Will DB/Z/GT Ever Get a Proper Release?

[KBABZ]

The Blue Bricks are a bit crappy tbh. Very blurry, smeary, etc.

The Blue Bricks are alright but it definitely could have been much better. BB release is the only one so far where FUNi fans can get the FUNi dub with 5.1 audio because the Saga Sets are in 2.0 audio.

The DB dub was only ever mixed in mono. The "surround" mixe just puts the music in all the channels, and put surround reverb on the voices and FX. Stereo is almost certainly just mono with slight stereo reverb.

So, the 5.1 and stereo mixes are just glorified mono. Not worth fussing about.

To be specific, the music and voice echoes are on all the corner channels (L, R, and the back corners), sound effects are on the corner channels and the Center channel, and the voices are on the center channel only. My guess is that FUNimation took advantage of the audio mix they were sent by Toei to spruce the mix up a little bit.

AFAIK the GT FUNimation singles are the best release. I really wish Z got a proper 4:3 Uncut release with US Dialogue/Music tracks. Dragon Ball is perfect honestly with their Singles and Blue Bricks.

The Blue Bricks are a bit crappy tbh. Very blurry, smeary, etc.

I've never seen comparisons between the bricks and single volumes by FUNimation so I have nothing to compare. Looks good to me.

I'm very familiar with the Blue Bricks but also have the Dragon Box too. The BBs are fine, but my biggest problem with them is the colour grade. I don't know if it's FUNi's master or not, but a lot of the colours tend to get quite desaturated, the greens in particular:

Spoiler:

Which obviously affects things like Yamcha's outfit, pretty much all the foliage, and of course Piccolo, which subtly changes the tone of the show. There's some cropping as well, but it's only in the early episodes where it veers towards egregious and actually cutting out important stuff. Personally, I prefer the slightly sharper look of the Blue Bricks over the often fuzzy feeling of the Dragon Box, but the Blue Bricks have a pink tone in the white balance that just looks weird.

[JohnnyCashKami]

Wish the Blue Water dubs of DB and GT had gotten official DVD releases too.

I wish Funimation or Netflix UK would acquire the Canadian dubs for streaming. At this point it would be the only way of justifying the licencing costs without printing a few thousand DVD sets that won't sell enough. Conversely being available on a streaming service could be a selling point for a RTD-style limited home release of the Blue Water dubs as it could bring in new fans and give people who haven't seen them in years a chance to rewatch. Sadly it probably won't happen because we all know how much Funimation doesn't want to promote other dubs.

An RtD-style boxset for Blue Water Dub of DB and GT would be awesome, I'd definitely buy that.

Also...

Looking for Manga UK Battle of Gods Blu-Ray with slipcover. Please message me if willing to sell

I have that Blu-ray release, well, the slipcover and the art cards but got rid of the Blu-ray itself. Prefer FUNi's Blu-rays instead.

I didn't know this had value, it's kinda valueless to me but I like having it as a collectible.

Spoiler:

I've never seen comparisons between the bricks and single volumes by FUNimation so I have nothing to compare. Looks good to me.

Well, I have one of the Saga Sets (Fortuneteller Baba Saga) around so took some screenshots to show its quality:

Spoiler:

I frankly have no issues with this Dragon Ball release and would say that it's excellent, I even prefer it over the Dragon Box (the NEPs aren't something that I really care much nowadays). If there's a Dragon Ball release to triumph over this then that'll be a remaster on Blu-ray by TOEI (not gonna put my hopes on Selecta Visión to actually deliver a quality remaster but they are a decent company).

The DB dub was only ever mixed in mono. The "surround" mixe just puts the music in all the channels, and put surround reverb on the voices and FX. Stereo is almost certainly just mono with slight stereo reverb.

So, the 5.1 and stereo mixes are just glorified mono. Not worth fussing about.

Huh, so there's really no advantage to the Blue Bricks other than they're more convenient to pick up the series. Manga UK did release the Saga Sets with the "Season" covers, though authored by Madman Entertainment. I do dig a lot Manga UK's Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT Season covers since they used the original logos and not the ones made by FUNimation.

[Danfun64]

Ignoring the compression stuff, the biggest advantage the Blue Bricks have over the singles is that Ep 1-13 are available uncut with NTSC video.

[SuperSaiyanPan]

Well I'd have to see it running natively on my PC to give my full opinion but the remaster brick is obviously the winner. I could take them either way and would like to own those volumes but they are super expensive.

Thank you for the screens.

[Robo4900]

Well I'd have to see it running natively on my PC to give my full opinion but the remaster brick is obviously the winner. I could take them either way and would like to own those volumes but they are super expensive.

Thank you for the screens.

Note that the only comparison above is between brick and DBox. No one has actually put up images of the bricks and singles side-by-side for comparison, so I'd suggest looking at something like that before jumping into something.

However, one thing I will say is that while I have grievances with how badly the bricks were processed from the original footage, if you just want to pick the show up for cheap, the bricks are perfectly serviceable; singles, while they are visually superior, are generally more expensive, and kind of a bugger to get ahold of.

