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

[KentalSSJ6]

I think I'm missing the gist of what you're trying to say with this. Is this meant to be a sarcastic joking image or is this the Mona Lisa with the DBZ Blu Ray process done to it?

[Metalwario64]

Kai on DVD looks better than these new Blu-rays (but I think Kai looks great in SD anyway):

No but honestly the rewritten Kai script may be closer to the Japanese one, but it has the effect of the Big Green. Mangled syntax and toomanywordswithnopauseforbreath.

I'd love it if you shared some examples.

*awesome Mona Lisa image*

Mona Lisa with the DBZ Blu Ray process done to it?

It's this.

[Kendamu]

Aside from the cropping, am I the only one who thinks the bluray version looks fantastic?

I hope it's really only you.

I admit I'm a self proclaimed "quality whore". It may due to having a HD laptop screen but I honestly dont see much issue with the picture. If someone can point out what everyone is seeing id appreciate it.

I can agree with some people in regards to some of the background detail not being as sharp in certain instances on the Blu-ray, but all the characters' details are a ton sharper than before! These look, to me, a lot better than the Bricks! As for the scrubbing, though, the loss of grain does take away from the "depth" of the character art in the same way that the redrawn Kai scenes often seem to lack the "depth" of the original art reused for Kai. For $25, though, non-purists are gonna be in for a real treat!

I'd honestly be more angry about this, but Daisuki's got my back when it comes to watching 4:3 subbed DBZ and the full-color manga is pretty much the super awesome release I'm looking forward to getting in print early next year when it hits the US. I'm kind of annoyed and I did blow some steam in FUNi's direction about their choice when the trailer hit, but I'm not able to get super passionate about hating this release.

EDIT: Oh, and Kai. Gotta love Kai. It's the "have your cake and eat it, too" to my manga fanboyism that enjoys moving pictures, too.

[KentalSSJ6]

I think some in depth trailers showing the show in action would help their case. I mean screenshots help, but they only show so much and when the series as DBZ, showing it in actual motion may help them out abit.

[kei17]

By the way, aren't all the shots in the trailer just center-cropped?

[KingofWisdom]

I agree, these do look worse than the orange bricks. It's like someone took a marker, traced over the character outlines and set the color scheme in their editing software to watercolor. It's all bright and ugly, not at all pleasant on the eyes (Piccolo is neon green), and the backgrounds are muddied.

Maybe..just maybe..this was a test trailer? What was the reaction on the FUNi forums?

I really, really, really doubt it. I don't think we were meant to see it just yet. It'd be one thing if it were up on YouTube, but it was only on their site. Here's hoping for something better in the future. I guess it'd help to see actual, uncompressed footage of the new sets, but these screen caps are like a bad joke.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Could someone make a Singles/Season Sets/DBoxes/Level Sets/Blu-ray Season Sets/Kai comparison?

[KentalSSJ6]

Could someone make a Singles/Season Sets/DBoxes/Level Sets/Blu-ray Season Sets/Kai comparison?

That would be great, provided its the same image for all versions so we can get a more clear answer.

[DragonBoxZTheMovies]

Ugh, I do not own the full series. I have not seen the full series. I would like to own the full series, and I would not mind having it on Blu-Ray...looks I gotta pick these up then when Madman finally brings them down here. I'll pick up Level 1.2 first though, and skip the first season.

They look like those DBZ videos on YouTube that have all the random filters thrown over it, but I don't really know as much about video as you guys do, so I can tolerate it at the very least.

[Gonstead]

I wish Funimation would simply put up their raw masters or whatever 4:3 material they have somewhere online for people to buy. $1 per episode even if they have to.

Hell, I'd even go so far as actually getting an Itunes account for such a thing if it were the only way and I don't even like Itunes.

[Kojiro Sasaki]

When I was writing a bigger description, I find out that there is one word that is much more universal and describes everything exactly as I wanted to:

GARBAGE

I wish Funimation would simply put up their raw masters or whatever 4:3 material they have somewhere online for people to buy.

I see that many people here (including myself) want raw masters. Maybe let's team up and try to do something about it?

[KentalSSJ6]

When I was writing a bigger description, I find out that there is one word that is much more universal and describes everything exactly as I wanted to:

GARBAGE

I wish Funimation would simply put up their raw masters or whatever 4:3 material they have somewhere online for people to buy.

I see that many people here (including myself) want raw masters. Maybe let's team up and try to do something about it?

Provided a version is done with the Kai english dub, id be up for that.

[kei17]

I find it even funny rather than disgusting how they crushed blacks more than the orange bricks.

[Kojiro Sasaki]

For them to be selectively cropping this release they have to be working with a 4:3 scan.

Exactly. And the only way to make a proper 16:9 HD cuts is using 2k scans. Even this shitty trailer is enough to say that they are cropping and upscaling the Level sets footage.
It's not "1080p High Definition" but "867p Upscaled".

Or maybe they have 2k scans? (trailer says no)

[KentalSSJ6]

I know they likely dont do this, given that the release is 16:9, but I really wish when it came to Dragonball, Funimation only came to Kanzenshuu on how we want a product done. Its clear we all wanted 4:9 with the blu ray remastering the Level series received. Instead they release polls to fans who, and not to be offensive and lack of a better term, dont know any better or dont really know what they want.

[jeisurii]

For them to be selectively cropping this release they have to be working with a 4:3 scan.

Exactly. And the only way to make a proper 16:9 HD cuts is using 2k scans. Even this shitty trailer is enough to say that they are cropping and upscaling the Level sets footage.
It's not "1080p High Definition" but "867p Upscaled".

Now that part's funny, I'm just waiting for a some promo material to come out hyping a 1080p scan so they can be called on that fact. But, it's not like anyone would really care.

[Gonstead]

I find it even funny rather than disgusting how they crushed blacks more than the orange bricks.

If they can crush them even more, I fear they'll create artificial black holes that suck people into their TV's if they watch this release.

[KentalSSJ6]

I find it even funny rather than disgusting how they crushed blacks more than the orange bricks.

If they can crush them even more, I fear they'll create artificial black holes that suck people into their TV's if they watch this release.

Hey if that somehow leads to us being sucked into the Dragon Universe and be able to use Ki and train with Goku and company, I say crush the f*ck out of them. I could Kamehameha all the people I don't like.

[Fizzer]

Now I'm sort of worried by this, but I think those screenshots look really nice. I'd rather we got the levels sets or raw masters in 1080p, but this cel look is nice in a completely different way to those. I don't have the orange bricks, I don't have anything with the US Broadcast audio on it, and I don't have a consistent DB/Z/GT set, so these might be worth a look, especially if they release DB and GT too.

Can someone upload a comparison, like the orange brick vs blu-ray ones, but with the US Dragon Boxes thrown in?

By the way, did the casual fans complain that the DB and GT bricks were in 4:3? Or that seasons 7-9 had grain?

[KentalSSJ6]

This makes me real worried about the Cowboy Bebop bluray collection Funimation will be releasing next year...