FUNimation’s high definition, remastered Blu-ray release of the Dragon Ball Z TV series lasted all of two volumes and about six months between original announcement and a release hiatus/suspension.

The company has mostly avoided talking about continuing the series in such a format since then, falling back on promoting the (cropped/widescreen) orange brick season sets originally released from 2007-2009 after completing the “Dragon Box” run and working on the “refreshed” Dragon Ball Kai TV series.

Today, FUNimation launched a new survey asking fans about their purchase history with the franchise and continuing with a new Blu-ray release, which would tentatively span nine volumes (similar to the DVD bricks) and cost $44.98.

Perhaps most interestingly, the company is specifically asking about aspect ratio preferences:

While the orange brick sets were cropped to 16:9 removing approximately 20% of the original picture, FUNimation’s “Level” Blu-ray sets remained in their original 4:3 aspect ratio. FUNimation also released Dragon Ball Kai on both Blu-ray and DVD in its original 4:3 production aspect ratio.

FUNimation’s question about which year you started watching the series starts with 1996, the year that FUNimation themselves began airing their dub of Dragon Ball Z in syndication.

Visitors of Kanzenshuu that select a 16:9 preferred viewing option for a 4:3 original production will be considered non-canonical readers and will promptly be shot out of a cannon.

Thanks to everyone who gave us the heads-up!

Forumite ShadowDude112 passes along word that a couple interesting listings have popped up on Walmart’s website: two “Best Of” DVD releases for the characters of Goku and Vegeta.

Both DVDs are due out 13 October 2013 from FUNimation (cataloged under their new parent company, Group 1200 Media) and are listed at an MSRP of $7.50 with Walmart knocking that down to $6.38.

Walmart has been the source of multiple Dragon Ball product leaks in the past, most notably back in 2009 listing FUNimation’s then-still-unannounced blue season sets for the first TV series.

While this type of “Best Of” compilation release is typical for older American cartoons, it is rare — if it has ever happened at all? — for licensed products like anime to see this type of release. Most of us immediately think to something like the Super Mario Bros. Super Show compilations, but for a serial like Dragon Ball…?

How many episodes? Will there be a language option? Will the episodes all be in a row, or chosen from different parts of the series? Edited or uncut? We will just have to wait and see!

UPDATE: Walmart’s listings have been updated to include cover art for both volumes. Each are additionally labeled with “Top Seven Fan Favorite Fights” in their titles, which leads us to believe these will be English dubbed-only compilations of material from various episodes, rather than complete episodes in and of themselves. More to come as we learn, ourselves!

Voice actor Kenji Utsumi, known to Dragon Ball fans as the voice of Shenlong, passed away today in Tokyo from cancerous peritonitis at the age of 75.

Utsumi, born in Kita-Kyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu, also played a number of other characters throughout the series, including the Tenka’ichi Budōkai announcer (for the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd tournaments), Commander Red, Mutaito, and Recoom.

The entirety of the Ginyu Special Force was recast for Dragon Ball Kai, with Seiji Sasaki taking over the role of Recoom. Utsumi had continued to play Shenlong in the “refreshed” series, however, at least until the character’s final appearance at the end of the Cell arc when Shenlong was portrayed by Ryūzaburō Ōtomo. The role of Shenlong in the original Dragon Ball Z and various features was occasionally handled by other voice actors such as Masaharu Satō, who himself went on to replace the late Kōhei Miyauchi as the voice of Kame-Sen’nin for Dragon Ball Kai.

Utsumi’s final work on Dragon Ball was likely his reprisal of Shenlong for the new film Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods.

One of Utsumi’s most famous roles — and one partly related to Dragon Ball in a roundabout way — was Senbei Norimaki from the original Dr. Slump – Arale-chan anime series. Incidentally, Discotek Media recently announced the first five Dr. Slump movies as a DVD pack for the North American market “coming soon”. Utsumi was also the official voice-over artist for dubbing actors such as Steve McQueen and Jack Nicholson.

Funeral and memorial arrangements have not been set, but will be handled by his wife, voice actress Michiko Nomura.

Originally leaked in February and formally revealed earlier this week, FUNimation’s upcoming “Rock the Dragon” collector’s set now has an official trailer:

The set is slated to contain the original 53 episodes of FUNimation’s edited English dub produced from 1996-1998 in conjunction with Ocean Studios (voices) and Shuki Levy (music), as well as the first versions of DBZ Movies 1-3 as produced from 1997-1998 in conjunction with Pioneer (later Geneon). DBZ Movie 3 first saw the light of day in North America from FUNimation as a three-part series of “episodes” during the second season of the original syndication broadcast. If we had to guess from the trailer, it appears that this version will be contained within the set, as opposed to the uncut, faithful re-dub that was produced for VHS, Laserdisc, and DVD in 1998.

All of this material was released on VHS and DVD, with the exception of the TV edit of DBZ Movie 3. A home release appeared to have been planned at some point for the edited version, and it was this edited version that was later reused for Cartoon Network broadcasts, but only the uncut re-dub ever made it to home video.

The trailer also gives a very brief glimpse at the 48-page booklet that will accompany the set, which is stated to showcase, “the characters, history, and tropes that helped elevate Dragon Ball Z to the pop culture phenomenon it is today.”

In addition to Anime Corner Store and RightStuf, pre-orders have also gone up on Amazon. While the MSRP for the set is $99.98, retailers have it priced online between $60-70. The set drops 20 August 2013, and we will rock the wagon with the rotten dragon as we watch our “Rock the Dragon” set.

(Didn’t anyone else ever watch the original broadcast with the closed-captions on…? Just us…?)