Funimation's 30th anniversary collectible home video release

[Mr.Poot]

OG, GT and Kai don't have to go through this why do we? Is the team that works on Z really incompetent or just plane lazy?

I'd argue that Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Kai have made us go through this too, though. The Blue Bricks look ugly to me (complete with DNR), and the zooming is comparable to what we have seen from this "Black Brick" footage. Kai of course is in 16:9 for the Boo arc and just looks bad with that yellow/green tint. Even the 4:3 episodes of Kai are riddled with those awful redrawn scenes.

It's really only GT that feels like a serviceable release. Even then, it's not great. (I'm referring to strictly North American releases in this post)

The Dragon Ball singles weren't bad from what I remember.

[Forte224]

OG, GT and Kai don't have to go through this why do we? Is the team that works on Z really incompetent or just plane lazy?

I'd argue that Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Kai have made us go through this too, though. The Blue Bricks look ugly to me (complete with DNR), and the zooming is comparable to what we have seen from this "Black Brick" footage. Kai of course is in 16:9 for the Boo arc and just looks bad with that yellow/green tint. Even the 4:3 episodes of Kai are riddled with those awful redrawn scenes.

It's really only GT that feels like a serviceable release. Even then, it's not great. (I'm referring to strictly North American releases in this post)

The Dragon Ball singles weren't bad from what I remember.

Yes but those aren't exactly easy to find, and even they have issues with macroblocking and compression.. FUNimation's Blue Bricks are the only thing they acknowledge and sell on their site, and they aren't exactly pretty.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Hope so too but the majority probably think it looks "amazing" with those bright colors and "clean" picture. These people are casual fans (average customers, essentially) which you can find on Amazon, YouTube and standard retail stores.

But let's be realistic, if FUNimation was serious about making a proper remaster they wouldn't just charge $350, at least $500.

It makes me wonder just exactly who this release is targeting, is it the part of the fanbase who bought the Orange Bricks and Season BD's? Or is it the more dedicated ones who have been clamoring for another release of the series in 4:3, and who missed out on the Dragon Boxes during their release???

They might be relying on desperate fans who want a 4:3 AR release no matter what. This is guaranteed to happen, just a few hours till it reaches 3,000.

Kinda sucks we get screwed over all the time, Dragon Box Z was the only good completed release other ones were canned during the Saiyan arc, OG, GT and Kai don't have to go through this why do we? Is the team that works on Z really incompetent or just plane lazy?

I think it's because DB and GT don't sell as well, so FUNi has no motivation to try and drastically, *ahem*, "improve" the footage.

FUNimation kind of released Dragon Box GT without the actual packaging so we received Dragon Box Z and Dragon Box GT.

The Dragon Ball Saga Sets are better than the Blue Bricks but they're missing OP2/ED2 and the NEPs. I've only seen OP2 recently and it looks a lot nicer than OP1, can't believe I missed that for so long.

Yeah, i guess they must have seen that there has been such a demand for another 4:3 release to fill the void that's been there since the Dragon Boxes went out of print and the Level sets were killed off. Also indeed the GT singles are the closest thing we have had to a Dragon Box for the series, owing to FUNimation receiving an earlier version of the masters that Toei and Pony Canyon later remastered for the GT Dragon Box, it just sucks that we don't have an equivalent type of release for the original Dragon Ball series.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

I'd argue that Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Kai have made us go through this too, though. The Blue Bricks look ugly to me (complete with DNR), and the zooming is comparable to what we have seen from this "Black Brick" footage. Kai of course is in 16:9 for the Boo arc and just looks bad with that yellow/green tint. Even the 4:3 episodes of Kai are riddled with those awful redrawn scenes.

It's really only GT that feels like a serviceable release. Even then, it's not great. (I'm referring to strictly North American releases in this post)

The Dragon Ball singles weren't bad from what I remember.

Yes but those aren't exactly easy to find, and even they have issues with macroblocking and compression.. FUNimation's Blue Bricks are the only thing they acknowledge and sell on their site, and they aren't exactly pretty.

