Your Perfect DBZ Release

[Ajay]

I'd take the Level Sets with correct black levels and colours along with Japanese broadcast audio for a 'purist package'.

I think I'd prefer to just have to the whole series (DB + Z) remastered like Kai 1.0 was (minus the redrawn scenes) though. And throw the broadcast audio in there too, of course.

I actually have no problem with grain removal if it's done like Kai. No inherent destruction to the art, just a nice clean image. Really nice stuff.

Probably not the most popular opinion but whatever. I absolutely love how Kai 1.0 looks.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

Somewhere between the Level sets and the first round of Kai without the vectoring. Not too hard to please, just a 4:3 release that doesn't look like junk. Japanese broadcast audio would be great, but it isn't exactly possible, is it?

[superrayman3]

Japanese broadcast audio would be great, but it isn't exactly possible, is it?

In terms of using the original cinetape audio masters themselves for the broadcast audio you're correct it's virtually impossible to have original Japanese broadcast audio that way, however if you could find excellent condition first gen VHS/Betamax recordings of all 291 episodes of DBZ's first run in Japan and could convince Toei to remaster the audio from said tapes and use it, then it would be possible to have the closest replication of the Japanese broadcast audio possible.

[ABED]

If the worst thing about the Dragon Boxes is that they're DVD quality, then that's nothing to scoff at. The only thing I would want over and above that is more episodes per disc and special features.

[theoriginalbilis]

I've pretty much gotten the release I've wanted (the Dragon Boxes for the "complete" show, Kai for the "easier-to-watch" version), but for the sake of being a completist:

1) Some kind of release with improved Japanese audio (either through the original broadcasts or through second-hand recordings.) I'd even accept a super-barebones set because I'd just be purchasing it for that audio track.

2) I'm also willing to plunk down some dough for a home video release of the Westwood/Blue Water Studios dubs of DB and DBZ.

Other than that, I'm pretty happy with what we've got.

[superplough]

Completely reanimate series with $1,000,000 budget per episode

Retain original Japanese audio

[JackyBoi99]

I've pretty much gotten the release I've wanted (the Dragon Boxes for the "complete" show, Kai for the "easier-to-watch" version), but for the sake of being a completist:

1) Some kind of release with improved Japanese audio (either through the original broadcasts or through second-hand recordings.) I'd even accept a super-barebones set because I'd just be purchasing it for that audio track.

2) I'm also willing to plunk down some dough for a home video release of the Westwood/Blue Water Studios dubs of DB and DBZ.

Other than that, I'm pretty happy with what we've got.

Despite that I am a subs guy with pretty much any anime, I would also love to get a Westwood/Blue water dub release. Even if it is of average quality.

[dbboxkaifan]

If the worst thing about the Dragon Boxes is that they're DVD quality, then that's nothing to scoff at. The only thing I would want over and above that is more episodes per disc and special features.

If what you want is tons of episodes per a few DVDs then the bootleggers have you covered for it, although, be aware that the quality is pretty horrific. I'd rather take 42-DVD9 discs over 10 to 15-DVD5 discs.

Take this for example:



The original Kai FUNimation DVD release consisted of 16 DVD9 discs whereas here it's 12 DVD5s.

[ABED]

If what you want is tons of episodes per a few DVDs then the bootleggers have you covered for it, although, be aware that the quality is pretty horrific. I'd rather take 42-DVD9 discs over 10 to 15-DVD5 discs.

Not what I was getting at, but thanks.

[DBZAOTA482]

Dragon Box remastering on Blu-ray with stereo sound quality for BOTH english and japanese versions, and good special features.

Oh and I want the credits to actually give credit to the whole japanese staff (y'know the animators, seiyuus, script-writer etc.).

[Vegard Aune]

If the worst thing about the Dragon Boxes is that they're DVD quality, then that's nothing to scoff at. The only thing I would want over and above that is more episodes per disc and special features.

I'd say the worst thing about the Dragon Boxes is the color deterioration. And DB episode 52.

