900 Minutes of Uncut Action, DBZ Season 1 Arrives

[BrollysKin]

Because they may have to read something that isn't a tounge in their asses and OH BOY THEY CANT EVER DO THAT. No sir, they're king of the Anime hill now, why would they bother with such insolence?
Bah.

That's not cool dude. Even Funimation doesn't deserve to get that from you. I'm sure that if they wanted to they would come here. You arn't doing much to demonstrate what this site is about with that post. Posting "OMG t3h Funimation suxx0rz and stuff LOL" shit doesn't help make us look like intellegent fans. We don't do Funimation bashing because we can overlook it and talk about DBZ without mentioning Funi. Just a friendly bit of advice.

Agreed, many of us are very upset with this release. You need to channel your anger into something more productive like writing letters or something. Blatent bashing only hurts the fan-base, not Funimation.

[ETC123]

Blatent bashing only hurts the fan-base, not Funimation.

They aren't reading anyway so there is entirely no point. They're selling the sets, not listening to justifable complaints (more or less because most people arent making them. If they read a lot of "not buying this set", they might take notice, but this thread, other threads, the AOD one, is practically littered with "Well it's shit, but it's cheap so I'm sold!").

FUNimation basically think of themselves as high and mighty. Thats why they don't change, and thats why they'll never change- they've mastered the art of selling something no one wants, and making a killing from it.

[TripleRach]

Seriously, take it easy, you're purposely trying to put those of us down whom are buying this to enjoy the series, why? We all would prefer an unaltered 4:3 format, but considering what these sets are offering -- the full DBZ series released in a consistent, fully translated, and affordable legit form. Well, some of us are gonna take this deal rather you like it or not. We're all well aware of the cropping and exaggerated remastering, but this is still the DragonBall Z series we love and respect enough that we're gonna spend our hard-earned money for legit releases rather than worthless bootlegs or downloads.

Up until the last minute, I kind of felt the same way. I've never even seen most of those episodes, in any language, edited or unedited. I so badly wanted to see the anime version of the Saiya-jin arc, and the price was seriously tempting (especially that one site that had it for $20). But in the end, I decided this release is not what I've been waiting years for. I would rather continue to go without than give them any of my money for these sets.

I'm not trying to put anyone down, but I just can't believe that people are so willing to support this flawed product that's been backed by such insulting and inconsistent marketing tactics. I can't believe that people are not only supporting it, but justifying it by saying things like, "Well, there's no alternative, and it's cheap, *shrug*" and "It doesn't bother me". There never will be an alternative if everyone feels that way. I can't believe that everyone's so accepting of this.

Most of all, I can't believe that after all the money I spent over the years buying up the overpriced single volumes, they get cancelled just before completion in favor of an even worse product, and the majority of the fanbase is happily buying it up. What happened to the days of the fans throwing an uproar over the quality of the first two Ginyu DVDs, leading to the future releases slowly improving? (On that note, this release has actually regressed to using improper Japanese credits the way those Ginyu DVDs did.)

[SatoSky]

Yea, I was one of the people who cancelled their pre-orders. I just thought that the widescreen was just, bleh. I got me some Angel Season sets instead. (All I need is Season Five.)

I got it as a gift a couple days before it came out, watched a few episodes, then quickly gave it away myself. Now, I guess I'll just wait to see if there's a Mexican DVD release any time soon. If not, I'll continue with Spains DVD's.

[Victator Supreme]

Impulse buying would be grabbing something at random. This is a thought out decision. Where you wreigh out the pros and cons. To me the added audio options and cheaper price make up for the cropping.

Once again, poor reasoning, and I'm not budging on this because as this forum is purported, this is the DBZ forum on the internet, this is where the sane and rational lies apart from the frothing and prepubescant.

Audio options are and always were possible on other discs, nor does this have anything that is paticularly new (yes, there is some re-recorded dialouge, but the dub is still an inaccurate, badly written schlockfest), so it was always possible before. This cropping, on the other hand, is entirely unjustifiable from anyone who works in video production. Whoever signed off on this does not deserve to be employed.

