Dragon Ball Z Kai on BD from Kazé [updated 21th november]

[Darkblade1995]

^That does look very nice indeed. If only Funimation produced boxsets like these.

[sintzu]

It's a shame we can't get something like this from Funimation.

Instead we get generic packaging with more generic disc art.

[Darkblade1995]

It's a shame we can't get something like this from Funimation.

Instead we get generic packaging with more generic disc art.

Well it's not that their packaging is bad. It's just seriously lacking compared to something like this.

[DBZ_Lee]

Considering how much money FUNi make from Dragon Ball, it's disappointing they don't put the same effort into DB like they have with Cowboy Bebop, and Space Dandy CE's.

[CashmanX]

Any chance this might have the Japanese opening/endings as an extra?

[Darkblade1995]

Any chance this might have the Japanese opening/endings as an extra?

I'd say there is zero chance of that happening. The Japanese opening and endings are for Japan and Japan only. Fight It Out and Never Give Up are the original intended songs and those are the ones France, and every other country, are given. I really don't see the point in releasing them outside of Japan anyway. It's like you buy a box set of DBZ with it's intended opening and ending, but as a extra you get the Rock the Dragon intro. I know you can't really compare KZZG with RtD but the idea just seems weird to me.

[Puto]

I already preordered this set, looking forward to it!

[sangofe]

I already preordered this set, looking forward to it!

Didn't wait for the BDs, huh?

[dbboxkaifan]

It's a shame we can't get something like this from Funimation.

Instead we get generic packaging with more generic disc art.

I'll agree that the artwork for the discs on FUNimation's releases are lacking but the covers and slipcovers look great plus with a slim Blu-ray case so it doesn't take too much space, to be honest, I prefer FUNi's releases to any other company when it comes to Dragon Ball.

[Puto]

I already preordered this set, looking forward to it!

Didn't wait for the BDs, huh?

No, the one I ordered WAS the BD set.

[danielsan_190196]

For those who bought this box-set: did it include textless versions of the OP&ED?

[Cold Skin]

I'm really satisfied so far, the picture quality really amazes me and the green tint is almost invisible: the white (like Gohan or Videl's T-shirts or everyone's teeth) is really pure white (I would have expected to be a bit greenish), the yellow is indeed yellow so far (when it should be THE color that easily turns green), etc...
The blacks are also really black, there's no "washed out" feeling (everyone's hair).

I think it's really only with the sky that you get a sense of something being a little more greenish, as the blue is comparable to what you sometimes see in the earlier Full Color Manga for the Pilaf saga.
Let's say the sky looks more cyan than actually blue.
But aside from that, I'm enjoying every bit of the pictures. The blur seems minimal enough so that you can actually see the original grain if you look for it, but if you don't really look for it and just watch it "casually", the picture seems absolutely grainless and pretty much non-blurry to me.

The new French dub is more amazing than it's ever been, the dialogues are faithful but sound really natural both for the script and for the actors' delivery (except for C-18's voice in the very first episode she appears in, as Brigitte Lecordier seemingly didn't remember how she voiced her and gave her a paradodic "poshy dumb girl who likes money and fashion" interpretation, but she fixed it in all later episodes to get back to the proper cold, serious, low-key voice).
I'm not sure, but the name of the French script author seemed unfamiliar to me, it's possible that they've changed him for the Boo saga, explaining the additionnal (good) leap in quality.
The new French dub was already great for the previous sagas, but somehow for the Boo saga, it has been noticed that it has reached a new, impressive level, as actors use expressions and intonations that you could really hear in everyday's real life by your buddies or family. Basically, someone out of the room hearing Gohan or Videl talk could believe them to be real persons watching the TV with you at moments, there's no real "cartoon-only" expression or intonation to most of the characters, they play it like a live-action series with real actors supposed to be real persons.

I'm probably not making myself clear despite my efforts, but all of this to say the new French dub is greater than ever and very much appreciated in this new Boo saga.