So my perfect release would be, a HD-remaster using the original film-negatives like the Dragon Boxes were, color-corrected so as to avoid stuff like this, framed properly to avoid another incident like the afforementioned DB episode 52 (and really, the edge of the film was showing a lot in the original DB in other episodes as well... Either use some fancy video-editing magic to get that out of there or frame the images so that doesn't get included, dammit!) and where Toei would swallow their pride and just take those fan-recordings of the infinitely superior broadcast-audio and use those for the soundtrack. Oh, and if they could put the ending-credits and next-episode-previews back in the correct order that would be nice too.

[Kojiro Sasaki]

My standards are quite simple and logic:

1. I want the show that was produced back in the 1989-1996. They shall undertake all steps necessary to make the show look as it looked when 16 mm film prints were delivered to Fuji TV for broadcasting. If something is impossible or too expensive - they should leave it as it is. I always prefer “natural defects” to “intentional garbagization”. That's how Pony Canyon handled bad colors on Dragon Boxes - they just left them as they were.
2. Audio-visual format should be treated as a way to achieve the best possible fidelity, not as a main goal of the entire restoration process.

I'm not sure if the topic limits us to the release of what we have today, or if the author wants to know what we would like to own, despite if it is possible or not, so I will describe both options:

SCI-FI VERSION
Technical part:
I would go back to 1989 with:
a) RED EPIC camera (it would give us pristine PQ and it would eliminate all the problems of cheap 16 mm film. Camera is the only thing I would like to change in the entire animation production process)
b) Digital mixing console or a PC with audio editing software (I don't know what equipment they used, but the voices/sfx/music suffered heavy quality loss after editing and mixing)

1. I would ask Nippon Columbia to prepare music recording environment with 5.1 mix in mind.
2. I would tell Hidenori Arai to record sound effects with 5.1 mix in mind.
3. I would produce two audio track mixes: stereo and 5.1.
4. I would ask Toei to draw and shot the series in 16:9.

Release format: 16:9 1080p Blu-ray, 5.1 audio track, good English subtitles.

Artistic part:

1. I would hire the same studio for the entire series to keep animation quality constant.
2. I would ask Nippon Columbia to produce more musical pieces for each movie (additional arrangements or new pieces) with TV series in mind and I would focus on DBZ music more.
3. Proper OP/ED/NEP in proper order.

This release should include:
a) Long documentary about the series production.
b) Big booklet with pictures of the staff members doing their job, character designs, selected storyboards with step-by-step description how they are created and how they are converted into an episode, interviews and various information about the anime series.

MORE RATIONAL BUT STILL IMPOSSIBLE VERSION
1. Restoration process similar to the Levels sets, but with the use of the best possible 16 mm film prints.
2. Voice-only and SFX-only tracks re-mixed with the new stereo edits of music.

Release format: 4:3 1080p Blu-ray, stereo audio track, good English subtitles.
Here is an example of how it would look and sound: http://www.mediafire.com/download/yu3v0 ... C1%262.mkv
(you need to download the file)

THEORETICALLY POSSIBLE BUT PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE VERSION
1. Restoration process similar to the Levels sets.
2. Original broadcast audio taken from betamax recordings.

Release format: 4:3 1080p Blu-ray, mono audio track, good English subtitles.

If something is impossible or too expensive - they should leave it as it is.

Something tells me that this is the main reason why Toei does not plan to release DB/DBZ on Blu-ray...

[Zephyr]

Dragon Box level picture quality.

Marathon feature.

Faulconer score as an option, and separate from the American voice audio, so I can pair it with the Japanese voices. Curiosity.

Seeing as those bottom two features are far from necessary, the Dragon Box is close enough to a "perfect release" for me to be satisfied.

[dbboxkaifan]

Spoiler:

My standards are quite simple and logic:

1. I want the show that was produced back in the 1989-1996. They shall undertake all steps necessary to make the show look as it looked when 16 mm film prints were delivered to Fuji TV for broadcasting. If something is impossible or too expensive - they should leave it as it is. I always prefer “natural defects” to “intentional garbagization”. That's how Pony Canyon handled bad colors on Dragon Boxes - they just left them as they were.
2. Audio-visual format should be treated as a way to achieve the best possible fidelity, not as a main goal of the entire restoration process.

