Arabic DBZ DVD "Black Brick" Boxset Review

DominatorLost · Post by **DominatorLost** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 4:00 pm

Wow...

I feel sorry for the people this was released to, it's abysmal.

saiyanprincess · Post by **saiyanprincess** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 4:40 pm

Who the heck did they put in charge of marketing and Design? Somebody needs the sack....Goku on the box reminds me of one of Garlic Jr's minions, I can't understand why he is green... And the cases are just bog standard black cases you see with free trial internet discs. So these are truly genuine official releases!?

Somehow... I can't see the sales peaking very well in Dubai. It's a shame. I'm just glad that the releases here don't look that bad. The Naruto fans would be laughing their socks off.

(Check out the guy on the right)

Mosaic · Post by **Mosaic** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 8:26 pm

How edited is the Arabic dub? I can see they cut out Lunch's infamous last scene in episode 30.

SonGokuGT · Post by **SonGokuGT** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 9:28 pm

Wow... That is probably the worst release I have ever seen... The video quality looks like a VHS that's been recorded off TV and watched far too many times. The 16:9 squish-job is so laughable, it's sad. The box art and design is just incredible, it looks like a bootleg and looks like DBZ meets Johnny Chimpo.

As stated before by DominatorLost: Purely abysmal.

Krakabeast · Post by **Krakabeast** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 10:20 pm

I just vomited in my mouth. Someone bitch-slapped god in the face with this release. I am now about 100x more grateful for the orange bricks.

B · Post by B » Thu Mar 12, 2009 10:21 pm

The most disappointing thing here is that Piccolo doesn't have a human skin tone.

SHINOBI-03 · Post by **SHINOBI-03** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 3:13 am

saiyanprincess wrote: Somehow... I can't see the sales peaking very well in Dubai. It's a shame. I'm just glad that the releases here don't look that bad. The Naruto fans would be laughing their socks off.

Come to think about it, I could not find a Naruto boxset anywhere at all...!!

Mosaic wrote:How edited is the Arabic dub? I can see they cut out Lunch's infamous last scene in episode 30.

have this for an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0VB8GVxj7s

Other edites were usually nudity of course with baby Gohan and Goku

Some refrences to death were changed for the characters who were seen after their death in Other World.
For example: The Other World was refered to as a galactic martial arts school ((which kinda make sense with the Other World Budokai)). Hell was named as something like "The Valley of the Spiky Hilltops" and "Hell" was ereased completely from the shirts.

But some charcters who died but never seen again like Nappa are concidered dead.

Alcohol is not included with the series.

SonGokuGT wrote:Wow... That is probably the worst release I have ever seen... The video quality looks like a VHS that's been recorded off TV and watched far too many times. The 16:9 squish-job is so laughable, it's sad. The box art and design is just incredible, it looks like a bootleg and looks like DBZ meets Johnny Chimpo.

As stated before by DominatorLost: Purely abysmal.

Remember kids: I f you think FUNimation's releases are bad, remeber the Arabic release. ((I feel bad for useing it as an example))

B wrote:The most disappointing thing here is that Piccolo doesn't have a human skin tone.

kei17 · Post by **kei17** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 3:42 am

Mosaic wrote:How edited is the Arabic dub? I can see they cut out Lunch's infamous last scene in episode 30.

As SHINOBI-03 has mentioned in the upper post, some refrences to death were changed.
And nudity and violence were censored, too. They even do not show Bulma's shoulder-showing clothes in the Saiyan arc.
The most interesting edit in the dub should be the daring change of the setting of Oozaru. Saiyans do not morph into Oozaru.
They summon their own Oozaru. I guess it's because "a human transforming into an ape" reminds Muslim people of theory of evolution.

Of course, I think this kind of edit/censoring is bad for DB fans and DB itself, but also always interests me. I can even know and feel many cultures and toughts/religions through Dragon Ball. It's such a nice experience for me.

jda95 · Post by **jda95** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 3:46 am

That is one screwed up dub. And we think we have it bad.

