Dragon Ball Z Level 1.2 (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)
January 4, 2012 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
A wonderful, cleaned-up remaster of one of the most awesome anime series ever created! “Dragon Ball Z” looks and sounds so much better on Blu-ray and for those who have upgraded to HD and have wanted a classic anime series that delivers in storyline, characters and all-out action, “Dragon Ball Level 1.2″ is highly recommended!
Image courtesy of © Bird Studio/Shuiesha/Toei Animation. 2009 Toei Animation. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Dragon Ball Z Level 1.2
DURATION: (Episodes 8-34) 425 Minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (4×3), English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Toei Animation/FUNimation Entertainment
RATED: TV PG
Release Date: December 13, 2011
Originally created by Akira Toriyama
Directed by Daisuke Nishio
Series Composition: Takao Koyama
Character Design by Yuji Ikeda
Music by Shunsuke Kikuchi
Screenplay: Aya Matsui, Hiroshi Toda, Jun Maekawa, Katsuyuki Sumisawa, Keiji Terui, Masashi Kubota, Reiko Yoshida, Satoru Akahori, Sumio Uetaka, Takao Koyama, Toshiki Inoue, Yoshiyuki Suga
Episode director: Atsutoshi Umezawa, Daisuke Nishio, Hidehiko Kadoda, Hiroki Shibata, Johei Matsuura, Junichi Fujise, Kazuhisa Takenouchi, Kazuhito Kikuchi, Masahiro Hosoda, Minoru Okazaki, Mitsuo Hashimoto, Osamu Kasai, Shigeyasu Yamauchi, Takahiro Imamura, Tatsuya Orime, Yoshihiro Ueda
Featuring the following voice talent:
Masako Nozawa/Zoe Slusar as Son Goku
Masako Nozawa/Hyle Herbert as Son Gohan
Ryo Horikawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Vegeta
Hiromi Tsuru/Tiffany Volmer as Bulma
Naoko Watanabe/Cynthia Cranz as Chichi
Mayumi Tanaka/Sonny Strait as Kuririn
Ryo Horikawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Piccolo
Hirotaka Suzuoki – Tinshinhan
Tohru Furuya – Yamucha
Daisuke Gouri/Don Brown as Mr. Satan (Hercule)
Michael Dobson as Supreme Kai
Fear the sinister Saiyan onslaught! Celebrate the heroic return of Goku! And prepare for an epic showdown with Vegeta!
The last survivors of a cruel, warrior race, the Saiyans have carved a path of destruction across the galaxy, an now they have set their sights on Earth! They will stop at nothing until they have the wish-granting powers of the seven magic Dragon Balls for their very own.
With the fate of his family, friends, and the entire human race hanging in the balance, Goku, the Earth’s greatest hero, must rise to meet the approaching threat. As he prepares for the fight of his life, Goku embarks on an epic journey that will take him to other worlds, pit him against new and old enemies alike, and force him to confront the dark secrets of his own past. At the end of this path, the most powerful opponent he has ever faced awaits: the evil Saiyan Prince Vegeta!
For the past few years, I have been raving about FUNimation Entertainment’s releases of “Dragon Ball Z” from the original orange box collections to the recent Dragon Box Z DVD box set releases (Japanese version of the series uncut). And afterward, raved about the “Dragon Ball Z Kai” series on Blu-ray.
Having grown up with “Dragon Ball Z” and during my teenage years visiting the local Japanese video rental store and always in heavy anticipation of what was being shown on television in Japan that week and waiting the two weeks it would arrive in the US and watching it in Japanese, despite not knowing what was being said, I enjoyed the series tremendously.
The main protagonist Son Goku was Japan’s equivalent to America’s Superman. I’m sure the juxtaposition of both Superman and Dragonball can be seen as a baby from other planet comes to Earth, the baby growing up to becoming a boy with tremendous strength and abilities and raised by a loving person who instilled good in his heart.
Granted, Goku’s original mission when landing on Earth was to destroy humanity but learning kindness towards people, nature and animals, he became a hero that protected all that he loved from any evil. But most importantly, Goku was a character that was far from perfect. He was a character that was always learning about people, enjoying life but most of all, setting a goal to becoming stronger and developing his skills in order to protect the people and the planet that he loves.
And now this beloved, action anime series receives its latest release from FUNimation Entertainment, restored specifically for Blu-ray known as “Dragon Ball Z Level 1.2″ featuring episodes 18-34.
“Dragon Ball Z” begins five years after the finale on “Dragon Ball”, after Goku defeated King Piccolo. “Dragon Ball Z” begins with Goku introducing his friends to his young son Gohan. But while things seem peaceful, unfortunately things are going to go from peaceful to downright terrible when Goku’s brother from the planet Saiyan, Raditz, goes to check and see if Goku has destroyed the planet Earth. But Goku, who was raised by the peaceful Gohan when he was a baby grew up compassionate towards the living life on Earth and swore to protect it.
Needless, to say Raditz is disappointed and decides to kidnap Gohan and gives Goku an ultimatum, he must slaughter 100 of Earth’s people and has a day to consider joining him in destroying Earth. Or else, Goku must fight against him.
With Raditz being the most powerful nemesis by far, Goku and his former nemesis Piccolo decide to work together in order to beat Raditz and rescue Gohan.
The main characters during this part of the series are:
Goku – Now an adult, married to Chichi and has a son named Gohan. Constantly training in order to become stronger. Still naive and hungry as he was when he was younger.
Gohan - Goku’s young four year old son who may have some unknown power like his father. Due to his mother Chichi’s strictness, he has never been trained to fight. Just study.
Piccolo – Still a rival to Goku but during these dire circumstances, the two form an alliance. Also, becomes Gohan’s guardian and trainer.
Chichi – Goku’s wife, Gohan’s mother who is very strict. She does not want Gohan to be like his father.
Bulma – A woman still developing products at her father’s company, Capsule Corp. and uses her intelligence to help the Z Warriors under dire circumstances.
Yamcha – Ex-boyfriend of Bulma who once joined Goku and Bulma during their adventures to find the Dragon Ball.
Master Roshi – A trained martial artists who was friends with Goku’s adopted grandfather, Gohan. Despite his old age, he can still fight and also a big pervert.
Kami – One of the Kings who trains Goku on how to fight with gravity ten times greater than Earth at Kaio’s world.
Tien and Chiaotzu – Former rivals of Goku for the 23rd Martial Arts Tournament and now his good friends.
The main enemy:
Vegeta - The prince of the Planet Saiyan who has come to the planet with Nappa after the death of Raditz but also to search for the Dragon Balls which he wants for immortality.
Nappa – An elite Saiyan warrior who has accompanied Vegeta to search for the Dragon Balls.
“Dragon Ball Z Level 1.2″ features episodes 18-34 of the series. Here is a brief synopsis of each episode:
DISC 1
- EPISODE 18 – Gohan’s tail grows back and sees a full moon. That can only mean…
- EPISODE 19 – Goku’s training from King Kai begins.
- EPISODE 20 – Goku’s training continues with the grasshopper Gregory.
- EPISODE 21 – Goku’s training is complete.
- EPISODE 22 – Vegeta and Nappa arrive on Earth and Nappa causes destruction in East City.
- EPISODE 23 – Vegeta and Nappa send Saibamen after the Z-Warriors. And a hero is killed.
- EPISODE 24 – After the death of a Z-Warrior, an enraged Krilling takes on the Saibamen.
- EPISODE 25 – Tien, Piccolo and Krillin vs. Nappa. Another Z-Warrior is killed.
- EPISODE 26 – Vegeta delays the fight in order to wait for Goku to arrive, meanwhile Nappa causes more destruction. Another Z-Warrior is killed in battle.
DISC 2
- EPISODE 27 – Piccolo, Krillin and Gohan tries to pull off Nappa’s tail.
- EPISODE 28 – Another Z-Warrior is killed and Goku arrives.
- EPISODE 29 – Goku vs. Nappa
- EPISODE 30 – Goku vs. the powerful Vegeta.
- EPISODE 31 – The battle between Goku and Vegeta continues.
- EPISODE 32 – The fight between Goku and Vegeta continues. But Goku has exhausted his power.
- EPISODE 33 – Gohan and Krillin arrive on the battlefield in hopes of helping Goku.
- EPISODE 34 – Gohan and Krillin vs. Vegeta.
VIDEO:
As mentioned earlier, this is not the same “Dragon Ball Z” featured in the orange DVD box sets or the “Dragon Box Z” box sets that were just enhanced for Blu-ray. This 1080p High Definition version of the series is a new digital transfer by FUNimation Entertainment and ANDTRANSFER for restoration.
In the past, I would notice the scratches and white speckles. In fact, years before the release of “Dragon Ball Z Kai”, when FUNimation Entertainment released the first two “Dragon Ball Z” movies on blu-ray, it was littered with dust and white speckles and I felt that if DBZ ever made it to Blu-ray, it may suffer from the same quality.
In fact, I have dreamed that they would restore the series but at 291 episodes, I figured that it would be too expensive for them to pursue it, even if “Dragon Ball Z” was FUNimation Entertainment’s flagship series. But sure enough, they did do it in 2011 and they took the original Japanese 16mm film frame and made it to 1080p. The FUNimation Entertainment team cleaned up the episodes frame by frame (note: you do see a few white speckles but only a very few times) and the picture quality is much more vibrant, clearer and you do see the grain a bit more. Colors and line art is more pronounced as with the artistic background.
So, FUNimation Entertainment did something which I thought was never going to happen and literally give American fans the best looking version of the “Dragon Ball Z” series to date. Yes, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” looks great but it’s not the entire series. So, I’m pretty ecstatic about this release and quite happy that FUNimation Entertainment decided to go through with the restoration.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Dragon Ball Z Level 1.2” is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (English) with the original Japanese music, English Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (broadcast version) and Dolby TrueHD Monaural for the Japanese track with Japanese music.
Because the English is mixed and utilizes more channels, there is a dramatic difference in sound, although for those with a modern receiver and have a solid 5.1 or 7.2 setup, can easily switch their receiver to stereo on all channels for the Japanese soundtrack for a more immersive soundscape.
But here is the lowdown on the lossless audio. Sound effects are now heavily utilized on the surround channels. When a person is screaming, the surround channels are used as well. I didn’t notice major activity via LFE but felt the series was more front, center and surround channel driven. A lot of cool sound effects utilized this time around for the battle sequences (and there are so many of them in these episodes in “Dragon Ball Z Level 1.2″).
The Japanese soundtrack is probably the best that we’re ever going to hear it. Remember that this is an older series made back in 1989. While “Dragon Ball Z Kai”, the Japanese brought in voice actors to re-record the soundtrack, this is not Kai, this is the original series. And as much as I want to say the hardcore fans of the Japanese version would be happy, fortunately for these hardcore fans, FUNimation Entertainment released the “Dragon Box Z” DVD box sets.
With that being said, I grew up watching the Japanese audio and typically, I prefer to watch anime in Japanese BUT with “Dragon Ball Z”, I have always felt that the English dub was among the best out there and the voices just sound right for the characters.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Dragon Ball Z Level 1.2″ features the following special features:
- Textless Opening Song – (1:52)
- Textless Closing Song - (1:39)
- An Engineer and a Pen: Autograph Collection Part 1 – (2:10) Featuring autographed photos of the English dub cast.
- The Many Faces of Christopher R. Sabat – (1:00) Photos of voice actor Christopher R. Sabat (voice actor of Goku) being made-over.
EXTRAS:
“Dragon Ball Z Level 1.2″ comes with a slipcover case.
All that went through my mind when I was watching “Dragon Ball Z Level 1.2″ was how awesome an experience it was to see this series finally in HD and how fantastic it looked and how incredible the lossless audio track was.
With Level 1.2, you get several arcs for the first season. The second arc continues as Piccolo is training Gohan to become stronger while Goku trains at Kaio-sama’s world and the arrival of the two Saiyans: Vegeta and Nappa leads to a battle against Earth’s toughest warriors which include Yamucha, Tenshinhan, Krillin, Piccolo and Gohan.
But these episodes were quite significant back then as it would feature the major deaths of four major characters that fans have grew up watching from the original “Dragon Ball” series. And eventually leading up to the first of many continuing battles between Goku and Vegeta. But this volume does feature that first battle between the two Saiyans.
As a person who has followed the series for over 20 years, watching “Dragon Ball Z Level 1.2″ was fun, especially to see it so cool in HD! I didn’t think it would happen because there were so many episodes in the series, but FUNimation Entertainment did it and I’m quite happy.
I was captivated by the original “Dragon Ball” series (which featured Goku as a child) and later with “Dragon Ball Z” featuring Goku as an adult. The series would bring back the characters that were seen on the original “Dragon Ball” series but this time around, the series took on more of a serious tone as the enemies became more deadly and Goku and his friends were put into grave situations that they have never had to face before. “Dragon Ball Z” would feature wonderful character development, intense action sequences and most of all, knowing how to extend the series to tease fans and keep people in high anticipation of what would be happening next.
Since then, I have had the opportunity to see this DBZ fandom grow in the US from the very early ’90s and seeing “Dragon Ball Z” viewing parties at the early anime conventions and then seeing how the series exploded into American pop culture once the series began airing on television in the US and with its DVD releases. It’s hard to believe that this series I have followed for years and began in 1989 has celebrated its 20th Anniversary celebration in 2009.
But the celebration was fantastic news for fans as this time, “Dragon Ball Z” would be remastered for HD TV and would be called “Dragon Ball Z Kai” which would include a brand new opening and ending sequence, commercial cut scenes, new frames produced digitally, re-recording of the voice talent, new music and most importantly, focusing on the main story arcs and reducing the series 291 episodes to a total of 97 episodes.
With that being said, while I enjoyed watching “Dragon Ball Z Kai” as it looks even better in HD, if you are a big fan of the series, you know that so much was cut out. Especially since Kai only covered part of the series to the Cell Saga and leaving the Buu saga in the dust.
There are so many episodes that people would miss out on but the problem is that those orange box DVD sets which contained 30+ episodes… well, either they are hard to find or many people have moved on to Blu-ray and wouldn’t think about going back to DVD.
But let’s assume that you have purchased the orange DVD box sets of “Dragon Ball Z” which were remastered for 16:9, gave the option of listening to English with Japanese music, it’s original English presentation or watching it in Japanese. Needless to say, some fans complained because it was 16:9 and not the original presentation. So, to appease the hardcore fans, FUNimation Entertainment released the “Dragon Box Z” DVD Box Sets.
But now with “Dragon Ball Z Kai” coming to a close on Blu-ray and many fans wondering “Will the complete ‘Dragon Ball Z’ series ever come out on Blu-ray?”. Well, FUNimation Entertainment has answered that question with a big “YES!” by its announcement to release “Dragon Ball Z” on Blu-ray and in 2011, fans were able to get two volumes and await Level 1.3 which will conclude the first season (episode 39 is the final episode of season 1), before going into the next major story arc which introduces another action-packed storyline with an even stronger enemy named Frieza.
Now, some of you with those orange DVD Box Sets wonder…”is it worth purchasing all over again?”. Well, yes and no. First, let me explain why I say “yes”. Yes, in the fact that FUNimation Entertainment redid the visuals to make it in its original 4:3, similar to major cinema on Blu-ray and DVD, ran it through the Spirit Datacine in order to make the series ready for HD and went as far as to clean up all the white speckles and do what they can to make it presentable in HD. In other words, this is not the same release that fans received with the orange DVD box set. This release is specifically for fans who want “Dragon Ball Z” on Blu-ray. Cleaned up and given the best presentation and literally looking better than its previous DVD counterparts.
But I also mentioned “No”. Unless you are a hardcore fan, bare in mind that this release is also unlike the orange DVD Box Sets that came with 30+ episodes and took about nine volumes. The first Blu-ray for the “Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1″ release will only contain the first 17-episodes and if this will be the average, you can expect 17 or 18 volumes of “Dragon Ball Z” on Blu-ray. But by saying that, restoration for films or any type of media is very expensive, so it’s not surprising to me that for a long series such as “Dragon Ball Z”, there are only 17-episodes featured.
Once again, I never expected this series to receive restoration because it is 291-episodes long and that would be expensive. But FUNimation Entertainment did it and all I can say is that this is the best looking version of the anime series to date.
The original orange DVD box sets were fantastic and many fans should be fine with that. That is unless you are now focusing on anime on Blu-ray, then yes, these new “Dragon Ball Z” Blu-ray releases and the upgrade of its visuals make it a series worth purchasing.
Overall, “Dragon Ball Z Level 1.2″ is an impressive release from FUNimation Entertainment but definitely will make fans of “Dragon Ball Z” excitied. One, because this project has showed us how much of an improvement can be made to a classic anime series and two, with what FUNimation was able to accomplish, one can only hope that they do the same and give a remastered treatment to the original “Dragon Ball” and also “Dragon Ball GT” series. And also other classic anime series that FUNimation Entertainment is able to license.
Sure, there may be a few hardcore fans will complain that the series is not like the manga (and I agree with you) and I know hardcore fans will complain that it’s not the same as the Japanese TV airing (which FUNimation Entertainment went on to release the ‘Dragon Box Z’ box sets) and those who have forked money over before will complain of having to rebuy it again (but this is for Blu-ray not DVD). But that’s the nature of media and you have to expect upgrading. But as mentioned before, those original orange “Dragon Ball Z” DVD Box sets were fantastic and if you own them already, you should be fine with those releases. Unless you want it in HD, then yes, you will have to upgrade.
And if you are a DBZ fan and own the DVD’s but are also watching your anime on Blu, this is too awesome of an anime series to pass up and is definitely worth the upgrade.
So, for those who want to experience the complete “Dragon Ball Z” series looking its best via HD, now you have your chance. If you don’t want to watch the 291 episodes, then you also have a choice of watching “Dragon Ball Z Kai” (although you do miss out on the “Buu” storyline and many other episodes).
But once again, this volume is pretty awesome as you get the first major battle between Goku and Vegeta and the deaths of several Z-Warriors. Definitely an exciting, action-packed volume of “Dragon Ball Z”!
In conclusion, “Dragon Ball Z” on Blu-ray is fantastic for the fans of the series but also for those who have been craving for a wonderful, action-packed anime series that truly delivers in story, cool characters and action. “Dragon Ball Z Level 1.2″ is highly recommended!
Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1 (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)
October 27, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
For those who have been wanting to see “Dragon Ball Z” in its entirety on Blu-ray, “Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1″ is what you are looking for! Restored for HD, the series looks much better than any of its DVD counterparts. “Dragon Ball Z” is the classic ultimate action anime series of all-time and a series worth watching and worth owning on Blu-ray!
Image courtesy of © Bird Studio/Shuiesha/Toei Animation. 2009 Toei Animation. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1
DURATION: (Episodes 1-17) 425 Minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (4×3), English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Toei Animation/FUNimation Entertainment
RATED: TV PG
Release Date: November 8, 2011
Originally created by Akira Toriyama
Directed by Daisuke Nishio
Series Composition: Takao Koyama
Character Design by Yuji Ikeda
Music by Shunsuke Kikuchi
Screenplay: Aya Matsui, Hiroshi Toda, Jun Maekawa, Katsuyuki Sumisawa, Keiji Terui, Masashi Kubota, Reiko Yoshida, Satoru Akahori, Sumio Uetaka, Takao Koyama, Toshiki Inoue, Yoshiyuki Suga
Episode director: Atsutoshi Umezawa, Daisuke Nishio, Hidehiko Kadoda, Hiroki Shibata, Johei Matsuura, Junichi Fujise, Kazuhisa Takenouchi, Kazuhito Kikuchi, Masahiro Hosoda, Minoru Okazaki, Mitsuo Hashimoto, Osamu Kasai, Shigeyasu Yamauchi, Takahiro Imamura, Tatsuya Orime, Yoshihiro Ueda
Featuring the following voice talent:
Masako Nozawa/Zoe Slusar as Son Goku
Masako Nozawa/Hyle Herbert as Son Gohan
Ryo Horikawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Vegeta
Hiromi Tsuru/Tiffany Volmer as Bulma
Naoko Watanabe/Cynthia Cranz as Chichi
Mayumi Tanaka/Sonny Strait as Kuririn
Ryo Horikawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Piccolo
Hirotaka Suzuoki – Tinshinhan
Tohru Furuya – Yamucha
Daisuke Gouri/Don Brown as Mr. Satan (Hercule)
Michael Dobson as Supreme Kai
The Saiyans are coming!
The last survivors of a cruel, warrior race, these ruthless villains have carved a path of destruction across the galaxy, an now they have set their sights on Earth! They will stop at nothing until they have the wish-granting powers of the seven magic Dragon Balls for their very own.
With the fate of his family, friends, and the entire human race hanging in the balance, Goku, the Earths greatest hero, must rise to meet the approaching threat. As he prepares for the fight of his life, Goku embarks on n epic journey that will take him to other worlds, pit him against new and old enemies alike, and force him to confront the dark secrets of his own past. At the end of this path, the most powerful opponent he has ever faced awaits: the evil Saiyan Prince Vegeta!
For the first time in any corner of the galaxy, Dragon Ball Z is available in HD on Bluray! This collection presents the first seventeen episodes of DBZ in unparalleled picture quality. The classic 4:3 format is captured in true 1080p HD with the original, director-approved color scheme!
For the past few years, I have been raving about FUNimation Entertainment’s releases of “Dragon Ball Z” from the original orange box collections to the recent Dragon Box Z DVD box set releases (Japanese version of the series uncut). And afterward, raved about the “Dragon Ball Z Kai” series on Blu-ray.
Having grown up with “Dragon Ball Z” and during my teenage years visiting the local Japanese video rental store and always in heavy anticipation of what was being shown on television in Japan that week and waiting the two weeks it would arrive in the US and watching it in Japanese, despite not knowing what was being said, I enjoyed the series tremendously.
The main protagonist Son Goku was Japan’s equivalent to America’s Superman. I’m sure the juxtaposition of both Superman and Dragonball can be seen as a baby from other planet comes to Earth, the baby growing up to becoming a boy with tremendous strength and abilities and raised by a loving person who instilled good in his heart.
Granted, Goku’s original mission when landing on Earth was to destroy humanity but learning kindness towards people, nature and animals, he became a hero that protected all that he loved from any evil. But most importantly, Goku was a character that was far from perfect. He was a character that was always learning about people, enjoying life but most of all, setting a goal to becoming stronger and developing his skills in order to protect the people and the planet that he loves.
And now this beloved, action anime series receives its latest release from FUNimation Entertainment, restored specifically for Blu-ray known as “Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1″.
“Dragon Ball Z” begins five years after the finale on “Dragon Ball”, after Goku defeated King Piccolo. “Dragon Ball Z” begins with Goku introducing his friends to his young son Gohan. But while things seem peaceful, unfortunately things are going to go from peaceful to downright terrible when Goku’s brother from the planet Saiyan, Raditz, goes to check and see if Goku has destroyed the planet Earth. But Goku, who was raised by the peaceful Gohan when he was a baby grew up compassionate towards the living life on Earth and swore to protect it.
