FUNimation DBZ TV Blu-ray Official On-Going Thread

[Taku128]

FUNimation doesn't give a crap about the Japanese fans when doing a release like this. They're making it for a wider audience, so of course they're going to make sure stuff like the title and credits are in English. The Japanese version in general is basically an extra, in the same way the English dub is on the DBox. OF COURSE they're going to push their version over the JPN.

There's no reason they can't include the Japanese title-cards and credits via alternate angles, especially now that they're on Blu-ray. I remember them giving some reason that they stopped doing it on the DVDs, but I doubt the same logic applies to Blu-ray.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

FUNimation doesn't give a crap about the Japanese fans when doing a release like this. They're making it for a wider audience, so of course they're going to make sure stuff like the title and credits are in English. The Japanese version in general is basically an extra, in the same way the English dub is on the DBox. OF COURSE they're going to push their version over the JPN.

There's no reason they can't include the Japanese title-cards and credits via alternate angles, especially now that they're on Blu-ray. I remember them giving some reason that they stopped doing it on the DVDs, but I doubt the same logic applies to Blu-ray.

It's apparently ridiculously hard to implement to begin with, if that interview means anything. Which it does.

[ect5150]

It's apparently ridiculously hard to implement to begin with, if that interview means anything. Which it does.

It just means they are ridiculously slack! It would be no different than some of these blurays that have the extended version and theatrical version on the same disc. Bluray discs have a video playlist of which scenes to play. American version with one playlist and a Japanese version with another playlist.

If anyone has the bluray of Inception you can see what I mean. There is an option to watch the video where is breaks away every once in a while to show extra footage of how they made this or that. You could implement it in the exact same fashion.

[MarcFBR]

It's apparently ridiculously hard to implement to begin with, if that interview means anything. Which it does.

It just means they are ridiculously slack! It would be no different than some of these blurays that have the extended version and theatrical version on the same disc. Bluray discs have a video playlist of which scenes to play. American version with one playlist and a Japanese version with another playlist.

If anyone has the bluray of Inception you can see what I mean. There is an option to watch the video where is breaks away every once in a while to show extra footage of how they made this or that. You could implement it in the exact same fashion.

You are also comparing a movie that made hundreds of millions dollars with a company that has a literal 'lab' that takes up an entire warehouse for remastering work and multiple buildings for authoring with a small company. And in many cases, they are building one 'master' disk that gets sent around and modified in minor ways for other countries.

If you saw what Warner had and what Funi had it basically equates to this- Warner is Batman. Funi is a guy in a garage.

It doesn't excuse a missing feature, but to an extent, it's a feature people asked them to remove. The reason it was removed doesn't exist anymore, but neither do they have time in production for it. At some point it will hopefully be added back. If it doesn't... I personally just don't care.

[Mountain]

Well, I certainly care. I've already come to terms with the fact that the Japanese title cards more than likely won't make it onto this release (after hearing the podcast, that is), so I'm able to look past it. However, it is very disappointing. I see no reason why alternate angles aren't standard in 2011. When I watch any foreign TV series or film, I always feel a little disconcerted when there are English replacement titles; something about it feels icky... =\

[Super Ghost Kamikaze]

Essentially, for me, as a practical concern I can't really find myself supporting an "imperfect" release, regardless of image quality improvement. I have a set with extremely nice packaging and supplemental material(the books), with all text in the release referring directly to the version I bought the set for(excepting a single white-on-black credit scrawl after the last episode of a disc). Content-wise, it contains correct opening and closing credits and Japanese title cards. When I hit "Play All", I get the show I want without having to fuss with language selection controls or obnoxious menu aesthetics/music. Though I'm aware of the age showing through the fading of colors, the video itself tends to look very good, especially compared to the previous release. I'm also only $62 away from completing the series in this format, with two more sets to go.

The Blu Ray is asking for far more per-episode up-front. It's asking me to pay nearly $2 per episode. Divide the current amazon price by the number of episodes in the set, multiply by the total series episode count, and we're looking at $539.20 total for the entire series.

This may be reasonable compared to some previous releases, but even using $35 per set as a baseline, the Dragon Boxes come out at $245. Even adding the ridiculous prices that Dragon Box 2 is going for has the Dragon Boxes looking considerably cheaper as a whole. If I look at the "Level 1.1" set, I have to ask myself if it's really worth paying at least $250 more total for yet another release that is, in many places, certainly inferior to the one I have mostly complete on my shelf. And for me, it's just not. I'd rather pay my $60 in, be done, and be happy than go all-in for a long-term $540 purchase. Maybe I'd consider it at another price point, with different packaging, with differently presented content, but as it is there is no good way for me to justify these sets to myself as a Japanese version fan who owns a set entirely catered to me.

[kei17]

Well, I certainly care. I've already come to terms with the fact that the Japanese title cards more than likely won't make it onto this release (after hearing the podcast, that is), so I'm able to look past it. However, it is very disappointing. I see no reason why alternate angles aren't standard in 2011. When I watch any foreign TV series or film, I always feel a little disconcerted when there are English replacement titles; something about it feels icky... =\

Maybe Toei doesn't allow them to include Japanese title cards out of concern for reimporting. Especially, every Blu-ray release is region A.

[ect5150]

You are also comparing a movie that made hundreds of millions dollars with a company that has a literal 'lab' that takes up an entire warehouse for remastering work and multiple buildings for authoring with a small company. And in many cases, they are building one 'master' disk that gets sent around and modified in minor ways for other countries.

If you saw what Warner had and what Funi had it basically equates to this- Warner is Batman. Funi is a guy in a garage.

