Customer Reviews

Dragonball Z, Vol. 1 - Arrival

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Well, I enjoyed this first of the many DVD's that Pioneer made of the Dragonball Z episodes. I was a little disappionted in this one though. I was expecting some extra stuff to be added on the DVD that wasn't on the VHS version. Like the DVD version of The Dead Zone had some deleted TV scenes that really kicked ***. Also, The World's Strongest had a Battle Arena option that showed the many fights of Goku. I thought that option was a great idea. Anyways, there are some things that are good about this title. The picture and sound quality are at its highest. And if you have the proper equipment, that makes the experience even more fulfilling. Well, that's my two-cents on this title. Just an average DVD that could have been a great DVD if some more effort were put into it.

I know there are a lot of people who prefer reviews to be short and to-the-point, while there is another set that prefer a larger, more elaborate explanation. So, in the interest of doing that, I'll provide both a short review and a long review. I'll also include a "What You Should Buy Instead" section at the end.

SHORT REVIEW: This DVD only contains the edited English dub as it first aired on TV back in 1996 with the original Ocean Studios voice cast. Unless you understand that last sentence, you probably don't want to get this.

LONG REVIEW: Dragon Ball Z has a very long, complex, and complicated history in the English-speaking world (which includes the U.S., Canada, the U.K., New Zealand, and Australia). The English dub was one of the first foreign language dubs of this anime(the first being the European French dub), and our dub has gone through a roller-coaster of changes. When DBZ first started out in 1996, it was being handled jointly by FUNimation Entertainment (then called FUNimation Productions) and Saban Entertainment (the people responsible for "Power Rangers"). Saban determined that if DBZ was ever going to be successful in the English-speaking world, they had to make a lot of changes and edits to the series in order for it to be a family-friendly show. For those of you who don't know, Dragon Ball Z originated as a show in Japan and, while kid-friendly by Japanese standards, it had a lot of scenes that most modern English-speaking people would find objectionable. There's a lot of violence, blood, some cursing, and a little bit of small-scale nudity (although the nudity was always used for comedic effect). Saban basically said that unless these were changed, the show would never see the light of day in the English-speaking world.

So, DBZ began in 1996 using a voice cast based in Ocean Studios in Vancouver, Canada, then led by voice actor Ian James Corlett as the voice of the main character Goku. The show was, in accordance with Saban's demands, very heavily edited. Blood was digitally painted out, overly violent scenes were cut, objectionable sound effects such as gun shots were changed, and the entire original orchestral score by Shunsuke Kikuchi was replaced by an electronic score by Shuki Levi (the guy who does the music for Power Rangers). The changing of the music was one of the more controversial aspects given that of all the other foreign-language dubs that came before and after, the English dub was the ONLY dub to replace the music. Perhaps most controversially, however, the English scripts were toned down in intensity to be more kid-friendly, with then-producer Barry Watson admitting in an interview that they had a writer whose job it was to "punch up the comedy" of the scripts. These script changes also changed certain Japanese terms such as the names of places, characters, and attacks. It was not completely rewritten, but it was rewritten significantly enough that many people who were already familiar with the changes found them infuriating.

That's the dub that's on this DVD. The first three episodes of it, anyway.

Over the years, though, Saban lost interest in DBZ and FUNimation took this as an opportunity to make more of their own creative decisions with the series. Starting in 1999, they began offering uncut DVDs with two different audio channels--an "uncut" English dub and the original Japanese audio track with professionally-translated English subtitles. This new English dub featured a new voice cast based in Dallas, Texas, led by voice actor Sean Schemmel as the voice of Goku. You may have noticed, though, that I put the word uncut in quotation marks. That's not an error. While this new dub was uncut visually on the DVDs, that was about it. The orchestral score by Kikuchi was again replaced with an electronic score by Bruce Faulconer, and the scripts were still significantly toned down, with some people arguing that they were actually even worse than before. It basically went from a corny, edited dub to a corny dub with blood. Furthermore, although the visual edits were no longer in place for the uncut DVDs, the edits still continued for the show's airing on Cartoon Network (although there was not quite as much of it as before due to different network restrictions).

I wrote that last paragraph only to give people an idea of what they should expect when they get this DVD, and differentiate it for newer fans of DBZ who might be a little confused. If you grew up with the English dub voices of Sean Schemmel, Chris Sabat, Sonny Strait, and Stephanie Nadolny, that version is NOT on here. The version on this DVD only has the edited English dub with the Ocean Studios voice cast of Ian James Corlett, Scott McNeil, Brian Drummond, Terry Klassen, and Saffron Henderson. The music here is also Shuki Levi's music and not Bruce Faulconer's. I'm only interested in getting this DVD as a nostalgic item, because this is the dub I started out with and I thought it might be fun to revisit the old days.

WHAT YOU SHOULD BUY: That depends on what kind of fan you are. Kind of a cop-out answer, but it's the truth. So I've broken it down for you.

If you want the "uncut" English dub of DBZ with Bruce Faulconer's music, you want.......the "orange brick" Season Box Sets. They're cheap and the whole series has been released that way. Kikuchi's music is actually available on these DVD box sets as well, along with Bruce Faulconer's music and the original Japanese audio track, but the video quality is not that great because the "remastering" process that FUNimation put DBZ through for these box sets is lackluster at best.