Needless, to say Raditz is disappointed and decides to kidnap Gohan and gives Goku an ultimatum, he must slaughter 100 of Earth’s people and has a day to consider joining him in destroying Earth. Or else, Goku must fight against him.
With Raditz being the most powerful nemesis by far, Goku and his former nemesis Piccolo decide to work together in order to beat Raditz and rescue Gohan.
The main characters during this part of the series are:
Goku – Now an adult, married to Chichi and has a son named Gohan. Constantly training in order to become stronger. Still naive and hungry as he was when he was younger.
Gohan - Goku’s young four year old son who may have some unknown power like his father. Due to his mother Chichi’s strictness, he has never been trained to fight. Just study.
Piccolo – Still a rival to Goku but during these dire circumstances, the two form an alliance. Also, becomes Gohan’s guardian and trainer.
Chichi – Goku’s wife, Gohan’s mother who is very strict. She does not want Gohan to be like his father.
Bulma – A woman still developing products at her father’s company, Capsule Corp. and uses her intelligence to help the Z Warriors under dire circumstances.
Yamcha – Ex-boyfriend of Bulma who once joined Goku and Bulma during their adventures to find the Dragon Ball.
Master Roshi – A trained martial artists who was friends with Goku’s adopted grandfather, Gohan. Despite his old age, he can still fight and also a big pervert.
Kami – One of the Kings who trains Goku on how to fight with gravity ten times greater than Earth at Kaio’s world.
Tien and Chiaotzu – Former rivals of Goku for the 23rd Martial Arts Tournament and now his good friends.
The main enemy:
Raditz – Goku’s older brother who is so upset that Goku has not destroyed the planet Earth and now has kidnapped Goku’s son Gohan.
“Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1″ features the first 17 episodes of the series. Here is a brief synopsis of each episode:
DISC 1
- EPISODE 1 – Five years after Goku’s victory at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, Goku plans to take Gohan to meet his friends for the very first time. But Gohan is lost. Where is he?
- EPISODE 2 – Goku plans to take Gohan to meet his friends for the very first time.
- EPISODE 3 – Raditz kidnaps Gohan, which leads to a surprising team-up with Goku and his former nemesis Piccolo.
- EPISODE 4 – Goku and Piccolo vs. Raditz.
- EPISODE 5 – Raditz warns that two more Saiyans: Napa and Vegeta will arrive on planet Earth and they have one year to train. A Z Warrior is killed.
- EPISODE 6 – Kami takes Goku to the Other World for training.
- EPISODE 7 – Piccolo leaves Gohan alone in the wilderness for six months in order for him to grow up and train himself.
- EPISODE 8 – Krillin and friends try to find the Dragon Balls. Piccolo learns about Gohan’s transformation if he sees a full moon.
- EPISODE 9 – Gohan wakes up from his transformation.
DISC 2
- EPISODE 10 – Krillin, Bulma and Master Roshi go to Yamcha for his help.
- EPISODE 11 – Goku goes on a journey to Snake Way.
- EPISODE 12 – Gohan continues to train, meanwhile Krillin and Bulma look for Tien and Chiaotzu.
- EPISODE 13 – Goku accidentally falls from Snake Way to Hell.
- EPISODE 14 – Will Goku have to repeat this adventure after falling from Snake Way?
- EPISODE 15 – Piccolo trains himself by splitting himself in two.
- EPISODE 16 – Gohan washes up in shore after training and meets a few orphans.
- EPISODE 17 – Piccolo trains Gohan in martial arts.
VIDEO:
As mentioned earlier, this is not the same “Dragon Ball Z” featured in the orange DVD box sets or the “Dragon Box Z” box sets that were just enhanced for Blu-ray. This 1080p High Definition version of the series is a new digital transfer by FUNimation Entertainment and ANDTRANSFER for restoration.
In the past, I would notice the scratches and white speckles. In fact, years before the release of “Dragon Ball Z Kai”, when FUNimation Entertainment released the first two “Dragon Ball Z” movies on blu-ray, it was littered with dust and white speckles and I felt that if DBZ ever made it to Blu-ray, it may suffer from the same quality.
In fact, I have dreamed that they would restore the series but at 291 episodes, I figured that it would be too expensive for them to pursue it, even if “Dragon Ball Z” was FUNimation Entertainment’s flagship series. But sure enough, they did do it in 2011 and they took the original Japanese 16mm film frame and made it to 1080p. The FUNimation Entertainment team cleaned up the episodes frame by frame (note: you do see a few white speckles but only a very few times) and the picture quality is much more vibrant, clearer and you do see the grain a bit more. Colors and line art is more pronounced as with the artistic background.
So, FUNimation Entertainment did something which I thought was never going to happen and literally give American fans the best looking version of the “Dragon Ball Z” series to date. Yes, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” looks great but it’s not the entire series. So, I’m pretty ecstatic about this release and quite happy that FUNimation Entertainment decided to go through with the restoration.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1” is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (English) with the original Japanese music, English Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (broadcast version) and Dolby TrueHD Monaural for the Japanese track with Japanese music.
Because the English is mixed and utilizes more channels, there is a dramatic difference in sound, although for those with a modern receiver and have a solid 5.1 or 7.2 setup, can easily switch their receiver to stereo on all channels for the Japanese soundtrack for a more immersive soundscape.
But here is the lowdown on the lossless audio. Sound effects are now heavily utilized on the surround channels. For example, the first episode with Goku and his son as they are near a river. You can hear the water splashing and flowing through the surround channels. During battle, you can hear each blast panning from left surround channel, through the front channels and then right surround channel to full effect. When a person is screaming, the surround channels are used as well. I didn’t notice major activity via LFE but felt the series was more front, center and surround channel driven.
The Japanese soundtrack is probably the best that we’re ever going to hear it. Remember that this is an older series made back in 1989. While “Dragon Ball Z Kai”, the Japanese brought in voice actors to re-record the soundtrack, this is not Kai, this is the original series. And as much as I want to say the hardcore fans of the Japanese version would be happy, fortunately for these hardcore fans, FUNimation Entertainment released the “Dragon Box Z” DVD box sets.
With that being said, I grew up watching the Japanese audio and typically, I prefer to watch anime in Japanese BUT with “Dragon Ball Z”, I have always felt that the English dub was among the best out there and the voices just sound right for the characters.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1″ features the following special features:
- Dragon Ball Z: Film to Blu-ray – (7:48) A featurette on the restoration process of “Dragon Ball Z” by ANDTRANSFER and FUNimation Entertainment.
- Textless Opening Song
- Textless Closing Song
All that went through my mind when I was watching “Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1″ was how awesome an experience it was to see this series finally in HD and how fantastic it looked and how incredible the lossless audio track was. I’m still impressed after watching part one and how this TV series looks on Blu-ray.
As a person who has followed the series for over 20 years, watching “Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1″ was fun, especially to see it so cool in HD! I didn’t think it would happen because there were so many episodes in the series, but FUNimation Entertainment did it and I’m quite happy.
I was captivated by the original “Dragon Ball” series (which featured Goku as a child) and later with “Dragon Ball Z” featuring Goku as an adult. The series would bring back the characters that were seen on the original “Dragon Ball” series but this time around, the series took on more of a serious tone as the enemies became more deadly and Goku and his friends were put into grave situations that they have never had to face before. “Dragon Ball Z” would feature wonderful character development, intense action sequences and most of all, knowing how to extend the series to tease fans and keep people in high anticipation of what would be happening next.
Since then, I have had the opportunity to see this DBZ fandom grow in the US from the very early ’90s and seeing “Dragon Ball Z” viewing parties at the early anime conventions and then seeing how the series exploded into American pop culture once the series began airing on television in the US and with its DVD releases. It’s hard to believe that this series I have followed for years and began in 1989 has celebrated its 20th Anniversary celebration in 2009.
But the celebration was fantastic news for fans as this time, “Dragon Ball Z” would be remastered for HD TV and would be called “Dragon Ball Z Kai” which would include a brand new opening and ending sequence, commercial cut scenes, new frames produced digitally, re-recording of the voice talent, new music and most importantly, focusing on the main story arcs and reducing the series 291 episodes to a total of 97 episodes.
With that being said, while I enjoyed watching “Dragon Ball Z Kai” as it looks even better in HD, if you are a big fan of the series, you know that so much was cut out. Especially since Kai only covered part of the series to the Cell Saga and leaving the Buu saga in the dust.
There are so many episodes that people would miss out on but the problem is that those orange box DVD sets which contained 30+ episodes… well, either they are hard to find or many people have moved on to Blu-ray and wouldn’t think about going back to DVD.
But let’s assume that you have purchased the orange DVD box sets of “Dragon Ball Z” which were remastered for 16:9, gave the option of listening to English with Japanese music, it’s original English presentation or watching it in Japanese. Needless to say, some fans complained because it was 16:9 and not the original presentation. So, to appease the hardcore fans, FUNimation Entertainment released the “Dragon Box Z” DVD Box Sets.
But now with “Dragon Ball Z Kai” coming to a close on Blu-ray and many fans wondering “Will the complete ‘Dragon Ball Z’ series ever come out on Blu-ray?”. Well, FUNimation Entertainment has answered that question with a big “YES!” by its announcement to release “Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1″ for October.
Now, some of you with those orange DVD Box Sets wonder…”is it worth purchasing all over again?”. Well, yes and no. First, let me explain why I say “yes”. Yes, in the fact that FUNimation Entertainment redid the visuals to make it in its original 4:3, similar to major cinema on Blu-ray and DVD, ran it through the Spirit Datacine in order to make the series ready for HD and went as far as to clean up all the white speckles and do what they can to make it presentable in HD. In other words, this is not the same release that fans received with the orange DVD box set. This release is specifically for fans who want “Dragon Ball Z” on Blu-ray. Cleaned up and given the best presentation and literally looking better than its previous DVD counterparts.
But I also mentioned “No”. Unless you are a hardcore fan, bare in mind that this release is also unlike the orange DVD Box Sets that came with 30+ episodes and took about nine volumes. The first Blu-ray for the “Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1″ release will only contain the first 17-episodes and if this will be the average, you can expect 17 or 18 volumes of “Dragon Ball Z” on Blu-ray. But by saying that, restoration for films or any type of media is very expensive, so it’s not surprising to me that for a long series such as “Dragon Ball Z”, there are only 17-episodes featured.
Once again, I never expected this series to receive restoration because it is 291-episodes long and that would be expensive. But FUNimation Entertainment did it and all I can say is that this is the best looking version of the anime series to date.
The original orange DVD box sets were fantastic and many fans should be fine with that. That is unless you are now focusing on anime on Blu-ray, then yes, “Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1″ and its update on visuals make it a series worth purchasing.
Overall, “Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1″ is an impressive release from FUNimation Entertainment. Sure, hardcore fans will complain that the series is not like the manga (and I agree with you) and I know hardcore fans will complain that it’s not the same as the Japanese TV airing (which FUNimation Entertainment went on to release the ‘Dragon Box Z’ box sets) and those who have forked money over before will complain of having to rebuy it again (but this is for Blu-ray not DVD). But that’s the nature of media and you have to expect upgrading. But as mentioned before, those original orange “Dragon Ball Z” DVD Box sets were fantastic and if you own them already, you should be fine with those releases. Unless you want it in HD, then yes, you will have to upgrade.
And if you are a DBZ fan and own the DVD’s but are also watching your anime on Blu, this is too awesome of an anime series to pass up and is definitely worth the upgrade.
So, for those who want to experience the complete “Dragon Ball Z” series looking its best via HD, now you have your chance. If you don’t want to watch the 291 episodes, then “Dragon Ball Z Kai” should be fine, albeit your missing out on other arcs, especially the Buu arc.
In conclusion, I’ll have to say that “Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1″ is highly recommended!
Dragon Ball Z – Dragon Box Z Vol. 7 (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)
October 14, 2011 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment
The final Dragon Box Z is here! A thrilling, hilarious, action-packed, kick-ass final volume! Featuring a total of 40-episodes of “Dragon Ball Z” in one box set! Uncut, unedited and presented in its original 4:3 aspect ratio with Japanese dialogue and theme music. If you are a hardcore DBZ fan, the “Dragon Box Z” DVD box sets are highly recommended!
Image courtesy of © BIRD/SHUEISHA, TOEI ANIMATION Film. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Dragon Ball Z – Dragon Box Z Vol. 7
DURATION: Episodes 251-291 (1025 Minutes)
DVD INFORMATION: Japanese Voice track with original music mono, English voice track with original Japanese Music 5.1 surround, 4:3, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment
RATED: TV PG
Released on October 11, 2011
Based on the manga and created by Akira Toriyama
Directed by Daisuke Nishio
Series Composition: Takao Koyama
Character Design by Yuji Ikeda
Music by Shunsuke Kikuchi
Screenplay: Aya Matsui, Hiroshi Toda, Jun Maekawa, Katsuyuki Sumisawa, Keiji Terui, Masashi Kubota, Reiko Yoshida, Satoru Akahori, Sumio Uetaka, Takao Koyama, Toshiki Inoue, Yoshiyuki Suga
Episode director: Atsutoshi Umezawa, Daisuke Nishio, Hidehiko Kadoda, Hiroki Shibata, Johei Matsuura, Junichi Fujise, Kazuhisa Takenouchi, Kazuhito Kikuchi, Masahiro Hosoda, Minoru Okazaki, Mitsuo Hashimoto, Osamu Kasai, Shigeyasu Yamauchi, Takahiro Imamura, Tatsuya Orime, Yoshihiro Ueda
Featuring the following voice talent:
Masako Nozawa/Sean Schemmel as Son Goku
Masako Nozawa/Stephanie Nadolny as Son Gohan
Masako Nozawa/Robert McCollum as Son Goten
Takeshi Kusao/Eric Vale as Trunks
Ryo Horikawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Vegeta
Hiromi Tsuru/Tiffany Volmer as Bulma
Kozo Shioya/Josh Martin as Majin Buu
Naoko Watanabe/Cynthia Cranz as Chichi
Mayumi Tanaka/Sonny Strait as Kuririn
Ryo Horikawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Piccolo
Yuko Minaguchi/Lucy Small as Videl
Hirotaka Suzuoki – Tinshinhan
Tohru Furuya – Yamucha
Miki Itou/Meredith McCoy as Andrid No. 18
Daisuke Gouri/Don Brown as Mr. Satan (Hercule)
Michael Dobson as Supreme Kai
Norio Wakamoto/Dameon Clarke as Cell
The battle to harness the power of the seven Dragon Balls explodes in vivid detail like never before. The Dragon Box features over 40 uncut episodes, remastered and restored frame by frame, rendering the legendary action in pristine clarity. Each episode is presented in Japanese and English with the complete opening and closing credits and includes the original episode previews.
And here we are with the final volume of “Dragon Box Z”.
I first discovered “Dragon Ball Z” during the very early 90′s. During the infant stages of Japanese anime conventions in America, there would be “Dragon Ball Z” parties where many people would gather around a hotel room and watch a marathon of episodes. Needless to say, the series which hadn’t been released in America was very popular but of course the only way people could see the show were fan subs with terrible quality on VHS.
I then had the opportunity to discover “Dragon Ball Z” through a Japanese video rental store and although I was taking Japanese at my university at the time, I would rent all that I can but probably miss a lot of the story since my comprehension of Japanese was quite bad at the time.
But then the series came to the US, the videos were released with several episodes per volume and I have to admit, looking back how anime TV episodes were distributed, especially like a long series such as DBZ, if one was able to collect every episode, it would literally cost an arm and a leg.
In 2007, FUNimation Entertainment did something quite wonderful and that was releasing a digitally remastered, digitally restored version of “Dragon Ball Z” in 16×9 widescreen and you would get around 32-36 or so episodes per volume at such a low price. This was such a fantastic deal and for nine seasons (the final volume released was released in 2009), I’ve watched “Dragon Ball Z” completely and have given nothing but positive reviews for them.
But…
I would receive countless e-mails from the hardcore fans of the Japanese television series who were very upset that the show was not presented in its original aspect ratio (4:3) which is the ratio for standard TV and felt the previous releases featured colors that were saturated, the wrong opening and ending credits, no previews for the next episode. Suffice to say, those hardcore DBZ fans who loved the original Japanese episodes were upset. For me, I just looked it at it price wise and figured, at least we are getting something for a great price and I wasn’t going to complain.
But this goes to show you how FUNimation Entertainment does care for its fans and not sure if they received a lot of mail from hardcore fans but they decided to bring out “Dragon Box Z Volume 1″ in the fall of 2009 and here we are now with the final seventh volume of “Dragon Box Z” which focuses on episodes 251-291 which showcases the final Buu saga and a final episode which will set up a bridge for the next Dragon Ball series, “Dragon Ball GT”.
In Japan, these episodes were cleaned frame by frame and removing jitter and some grain. Keeping the original colors but most importantly for the fans, keeping everything intact including the 4:3 aspect ratio.
As for the series, aside from the technical differences as mentioned earlier, because the series focuses on the Japanese version of the show, the names of characters are different as the Japanese versions uses “Kamisama-hen” versus “Master Roshi”, Kaio the Genki Dama versus “King Kai”, “Tenshinhan” versus “Tien”, “Vegeta” instead of “Vegita”, etc. The DVD’s come with both Japanese and English dubbing.
In the final seventh volume of the “Dragon Ball Z – Dragon Box Z”, the set continues with the new World Martial Arts Tournament is happening and the Z-Fighters taking on their most powerful adversary yet, but also a few still competing in the martial arts tournament.
The World’s Champ Mr. Satan has managed to make Majin Buu more compassionate towards life when Buu is given a puppy. But sure enough, two criminals gun down Buu’s puppy and then all hell erupts. This new anger that Majin Buu has never felt before has him spawn another form of Buu. While the current Buu (big version) was able accept humanity and become peaceful, this new Evil Buu (skinner and muscular) is everything that was evil.
This Evil Buu manages to beat the current Majin Buu and convert his power over to his and becoming much more powerful.
As for the Z-Warriors, with Vegeta sacrificing his life in the last volume and Goku no longer with the living (since the Cell Saga) and in another dimension withe the Supreme Kais watching Gohan train, Piccolo is left to train Trunks and Goten and making sure they perfect their fusion technique to become Gotenks, the last opportunity for Planet Earth to destroy Evil Buu.
The main characters during this part of the series are:
Goku – Now an adult, married to Chichi and has a son named Gohan. Constantly training in order to become stronger. Still naive and hungry as he was when he was younger. Currently, he is deceased and using his time to train before returning back to the land of the living.
Gohan - Goku’s young son. Goku realizes that Gohan has strong potential but during an unfortunate incident, asks for Piccolo to train his son in fighting to protect people and the planet. Gohan has accompanied Bulma and Kuririn to find the Dragon Balls in the Planet Nemek.
Kuririn – Goku’s childhood friend who accompanies Gohan and Bulma to find the Dragon Balls in the Planet Nemek.
Bulma – A woman still developing products at her father’s company, Capsule Corp. and uses her intelligence to solve the Z Warriors under dire circumstances. With her Dragon Ball scanner, she joins Gohan and Kuririn to find the Dragon Balls in Planet Nemek.
Kaiosama – One of the Kings who trains Goku on how to fight with gravity ten times greater than Earth at Kaio’s world.
Vegeta – The Prince of Saiyan and the most powerful Saiyajin of them all. Comes to Earth in order to destroy it but after being defeated by Goku, rehabilitates himself and now finds himself fighting alongside Gohan and Kuririn.
Trunks – The young son of Bulma and Vegeta who hangs out with Goten
Goten – The second son of Goku and Chichi and hangs out with Trunks.
Kaioshin – The ruler of the Kaios of the Other World, Kaioshin has taken over the position after the previous Kaoshin was killed by the warlock Babidi. He has come to the Earth realm to recruit the Z-Warriors to fight against Babidi and Majin Buu.
Kibit – The loyal bodyguard of Kaioshin.
The main enemies in this set are:
Majin Buu (Boo) – Created by Bibidi, Buu was created to destroy worlds and was sealed away by the former Kaoshin, until he was released once again by Babidi. But is this the same Majin Buu who is known as the destroyer of worlds? (Note: There are two Buu’s, the heavy set Buu is the kinder, playful version. The skinny Buu is the evil version.)
Disc 37:
- Episode 251 – Birth of a Superhuman Warrior!! His Name is Gotenks – With Piccolo now training Gotenks and Trunks, the two must now fuse!
- Episode 252 – The Final Weapon is Engaged!? Satan Will Save the Earth - As Mr. Satan becomes the Earth’s last defense against Majin Buu, the two develop a friendship. And Buu has a new pet dog.
- Episode 253 – The Successful Fusion of Gotenks! Boo Splits in Two?! - Majin Buu starts to listen to Mr. Satan about no killing, while a pair of thugs aim to kill Buu but end up killing something else instead.
- Episode 254 – Run Away, Satan!! An Angry Majin Boo Emerges - What happens to Majin Buu after two criminals gun down his puppy?
- Episode 255 – Which One Will Win!? A Good-and-Evil Boo-Boo Confrontation – The battle of the Buu’s as Majin Buu somehow accidentally manifests an Evil Buu.
- Episode 256 – A No-Timeout Catastrophe!! Earth’s Humanity Exterminated – The Evil Buu decides to take his challenge directly to Gotenks.
- Episode 257 – The Special Training is a Success!! You’re Finished Now, Majin Boo – Piccolo manages to trick Evil Buu to go into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with him and Gotenks.
Disc 38:
- Episode 258 – ‘I’m Going Like I Mean It!!’ A Wide-Open Super Gotenks – Evil Buu takes on Gotenks. Who will become the victor?
- Episode 259 – ‘I’ve Done It!! Boo Successfully Eliminated with Ghosts!? – In a desperate attempt to stop any further destruction, Piccolo destroys the Hyperbolic Time Chamber’s door, trapping the three in the chamber forever.
- Episode 260 – Gotenks’ Explosion of Power! Yet Evil Boo Proes Unstoppable – As Evil Buu becomes hungry, he finds a way to leave the chamber but now looks towards the Z-Warriors outside of the chamber as food.
- Episode 261 – Going Too Far!? Boo-Boo Volleyball – Gotenks transforms into Super Saiyan Level 3 but will this extra power be enought to defeat Evil Buu?
- Episode 262 – Truly ‘Great’!! A Reborn Gohan Returns to Earth - Gohan continues with his training at the World of Kais and the battle between Gotenks and Evil Buu continues.
- Episode 263 – Boo Overwhelmed!! Gohan’s Miracle Power – Gotenks fusion is unraveled and Trunks and Goten are in trouble. Gohan comes to the rescue utilizing his new training.
