Season 5 (and 4) Japanese openings ... what happened?

[derefed]

So I just picked up my copy of Season 5, and went through my usual routine of watching the opening/closing titles in Japanese and the rest of the show in English (mostly for nostalgic purposes, and I like the Japanese music better). And of course, something had to be amiss. The opening title music sounds like somebody recorded it by playing an old VHS of the original on a TV and placing a microphone next to it. It's quiet, muffled, and of poor quality. What happened here?

I watched ahead a bit more in Japanese to investigate, and thankfully, nothing else was ruined, including the closing credits. Just to confirm, I also have Seasons 3 and 4, and the Japanese opening titles have never sounded this way.

Although that does bring up another issue. My Season 4 set had a problem with the opening too. The sound is fine, but the audio and video will skip for like a split second every second or two in certain parts. At first I thought the DVD was damaged, but then I decided that couldn't be the case when all six discs exhibited the same errors, and in seemingly the same spots. Continuing past the opening title, it would seem that the rest of the Japanese track has the same tiny glitches. Switch to English audio though and the problem vanishes. Also weird is that the Japanese closing titles are fine.

My question is has anyone else encountered these glitches / poor audio? Also, regarding Season 5, why wouldn't Funi simply take the same opening title from the previous set and use that? Does anybody ever watch these before they make a million copies and ship them?

P.S. Apologies if this is the wrong forum or if a thread already exists for this. Didn't see anything for Season 5, and as for Season 4, didn't want to necro-post.

[The Time Traveller]

I noticed it too, I'm not gonna say it ruined my viewing experience since I always skip the opening... But what the hell?
Surely they could have just used a better recording from another DVD.

[Milton]

Haven't noticed any "glitches" in my copies, though I've noticed one thing in particular has been a trend since the season 2 box: the music is slightly out of sync with the opening animation. I was hoping it was just a minor problem for one box, but eventually found it happening on each set.

Christ, you really get what you pay for with these.

[ETC123]

Shit dvds that cost shit all are shit.

This is pretty new stuff to me!

[Raki]

Shit dvds that cost shit all are shit.

This is pretty new stuff to me!

Agreed. Everyone should know what they are buying when they get these sets. Cheap DBZ for a cheap price.

[derefed]

Shit dvds that cost shit all are shit.

This is pretty new stuff to me!

Agreed. Everyone should know what they are buying when they get these sets. Cheap DBZ for a cheap price.

Indeed... it's just kind of surprising, the things they screw up sometimes. Unfortunately, I'm tied down to wanting the original English version as well as the Japanese (I will at some point watch through in Japanese), so these sets are pretty much the only way to get that at this point.

I guess I should be happy that they're at least covering every episode this time around.

[TheGreatness25]

You get what you pay for. If you want good DBZ, you can go and spend $2,000 on the show in Dragon Box or even 4:3 FUNimation DVDs. With this set, lets even say being $45 each, it would come out to be $405 to own the entire series. It's like buying a computer in the 99 cents store and complaining when it craps out.

[Milton]

You get what you pay for. If you want good DBZ, you can go and spend $2,000 on the show in Dragon Box or even 4:3 FUNimation DVDs.

And that is what made me cave into buying these finally. I'm fully aware of the "quality restoration" as well as the downright goofy errors, but frankly (and unfortunately) this is the most cost effective route to go. So, I'm not complaining...just remarking about how odd a lot of these changes are.

[TheGreatness25]

You may not be, but a lot of people are. This set is not for millionaires. They will get the cheapest "remastering" they can get. Even if it's a million dollars, their profits can afford it. If they spent more and made it look great, you'd be charged $100 per set. Lets see someone buy that.

[ETC123]

You may not be, but a lot of people are. This set is not for millionaires. They will get the cheapest "remastering" they can get. Even if it's a million dollars, their profits can afford it. If they spent more and made it look great, you'd be charged $100 per set. Lets see someone buy that.

What defines "looking great"? I mean, does that mean "no grain"? Since when was grain on something that is so obviously old material such a fucking sin?

[TheGreatness25]

... I was talking about the fact that if you want Dragon Box footage, you're not going to get it from a cheap release that jam packs a bunch of episodes into one release. Once again, you get what you pay for.

[VegettoEX]

This thread is NOT about how the sets look. Stay on topic or don't bother posting.

[ETC123]

This thread is NOT about how the sets look. Stay on topic or don't bother posting.

Hello! how are you?

[Kid Trunks]

You get what you pay for. If you want good DBZ, you can go and spend $2,000 on the show in Dragon Box or even 4:3 FUNimation DVDs. With this set, lets even say being $45 each, it would come out to be $405 to own the entire series. It's like buying a computer in the 99 cents store and complaining when it craps out.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that. $45 isn't particularly cheap for a season set of a TV show. Its just that dbz is so overpriced that it seems cheap. Besides, its not like he could know the audio for the intro was going to be messed up. If he bought the set and started complaining that it was in wide screen, then yes, he should have known. But crappy sound quality is another story.

I was considering getting these sets myself, but with each day that passes there seems to be a new problem with them which puts me off. Then again, I really don't want to spent two grand.