SHINOBI-03 · Post by **SHINOBI-03** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 3:53 am

kei17 wrote:
Mosaic wrote:How edited is the Arabic dub? I can see they cut out Lunch's infamous last scene in episode 30.
As SHINOBI-03 has mentioned in the upper post, some refrences to death were changed.
And nudity and violence were censored, too. They even do not show Bulma's shoulder-showing clothes in the Saiyan arc.
The most interesting edit in the dub should be the daring change of the setting of Oozaru. Saiyans do not morph into Oozaru.
They summon their own Oozaru. I guess it's because "a human transforming into an ape" reminds Muslim people of theory of evolution.

Oh, @$#% I didn't want to mention something as embarrasing like this... But yeah, they don't transform.

Don't get us wrong here. We hated these edits as much as you hate 4Kids and Saban, but what can we do? Venus's standards changed dramaticly ever sinse the Pokemon phenomena and the controversries that came along with it.

And that's why their dubs are so fu@$ nowadays compared to like 10 years ago, exept for Digimon Tamers 'cause it was wonderful.

kei17 · Post by **kei17** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 4:30 am

SHINOBI-03 wrote:Oh, @$#% I didn't want to mention something as embarrasing like this... But yeah, they don't transform.

Don't get us wrong here. We hated these edits as much as you hate 4Kids and Saban, but what can we do? Venus's standards changed dramaticly ever sinse the Pokemon phenomena and the controversries that came along with it.

Why do you think that's "embarrasing"? Such edit because of their religion is quite understandable for me. Of course, their old-school positions that even do not allow people to see the products from other cultures without change is not internationally standard and can be criticized, but DB is more for kids than fanboys. Such shows can influence viewer, most of them are kids. And that may break their respectable culture and religion. I don't want them to see the RAW show even with a risk of breaking their cultures. However, at least, they should have left the show uncut on DVD, I think.

saiyanprincess · Post by **saiyanprincess** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 4:04 pm

Couldn't they have just put warnings on the disc to potential buyers? Are all the DVD's in dubai heavily edited and censored or is it just animes. I'm just curious.

SHINOBI-03 · Post by **SHINOBI-03** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 12:56 am

saiyanprincess wrote:Couldn't they have just put warnings on the disc to potential buyers? Are all the DVD's in dubai heavily edited and censored or is it just animes. I'm just curious.

Everything else is released unedited. The only edited animes are Venus' productions... and 4kids' One Piece & Yu-Gi-oh.

There are other Arabian dub companies who aren't strict as Venus, but their dubs are based on American dubs like Yu-Gi-Oh, Astro Boy and Pokemon.

FUNimation's, ADV, Madman's, and other forign releases are left intact

Tanooki Kuribo · Post by **Tanooki Kuribo** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 9:32 am

Oh, @$#% I didn't want to mention something as embarrasing like this... But yeah, they don't transform.

Don't get us wrong here. We hated these edits as much as you hate 4Kids and Saban, but what can we do?

Wait, so... How do they dance around that little scene? Do they edit out the Saiyan actually transforming and just show the giant ape? Or do they maybe don't show the transformation and add the voice actor commanding the giant ape as if they (the saiyan) is still on the ground? HOW!?

The Time Traveller · Post by **The Time Traveller** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 10:02 am

Tanooki Kuribo wrote:
Oh, @$#% I didn't want to mention something as embarrasing like this... But yeah, they don't transform.

Don't get us wrong here. We hated these edits as much as you hate 4Kids and Saban, but what can we do?
Wait, so... How do they dance around that little scene? Do they edit out the Saiyan actually transforming and just show the giant ape? Or do they maybe don't show the transformation and add the voice actor commanding the giant ape as if they (the saiyan) is still on the ground? HOW!?

"Swapping with my big brother!"

