Kanzenban/VizBig Comparison

[GotenDaisuki]

Browsing the forum, I have seen some questions regarding both the Kanzenban and VizBig releases. In this comparison, I will demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of both releases, as well as show differences between the two. First, I will explain what both releases are, list their pros/cons, and compare them.

VizBig

A VizBig is a manga release by Viz Media of many popular manga series that collects three volumes (or more, or even less, depending on how many volumes the series ends at) into one Big volume (hence the name "VizBig", as well as the symbol 大 on the logo, which means "large" or "big"). The VizBigs are all much bigger than the original tankoubon. The Dragon Ball/Z VizBigs were released from 2008-2010, spanning 14 volumes combining the two series (DB: 5 volumes | DBZ: 9 volumes).


Pros:
・High-quality paper
・Big frame size, for larger panels and bigger imaging
・Decent, fair translation
・Take up less shelve-space altogether than the 42 tankoubon
・Color Pages
・Extras (Akira Toriyama's Ask Me Anything Corner, Chapter Title Pages, etc.)
・More bang for your buck

Cons:
・Censorship
・Some color pages monochrome (makes the product look ugly and unappealing)


Kanzenban

A Kanzenban (Perfect Edition) release is a re-release of the Japanese Dragon Ball manga, as well as other series (Dr. Slump, Neko Majin, etc.). The Dragon Ball Kanzenban release spans 34 volumes and contains all color pages present in the original magazine run. They contain very high-quality paper which exceeds the re-release of the tankoubon's paper quality by a lot. Unfortunately, there is no English version of the release.

Pros:
・Beautiful new artwork on the covers by Akira Toriyama
・Sturdy, High-quality paper that makes the color pages look gorgeous
・All color pages from the original run in Weekly Shounen Jump are included
・34 volumes instead of 42
・Totally untouched, untampered with, and uncensored

Cons:
・No English release (Japanese Only)
・Few Extras (Chapter Title Pages only)
・Slip Covers (can get annoying sometimes, in my opinion)


Now I will compare/contrast the two releases of volume one.


Volume One

Front Covers:



(Left: Kanzenban | Right: VizBig)
Pretty huge difference. Toriyama drew the cover on the Kanzenban specifically for its release. Who knows where Viz got the cover for the VizBig? As you can see, the VizBig is much taller/wider than the Kanzenban, because of the VizBig having much more content and being a release with a bigger frame.

Back Covers:



(Left: Kanzenban | Right: VizBig)
Bar Codes, ISBN Number, and price are listed in the white rectangular area on the Kanzenban. The VizBig has much more stuff on the back, and the signature "What do get when..." on the VizBig makes it seem much more appealing than the Kanzenban, and explains a lot of the characters as well. The only eye-catching aspect of the Kanzenban's back cover is one of Toriyama's new artworks: Yamucha.

Spines:



(Top: VizBig | Bottom: Kanzenban)
The Vizbig's spine is pretty well-done. It shows the VizBig logo (with a 大 (dai/oo(ki)) symbol, meaning large or big). Bellow it is Viz's traditional "Dragon Ball" logo (shown differently on the front cover), and right bellow that says "Akira Toriyama". Then it shows two pictures of Goku (from the actual manga) and a square box with the number 1. Bellow that is a rectangular box that says "three-in-one". The Kanzenban's spine is horizontal, not vertical like the VizBig's spine. The same logo as on the front is written across. Next to it are two red circles showing a Dragon head and the number "01". Next to that shows the Japanese title, ドラゴンボール, is written, and next to that says "Toriyama Akira". Under those two says "by Toriyama Akira ・ Jump Comics ・ Shueisha". Finally, on the bottom it shows part of a picture that will be completed among getting all 34 kanzenban (I suppose).

Volume Title Page:



(Left: Kanzenban | Right: VizBig)
The Kanzenban's title page is plain and simple: "Dragonball" is written across the middle. "By Toriyama Akira" is written under it on the left side, while the right side shows the number "01". The VizBig title page has the same logo as on the front cover. Right under it on the left says "Volume 1". In the center it shows a picture of Goku, Kame-Sen'nin, Bulma, Yamucha, Pu'ar, and Oolong. Under that, Viz's title of the volume is shown, "The Monkey King".