- Episode 264 – Has He Done It!? Majin Boo’s Great Explosion - Evil Buu uses a tactic to destroy himself in order to destroy Gohan. Did Buu’s plan work?
Disc 39:
- Episode 265 – Boo’s Worst Foul!! Gotenks is Absorbed!? - Evil Buu’s tactic was a ploy, now his goal is to absorb the powers of Gotenks in order to become Super Buu.
- Episode 266 – For the Sake of the Entire Universe… Return to Life, Son Goku - Evil Buu is now more powerful than ever after absorbing a few Z-Warriors. Does Gohan have enough power to take him on alone?
- Episode 267 – Gotenks, Piccolo, and Gohan… By Absorbing These Three, Boo Powers Up! - Goku knows that Gohan is getting weak and the Old Kai has a plan to save the day.
- Episode 268 – Merged!! Vegeta’s Pride and Goku’s Rage - Vegeta arrives and both Goku and Vegeta must join forces again in order to defeat Evil Buu.
- Episode 269 – Magnificent Power!! Vegetto Surpasses the Ultimate - Goku and Vegeta utilize old Kai’s plan to become Vegito.
- Episode 270 – A Fissure Between Dimensions!! Has Boo Snapped!? - The battle between Vegito and Evil Bu begins.
- Episode 271 – The Ace Up Boo’s Sleeve!! ‘You Become a Hard Candy’! - Evil Buu comes up with another tactic to fight Vegito.
Disc 40:
- Episode 272 – A Hero Lost!? Vegeto is Absorbed - Evil Buu turns Vegito into candy and absorbs them.
- Episode 273 – A Demonic Maze!! What Is There Inside Boo’s Belly!? - Although Goku and Vegeto were absorbed, they are able to separate and move around inside Buu’s body.
- Episode 274 – The True Majin Boo Appears! Goku vs. Boo, the Final Showdown, Begins!! – Both Goku and Vegeta discover their friends and children inside Buu.
- Episode 275 – A Majin’s Secret!! Two More Boos Inside of Boo – Evil Buu doesn’t like Goku and Vegeta messing with his body and thus finds a way to have himself take on the two in his own body.
- Episode 276 – Where Is the Exit!? Escape from a Collapsing Boo - Both Goku and Vegeta think they have the upper hand against Evil Buu. But all of a sudden, Evil Buu starts to evolve into another type of Buu.
- Episode 277 – Earth Disappears!! Boo’s Reverse-Transformation of Evil - The plan of freeing Trunks, Goten, Piccolo and Gohan inside of Evil Buu backfires. And now the new Evil Kid Buu targets the Planet Earth to destroy.
- Episode 278 – Boo’s Assault!! A Conclusion in the Kaioshin Realm – With last episode’s shocking ending, Evil Kid Buu now has the World of the Kais as his next target.
Disc 41:
- Episode 279 – Seize the Future!! A Decisive Battle with the Universe at Stake – Instead of fusing, Goku and Vegeta decide they should fight Evil Kid Buu alone to the shock of the Kais.
- Episode 280 – Vegeta Takes Off His Hat!! Goku, You are No. 1 – Goku Super Saiyan 3 fights against Evil Kid Buu.
- Episode 281 – The MAjin Duel of Boo vs. Boo! Here Comes Goku’s Full-Power Genki Dama!! – Goku’s energy is rapidly draining but needs the time to gather energy to stay alive.
- Episode 282 – Don’t You Pick on Satan!! The Original Boo is Revived – Evil Kid Buu starts to have a major pain in his body and his name is Majin Buu (original version).
- Episode 283 – Vegeta’s Secret Plan!! Polunga and the Two Wishes - With Majin Buu and Evil Buu fighting it out once again, Vegeta asks Dende to summon the Dragon from the Planet Namek in order to restore the Earth and the humans back to life.
- Episode 284 – A Last Hope!! We’ll Make a Huge Genki Dama – Goku asks the revived humans of Earth to give him energy but it seems that many are not willing to.
- Episode 285 – Ultra-Impressive! The Genki Dama From Everyone Is Finished – Goku desperately needs more energy but the people of Earth are unwilling, that is until he gets help from someone famous.
Disc 42:
- Episode 286 – Son Goku is Strongest After All!! Majin Boo is Eliminated – The people of Earth lend their energy to Goku to create the Spirit Bomb! Will it be enough to destroy Evil Kid Buu?
- Episode 287 - Peace Returns!! Majin Boo, Champion of Justice!? - With the result of the last episode, Goku and friends return to Earth and try to integrate Majin Buu back into society as a good guy.
- Episode 288 – Majin Boo is Pulverized by Everyone’s Collective Genki Dama! The Battle Ends, and the Future Begins – It’s the big party for the Z-Warriors but Goku is nowhere to be found.
- Episode 289 – Grandpa Goku! I am Pan - Ten years have passed since the battle with Evil Kid Buu and everyone has gotten older, Gohan and Vedil now have a young daughter named Pan who has been trained by her parents and Goku.
- Episode 290 – I Am Oob! Now 10 Years Old, the Former Majin! - It’s time for a new World Tournament and Goku gets a feeling someone special may fight in the tournament.
- Episode 291 – Even Stronger!! Goku’s Dream is Super-Huge - The tournament fight between Goku and Uub continues. Is Uub the reincarnation of Buu?
VIDEO:
“Dragon Ball Z” via this “Dragon Box Z Vol. 7″ set contains episodes featured in standard definition (4:3 aspect ratio). The colors are much different than the previous box set where colors were deeper and more pronounced, the colors of the series features its original presentation as it was in Japan and of course, restored frame by frame in which the previous season was not. Personally, I don’t have a preference to which is better but if anything, this set is for the hardcore fans who preferred the original Japanese presentation.
But for these episodes which aired in 1991, you have to acknowledge how good the transfer was for this restoration. Granted, there is a “Dragon Ball Kai” currently airing in Japan in High Definition (and will be released in the US this month on Blu-ray and DVD) which will look much better but for this DVD box set release, considering it’s 20-years-later, for the diehard fans who have wanted these episodes in its original presentation for so long, Pony Canyon definitely did a very good job on restoration and again, great to see FUNimation Entertainment bring this box set to the US.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
As for audio, this is where things are a bit different from the original Japanese audio presentation. Because FUNimation Entertainment had to include the English dubbed audio, instead of using the 448 kb/s audio, they went with 96 kb/s. This may upset fans who wanted a higher bitrate but because its important to attract those who are prefer English dubs and make the set even more marketable, the English dub had to be included. With that being said, I’ve grown up watching the Japanese audio and typically, I prefer to watch anime in Japanese BUT with “Dragon Ball Z”, I have always felt that the English dub was among the best out there and the voices just sound right for the characters.
But the intention for this box set was for those who wanted the Japanese audio. Personally, it’s a preference that I would rather have 5.1 surround versus mono or stereo soundtracks. And when I do, I typically set my receiver to stereo on all channels since I have a 7.2 setup. But fans will be happy that they get the original Japanese audio for the complete episode, previews for the next episode, opening and ending theme and you get Hironobu Kageyama’s “Cha-La, Head-Cha-La” instead of the Falcouner score.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Dragon Box Z Vol. 7″ doesn’t come with any special features but it comes with extras such as the cool packaging and an awesome hardbound booklet.
What we have is a yellow slip case box with Goku on the front, unlike the season box sets which were gateway folded, the DVD’s are presented in two foil covered DVD cases and are presented in Japanese style with the first disc on the right hand side and the two discs on the left.
Also included is a hardcover 50-page booklet titled “Dragonbook” in Japanese reading style. The book features a profile of the Goku family, ultimate character and relationship chart, perfect guide, Dragon Ball Z Design Works Collection, Tenkaichi Couples’ Championship and The Track of Son Goku’s Infinite Power.
The overall box set package is definitely a solid presentation for the hardcore fans and I have to admit, looks way cooler than the previous FUnimation Entertainment DBZ orange box sets.
After 250 episodes, here we are with the final 40-episodes of the “Dragon Ball Z” animated series.
Needless to say, this final volume is action-packed but also features quite a bit of humor as well. Buu (Boo) is such an interesting villain. Whereas Frieza is the destroyer and Cell was just plain evil, Evil Buu was much more powerful than either of them but where the others would go on destruction campaigns, Buu’s motivation was enjoying the fight and eating sweets and chocolates. Definitely a far cry from Frieza and Cell but overall, Buu was a unique villain. And to see Hercule (Mr. Satan) take some initiative (and also becoming the series clown), it was so interesting to see how he would be important in these final episodes.
If there was any disappointment, it was that Gohan who had such a buildup throughout all the seasons from his younger age to his younger pre-teenage years, his character received the less amount of attention (battle wise) and more focus on the character of Trunks and Goten as Gotenks. Afterall, we have seen how powerful Gohan had gotten in his battles versus Frieza and Cell, I was hoping to see some sort of unleash of Gohan that would really show off his character now as an older teenager.
Nevertheless, the series brought everything back home with a storyline that focused on the two Saiyans which are Goku and Vegeta, and the way these two interact is always fun to watch and you’ll always know that when these two are together, there is either a lot of action, or a lot of humorous scenes between the two. And fortunately, you get both.
Each episode has a very good storyline that it’s quite easy to watch episode after episode and find yourself watching a marathon of multiple discs because the episodes were quite enjoyable and action-packed. I also, have to say that there are no filler episodes and each episode, you’re going to get hardcore battles and just non-stop action. It’s what you would expect from a series such as “Dragon Ball Z” and nothing less.
But it’s the instability of Majin Buu’s character which is quite interesting. Because of the way this being is made, unlike Frieza and Cell, the ability to continually regenerate, makes him nearly an unstoppable character. His look and demeanor is nothing like we have seen in the first 200-episodes and to see him kill people for the sake of hunger or for enjoyment to hear things go “boom”, makes Majin Buu an interesting but moreso, a deadlier villain than any villain that has appeared on “Dragon Ball Z” thus far.
And so, you are asking yourself? I own the orange box sets of “Dragon Ball Z”, do I really need to purchase the Dragon Box Z series?
For the most part, this DVD box set is definitely worth it. That is if you are a diehard fan and want how things were when they first aired on Japanese television. That is these episodes are in standard definition with the aspect ratio of 4:3. A focus on the original Japanese dialogue, music and unchanged, uncut opening and ending themes. While the English dub is still included, these box sets are released for one reason and that is to appease the hardcore “Dragon Ball Z” fans!
And I have to give credit to FUNimation Entertainment for giving those fans what they wanted for so long and I see that as quite admirable because they invested in bringing this release stateside and preparing it for the American consumer with the special box set and booklet.
Do I have a preference on which I like better? Well having watch both…and enjoying the season box sets, I am actually content with both but I will have to say that “Dragon Box Z” has a much cooler packaging presentation and about 6-8 more episodes but you will be paying about $15 more. So, it’s really up to you if it’s worth it. Personally, if you just want to see the episodes and prefer to watch it with the English dubs, the original season box sets can be found for a great price these days and were solid releases to begin with. But for the hardcore fans who have demanded and have wanted the original series and how they were presented, you can’t beat these “Dragon Box” DVD boxsets. They’re awesome!
This box set was created for those who wanted “Dragon Ball Z” to be presented how it was in Japan and they have waited a long, long time for it. So, I look at these box sets as fans are now getting the best of both worlds and now those fans should be happy. Now the only thing is left will be the Blu-ray fans who will be clamoring for “Dragon Ball Z Kai” (“Dragon Ball Z” minus the filler episodes, remastered with new intro and vocals all re-recorded) which will be released this month but if you want the entire series, the Dragon Box Z series is what you want, otherwise if you want on Blu-ray – “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is the way to go. So, whether or not you pick the original orange box release, this Dragon Box Z release or “Dragon Ball Z Kai” release, all three are solid releases.
Overall, hardcore fans get there money’s worth with this DVD boxset. You get 40 episodes in their original Japanese TV presentation and each episode which were remastered and you also get cool package-based content. For those hardcore DBZ fans who have waited this long for the original Japanese DBZ anime series in its original presentation, this box set is for you!
If you have come this far in collecting volumes 1-6, then definitely… “Dragon Ball Z – Dragon Box Vol. 7″ is highly recommended.
Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Five (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)
September 26, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
Another action-packed, thrilling volume of “Dragon Ball Z Kai”! Part Five of “Dragon Ball Z Kai” features the introduction of Future Trunks as he comes from the future to give the Z-Warriors a dire message that the androids are coming! If you are looking for an action anime series, look no further. “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is awesome!
Image courtesy of © Bird Studio/Shuiesha/Toei Animation. 2009 Toei Animation. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Five
DURATION: (Episodes 53-65) 325 Minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (4:3), English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Toei Animation/FUNimation Entertainment
RATED: TV PG
Release Date: June 28, 2011
Originally created by Akira Toriyama
Directed by Yasuhiro Nowatari
Produced by Kazuya Watanabe, Kohei Obara, Kyotaro Kimura, Makoto Seino
Music by Kenji Yamamoto
Theme Song Arrangement: Seiichi Kyouda
Anime Production: Toei Animation
Featuring the following voice talent:
Masako Nozawa/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Son Gohan
Masako Nozawa/Sean Schemmel as Son Goku
Hikaru Midorikawa/John Burgmeier as Tenshinhan (Tien)
Hiromi Tsuru/Monica Rial as Bulma
Masaharu Satou/Mike McFarland as Kame-sennin
Mayumi Tanaka/Sonny Strait as Krillin (Kuririn)
Naoki Tatsuta/Bryan Massey as Oolong
Naoko Watanabe/Cynthia Cranz as Chi-Chi
Ryo Horikawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Vegeta
Brina Palencia as Chiaotzu/Puar
Tohru Furuya/Christopher R. Sabat as Yamcha
Toshio Furukawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Piccolo
Shigeru Chiba/Justin Cook as Raditz
Tetsu Inada/Phil Parsons as Nappa
Yasuhiko Kawazu/Christopher R. Sabat as Mr. Popo
Mayumi Tanaka/Mike McFarland as Yajirobe
The epic showdown between Goku and Frieza reaches its climax as planet Namek crumbles beneath their feet! In the aftermath of battle, neither fighter is anywhere to be found, but Earth’s few remaining heroes have much bigger problems. A mysterious and powerful stranger known only as Trunks arrives from the future with a warning: the Androids are coming, they take no prisoners, and even Goku – wherever he may be – is no match for their kind!
The action-packed anime series “Dragon Ball Z” is back and not long after Goku’s battle with Frieza, we are introduced to a mysterious teenager from the future named Trunks who warns the Z-Warriors of the pending arrival of the Androids. With three years to train, will Goku and friends be ready to take on the power androids which devastated Trunks world?
Having grown up with “Dragon Ball Z” and during my teenage years visiting the local Japanese video rental store and always in heavy anticipation of what was being shown on television in Japan that week and waiting the two weeks it would arrive in the US and watching it in Japanese, despite not knowing what was being said, I enjoyed the series tremendously.
The main protagonist Son Goku was Japan’s equivalent to America’s Superman. I’m sure the juxtaposition of both Superman and Dragonball can be seen as a baby from other planet comes to Earth, the baby growing up to becoming a boy with tremendous strength and abilities and raised by a loving person who instilled good in his heart.
Granted, Goku’s original mission when landing on Earth was to destroy humanity but learning kindness towards people, nature and animals, he became a hero that protected all that he loved from any evil. But most importantly, Goku was a character that was far from perfect. He was a character that was always learning about people, enjoying life but most of all, setting a goal to becoming stronger and developing his skills in order to protect the people and the planet that he loves.
I was captivated by the original “Dragon Ball” series (which featured Goku as a child) and later with “Dragon Ball Z” featuring Goku as an adult. The series would bring back the characters that were seen on the original “Dragon Ball” series but this time around, the series took on more of a serious tone as the enemies became more deadly and Goku and his friends were put into grave situations that they have never had to face before. “Dragon Ball Z” would feature wonderful character development, intense action sequences and most of all, knowing how to extend the series to tease fans and keep people in high anticipation of what would be happening next.
Since then, I have had the opportunity to see this DBZ fandom grow in the US from the very early ’90s and seeing “Dragon Ball Z” viewing parties at the early anime conventions and then seeing how the series exploded into American pop culture once the series began airing on television in the US and with its DVD releases. It’s hard to believe that this series I have followed for years and began in 1989 has celebrated its 20th Anniversary celebration in 2009.
But the celebration was fantastic news for fans as this time, “Dragon Ball Z” would be remastered for HD TV and would be called “Dragon Ball Z Kai” which would include a brand new opening and ending sequence, commercial cut scenes, new frames produced digitally, re-recording of the voice talent, new music and most importantly, focusing on the main story arcs and reducing the series 291 episodes to a total of 97 episodes (plus a bonus 98th episode or extra which was included in the Japanese release).
Needless to say, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” received rave reviews from fans in Japan, while some hardcore DBZ fans had a hard time watching a new interpretation of the series (especially with newer music) but when it was announced that the series would be released in the USA on Blu-ray and DVD, fans were happy and with the first volume, needless to say, I was quite happy with the first Blu-ray release of “Dragon Ball Z Kai” and if you enjoyed the first five volumes, there is no doubt that you are going to enjoy “Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Six”.
For my review of this Blu-ray release, I’m going to assume that many of the people reading this are familiar with the series. If you aren’t, if you want to experience the full “Dragon Ball Z” 291 episodes, FUNimation Entertainment currently has two releases of the series on DVD but at the same time, it is not imperative to watch the original “Dragon Ball” series to understand “Dragon Ball Z Kai” but it is important if you want to know the relationships of each character.
Currently available from FUNimation Entertainment is “Dragon Ball” which covers the younger years of Goku. “Dragon Ball Z” covers the adults years of Goku and have been released in nine volumes (seasons) via an “orange box release”. All nine volumes covers all 291 episodes and were remastered by FUNimation Entertainment but presented in 16×9 and utilizes both English and Japanese dub but caters to the English audience crowd who watched the series on television.
In 2009 and currently in the present, FUNimation Entertainment has released the “Dragon Box Z” DVD box set releases (as of this review, there have been a total of four volumes released featuring over 30-episodes each). These releases are to satisfy the hardcore Dragon Ball Z fans who wanted the original Japanese uncut episodes, original Japanese music score but most importantly, the series being presented in its original aspect ratio of 4×3.
Also, released from FUNimation Entertainment were the movies and specials (on Blu-ray and DVD) and also the next story arc known as “Dragon Ball GT” (which “Dragon Ball” manga creator Akira Toriyama had nothing to do with until the final episode) which were also released in 2009 by FUNimation.
So, here were are in 2011 with the fifth volume release of “Dragon Ball Z Kai” presented in HD. These episodes are without the non-essential scenes or filler episodes and instead of 291 episodes, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” has a duration of 100 episodes and with this latest volume, you have 11 episodes.
It’s important to note that this is not a remake of the series, nor is it a new HD recreation of the animated version of the series. The series uses the original 1989 animation but is cleaned up of all damaged cels and blemishes. Only the opening, ending and commercial cut scenes feature new animation.
Here is a basic summary of “Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Five” (episodes 53-65) on the two Blu-ray discs:
Disc 1:
- EPISODE 53 – Goku’s Final Attack! Countdown to Planet Namek’s Destruction! - A new Grand Elder is selected, meanwhile will Goku escape from Planet Namek before it explodes.
- EPISODE 54 – Goku Vanishes Into Space! Welcome Home, Super Warriors!- Z-Warriors resurrected.
- EPISODE 55 – There Is Planet Earth, Father! Frieza and King Cold Strike Back! – A year later and the Z Fighters gather to fight Frieza and King Cold.
- EPISODE 56 – I Will Defeat Frieza! Another Super Saiyan! – Who is the mysterious teenager that is taking on Frieza?
- EPISODE 57 - Welcome Back, Goku! Confessions of the Mysterious Youth, Trunks! – Goku returns and a message from Trunks.
- EPISODE 58- Goku’s New Move, Instant Transmission! The Three-Year Training Session Begins – Goku and team train for three years to prepare for the battle against the Androids.
- EPISODE 59 - Undetectable Monsters! The Androids Appear! – Yamcha vs. the Androids.
- EPISODE 60 – The Unbeatable Enemy Within! Goku vs. Android 19!- Goku vs. Android 19.
DISC 2:
- EPISODE 61 - No Victory for Android 19! Enter Super Vegeta! – Vegeta vs. Android 19.
- EPISODE 62 – Piccolo’s Assault! Android 20 and the Twisted Future! – The Z-Warriors look for Android 20.
- EPISODE 63 – The Hunt for Doctor Gero! Discover the Hidden Laboratory! – Krillin and Tien search Dr. Gero’s lab.
- EPISODE 64 - Number 17 and Number 18! The Androids Awaken!! – Android 17 and 18 awaken.
- EPISODE 65 - A Sweet Face and Super Power?! Android 18 vs Vegeta! - Vegeta vs. Android 18.
VIDEO:
I always find it interesting when it comes to “Dragon Ball Z” because each review, I’ve always mentioned how things look much better when I saw the series especially comparing to my old Japanese TV recordings. But with the release of the series via the orange box season sets and then the Dragon Box Z releases, although they look good…nothing compares to how gorgeous “Dragon Ball Z Kai” looks. The picture quality is clean, no spotting, no blemishes, no dust, no speckles… Colors are absolutely vibrant, blacks are nice and deep and the series looks absolutely fantastic on Blu-ray.
Presented in 1080p High Definition and 4×3. As mentioned earlier, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is not a remaking of the series in HD. The most noticeable addition is the opening and ending sequence and also the commercial cut scenes which use new animation and featured in HD. But ow awesome would it be if a “Dragon Ball” related series was re-created to look like those digital HD scenes? That would have been amazing.
But once the series begins, for those who have been watching “Dragon Ball Z” long enough or multiple times will just in awe of how beautiful and how clean the anime series looks in HD on Blu-ray. You’ll also notice scenes that you have never seen before.
First, lets discuss the picture quality. Not one blemish can be seen in these episodes. With the sketches and animation cels having since been discarded and anime series back in the ’80s and early ’90s not really being taken care of, Toei animation had new frames produced for this series and it was a laborious job of digitally tracing over still frames from existing footage and filling them with softer colors. Some scenes were cropped and new scenes were added.
But watching this series on Blu-ray, I can say that “Dragon Ball Z Kai” does not look like a series that came from 1989. Tohei Animation did a wonderful job with this animated TV series, editing these episodes and choosing what scenes to include and what new scenes to add to ensure that the pacing works out fine. In terms of picture quality, those ugly dust, speckles and blemishes are gone, I did not see any major edge enhancement or compression artifacts. I have no doubt that fans will enjoy this HD presentation of “Dragon Ball Z Kai”.
