Which DVD/Blu-Ray DBZ Release Has Accurate Colors?

[FlyingNimbus1]

Hi, new to the forum. I was trying to find which NA release has the most accurate colors? I was told that the Dragon Box is supposedly the most accurate of them all but whenever I search I always find topics about "Color correcting" the Dragon Box. So, were those not accurate at all? If anyone knows, the help is greatly appreciated! Kai also counts!

[DHM211]

Hi, new to the forum. I was trying to find which NA release has the most accurate colors? I was told that the Dragon Box is supposedly the most accurate of them all but whenever I search I always find topics about "Color correcting" the Dragon Box. So, were those not accurate at all? If anyone knows, the help is greatly appreciated! Kai also counts!

DB Kai(not including TFC) has the colors closest to the original cels imo.

[Ajay]

To be perfectly honest, none of them are super accurate. The Dragon Boxes weren't corrected, so you're getting warped colours from aging film. The Orange Bricks and Season BDs are over bright and saturated in an attempt to appear modern. The Level Sets are far too muted. The singles are probably your closest bet, but they're not the best quality and aren't easy to come by.

Kai is closest to the intended palette but there are certain changes made to create a more modern feel - particularly in terms of skin tones. You also specifically ask for Z, so I suppose Kai is out of the question.

Unfortunately, it's not a very easy question to answer.

[sintzu]

I've never cared about 100% accuracy but the closest you'll get to "perfect" is the dragon boxes.

[Robo4900]

As others have said, Kai has the most accurate colours, but if you want Z, well... I suggest going for the Dragon Boxes. If those are too expensive, you can buy episodes 68-291(Although they'll be numbered 54-276, due to the uncut vs cut numbering system. Basically, blame '90s Saban) via the Funimation Singles, but the PAL versions of those don't have the Japanese language track for the first two volumes(Episodes 68-74), and they might not be the easiest to come by, although they're probably still your best option unless you want the really, really crappy looking "Season" DVDs or Blu-Rays.

Really though, the Dragon Boxes technically have the most accurate colours, as they aren't colour corrected, so the episodes look exactly as they would if you borrowed Toei's original film masters and watched it on your own personal 16mm projector. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing depends on who you ask.

Of course, in theory, the Rock The Dragon box set is probably up there as one of the most accurate. But unless you're a fan of the original Saban/Ocean dub... Yeah...

(TL;DR: Listen to Ajay)

[FlyingNimbus1]

Thank you all for your replies! I actually own almost all the DVD singles from FUNimation/Pioneer so I'm glad I got that taken care of!

I don't own Kai yet but I am planning to buy them pretty soon here. I'm just relieved that I don't have to get the Dragon Boxes for the accurate colors, it may sound like an odd nitpick of mine but I've always just had this thing with viewing something the way the creator intended it to be seen. And the Dragon Boxes are just way too expensive!
Again, thank you all for your help!

[Danfun64]

Out of curiosity, which of these have more accurate colors, the Ultimate Uncut singles or the Level Blu-Rays?

Also, what about the Boo saga? Its Kai version is infamous for its green tint, which some people say is incorrectable.

[DHM211]

Also, what about the Boo saga? Its Kai version is infamous for its green tint, which some people say is incorrectable.

While it is annoying that Toei messed up by adding a Green tint in the first place, its not "uncorrectable". All I did was a 10% blue tint increase and a 10% brightness increase which took me 30 seconds to do and it makes a world of difference.

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EDIT: I should point out unlike the international version, the Japanese version of the Kai Buu saga had a heavy sharpening filter put on it, so while you can color correct those episodes, it'll still look pretty shitty.