For those who bought this box-set: did it include textless versions of the OP&ED?

No, there is no bonus included, which is usual for anime releases here.
However, they do have the textless opening since they use it as part of the Blu-ray menu.

[SSJ Electric Fury]

the green tint is almost invisible: the white (like Gohan or Videl's T-shirts or everyone's teeth) is really pure white (I would have expected to be a bit greenish), the yellow is indeed yellow so far (when it should be THE color that easily turns green), etc...

Was this Toei's doing? I know Kai 1.0's colors were a bit different on FUNimation's versions (DVD, Blu-ray) than Toei's own, in this case due to the brightness change, but I don't know who was responsible for that. If these changes to Kazé's 2.0 were courtesy of Japan, that's a good sign for FUNimation's upcoming release.

[Cold Skin]

^ Well, I still need to confirm that as I keep going, and I'm not really trustworthy when it comes to picture quality compared to some members around here.
It's possible that I simply got used to the green tint after the first few minutes and ended up not really seeing it.

I think the green tint was most visible with Majin Vegeta VS Goku if I remember well, with their auras/hair looking very green. I'll see if it bothers me as I watch episodes (I know it did in the original Japanese broadcast).
Right now, as I keep going, I find colors to be most vibrant and apparently faithful to what I'd expect. It's only the sky that looks unusually cyan to my eyes and that I find a little weird, a little out of range, but again, it might be my own expectations that are just playing tricks on me.

One of the first scenes in the bank being robbed got me initially worried: I could definately see that the whole picture was greenish.
But then I saw Gohan on Kinto-Un and I was like: "wow, no green here, his white shirt is really plain white, his hair is pitch black and not washed-out greyish black, and Kinto-Un really is yellow".

I wish I could capture pictures for you, but none of the PCs around here have a Blu-ray player, so I can't.
We would need more opinions than just mine, and I'll also see if I still feel the same way once the initial surprise feeling and "hype" has passed.

EDIT: After moving forwards in the episodes, I can say that the green tint is still visible on specific elements (apparently elements that are brownish):
- While blond hair will be left intact when they are in the shade of C-18 or Shapner's hair, blond-brownish hair like those of the announcer will seem a bit greenish.
- Some elements of the Tenkaichi Budokai (most often the triangle-shaped rooftop and some barriers) will seem a bit greenish.
- While most skin tint are left intact, Mr. Satan's complexion appears greenish as if he's not feeling too well. Paler or darker skin tones don't show obvious greenish tint, but Mr. Satan (and all background characters sharing his complexion) is right where it shows!

[kei17]

I got my copy and this release is a bit disappointing to me.

1) 25fps problem

• Episode 99 to 108 are 4% sped up with a distracting pitch shift in the audio.
• All the remaining episodes suffer from the jumpy footage caused by duplicating the 24th frame in every second to fill in the 25th frame.

2) Occasional hard subs

• There's French hard subs explaining words written in the background and some of them are completely unnecessary.

3) No extras

• No textless opening or ending.

[Naruto6583]

I got my copy and this release is a bit disappointing to me.

1) 25fps problem

• Episode 99 to 108 are 4% sped up with a distracting pitch shift in the audio.
• All the remaining episodes suffer from the jumpy footage caused by duplicating the 24th frame in every second to fill in the 25th frame.

2) Occasional hard subs

• There's French hard subs explaining words written in the background and some of them are completely unnecessary.

3) No extras

• No textless opening or ending.

That's odd why was there only a pitch change in those episodes when most of the later French dub clips lack that?

[sangofe]

I got my copy and this release is a bit disappointing to me.

1) 25fps problem

• Episode 99 to 108 are 4% sped up with a distracting pitch shift in the audio.
• All the remaining episodes suffer from the jumpy footage caused by duplicating the 24th frame in every second to fill in the 25th frame.

2) Occasional hard subs

• There's French hard subs explaining words written in the background and some of them are completely unnecessary.

