Dragon Ball Z on Blu-ray

[monkeyjb1988]

I refuse to get them. Not because I hate DBZ (never saw it), but the Japanese audio is 1.0 and lossy. They give two TrueHD English dub but a loosy Japanese? No sale. Call me when the Japan studio releases them.

[TTC1984]

No, I just got the standard DVDs of the movies. When they put out Dragon Ball Kai, though, I'll be buying that in Blu.

[SlmShdy1]

Originally Posted by Kyo28

By the way, my DVD's are all 16:9 Letterbox, which was the original aspect ratio I presume?
http://www.toei-video.co.jp/DVD/sp21/dragonball.html

That's how they were originally released in theaters. 16:9 is the original aspect ratio, but what FUNimation did is quite genius. When the movies were created for theaters, they were drawn in a 4:3 format knowing that they would be cropped later. So what we get on Blu-ray is what was originally intended, but the older US DVD's just have that little extra bit. Daizenshuu has a nice read about the whole thing.

The seasons that are being re-released on DVD are the ones that are being cropped with footage added to the sides.

[Afrobean]

Originally Posted by F-Man

Correct me if I'm wrong but the Widescreen ratio is most likely the intended theatrical one. You know, composed for 1.85:1, protected for 1.33:1.

This is right. The films were composed for a widescreen presentation, but were actually created so that they could also be presented open matted for 4:3. Old "fullscreen" DVDs likely show more of the picture for the films than the recent Blu-rays, but the BD presentation is actually in line with the OAR here.

The TV show and TV specials were created for just 4:3. However, the recent new remastering that appears in the DVD boxsets and that is used for the new version in Japan called Dragon Ball Kai was modified in the same way that Seinfeld's HD masters were. They open the sides a little to expose material that has traditionally always been lost in overscan, and crop a little from the top/bottom to create a new 16:9 presentation.

Also, any idea of the DB movies, including 1996's 最強への道 (Saikyou e no michi) will also be released on Blu-ray by Funimation?

I would guess that Funimation is waiting until they start releasing the series of Dragon Ball before they start pushing Blu-rays out of the movies. I'm not sure when it is exactly, but apparently the previous rights owners' rights will be over shortly and Funimation plans on putting out boxsets (as they did with Z and GT) when this happens.

I don't know if they're including the more recent OVA stuff as part of the "normal" material though. In addition to the one you referred to from Dragon Ball, there was also a very recent OVA released set during DBZ. I'd expect both should come in time, but don't be too surprised if they pop up separate from the other, older material.

With that being said, I have had my opinions on the transfer. The first film (or two films) on Blu-ray was littered with scratches, dust, etc. If FUNimation's process couldn't clean that up, it gives further validity to what we knew of the anime industry back then that a lot of film for those classic television shows and films were in bad shape.

The transfers for the films weren't made from the masters, they were made from prints, presumably ones used for a theatrical presentation. The reason we can know this is that there are cue marks visible in each one of the movies (I still don't understand why the cue marks weren't fixed during remastering, but whatever). The picture on the BDs of the movies are not necessarily indicative of the shape of the masters (assuming there even ARE workable masters).

Originally Posted by monkeyjb1988

I refuse to get them. Not because I hate DBZ (never saw it), but the Japanese audio is 1.0 and lossy. They give two TrueHD English dub but a loosy Japanese? No sale. Call me when the Japan studio releases them.

Having them in mono is true to the source, isn't it? A shame to not have it in lossless, but don't get your knickers in a twist over them being unable to remix the Japanese source material into 7.1. Funimation is probably only given a sound effect track and a music track to work with. Using those two and their new dub track, they can mix the dub material into a surround mix, but it is wholly possible that the only source track they have for original Japanese dialogue is a full presentation track in mono.

I mean, really, if it was that easy for them to mix the Japanese dialogue from mono into surround, they'd include a lossy 5.1 mix at the very least. Maybe the Japanese will (or maybe already have) create a new 5.1 mix of the original audio. Hopefully they already have this in mind with Dragon Ball Kai.