Not to mention the fact that you can't get the first thirteen episodes uncut and bilingual in that series of releases aside from importing the R4 Saga of Goku, because of the fact that said episodes and the first movie were red taped through exclusive sublicense by Lionsgate (formerly Kidmark/Trimark) which they held onto with an iron grip for the longest time and FUNi didn't get the rights back to release them proper until 2009.

[Forte224]

The Dragon Ball singles weren't bad from what I remember.

Yes but those aren't exactly easy to find, and even they have issues with macroblocking and compression.. FUNimation's Blue Bricks are the only thing they acknowledge and sell on their site, and they aren't exactly pretty.

Not to mention the fact that you can't get the first thirteen episodes uncut and bilingual in that series of releases aside from importing the R4 Saga of Goku, because of the fact that said episodes and the first movie were red taped through exclusive sublicense by Lionsgate (formerly Kidmark/Trimark) which they held onto with an iron grip for the longest time and FUNi didn't get the rights back to release them proper until 2009.

Ah yes, that too. It really is unfortunate.

[JohnnyCashKami]

I'd argue that Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Kai have made us go through this too, though. The Blue Bricks look ugly to me (complete with DNR), and the zooming is comparable to what we have seen from this "Black Brick" footage. Kai of course is in 16:9 for the Boo arc and just looks bad with that yellow/green tint. Even the 4:3 episodes of Kai are riddled with those awful redrawn scenes.

It's really only GT that feels like a serviceable release. Even then, it's not great. (I'm referring to strictly North American releases in this post)

The Dragon Ball singles weren't bad from what I remember.

Yes but those aren't exactly easy to find, and even they have issues with macroblocking and compression.. FUNimation's Blue Bricks are the only thing they acknowledge and sell on their site, and they aren't exactly pretty.

If you don't mind a PAL transfer instead, Madman released it in two boxes or Manga UK who repackaged it in five yellow bricks.

About GT, I'd really like to own Madman's GT Singles but they're hard to find in its entirety. I guess the quality is only slightly better than the R1, anyway.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Yes but those aren't exactly easy to find, and even they have issues with macroblocking and compression.. FUNimation's Blue Bricks are the only thing they acknowledge and sell on their site, and they aren't exactly pretty.

Not to mention the fact that you can't get the first thirteen episodes uncut and bilingual in that series of releases aside from importing the R4 Saga of Goku, because of the fact that said episodes and the first movie were red taped through exclusive sublicense by Lionsgate (formerly Kidmark/Trimark) which they held onto with an iron grip for the longest time and FUNi didn't get the rights back to release them proper until 2009.

Ah yes, that too. It really is unfortunate.

Yeah, and since having the Season one Blue Brick with the saga sets would look weird i just decided to get all of them not to mention so it would be consistent. Still though, it is unfortunate that FUNi didn't get the rights to them back much sooner so they'd have been able to release it in that series and been one complete set. Especially since the Saga of Goku release here was just the edited, dub only version of the Pilaf episodes and Blood Rubies with the Ocean Group cast from 1995.

[Forte224]

[Accidental double post]

[Forte224]

Not to mention the fact that you can't get the first thirteen episodes uncut and bilingual in that series of releases aside from importing the R4 Saga of Goku, because of the fact that said episodes and the first movie were red taped through exclusive sublicense by Lionsgate (formerly Kidmark/Trimark) which they held onto with an iron grip for the longest time and FUNi didn't get the rights back to release them proper until 2009.

Ah yes, that too. It really is unfortunate.

Yeah, and since having the Season one Blue Brick and the saga sets would look weird i just decided to get all of them not to mention so it would be consistent. Still though, it is unfortunate that FUNi didn't get the rights to them back much sooner so they'd have been able to release it in that series and been one complete set. Especially since the Saga of Goku release here was just the edited, dub only version of the Pilaf episodes and Blood Rubies with the Ocean Group cast from 1995.

Yeah, it's like Dragon Ball (the franchise as a whole) on home video just can't catch a break.

