Dragon Ball Z Season 1 Steelbook (US)

[Haibe]

Originally Posted by InuYashaCrusade

If Sentai were releasing these then they'd be $300 per Steelbook. Seriously Sentai's pricing for Steelbooks is insanity.

I paid $55 for Beyond the Boundary, $30 for Vampire Hunter D, $50 for Big O, and $65 for Clannad+After Story. $65 for Elfen Lied, and $55 for No Game No Life. Funimation wants you to pay over $200 for this DBZ Steelbook run. It'll be 9 steelbooks. Out of all those Sentai ones the only 2 I felt bad about were Vampire Hunter D, and Elfen Lied.

Unlike Funimation: You get the full series with movies/OVA's (Both seasons, whereas Funi would split them), new discs, new extras, an art book, and a slipcover. I actually get an attempt for my money worth from Sentai at the very least.

Funimation took the time to actually alter their discs (Something they never do), but instead of consolidating episodes or adding anything new...they just put a new image coat on and went ahead being complacent. I'm not saying to give us it all in one steel or big release...but maybe TRY to make it shorter and be a better option than the base blu ray set that even has the same number of sets?

Look, if someone doesn't have DBZ on BD and wants it in steelbook? This is the release for you. If you just want DBZ on BD? The BD set for the whole series on Amazon is less than half the price you will pay for this steelbook set. Steelbook release takes away wide-screen, and makes a arguable quality for its 4:3...and nothing else added.

Yu Yu Hakusho (Another Funimation steelbook line) didn't have its episodes changed, but atleast gave us new interviews, and artcards for the price to make it feel like you bought something special beyond "Oooh steelbook!" So we know Funimation can be better than this.

[Jedihunter]

Originally Posted by Haibe

I paid $55 for Beyond the Boundary, $30 for Vampire Hunter D, $50 for Big O, and $65 for Clannad+After Story. $65 for Elfen Lied, and $55 for No Game No Life. Funimation wants you to pay over $200 for this DBZ Steelbook run. It'll be 9 steelbooks. Out of all those Sentai ones the only 2 I felt bad about were Vampire Hunter D, and Elfen Lied.

Unlike Funimation: You get the full series with movies/OVA's (Both seasons, whereas Funi would split them), new discs, new extras, an art book, and a slipcover. I actually get an attempt for my money worth from Sentai at the very least.

Funimation took the time to actually alter their discs (Something they never do), but instead of consolidating episodes or adding anything new...they just put a new image coat on and went ahead being complacent. I'm not saying to give us it all in one steel or big release...but maybe TRY to make it shorter and be a better option than the base blu ray set that even has the same number of sets?

Look, if someone doesn't have DBZ on BD and wants it in steelbook? This is the release for you. If you just want DBZ on BD? The BD set for the whole series on Amazon is less than half the price you will pay for this steelbook set. Steelbook release takes away wide-screen, and makes a arguable quality for its 4:3...and nothing else added.

Yu Yu Hakusho (Another Funimation steelbook line) didn't have its episodes changed, but atleast gave us new interviews, and artcards for the price to make it feel like you bought something special beyond "Oooh steelbook!" So we know Funimation can be better than this.

The price is absolutely absurd and honestly I'm tired of companies like scream factory and now funiamtion just reissuing the new discs or masters on a regular release but instead chosing to make it a steel book set and Jack the price up. Second losing widescreen isn't a negative for this set as it's meant to be 4:3. Problem is they are still a bit too cropped. Though nowhere near as bad as the season sets.

[Password_is_Mattress]

Is there an overall consensus on the 4:3 remaster? Better than the cropped release, but not as good as the level sets? If so, is it still worth an upgrade if I already have the cropped sets?

[Mefan101]

I never got the chance to watch all of DBZ. I watched the entire Saiyan Saga on the Orange Brick set. I watched other episodes here and there. A lot of my experiences with the sagas were from the video games. I was always reluctant to watch the rest of DBZ, because there was no solid video release for DBZ. The Orange Bricks are bad, the Blu Rays are bad (except the the Level Sets, but they were discontinued), and the Dragon Boxes will forever be beyond my price range...

[RdCrestdBreegull]

I paid $44.99 each for these on Right Stuf Anime when they were first announced and now Season 1 is on Amazon for $43.49. That's fine as long as the price doesn't drop too much below that...