If you want the "uncut" English dub of DBZ with Shunsuke Kikuchi's music, you want......the "Dragon Boxes," which are still being released. The video quality and audio quality of these sets are BEAUTIFUL, because they were remastered frame-by-frame by Toei Animation itself. Bruce Faulconer's music is nowhere to be found on these sets though, if that matters to you.

If you want the uncut original Japanese version of DBZ, you want.....the "Dragon Boxes." The Dragon Boxes also have the option of the Japanese audio track, but unlike the orange brick Season Box Sets, both the audio and the video look absolutley beautiful here.

If you want a wonderful, truly uncut English dub of DBZ, you want.....the DVD (or Blu-Ray) box sets for Dragon Ball Z Kai. Kai is a whole different matter in and of itself, and I don't want to put too much down here to confuse people, so I'll keep this short. The dub for Dragon Ball Z Kai is absolutley WONDERFUL. The scripts are fantastically loyal. Japanese attack names are retained, swear words are retained, and the original dialogue is maintained. The music is also the original music for the show by newcomer Kenji Yamamoto. As far as loyalty is concerned, this is how DBZ should have been dubbed in the first place. Please note that the DVD and Blu-Ray box sets for this show are uncut--the version of DBZ Kai that you are watching on Nicktoons and the CW4Kids is, like DBZ was with Toonami, edited for content. So all of the people complaining about the lack of blood and violence in that show are clearly unaware that uncut DVD and Blu-Ray box sets for this show have been released. It's also got the FUNimation voice cast that started in 1999 (with one or two recasts). THIS is how DBZ should have been dubbed.

I certainly hope that helps!

I recently got hooked on DragonBall Z (DBZ) from Cartoon Network's Toonami, and I saw this DVD for such a great price and I went for it....It is worth it! This DVD introduces you to all the main Characters with the first 4 Episodes of this great Series. Unfortunatly, this DVD doesn't have subtitles nor is Closed Captioned, but the english dub works well. A Nice plus about the DVD is that it also gives you the previews for all of the Episodes on the Next DVD. It also gives you a brief introduction to Goku and the story behind the original 'DragonBall' Series in case you didn't get to see them. This DVD is a great way to get started with anime! Buy the DVD instead of VHS if you can, it works out better! Great DVD!

I've recently become hooked on the craze known as Dragon Ball Z, and let me tell it is a ride. Although the first 14 or so volumes are edited, thanks to Saban, that's right, the same people you bring you Mighty Morphine Power Rangers. They are not the full versions, but the newer ones that take place on Namek have the edited and uncut, but anyway, for the first DVD in this series, it is awesome. It really sets up what is a great adventure and captures the imagination of the viewer. The only bad thing about this DVD is the edit, but, once the newer ones come out on DVD, no one will have to worry about seeing edited cartoons again.

I love DBZ (thanks to a pokemon magazine i bought) so I thought this would cool to watch. I knew this was the old version, but I can't get the new uncut ones so I got this. This DVD has the first 4 episodes of DBZ in a movie format( yes a MOVIE format, so it dosen't tell you which episode you're watching). This is a cheaply made DVD that nothing to do except watch the episodes. When you put the DVD in It does tell you the history of the Dragonballs and the "movie" starts. The voices aren't the best (and Master Roshi's and Krillin's voices are ESPECILLY bad.) I would reccommed this if you're a beginner, but if you're a collector wait for the (supposdely) New Saiyan Saga on dvd soon. (Right I'll belive it when I see it. Bojack SHOULD BE OUT NOW AND IT ISN'T so i'll belive when i see it.)

Hey What can i say about it? Its a must have for me. Dragonball Z takes me on a ride and leaves me in a dream world and i just keep wanting more. If you haven't seen it yet, and your a anime junky like myself, then you have to get it. If you have seen it then thats what your here for and you need no help from me, you know you want it already. Just want to clear something up, I don't care how old you are you are going to love this, I am 21 and never get tired of the action. Plan and simple, this collection will have all you couch potatos up on you feet. Since I have been a dragonball freak, I lost 15 pounds......NO JOKE! JUST BUY IT AND YOU WILL HAVE NO REGRETS, AND YOUR ALSO GETTING A BIG SAVING SO WHATS NOT TO LOVE ABOUT IT!

I am a big fan of DBZ (and anime in general), but have always wanted to see the original, unedited, Japanese-language version of the shows. When I saw that the shows were available on DVD, I was thrilled that I might at last get the opportunity to see the original versions. However, upon receiving the first 4 volumes, I was extremely disappointed to find that only the edited American versions were on the DVDs. If you're looking for the original version as an option, make sure the DVD offers that feature.

You'd think Pioneer would have the sense to make a DVD with both subtitled and dubbed options in it (especially since most DVDs would have parental lock outs) but dubbed only? What a waste of a good series.

The first story on this dvd is kind of like a reunion tour. All of the characters from the Dragonball series reunite on Master Roshi's island to catch up with each other. This is where they are introduced to Gohan, the son of Goku. Goku's long lost brother shows up shortly after and ruins the party. I would advise anyone who has been following the story on TV to pick up this dvd to see where everything started from. My only complaint about it would be that the little Gohan can be a little too whiny and annoying at times. Overall a great purchase!

This is the beginning of the Saiyan Conflict box series, and it starts off really good. Raditz presents a really good challenge, and is a good way to bring in the whole storyline. There is a lot of suspense, and it seems that the story can go anywhere from this point. Great starting point for someone who is not familar with DBZ. My sister never watched it before, and when watching this first DVD, she was instantly hooked. Get it now!!