Basically, if this forum does actually respect the integrity of DBZ, as purported by saying that it's the last (if not only) mature DBZ forum, you won't go and buy a release that is, for all intents and purposes, aimed at Joe Bestbuy and Nine year old children. You're doing yourselves a disservice.

Um you do realise DBZ was created for nine year old children. But sorry for not defending the honor of a cartoon about space monkeys shooting fireballs at eachother.

[VegettoEX]

Um you do realise DBZ was created for nine year old children.

Let's remember to type properly. The nine-year-olds thank you.

[Victator Supreme]

Already am champ, keep your own nose clean.

[VegettoEX]

Already am champ, keep your own nose clean.

Um... [Y/y]ou do realize DBZ was created for nine year old children, correct?

If you're going to come back with something, at least have it (1) make coherent sense, and (2) not completely contradict yourself.

I'm going to play the side, here, of all those saying... for the love of god, if you think it's bad, don't buy it just because it's cheap. We're all collectively falling precisely into FUNimation's hands, here. This is what they want. It's so cheap, you'll buy it... even when you don't want it. I mean, shit... I already went over all this in the podcast, so I don't know what else I could possibly say about it.

I don't want to come off as all delusional and not even remotely grounded in reality (similar to a certain "activist" group you may or may not remember from Internet Drama© so many years ago), but god damn, people... Buying the set just encourages them, even when you say you don't want it.

They played their cards so well...

[Victator Supreme]

Very minor typos, not even worth mentioning. Telling someone DBZ was created for kids is not contradictory. As for the dvd sets, please tell me of a cheaper legal alternative?

[VegettoEX]

Very minor typos, not even worth mentioning.

You're the one who agreed to the rules prior to registering. As the administrator, I have every right to not allow a slippery-slope by drawing some imaginary line about what's OK to ignore and what's not OK to let fly.

Telling someone DBZ was created for kids is not contradictory.

Again, the incoherency. I was referring to your typing.

As for the dvd sets, please tell me of a cheaper legal alternative?

I applaud your wanting to be legal, but cheaper? You're not being honest with yourself. If you're not going to put in the effort of obtaining the things you want, then fine... go ahead and ruin it for everyone else by supporting and purchasing these sets.

It's been stated time and time again how many "alternatives" there are. With the exception of the remainder of the Saiya-jin arc and then up until Ginyu, you've got all of the original FUNimation DVDs. For the "missing" stuff, you've got the Spanish DVDs. You've got the Japanese R2s. There are the R3 DVDs for some of the other parts of the over-all series. No-one's inherently "tied" to FUNimation. What do you think people in other countries have to do?

I've got JP DVDs, French VHS, Cantonese VCD, Spanish DVDs on the way now, etc. Not a single damn one of those ties me to FUNimation in any way, shape, or form. They're all legal. They all support the show. They all support the show as done somewhat well. No-one needs to go the crazy-ass route of OMGBOYCOTTBURNDOWNFUNIHQ... all you have to do is just enjoy the show as it should be, by obtaining it from companies you feel treat it with the amount of respect you find appropriate. This isn't the mid-90's, anymore... we can order things from tons of sites online from all throughout the world and have it show up the next week.

However, if you're not willing to put in the effort of obtaining the things you want, fine... let FUNimation's treatment of the property continue to be the thing that you're tied to. I guess you pretty much deserve it.

(Yes, I do understand the irony of my own purchasing of the set. However, I think we can all agree that due to the position I'm in, it's a necessary-evil in order to spread the word as factually as possible about the set. Furthermore, that also makes it pretty unbiased... I didn't get it for free, so I'm as everyday of a consumer as the rest of you... just in a position I've managed to work for myself over the last decade that allows me to spread the word and have that word actually taken notice of.)