[JohnnyCashKami]

Ignoring the compression stuff, the biggest advantage the Blue Bricks have over the singles is that Ep 1-13 are available uncut with NTSC video.

That's an advantage but also a downgrade because it's on the Blue Bricks.

Well I'd have to see it running natively on my PC to give my full opinion but the remaster brick is obviously the winner. I could take them either way and would like to own those volumes but they are super expensive.

Thank you for the screens.

Here's a 10min uncompressed sample: https://mega.co.nz/#!ePwW1YQR!LrkeigPBr ... VfYopjUnp8

singles, while they are visually superior, are generally more expensive, and kind of a bugger to get ahold of.

Hm, that's not actually true. You mustn't know where to buy DVDs from then 'cause there's more online retailers than just Amazon, eBay, Best Buy, Deep Discount, etc.

Dragon Ball: Collection Part 1 - £32.97 (Sagas 01-06)
Dragon Ball: Collection Part 2 - £32.68 (Sagas 07-11)

Both cost £65.65 ($83.86) with free delivery worldwide as it states on the pages themselves.

Fishpond is where I bought my Dragon Ball Collection Part 2 set from, a few years ago.

That aside, there's also the re-packaged release by Manga UK (it's Madman's Saga Set discs) in which each "season" goes for £16.09 (except vol 4, it costs £14.39). This is from Base.com, well known online retailer in UK.

Season 1 - £16.09
Season 2 - £16.09
Season 3 - £16.09
Season 4 - £14.39
Season 5 - £16.09

Total: £78.75 ($100.56) with free delivery in UK, otherwise there's a fee for other countries.

Frankly, the Manga UK Season Boxsets look way nicer but the Madman Collection Part Boxsets are cheaper and only two in total.

There is a fact I want to point out, the Madman version didn't author properly two episodes from the Fortuneteller Baba Saga so if you're watching it in Japanese, this will affect you otherwise it won't (if watching it dubbed in English FUNi). Error one was using dubtitles for an episode and the second error was that the episode switched to a different scene entirely, pretty weird mistakes.

[HakkaiBills93]

As long as people will buyed DNR released : No
If people don't buy release and complain massively to Toei or Funi , there's a bigger chance to have a proper remaster
why would Toei or Funi would spend money on proper remastering if people no matter what massively buyed the crappy release?
Toei don't care about BA, don't care about grain retaining, all artificial way are allowed to trick the customers

you can see it in toei movies bluray with the DNR, artificial sharpening filter (but the fake mention as the movies like it was originally) and the audio mute to hide audio degradation instead of properly handled them, Toei is like magicians (but a very bad one) , the goal is just to hide things no matter how and the consequences to trick the custumers, that's why most companies NEVER show screenshots of their HD release before the release when it's an upscale with DNR. Only to fool the custumer

season sets are crap , shit but people buyed them

Toei think about money only:
dragon ball is money that's the main reason why as long as dragon ball sold well , there will be new series, product etc even if it mean destroying all credibility like the broly movie becoming canon in super movie, the super series himself that himself make DBGT became an alternate future instead of trying to keep a kind of continuity in the stories.

so a big NO
only fans (i mean true fans) themselves can make a kind of proper release like for some star wars movies fan remastering
as long as Dragon Ball Rights are own by companies that only care about money, Dragon Ball will remain cursed for official release

[JohnnyCashKami]

season sets are crap

Dragon Ball Z Seasons 1-7 or even 8? I suppose I'd say so but DBZ Season 9 looks really good imo, even with the DNR and unnecessary cropping. Now, Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT Season Boxsets aren't great but they're serviceable and most people are fine with it, just as long as it's watchable without rendering it unwatchable.

I still watch movies on VHS so I'm open to most types of video quality, just as long as the quality isn't sacrificed in some way.

[HakkaiBills93]

that's because people are fine with that that there will be no proper release i am really convince about it, why should they do expensive things if the low cost one sold well?

people like what they like but you just demonstrate why i am right

[JohnnyCashKami]

Well, you're right. Companies exist to make a profit, not to necessarily please customers so as long as consumers are happy that's what matters. Netflix and other VoD services are way more convenient nowadays than using a DVD or a Blu-ray for people out there.

I personally prefer to use DVDs but I know I'm not the target audience, nor are the folks in this community.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

As far as the original DB series goes i have the Blue Bricks and they are decent enough releases for what they are, the big reason for me getting them is because they are the only way to get the first thirteen episodes uncut due to the longstanding licensing debacle that kept FUNi from releasing those and movie one uncut and bilingual for so long. There's also the fact that the old 2 disc Saga sets are long out of print and some are going for a pretty penny these days, plus the remastering is much better than the Z bricks by a country mile. Sure the lack of the next episode previews and other three opening/ending animations plus Japanese title cards sucks a little, but that is a whole other thing i can sort of overlook to a degree.

For DBZ i have the Dragon Boxes and GT with the four box sets of all the single discs, respectively. This is due to those having the complete proper presentation of the Japanese versions in all aspects (OP's/ED's,NEP's) which are really sweet as the only releases that FUNi put out to have the complete packages. As such i am not really expecting there to be better releases of Z/GT in the immediate future so i'll stick to what i have for now.