I'm not sure if the topic limits us to the release of what we have today, or if the author wants to know what we would like to own, despite if it is possible or not, so I will describe both options:

SCI-FI VERSION
Technical part:
I would go back to 1989 with:
a) RED EPIC camera (it would give us pristine PQ and it would eliminate all the problems of cheap 16 mm film. Camera is the only thing I would like to change in the entire animation production process)
b) Digital mixing console or a PC with audio editing software (I don't know what equipment they used, but the voices/sfx/music suffered heavy quality loss after editing and mixing)

1. I would ask Nippon Columbia to prepare music recording environment with 5.1 mix in mind.
2. I would tell Hidenori Arai to record sound effects with 5.1 mix in mind.
3. I would produce two audio track mixes: stereo and 5.1.
4. I would ask Toei to draw and shot the series in 16:9.

Release format: 16:9 1080p Blu-ray, 5.1 audio track, good English subtitles.

Artistic part:

1. I would hire the same studio for the entire series to keep animation quality constant.
2. I would ask Nippon Columbia to produce more musical pieces for each movie (additional arrangements or new pieces) with TV series in mind and I would focus on DBZ music more.
3. Proper OP/ED/NEP in proper order.

This release should include:
a) Long documentary about the series production.
b) Big booklet with pictures of the staff members doing their job, character designs, selected storyboards, interviews and various information about the anime series.

MORE RATIONAL BUT STILL IMPOSSIBLE VERSION
1. Restoration process similar to the Levels sets, but with the use of the best possible 16 mm film prints.
2. Voice-only and SFX-only tracks re-mixed with the new stereo edits of music.

Release format: 4:3 1080p Blu-ray, stereo audio track, good English subtitles.
Here is an example of how it would look and sound: http://www.mediafire.com/download/yu3v0 ... C1%262.mkv
(you need to download the file)

THEORETICALLY POSSIBLE BUT PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE VERSION
1. Restoration process similar to the Levels sets.
2. Original broadcast audio taken from betamax recordings.

Release format: 4:3 1080p Blu-ray, mono audio track, good English subtitles.

If something is impossible or too expensive - they should leave it as it is.

Something tells me that this is the main reason why Toei does not plan to release DB/DBZ on Blu-ray...

That's just asking too much because Toei would never spend that whole lot of time and money for a series that's 25-30 years old and they know it damn well that the customers will buy it with inferior quality (Remastered & DNR'd by Q-TEC). But hey, one can dream.

We were lucky enough that Toei released the Dragon Boxes and same goes for FUNimation's Dragon Box Z and the Level 1.1/1.2 Blu-rays (plus the DBZ Movie Singles in 4x3 + the Steelbook cases).

[Kojiro Sasaki]

That's just asking too much because Toei would never spend that whole lot of time and money for a series that's 25-30 years old and they know it damn well that the customers will buy it with inferior quality (Remastered & DNR'd by Q-TEC). But hey, one can dream.

That's why I described them as:

SCI-FI VERSION
MORE RATIONAL BUT STILL IMPOSSIBLE VERSION
THEORETICALLY POSSIBLE BUT PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE VERSION

Should I make the font bigger? Did you read the last line of my post?

If something is impossible or too expensive - they should leave it as it is.

Something tells me that this is the main reason why Toei does not plan to release DB/DBZ on Blu-ray...

[TheOverlyMadHatter]

SCI-FI VERSION
Technical part:
I would go back to 1989 with:
a) RED EPIC camera (it would give us pristine PQ and it would eliminate all the problems of cheap 16 mm film. Camera is the only thing I would like to change in the entire animation production process)
b) Digital mixing console or a PC with audio editing software (I don't know what equipment they used, but the voices/sfx/music suffered heavy quality loss after editing and mixing)

1. I would ask Nippon Columbia to prepare music recording environment with 5.1 mix in mind.
2. I would tell Hidenori Arai to record sound effects with 5.1 mix in mind.
3. I would produce two audio track mixes: stereo and 5.1.
4. I would ask Toei to draw and shot the series in 16:9.

