FUNimation DBZ TV Blu-ray Official On-Going Thread

[kei17]

These sub fans want this release to be cancelled 'cause this includes the evil dub score they hate so much! I fight against them and believe that this ain't cancelled!!!! They haven't directly said the word "cancelled" yet!!11!!!

So is this what he wants to say?

Anyway, I am curious about the already-done remastered footage now they have. If they find the 'new methods' and launch a new BD release, will they reuse it? Of course no one knows what they'll do, but I just wonder. Leaving it like the Orange Brick masters is a waste.

[MarcFBR]

These sub fans want this release to be cancelled 'cause this includes the evil dub score they hate so much! I fight against them and believe that this ain't cancelled!!!! They haven't directly said the word "cancelled" yet!!11!!!

So is this what he wants to say?

Anyway, I am curious about the already-done remastered footage now they have. If they find the 'new methods' and launch a new BD release, will they reuse it? Of course no one knows what they'll do, but I just wonder. Leaving it like the Orange Brick masters is a waste.

I think that's his meaning but I'm not sure.


The truth is, we don't really know how far they got in remastering. I'd be curious to know.

[Gotham22]

The BDs are on hold for the time being.

[nathantheguitarist]

That isn't technically true. They could easily decide in a year with new technology, or staff members, that there is a way for them to do it identically and just pick up from where they left off. (And to clarify, I don't literally mean a year, 'a year' is just a placeholder for 'in the future'.)

They are still cancelled for the time being, but they could easily pick them up again later if they so choose.

Yeah, by what I was going off of for "the future," I sorta meant this year, I guess.

They could do frame-by-frame remastering again, but I figured if they wanted something within this year, I was figuring the dreaded, quick-and-easy, automated jobs. HD Bricks! Fun! ...

The BDs are on hold for the time being.

No. *throws a brick at Gotham*

[Gotham22]

funimation loves to tick off the DB fans don't they.

I bet all 291 episodes, uncut, fullscreen with both scores won't be release whether on BD or DVD.
It seems like it at the time being since these BDs are on hold for now.

[Ashura]

It's logical to assume that whatever they managed to finish before they called it quits will eventually be used somewhere, somehow. We just don't know how far they got, but it's not like there's any reason to throw any of their work out.

I think if they decide to continue the BD release, I wonder if their ultimate solution will be to just not do as much dirt/speck removal. If they did the jitter correction and cleaned up the worst offending frames they could probably get away with the dots and stuff.

Also, since this release is nowhere near as cropped as anything else they've done, I think one of the problems they might have run into is reconstructing a lot of the bottom of the frame.

If you look at the dragon boxes, you'll notice that on certain scenes the film-frame-edge is visible sometimes during a lot of shots because they cropped it less than they did on TV. Funimation's approach seems to be that they're painting back in the missing segments of the frame, which is probably time consuming on certain shots, especially because they have to do it in a way that also keeps the grain looking natural.

Also, Gotham... are you purposely trying to troll at this point? I just... why would you post that other than to try to incite a negative reaction out of people?

[kei17]

I want to see episodes 73 to 80 filmed on 35mm in HD, without any grain removal. Kai looked awesome in the corresponding episodes, but it must be still soft-focused compared to the raw footage, considering consistent grain removal in Kai. But as far as I can see, FUNi don't have these episodes on 35mm films, so I guess I won't see them until Toei decide to remaster Z themselves.

[GizmoKSX]

That plenty of people are convinced that anything older than a few years old "can't" be HD. Plenty of people are under the impression that older material is all like filmed on tape TV shows, that it can never have a proper HD release.

True; A friend recently asked me how The Godfather (you know, a really old movie ) could even be HD. It was easy to explain—and I'm glad he actually cared to ask—but that initial misconception isn't uncommon.

The orange bricks that were remastered in 1080p HD probably look better than the final version on DVD, so FUNimation might give a chance at working with what they've already got and change it up a bit then release on Blu-ray, part of the Dragon Ball Z Level sets.

There would have to be a marked improvement in quality for a BD rerelease of the Steve Franko remasters to compete with the cheap orange brick DVDs that are still readily available. Even if they have a 4:3 version available (depending on whether the cropping preceded or followed the cleanup), the DVNR and color treatment infamously wrecked the visual detail, and I would hope that even consumers that are less discerning than those in our community wouldn't spend top-dollar for a Blu-ray that doesn't improve much on the DVD.