Table of Contents



(Left: VizBig | Right: Kanzenban)
The VizBig's first page of the table of contents lists the chapters and their respective page numbers:

Volume One
The Monkey King
Tale 1: Bloomers and the Monkey King.........................11
Tale 2: No Balls!......................................................42
Tale 3: Sea Monkeys................................................56
Tale 4: They Call Him... the Turtle Hermit!....................70
Tale 5: Oo! Oo! Oolong!............................................84
Tale 6: So Long, Oolong!...........................................98
Tale 7: Yamcha and Pu'ar.........................................112
Tale 8: One, Two, Yamcha-cha!................................126
Tale 9: Dragon Balls in Danger!..................................140
Tale 10: Onward to Fry-Pan......................................154
Tale 11: ...And Into the Fire!....................................168

Since the Kanzenban contains three chapters more than the original tankoubon had, we should include the first three chapters of Volume Two.

Volume Two
Wish Upon a Dragon
Tale 12: In Search of Kame-Sen'nin...........................184
Tale 13: Fanning the Flame......................................198
Tale 14: Kamehameha!!...........................................211

The Kanzenban's table of contents has a simple font and a nice green color:

其之一 : ブルマと孫悟空 (Bulma and Son Goku) 5
其之二 : 球がない！！(No Balls!!) 36
其之三 : 悟空・海へ走る (Goku ・Running to the Sea) 50
其之四 : 亀仙人の筋斗雲 (Kame-Sen'nin's Kinto'un) 64
其之五 : ウーロンあらわる！！(Oolong Appears!!) 78
其之六 : ウーロン対決孫悟空 (Oolong VS Son Goku) 92
其之七 : ヤムチャとプーアル (Yamucha and Pu'ar) 106
其之八 : ヤムチャおそるべし！！(Yamucha Should Be Afraid!!) 120
其之九 : ドラゴンボール危うし！(The Dragon Balls in Danger!) 134
其之十 : 強盗大策戦 (Grand Robbery Scheme) 148
其之十一 : フライパン山の牛魔王 (Gyuumao of Fry-Pan Mountain) 162
其之十二 : 亀仙人をたずねて (Asking Kame-Sen'nin) 176
其之十三 : 亀仙人の芭蕉扇 (Kame-Sen'nin's Bashou-sen) 190
其之十四 : 亀仙人のかめはめ波！！(Kame-Sen'nin's Kamehame-Ha!!) 202

As you can see, the chapter titles, for the most part, are much different between the Japanese and English releases.

Chapter One - Color



(Left: VizBig | Right: Kanzenban)
Basically the exact same page, only language and dialouge differs.
Japanese: Goku - Yaa Ossu!!
English: Goku - Hey, Bro! Wuzzup?!
The entire chapter plus, oddly, the first page of Chapter 2 is colored on both versions of the manga.

Chapter Two - Censorship



(Top: VizBig | Bottom: Kanzenban)
If you look closely at Bulma's breasts, you can clearly see that there is more cleavage shown in the Kanzenban.

Chapter Three - Color



(Top: VizBig | Bottom: Kanzenban)
The first page of Chapter three marks the start of the inconsistencies with the coloring in the VizBigs. The entire chapter is colored in the Kanzenban, and none is colored in the VizBig. Because of this, the chapter looks ugly and unappealing.

Chapter Four - Color



(Top: VizBig | Bottom: Kanzenban)
Just like the previous chapter, all is colored in the Kanzenban, but none in the VizBig.

Chapter Five - Color and Edits




(Top: VizBig | Bottom: Kanzenban)
Strangely, Toriyama only colored the first three pages of this chapter, similar to chapter two and its one colored page. Also, Viz edited the door to replace "Sherman Priest" with "Sherman the Shaman" and added a black tag on it.




(Top: VizBig | Bottom: Kanzenban)
Viz changed up the dialogue. Instead of Oolong asking for Bulma's bust size, he is now asking what her bra size is.
(Japanese) Oolong: Hoo... BA BASUTO no SAIZU wa i ikutsu ka na...
Bulma: 85!!!
(English) Oolong: Whuh... Wh-What's your br-bra size?
Bulma: 34-C!!!

