Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Satisfied long time adult fan of DBZ, August 27, 2007
Quick Facts: I'm 27, been a fan of Dragon Ball Z since 1999, and a fan of anime since 1992. I'm very picky about uncut anime, and I always prefer the original aspect ratio. I dislike English dubs as most any anime fan does. This is my first review of a DVD.
Video: FUNimations claims this is a widescreen transfer from the original video. Dragonball Z fans are screaming the original video was cropped to make it widescreen. I've spent the last 2 days with WinDVD and Photoshop to confirm or disprove this. Anyone who does image editing knows that cropping a 4:3 image to 16:9 can be really dramatic. After watching 67 episodes of this new release from FUNimation, I wasn't completely convinced about the transfer being cropped from it's original 4:3 aspect ratio. Dragonball Z fans are correct to say the widescreen transfer is cropped, but they also would need to admit to that the 4:3 broadcast we fans know and love was also cropped! The widescreen transfer has extended video on the left and right that was cropped for the original 4:3 TV broadcast some 18 years ago. A time when 4:3 televisions were standard. In recent times, 16:9 televisions have taken over, and we're much more widescreen oriented. The original animation aspect ration I got when I was done sizing and layering the images over each other from the 4:3 and 16:9 gave me a 16:11 aspect ratio. This my Dragon Ball Z fans... Seems to be the ORIGINAL size. 16:11 though won't look all that great on any TV set. Also makes sense though since animators make the original larger so when transferring the animation to video, there's room to play with so you don't have random spots missing on the sides, top and bottom. So if you have to ask yourself if this is a legitmate 16:9 transfer or some 4:3 cropped (cut/edited) video, the real answer is... It's a legimate 16:9 transfer. Both the 4:3 and the 16:9 are cropped from the original... In the end, it depends on personal preference.
The video was supposedly cleaned up, and the colors remastered. Personally, For the most part, I see an increased brightness on the video, which actually does look better. They did clean up the video and removed grain and video noise. All in all, the remastered picture looks better compared to the original DVDs that FUNimation released.
Audio: I can't say much about the sound quality since I'm using my computer for the time being. Just moved, and have yet to hook up my home theater again. FUNimation is releasing this with 3 settings. The original Japanese language and music. Nothing seems to have changed between the original DVDs and this release. For those who watch DBZ subbed only, I see no change at all. The second option is the English dub with the Japanese music. This is actually quite interesting, and I give credit for this addition! In this rare instance, I have always like the dubs for Dragon Ball Z, so having the option to watch it with the original music is great. If that isn't enough though, this new way to watch the series is in Dolby Digital 5.1. Then there's the third option which is the English dub with the US music done by Bruce Faulconer in stereo. I guess doing this in 5.1 would have taken too much time.
The dub was also redone for whatever reason. After comparing the original DVDs vs the new ones, the older ones sometimes seem a bit more consistent with what was originally being said. One quick example would be this...
Japanese Audio: Vegeta "I suppose"
Original English Dub: Vegeta "I guess so"
New English Dub: Vegeta "Shut up!"
Why FUNimation went out of the way to do a whole new dub, I have no idea... This seems to be wasteful of production time, or maybe they can't use the original dub anymore. Why FUNimation does anything at times is beyond my understanding. They have time to redub the series, but they can't make the English dub with the US music in 5.1...
The menus on these discs are light years ahead of the original DVDs FUNimation released, with much more chapter points, and the MARATHON option which allows you to watch all the episodes on a disc straight through without the opening/closing between the episodes. More like watching a movie than episode after episode, having to skip after each one.
The packaging of the discs in the case is rather nice. Seems upon collection the series, you can line them up for a large "DRAGONBALL Z" title! Each season comes with a small booklet with character information, episode information, etc.
Also want to note that according to FUNimation, this video was remastered on HD 1080/24p. This doesn't mean the discs are HD and can optimize the new HDMI 1.3, but it does show that 1080/24p mastering is being done, and we're probably not far off from seeing this much more commonly done and seeing HDDVDs with actual 1080/24p video as TVs are now coming out with HDMI 1.3.
I hope this information helps people looking to possibly buy this series or in the case I'm in, buy it again for the remastered video and widescreen version. Also much more compact compared to dozens of standard DVD cases!
Giving this 4 stars. Why not 5? Because there is still room for improvement. The new dub doesn't always seem to fit, and in comparison to the actual translation of what was being said, it's like comparing black and white. FUNimation was always lousy about the dub translation, and there's little excuse for rebubbing the series and making it just as poor as the first time around. Making the English Dub with Japanese music 5.1, but the US music in 2.0 is another point away from me. While this doesn't change anything for me, if they had the time to redub and upscale to 5.1 for the Japanese music, it seems to me they should have taken the time to upscale the US music track too. Lazy? Additionally, they should have some slight explanation of the widescreen transfer included. The extras on the discs are meaningless.