The Dragon Ball singles weren't bad from what I remember.

Yes but those aren't exactly easy to find, and even they have issues with macroblocking and compression.. FUNimation's Blue Bricks are the only thing they acknowledge and sell on their site, and they aren't exactly pretty.

If you don't mind a PAL transfer instead, Madman released it in two boxes or Manga UK who repackaged it in five yellow bricks.

I'd really like to own Madman's GT Singles but they're hard to find in its entirety. I guess the quality is only slightly better than the R1, anyway.

Yeah but don't the Madman releases have some issues with dubtitles and some other issue I can't remember right now?

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Ah yes, that too. It really is unfortunate.

Yeah, and since having the Season one Blue Brick and the saga sets would look weird i just decided to get all of them not to mention so it would be consistent. Still though, it is unfortunate that FUNi didn't get the rights to them back much sooner so they'd have been able to release it in that series and been one complete set. Especially since the Saga of Goku release here was just the edited, dub only version of the Pilaf episodes and Blood Rubies with the Ocean Group cast from 1995.

Yeah, it's like Dragon Ball (the franchise as a whole) on home video just can't catch a break.

Yes but those aren't exactly easy to find, and even they have issues with macroblocking and compression.. FUNimation's Blue Bricks are the only thing they acknowledge and sell on their site, and they aren't exactly pretty.

If you don't mind a PAL transfer instead, Madman released it in two boxes or Manga UK who repackaged it in five yellow bricks.

I'd really like to own Madman's GT Singles but they're hard to find in its entirety. I guess the quality is only slightly better than the R1, anyway.

Yeah but don't the Madman releases have some issues with dubtitles and some other issue I can't remember right now?

Indeed, while the Blue Bricks may not be perfect video wise they are the only consistent release of the original series currently available in the States at this point.

[Forte224]

Yes, and they'll be a great complement to these new Blu-rays with their DNR, similar zooming, and (most likely) absence of Japanese title cards. Hooray for consistency!

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Yes, and they'll be a great complement to these new Blu-rays with their DNR, similar zooming, and (most likely) absence of Japanese title cards. Hooray for consistency!

But what i would give for there to be a remastered HD release of the series from the original masters that has both openings, all four closing animations and the next episode previews. Now i'd buy that in a heartbeat!!!!!

[JohnnyCashKami]

Ah yes, that too. It really is unfortunate.

Yeah, and since having the Season one Blue Brick and the saga sets would look weird i just decided to get all of them not to mention so it would be consistent. Still though, it is unfortunate that FUNi didn't get the rights to them back much sooner so they'd have been able to release it in that series and been one complete set. Especially since the Saga of Goku release here was just the edited, dub only version of the Pilaf episodes and Blood Rubies with the Ocean Group cast from 1995.

Yeah, it's like Dragon Ball (the franchise as a whole) on home video just can't catch a break.

Yes but those aren't exactly easy to find, and even they have issues with macroblocking and compression.. FUNimation's Blue Bricks are the only thing they acknowledge and sell on their site, and they aren't exactly pretty.

If you don't mind a PAL transfer instead, Madman released it in two boxes or Manga UK who repackaged it in five yellow bricks.

I'd really like to own Madman's GT Singles but they're hard to find in its entirety. I guess the quality is only slightly better than the R1, anyway.

Yeah but don't the Madman releases have some issues with dubtitles and some other issue I can't remember right now?

Yeah, but that's on the Fortuneteller Saga (2 Discs). It's an issue that was never fixed.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Yeah, and since having the Season one Blue Brick and the saga sets would look weird i just decided to get all of them not to mention so it would be consistent. Still though, it is unfortunate that FUNi didn't get the rights to them back much sooner so they'd have been able to release it in that series and been one complete set. Especially since the Saga of Goku release here was just the edited, dub only version of the Pilaf episodes and Blood Rubies with the Ocean Group cast from 1995.

Yeah, it's like Dragon Ball (the franchise as a whole) on home video just can't catch a break.