Chapter 7 - Dialogue Change




(Top: VizBig | Bottom: Kanzenban)
The dialogue was changed once again by Viz. The PP Candy was changed to a Sweetrot. So, instead of saying "Pi" to give Oolong diarrhea, now you have to "whistle", or "swee".

Chapter 9 - Censorship




(Top: VizBig | Bottom: Kanzenban)
Who could forget this gem of a scene? It's comedic gold! Okay, not really, it's actually a little cheesy, in my opinion. Obviously, soap is covering Bulma's breasts in the censored panel.

The rest of the volume is pretty much consistent in both releases, so no need to go any further. There ends my comparison, and should clear up any further questions on which is better, yaddah-yaddah. I say that the best choice for people who do not speak Japanese are the VizBigs. They are solid, excellent releases, and the closest release we'll ever get to the Kanzenban.

[Budogenkai]

I just don't understand why Viz wouldn't release the Kanzenban. Have the sales of the manga been that bad enough for Viz not to release it one last time?

[Herms]

・Totally untouched, untampered with, and uncensored

The kanzenban actually have some artwork touched up by Toriyama, including one title page where, among various other changes, the cigarette Bulma was originally smoking is removed. That's the closes thing to censorship in the kanzenban. And there's the short new ending Toriyama draw, and the way he expanded Boo's death scene. There's also a few bits of dialogue change in the kanzenban, including the date of the Cell Games being changed from "M 17th" to "May 26th" to make it consistent with Trunks saying the androids arrive on May 12th, and some other minor corrections.

Who knows where Viz got the cover for the VizBig?

All the VizBig covers use Toriyama color artwork that was collected in Daizenshuu 1. The cover for DB VizBig one is item #22 in Daizenshuu 1, and was originally drawn by Toriyama for a Weekly Jump cover in 1986.

[Michsi]

I have a question regarding the viz big release: do they use the same translation as for the first release and only work on the format and add some new features or did they work on the translation too?
For example if Piccolo still uses that weird speech pattern?

[GotenDaisuki]

I have a question regarding the viz big release: do they use the same translation as for the first release and only work on the format and add some new features or did they work on the translation too?
For example if Piccolo still uses that weird speech pattern?

There are very minor changes to the translation, such as removing hyphens and replacing curse words (in Z, for the most part). Not a big deal. If you want I can make a comparison thread on the first Z tankoubon VS the first Z VizBig.
Yes, Piccolo still says that "insolence" line in that weird order.

[Super Sonic]

The bust size vs. bra size change is an understandable cultural difference. While I grant I don't ask any women such things, I've never heard women referring to their bust size with numbers except by saying C-cup, DDs, etc. So it's understandable why that was changed.

[Michsi]

I have a question regarding the viz big release: do they use the same translation as for the first release and only work on the format and add some new features or did they work on the translation too?
For example if Piccolo still uses that weird speech pattern?

There are very minor changes to the translation, such as removing hyphens and replacing curse words (in Z, for the most part). Not a big deal. If you want I can make a comparison thread on the first Z tankoubon VS the first Z VizBig.
Yes, Piccolo still says that "insolence" line in that weird order.

I only have two options when it comes to the manga release of DB and those are the german ones and the english ones. Quality wise I'd say Viz is better and I like the bigger format so I was planning on getting the whole story from Viz.
My first Viz volume was the last one of the DB part and my first encounter with Piccolo's dramtic villain wording style. There were some scenes where that almost made me laugh and considering it was supposed to be a serious situation, I don't think that's a good thing. I remember asking Herms about this and apparently there was no reason to make him speak like that other then Viz wanting to be original here. There were also some other dialog choices, like Goku referring to Roshi as "that turtle guy" when asking Tenshinhan if it was true that Piccolo killed him too. I mean I have no idea what he says in the original but I get the feeling it doesn't sound so emotionally detached like"that turtle guy". I know, minor things but I pay attention to that.

I might consider getting the Viz Big, but this one I'd have to order while I can get the others from a shop I know....