[slice-n-dice trunks]

You know, I don't mind the crappy packaging, the cropping issue, the book with the wrong info, or the fact that I'm rebuying this for a third time, but the thing that really makes me mad(and I'm a person that doesn't get mad easy) is that they talked about this remastering process, and it sucks. I don't even mind too much that the images are darker, but that DVNR thingy(I'm not technical, can you tell?) made the images look WORSE than they did before......and that's what makes me mad....I mean, come on, how in the world do they make the images look worse after supposedly trying to make them look better?

[desirecampbell]

ETC123 is right about industry standards. He's right about Funi not giving a shit about the fans and just trying to milk the property. His reasons for not buying the set are no less legitimate than anyone else's.

But, they're no more legitimate either. It's not okay to be an asshole to anyone and everyone who disagrees with you. Calling us morons and traitors isn't right - we simply disagree, we're not enemies.

Capitalism works because noone is forced to buy, or to not buy, anything. Everyone makes the choice to buy something based on whatever reasons they want. They weigh the pros and cons of the product and make their decision - and they are not automatically idiots if they decide differently from you.


Personally, I agree that this 'widescreen' debacle is the stupidest thing Funi's ever pulled. I agree, they're just trying to drag in more new customers and forsake the ones they have already. This makes me not want to buy things from Funimation. "There's a nine-year-old born every minute"?! That's exactly as offensive as it sounds.

I believe in the rights of the consumer, that these rights give them the power to share what they have with others freely. I believe that copyrights are meant to protect the property from false representation, and nothing else. That's the long way of saying I'm pro 'piracy'. I don't believe it's immoral or illegal to procure a copy from someone else.

I'm a pretty big 'originalist'. I believe that every piece of literature or art be presented as close to its original form as possible. Yeah, widescreen video and English dialogue and rock music are probably more popular here and now - but this is a Japanese series from 1988. I have no interest in owning an English dub, nor do I have any interest in cropped or otherwise mangled video.


So, now the question is: why did I buy this bastardized boxset?

* Because I want to own it legally? No, I could order the singles from Toei, or try and track down some UUEs. Plus I've no qualms with acquiring such things online for substantially lower costs.

* Because I want to hear this new dub? No, I've no interest in terrible acting over almost correct bgm.

* Because I want to support Funi so they don't go under and DBZ gets picked up by 4Kids? No, I believe in capitalism. It works. If a company makes a product that noone buys, they make it better, or they die. No sympathy.

* Because the 'remastered widescreen' is awesome, or at least interesting? No, it looks like ass. Blurry, cropped, tears in the film.

If my reasons was any of those, it'd be a legitimate reason. If my reason was "because I liked the orange box", it'd still be a legitimate reason. It's my right to decide what I buy, and why I buy it. Your opinions may be different, but they're just your opinions.

I have only one reason as to why I bought the season set: Steve Simmon's translated script. For thirty dollars, I'd buy the scripts printed on looseleaf. To me, they're worth it. The two dubs are absolutely useless to me. The accompanying audio is a great bonus, and the video is, uh, better than nothing... I guess.

[Jord]

Everybody says that good alternatives are French, Spanish, Japanese or even Chinese dvd versions. Guess what? They aren't for people who don't speak French, Spanish, Japanese or Chinese hich is the majority.

[sangofe]

French dvds suck. Don't get them.

[FDLink]

ECT123 can be as rough around the edges as he wants; he's only telling it like it is. FUNi deserves every sling and arrow for their handling of this release. The only time you should be nice and respectful is when you're writing them personally requesting that they re-evaluate this release.

By the way, Corey, when are you going to get your Season One review up? It's been nearly two weeks!

[theoriginalbilis]

I feel that while there are other ways to buy the series legally, I'm still going to buy these sets, because personally, I like the English dub w/ JPN music, having subtitles, and the widescreen doesn't affect my buying decision since I knew what I would be getting. (Hell, I've authored my own DVDs of Megas XLR and Aqua Teen Hunger Force where I've changed the aspect ratio to 16:9.)