Of course, for those wanting the true anime on HD treatment, this is probably not the series one should look for as you do get the original late ’80s animation and this series was created long before animators considered HD let alone were making the series digitally. But it all comes down to how it looks compared to the original series released on DVD and I have to say that this is the best looking version of the series available despite it being a modified and shortened version of the “Dragon Ball Z” series.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
This is where “Dragon Ball Z Kai” shines on Blu-ray and its the lossless audio. The series is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (English) and Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (Japanese).
Because the English is mixed and utilizes more channels, there is a dramatic difference in sound, although for those with a modern receiver and have a solid 5.1 or 7.2 setup, can easily switch their receiver to stereo on all channels for the Japanese soundtrack for a more immersive soundscape.
There are online stores showing that the Japanese is Dolby Digital 2.0 but this is incorrect, it is indeed a lossless Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 soundtrack. And both soundtracks sound great!
But here is the lowdown on the lossless audio. Sound effects are now heavily utilized on the surround channels. Obviously, the more noticeable uses of the surround channels are the music and whenever the Z Warriors are in flight. But the biggest and most noticeable difference when it comes to “Dragon Ball Z Kai” and its previous “Dragon Ball Z” releases on video is the music. As a hero like Superman or Batman will have its own musical orchestra driven theme song in a film, Goku now has a theme, the enemies have their theme and when a Z-Warrior passes away, there is a theme. Music is used to full effect in the series and the majority of it is orchestra driven and also utilized in the surround channels. You will hear the strings or brass playing through the surrounds and its done rather nicely. Some people may have an issue with the battle music as the music tends to incorporate the style that you hear from the most recent video games and transitions from jazz/funk to synthrock.
But these effects and music sound so delightful via lossless, its hard not to be impressed by it. Again, the English soundtrack is much more immersive because it utilizes a 5.1 lossless soundtrack versus the Japanese 2.0 lossless track. But I know fans who have wanted anime on Blu-ray with Japanese lossless should be happy. It’s important to note that this is a TV series and not an OVA or film, so the fact that there is so much going on with this TV series audio-wise is pretty awesome.
Granted, I know there are hardcore fans who will tell me that they loved the original Japanese music and I’m sure there will be fans including myself who love the new music, but of course, this is all subjective. And with that being said, for those who liked the Falcouner music, then buy the orange season box sets. If you want the original Japanese BGM, then the “Dragon Box Z” sets is for you. If you want a lossless soundtrack with outstanding music that is fully utilized with your home theater setup, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is fantastic.
As for the English dub work, the voice acting has also been revamped with Colleen Clinkenbeard now providing the voice for Son Gohan, Monica Rial for Bulma and Brina Palencia for Chiaotzu and Puar. In Japan, the most noticeable difference is for Kame Sen’nin (Master Roshi) as Kohei Miayuchi passed away during the final season of “Dragon Ball Z” back in 1995 and for DBZ Kai is voiced by Masaharu Satou.
For the most part, both voice acting for the English and Japanese were very good. Of course, listening to both soundtracks voices are much different from each other especially the voice of the main character Goku. But depending on your preference, both Masako Nozawa and Sean Schemmel do a fantastic job as Goku. For those who watched the English dub and have played all the DBZ video games will probably see the most noticeable different with the character of young Gohan.
Overall, because of the clarity of the audio and how much it plays in the part of enhancing the enjoyment of the anime series, the lossless soundtrack for “Dragon Ball Z” is awesome! I enjoy the new BGM and if you have a 5.1 or 7.2 setup, you’re going to enjoy the soundtrack of this series.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Five” comes with the following special features:
- Textless Opening Song
- Textless Closing Song
- Trailers – Trailers for upcoming or currently available titles from FUNimation Entertainment.
EXTRAS:
“Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Five” comes with a slipcover case.
Possibly one of the greatest characters to make an appearance in an anime series, Future Trunks, definitely made a tremendous impact when he first appeared on “Dragon Ball Z”.
The future son of Vegeta and Bulma, Future Trunks was a big surprise when he went on to take on Frieza and his father all by himself and in the past Frieza saga, everyone knows how long and how far Goku and Vegeta and friends had to go in order to defeat him.
Yet, this mysterious teenager from the future came with incredible power but also with a warning of two androids who would literally destroy humanity. If Future Trunks can’t beat them who can?
This latest saga in the “Dragon Ball Z” storyline is the primary focus of “Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Five” and this latest volume incorporates Future Trunks and the Z-Warriors as they prepare and take on their deadliest foes yet.
For anyone who has watched the original “Dragon Ball Z” series, it’s not a surprise of how much this battle was dragged out for a long period of time in Japan and even for “Dragon Ball Z Kai”, it’s taken quite a bit of episodes, even when shortened without the filler to get to this ultimate matchup and the buildup to this match has been exciting and quite riveting thus far!
All that went through my mind when I was watching “Dragon Ball Z Kai” was how awesome an experience it was to see this series finally in HD and how fantastic it looked and how incredible the lossless audio track was.
Granted, you are losing a lot of the android saga in “Dragon Ball Z Kai”, especially the Future Trunks special which to me was an important part of the original series. So, I do emphasize that if you do want to watch the Android and Cell Saga, try to find the Blu-ray release of the Future Trunk specials and check out the series. It’s important to note that FUNimation Entertainment is planning to re-release the complete series of “Dragon Ball Z” on Blu-ray and also, the “Dragon Box Z” uncut DVD box sets are still being released.
As a person who has followed the series for nearly 20 years, watching “Dragon Ball Z Kai” was a bit surreal because everything looked so clean. Especially comparing with how it looks to the first movie on Blu-ray which had dust and scratches galore and HD enhancing those defects, it was great to see a blemish-free DBZ series.
Now does “Dragon Ball Z Kai” replace my feelings towards the original series? Of course not. But I can tell you right now that when watching “Dragon Ball Z” many years ago and even watching it again and again, part of the experience at the time was being kept at the edge of your seat because each saga lasted so long. We would literally have to wait weeks as it would come out to our Japanese video rental store and each VHS tape in bad quality would contain maybe two to four episodes. And this really tested your patience especially with each saga or battle lasting like 30 episodes or more.
If you were an original DVD purchaser of “Dragon Ball Z” when it was released per volume, not only was it an excruciating wait, it was expensive to collect all volumes. Sure, the DVD box set releases definitely have fixed the problem and is much cheaper than how things were back then. But what “Dragon Ball Z Kai” does is cut down all non-essential scenes, all filler episodes and focusing on the more important scenes of the story including the action sequences. Footage was re-edited to closely follow the manga and the action is now a more faster pace and I found the pacing for this series to be quite enjoyable and for those watching anything Dragon Ball related for the first time, especially on television, “Dragon Ball Z” makes it much easier for those viewers, especially those with a short attention span.
For long-time fans, this new revision of the series maintains the heart and soul of “Dragon Ball Z” but gives us the best looking and best sound version of the series. It’s not meant to replace the previous “Dragon Ball Z” series that we have enjoyed (and for many, have spent money for via the box sets) but to compliment it and also to bring the series to HD and now on Blu-ray.
“Dragon Ball Z” has been such a part of the lives of many people for two decades and with this release, hopefully will entertain a new generation of DBZ fans or hook fans who have been curious about the series for a long time. Because the series only lasts 100 episodes, part five focuses on the android saga.
Overall, if you are a “Dragon Ball” fan, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is easily a must-own anime on Blu-ray series. Granted, I’m quite biased towards the entire “Dragon Ball” series but for those who have always been curious about “Dragon Ball Z” and have no intention watching every episode made, then “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is definitely recommended, especially now that it’s in on Blu-ray.
Definitely recommended!
Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Six (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)
September 11, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
The action continues in part six of “Dragon Ball Z Kai”! The series features the conclusion of the Android Saga and sets up the beginning of the Cell Saga.
Image courtesy of © Bird Studio/Shuiesha/Toei Animation. 2009 Toei Animation. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Six
DURATION: (Episodes 66-77) 300 Minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (4:3), English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Toei Animation/FUNimation Entertainment
RATED: TV PG
Release Date: September 13, 2011
Originally created by Akira Toriyama
Directed by Yasuhiro Nowatari
Produced by Kazuya Watanabe, Kohei Obara, Kyotaro Kimura, Makoto Seino
Music by Kenji Yamamoto
Theme Song Arrangement: Seiichi Kyouda
Anime Production: Toei Animation
Featuring the following voice talent:
Masako Nozawa/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Son Gohan
Masako Nozawa/Sean Schemmel as Son Goku
Hikaru Midorikawa/John Burgmeier as Tenshinhan (Tien)
Hiromi Tsuru/Monica Rial as Bulma
Masaharu Satou/Mike McFarland as Kame-sennin
Mayumi Tanaka/Sonny Strait as Krillin (Kuririn)
Naoki Tatsuta/Bryan Massey as Oolong
Naoko Watanabe/Cynthia Cranz as Chi-Chi
Ryo Horikawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Vegeta
Brina Palencia as Chiaotzu/Puar
Tohru Furuya/Christopher R. Sabat as Yamcha
Toshio Furukawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Piccolo
Shigeru Chiba/Justin Cook as Raditz
Tetsu Inada/Phil Parsons as Nappa
Yasuhiko Kawazu/Christopher R. Sabat as Mr. Popo
Mayumi Tanaka/Mike McFarland as Yajirobe
Earth’s heroes continue their brave battle against the Android attackers, but a far greater evil looms on the horizon! As Goku hovers between life and death, the monster known as Cell blazes a trail of death and destruction on a quest to achieve his horrifyingly perfect form.
Should the hideous creature succeed in devouring his Android brethren, not even the combined powers of a Super Saiyan and a Super Namekian will be able to spare the people of Earth from excruciating extinction!
The action-packed anime series “Dragon Ball Z” is back and the threat of the Androids and Cell is featured in the latest part six of the series!
Having grown up with “Dragon Ball Z” and during my teenage years visiting the local Japanese video rental store and always in heavy anticipation of what was being shown on television in Japan that week and waiting the two weeks it would arrive in the US and watching it in Japanese, despite not knowing what was being said, I enjoyed the series tremendously.
The main protagonist Son Goku was Japan’s equivalent to America’s Superman. I’m sure the juxtaposition of both Superman and Dragonball can be seen as a baby from other planet comes to Earth, the baby growing up to becoming a boy with tremendous strength and abilities and raised by a loving person who instilled good in his heart.
Granted, Goku’s original mission when landing on Earth was to destroy humanity but learning kindness towards people, nature and animals, he became a hero that protected all that he loved from any evil. But most importantly, Goku was a character that was far from perfect. He was a character that was always learning about people, enjoying life but most of all, setting a goal to becoming stronger and developing his skills in order to protect the people and the planet that he loves.
I was captivated by the original “Dragon Ball” series (which featured Goku as a child) and later with “Dragon Ball Z” featuring Goku as an adult. The series would bring back the characters that were seen on the original “Dragon Ball” series but this time around, the series took on more of a serious tone as the enemies became more deadly and Goku and his friends were put into grave situations that they have never had to face before. “Dragon Ball Z” would feature wonderful character development, intense action sequences and most of all, knowing how to extend the series to tease fans and keep people in high anticipation of what would be happening next.
Since then, I have had the opportunity to see this DBZ fandom grow in the US from the very early ’90s and seeing “Dragon Ball Z” viewing parties at the early anime conventions and then seeing how the series exploded into American pop culture once the series began airing on television in the US and with its DVD releases. It’s hard to believe that this series I have followed for years and began in 1989 has celebrated its 20th Anniversary celebration in 2009.
But the celebration was fantastic news for fans as this time, “Dragon Ball Z” would be remastered for HD TV and would be called “Dragon Ball Z Kai” which would include a brand new opening and ending sequence, commercial cut scenes, new frames produced digitally, re-recording of the voice talent, new music and most importantly, focusing on the main story arcs and reducing the series 291 episodes to a total of 97 episodes (plus a bonus 98th episode or extra which was included in the Japanese release).
Needless to say, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” received rave reviews from fans in Japan, while some hardcore DBZ fans had a hard time watching a new interpretation of the series (especially with newer music) but when it was announced that the series would be released in the USA on Blu-ray and DVD, fans were happy and with the first volume, needless to say, I was quite happy with the first Blu-ray release of “Dragon Ball Z Kai” and if you enjoyed the first five volumes, there is no doubt that you are going to enjoy “Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Six”.
For my review of this Blu-ray release, I’m going to assume that many of the people reading this are familiar with the series. If you aren’t, if you want to experience the full “Dragon Ball Z” 291 episodes, FUNimation Entertainment currently has two releases of the series on DVD but at the same time, it is not imperative to watch the original “Dragon Ball” series to understand “Dragon Ball Z Kai” but it is important if you want to know the relationships of each character.
Currently available from FUNimation Entertainment is “Dragon Ball” which covers the younger years of Goku. “Dragon Ball Z” covers the adults years of Goku and have been released in nine volumes (seasons) via an “orange box release”. All nine volumes covers all 291 episodes and were remastered by FUNimation Entertainment but presented in 16×9 and utilizes both English and Japanese dub but caters to the English audience crowd who watched the series on television.
In 2009 and currently in the present, FUNimation Entertainment has released the “Dragon Box Z” DVD box set releases (as of this review, there have been a total of four volumes released featuring over 30-episodes each). These releases are to satisfy the hardcore Dragon Ball Z fans who wanted the original Japanese uncut episodes, original Japanese music score but most importantly, the series being presented in its original aspect ratio of 4×3.
Also, released from FUNimation Entertainment were the movies and specials (on Blu-ray and DVD) and also the next story arc known as “Dragon Ball GT” (which “Dragon Ball” manga creator Akira Toriyama had nothing to do with until the final episode) which were also released in 2009 by FUNimation.
So, here were are in 2011 with the sixth volume release of “Dragon Ball Z Kai” presented in HD. These episodes are without the non-essential scenes or filler episodes and instead of 291 episodes, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” has a duration of 100 episodes and with this latest volume, you have 11 episodes.
It’s important to note that this is not a remake of the series, nor is it a new HD recreation of the animated version of the series. The series uses the original 1989 animation but is cleaned up of all damaged cels and blemishes. Only the opening, ending and commercial cut scenes feature new animation.
Here is a basic summary of “Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Six” (episodes 66-77) on the two Blu-ray discs:
Disc 1:
- EPISODE 66 – The Time For Reunification Has Come! Piccolo’s Unshakeable Resolve! - Krillin uses the remaining Senzu beans to help Trunks, Tien and Piccolo. Piccolo tries to convince Kami to merge in order to fight the androids.
- EPISODE 67 – Another Time Machine? Bulma Uncovers a Mystery! – Trunks receives a message that another time machine may have come to his world…
- EPISODE 68 – The Monster Goes Into Motion! Strike Up the Super Namekian! – Trunks, Gohan and Bulma investigate the other time machine which they notice remnants of a shell belonging to whoever was in the other time machine.
- EPISODE 69 – I Am Your Brother! The Monster With Goku’s Energy – Piccolo takes on the monster named Cell.
- EPISODE 70 – The Dizzying Deception and the Daring Escape! Defeat the Android! – Cell talks about how if he absorb Androids #17 and #18, he can achieve his “perfect” form.
- EPISODE 71- The Hunt For Cell Is On! Goku, Back in Action! – Trunks and Krillin investigate Cell in Dr. Gero’s laboratory.
- EPISODE 72 – Break the Super Saiyan Barrier! Into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber! – Goku uses his Instant Transmittion ability to take Gohan, Vegeta and Trunks with him to the Hyperbolic Time chamber.
- EPISODE 73 – The Super Namekian Powers Up! Piccol vs. Android 17! – Bulma tries to decipher Dr. Gero’s blue prints, meanwhile Piccolo takes on Android #17.
DISC 2:
- EPISODE 74 – Run, Android 17! Piccolo’s All-Or Nothing Struggle! – Krillin tries to use the shut-down device before Cell can absorb Androids #17 and #18.
- EPISODE 75 – Power Unknown! Android 16 Breaks His Silence! -Android #16 tries to fight Cell in order for him not to reach his perfect form. Cell tries to absorb Android #17.
- EPISODE 76 – Tien’s Desperate Attack! Save Your Friends, Goku! – Tien vs. Cell, meanwhile Gou and Gohan enter the time chamber for training. Meanwhile, Cell’s path of destruction continues as he tries to search for Android #18.
- EPISODE 77 – Beyond Super Saiyan! Vegeta Confronts the Monster Cell! – Cells destruction continues, Vegeta vs. Cell.
VIDEO:
I always find it interesting when it comes to “Dragon Ball Z” because each review, I’ve always mentioned how things look much better when I saw the series especially comparing to my old Japanese TV recordings. But with the release of the series via the orange box season sets and then the Dragon Box Z releases, although they look good…nothing compares to how gorgeous “Dragon Ball Z Kai” looks. The picture quality is clean, no spotting, no blemishes, no dust, no speckles… Colors are absolutely vibrant, blacks are nice and deep and the series looks absolutely fantastic on Blu-ray.
Presented in 1080p High Definition and 4×3. As mentioned earlier, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is not a remaking of the series in HD. The most noticeable addition is the opening and ending sequence and also the commercial cut scenes which use new animation and featured in HD. But ow awesome would it be if a “Dragon Ball” related series was re-created to look like those digital HD scenes? That would have been amazing.
But once the series begins, for those who have been watching “Dragon Ball Z” long enough or multiple times will just in awe of how beautiful and how clean the anime series looks in HD on Blu-ray. You’ll also notice scenes that you have never seen before.
First, lets discuss the picture quality. Not one blemish can be seen in these episodes. With the sketches and animation cels having since been discarded and anime series back in the ’80s and early ’90s not really being taken care of, Toei animation had new frames produced for this series and it was a laborious job of digitally tracing over still frames from existing footage and filling them with softer colors. Some scenes were cropped and new scenes were added.
But watching this series on Blu-ray, I can say that “Dragon Ball Z Kai” does not look like a series that came from 1989. Tohei Animation did a wonderful job with this animated TV series, editing these episodes and choosing what scenes to include and what new scenes to add to ensure that the pacing works out fine. In terms of picture quality, those ugly dust, speckles and blemishes are gone, I did not see any major edge enhancement or compression artifacts. I have no doubt that fans will enjoy this HD presentation of “Dragon Ball Z Kai”.
Of course, for those wanting the true anime on HD treatment, this is probably not the series one should look for as you do get the original late ’80s animation and this series was created long before animators considered HD let alone were making the series digitally. But it all comes down to how it looks compared to the original series released on DVD and I have to say that this is the best looking version of the series available despite it being a modified and shortened version of the “Dragon Ball Z” series.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
This is where “Dragon Ball Z Kai” shines on Blu-ray and its the lossless audio. The series is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (English) and Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (Japanese).
Because the English is mixed and utilizes more channels, there is a dramatic difference in sound, although for those with a modern receiver and have a solid 5.1 or 7.2 setup, can easily switch their receiver to stereo on all channels for the Japanese soundtrack for a more immersive soundscape.
There are online stores showing that the Japanese is Dolby Digital 2.0 but this is incorrect, it is indeed a lossless Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 soundtrack. And both soundtracks sound great!
But here is the lowdown on the lossless audio. Sound effects are now heavily utilized on the surround channels. Obviously, the more noticeable uses of the surround channels are the music and whenever the Z Warriors are in flight. But the biggest and most noticeable difference when it comes to “Dragon Ball Z Kai” and its previous “Dragon Ball Z” releases on video is the music. As a hero like Superman or Batman will have its own musical orchestra driven theme song in a film, Goku now has a theme, the enemies have their theme and when a Z-Warrior passes away, there is a theme. Music is used to full effect in the series and the majority of it is orchestra driven and also utilized in the surround channels. You will hear the strings or brass playing through the surrounds and its done rather nicely. Some people may have an issue with the battle music as the music tends to incorporate the style that you hear from the most recent video games and transitions from jazz/funk to synthrock.
But these effects and music sound so delightful via lossless, its hard not to be impressed by it. Again, the English soundtrack is much more immersive because it utilizes a 5.1 lossless soundtrack versus the Japanese 2.0 lossless track. But I know fans who have wanted anime on Blu-ray with Japanese lossless should be happy. It’s important to note that this is a TV series and not an OVA or film, so the fact that there is so much going on with this TV series audio-wise is pretty awesome.
Granted, I know there are hardcore fans who will tell me that they loved the original Japanese music and I’m sure there will be fans including myself who love the new music, but of course, this is all subjective. And with that being said, for those who liked the Falcouner music, then buy the orange season box sets. If you want the original Japanese BGM, then the “Dragon Box Z” sets is for you. If you want a lossless soundtrack with outstanding music that is fully utilized with your home theater setup, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is fantastic.
As for the dubwork, the voice acting has also been revamped with Colleen Clinkenbeard now providing the voice for Son Gohan, Monica Rial for Bulma and Brina Palencia for Chiaotzu and Puar. In Japan, the most noticeable difference is for Kame Sen’nin (Master Roshi) as Kohei Miayuchi passed away during the final season of “Dragon Ball Z” back in 1995 and for DBZ Kai is voiced by Masaharu Satou.
For the most part, both voice acting for the English and Japanese were very good. Of course, listening to both soundtracks voices are much different from each other especially the voice of the main character Goku. But depending on your preference, both Masako Nozawa and Sean Schemmel do a fantastic job as Goku. For those who watched the English dub and have played all the DBZ video games will probably see the most noticeable different with the character of young Gohan.
Overall, because of the clarity of the audio and how much it plays in the part of enhancing the enjoyment of the anime series, the lossless soundtrack for “Dragon Ball Z” is awesome! I enjoy the new BGM and if you have a 5.1 or 7.2 setup, you’re going to enjoy the soundtrack of this series.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Six” comes with the following special features:
- Textless Opening Song
- Textless Closing Song
- Trailers – Trailers for upcoming or currently available titles from FUNimation Entertainment.
EXTRAS:
Like the previous five volumes of “Dragon Ball Z Kai”, this release comes with a slipcase.
For many “Dragon Ball Z” fans, the battle between the Z Warriors and Cell is a fan favorite. With part size of “Dragon Ball Z Kai”, you get the conclusion of the Android saga which leads up to the beginning of the Cell Saga and this is definitely one of the more intense action-packed battle sagas in the whole “Dragon Ball Z” series and was popular in Japan due to the popularity of Future Trunks.
For anyone who has watched the original “Dragon Ball Z” series, it’s not a surprise of how much this battle was dragged out for a long period of time in Japan and even for “Dragon Ball Z Kai”, it’s taken quite a bit of episodes, even when shortened without the filler to get to this ultimate matchup and the buildup to this match has been exciting and quite riveting thus far!
All that went through my mind when I was watching “Dragon Ball Z Kai” was how awesome an experience it was to see this series finally in HD and how fantastic it looked and how incredible the lossless audio track was.