Release format: 16:9 1080p Blu-ray, 5.1 audio track, good English subtitles.

Artistic part:

1. I would hire the same studio for the entire series to keep animation quality constant.
2. I would ask Nippon Columbia to produce more musical pieces for each movie (additional arrangements or new pieces) with TV series in mind and I would focus on DBZ music more.
3. Proper OP/ED/NEP in proper order.

This release should include:
a) Long documentary about the series production.
b) Big booklet with pictures of the staff members doing their job, character designs, selected storyboards, interviews and various information about the anime series.

Pretty much sums up my dream release.

A more realistic release I would want is pretty much all three series in Level-Set quality Blu-Rays (4:3), Next Episode Previews, Broadcast Audio, specials that fell into obscurity, and extras including ALL salvageable pieces of animation (promotional trailers for movies and games, ads), a breakdown of the remastering process, and a Dragon Book-type booklet.

[sangofe]

If the worst thing about the Dragon Boxes is that they're DVD quality, then that's nothing to scoff at. The only thing I would want over and above that is more episodes per disc and special features.

I'd say the worst thing about the Dragon Boxes is the color deterioration. And DB episode 52.

So my perfect release would be, a HD-remaster using the original film-negatives like the Dragon Boxes were, color-corrected so as to avoid stuff like this, framed properly to avoid another incident like the afforementioned DB episode 52 (and really, the edge of the film was showing a lot in the original DB in other episodes as well... Either use some fancy video-editing magic to get that out of there or frame the images so that doesn't get included, dammit!) and where Toei would swallow their pride and just take those fan-recordings of the infinitely superior broadcast-audio and use those for the soundtrack. Oh, and if they could put the ending-credits and next-episode-previews back in the correct order that would be nice too.

I wish there was a "like" feature on this forum, because I couldn't agree more with Vegard Aune!

[ABED]

A lot will point to a static image to make their point, but I can put up with a slightly off color image. I don't need the best audio and visual quality. I just need something that looks better than VHS and sounds better than something taped from the radio. I'd be far more interested in behind the scenes stuff or a feature like "King Yama's Notebook" from the YYH singles. Simmons used it to explain some references American audience wouldn't get or things about the Japanese culture as it pertained to the show. As banal as it might seem, I'd be interested in a short explanation about why names were changed, or even FUNi's misspelling of Freeza.

[gohann]

Ocean dub music (before Westwood, Shuki Levy is a grea composer) with some of Bruce Faulconer music, along with a mix of old and new voices. A better script might help, too.

[clutchins]

I wish Funimation would continue their nostalgia cash-ins (a la Rock the Dragon) with a "Toonami" Version, a.k.a. the original dub with Dale Kelly, Mark Britten, etc. complete with the missing Ginyu Saga recaps that didn't match the original uncut recap footage, all missing NEPs that are only available in the form of TVRips nowadays, the DVD 60-second Faulconer intros and 30-second outros that I love, and all the stupid jokes they made in the script during the early days of dubbing (Krillin's in da house!). I'm big on DVD preservation and archiving, so this would be a dream come true for me.

They could call it something like the "Broadcast" version or "Toonami Edition," and they could separate it by the old season numbering based on how Toonami aired sagas, not how they refer to them arbitrarily today as 1-9.
Rock the Dragon included "Seasons 1 and 2" (Saiyan and Namek sagas), so these iterations would be split into different sets as such (edited numbering, so 276 is the final episode):

Season 3: 54-92
Garlic Jr "Miniseries": 93-102

Season 4: 103-179

Season 5: 180-222

Season 6: 223-261
"The End of DBZ (Kid Buu)": 262-276

I would SALIVATE over this kind of nostalgia cash-in. Sadly, all of this directly competes with the Redubbed stuff found on the Orange Bricks and Blu-ray Sets

I would also equally salivate over a color-corrected Dragon Box with the Betamax recording-quality audio.