Differences between all of FUNi's DBZ releases

[nonoitall]

I'm trying to get a handle on the differences between all the different releases FUNimation has done for DBZ. I'm ignoring the Ocean dub and Kai, as well as any soundtracks besides English and Japanese. So here's my understanding so far, and maybe you fellows can help me fill in the blanks (main things I'm wondering about are bold/italicized):

'Original' 'uncut' release (not sure what to call this one):

• Only included episodes 68-291 (numbered as episodes 54-276)
• Some of episode 68's material was cut to make room for some material from episode 67 so it would more seamlessly follow the preceding 53 edited episodes (dubbed by Ocean)
• Some color issues and somewhat 'zoomed' frames cutting off edges of the picture, no real restoration done
• English dub had its own opening and closing credit sequences, original Japanese had the original opening/closing credits, but with no text overlaid on them
• Episode title cards were themed like the Japanese ones, but with English text
• Includes (1) original Japanese audio and (2) FUNi's first stab at the English dub with Bruce Faulconer's soundtrack

Ultimate Uncut release:

• Only included episodes 1-27
• Video about on par with the 'original' 'uncut' release above
• English dub had a new opening/closing credits sequences, Japanese had its original opening/closing credits, still with no text
• English title cards were themed a bit differently, with a kind of funny red overlay effect
• Includes (1) original Japanese audio and (2) FUNi's in-house redub with their own music (can't remember who did this soundtrack)

'Season' box sets (orange bricks):

• Included all 291 episodes
• Horrible automated video processing and cropping to 16:9
• English opening/closing credits were the same as the the Japanese ones -- the closing credits actually had text this time, English for the English dub and Japanese for the original, still no text on the opening credits
• English title cards were again themed like the Japanese ones
• Includes (1) original Japanese audio, (2) FUNi's in-house dub with their own music and (3) FUNi's in-house dub with the original Japanese music*
  • For episodes 1-67, the English audio had Ultimate Uncut music. Was the dub/soundtrack for the first 27 episodes identical to the already released Ultimate Uncut release (aside from the different credits)?
  • For episodes 68-291, the English audio had Faulconer's music a la the 'original' 'uncut' release. Some voices were redubbed for consistency with the redub of episodes 1-67 (and some were left as they were in the 'original' 'uncut' release for inconsistency). Also some sound effects were adjusted, for example the removal of the 'boxy' effect on Android 19's voice. Did there come a point at which FUNi left their first dub untouched, or did they redub and make adjustments all the way to the end of the series?
  • * The English dub w/Japanese music used FUNi's music for the opening credits

Up until this point, none of the releases had the original Japanese outros, correct? (The 'next time' clips at the end of each episode.) I'm pretty sure the 'original' 'uncut' release had some outros after select episodes, but they were just pieced together by FUNi, right? In all the releases above, were the intros the same as on the original Japanese release? (Ignoring any video quality/cropping differences.) Aside from parts of episode 68 in the 'original' 'uncut' release and outros, what material was cut from the above releases, if any?


Dragon Box sets:

• Included all 291 episodes
• Regarded by most as the best quality film transfer to date, more true to the original coloring, preserved the original aspect ratio, had manual restoration done on damaged frames
• Opening and closing credits had Japanese text overlaid on them, as on the original
• No English title cards
• Includes the original episode outros
• Includes (1) original Japanese audio, (2) FUNi's in-house dub with the original Japanese music
  • The English dub w/Japanese music now correctly uses the Japanese music for the opening song
  • The English dub uses the original Japanese dialog for the outros, no English dialog is given
  • Aside from the opening song and the inclusion of the outros, is there any difference between the English audio on this release and the English audio w/Japanese music on the season sets?
• Unlike all the other releases, there is no difference between the English dub's video and the original video, correct?

Did I get most of that right? What other notable differences are there? (Any difference no matter how small, but only differences in the episodes themselves; I don't care about menu differences or any "bonus features".) Thanks for letting me pick your brains guys!

[Gonstead]

Episodes 1 - 67 of the redub were composed by Nathan Johnson, who also composed for Movies 2, 3, 12 and 13 (Would Movie 1 count as well? I seem to remember something mentioning Mark Menza).

Also, you forgot the Blu-Rays.

[Puto]

Up until this point, none of the releases had the original Japanese outros, correct? (The 'next time' clips at the end of each episode.) I'm pretty sure the 'original' 'uncut' release had some outros after select episodes, but they were just pieced together by FUNi, right? In all the releases above, were the intros the same as on the original Japanese release? (Ignoring any video quality/cropping differences.) Aside from parts of episode 68 in the 'original' 'uncut' release and outros, what material was cut from the above releases, if any?

At least some of the dub previews matched the Japanese ones exactly video-wise — the infamous 'Krillin's in da house!', for example.
The earlier 'uncut' releases didn't have the eyecatches.

[VegettoEX]

The earlier 'uncut' releases didn't have the eyecatches.

A couple got some stealthy, unannounced re-releases, though. The ten Freeza volumes were the big ones, which got their eyecatches tossed back in. The two "Trunks" discs were also big ones: the height of the subtitles were adjusted, and -- most importantly -- the second disc got the episodes tossed back on that were previously exclusive to the Burger King VHS, making it the only DVD of that entire run with five episodes on one disc (others maxed out at four).

[jpdbzrulz4sure]

About the uncut singles:

English dub had its own opening and closing credit sequences, original Japanese had the original opening/closing credits, but with no text overlaid on them

For the most part, yes, but the Ginyu discs are an exception. On the Japanese side, they had the opening credits from the first movie, and the end credits from episode 67 (?).