However, I'm still intent on collecting DBZ in other legal formats as well. I plan on getting the Spanish R2 DVDs, since they are 4:3, have a Dragonbox source, and have multiple Spanish dubs that I'm interested in as well as the Japanese audio. In fact, I've ordered a couple volumes this week.

I'm also going to get the Madman R4 Saga of Goku release, so I can complete my DB collection (Because, let's be honest, the DB sets are the best handling of anything DB that FUNi has ever done; and while they're not Dragonbox quality, they're still of good quality.)

I may buy a few Dragonbox singles of key episodes, but for now, I feel the Spanish R2s and the FUNi season sets will do me fine.

So... yeah, I honestly don't feel like I have to justify my buying decisions to you people, but there you go. I feel I've done a damn good job of supporting the series over the years up until now, and on into the future. I don't need anyone to tell me what I'm buying is "crap/garbage" over & over, especially when I've done my research. This is why the majority of anime fandom annoys me.

- Bilis

[MajinVejitaXV]

By the way, Corey, when are you going to get your Season One review up? It's been nearly two weeks!

Well, there was the trip to DC for my girlfriend's birthday that ended with a friend's car being broken into...then there was a friend of mine losing their job...then there was another friend's brother getting screwed over by his girlfriend...then my dad lost his license and has to almost have divine intervention to get a new one issued...then there was complications with a root canal...

Add all that to my reading over the whole thing, re-writing 80% of it and trying to make it perfect, all while dealing with 10-12 hour days and various other little crap...it's been a complex past couple of weeks ;p

Sorry, I feel like a dick, but I'm hoping when I get the final up it'll have been worth the wait.

-Corey

[FDLink]

Well, there was the trip to DC for my girlfriend's birthday that ended with a friend's car being broken into...then there was a friend of mine losing their job...then there was another friend's brother getting screwed over by his girlfriend...then my dad lost his license and has to almost have divine intervention to get a new one issued...then there was complications with a root canal...

Add all that to my reading over the whole thing, re-writing 80% of it and trying to make it perfect, all while dealing with 10-12 hour days and various other little crap...it's been a complex past couple of weeks ;p

Sorry, I feel like a dick, but I'm hoping when I get the final up it'll have been worth the wait.

Fuck, man. That's pretty heavy. But either way, I'm sure it will be good whenever you get it out. Just make sure to post it on the AOD thread, and maybe even forward it to FUNi themselves.

And why exactly do so many people here have serious hard-ons for the Spanish dub? Of all the things wrong with this set, it being sans Spanish-track is by far the least of it's problems. I can understand wanting the Japanese and English versions, but Spanish? Who cares? (unless you only speak Spanish, of course).

[ETC123]

Um you do realise DBZ was created for nine year old children. But sorry for not defending the honor of a cartoon about space monkeys shooting fireballs at eachother.

Hahah, space monkeys shooting fireballs at each other, that's a good way to summarise the series. Thanks!

All in all I do agree that it is a kids show. The target audience has been, basically, nine year olds. But what have those nine year olds done, anyway? They've grown up in to adults/late teens. You don't see DVD releases of the original G1 Transformers Carton or He-man being cropped to appeal to kids of nowerdays, do you? That's because these DVDs shouldn't BE aimed at kids of these days, but rather the kids of yore. So once again, nine-year-olds isn't a valid excuse for widescreen in this case.

But, they're no more legitimate either. It's not okay to be an asshole to anyone and everyone who disagrees with you. Calling us morons and traitors isn't right - we simply disagree, we're not enemies.

I am going to disagree here and actually say that my reasons for not buying this set ARE more legitimate and justifiable than those buying the set. This set, aswell as it's various acts of vandalism against the series, is a mockery to the series and a sign of FUNimation's inability to understand the series. There are problems still present even after being 'fixed', it's been messed up from it's original point, and those supporting it are actually activley reducing my potential enjoyment of the series in English.

I do know (and have) gotten it from other sources. I'm fine, DBZ wise, but the problem still lies in the fact that I would like to own the show in English in a format that was not, market-comparativley, a complete rip off/disgrace to the show. It's childhood memories here.