This is a fair comparison, but they did it for the singles discs, didn't they?

I just don't see how it could add a substantial cost increase to not do it since the technical reasons don't exist at all to not do it. Steve Franko once said doing this whole process would be cost prohibitive (frame-by-frame restoration), but guess what? They're doing it!

[mikezilla2]

that reminds me will this release just be region A or will it be like kai ?

[MarcFBR]

This is a fair comparison, but they did it for the singles discs, didn't they?

I just don't see how it could add a substantial cost increase to not do it since the technical reasons don't exist at all to not do it. Steve Franko once said doing this whole process would be cost prohibitive (frame-by-frame restoration), but guess what? They're doing it!

There are numerous reasons why they may not go back to that method.

Let's assume they wouldn't for DVD, since they stopped for quality reasons.

1- Another 'roughly' 24 minutes of footage to encode per disk (since logically, if they are going to do this for the ED credits, it would be done for the OP credits as well plus an extra couple minutes for title cards.) Doesn't sound like a lot, but encoding takes a buttload of time (the stuff most of us do at home via programs like Handbrake isn't encoding, it's transcoding, which is much quicker.)

2- This adds extra time dealing with the quality control process.

3- To make the Blu-rays cost effective at the prices Funi sells at, the disks are generally packed as is. So what is to be sacrificed for this? Video quality? Extras? One of the audio tracks being lossless?

[Puto]

I'm gonna say it right now that I don't think they even have film masters for every individual episode OP/ED -- Toei has been known to not give those out for pre-95 shows. They have them on the Dragon Box, of course, but that's a 480p digital master. So having the right Japanese credits is probably not even an option. Title cards, of course, are another matter entirely...

[dragonpiece]

Has it been confirmed if we are getting next episode previews in this release?

[Tanooki Kuribo]

Has it been confirmed if we are getting next episode previews in this release?

This is something I actually care about. This and the Japanese title cards. I mean, I'll probably still buy this with or with out them but shit, I really want them! I asked FUNimation on Twitter but, they never got back to me.

[Pokewhiz7]

I'd like to go on record saying that I don't care about alternate angles. Japanese credits and title cards are nice to have, but I'd take better-looking footage over some text. If they have enough space on these new sets, and put them on, great. If not, oh well.

[ect5150]

3- To make the Blu-rays cost effective at the prices Funi sells at, the disks are generally packed as is. So what is to be sacrificed for this? Video quality? Extras? One of the audio tracks being lossless?

Or change the episode count? Add another disc? Cost effective is only relative to the price customers are willing to pay, and there doesn't have to be any sacrifice. I'm willing to bet Funi will find space to put on trailers for other anime they produce to advertise, wouldn't you? Instead of that self-promotion junk, I would prefer to have Japanese title cards as well. Keep the self-promotion as a case insert.

[MarcFBR]

Or change the episode count? Add another disc? Cost effective is only relative to the price customers are willing to pay, and there doesn't have to be any sacrifice. I'm willing to bet Funi will find space to put on trailers for other anime they produce to advertise, wouldn't you? Instead of that self-promotion junk, I would prefer to have Japanese title cards as well. Keep the self-promotion as a case insert.

Changing the episode count and adding another disk changes the cost to produce a set, which would then increase the price.

Advertising other shows is seen as a necessity (and often the trailers are low bitrate compared to the video used for the show.)



Or, since you used Inception as an example early (and that's Warner), let's look at what Warner did for one of their anime releases (a newer release in fact, that is marketable as part of a franchise they have that sells quite well on DVD/BD)...

http://www.amazon.com/Supernatural-Anim ... B004VLLWB0

55 dollars retail for 26 episodes. Slammed to hell on two disks. With lossy Japanese audio (frankly, in the case of DBZ's old mono audio I could understand lossy... but for a show made in the last year? That's just mean.)

That sure does look like a delight.


Part of why DBZ can keep selling is it's well priced so casual fans can just go 'hmm' and nab it.

[mikezilla2]

that reminds me will this release just be region A or will it be like kai ?

[Daimo-Rukiri]

that reminds me will this release just be region A or will it be like kai ?

Region A, and are you referring to both DVd and blu-ray releases?

[ect5150]

Changing the episode count and adding another disk changes the cost to produce a set, which would then increase the price.

No, demand for the items set price - not costs. But, let's take a look at that anyways. The question then becomes how much extra does it cost to insert one more Bluray disc? Apparently for large orders (like 25,000) each bluray disc is something like $1.00 to a $1.50 per disc. I don't see that as being cost prohibitive to the package.

[fps_anth]

Wow, so this release might actually be decent. How bizarre.

Judging from those ANN caps and only those ANN caps, this is probably the best DBZ has ever looked. As Kei has mentioned many times before, the colors are off on those Dragonbox transfers, and these Blu Ray releases appear to fix it. But it is still very early.

The grain isn't bad. You have to understand this show is 20 years old, and based off 16mm prints. If you don't want grain, guess what? There's a release for you! It's called the Orange Bricks and they're DNR'd to hell!

Next, Japanese title cards and next episode previews. I really hope the former is included. As for the latter... I wouldn't be surprised if they were left out this time around. Which brings me to my next question: Do I care? The answer, honestly, is not really. It would be nice, but it's not a deal breaker for me at all. If I really want to see my next episode previews, they're all sitting on my shelf in the form of the Dragon Boxes.

Audio is going to be garbage, as per usual. It's unfortunate, but it's true

From the looks of it, I'll be picking up the Saiyan arc episodes for the... 5th time.