“Dragon Ball Z – Part Six” was pretty cool. . From Kirilin having feelings for Android 18, Android 16 showing his love for nature and wanting to help the team, Goku showing his newfound power but noticing that his son has an even impressive power and so much more!
Granted, you are losing a lot of the android saga in “Dragon Ball Z Kai”, especially the Future Trunk special which to me was an important part of the original series. So, I do emphasize that if you do want to watch the Android and Cell Saga, try to find the Blu-ray release of the Future Trunks specials and check out the series. It’s important to note that FUNimation Entertainment is planning to re-release the complete series of “Dragon Ball Z” on Blu-ray and also, the “Dragon Box Z” uncut DVD box sets are still being released.
As a person who has followed the series for nearly 20 years, watching “Dragon Ball Z Kai” was a bit surreal because everything looked so clean. Especially comparing with how it looks to the first movie on Blu-ray which had dust and scratches galore and HD enhancing those defects, it was great to see a blemish-free DBZ series.
Now does “Dragon Ball Z Kai” replace my feelings towards the original series? Of course not. But I can tell you right now that when watching “Dragon Ball Z” many years ago and even watching it again and again, part of the experience at the time was being kept at the edge of your seat because each saga lasted so long. We would literally have to wait weeks as it would come out to our Japanese video rental store and each VHS tape in bad quality would contain maybe two to four episodes. And this really tested your patience especially with each saga or battle lasting like 30 episodes or more.
If you were an original DVD purchaser of “Dragon Ball Z” when it was released per volume, not only was it an excruciating wait, it was expensive to collect all volumes. Sure, the DVD box set releases definitely have fixed the problem and is much cheaper than how things were back then. But what “Dragon Ball Z Kai” does is cut down all non-essential scenes, all filler episodes and focusing on the more important scenes of the story including the action sequences. Footage was re-edited to closely follow the manga and the action is now a more faster pace and I found the pacing for this series to be quite enjoyable and for those watching anything Dragon Ball related for the first time, especially on television, “Dragon Ball Z” makes it much easier for those viewers, especially those with a short attention span.
For long-time fans, this new revision of the series maintains the heart and soul of “Dragon Ball Z” but gives us the best looking and best sound version of the series. It’s not meant to replace the previous “Dragon Ball Z” series that we have enjoyed (and for many, have spent money for via the box sets) but to compliment it and also to bring the series to HD and now on Blu-ray.
“Dragon Ball Z” has been such a part of the lives of many people for two decades and with this release, hopefully will entertain a new generation of DBZ fans or hook fans who have been curious about the series for a long time. Because the series only lasts 100 episodes, part six completes the Android saga and begins the Cell saga which will be a big part of part seven and eight (note: “Dragon Ball Z Kai does not showcase the Majin Buu storyline).
Overall, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is easily a must-own anime on Blu-ray series. Granted, I’m sure that many of us are quite biased towards the “Dragon Ball” series but for those who have always been curious about “Dragon Ball Z” and have no intention watching every episode made, then “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is definitely recommended, especially now that it’s in HD!
Dragon Ball Z – Dragon Box Z Vol. 6 (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)
July 7, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
My favorite story-arc of the “Dragon Ball Z” series! The Majin Buu Arc begins and Goku reaches Super Saiyan Level 3! Featuring a total of 40-episodes of “Dragon Ball Z” in one box set! Uncut, unedited and presented in its original 4:3 aspect ratio with Japanese dialogue and theme music. If you are a DBZ fan, the “Dragon Box Z” DVD box sets are highly recommended!
Image courtesy of © BIRD/SHUEISHA, TOEI ANIMATION Film. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Dragon Ball Z – Dragon Box Z Vol. 6
DURATION: Episodes 210-250 (1025 Minutes)
DVD INFORMATION: Japanese Voice track with original music mono, English voice track with original Japanese Music 5.1 surround, 4:3, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment
RATED: TV PG
Released on July 19, 2011
Based on the manga and created by Akira Toriyama
Directed by Daisuke Nishio
Series Composition: Takao Koyama
Character Design by Yuji Ikeda
Music by Shunsuke Kikuchi
Screenplay: Aya Matsui, Hiroshi Toda, Jun Maekawa, Katsuyuki Sumisawa, Keiji Terui, Masashi Kubota, Reiko Yoshida, Satoru Akahori, Sumio Uetaka, Takao Koyama, Toshiki Inoue, Yoshiyuki Suga
Episode director: Atsutoshi Umezawa, Daisuke Nishio, Hidehiko Kadoda, Hiroki Shibata, Johei Matsuura, Junichi Fujise, Kazuhisa Takenouchi, Kazuhito Kikuchi, Masahiro Hosoda, Minoru Okazaki, Mitsuo Hashimoto, Osamu Kasai, Shigeyasu Yamauchi, Takahiro Imamura, Tatsuya Orime, Yoshihiro Ueda
Featuring the following voice talent:
Masako Nozawa/Sean Schemmel as Son Goku
Masako Nozawa/Stephanie Nadolny as Son Gohan
Masako Nozawa/Robert McCollum as Son Goten
Takeshi Kusao/Eric Vale as Trunks
Ryo Horikawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Vegeta
Hiromi Tsuru/Tiffany Volmer as Bulma
Kozo Shioya/Josh Martin as Majin Buu
Naoko Watanabe/Cynthia Cranz as Chichi
Mayumi Tanaka/Sonny Strait as Kuririn
Ryo Horikawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Piccolo
Yuko Minaguchi/Lucy Small as Videl
Hirotaka Suzuoki – Tinshinhan
Tohru Furuya – Yamucha
Miki Itou/Meredith McCoy as Andrid No. 18
Daisuke Gouri/Don Brown as Mr. Satan (Hercule)
Michael Dobson as Supreme Kai
Norio Wakamoto/Dameon Clarke as Cell
The battle to harness the power of the seven Dragon Balls explodes in vivid detail like never before. The Dragon Box features over 40 uncut episodes, remastered and restored frame by frame, rendering the legendary action in pristine clarity. Each episode is presented in Japanese and English with the complete opening and closing credits and includes the original episode previews.
I first discovered “Dragon Ball Z” during the very early 90′s. During the infant stages of Japanese anime conventions in America, there would be “Dragon Ball Z” parties where many people would gather around a hotel room and watch a marathon of episodes. Needless to say, the series which hadn’t been released in America was very popular but of course the only way people could see the show were fan subs with terrible quality on VHS.
I then had the opportunity to discover “Dragon Ball Z” through a Japanese video rental store and although I was taking Japanese at my university at the time, I would rent all that I can but probably miss a lot of the story since my comprehension of Japanese was quite bad at the time.
But then the series came to the US, the videos were released with several episodes per volume and I have to admit, looking back how anime TV episodes were distributed, especially like a long series such as DBZ, if one was able to collect every episode, it would literally cost an arm and a leg.
In 2007, FUNimation Entertainment did something quite wonderful and that was releasing a digitally remastered, digitally restored version of “Dragon Ball Z” in 16×9 widescreen and you would get around 32-36 or so episodes per volume at such a low price. This was such a fantastic deal and for nine seasons (the final volume released was released in 2009), I’ve watched “Dragon Ball Z” completely and have given nothing but positive reviews for them.
But…
I would receive e-mails from the hardcore fans of the Japanese television series who were very upset that the show was not presented in its original aspect ratio (4:3) which is the ratio for standard TV and felt the previous releases featured colors that were saturated, the wrong opening and ending credits, no previews for the next episode. Suffice to say, those hardcore DBZ fans who loved the original Japanese episodes were upset. For me, I just looked it at it price wise and figured, at least we are getting something for a great price and I wasn’t going to complain.
But this goes to show you how FUNimation Entertainment does care for its fans and not sure if they received a lot of mail from hardcore fans but they decided to bring out “Dragon Box Z Volume 1″ in the fall of 2009 and here we are now with the latest, action-packed sixth volume of “Dragon Box Z” which focuses on episodes 210-250 which concludes the Cell saga, features the Underworld Martial Arts Tournament and the Super Saiyaman Arc.
In Japan, these episodes were cleaned frame by frame and removing jitter and some grain. Keeping the original colors but most importantly for the fans, keeping everything intact including the 4:3 aspect ratio.
As for the series, aside from the technical differences as mentioned earlier, because the series focuses on the Japanese version of the show, the names of characters are different as the Japanese versions uses “Kamisama-hen” versus “Master Roshi”, Kaio the Genki Dama versus “King Kai”, “Tenshinhan” versus “Tien”, “Vegeta” instead of “Vegita”, etc. The DVD’s come with both Japanese and English dubbing.
In the sixth volume of the “Dragon Ball Z – Dragon Box Z”, the set continues with the new World Martial Arts Tournament is happening and the Z-Fighters intend to take part.
Trunks and Goten intend to take part in the junior tournament, while the Z-Warriors are excited about taking part in the adult tournament. But unbeknown to the Z-Warriors is that an evil Warlock named Babidi and the evil Demon King Dabura are trying to unseal a monster named Majin Buu. Meanwhile, Kaoishin, the ruler of the Kaios of the Other World and his bodyguard Kibit have come to Earth in order to recruit the Z-Warriors to fight Majin Buu and Babidi.
But with focus of some of the Z-Warriors are on the tournament and Goku, Gohan, Vegeta and Kaioshin on Babidi, Dabura and Majin Buu…With the power that the Z-Warriors currently have, will it be enough to beat them?
The main characters during this part of the series are:
Goku – Now an adult, married to Chichi and has a son named Gohan. Constantly training in order to become stronger. Still naive and hungry as he was when he was younger. Currently, he is deceased and using his time to train before returning back to the land of the living.
Gohan - Goku’s young son. Goku realizes that Gohan has strong potential but during an unfortunate incident, asks for Piccolo to train his son in fighting to protect people and the planet. Gohan has accompanied Bulma and Kuririn to find the Dragon Balls in the Planet Nemek.
Kuririn – Goku’s childhood friend who accompanies Gohan and Bulma to find the Dragon Balls in the Planet Nemek.
Bulma – A woman still developing products at her father’s company, Capsule Corp. and uses her intelligence to solve the Z Warriors under dire circumstances. With her Dragon Ball scanner, she joins Gohan and Kuririn to find the Dragon Balls in Planet Nemek.
Kaiosama – One of the Kings who trains Goku on how to fight with gravity ten times greater than Earth at Kaio’s world.
Vegeta – The Prince of Saiyan and the most powerful Saiyajin of them all. Comes to Earth in order to destroy it but after being defeated by Goku, rehabilitates himself and now finds himself fighting alongside Gohan and Kuririn.
Trunks – The young son of Bulma and Vegeta who hangs out with Goten
Goten – The second son of Goku and Chichi and hangs out with Trunks.
Kaioshin – The ruler of the Kaios of the Other World, Kaioshin has taken over the position after the previous Kaoshin was killed by the warlock Babidi. He has come to the Earth realm to recruit the Z-Warriors to fight against Babidi and Majin Buu.
Kibit – The loyal bodyguard of Kaioshin.
The main enemies in this set are:
Babidi – The evil warlock trying to release the seal and revive Majin Buu that was created by Babidi’s father, Bibidi.
Dabura – The Demon King who is assisting Babidi in trying to unseal Majin Buu.
Majin Buu – Created by Bibidi, Buu was created to destroy worlds and was sealed away by the former Kaoshin, until he was released once again by Babidi. But is this the same Majin Buu who is known as the destroyer of worlds?
Disc 31:
- Episode 210 – No Small Matter!! Little Trunks – The junior division of the Tenkaichi Tournament continues!
- Episode 211 – It’s My Turn! Goten’s Anxious First Fight – Trunks vs. Goten in the Junior tournament!
- Episode 212 – Happiness Times a Million! The Junior Champion is Decided – Trunks vs. Goten in the Junior tournament! Who wins?
- Episode 213 – Now What, Satan!? The Greatest Pinch in History – Trunks vs. Mr. Satan in an exhibition match.
- Episode 214 – Event Match-Ups Decided!! Let’s Hurry and Hold the First Round – The adult division of the tournament begins!
- Episode 215 – What’s the Matter, Piccolo? An Unheard-of No-Fight Forfeit – Piccolo takes on the mysterious Shin!
- Episode 216 - Undyingly Unpleasant!? The Mystery of Spopovitch – Videl vs. Spopovitch!
Disc 32:
- Episode 217 – A Tragic Videl!! Are You Coming Out, Angry Super Gohan! - Videl vs. Spopovitch!
- Episode 218 – Exposed! The Super Saiyaman is Son Gohan! – Gohan’s identity is revealed!
- Episode 219 – A Slithering Conspiracy!! Gohan’s Power is Stolen – Yamu and Spopvitch attack Gohan.
- Episode 220 – The Man Behind the Curtain Appears!! The Evil Madoshi Babidi - The Z-fighters search for Babidi’s minions who have managed to capture Gohan’s energy.
- Episode 221 – The Awaiting Trap!! A Challenge from the Demon Realm – Piccolo and Krillin make their move against Dabura (The King of Demons) who is assisting Babidi. Meanwhile, Goku, Vegeta, Gohan and Supreme Kai enter Babidi’s spaceship.
- Episode 222 – Goku’s Power Wide Open!! Blow Away Yakon – Babidi unleashes his first monster to take on Vegeta.
- Episode 223 – Don’t Toy With Me!! Vegeta’s Breakthrough First Strike of Fury – Babidi unleashes his second monster to take on Goku.
Disc 33:
- Episode 224 – A Great Miscalculation!! Satan vs. Three Super-WarriorS!? – As the Z-fighters have their work cutout for them against Babidi, at the World’s Martial Arts tournament, Android No. 18 goes against Mighty Mask and Mr. Satan.
- Episode 225 – Such Strong Kids!! No. 18′s Close Fight!? – Android No. 18 finds out the true identities of who is behind Mighty Mask. Meanwhile, Babidi unleashes his third opponent…Dabura.
- Episode 226 – Confrontation with the Demon King! It’s Your Turn, Gohan!! – Android No. 18 now advances against the final match against Mr. Satan. Mr. Satan knows he is no match for No. 18 but the android is willing to cut a deal with him.
- Episodes 227 – A Wicked Heart Discovered!! Dabura’s Great Idea - Gohan must now go against Dabura
- Episode 228 – Vegeta, Prince of Destruction, Revived!! Intrusion at the Tournament – Babidi manages to use Vegeta’s hatred and negative energy against him and turn him into a Majin, fueling his anger against Goku and making him more powerful.
- Episode 229 – The Super Confrontation of Destiny!! The Clash of Goku vs. Vegeta - Vegeta now a Majin wants a battle against Goku but Supreme Kai says that in order to fight Vegeta, Goku must battle him first.
- Episode 230 – Just You Wait, Babidi!! Your Aspirations Will Not Be Allowed - The Saiyan battle between Vegeta and Goku.
Disc 34:
- Episode 231 – The Seal is Broken! Out Comes the Vicious Majin Boo!! - While Vegeta and Goku are fighting each other, Gohan and Supreme Kai must do what they can to stop Babidi.
- Episode 232 – I Won’t Allow the Revival!! A Kamehame-Ha of Resistance – While Gohan tries to destroy the nesting area of Majin Buu, he ends up making it hatch.
- Episode 233 – A Straight Line to Despair!? The Grief of Kaioshin – When Buu comes out of his shell, he is revealed to be an overweight pink being that likes to have its share of fun. Dabura is not thrilled about Buu and thus provokes him. Gohan then tries to fight Buu.
- Episode 234 – The Terrifying Majin!! Death’s Dread Draws Near Gohan – Goten and Trunks find out that Piccolo and Krillin have been turned into stone. Dabura returns to fight Buu!
- Episode 235 – ‘Gonna Eat’Cha!!’ A Hungry Majin’s Supernatural Power – Vegeta takes a cheap shot against Goku, knocking him out. Now Vegeta has his attention on Buu.
- Episode 236 – A Warrior’s Resolution!! I Will Dispose of the Majin – Vegeta fights Buu with all he can!
- Episode 237 – For Those Whome He Loves…Vegeta Perishes!! – With Vegeta trying to do all he can to defeat Buu, Buu seems unstoppable. Vegeta decides the only way to put an end to him is to sacrifice himself.
Disc 35:
- Episode 238 – The Nightmare Revisited!! Majin Boo Has Survived – The aftermath of Vegeta’s sacrifice
- Episode 239 – The Struggle of Videl and the Others! Find the Dragon Balls – Due to the aftermath, Bulma and others decide to go on a search for the Dragon Balls.
- Episode 240 – Enormous Hope!! A New Finishing Technique for the Little Squirts - Goku knows that the only way to defeat Buu is if he uses the Art of Fusion but with Vegeta gone, the only two capable of possibly fusing are Gotenks and Trunks.
- Episode 241 – Goten and Trunks — The World’s Most Wanted - Babidi is not thrilled that Piccolo, Goten and Trunks have left the battlefield and because they did, he has threatened the world that Buu will kill everyone until the three come back to face him and Buu.
- Episode 242 – Gohan Revised — Kaioshin’s Secret Weapon!? – Goku begins his training of Gotenks and Trunks to learn the Art of Fusion.
- Episode 243 – It Came Ou~t!! The Legendary Z-Sword – Gohan continues his training from the Supreme Kai to learn the legendary Z-Sword.
- Episode 244 – Metro West is Targeted! Stop, Majin Boo!! – A mother whose sons lost in the Jr. World’s Martial Arts Tournament gives information to Babidi about Capsule Corp.
Disc 36:
- Episode 245 – An Astounding, Great Transformation!! Super Saiyan 3 – As Trunks hurries to find the Dragon Ball radar at Capsule Corp., Goku must stall Babidi and Majin Buu and thus begins his transformation to Super Saiyan 3.
- Episode 246 – Bye Bye Babidi!! Majin Boo Rebels – Super Saiyan 3 Goku goes against Majin Buu.
- Episode 247 – Absurdly Awful-Looking!? The Special Training Transformation Pose - With Trunks successful in obtaining the Dragon Ball Radar, Goku goes back to train Gotenks and Trunks the Fusion Dance.
- Episode 248 – See You Later, Everybody!! Goku Returns to the Other World – With Goku now preparing Gotenks and Trunks, Buu decides to build himself a home and cause more destruction and death.
- Episode 249 – Where is Gohan!? Ferocious Training in the Kaioshin Realm – With Goku’s time on Earth now over, he must go back to Heaven. Meanwhile Gohan continues his training.
- Episode 250 – You’re Kidding, Right!? The Z-Sword is Broken – Goku joins the Supreme Kai to observe Gohan’s training. But while Gohan goes through his final test, something happens to the Z-Sword.
VIDEO:
“Dragon Ball Z” via this “Dragon Box Z Vol. 6″ set contains episodes featured in standard definition (4:3 aspect ratio). The colors are much different than the previous box set where colors were deeper and more pronounced, the colors of the series features its original presentation as it was in Japan and of course, restored frame by frame in which the previous season was not. Personally, I don’t have a preference to which is better but if anything, this set is for the hardcore fans who preferred the original Japanese presentation.
But for these episodes which aired in 1991, you have to acknowledge how good the transfer was for this restoration. Granted, there is a “Dragon Ball Kai” currently airing in Japan in High Definition (and will be released in the US this month on Blu-ray and DVD) which will look much better but for this DVD box set release, considering it’s 20-years-later, for the diehard fans who have wanted these episodes in its original presentation for so long, Pony Canyon definitely did a very good job on restoration and again, great to see FUNimation Entertainment bring this box set to the US.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
As for audio, this is where things are a bit different from the original Japanese audio presentation. Because FUNimation Entertainment had to include the English dubbed audio, instead of using the 448 kb/s audio, they went with 96 kb/s. This may upset fans who wanted a higher bitrate but because its important to attract those who are prefer English dubs and make the set even more marketable, the English dub had to be included. With that being said, I’ve grown up watching the Japanese audio and typically, I prefer to watch anime in Japanese BUT with “Dragon Ball Z”, I have always felt that the English dub was among the best out there and the voices just sound right for the characters.
But the intention for this box set was for those who wanted the Japanese audio. Personally, it’s a preference that I would rather have 5.1 surround versus mono or stereo soundtracks. And when I do, I typically set my receiver to stereo on all channels since I have a 7.2 setup. But fans will be happy that they get the original Japanese audio for the complete episode, previews for the next episode, opening and ending theme and you get Hironobu Kageyama’s “Cha-La, Head-Cha-La” instead of the Falcouner score.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Dragon Box Z Vol. 6″ doesn’t come with any special features but it comes with extras such as the cool packaging and an awesome hardbound booklet.
What we have is a yellow slip case box with Piccolo on the front, unlike the season box sets which were gateway folded, the DVD’s are presented in two foil covered DVD cases and are presented in Japanese style with the first disc on the right hand side and the two discs on the left.
Also included is a hardcover 50-page booklet titled “Dragonbook” in Japanese reading style. The book features a profile of the Goku family, ultimate character and relationship chart, perfect guide, Dragon Ball Z Design Works Collection, One-Hit Wonder Grand Prix, Two Great Races – Saiyan and Two Great Races – Namekian.
The overall box set package is definitely a solid presentation for the hardcore fans and I have to admit, looks way cooler than the previous FUnimation Entertainment DBZ orange box sets.
With over 200+ episodes, here with the next volume of “Dragon Box Z” which continues the final chapter of the “Dragon Ball Z” series. What can I say… if you thought the Frieza and Cell sagas were fantastic, the Majin Buu saga and where it will go from here is quite amazing. Personally, having grown up with the series and watching the Buu series when it aired in Japan, I was hooked and it’s so great to watch it again!
No villain in “Dragon Ball Z” has looked as cute and nonthreatening as Majin Buu but yet has managed to slaughter a millions of people and really put the Z-Warriors in a position that they have never been in before.
The high points of this season is the fact that you get a long awaited battle between Goku vs. Vegeta, you get the Super Saiyan level 3 transformation of Goku but then we get to see the fusion technique.
Each episode has a very good storyline that it’s quite easy to watch episode after episode and find yourself watching a marathon of multiple discs because the episodes were quite enjoyable and action-packed. I also, have to say that there are no filler episodes and each episode, you’re going to get hardcore battles and just non-stop action. It’s what you would expect from a series such as “Dragon Ball Z” and nothing less.
Vegeta fans will definitely enjoy his character transformation but most of all his redemption. The first half is very Vegeta intensive and in Japan, many people wanted more of him and they got it. So, to see a powerful Vegeta going against Goku was awesome.
The series manages to weave in every character close to the Z-warriors that we have known from the series in this eighth season, which is very cool. And also, for Hercule/Mr. Satan fans, you will actually get to see him in action as well.
But it’s the instability of Majin Buu’s character which is quite interesting. Because of the way this being is made, unlike Frieza and Cell, the ability to continually regenerate, makes him nearly an unstoppable character. His look and demeanor is nothing like we have seen in the first 200-episodes and to see him kill people for the sake of hunger or for enjoyment to hear things go “boom”, makes Majin Buu an interesting but moreso, a deadlier villain than any villain that has appeared on “Dragon Ball Z” thus far.