[CyberpunkCentral]

Amazon has Level 2.1 and 2.2 currently unavailable now.

[sangofe]

I want to see episodes 73 to 80 filmed on 35mm in HD, without any grain removal. Kai looked awesome in the corresponding episodes, but it must be still soft-focused compared to the raw footage, considering consistent grain removal in Kai. But as far as I can see, FUNi don't have these episodes on 35mm films, so I guess I won't see them until Toei decide to remaster Z themselves.

I hope they will one day, but really, you never know what Toei end up doing.

[email2003]

Oh FUNimation. Still screwing DBZ even years later.

Those Dragon Boxes are starting to look pretty good right now huh guys?

[CyberpunkCentral]

Oh FUNimation. Still screwing DBZ even years later.

Those Dragon Boxes are starting to look pretty good right now huh guys?

Yeah... if only they weren't going out of stock -_-

[dbboxkaifan]

This'll probably be worth a lot someday (maybe), and since now it's just $16 per level, why not.

I might buy them, since FUNimation suspended them for now, and if they come back with a new remaster method, it'll definitely not look anywhere near as good as the first ones did.

I'd prefer FUNi would cancel than bring up Franko's "remaster" on Blu-ray.

[superrayman3]

I'd prefer FUNi would cancel than bring up Franko's "remaster" on Blu-ray.

Wouldn't we all? Fanko's remaster is an insult to DBZ and the fans, oh well the Level sets showed that is is possible to make DBZ look great on Blu-ray while they lasted.

[Choujin Daizenshuu]

I would like to know what they will do with finished 2.1 and 2.2. I guess just seend them to the dumb.

Send them to the dumb?

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Maybe to replace the BR sets, they will start producing the DBoxes again? Is it possible?

[dbboxkaifan]

Maybe to replace the BD sets, they will start producing the DBoxes again? Is it possible?

You know, the regular DBZ viewers don't really like the grain, so they'd rather have it been removed from day one.

I suppose FUNimation's going to attempt releasing the orange bricks in 1080p HD on Blu-ray and see how it works. Look at Amazon DBZ customers...

(Anime - Season - Rating - Reviews)
Dragon Ball Z: Season One - 4.2/5 - 199 Reviews
Dragon Ball Z: Season Two - 4.4/5 - 91 Reviews
Dragon Ball Z: Season Three - 4.5/5 - 106 Reviews
Dragon Ball Z: Season Four - 4.5/5 - 66 Reviews
Dragon Ball Z: Season Five - 4.5/5 - 64 Reviews
Dragon Ball Z: Season Six - 4.6/5 - 70 Reviews
Dragon Ball Z: Season Seven - 4.5/5 - 48 Reviews
Dragon Ball Z: Season Eight - 4.5/5 - 43 Reviews
Dragon Ball Z: Season Nine - 4.3/5 - 42 Reviews

This clearly proves the buyers loved the orange bricks and maybe they're willing to buy them again with the same quality, but now in HD on Blu-ray.

Other than these folks, on elsewhere (YouTube, IMDb, forums) you get to see people saying "orange bricks is better then dragon box quality".

[Pokewhiz7]

I don't think most people bought the orange bricks because they thought they looked good. They did because they saw them for $20 at Wal*Mart.

[Krycek7o2]

I don't think most people bought the orange bricks because they thought they looked good. They did because they saw them for $20 at Wal*Mart.

That and it had plaster on the back 30-odd episodes "remastered in widescreen HD!". Or whatever nonsense they used. Twenty bucks for almost 40 episodes does seem like a bargain, but you get what you pay for.

I want to see episodes 73 to 80 filmed on 35mm in HD, without any grain removal. Kai looked awesome in the corresponding episodes, but it must be still soft-focused compared to the raw footage, considering consistent grain removal in Kai. But as far as I can see, FUNi don't have these episodes on 35mm films, so I guess I won't see them until Toei decide to remaster Z themselves.

I thought I was the only one looking forward to these episodes. They look great on the Kai releases, even with their de-graining.

[Choujin Daizenshuu]

After thinking about this fallout, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that FUNimation will REALLY need to sell themselves for all they are worth now to get buyers to invest in Dragon Ball Z again. They may have gotten away with their controversial business practices in 2006 but that's only because the singles market was on the way out and the OB's just looked like a good deal to the regular Joe Schmoe buyer. They don't have that kind of knocking opportunity anymore.

The question is: Will people continue to trust FUNimation for Dragon Ball Z after this?