Capitalism works because noone is forced to buy, or to not buy, anything. Everyone makes the choice to buy something based on whatever reasons they want. They weigh the pros and cons of the product and make their decision - and they are not automatically idiots if they decide differently from you.

Capitalism isn't so much an issue here, and don't think I've gone in to this without giving every side a lot of consideration. I've read this thread and those before it when I've had the chance, spoken to people about it, read the AOD threads and various new articles to come to the desicion I have, and while it's not being delivered in a friendly way, I feel it wouldn't have any justifiable position if it was delivered as "oh well its your opinion I respect it but in my honest opinion I think this and that".

I realise this is a delicate issue because most of you do not own the Saiyan/Namek Sagas on DVD nor are you able to due to a lack of credit cards, language capabilities and whatever reason. I realise for most, as far as a direct option, this is the only way to go. I expect those who are casually buying, those who don't research their releases on the internet, and those who only buy things once they hear of them in stores and whatever else to buy it. I, on the other hand, expect way more from the supposedly hardest of hardcore fans who have simply given up and folded, hoping maybe they'll get their act together, and they won't. I've written as much already.

If my reasons was any of those, it'd be a legitimate reason. If my reason was "because I liked the orange box", it'd still be a legitimate reason. It's my right to decide what I buy, and why I buy it. Your opinions may be different, but they're just your opinions.

If there is anything I dislike more in the world, it's the idea that everyone and everything is an opinion. Quite frankly, I like to draw the line as to what is opinion and fact, and that line has been drawn in this issue as far as I am concerned. Therefore-

I have only one reason as to why I bought the season set: Steve Simmon's translated script. For thirty dollars, I'd buy the scripts printed on looseleaf. To me, they're worth it. The two dubs are absolutely useless to me. The accompanying audio is a great bonus, and the video is, uh, better than nothing... I guess.

There are other ways to aqquire the script, because FUNimation will not see your purchase as "well, just because Simmons has some subtitles, we get a sale!". They'll see it as another notch in their belt to continue what they are doing, therefore making you as bad as those who will buy it for thirty dollars because "well, it's cheaper than $50".

As for the dvd sets, please tell me of a cheaper legal alternative?

As I have said, there is importation, and there is simply NOT BUYING IT and perhaps having some standards. Why would I advise of a cheaper alternative? I mean, if you really, REALLY liked the show, why would you be so against actually spending money on it? I understand you have a precarious financial situation, but it doesn't mean you should buy as cheap as you can go.

Everybody says that good alternatives are French, Spanish, Japanese or even Chinese dvd versions. Guess what? They aren't for people who don't speak French, Spanish, Japanese or Chinese hich is the majority.

Well, French aside, the chances are that you're able to understand atleast a bit of Japanese and have already a very familiar understanding of more or less the entire Z story (which let's face it folks, is not complicated in any language), so I don't see why you must buy what is considered to be "made for you".

billis

Be that as it may, for the support you've put in to the series you're still more or less crippling it's release and blahblahblah you've heard it before.

It doesn't invalidate what I am saying.

[Goshin]

I have only one reason as to why I bought the season set: Steve Simmon's translated script. For thirty dollars, I'd buy the scripts printed on looseleaf. To me, they're worth it. The two dubs are absolutely useless to me. The accompanying audio is a great bonus, and the video is, uh, better than nothing... I guess.

That is indeed the exact same reason why I bought my set. Unfortuantely, I was never able to see the first 53 episodes in the uncut Japanese format with English subtitles. These sets are allowing me too, so that is the reason I purchased them. Yes, I think the whole widescreen thing is bullshit and I hope something can be done to change it into the intended format. Also, ETC made some very good comments that I completely agree with. But I will be buying these first two sets so I can see parts of the series I haven't been able to yet. Anyone that thinks I'm a traitor or whatnot for doing so, whatever. I'm not, I just want to watch these original Japanese episodes with Daimo's English subs.