And so, you are asking yourself? I own the orange box sets of “Dragon Ball Z”, do I really need it?
For the most part, this DVD box set is definitely worth it. That is if you are a diehard fan and want how things were when they first aired on Japanese television. That is these episodes are in standard definition with the aspect ratio of 4:3. A focus on the original Japanese dialogue, music and unchanged, uncut opening and ending themes. While the English dub is still included, these box sets are released for one reason and that is to appease the hardcore “Dragon Ball Z” fans!
And I have to give credit to FUNimation Entertainment for giving those fans what they wanted for so long and I see that as quite admirable because they invested in bringing this release stateside and preparing it for the American consumer with the special box set and booklet.
Do I have a preference on which I like better? Well having watch both…and enjoying the season box sets, I am actually content with both but I will have to say that “Dragon Box Z” has a much cooler packaging presentation and about 6-8 more episodes but you will be paying about $15 more. So, it’s really up to you if it’s worth it. Personally, if you just want to see the episodes and prefer to watch it with the English dubs, the original season box sets can be found for a great price these days and were solid releases to begin with. But for the hardcore fans who have demanded and have wanted the original series and how they were presented, you can’t beat these “Dragon Box” DVD boxsets. They’re awesome!
This box set was created for those who wanted “Dragon Ball Z” to be presented how it was in Japan and they have waited a long, long time for it. So, I look at these box sets as fans are now getting the best of both worlds and now those fans should be happy. Now the only thing is left will be the Blu-ray fans who will be clamoring for “Dragon Ball Z Kai” (“Dragon Ball Z” minus the filler episodes, remastered with new intro and vocals all re-recorded) which will be released this month but if you want the entire series, the Dragon Box Z series is what you want, otherwise if you want on Blu-ray – “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is the way to go. So, whether or not you pick the original orange box release, this Dragon Box Z release or “Dragon Ball Z Kai” release, all three are solid releases.
Overall, hardcore fans get there money’s worth with this DVD boxset. You get 40+ episodes in their original Japanese TV presentation and each episode which were remastered and you also get cool package-based content. For those hardcore DBZ fans who have waited this long for the original Japanese DBZ anime series in its original presentation, this box set is for you!
“Dragon Ball Z – Dragon Box Vol. 6″ is highly recommended.
Dragon Ball Z – Dragon Box Z Vol. 5 (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)
May 13, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
The conclusion of the Cell Arc, the Underworld Martial Arts Tournament and the Super Saiyaman Arc! All three major storylines are presented in 40 “Dragon Ball Z” episodes in one box set! And for the hardcore fans who have wanted the series uncut, unedited, presented in its original 4:3 aspect ratio with Japanese dialogue and theme music are getting what they want with these special “Dragon Box Z” sets. If you are a DBZ fan, this DVD box set is highly recommended!
Image courtesy of © BIRD/SHUEISHA, TOEI ANIMATION Film. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Dragon Ball Z – Dragon Box Z Vol. 5
DURATION: Episodes 169-209 (1025 Minutes)
DVD INFORMATION: Japanese Voice track with original music mono, English voice track with original Japanese Music 5.1 surround, 4:3, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment
RATED: TV PG
Released on April 26, 2011
Based on the manga and created by Akira Toriyama
Directed by Daisuke Nishio
Series Composition: Takao Koyama
Character Design by Yuji Ikeda
Music by Shunsuke Kikuchi
Screenplay: Aya Matsui, Hiroshi Toda, Jun Maekawa, Katsuyuki Sumisawa, Keiji Terui, Masashi Kubota, Reiko Yoshida, Satoru Akahori, Sumio Uetaka, Takao Koyama, Toshiki Inoue, Yoshiyuki Suga
Episode director: Atsutoshi Umezawa, Daisuke Nishio, Hidehiko Kadoda, Hiroki Shibata, Johei Matsuura, Junichi Fujise, Kazuhisa Takenouchi, Kazuhito Kikuchi, Masahiro Hosoda, Minoru Okazaki, Mitsuo Hashimoto, Osamu Kasai, Shigeyasu Yamauchi, Takahiro Imamura, Tatsuya Orime, Yoshihiro Ueda
Featuring the following voice talent:
Masako Nozawa/Sean Schemmel as Son Goku
Masako Nozawa/Stephanie Nadolny as Son Gohan
Masako Nozawa/Robert McCollum as Son Goten
Takeshi Kusao/Eric Vale as Trunks
Ryo Horikawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Vegeta
Hiromi Tsuru/Tiffany Volmer as Bulma
Kozo Shioya/Josh Martin as Majin Buu
Naoko Watanabe/Cynthia Cranz as Chichi
Mayumi Tanaka/Sonny Strait as Kuririn
Ryo Horikawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Piccolo
Yuko Minaguchi/Lucy Small as Videl
Hirotaka Suzuoki – Tinshinhan
Tohru Furuya – Yamucha
Miki Itou/Meredith McCoy as Andrid No. 18
Daisuke Gouri/Don Brown as Mr. Satan (Hercule)
Michael Dobson as Supreme Kai
Norio Wakamoto/Dameon Clarke as Cell
The battle to harness the power of the seven Dragon Balls explodes in vivid detail like never before. The Dragon Box features over 40 uncut episodes, remastered and restored frame by frame, rendering the legendary action in pristine clarity. Each episode is presented in Japanese and English with the complete opening and closing credits and includes the original episode previews.
I first discovered “Dragon Ball Z” during the very early 90′s. During the infant stages of Japanese anime conventions in America, there would be “Dragon Ball Z” parties where many people would gather around a hotel room and watch a marathon of episodes. Needless to say, the series which hadn’t been released in America was very popular but of course the only way people could see the show were fan subs with terrible quality on VHS.
I then had the opportunity to discover “Dragon Ball Z” through a Japanese video rental store and although I was taking Japanese at my university at the time, I would rent all that I can but probably miss a lot of the story since my comprehension of Japanese was quite bad at the time.
But then the series came to the US, the videos were released with several episodes per volume and I have to admit, looking back how anime TV episodes were distributed, especially like a long series such as DBZ, if one was able to collect every episode, it would literally cost an arm and a leg.
In 2007, FUNimation Entertainment did something quite wonderful and that was releasing a digitally remastered, digitally restored version of “Dragon Ball Z” in 16×9 widescreen and you would get around 32-36 or so episodes per volume at such a low price. This was such a fantastic deal and for nine seasons (the final volume released was released in 2009), I’ve watched “Dragon Ball Z” completely and have given nothing but positive reviews for them.
But…
I would receive e-mails from the hardcore fans of the Japanese television series who were very upset that the show was not presented in its original aspect ratio (4:3) which is the ratio for standard TV and felt the previous releases featured colors that were saturated, the wrong opening and ending credits, no previews for the next episode. Suffice to say, those hardcore DBZ fans who loved the original Japanese episodes were upset. For me, I just looked it at it price wise and figured, at least we are getting something for a great price and I wasn’t going to complain.
But this goes to show you how FUNimation Entertainment does care for its fans and not sure if they received a lot of mail from hardcore fans but they decided to bring out “Dragon Box Z Volume 1″ in the fall of 2009 and here we are now with the latest, action-packed fifth volume of “Dragon Box Z” which focuses on episodes 169-209 which concludes the Cell saga, features the Underworld Martial Arts Tournament and the Super Saiyaman Arc.
In Japan, these episodes were cleaned frame by frame and removing jitter and some grain. Keeping the original colors but most importantly for the fans, keeping everything intact including the 4:3 aspect ratio.
As for the series, aside from the technical differences as mentioned earlier, because the series focuses on the Japanese version of the show, the names of characters are different as the Japanese versions uses “Kamisama-hen” versus “Master Roshi”, Kaio the Genki Dama versus “King Kai”, “Tenshinhan” versus “Tien”, “Vegeta” instead of “Vegita”, etc. The DVD’s come with both Japanese and English dubbing.
In the fifth volume of the “Dragon Ball Z – Dragon Box Z”, the set continues with the Cell Games (episodes 169-193) as everyone puts their hope in Goku defeating Cell. But everyone is alarmed that Goku feels he can’t beat Cell at all but is not scared or worried of what may happen. What secret does Goku have under his sleeve?
The next episodes that follow the Cell Games the Underworld Martial Arts Tournament and the Super Saiyaman Arc.
The tournament (episodes 194-199) features focuses on Goku who is still dead and living in the underworld. But with the Underworld Martial Arts Tournament coming full force, King Kai and the other Kai’s wager on who will win the tournament. Meanwhile, what happens when Future Trunks goes back to the future?
Meanwhile, as the Underworld Martial Arts Tournament is going on, King Kai and West Kai at each other’s throats of who is the best, Goku or Pikkon? And thus the first disc on this box set focuses on the tournament.
The second storyline that follows after the Underworld Martial Arts Tournament reintroduces us to Z-Fighters seven years later (Episodes 200-209).
Bulma and Vegeta are married and have a young child named Trunks. Gohan is now a teenager and will be attending public high school for the first time. As expected, with his strict mother Chi Chi, Gohan becomes a straight A student. But you also learn that he has a younger brother named Goten.
As Gohan enters Orange Star High School in Satan City (named after Mr. Satan because of his lie that he is the one that defeated Cell), he sees that there is trouble in the city with bank robbers and so forth, so with the help of Bulma, creates a costume for him and thus Gohan goes under the secret identity of Great Saiyaman.
In high school, he meets Bedil (Mr. Satan’s daughter) who is a powerful fighter and helps the police force take on the criminals. Eventually, she catches on to Gohan’s identity and demands Gohan to teach her how to fly or else, she will reveal his secret identity.
For the third arc, a new World Martial Arts Tournament is happening and the Z-Fighters intend to take part. Also, Goku has been granted a 24-hour stay in Planet Earth to take part in the tournament. As everyone reunites for the first time in many years, Goku for the first time, gets to meet his young seven-year-old son Goten.
Meanwhile, the Z-Warriors get a chance to see Gohan’s Super Saiyaman disguise. How will they react?
The main characters during this part of the series are:
Goku – Now an adult, married to Chichi and has a son named Gohan. Constantly training in order to become stronger. Still naive and hungry as he was when he was younger. Currently, he is deceased and using his time to train before returning back to the land of the living.
Gohan - Goku’s young son. Goku realizes that Gohan has strong potential but during an unfortunate incident, asks for Piccolo to train his son in fighting to protect people and the planet. Gohan has accompanied Bulma and Kuririn to find the Dragon Balls in the Planet Nemek.
Kuririn – Goku’s childhood friend who accompanies Gohan and Bulma to find the Dragon Balls in the Planet Nemek.
Bulma – A woman still developing products at her father’s company, Capsule Corp. and uses her intelligence to solve the Z Warriors under dire circumstances. With her Dragon Ball scanner, she joins Gohan and Kuririn to find the Dragon Balls in Planet Nemek.
Kaiosama – One of the Kings who trains Goku on how to fight with gravity ten times greater than Earth at Kaio’s world.
Vegeta – The Prince of Saiyan and the most powerful Saiyajin of them all. Comes to Earth in order to destroy it but after being defeated by Goku, rehabilitates himself and now finds himself fighting alongside Gohan and Kuririn.
Future Trunks – Takes a time machine from the future to the past in order to change the future in which his timeline, all Z-warriors have been killed by the androids (artificial humans). In his timeline, Goku died of a virus but if he can get medication to him to prevent Goku from dying, possibly the Z-warriors and humanity in the future have a chance in surviving the android onslaught.
The main enemies in this set are:
Cell – Unlike the other androids, he continually evolves ingesting humans in order to become a “Perfect Form” Cell.
VIDEO:
“Dragon Ball Z” via this “Dragon Box Z Vol. 5″ set contains episodes featured in standard definition (4:3 aspect ratio). The colors are much different than the previous box set where colors were deeper and more pronounced, the colors of the series features its original presentation as it was in Japan and of course, restored frame by frame in which the previous season was not. Personally, I don’t have a preference to which is better but if anything, this set is for the hardcore fans who preferred the original Japanese presentation.
But for these episodes which aired in 1990-1991, you have to acknowledge how good the transfer was for this restoration. Granted, there is a “Dragon Ball Kai” currently airing in Japan in High Definition (and will be released in the US this month on Blu-ray and DVD) which will look much better but for this DVD box set release, considering it’s 20-years-later, for the diehard fans who have wanted these episodes in its original presentation for so long, Pony Canyon definitely did a very good job on restoration and again, great to see FUNimation Entertainment bring this box set to the US.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
As for audio, this is where things are a bit different from the original Japanese audio presentation. Because FUNimation Entertainment had to include the English dubbed audio, instead of using the 448 kb/s audio, they went with 96 kb/s. This may upset fans who wanted a higher bitrate but because its important to attract those who are prefer English dubs and make the set even more marketable, the English dub had to be included. With that being said, I’ve grown up watching the Japanese audio and typically, I prefer to watch anime in Japanese BUT with “Dragon Ball Z”, I have always felt that the English dub was among the best out there and the voices just sound right for the characters.
But the intention for this box set was for those who wanted the Japanese audio. Personally, it’s a preference that I would rather have 5.1 surround versus mono or stereo soundtracks. And when I do, I typically set my receiver to stereo on all channels since I have a 7.2 setup. But fans will be happy that they get the original Japanese audio for the complete episode, previews for the next episode, opening and ending theme and you get Hironobu Kageyama’s “Cha-La, Head-Cha-La” instead of the Falcouner score.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Dragon Box Z Vol. 5″ doesn’t come with any special features but it comes with cool packaging and an awesome hardbound booklet.
What we have is a yellow slip case box with Gohan on the front, unlike the season box sets which were gateway folded, the DVD’s are presented in two foil covered DVD cases and are presented in Japanese style with the first disc on the right hand side and the two discs on the left.
Also included is a hardcover 50-page booklet titled “Dragonbook” in Japanese reading style. The book features a profile of the Goku family, ultimate character and relationship chart, perfect guide, Dragon Ball Z Design Works Collection, Impressive Words, Fashion Check, We Count Down Anything and the Great Saiyaman Illustrated.
The overall box set package is definitely a solid presentation for the hardcore fans and I have to admit, looks way cooler than the previous orange box sets.
With this latest DVD box set, you get a total of 40 episodes which include the finale of the Cell Games and the long awaited fight between Goku and Cell, you get the Underworld Martial Arts Tournament arc and then you get the Super Saiyaman Arc which showcases the Z-Warriors seven years later and Gohan a teenager meeting Vedil for the first time.
These episodes are leading up to the martial arts tournament for the next volume where everyone will get to see the next generation of Z-Warriors, Gohan, Vedil, Goten and Trunks go into battle but for this volume alone and how much is included, this is an awesome DVD set!
And so, you are asking yourself? I own the orange box sets of “Dragon Ball Z”, do I really need it?
For the most part, this DVD box set is definitely worth it. That is if you are a diehard fan and want how things were when they first aired on Japanese television. That is these episodes are in standard definition with the aspect ratio of 4:3. A focus on the original Japanese dialogue, music and unchanged, uncut opening and ending themes. While the English dub is still included, these box sets are released for one reason and that is to appease the hardcore “Dragon Ball Z” fans!
And I have to give credit to FUNimation Entertainment for giving those fans what they wanted for so long and I see that as quite admirable because they invested in bringing this release stateside and preparing it for the American consumer with the special box set and booklet.
Do I have a preference on which I like better? Well having watch both…and enjoying the season box sets, I am actually content with both but I will have to say that “Dragon Box Z” has a much cooler packaging presentation and about 6-8 more episodes but you will be paying about $15 more. So, it’s really up to you if it’s worth it. Personally, if you just want to see the episodes and prefer to watch it with the English dubs, the original season box sets can be found for a great price these days and were solid releases to begin with. But for the hardcore fans who have demanded and have wanted the original series and how they were presented, you can’t beat these “Dragon Box” DVD boxsets. They’re awesome!
This box set was created for those who wanted “Dragon Ball Z” to be presented how it was in Japan and they have waited a long, long time for it. So, I look at these box sets as fans are now getting the best of both worlds and now those fans should be happy. Now the only thing is left will be the Blu-ray fans who will be clamoring for “Dragon Ball Z Kai” (“Dragon Ball Z” minus the filler episodes, remastered with new intro and vocals all re-recorded) which will be released this month but if you want the entire series, the Dragon Box Z series is what you want, otherwise if you want on Blu-ray – “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is the way to go. So, whether or not you pick the original orange box release, this Dragon Box Z release or “Dragon Ball Z Kai” release, all three are solid releases.
Overall, hardcore fans get there money’s worth with this DVD boxset. You get 40+ episodes in their original Japanese TV presentation and each episode which were remastered and you also get cool package-based content. For those hardcore DBZ fans who have waited this long for the original Japanese DBZ anime series in its original presentation, this box set is for you!
“Dragon Ball Z – Dragon Box Vol. 5″ is highly recommended.
Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Four (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)
March 11, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
Exciting, action-driven, adrenalin-pumping episodes in “Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Four”. The fight that many fans have been waiting for in DBZK…Super Saiyan Goku vs. Frieza, a battle to the death! Definitely a recommended fourth volume in the “Dragon Ball Z Kai” series!
Image courtesy of © Bird Studio/Shuiesha/Toei Animation. 2009 Toei Animation. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Four
DURATION: (Episodes 40-52) 325 Minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (4:3), English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Toei Animation/FUNimation Entertainment
RATED: TV PG
Release Date: March 8, 2011
Originally created by Akira Toriyama
Directed by Yasuhiro Nowatari
Produced by Kazuya Watanabe, Kohei Obara, Kyotaro Kimura, Makoto Seino
Music by Kenji Yamamoto
Theme Song Arrangement: Seiichi Kyouda
Anime Production: Toei Animation
Featuring the following voice talent:
Masako Nozawa/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Son Gohan
Masako Nozawa/Sean Schemmel as Son Goku
Hikaru Midorikawa/John Burgmeier as Tenshinhan (Tien)
Hiromi Tsuru/Monica Rial as Bulma
Masaharu Satou/Mike McFarland as Kame-sennin
Mayumi Tanaka/Sonny Strait as Krillin (Kuririn)
Naoki Tatsuta/Bryan Massey as Oolong
Naoko Watanabe/Cynthia Cranz as Chi-Chi
Ryo Horikawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Vegeta
Brina Palencia as Chiaotzu/Puar
Tohru Furuya/Christopher R. Sabat as Yamcha
Toshio Furukawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Piccolo
Shigeru Chiba/Justin Cook as Raditz
Tetsu Inada/Phil Parsons as Nappa
Yasuhiko Kawazu/Christopher R. Sabat as Mr. Popo
Mayumi Tanaka/Mike McFarland as Yajirobe
After learning that Frieza murdered his father and destroyed his home planet, Goku takes aim at the putrid purple monster in the greatest grudge match the galaxy has ever seen! The bruises multiply at a furious rate as the two warriors trade blows in a battle that literally destroys planet Namek. As the slugfest approaches a standstill, Frieza forever silences Goku’s closest friend – sending Earth’s hero into a Super Saiyan rage that threatens to obliterate them both!
As a “Dragon Ball Z” fan, I have been waiting patiently for the match between Son Goku – Level 1 Super Saiyan vs. Frieza and now that time is here with part four of “Dragon Ball Z Kai”!
Having grown up with “Dragon Ball Z” and during my teenage years visiting the local Japanese video rental store and always in heavy anticipation of what was being shown on television in Japan that week and waiting the two weeks it would arrive in the US and watching it in Japanese, despite not knowing what was being said, I enjoyed the series tremendously.
The main protagonist Son Goku was Japan’s equivalent to America’s Superman. I’m sure the juxtaposition of both Superman and Dragonball can be seen as a baby from other planet comes to Earth, the baby growing up to becoming a boy with tremendous strength and abilities and raised by a loving person who instilled good in his heart.
Granted, Goku’s original mission when landing on Earth was to destroy humanity but learning kindness towards people, nature and animals, he became a hero that protected all that he loved from any evil. But most importantly, Goku was a character that was far from perfect. He was a character that was always learning about people, enjoying life but most of all, setting a goal to becoming stronger and developing his skills in order to protect the people and the planet that he loves.
I was captivated by the original “Dragon Ball” series (which featured Goku as a child) and later with “Dragon Ball Z” featuring Goku as an adult. The series would bring back the characters that were seen on the original “Dragon Ball” series but this time around, the series took on more of a serious tone as the enemies became more deadly and Goku and his friends were put into grave situations that they have never had to face before. “Dragon Ball Z” would feature wonderful character development, intense action sequences and most of all, knowing how to extend the series to tease fans and keep people in high anticipation of what would be happening next.
Since then, I have had the opportunity to see this DBZ fandom grow in the US from the very early ’90s and seeing “Dragon Ball Z” viewing parties at the early anime conventions and then seeing how the series exploded into American pop culture once the series began airing on television in the US and with its DVD releases. It’s hard to believe that this series I have followed for years and began in 1989 has celebrated its 20th Anniversary celebration in 2009. But the celebration was fantastic news for fans as this time, “Dragon Ball Z” would be remastered for HD TV and would be called “Dragon Ball Z Kai” which would include a brand new opening and ending sequence, commercial cut scenes, new frames produced digitally, re-recording of the voice talent, new music and most importantly, focusing on the main story arcs and reducing the series 291 episodes to a total of 100 episodes.
Needless to say, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” received rave reviews from fans in Japan, while some hardcore DBZ fans had a hard time watching a new interpretation of the series (especially with newer music) but when it was announced that the series would be released in the USA on Blu-ray and DVD, fans were happy and with the first volume, needless to say, I was quite happy with the first Blu-ray release of “Dragon Ball Z Kai” and if you enjoyed the first three volumes, there is no doubt that you are going to enjoy “Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Four”.
For my review of this Blu-ray release, I’m going to assume that many of the people reading this are familiar with the series. If you aren’t, if you want to experience the full “Dragon Ball Z” 291 episodes, FUNimation Entertainment currently has two releases of the series on DVD but at the same time, it is not imperative to watch the original “Dragon Ball” series to understand “Dragon Ball Z Kai” but it is important if you want to know the relationships of each character.
Currently available from FUNimation Entertainment is “Dragon Ball” which covers the younger years of Goku. “Dragon Ball Z” covers the adults years of Goku and have been released in nine volumes (seasons) via an “orange box release”. All nine volumes covers all 291 episodes and were remastered by FUNimation Entertainment but presented in 16×9 and utilizes both English and Japanese dub but caters to the English audience crowd who watched the series on television.