If you don't mind a PAL transfer instead, Madman released it in two boxes or Manga UK who repackaged it in five yellow bricks.

I'd really like to own Madman's GT Singles but they're hard to find in its entirety. I guess the quality is only slightly better than the R1, anyway.

Yeah but don't the Madman releases have some issues with dubtitles and some other issue I can't remember right now?

Yeah, but that's on the Fortuneteller Saga (2 Discs). It's an issue that was never fixed.

I know i've heard about it before, like where if you're watching the Madman version of that set on the Japanese track it will for some reason skip ahead two episodes so the only way to get around it is by watching the one episode with the English dub on in order to get around the error.

It's also really bizarre that they never bothered correcting it, you would think an error as huge as that which actually affects playback to such an extent would be noticable to the people authoring the discs.

[Forte224]

Yeah, it's like Dragon Ball (the franchise as a whole) on home video just can't catch a break.


Yeah but don't the Madman releases have some issues with dubtitles and some other issue I can't remember right now?

Yeah, but that's on the Fortuneteller Saga (2 Discs). It's an issue that was never fixed.

I know I've heard about that, like where if you're watching the Madman version of that set on the Japanese track it will for some reason skip ahead two episodes so the only way to get around it is watching the one episode in the English dub in order to get around the error.

It's also really bizarre that they never bothered correcting it, you would think an error as huge as that which affects playback to such an extent would be noticable to the people authoring the discs.

It's like distribution companies around the world have formed a collaboration to make sure that there is no perfect/great release of Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball Z, just to troll fans.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Yeah, but that's on the Fortuneteller Saga (2 Discs). It's an issue that was never fixed.

I know I've heard about that, like where if you're watching the Madman version of that set on the Japanese track it will for some reason skip ahead two episodes so the only way to get around it is watching the one episode in the English dub in order to get around the error.

It's also really bizarre that they never bothered correcting it, you would think an error as huge as that which affects playback to such an extent would be noticable to the people authoring the discs.

It's like distribution companies around the world have formed a collaboration to make sure that there is no perfect/great release of Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball Z, just to troll fans.

Haha i know right, the only ones that really come close to perfect are the Japanese Dragon Boxes/individual discs and even then they have their own flaws though it can't be denied that they are better quality than most of FUNi's own releases. Dragon Box and cancelled Level BD's non withstanding.

[Mr.Poot]

There's always the Dragon Boxes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

There's always the Dragon Boxes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I know which is why i have them myself, albeit being the FUNi Dragon Boxes Z and not the Japanese ones.

[Forte224]

There's always the Dragon Boxes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Well yeah but those are pretty expensive and don't have subtitles. Unless you use the fan made program I did to add subtitles (and the dub) to all 5 of them. But then you're forced to watch them on your PC or burn them to blank discs, which I don't personally mind but I understand that many would. Also the fan made program is awesome but it is a ton of work to get set up to use it.

So, this just continues to add to the mayhem. You need to spend a hefty chunk of money (the program requires the Japanese Dragon Boxes AND recent FUNi DVD releases), spend hours of set up time, and watch digitally or on blank discs, just to have the series in decent quality with English options.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

There's always the Dragon Boxes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Well yeah but those are pretty expensive and don't have subtitles. Unless you use the fan made program I did to add subtitles (and the dub) to all 5 of them. But then you're forced to watch them on your PC or burn them to blank discs, which I don't personally mind but I understand that many would. Also the fan made program is awesome but it is a ton of work to get set up to use it.

So, this just continues to add to the mayhem. You need to spend a hefty chunk of money (the program requires the Japanese Dragon Boxes AND recent FUNi DVD releases), spend hours of set up time, and watch digitally or on blank discs, just to have the series in decent quality with English options.

If i do eventually get them somewhere down the line (though i may lean towards getting the singles for DB and the movies) I'd probably rip them all to m4v files and then use the fan program for the subs and dub for each. As far as Z and GT the sets i have are good enough for me in their presentations between the FUNi Boxes and GT singles that i don't feel the need to drop a butt load of cash on the Japanese versions of them.