“Season 7 of Dragon Ball Z takes place seven years after the battle with Cell. Featuring on Gohan as a teenager, introducing Goku’s younger brother Goten and a focus on battle tournaments!”
DVD TITLE: DRAGON BALL Z (SEASON 7)
DURATION: 565 minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Animated, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
COMPANY: Funimation
Released on November 11, 2008
Includes the Complete Great Saiyama & World Tournament Sagas
Seven Years of Peace have passed since the defeat of the monstrous Cell, and the Z-Fighters have enjoyed a return to normal life. Goku has eagerly continued his training in Other World, Krillin has gotten married and Gohan has renewed his scholarly pursuits while attempting to navigate the pitfalls of high school. Two fresh new Saiyan faces have also appeared on the scene-Goku’s son Goten, and Vegeta’s son Trunks!
Now, the time has come for the Z-Fighters to reunite, as the new World Martial Arts Tournament is set to begin. The greatest warriors on Earth have come together for their chance to capture the title of the reigning champion, Mr. Satan – but behind the scenes, sinister forces are at work. An evil eye watches the competitors’ every move, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. The action grows firece on the tournament floor, but for the Z-fighters, the real fight is only just beginning!
TRAILER:
Another awesome Dragon Ball Z season box set is here and it features a three-arc storyline.
The first arc 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.
This arc features 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 arc then reintroduces us to Z-Fighters seven years later. 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 seven year old brother named Goten.
As Gohan enters 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.
I have to admit that when I first watched these episodes (when it was first released in Japan), I absolutely loved the chemistry between Gohan and Bedil. So, it was great to see how the two fighters get close to each other and it’s almost similar to how Goku and Chi Chi became boyfriend and girlfriend (and eventually husband and wife).
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. The first part of this third arc features the junior division in which Son Goten and Trunks enter the tournament. The second part features the main division which the Z-Fighters (Goku, Vegita, Piccolo, Krillin, No. 18, Gohan, Android 18 and Trunks/Goten in disguise) are taking part in.  But introduces two mysterious characters named Shin and Kibito which somehow scares Piccolo for some unknown reason.
And then there are other fighters who seem to have superhuman power levels and along with the two mysterious characters, the Z-Fighters must find out who they are and what is their scheme.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
The video looks great on DVD and for those of us who have multi-generation fansubs or fading VHS tapes, just having these episodes on DVD and everything looking great. I know some people have a problem with the show receiving some cropping but for me it’s quite miniscule. The series has been remastered in high-definition and digitally restored widescreen transfer from the original Japanese film.
As for the audio, the audio features newly revised English dialogue, English voice track with original Japanese music (in Digital 5.1 surround or original TV broadcast in Stereo). Also, featured is the original Japanese language track (in mono).
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Special features include trailers and open and ending themes. If there was one thing lacking with the DBZ box sets, it’s the fact that there are really nothing in terms of special features.
I have to admit that I’m a bit biased towards the “Dragon Ball Z” anime series. I loved the series when it was first release in Japan and still passionate about it today.
The fact that FUNimation Entertainment releases these season box sets with plenty of episodes (25 in this box set) for under $30 is just awesome! Could you imagine that just several years ago, the series was released with only a few episodes per disc (and there are literally a few hundred episodes of DBZ) and were sold for under $20 at one time. So, the fact that you can watch all these episodes with digitally remastered video and revised audio is just great!
As for this box set, personally I enjoyed the Great Saiyaman arc. We watched little Gohan grow up and now he is a teenager and although he doesn’t know it yet, he has met someone he cares about and willing to help her no matter what. The chemistry between Gohan and Bedil is just awesome and episodes just focusing on these two were just great.
Also, episodes featuring Goten and Trunks and seeing these two go against each other in the Junior Division of the World Tournament was fun to watch.
And of course, to see how everyone has changed. Especially Krillin who is now married to Android 18 and both have a daughter. Heck, Krillin now has hair!
But once you get to the third arc, you know that we are now heading towards the explosive final “Dragon Ball Z” villain arc of the coming of Majin Buu and with that being said, similar to the fifth season box set, season seven may leave people feeling cheated because there are only 25 episodes instead of the 30+ episodes.
In fact, discs 4-6 only contain three episodes each. Disappointing but at the same time, I understand why FUNimation had to do it, and that is to make sure that a TV season focuses on certain arcs. This season box set focuses on the Great Saiyaman but also the Underworld Martial Arts Tournament and the World Martial Arts Tournament.
It’s easy to get spoiled since the first few seasons and even the last season, fans have been treated with more than 30 episodes. But still, considering how much these episodes were sold at one point and the fact is, you still get 25 episodes at under $30, that’s still a great deal.
Also, if you are buying Season 7 of the the series, more than likely you have committed yourself in buying every season of “Dragon Ball Z”.
All in all, another fun and enjoyable season of “Dragon Ball Z”. Check it out!
BUY THIS DVD | Netflix Delivers DVDs to your home. NO LATE FEES. Try for FREE!