[Blu-Curry]

Wow, that's a lot of feedback! With what you guys have said, i guess i'll put off those Dragon Ball Z movie blu-rays for now... thanks for the input!

PS: Did that Pig guy ever fight? haha And what happened to that small, fat samurai guy?

[Batman1980]

Oolong never fought. Yajirobe basically has 1 heroic moment and that's when he cut off a fatigued Oozaru Vegeta's tail to shrink him back down to size. In a normal fight they're both pretty much useless.

[Kyo28]

Originally Posted by SlmShdy1

Daizenshuu has a nice read about the whole thing.

Thanks. That's an interesting read indeed!

Can't say I'm not disappointed with the mono tracks on the US release but I can accept that fact that perhaps they didn't have anything else at hand to create something better.

That leaves the edited title screens and credits. Still disappointed about that
Why they don't just keep the original titles & credits with optional English subtitles, I will NEVER understand.

[Afrobean]

Originally Posted by Kyo28

That leaves the edited title screens and credits. Still disappointed about that
Why they don't just keep the original titles & credits with optional English subtitles, I will NEVER understand.

It's because most Americans don't care or even want to see Japanese that they cannot read. It would be nice if they included the choice by seamless branching, but it's not the end of the world here. They might not be the best provider for Anime material out there, but compare what Funimation has done lately to what certain others have. I seriously shudder when I think of what 4kids did to One Piece.

Anyway, I've always hated the titles they give the movies in Japan... ドラゴンボールZ 超戦士撃破!!勝つのはオレだ (Doragon Bōru Zetto Sūpā Senshi Gekiha!! Katsu No wa Ore da), "Dragon Ball Z: Super Warrior Defeat!! I'm the One who'll Win"... personally, I think "Bio-Broly" is a better title.

[Xerios]

i was thinking about picking most of these up seeing how theyre all under 20 bucks... but to watch them in order id have at some point switch discs and then back (look at the order of the movies and the way they were put on blu to understand)

[MOONPHASE]

Originally Posted by Wolverine1980

Oolong never fought. Yajirobe basically has 1 heroic moment and that's when he cut off a fatigued Oozaru Vegeta's tail to shrink him back down to size. In a normal fight they're both pretty much useless.

Oolong would of turned into pork or ham if he ever did any fighting

[MOONPHASE]

Originally Posted by kndy

Oops you're right on the audio. Curious, why did you stop after season 6?

Well to me I liked the series up to season 6 personally. Majin Buu saga was great don't get me wrong but to me I like Cell, Frieza, and Vegeta over Buu. Also the fact that Funimation might release these on Blu-ray either this year or next year kind of puts me off on buying more of the dvds and just sticking to the Blu-ray version.

[Kyo28]

Originally Posted by Afrobean

It's because most Americans don't care or even want to see Japanese that they cannot read. It would be nice if they included the choice by seamless branching, but it's not the end of the world here. They might not be the best provider for Anime material out there, but compare what Funimation has done lately to what certain others have. I seriously shudder when I think of what 4kids did to One Piece.

Anyway, I've always hated the titles they give the movies in Japan... ドラゴンボールZ 超戦士撃破!!勝つのはオレだ (Doragon Bōru Zetto Sūpā Senshi Gekiha!! Katsu No wa Ore da), "Dragon Ball Z: Super Warrior Defeat!! I'm the One who'll Win"... personally, I think "Bio-Broly" is a better title.

To each his own I guess. I prefer the original for three reasons:
- it's the original. I don't like it when movies or series get 'adapted', even if it's just the title screen
- Japanese title screens usually contain a nice visual touch, whereas such inserted title screens are nothing but a white text on black background screen
- finally, I've seen these movies countless times on my Japanese DVD's so it feels weird to see or hear it in English

Look at it this way: you're watching Terminator 2, a movie you've seen many times already and instead of the burning flames title screen saying "Terminator 2", you get a black screen with white text that says: "El Exterminador". It doesn't quite do the movie justice, now does it?