[GotenDaisuki]

The VizBigs use almost the exact same translation as the tankoubon, so no need to worry there. I only own Kanzenban vol. 1, so I don't know about what Viz changed to get "turtle guy"... Maybe "Kame-jiisan"? I do agree that there are many bad translations in the manga, Herms, I believe, gave the English translation a 7/10. That means that it obviously has flaws. And I don't know if the German translation is any better, either. But, the VizBigs are still excellent releases. Each one costs about $20, so to own the whole seires costs around only $280, for both series. Viz's complete box set for Z alone costs over $150, so the VizBigs are great in both quality and price. Now, for the Kanzenban, I suggest buying them from an online store like... CDJapan, for instance. They are very reliable. The problem is, for me, shipping costs a lot of money, and it takes a while to actually get here, because... well, they come from Japan, but as I go along and get more Kanzenban, I'll update the thread with more comparisons.

[TripleRach]

The bust size vs. bra size change is an understandable cultural difference. While I grant I don't ask any women such things, I've never heard women referring to their bust size with numbers except by saying C-cup, DDs, etc. So it's understandable why that was changed.

This is more than just a cultural difference. It's flat out wrong.

Bra sizes are determined by both the chest size and bust size. The number (34 in this case) is the chest measurement rounded up to an even number. The cup size is the difference between the bust and chest measurement. Having a C cup means the bust is 3 inches more than the chest measurement (A is 1 inch, B is 2 inches, D is 4 inches, etc). This would mean that she has a 34 inch chest and a 37 inch bust. (Note that this is based on US sizes, but I'm pretty sure the standards in other countries are similar, since it would be very hard to get a proper bra size by a bust measurement alone.)

85 cm is about 33 inches. Viz converted her bust size to a chest size, rounded it up to 34 (per the standard), then decided she has a 37 inch bust (which would be about 94 cm).

Noting bust sizes isn't that foreign in the west, because they're used in listing the three sizes (bust, waist, hip).

[SuperForteX]

The bust size vs. bra size change is an understandable cultural difference. While I grant I don't ask any women such things, I've never heard women referring to their bust size with numbers except by saying C-cup, DDs, etc. So it's understandable why that was changed.

This is more than just a cultural difference. It's flat out wrong.

Bra sizes are determined by both the chest size and bust size. The number (34 in this case) is the chest measurement rounded up to an even number. The cup size is the difference between the bust and chest measurement. Having a C cup means the bust is 3 inches more than the chest measurement (A is 1 inch, B is 2 inches, D is 4 inches, etc). This would mean that she has a 34 inch chest and a 37 inch bust. (Note that this is based on US sizes, but I'm pretty sure the standards in other countries are similar, since it would be very hard to get a proper bra size by a bust measurement alone.)

85 cm is about 33 inches. Viz converted her bust size to a chest size, rounded it up to 34 (per the standard), then decided she has a 37 inch bust (which would be about 94 cm).

Noting bust sizes isn't that foreign in the west, because they're used in listing the three sizes (bust, waist, hip).

Eh, do you really expect Viz to know all that? I doubt any of them are females, and they probably just took the most generic measurement 34-C since that's a decent but not too-big size, and since Bulma is depicted frequently as having the "perfect" chest...

[Herms]

I doubt any of them are females

One of Viz's translators is a woman, Lillian Olsen. Gerard Jones probably would have been the one to make changes like switching bust to bra size though.

[SuperForteX]

I doubt any of them are females

One of Viz's translators is a woman, Lillian Olsen.

Eh, maybe she's a tomboy, or maybe she just didn't translate that page. I just think it's kind of a silly thing to nitpick.

[Adamant]

I only have two options when it comes to the manga release of DB and those are the german ones and the english ones. Quality wise I'd say Viz is better and I like the bigger format so I was planning on getting the whole story from Viz.

Translation-wise, Viz is definitely not better. I'd advise against getting the English release.

[GotenDaisuki]

Translation-wise, Viz is definitely not better. I'd advise against getting the English release.

I had a feeling the German version was better. Turns out the German dub of the anime was leagues better than the English version as well.

[Michsi]

I also get the feeling the german version stays truer to the original content but I also always got the feeling that the "tone" they give the characters is a lot harsher. Sometimes they appear down right rude when it wasn't really called for. And not only is it not censored, but I think they added swear words.
Same with the anime.

[rereboy]

Nice comparison.

Anyone who wants to read even more on the Vizbigs, should read these topics:

http://daizex.fanboyreview.net/viewtopi ... =7&t=11271
http://daizex.fanboyreview.net/viewtopi ... =7&t=15105

(Hope you don't mind the links. It just so that all existing information is available to everyone in this topic)