In 2009 and currently in the present, FUNimation Entertainment has released the “Dragon Box Z” DVD box set releases (as of this review, there have been a total of four volumes released featuring over 30-episodes each). These releases are to satisfy the hardcore Dragon Ball Z fans who wanted the original Japanese uncut episodes, original Japanese music score but most importantly, the series being presented in its original aspect ratio of 4×3.
Also, released from FUNimation Entertainment were the movies and specials (on Blu-ray and DVD) and also the next story arc known as “Dragon Ball GT” (which “Dragon Ball” manga creator Akira Toriyama had nothing to do with until the final episode) which were also released in 2009 by FUNimation.
So, here were are in 2010 with the fourth volume release of “Dragon Ball Z Kai” presented in HD. These episodes are without the non-essential scenes or filler episodes and instead of 291 episodes, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” has a duration of 100 episodes and the first two volumes on Blu-ray and DVD from FUNimation Entertainment consists of 13 episodes each. It’s important to note that this is not a remake of the series, nor is it a new HD recreation of the animated version of the series. The series uses the original 1989 animation but is cleaned up of all damaged cels and blemishes. Only the opening, ending and commercial cut scenes feature new animation.
Here is a basic summary of “Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Four” (episodes 40-52) on the two Blu-ray discs:
Disc 1:
- EPISODE 40 – Frieza’s Final Transformation! The Ultimate Nightmare Begins! - Frieza shows off his final transformation and takes on Vegeta and Gohan.
- EPISODE 41 – The Moment of Truth Approaches! Goku Back in Action! – Vegeta the Super Saiyan takes on Frieza.
- EPISODE 42 – Defeat Frieza, Goku! The Tears of the Proud Saiyan Prince – Frieza manhandles Vegeta. Who can stop Frieza?
- EPISODE 43 – Goku vs. Frieza! The Super Showdown Begins! – Goku returns to take on Frieza.
- EPISODE 44 – A Boundary-Publishing Brawl! Goku, Frieza and Ginyu Again?! – While Goku and Frieza fight, Ginyu shows up again.
- EPISODE 45- Kaio-ken Times Twenty! An All-Or-Nothing Kamehame-Ha! – Goku uses his newly revised kaio-ken on Frieza.
- EPISODE 46 – The Final Trump Card! Goku’s Ultimate Spirit Bomb! – Goku uses the ultimate spirit bomb on Frieza.
- EPISODE 47 – Awaken, Legendary Warrior! Goku the Super Saiyan! – Ginyu uses his special beam to switch bodies with Goku and tries to convince Krillin and Gohan to defeat Ginyu.
- EPISODE 48 – The Angry Super Saiyan! Goku Throws Down the Gauntlet – Vegeta fights against Ginyu (who is Goku in Ginyu’s body).
DISC 2:
- EPISODE 49 – Avenge the Fallen, Goku! Countdown to the Planet’s Destruction -The planet is unstable and is about to be destroyed. While Goku fights Frieza, Gohan tries to search for Bulma.
- EPISODE 50 – Full-Power Frieza! Shenron, Grant Our Wish! – While Goku is fighting Frieza, Shenron comes to grant a wish.
- EPISODE 51 – Goku’s Furious Roar! A Last-Minute Resurrection! – Goku fights Frieza while Bulma, Vegeta, Piccolo and Gohan along with the Namekians get their wish granted.
- EPISODE 52 – Duel on a Vanishing Planet! The Final Showdown! – Frieza tries a last desperation move on Goky.
VIDEO:
I always find it interesting when it comes to “Dragon Ball Z” because each review, I’ve always mentioned how things look much better when I saw the series especially comparing to my old Japanese TV recordings. But with the release of the series via the orange box season sets and then the Dragon Box Z releases, although they look good…nothing compares to how gorgeous “Dragon Ball Z Kai” looks. The picture quality is clean, no spotting, no blemishes, no dust, no speckles… Colors are absolutely vibrant, blacks are nice and deep and the series looks absolutely fantastic on Blu-ray.
Presented in 1080p High Definition and 4×3. As mentioned earlier, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is not a remaking of the series in HD. The most noticeable addition is the opening and ending sequence and also the commercial cut scenes which use new animation and featured in HD. But ow awesome would it be if a “Dragon Ball” related series was re-created to look like those digital HD scenes? That would have been amazing.
But once the series begins, for those who have been watching “Dragon Ball Z” long enough or multiple times will just in awe of how beautiful and how clean the anime series looks in HD on Blu-ray. You’ll also notice scenes that you have never seen before.
First, lets discuss the picture quality. Not one blemish can be seen in these episodes. With the sketches and animation cels having since been discarded and anime series back in the ’80s and early ’90s not really being taken care of, Toei animation had new frames produced for this series and it was a laborious job of digitally tracing over still frames from existing footage and filling them with softer colors. Some scenes were cropped and new scenes were added.
Also, as times have changed when it comes to what can be shown on television and stricter laws on what can be shown on television since 1989 and the fact that “Dragon Ball Z Kai” would be distributed worldwide on television in other countries (in the US, the series will begin airing on Nickelodeon’s Nicktoons), most immediate changes are when it comes to the nudity and violence. Nude scenes featuring a young Goku or Gohan now feature their private areas now covered. There is now less blood during the most violent battle scenes.
But the added footage is easily noticed. I caught one scene with Nappa and Vegeta outdoors sitting near a campfire with a digital flame. Also, another scenes with Nappa with the dark stroke around the character which was seen in the later “Dragon Ball Z” movies. There were scenes in which shading was utilized but with all new sequences, it’s important to note that they created the sequences to compliment the older footage. So, everything looks just right together.
But watching this series on Blu-ray, I can say that “Dragon Ball Z Kai” does not look like a series that came from 1989. Tohei Animation did a wonderful job with this animated TV series, editing these episodes and choosing what scenes to include and what new scenes to add to ensure that the pacing works out fine. In terms of picture quality, those ugly dust, speckles and blemishes are gone, I did not see any major edge enhancement or compression artifacts. I have no doubt that fans will enjoy this HD presentation of “Dragon Ball Z Kai”.
Of course, for those wanting the true anime on HD treatment, this is probably not the series one should look for as you do get the original late ’80s animation and this series was created long before animators considered HD let alone were making the series digitally. But it all comes down to how it looks compared to the original series released on DVD and I have to say that this is the best looking version of the series available despite it being a modified and shortened version of the “Dragon Ball Z” series.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
This is where “Dragon Ball Z Kai” shines on Blu-ray and its the lossless audio. The series is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (English) and Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (Japanese).
Because the English is mixed and utilizes more channels, there is a dramatic difference in sound, although for those with a modern receiver and have a solid 5.1 or 7.2 setup, can easily switch their receiver to stereo on all channels for the Japanese soundtrack for a more immersive soundscape.
There are online stores showing that the Japanese is Dolby Digital 2.0 but this is incorrect, it is indeed a lossless Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 soundtrack. And both soundtracks sound great!
But here is the lowdown on the lossless audio. Sound effects are now heavily utilized on the surround channels. For example, in “Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Three”, there is a good amount of surround audio during Goku and Vegeta’s battle, while in the Planet Namek scenes, you can hear a lot of flight (as a big part of the series in this arc features characters flying after the enemy or to get from place-to-place).
But the biggest and most noticeable difference when it comes to “Dragon Ball Z Kai” and its previous “Dragon Ball Z” releases on video is the music. As a hero like Superman or Batman will have its own musical orchestra driven theme song in a film, Goku now has a theme, the enemies have their theme and when a Z-Warrior passes away, there is a theme. Music is used to full effect in the series and the majority of it is orchestra driven and also utilized in the surround channels. You will hear the strings or brass playing through the surrounds and its done rather nicely. Some people may have an issue with the battle music as the music tends to incorporate the style that you hear from the most recent video games and transitions from jazz/funk to synthrock.
But these effects and music sound so delightful via lossless, its hard not to be impressed by it. Again, the English soundtrack is much more immersive because it utilizes a 5.1 lossless soundtrack versus the Japanese 2.0 lossless track. But I know fans who have wanted anime on Blu-ray with Japanese lossless should be happy. It’s important to note that this is a TV series and not an OVA or film, so the fact that there is so much going on with this TV series audio-wise is pretty awesome.
Granted, I know there are hardcore fans who will tell me that they loved the original Japanese music and I’m sure there will be fans including myself who love the new music, but of course, this is all subjective. And with that being said, for those who liked the Falcouner music, then buy the orange season box sets. If you want the original Japanese BGM, then the “Dragon Box Z” sets is for you. If you want a lossless soundtrack with outstanding music that is fully utilized with your home theater setup, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is fantastic.
As for the dubwork, the voice acting has also been revamped with Colleen Clinkenbeard now providing the voice for Son Gohan, Monica Rial for Bulma and Brina Palencia for Chiaotzu and Puar. In Japan, the most noticeable difference is for Kame Sen’nin (Master Roshi) as Kohei Miayuchi passed away during the final season of “Dragon Ball Z” back in 1995 and for DBZ Kai is voiced by Masaharu Satou.
For the most part, both voice acting for the English and Japanese were very good. Of course, listening to both soundtracks voices are much different from each other especially the voice of the main character Goku. But depending on your preference, both Masako Nozawa and Sean Schemmel do a fantastic job as Goku. For those who watched the English dub and have played all the DBZ video games will probably see the most noticeable different with the character of young Gohan.
Overall, because of the clarity of the audio and how much it plays in the part of enhancing the enjoyment of the anime series, the lossless soundtrack for “Dragon Ball Z” is awesome! I enjoy the new BGM and if you have a 5.1 or 7.2 setup, you’re going to enjoy the soundtrack of this series.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Four” comes with the following special features:
- Textless Opening Song
- Textless Closing Song
- Trailers – Trailers for upcoming or currently available titles from FUNimation Entertainment.
Finally….Son Goku vs. Frieza, the ultimate matchup has begun!
For anyone who has watched the original “Dragon Ball Z” series, it’s not a surprise of how much this battle was dragged out for a long period of time in Japan and even for “Dragon Ball Z Kai”, it’s taken quite a bit of episodes, even when shortened without the filler to get to this ultimate matchup and the buildup to this match has been exciting and quite riveting thus far!
All that went through my mind when I was watching “Dragon Ball Z Kai” was how awesome an experience it was to see this series finally in HD and how fantastic it looked and how incredible the lossless audio track was.
“Dragon Ball Z – Part Four” was pretty cool as we have seen Frieza manhandle the warriors with ease, but now he finds his ultimate match with Goku and the cool thing about this battle is that he goes against a stronger Goku but also seeing the emergence of the level 1 Super Saiyan. I remember when I first saw this for the first time (and I was watching it way back when it first aired in Japan) and I was shocked! And I was screaming in excitement like a sports match! How much I was craving to see Goku give Frieza a much-deserved beat down.
You get a lot of action in this volume alone and it was a pretty long buildup but at least we are now nearing the end of the Frieza saga and now getting prepared for the Android/Cell saga.
As a person who has followed the series for nearly 20 years, watching “Dragon Ball Z Kai” was a bit surreal because everything looked so clean. Especially comparing with how it looks to the first movie on Blu-ray which had dust and scratches galore and HD enhancing those defects, it was great to see a blemish-free DBZ series.
Now does “Dragon Ball Z Kai” replace my feelings towards the original series. Of course not but I can tell you right now that when watching “Dragon Ball Z” many years ago and even watching it again and again, part of the experience at the time was being kept at the edge of your seat because each saga lasted so long. We would literally have to wait as it would come out to our Japanese video rental store and would contain maybe two to four episodes. And this really tested your patience especially with each saga or battle lasting like 30 episodes or more.
If you were an original DVD purchaser of “Dragon Ball Z” when it was released per volume, not only was it an excruciating wait, it was an expensive wait to collect all volumes. Sure, the DVD box set releases definitely have fixed the problem and is much cheaper than how things were back then.
But what “Dragon Ball Z Kai” does is cut down all non-essential scenes, all filler episodes and focusing on the more important scenes of the story including the action sequences. Footage was re-edited to closely follow the manga and the action is now a more faster pace and I found the pacing for this series to be quite enjoyable and for those watching anything Dragon Ball related for the first time, especially on television, “Dragon Ball Z” makes it much easier for those viewers, especially those with a short attention span.
For long-time fans, this new revision of the series maintains the heart and soul of “Dragon Ball Z” but gives us the best looking and best sound version of the series. It’s not meant to replace the previous “Dragon Ball Z” series that we have enjoyed (and for many, have spent money for via the box sets) but to compliment it and also to bring the series to HD and now on Blu-ray.
“Dragon Ball Z” has been such a part of the lives of many people for two decades and with this release, hopefully will entertain a new generation of DBZ fans or hook fans who have been curious about the series for a long time. Because the series only lasts 100 episodes, part four marks the halfway point and features a near close to the Frieza saga and I look forward to see how many episodes they will dedicate to balance off the android and cell saga.
Overall, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is easily a must-own anime on Blu-ray series. Granted, I’m sure that many of us are quite biased towards the “Dragon Ball” series but for those who have always been curious about “Dragon Ball Z” and have no intention watching every episode made, then “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is definitely recommended, especially now that it’s in HD!
Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Three (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Review)
December 15, 2010 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
The action and battles continue as of “Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Three”! Featuring Vegeta, Krillin and Gohan vs. the Ginyu Force and Piccolo vs. Frieza. All-action, no filler and just an all-out action-packed volume of “Dragon Ball Z Kai”!
Image courtesy of © Bird Studio/Shuiesha/Toei Animation. 2009 Toei Animation. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Three
DURATION: (Episodes 27-39) 325 Minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (4:3), English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Toei Animation/FUNimation Entertainment
RATED: TV PG
Release Date: December 14, 2010
Originally created by Akira Toriyama
Directed by Yasuhiro Nowatari
Produced by Kazuya Watanabe, Kohei Obara, Kyotaro Kimura, Makoto Seino
Music by Kenji Yamamoto
Theme Song Arrangement: Seiichi Kyouda
Anime Production: Toei Animation
Featuring the following voice talent:
Masako Nozawa/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Son Gohan
Masako Nozawa/Sean Schemmel as Son Goku
Hikaru Midorikawa/John Burgmeier as Tenshinhan (Tien)
Hiromi Tsuru/Monica Rial as Bulma
Masaharu Satou/Mike McFarland as Kame-sennin
Mayumi Tanaka/Sonny Strait as Krillin (Kuririn)
Naoki Tatsuta/Bryan Massey as Oolong
Naoko Watanabe/Cynthia Cranz as Chi-Chi
Ryo Horikawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Vegeta
Brina Palencia as Chiaotzu/Puar
Tohru Furuya/Christopher R. Sabat as Yamcha
Toshio Furukawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Piccolo
Shigeru Chiba/Justin Cook as Raditz
Tetsu Inada/Phil Parsons as Nappa
Yasuhiko Kawazu/Christopher R. Sabat as Mr. Popo
Mayumi Tanaka/Mike McFarland as Yajirobe
The last descendants of an evil race of warriors known as the Saiyans are on a collision course with Earth, and Goku – the strongest fighter on the planet – is all that stands between humanity and extinction. To save his friends and the world he loves, Goku must travel to a realm from which few return, but should he survive, he’ll discover the power to face the villainous Saiyan warlord, Prince Vegeta.
For the past few years, I have been raving about FUNimation Entertainment’s releases of “Dragon Ball Z” from the original orange box collections to the recent Dragon Box Z DVD box set releases. And yes, I am a big fan of the anime series and simiar to the first two Blu-ray releases of “Dragon Ball Z Kai”, I’m going to give my thumbs up to “Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Three”.
Having grown up with “Dragon Ball Z” and during my teenage years visiting the local Japanese video rental store and always in heavy anticipation of what was being shown on television in Japan that week and waiting the two weeks it would arrive in the US and watching it in Japanese, despite not knowing what was being said, I enjoyed the series tremendously.
The main protagonist Son Goku was Japan’s equivalent to America’s Superman. I’m sure the juxtaposition of both Superman and Dragonball can be seen as a baby from other planet comes to Earth, the baby growing up to becoming a boy with tremendous strength and abilities and raised by a loving person who instilled good in his heart.
Granted, Goku’s original mission when landing on Earth was to destroy humanity but learning kindness towards people, nature and animals, he became a hero that protected all that he loved from any evil. But most importantly, Goku was a character that was far from perfect. He was a character that was always learning about people, enjoying life but most of all, setting a goal to becoming stronger and developing his skills in order to protect the people and the planet that he loves.
I was captivated by the original “Dragon Ball” series (which featured Goku as a child) and later with “Dragon Ball Z” featuring Goku as an adult. The series would bring back the characters that were seen on the original “Dragon Ball” series but this time around, the series took on more of a serious tone as the enemies became more deadly and Goku and his friends were put into grave situations that they have never had to face before. “Dragon Ball Z” would feature wonderful character development, intense action sequences and most of all, knowing how to extend the series to tease fans and keep people in high anticipation of what would be happening next.
Since then, I have had the opportunity to see this DBZ fandom grow in the US from the very early ’90s and seeing “Dragon Ball Z” viewing parties at the early anime conventions and then seeing how the series exploded into American pop culture once the series began airing on television in the US and with its DVD releases. It’s hard to believe that this series I have followed for years and began in 1989 has celebrated its 20th Anniversary celebration in 2009. But the celebration was fantastic news for fans as this time, “Dragon Ball Z” would be remastered for HD TV and would be called “Dragon Ball Z Kai” which would include a brand new opening and ending sequence, commercial cut scenes, new frames produced digitally, re-recording of the voice talent, new music and most importantly, focusing on the main story arcs and reducing the series 291 episodes to a total of 100 episodes.
Needless to say, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” received rave reviews from fans in Japan, while some hardcore DBZ fans had a hard time watching a new interpretation of the series (especially with newer music) but when it was announced that the series would be released in the USA on Blu-ray and DVD, fans were happy and with the first volume, needless to say, I was quite happy with the first Blu-ray release of “Dragon Ball Z Kai” and if you enjoyed the first two volumes, there is no doubt that you are going to enjoy “Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Three”.
For my review of this Blu-ray release, I’m going to assume that many of the people reading this are familiar with the series. If you aren’t, if you want to experience the full “Dragon Ball Z” 291 episodes, FUNimation Entertainment currently has two releases of the series on DVD but at the same time, it is not imperative to watch the original “Dragon Ball” series to understand “Dragon Ball Z Kai” but it is important if you want to know the relationships of each character.
Currently available from FUNimation Entertainment is “Dragon Ball” which covers the younger years of Goku. “Dragon Ball Z” covers the adults years of Goku and have been released in nine volumes (seasons) via an “orange box release”. All nine volumes covers all 291 episodes and were remastered by FUNimation Entertainment but presented in 16×9 and utilizes both English and Japanese dub but caters to the English audience crowd who watched the series on television.
In 2009 and currently in the present, FUNimation Entertainment has released the “Dragon Box Z” DVD box set releases (as of this review, there have been a total of four volumes released featuring over 30-episodes each). These releases are to satisfy the hardcore Dragon Ball Z fans who wanted the original Japanese uncut episodes, original Japanese music score but most importantly, the series being presented in its original aspect ratio of 4×3.
Also, released from FUNimation Entertainment were the movies and specials (on Blu-ray and DVD) and also the next story arc known as “Dragon Ball GT” (which “Dragon Ball” manga creator Akira Toriyama had nothing to do with until the final episode) which were also released in 2009 by FUNimation.
So, here were are in 2010 with the third volume release of “Dragon Ball Z Kai” presented in HD. These episodes are without the non-essential scenes or filler episodes and instead of 291 episodes, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” has a duration of 100 episodes and the first two volumes on Blu-ray and DVD from FUNimation Entertainment consists of 13 episodes each. It’s important to note that this is not a remake of the series, nor is it a new HD recreation of the animated version of the series. The series uses the original 1989 animation but is cleaned up of all damaged cels and blemishes. Only the opening, ending and commercial cut scenes feature new animation.
Here is a basic summary of “Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Three” (episodes 27-39) on the two Blu-ray discs:
Disc 1:
- EPISODE 27 – “A TOUCH-AND-GO SITUATION! GOHAN, PROTECT THE FOUR STAR BALL!” - Vegeta tries to get all seven dragon balls.
- EPISODE 28 – “THE COUNTDOWN TO BATTLE BEGINS! ENTER, THE GINYU FORCE!” – Krillin brings Gohan to meet with the Grand Elder in order to bring out his inner power. Goku completes his 100x Earth gravity training.
- EPISODE 29 – “FIRST UP FOR THE GINYU FORCE! GULDO’S TIME FREEZE!” – Vegeta, Krillin and Gohan race to find the remaining five dragon balls before the Ginyu Force gets their hands on them.
- EPISODE 30 – “THE NIGHTMARE RECDOME! COME OUT AND PLAY VEGETA!” – Vegeta vs. Recoome. Frieza tries to activate the seven dragon balls.
- EPISODE 31 – “GOKU ARRIVES AT LAST! TAKE DOWN THE GINYU FORCE!” – With Vegeta, Krillin and Gohan barely alive after losing to the Ginyu Force, Goku arrives just in time to fight them.
- EPISODE 32 – “THE STAR PLAYER APEARS! GINYU vs. GOKU!” – Goku vs. King Ginyu.
- EPISODE 33 – “FULL POWER , GOKU! CAPTAIN GINYU’S DESPERATE ATTACK!” – Gohan shows Ginyu his full maximum power. Nail takes on Frieza.
- EPISODE 34 – “SURPRISE! GOKU IS GINYU AND GINYU IS GOKU!” – Ginyu uses his special beam to switch bodies with Goku and tries to convince Krillin and Gohan to defeat Ginyu.
- EPISODE 35 – “GOKU’S COMEBACK! CALL FORTH PORUNGA!” – Vegeta fights against Ginyu (who is Goku in Ginyu’s body).
DISC 2:
- EPISODE 36 – “FRIEZA CLOSES IN! MIGHTY PORUNGA, GRANT OUR WISH!” – Krillin and Gohan use the dragon balls and use their first wish, to revive Piccolo.
- EPISODE 37 – “A NIGHTMARE TRANSFORMATION! FRIEZA’S POWER LEVEL ONE MILLION!” – Vegeta is back and now he must get to Frieza. Meanwhile, Frieza shows his latest transformation.
- EPISODE 38 – “FRIEZA BARES HIS FANGS! GOHAN’S OVERWHELMING ATTACK!” – Krillin and Gohan take on Frieza.
- EPISODE 39 – “PICCOLO REBORN! FRIEZA’S SECOND TRANSFORMATION” – Piccolo vs. Frieza who shows off his second to last transformation.
VIDEO:
I always find it interesting when it comes to “Dragon Ball Z” because each review, I’ve always mentioned how things look much better when I saw the series especially comparing to my old Japanese TV recordings. But with the release of the series via the orange box season sets and then the Dragon Box Z releases, although they look good…nothing compares to how gorgeous “Dragon Ball Z Kai” looks. The picture quality is clean, no spotting, no blemishes, no dust, no speckles… Colors are absolutely vibrant, blacks are nice and deep and the series looks absolutely fantastic on Blu-ray.