[KingBing]

I have most of em that are available on blu, I didnt have them on dvd so I cant comment on that but Im very proud to have these in my collection, when you consider the source of DBZ the blu's look pretty good

[MOONPHASE]

Originally Posted by Kyo28

Thanks. That's an interesting read indeed!

Can't say I'm not disappointed with the mono tracks on the US release but I can accept that fact that perhaps they didn't have anything else at hand to create something better.

That leaves the edited title screens and credits. Still disappointed about that
Why they don't just keep the original titles & credits with optional English subtitles, I will NEVER understand.

Well if you ever watch the American trailers for these new releases for Blu-ray and dvd it mentions right on the trailer Original Japanese Audio and I guess they meant that literally.

[Kyo28]

Originally Posted by KingBing

I have most of em that are available on blu, I didnt have them on dvd so I cant comment on that but Im very proud to have these in my collection, when you consider the source of DBZ the blu's look pretty good

Could you please confirm (or correct) that all movies are missing the original title screen and credits? I've only been able to confirm this on two movies so far; so I have still hope for the rest

[Afrobean]

Originally Posted by Kyo28

Look at it this way: you're watching Terminator 2, a movie you've seen many times already and instead of the burning flames title screen saying "Terminator 2", you get a black screen with white text that says: "El Exterminador". It doesn't quite do the movie justice, now does it?

No, but the thing here is: English is my native tongue.

To see a Dragon Ball Z film titled "Dead Zone" instead of "Zetto Ora no Gohan o Kaese!!" doesn't bother me in the slightest. The only thing that is disappointing for me is that the title card might just be white text over black instead of designed to be the same as the Japanese title card. For the episodes I mean, they did English title cards, but they were in the style of the Japanese title cards. Shame they didn't work things out similarly for the movies.

Originally Posted by Kyo28

Could you please confirm (or correct) that all movies are missing the original title screen and credits? I've only been able to confirm this on two movies so far; so I have still hope for the rest

The credit sequence is there (albeit with English credits) and they each have a unique Japanese song. I'm not sure how the animation is presented in the original Japanese, but if I recall, they all have the accompanying animation scrunched up to the side, taking up only a portion of the screen while the English titles scroll to the other side.

The Japanese titles do not appear in kana/kanji in the films and instead the titles are given in English rather unceremoniously. The opening animation is there, the opening song is there (at least, it is in the original Japanese audio track), but the title of the movie is changed.

[Diesel]

i plan on picking up most of the movies before years end once the prices go down a little

and when the episodes make it to blu i will definitely be snatching those up (i never bought the dvds)

[Kyo28]

Originally Posted by Afrobean

No, but the thing here is: English is my native tongue.

I guess that makes indeed a difference as in my case, English is not my native tongue and my Japanese and English are about at the same level.

Thanks for confirming how the movies are represented. I think I'll wait out a little longer to see if a Japanese release will come, especially now that DB Kai is airing. If not, I think I'll still fold and get these.

[Blu-Curry]

Originally Posted by Wolverine1980

Oolong never fought. Yajirobe basically has 1 heroic moment and that's when he cut off a fatigued Oozaru Vegeta's tail to shrink him back down to size. In a normal fight they're both pretty much useless.

lol ah ok. I just had a special spot for them in my Dragon Ball Z favourite characters, i just didn't remember WHY haha.

[MOONPHASE]

Originally Posted by Diesel

i plan on picking up most of the movies before years end once the prices go down a little

and when the episodes make it to blu i will definitely be snatching those up (i never bought the dvds)

Never bought the dvds? Jeez I had DBZ on vhs(edited) then i got the movies on vhs(edited), movies(uncut) dvd, series(uncut) dvd, series in season boxsets(dvd uncut), and now movies(Blu-ray). Also to add I also got the original Pioneer dvds of season 1(also vhs) and then got the Funimation release of season 1 when they 1st redubbed it with uncut and included Japanese and Spanish audio with the interesting opening song they came up with.