the Japanese boxset is presented in 16:9.

But, Kai was always produced in 4:3, and then later on, cropped in 16:9 for Japanese TV (and for other contries). So then why is it still 16:9 on the Blu rays? As we all know there are 2 versions of the Buu arc. The original ''International'' version and the Japanese TV cut. But what does this have to do with the AR? Well, this is what I think happened during or after the production.

Toei produced the 69 episode Buu arc for Kai, both in 4:3 and 16:9. And when Fuji tv approached them for a new anime to fill Toriko's timeslot, they offered to have Kai back on tv. However, they thought there were too many episodes as they wanted Kai to air for a year (although I think that plan has been scrapped as there have been like 20 episodes now which are the same in the International version, but that can always change). So Toei had to edit the episodes even more then they already had. But here's the problem: They already had 2 versions of the Buu arc ready. A 4:3 version and a 16:9 version. So if they were gonna choose the 4:3 version, they would have to edit and crop them again, whereas the 16:9 version was already cropped and had to be edited only, saving Toei some time and money.

So what do you guys think of this?

[sintzu]

Welcome to the forum.

What you said makes sense and hopefully Funi will announce it before the end of the year.

[VegettoEX]

I'm 99.999999% sure that it was cropped from the start. There isn't a 4:3 production to fall back on or is otherwise hanging out anywhere.

Toei brought things internal and did it all cheaply. I don't think there's any conspiratorial reason to think there's something better waiting in the wings.

[Darkblade1995]

Well I thought so at first, but I just find it strange to finish a anime with 2 different aspect ratios. But then again, Toei and consistency do not go together. But I just find it weird that they would crop it in the first place. I mean DBZ is already in 4:3 so to not crop it would mean less time in producing it right? Or is this the same as the orange bricks, crop it because its cheaper??

[Ajay]

Something that was mentioned on a podcast was the fact that the original run of Kai was produced at a time when Japan was just starting to enforce their 16:9 rule for airing shows. As such, the show was already mastered in 4:3 and had to be selectively cropped later to adhere to the regulations.

Now that we're later down the line, they can just crop it from the start and ignore the need to work and 'remaster' the full 4:3 frame.

[Darkblade1995]

So I guess there really is no 4:3 version of the Buu arc. A shame, really but also understandable from Toei's point of view. Kai wasn't very lucrative for them in the first place, so even if they were paid to produce the Buu arc, they probably don't even bother to cut more filler and produce a 4:3 version. Oh well. At least it's a better cropping then what Funimation did to DBZ.

[sintzu]

So I guess there really is no 4:3 version of the Buu arc.

Wait till Funi announces their release before losing hope but if it turns out there isn't one at least like you said the cropping is better and for the most part we don't lose anything important.

[Darkblade1995]

Well, I'm still a bit 50/50 on all of this, but I guess we'll indeed know for sure when Funimation announces their dub and the dvd/blu rays of the Buu arc. Fingers crossed.

Regardless if its cropped or not, I'll still buy the parts or seasons or whatever they are gonna do as I want to complete my Kai collection.

[PhoenixEX]

99% sure that FUNi will use what Toei gives them, which will be footage in 16:9 aspect ratio.

[Puto]

One thing I noticed is that the opening animation between the international and Japanese versions has slightly different framing — might suggest different crops from 4:3.

[dbboxkaifan]

4x3 AR is a goner because as you've seen the Japanese, Korean and French broadcasts all use 16x9 AR as well as Toei Animation probably produced this in mind with only the Widescreen edition.

Frankly, the 16x9 AR isn't really that bad since they've done selective cropping and it really isn't as bad as FUNimation's own doing.

There's some exceptions here and there. Just take a look at Boo's smile, it's completely chopped off the screen.

[Puto]

4x3 AR is a goner because as you've seen the Japanese, Korean and French broadcasts all use 16x9 AR

Except that happened back with the original Kai too.

[Darkblade1995]

I noticed that the Goku vs Majin Vegeta has a very different framing in the beginning. In the Fight it Out opening you can see Goku's halo while in the Kuu-Zen-Zetsu-Go opening, a lot of Goku and Vegeta's hair is cut off and you instead see more of their legs. But, animation is always zoomed in so it doesn't really have to mean anything.

[dbboxkaifan]

The Japanese Blu-ray of Kai 1.0 was in 4x3 AR whereas now they're 16x9 AR for Kai 2.0 so if anyone's expecting a miracle it'll be very unlikely.