Presented in 1080p High Definition and 4×3. As mentioned earlier, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is not a remaking of the series in HD. The most noticeable addition is the opening and ending sequence and also the commercial cut scenes which use new animation and featured in HD. But ow awesome would it be if a “Dragon Ball” related series was re-created to look like those digital HD scenes? That would have been amazing.
But once the series begins, for those who have been watching “Dragon Ball Z” long enough or multiple times will just in awe of how beautiful and how clean the anime series looks in HD on Blu-ray. You’ll also notice scenes that you have never seen before.
First, lets discuss the picture quality. Not one blemish can be seen in these episodes. With the sketches and animation cels having since been discarded and anime series back in the ’80s and early ’90s not really being taken care of, Toei animation had new frames produced for this series and it was a laborious job of digitally tracing over still frames from existing footage and filling them with softer colors. Some scenes were cropped and new scenes were added.
But watching this series on Blu-ray, I can say that “Dragon Ball Z Kai” does not look like a series that came from 1989. Tohei Animation did a wonderful job with this animated TV series, editing these episodes and choosing what scenes to include and what new scenes to add to ensure that the pacing works out fine. In terms of picture quality, those ugly dust, speckles and blemishes are gone, I did not see any major edge enhancement or compression artifacts. I have no doubt that fans will enjoy this HD presentation of “Dragon Ball Z Kai”.
Of course, for those wanting the true anime on HD treatment, this is probably not the series one should look for as you do get the original late ’80s animation and this series was created long before animators considered HD let alone were making the series digitally. But it all comes down to how it looks compared to the original series released on DVD and I have to say that this is the best looking version of the series available despite it being a modified and shortened version of the “Dragon Ball Z” series.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
This is where “Dragon Ball Z Kai” shines on Blu-ray and its the lossless audio. The series is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (English) and Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (Japanese).
Because the English is mixed and utilizes more channels, there is a dramatic difference in sound, although for those with a modern receiver and have a solid 5.1 or 7.2 setup, can easily switch their receiver to stereo on all channels for the Japanese soundtrack for a more immersive soundscape.
There are online stores showing that the Japanese is Dolby Digital 2.0 but this is incorrect, it is indeed a lossless Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 soundtrack. And both soundtracks sound great!
But here is the lowdown on the lossless audio. Sound effects are now heavily utilized on the surround channels. For example, in “Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Three”, there is a good amount of surround audio during Goku and Vegeta’s battle, while in the Planet Namek scenes, you can hear a lot of flight (as a big part of the series in this arc features characters flying after the enemy or to get from place-to-place).
But the biggest and most noticeable difference when it comes to “Dragon Ball Z Kai” and its previous “Dragon Ball Z” releases on video is the music. As a hero like Superman or Batman will have its own musical orchestra driven theme song in a film, Goku now has a theme, the enemies have their theme and when a Z-Warrior passes away, there is a theme. Music is used to full effect in the series and the majority of it is orchestra driven and also utilized in the surround channels. You will hear the strings or brass playing through the surrounds and its done rather nicely. Some people may have an issue with the battle music as the music tends to incorporate the style that you hear from the most recent video games and transitions from jazz/funk to synthrock.
But these effects and music sound so delightful via lossless, its hard not to be impressed by it. Again, the English soundtrack is much more immersive because it utilizes a 5.1 lossless soundtrack versus the Japanese 2.0 lossless track. But I know fans who have wanted anime on Blu-ray with Japanese lossless should be happy. It’s important to note that this is a TV series and not an OVA or film, so the fact that there is so much going on with this TV series audio-wise is pretty awesome.
Granted, I know there are hardcore fans who will tell me that they loved the original Japanese music and I’m sure there will be fans including myself who love the new music, but of course, this is all subjective. And with that being said, for those who liked the Falcouner music, then buy the orange season box sets. If you want the original Japanese BGM, then the “Dragon Box Z” sets is for you. If you want a lossless soundtrack with outstanding music that is fully utilized with your home theater setup, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is fantastic.
As for the dubwork, the voice acting has also been revamped with Colleen Clinkenbeard now providing the voice for Son Gohan, Monica Rial for Bulma and Brina Palencia for Chiaotzu and Puar. In Japan, the most noticeable difference is for Kame Sen’nin (Master Roshi) as Kohei Miayuchi passed away during the final season of “Dragon Ball Z” back in 1995 and for DBZ Kai is voiced by Masaharu Satou.
For the most part, both voice acting for the English and Japanese were very good. Of course, listening to both soundtracks voices are much different from each other especially the voice of the main character Goku. But depending on your preference, both Masako Nozawa and Sean Schemmel do a fantastic job as Goku. For those who watched the English dub and have played all the DBZ video games will probably see the most noticeable different with the character of young Gohan.
Overall, because of the clarity of the audio and how much it plays in the part of enhancing the enjoyment of the anime series, the lossless soundtrack for “Dragon Ball Z” is awesome! I enjoy the new BGM and if you have a 5.1 or 7.2 setup, you’re going to enjoy the soundtrack of this series.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Dragon Ball Z Kai – Part Three” comes with the following special features:
- U.S. Cast Interview - (7:26) Featuring producer Justin Cook discussing the differences between “Dragon Ball Z Kai” and “Dragon Ball Z” and voice talents Sean Schemmel, Monica Rial, Sonny Strait, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Mike McFarland talk about their character and working on “Dragon Ball Z Kai”.
- Textless Opening Song
- Textless Closing Song
- Trailers – Trailers for upcoming or currently available titles from FUNimation Entertainment.
All that went through my mind when I was watching “Dragon Ball Z Kai” was how awesome an experience it was to see this series finally in HD and how fantastic it looked and how incredible the lossless audio track was.
“Dragon Ball Z – Part Three” focuses on the battle between Vegeta, Krillin and Gohan vs. the Ginyu Team and Piccolo vs. Frieza. Goku does make his return but bare in mind, even the original Frieza storyline for “Dragon Ball Z” was one of the longest and thus the fight between Goku vs. Frieza will continue in the next two volumes of “Dragon Ball Z Kai” (up to episode 54 and then transitions to the Future Trunks and Android storyline).
You get a lot of action in this volume alone but I have to admit that even during the airing of “Dragon Ball Z”, I was getting impatient as I wanted the Goku vs. Frieza storyline to start immediately and I wouldn’t be surprised if others feel the same way because with only a 100 episodes in this series, I was thinking how much more can they put into the Frieza storyline, especially with the Future Trunks, Android saga, Cell Saga and Majin Boo Saga still left.
As a person who has followed the series for nearly 20 years, watching “Dragon Ball Z Kai” was a bit surreal because everything looked so clean. Especially comparing with how it looks to the first movie on Blu-ray which had dust and scratches galore and HD enhancing those defects, it was great to see a blemish-free DBZ series.
Now does “Dragon Ball Z Kai” replace my feelings towards the original series. Of course not but I can tell you right now that when watching “Dragon Ball Z” many years ago and even watching it again and again, part of the experience at the time was being kept at the edge of your seat because each saga lasted so long. We would literally have to wait as it would come out to our Japanese video rental store and would contain maybe two to four episodes. And this really tested your patience especially with each saga or battle lasting like 30 episodes or more.
If you were an original DVD purchaser of “Dragon Ball Z” when it was released per volume, not only was it an excruciating wait, it was an expensive wait to collect all volumes. Sure, the DVD box set releases definitely have fixed the problem and is much cheaper than how things were back then.
But what “Dragon Ball Z Kai” does is cut down all non-essential scenes, all filler episodes and focusing on the more important scenes of the story including the action sequences. Footage was re-edited to closely follow the manga and the action is now a more faster pace and I found the pacing for this series to be quite enjoyable and for those watching anything Dragon Ball related for the first time, especially on television, “Dragon Ball Z” makes it much easier for those viewers, especially those with a short attention span.
For long-time fans, this new revision of the series maintains the heart and soul of “Dragon Ball Z” but gives us the best looking and best sound version of the series. It’s not meant to replace the previous “Dragon Ball Z” series that we have enjoyed (and for many, have spent money for via the box sets) but to compliment it and also to bring the series to HD and now on Blu-ray.
“Dragon Ball Z” has been such a part of the lives of many people for two decades and with this release, hopefully will entertain a new generation of DBZ fans or hook fans who have been curious about the series for a long time. Because the series only lasts 100 episodes, there will be multiple volumes but this is one series that gets better and better with each season and the characters grow especially in powers and skill as they take on enemies that are much worse than the previous enemy.
As for the Blu-ray release and its special features, I admit that I was surprised to find the voice talent interview with the American English dub actors. But for me, it was great to put a face to the voice I have listened to for so long. And I hope that FUNimation at least continues this with the upcoming Blu-ray. I would be happy to see commentary added someday.
Overall, “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is easily a must-own anime on Blu-ray series. Granted, I’m sure that many of us are quite biased towards the “Dragon Ball” series but for those who have always been curious about “Dragon Ball Z” and have no intention watching every episode made, then “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is recommended because it’s a much shorter run at 100 episodes and this particular release cover episodes 27-39 thus far.
If you are a fan of “Dragon Ball Z” or one who has always been curious about the series, then it’s about time to watch this series in HD. Definitely recommended!
Dragon Ball Z – Dragon Box Z Vol. 4 (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)
October 3, 2010 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
This is the DVD box set that hardcore DBZ fans have wanted. The series uncensored, its original Japanese 4:3 presentation and remastered! And this fourth volume continues the DBZ action with the Android Saga and Cell Saga. More than likely, if you have purchased the previous three volumes, from here on in, you’re going to buy the rest because these episodes just get better and better. Overall, this DVD box set is highly recommended!
Image courtesy of © BIRD/SHUEISHA, TOEI ANIMATION Film. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Dragon Ball Z – Dragon Box Z Vol. 4
DURATION: Episodes 127-168 (1050 Minutes)
DVD INFORMATION: Japanese Voice track with original music mono, English voice track with original Japanese Music 5.1 surround, 4:3, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment
RATED: TV PG
Released on September 21, 2010
Based on the manga and created by Akira Toriyama
Directed by Daisuke Nishio
Series Composition: Takao Koyama
Character Design by Yuji Ikeda
Music by Shunsuke Kikuchi
Screenplay: Aya Matsui, Hiroshi Toda, Jun Maekawa, Katsuyuki Sumisawa, Keiji Terui, Masashi Kubota, Reiko Yoshida, Satoru Akahori, Sumio Uetaka, Takao Koyama, Toshiki Inoue, Yoshiyuki Suga
Episode director: Atsutoshi Umezawa, Daisuke Nishio, Hidehiko Kadoda, Hiroki Shibata, Johei Matsuura, Junichi Fujise, Kazuhisa Takenouchi, Kazuhito Kikuchi, Masahiro Hosoda, Minoru Okazaki, Mitsuo Hashimoto, Osamu Kasai, Shigeyasu Yamauchi, Takahiro Imamura, Tatsuya Orime, Yoshihiro Ueda
Featuring the following voice talent:
Masako Nozawa/Sean Schemmel as Son Goku
Masako Nozawa/Stephanie Nadolny as Son Gohan
Masako Nozawa/Robert McCollum as Son Goten
Takeshi Kusao/Eric Vale as Trunks
Ryo Horikawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Vegeta
Hiromi Tsuru/Tiffany Volmer as Bulma
Kozo Shioya/Josh Martin as Majin Buu
Naoko Watanabe/Cynthia Cranz as Chichi
Mayumi Tanaka/Sonny Strait as Kuririn
Ryo Horikawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Piccolo
Yuko Minaguchi/Lucy Small as Videl
Hirotaka Suzuoki – Tinshinhan
Tohru Furuya – Yamucha
Miki Itou/Meredith McCoy as Andrid No. 18
Daisuke Gouri/Don Brown as Mr. Satan (Hercule)
Michael Dobson as Supreme Kai
Norio Wakamoto/Dameon Clarke as Cell
The battle to harness the power of the seven Dragon Balls explodes in vivid detail like never before. The Dragon Box features over 40 uncut episodes, remastered and restored frame by frame, rendering the legendary action in pristine clarity. Each episode is presented in Japanese and English with the complete opening and closing credits and includes the original episode previews.
I first discovered “Dragon Ball Z” during the very early 90′s. During the infant stages of Japanese anime conventions in America, there would be “Dragon Ball Z” parties where many people would gather around a hotel room and watch a marathon of episodes. Needless to say, the series which hadn’t been released in America was very popular but of course the only way people could see the show were fan subs with terrible quality on VHS.
I then had the opportunity to discover “Dragon Ball Z” through a Japanese video rental store and although I was taking Japanese at my university at the time, I would rent all that I can but probably miss a lot of the story since my comprehension of Japanese was quite bad at the time.
But then the series came to the US, the videos were released with several episodes per volume and I have to admit, looking back how anime TV episodes were distributed, especially like a long series such as DBZ, if one was able to collect every episode, it would literally cost an arm and a leg.
In 2007, FUNimation Entertainment did something quite wonderful and that was releasing a digitally remastered, digitally restored version of “Dragon Ball Z” in 16×9 widescreen and you would get around 32-36 or so episodes per volume at such a low price. This was such a fantastic deal and for nine seasons (the final volume released was released in 2009), I’ve watched “Dragon Ball Z” completely and have given nothing but positive reviews for them.
But…
I would receive e-mails from the hardcore fans of the Japanese television series who were very upset that the show was not presented in its original aspect ratio (4:3) which is the ratio for standard TV and felt the previous releases featured colors that were saturated, the wrong opening and ending credits, no previews for the next episode. Suffice to say, those hardcore DBZ fans who loved the original Japanese episodes were upset. For me, I just looked it at it price wise and figured, at least we are getting something for a great price and I wasn’t going to complain.
But this goes to show you how FUNimation Entertainment does care for its fans and not sure if they received a lot of mail from hardcore fans but they decided to bring out “Dragon Box Z Volume 1″ in the fall of 2009 and here we are now with the latest, action-packed fourth volume of “Dragon Box Z” which focuses on episodes 127-168 and continuing the android saga and the beginning of the Cell saga. .
In Japan, these episodes were cleaned frame by frame and removing jitter and some grain. Keeping the original colors but most importantly for the fans, keeping everything intact including the 4:3 aspect ratio.
As for the series, aside from the technical differences as mentioned earlier, because the series focuses on the Japanese version of the show, the names of characters are different as the Japanese versions uses “Kamisama-hen” versus “Master Roshi”, Kaio the Genki Dama versus “King Kai”, “Tenshinhan” versus “Tien”, “Vegeta” instead of “Vegita”, etc. The DVD’s come with both Japanese and English dubbing.
In the fourth volume of the “Dragon Ball Z – Dragon Box Z”, the set continues with the conclusion of the Android Saga (episodes 127-147) and begins the Cell Saga (from episode 148 through 168) and sets the next volume for the Cell Games Saga.
There is a lot of action in this series and no filler episodes. It’s straight mayhem as Cell continues to absorb people and the heroes can do nothing but just hope they can hang on for a day or more while the Saiyans complete their training and hope to defeat Cell.
The Cell series was quite popular back then when I was watching the series in straight Japanese and the whole android storyline was just exciting to watch (especially the special episode in Future Trunks world which pits him and an older Gohan against the evil androids). It is important to note that the special is not included in the Dragon Box Z but it is available on DVD and Blu-ray. But for those who have never seen the special and don’t intend to buy it, there is an episode that shows footage from that special.
The main characters during this part of the series are:
Goku – Now an adult, married to Chichi and has a son named Gohan. Constantly training in order to become stronger. Still naive and hungry as he was when he was younger. Currently, he is deceased and using his time to train before returning back to the land of the living.
Gohan - Goku’s young son. Goku realizes that Gohan has strong potential but during an unfortunate incident, asks for Piccolo to train his son in fighting to protect people and the planet. Gohan has accompanied Bulma and Kuririn to find the Dragon Balls in the Planet Nemek.
Kuririn – Goku’s childhood friend who accompanies Gohan and Bulma to find the Dragon Balls in the Planet Nemek.
Bulma – A woman still developing products at her father’s company, Capsule Corp. and uses her intelligence to solve the Z Warriors under dire circumstances. With her Dragon Ball scanner, she joins Gohan and Kuririn to find the Dragon Balls in Planet Nemek.
Kaiosama – One of the Kings who trains Goku on how to fight with gravity ten times greater than Earth at Kaio’s world.
Vegeta – The Prince of Saiyan and the most powerful Saiyajin of them all. Comes to Earth in order to destroy it but after being defeated by Goku, rehabilitates himself and now finds himself fighting alongside Gohan and Kuririn.
Future Trunks – Takes a time machine from the future to the past in order to change the future in which his timeline, all Z-warriors have been killed by the androids (artificial humans). In his timeline, Goku died of a virus but if he can get medication to him to prevent Goku from dying, possibly the Z-warriors and humanity in the future have a chance in surviving the android onslaught.
The main enemies in this set are:
Android 16/Artificial Human No. 16 – A powerful android who is passionate about the life on planet Earth but his main programming is to destroy Goku.
Android 17/Artificial Human No. 17 – A powerful male android who is deadly and has no care for human life.
Android 18/Artificial Human No. 18 - A powerful female android who enjoys fashion but also ending human life.
Android 19/Artificial Human No. 19 - Created by Doctor Gero to absorb all forms of energy.
Android 20/Artificial Human No. 20 – The mad scientist Dr. Gero of the Red Ribbon Army has taken his brain and created Android 20 and now has become powerful.
Cell – Unlike the other androids, he continually evolves ingesting humans in order to become a “Perfect Form” Cell.
VIDEO:
“Dragon Ball Z” via this “Dragon Box Z Vol. 4″ set contains episodes featured in standard definition (4:3 aspect ratio). The colors are much different than the previous box set where colors were deeper and more pronounced, the colors of the series features its original presentation as it was in Japan and of course, restored frame by frame in which the previous season was not. Personally, I don’t have a preference to which is better but if anything, this set is for the hardcore fans who preferred the original Japanese presentation.
But for these episodes which aired in 1990-1991, you have to acknowledge how good the transfer was for this restoration. Granted, there is a “Dragon Ball Kai” currently airing in Japan in High Definition (and will be released in the US this month on Blu-ray and DVD) which will look much better but for this DVD box set release, considering it’s 20-years-later, for the diehard fans who have wanted these episodes in its original presentation for so long, Pony Canyon definitely did a very good job on restoration and again, great to see FUNimation Entertainment bring this box set to the US.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
As for audio, this is where things are a bit different from the original Japanese audio presentation. Because FUNimation Entertainment had to include the English dubbed audio, instead of using the 448 kb/s audio, they went with 96 kb/s. This may upset fans who wanted a higher bitrate but because its important to attract those who are prefer English dubs and make the set even more marketable, the English dub had to be included. With that being said, I’ve grown up watching the Japanese audio and typically, I prefer to watch anime in Japanese BUT with “Dragon Ball Z”, I have always felt that the English dub was among the best out there and the voices just sound right for the characters.
But the intention for this box set was for those who wanted the Japanese audio. Personally, it’s a preference that I would rather have 5.1 surround versus mono or stereo soundtracks. And when I do, I typically set my receiver to stereo on all channels since I have a 7.2 setup. But fans will be happy that they get the original Japanese audio for the complete episode, previews for the next episode, opening and ending theme and you get Hironobu Kageyama’s “Cha-La, Head-Cha-La” instead of the Falcouner score.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Dragon Box Z Vol. 4″ doesn’t come with any special features but it comes with cool packaging and an awesome hardbound booklet.
What we have is a yellow slip case box with Cell on the front, unlike the season box sets which were gateway folded, the DVD’s are presented in two foil covered DVD cases and are presented in Japanese style with the first disc on the right hand side and the two discs on the left.
Also included is a hardcover 50-page booklet titled “Dragonbook” in Japanese reading style. The book features a profile of the Goku family, ultimate character and relationship chart, perfect guide, Dragon Ball Z Design Works Collection, Impressive Words and Dragon Ball Z Overlooked Moments. The overall box set package is definitely a solid presentation for the hardcore fans and I have to admit, looks way cooler than the previous orange box sets.
For the most part, this DVD box set is definitely worth it. But before fans who have bought the original single volumes and then the season box sets go on a tirade of having another version of “Dragon Ball Z” released, the main thing to remember is that those who have been vocal from the start were the diehard fans. They wanted the original 4:3 aspect ratio, they wanted the original Japanese presentation and the could care less about the English dubs and the Falcouner score.
Personally, the season box sets are still solid for those who are not so demanding. This box set is primarily for those hardcore fans and FUNimation Entertainment are giving those fans what they wanted for so long and I see that as quite admirable because they invested in bringing this release stateside and preparing it for the American consumer. And for those not familiar with those season box sets, well the good news is that the English dub is featured as well.
Do I have a preference on which I like better? Well having watch both…and enjoying the season box sets, I am actually content with both but I will have to say that “Dragon Box Z” has a much cooler packaging presentation and about 6-8 more episodes but you will be paying about $15 more. So, it’s really up to you if it’s worth it. Personally, if you just want to see the episodes and prefer to watch it with the English dubs, the original season box sets can be found for a great price these days and were solid releases to begin with. But for the hardcore fans who have demanded and have wanted the original series and how they were presented, you can’t beat these “Dragon Box” DVD boxsets. They’re awesome!
This box set was created for those who wanted “Dragon Ball Z” to be presented how it was in Japan and they have waited a long, long time for it. So, I look at these box sets as fans are now getting the best of both worlds and now those fans should be happy. Now the only thing is left will be the Blu-ray fans who will be clamoring for “Dragon Ball Z Kai” (“Dragon Ball Z” minus the filler episodes, remastered with new intro and vocals all re-recorded) which will be released this month but if you want the entire series, the Dragon Box Z series is what you want, otherwise if you want on Blu-ray – “Dragon Ball Z Kai” is the way to go. So, whether or not you pick the original orange box release, this Dragon Box Z release or “Dragon Ball Z Kai” release, all three are solid releases.
With this latest volume, you get the Android and Cell Saga and this is definitely one of the more intense action-packed battle sagas in the whole “Dragon Ball Z” series and was popular in Japan due to the popularity of Future Trunks. And for the most part, if you are a hardcore fan who have purchased the previous three volumes, more than likely from here on in, you’re going to pickup up the upcoming volumes as the action and the storyline continues to get better and better.
Overall, hardcore fans get there money’s worth with this DVD boxset. You get 40+ episodes in their original Japanese TV presentation and each episode which were remastered and you also get cool package-based content. For those hardcore DBZ fans who have waited this long for the original Japanese DBZ anime series in its original presentation, this box set is for you!
“Dragon Ball Z – Dragon Box Vol. 4″ is highly recommended.