I heard that on the Daizex chatroom about... I think it was Arabic Digimon when they Digivolved. I can't remember who said it though.

SHINOBI-03 · Post by **SHINOBI-03** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 10:17 am

Tanooki Kuribo wrote:
Oh, @$#% I didn't want to mention something as embarrasing like this... But yeah, they don't transform.

Don't get us wrong here. We hated these edits as much as you hate 4Kids and Saban, but what can we do?
Wait, so... How do they dance around that little scene? Do they edit out the Saiyan actually transforming and just show the giant ape? Or do they maybe don't show the transformation and add the voice actor commanding the giant ape as if they (the saiyan) is still on the ground? HOW!?

Well, it's a bit tricky because they used the original soundtrack. what they did was simply reused shots of the wasteland, Vegeta talking before the Power Ball and Goku's close-ups and then shows Vegeta after the transformation.
Vegeta said they use the tails throu "Blowtz Wave" from the moon.
---------------
OMG, I want to upload a scene of Vegeta screaming before the Galactic gun X Kamehameha strugle because it was SO COOL!!

someone tells me how to rip a video from a DVD because I want to share it

The Time Traveller wrote:
"Swapping with my big brother!"

I heard that on the Daizex chatroom about... I think it was Arabic Digimon when they Digivolved. I can't remember who said it though.

That happened with the first two sesons, it was all because of Pokemon and they thaught that Digimon will get attacked like it if they kept the "evolution" thing... they droped that change in the third season which for this day I consider it the best dubbed anime from Venus.

Mosaic · Post by **Mosaic** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 2:58 pm

Wow... those edits are something. It's funny on Youtube, most Arabic users boast how their "anime dubs are uncut". Yet, I've seen two (three counting DBZ) dubs that are far from uncut. Toei's The Little Mermaid was hacked to bits due to nudity. I nearly died laughing when they literally scribbled over bare-breasts. Another offender was Kabamaru. Most of the edits were due to some female characters showing "too much leg". Other edits didn't make sense.

I'm kinda surprised they edited out male nudity. I thought this was A-OK in Arabic dubs? I remeber a friend telling me all nudity (done in a similar fashion as Dragon Ball) in Sinbad was left alone in the Arabic dub.

SHINOBI-03 · Post by **SHINOBI-03** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 3:24 pm

To make a long story short... dubs in the 80s and early 90s weren't as strict as nowadays. If you go to UFO Robot Grendizer and Manga Sarutobi Sasuke, they got nudity and bikini scenes left intact, but I heared that recent DVDs are editing them out. and like I said, it's all thanks to Pokemon, Venus's dubs and standards changed beyond repair.

Other dubbing companies nowadays aren't as strict as Venus, but got weak voice acting and American dub based script and edits.

Khalid Shahin · Post by **Khalid Shahin** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:01 pm

When I went on visits to Jordan, and stayed there for a year, I used to see the Arabic dub of Pokemon, Dragon Ball, and Future Boy Conan once in a while. Future Boy Conan was really popular and had that dubbed for about 25 years now and didn't have it censored too much. If I remember correctly they had Conan and Jimsy eat frogs and pigs even though that is against Muslim beliefs. When I watched Dragon Ball they censored something by cutting out the general area of the scene. This resulted in what seemed to be 8 or 10 minute episodes. What is the reason for this? Do they really bad technology at the dubbing company or are they paid dirt cheap. Or is it that they are just lazy? Also, what is the controversy with Pokemon, I didn't see any complaints or disgusts while I was there.

Mosaic · Post by **Mosaic** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 5:01 pm

I thought Grendizer was edited in Arabic? I remeber one scene with Hikaru naked that was cut. Maybe they kept it in original airing? Also, Kabamaru and The Little Mermaid were both older dubs.

Sounds like Italy. 70's/80's anime series were typically uncut, and even included Japanese songs. It wasn't until the 90's that they started to edit their series (ex:Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, Saint Seiya).