3) No extras

• No textless opening or ending.

109 - 133 aren't sped up?

Edit: can you post screen captures?

[DBZ_Lee]

I got my copy and this release is a bit disappointing to me.

1) 25fps problem

• Episode 99 to 108 are 4% sped up with a distracting pitch shift in the audio.
• All the remaining episodes suffer from the jumpy footage caused by duplicating the 24th frame in every second to fill in the 25th frame.

2) Occasional hard subs

• There's French hard subs explaining words written in the background and some of them are completely unnecessary.

3) No extras

• No textless opening or ending.

That sounds poorly produced. I assume that the eventual FUNi releases won't suffer the speed up issues that plague the PAL ones.

[Cold Skin]

The speed-up problem is likely due to France's airing process. It's always been that way here for everything. It will likely not be the case for your US release.
The speed/pitch problem was corrected after a bunch of episodes, likely because they realized there was something wrong after that first batch of episodes they dubbed and therefore did something about it to fix it for the rest of the saga. Note that the French voices are not impacted by it since they were recorded on those sped-up versions for the first episodes, so they sound normal as usual. But this is also likely whythose few episodes haven't been fixed on that level: with the recording done over the sped-up version, slowing them down again would bring trouble and unnatural speech/sounds for the French voices.

Hard subs are natural as it is rare and considered a great added value that the master used is the one specifically meant for us and for French channels to use as-is: you're supposedly a French person who needs to understand what's written no matter if you picked the French dub or the Japanese version subtitled in French. There is not a chance you wouldn't want those subs as a French viewer as you need them in either case, so it's part of the master given to all French channels itself (which prevents them from not subtitling or subtitling in a wrong way). And of course, the objective is to have precisely the master you saw airing on your TV, you are supposedly aiming to buy the exact product you saw on TV with nothing altered, no "cheating on the content".

However, while most of them are totally justified for every possible viewer to understand the context, it's true that one of them seemed weird to me: why do you need to translate what a member of the audience (I don't remember if it's Kame Sennin or some random guy) is drinking? How is it important for the French viewer to know that someone is drinking beer rather than something else, translating what "BEER" means in French? Doesn't really bring something to the understanding of the plot and context if you ask me...

Since the master used is the one given to French channels (so that what you saw on TV is precisely what you buy to have it at home without feeling cheated and without feeling there are missing parts or that the presentation has been altered compared to the TV airings), all writings are in French: the opening and the ending are all in French with Westernized names for all Japanese people and French translations of their functions, the names of the Japanese voice actors do not appear as they are replaced with the names of the French voice actors, the titles of the episodes are in French (again, no matter what version you pick, you supposedly need the French title - either as a simple caption of what's being said in French or as a translation of what's being said in Japanese - while the Japanese ones would mean nothing except gibberish to you).

Finally, note that you have to remember where you were as far as episodes go: the menu is nicely presented, but only gives the number of the episode to select, no picture thumbnail and no title, you have to remember the number you'll select (108, 109, 110...).
On the contrary of the previous AB Group sets, finishing an episode you selected will instantly get you back to the episode selection menu, even when it's the last one from the disc (whereas on the AB Group discs, finishing the last episode would get you stuck with an unskippable AB Group presentation for a minute before getting back to the menu).

[Mewzard]

There is a chance you might not want the subs on. Maybe you want to see how a scene looks without large text blocking the view. Or perhaps you are, rare as it may be, someone who speaks Japanese living in France, and have no need for subtitles.

In the modern day, there's no real excuse not to make an uncut bilingual anime release with softsubs (I'm looking at you Saban and 4K Media, and also Toei for not paying for subs on the Bo-bobo DVDs). Want them on? They're there. Want them off? No problem, they're gone.

Besides, hardsubbing can affect the video quality to some degree, and once it's done, you can't easily go back and fix it for future releases. Softsubs have neither of those issues.