[funrush]

I think they will. Not from Funimation, but from Japan. I think they're bound to remaster the series at some point and that'll probably be the definitive way to watch the series. Whether or not it'll get a release overseas is a different question, it might be something you have to get illegally.

[sangofe]

I think they will. Not from Funimation, but from Japan. I think they're bound to remaster the series at some point and that'll probably be the definitive way to watch the series. Whether or not it'll get a release overseas is a different question, it might be something you have to get illegally.

You know of the recent censorship on some of the movies, right?

[JohnnyCashKami]

It was like a middle finger while the rest was left untouched, I reckon. This is a really idiotic thing TOEI's done because middle fingers are shown a bunch of times on Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z series.

On Kai, they covered Baby Goku and Kid Gohan's wee wee.. uh, it's just the human male body, TOEI.

[Bruma rabu]

I'm assuming you mean like a perfect release with it being in HD, 4:3, Color corrected, grain intact, and "high quality" JP audio? If so, no.

[SuperSaiyanPan]

I'm assuming you mean like a perfect release with it being in HD, 4:3, Color corrected, grain intact, and "high quality" JP audio? If so, no.

If they ever release the series like the original Singles in a box set I think I'd die. Would easily shell out 200 bucks for it.

[JohnnyCashKami]

I'm assuming you mean like a perfect release with it being in HD, 4:3, Color corrected, grain intact, and "high quality" JP audio? If so, no.

If it were by some prestigious company, it would possibly happen but TOEI? Pretty unlikely.

I'd say we have it really good and the consumer just has to know which source/release to pick up for his/her collection or viewing.

'Best' English Releases

Dragon Ball = Saga Sets
Dragon Ball Z = Dragon Box Z
Dragon Ball GT = Single Sets
Dragon Ball Z TVSP1/2 = Single DVDs

And the movies? I'm cool with the Single DVDs as I prefer them in 4x3 AR but the TOEI HD are far, far superior now.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

I'm assuming you mean like a perfect release with it being in HD, 4:3, Color corrected, grain intact, and "high quality" JP audio? If so, no.

If it were by some prestigious company, it would possibly happen but TOEI? Pretty unlikely.

I'd say we have it really good and the consumer just has to know which source/release to pick up for his/her collection or viewing.

'Best' English Releases

Dragon Ball = Saga Sets
Dragon Ball Z = Dragon Box Z
Dragon Ball GT = Single Sets
Dragon Ball Z TVSP1/2 = Single DVDs

And the movies? I'm cool with the Single DVDs as I prefer them in 4x3 AR but the TOEI HD are far, far superior now.

I have pretty much most of those you named there, with the exception of the original DB as i have the Blue Bricks which aren't that bad. Mostly because they are the most convenient way to get the series as the Saga collections are harder to come by these days.

So for me it's like this

Dragon Ball= Blue Bricks

Dragon Ball Z= Dragon Boxes

Dragon Ball GT= Singles/Box sets

Z/GT Specials= Singles

Movies= Mash up of Movie packs and singles (I may get the rest of the movie singles and the third Z movie pack to have all the films in both fullscreen and widescreen)

[JohnnyCashKami]

I have pretty much most of those you named there, with the exception of the original DB as i have the Blue Bricks which aren't that bad. Mostly because they are the most convenient way to get the series as the Saga collections are harder to come by these days.

So for me it's like this

Dragon Ball= Blue Bricks

Dragon Ball Z= Dragon Boxes

Dragon Ball GT= Singles/Box sets

Z/GT Specials= Singles

Movies= Mash up of Movie packs and singles (I may get the rest of the movie singles and the third Z movie pack to have all the films in both fullscreen and widescreen)

The Saga Sets are a bit of a drag but I got the Madman version which was the entire series in two boxes so couldn't complain about that, even moreso the price I bought it for. Manga UK's covers look way nicer than FUNimation or Madman's releases but not something I'd be willing to double dip 'cause it's the same discs from Madman's sets.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

I have pretty much most of those you named there, with the exception of the original DB as i have the Blue Bricks which aren't that bad. Mostly because they are the most convenient way to get the series as the Saga collections are harder to come by these days.

So for me it's like this

Dragon Ball= Blue Bricks

Dragon Ball Z= Dragon Boxes

Dragon Ball GT= Singles/Box sets

Z/GT Specials= Singles

Movies= Mash up of Movie packs and singles (I may get the rest of the movie singles and the third Z movie pack to have all the films in both fullscreen and widescreen)

The Saga Sets are a bit of a drag but I got the Madman version which was the entire series in two boxes so couldn't complain about that, even moreso the price I bought it for. Manga UK's covers look way nicer than FUNimation or Madman's releases but not something I'd be willing to double dip 'cause it's the same discs from Madman's sets.

Sounds nice if you are over in Australia, though of course we don't have anything like that here in the States as it's just the five seasons individually. Though the DB "Blue Bricks" aren't too bad of releases for what they are and certainly much better in video quality as far as FUNimation's remastered series of releases go than the season sets of DBZ.