I acknowledge that the picture quality for these looks like crap, but this set and the Dragon Boxes are the two best officially-sold options, and the DBs are long out of print and even more expensive, so this is pretty much my only option of finally owning DBZ on home video. I already have DB, DBGT, and DBS, plus all the movies, so there's no point in waiting for Funimation to do a Level-set-quality release of DBZ.

[Mefan101]

Right now the only option I have is Abridged.

[GP Legend]

This is why the 30th Anniversary bluray sucks:

Dragon Ball Z 30th Anniversary Blu-ray DISASTER! - YouTube

Why can't funimation release DBZ properly?

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by GP Legend

Why can't funimation release DBZ properly?

Short answer: money. They know that if they release a proper version in correct 1.33:1 framing, with untouched film grain, good color grading and getting the Japanese broadcast audio (Sabat has them, so FUNi should have access to them), then they can't keep on re-releasing the series over and over again.

Sure, it'll sell very well if done right, but the amount they'd make would be less than if they just keep milking out sub-par releases that casual fans will buy regardless.

[Mefan101]

Originally Posted by GP Legend

This is why the 30th Anniversary bluray sucks:

Dragon Ball Z 30th Anniversary Blu-ray DISASTER! - YouTube

Why can't funimation release DBZ properly?

This is why preserving film grain is important. If you get rid of it, detail & film quality is lost. Look at what happened to Terminator 2 in 4k. It looks very muddy. Grain is part of the film. Lawrence Of Arabia was recently released again and it looks amazing in its new master (like the blu ray before). All Funimation had to do was clean scratches & blotches, along with proper color correction to what was ORIGINALLY INTENDED!

[ps3bd_owner]

Manga Entertainment's (owned by FUNimation) Standard BDs look much nicer than these Steelbooks. If you've not seen them, here you go.

[Jedihunter]

Originally Posted by ps3bd_owner

Manga Entertainment's (owned by FUNimation) Standard BDs look much nicer than these Steelbooks. If you've not seen them, here you go.

These looks sooooo much better. Not to mention there is variety in the art on the discs and you get some physical goodies. Too bad the manga sets are region locked most likely. And funimation is greedy as hell and probably will either announce a standard release like these after the first couple ship. Or will just be idiots and stick with steel books to continue the price gouging.

[TANMAC43]

I know this is just a very small pet peeve for me, but would it kill them to use Cha La Head Cha La in the dub with Japanese music track instead of that generic guitar intro?

[A Tortured Duckling]

You know, I actually had my hopes up for this one. I figured after years of shit releases from this company they might actually do right by us for a change but alas, I am wrong again and I shall refrain from purchasing again.

Does anyone know if there is a good Blu-ray release out there, anywhere? Regardless of region coding. Just a complete release with actually good quality and no ridiculous cropping?

[Kylein24fps]

Originally Posted by A Tortured Duckling

You know, I actually had my hopes up for this one. I figured after years of shit releases from this company they might actually do right by us for a change but alas, I am wrong again and I shall refrain from purchasing again.

Does anyone know if there is a good Blu-ray release out there, anywhere? Regardless of region coding. Just a complete release with actually good quality and no ridiculous cropping?

The level sets are about as good as its gonna get, but they only go up to the end of Season 2. Shame.

[Preeve2000]

Originally Posted by Kylein24fps

The level sets are about as good as its gonna get, but they only go up to the end of Season 2. Shame.

The Level Sets only go up to almost the end of Season 1, actually. A few episodes from the end of Season 1 with the Level Set remastering were never released on disk but were on digital stores (no longer available, of course). The Level Set remastering never went beyond Season 1, and as you said, it’s a damn shame.

[Charles Essie]

I don't soppose Funimation will get it right this time?

[TravisTylerBlack]

Originally Posted by Charles Essie

I don't soppose Funimation will get it right this time?

They will never get it right as long as they believe consumers actually want the overly filtered/saturated/de-grained/artificially sharpened product that they keep peddling. Our best bet is at this point is a non-US label remastering the series with more integrity and competence than Funi.

[veela1990]

season 4 and 5 are now up for preorder...but why is the artwork not the same as 1-3? do you think the artwork is final? this is really annoying if they’re not keeping the uniformity for all the seasons...might have to cancel my preorder

[rickah88]

Oddly enough I’m not triggered by the layout change. They all look pretty cool and I’m quite confident they will all look nice on my shelf.

[RevolverOcelScott]

I had pre-ordered the steelbooks, but the more I think about it I might just stick with my shitty widescreen cropped sets. It's just not worth nearly 400 bucks for the steelbooks. If they were like 20 a pop I'd bite, but I can't do 40 a piece.