For the price these new box sets go for... It's an unbeatable deal for the series and Dragon Ball Z fans.
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13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another review, hopefully I may be of some help., February 8, 2007
I recently purchased and watched this set, and thus feel like typing up this review. I will try to remain relatively objective throughout the review, but if you feel as though I am being to subjective, I urge you to not continue (wherever you feel as though I may be biased).
First, let me say that I rather like this release. I've never seen all the episodes of the Vegeta saga before (I did see a good number of episodes on CN though, of the Ultimate Uncut Edition), so this is a pretty new experience for me. I watched this one my 32" Panasonic TC-32LX60 LCD HDTV, though I watched it in 480i playing on my Panasonic DVDS52S DVD Player, in proper 16x9 Widescreen, so as the black bars would not appear. I liked the visuals and the audio. I rather prefer the English Dub cast over the Japanese Dub cast, and the English Dub seems even better with the Japanese music. Once again, let me say that I am rather pleased with this set.
Now, there are some flaws with the set. Many of you may have heard this before, so skipping over it might save you some time. Seeing as Dragonball Z was originally broadcast as 4x3 show, with no 16x9 version ever available before, FUNimation had either 2 options: to either stretch the picture or crop it. They went with the latter. Do not be deceived, you are losing picture from the top and bottom. About 20% of each initial frame is lost You do get some added to the sides of each frame, but it is rather minimal in comparison. A stark 3-4% is the picture that appears on the sides, and it is rather unnecessary. Overall, you are losing more picture than you gain. There are also a number of shots where you may notice some dirt and glue running over. If you intended to see the show as it was ORIGINALLY intended to be seen, you will not.
Now after that, do I consider this release bad? No, I do not. I admit, it could have been better. A better set would have been the footage FUNimation cropped dubbed into English, along with the other options of the Japanese Dub with Japanese music, and English Dub with previously used English music presented in a 4x3 format. The ideal set would have been the Dragonbox masters, with the same audio and langauage options ins this set, with the OPTION of Widescreen (for those that would have wanted to see it as such), all at the price this set is being sold for. But we must make due with what we have. And what we have is, in my opinion, a good release.
Though not much of an actual "remastering" process has been done with this set, FUNimation did spruce it up a bit from their previous releases (keep in mind, everything in this paragraph is my opinion, your opinion may very well differ). FUNimation has changed the colors up a bit, making it a lot better. The audio is absolutely wonderful, sounds very nice, and is by far the best I've heard in any Dragonball related release (note that I only saw the English Dub with Japanese music). Overall, I would rate it as FUNimation's best release of these episodes though. When comparing to the episodes I have seen the Ultimate Uncut Edition of the Vegeta saga episodes that aired on CN about 1-2 years earlier, I prefer this by a large margin.
Now this set isn't for everybody. If you insist on watching it as it was ORIGINALLY inteded to be seen, then you may not want to purchase it. I do urge everyone that is reading this to at least check it out, but hey, if you feel you do not wish, that is your choice, and I hope no one forces you to watch it against your will. For those that wish to see these episodes in its English Dub format with the Japanese music, this may be a nice little option, and I find it rather enjoyable.
Now if FUNimation decided to reuse the footage that's present in this iteration, but maintain it in its 4x3 format and re-released it, would I purchase it? No, I would not. If FUNimation licensed the Dragonbox masters and released those, would I purchase it? Most likely, assuming the price isn't too high. Will I continue to purchase these 16x9 season sets if FUNimation keeps pumping them out? Yes, I will support this until the end, and I do hope FUNimation releases the series in its entirety in this format, since they've already started it.
Well, thanks for reading my review (whoever's left). I hope that I've helped in your ultimate decision on the importance of purchasing this set yourself.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This Is Where It Begins!, December 29, 2007
Dragon ball Z is world wide known and almost everyone i grew up with, male and female, watched this one. It's a classic with some of the most legendary moments in anime and I've seen over 100+ animes.
So we start the whole Dragon Ball Z Series with Goku's Brother. What better way to start off a series then to learn the main hero is a alien? Basically from here on out you learn about goku's origin and how he came to earth and so on. Second half of the season is pure action and pure awesomeness. You got Nappa, vegeta's friend, facing off against the Z warriors in a brutal fight to the death. Then you have Vegeta vs goku, a legendary battle to the fullest.
So yes check out season 1 and for what you get 30+ episodes for 30 bucks it's so worth it. Enjoy!
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