Another thing worth noting about the uncut singles is that the earliest releases had the episodes in a sort of "marathon-style" presentation, meaning instead of having an opening and ending for each episode, there was only one opening before the first episode, and one ending after the last one, and none in-between episodes.

About the ultimate uncuts:

Includes (1) original Japanese audio and (2) FUNi's in-house redub with their own music (can't remember who did this soundtrack).

They also have the Mexican dub.

About the orange bricks:

English opening/closing credits were the same as the the Japanese ones -- the closing credits actually had text this time, English for the English dub and Japanese for the original, still no text on the opening credits

On the Japanese side, it's just the credits to episode 1 over and over again, and needless to say, that only applies to the first 199 episodes. For episode 200 onwards, which use We Were Angels as the ending, the endings are textless, like on the singles.

Did there come a point at which FUNi left their first dub untouched, or did they redub and make adjustments all the way to the end of the series?

I'm not entirely sure, but I believe the Boo arc was left as is. I have, however, heard that a filter that was originally used on Super Boo's voice was removed.

[thaman91]

On the original Ginyu DVD's up until the end of the Frieza DVD's, was the credits sequence from season 2 still used? My point being, did they continue to credit the original Ocean cast even when they had switched over to in-house FUNi people?

[jpdbzrulz4sure]

My point being, did they continue to credit the original Ocean cast even when they had switched over to in-house FUNi people?

No, they switched to crediting the in-house cast accordingly.

[thaman91]

My point being, did they continue to credit the original Ocean cast even when they had switched over to in-house FUNi people?

No, they switched to crediting the in-house cast accordingly.

So they used this credits sequence?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3TJbTnR7ik
Are you sure? For some reason I remember that specific credits sequence first airing during the Garlic Jr. saga rather than the beginning of season 3.

[jpdbzrulz4sure]

So they used this credits sequence?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3TJbTnR7ik

No, they used the same ending animation as the episodes with the Ocean cast, but they started crediting the in-house cast instead of the Ocean cast.

[Gaffer Tape]

And to further clarify that point, the ending theme music was still the instrumental Rock the Dragon.

[thaman91]

So they used this credits sequence?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3TJbTnR7ik

No, they used the same ending animation as the episodes with the Ocean cast, but they they started crediting the in-house cast instead of the Ocean cast.

Wow that's fascinating! All this time I never knew that, and there's no video of that specific credits sequence anywhere on youtube. I just thought FUNi recycled the same credits again haha.

[DemonRin]

A couple of corrections for your list thingamabob:
(Bold are the corrections)

Spoiler:

Dragon Box sets:

• Included all 291 episodes
• Regarded by most as among the best quality film transfer to date. Preserved the original aspect ratio, had manual restoration done on damaged frames, Color correction was minimal/nonexistent for the aged masters, causing a slight red cast over all the video.
• Opening and closing credits had Japanese text overlaid on them, as on the original
• No English title cards
• Includes the original episode outros
• Includes (1) original Japanese audio, (2) FUNi's in-house dub with the original Japanese music
  • The English dub w/Japanese music now correctly uses the Japanese music for the opening song
  • The English dub uses the original Japanese dialog for the outros, no English dialog is given
  • Aside from the opening song and the inclusion of the outros, is there any difference between the English audio on this release and the English audio w/Japanese music on the season sets?
• Unlike all the other releases, there is no difference between the English dub's video and the original video.

And a completely new section for it.

Spoiler:

Level Blu-ray sets:

• Episodes 1-34 Available. Release on hold indefinitely.
• Highest definition picture available, Full 1080 scan of FUNimation's original film stock masters
• Most true to the original coloring. Actual complete color correction appears to have taken place, preserved the original aspect ratio, had manual restoration done on damaged frames
• English opening/closing credits were the same as the the Japanese ones but creditless. Used different music for each language track.
• English title cards
• Includes (1) original Japanese audio, (2) FUNi's in-house dub with their own music and (3) FUNi's in-house dub with the original Japanese music*
  • The English dub uses FUNi original music over the Japanese animation for Cha-la Head Cha-la.]

[ForestEquilibrium]

The English/Japanese music track does have a slight difference on the DBoxes: the Orange Bricks use the Mark Menza opening music from the movie dubs, while the Dboxes have Cha-La Head Cha-La as it should've in the first place.

[DragonBoxZTheMovies]

Perhaps you might find this helpful:
http://www.kanzenshuu.com/home-video/na/

[ABED]

On one of the Ginyu DVDs, despite the claim that it's unedited, the shot of Bulma remembering Goku taking a bath from episode 2 of Dragon Ball is painted so his genitals aren't showing. However, that's only present if you watch the dub. It's truely uneditted if you watch it in Japanese.

The singles DVD menu music is from the dub, and the DBox menu music is the Kikuchi score, but the menu music for the season sets is a newly composed guitar riff. I'm not sure what plays on the blu ray menus.

[DragonBalllKaiHD]

Since everyone else has pretty summed up everything regarding to the DBZ releases, I will add it to the table here. The OP said that the Dragon Box has the accurate color. But that's not the case. The colors on Dragon Box looked a bit bleached and had shown some ages. When they said that what you see on Dragon Box is what you would see from the cels themselves, that's partly true. I will agree that the film they used on DBOX is the first generational, but at the same time the colors are not accurate for the reasons stated above. The closest we have in term of color accuracy is the Level sets. It's tad bit dark but it's pretty much close to Dragon Ball Z's original broadcast run back in 1989 in Japan.