5 Comments

1. 

   Torioda

   June 13, 2010 at 6:58 am

   Review by Torioda for Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box One
   Rating:
   REVIEW

   Having my hand at watching the Dragon Box and the extra material it offers, I can say this is easily a great quality release from FUNimation. It’s a near perfect release. Now let’s break down what it has to offer.

   Picture: Taken from the original 16mm film preserved in cold storage, the picture was quite perfectly clean, but with most old animation, it will suffer from some damage over time. Pony Canyon, the company that went through the remastering process, had all the new digital technology available to them to clean the footage frame by frame while reducing jitter and removing most of the grain. With FUNimation’s Dragon Box Masters, most of this is quite evident. The picture is clean and looks great in motion. As most say, screenshots really don’t do it justice. There were times where I did notice some minor inconsistencies with flesh tones. Somewhat pinkish in one frame, not so much in another or another episode. It’s a minor problem and I suspect it had something to do with the film damage over the years. Aside from that, everything is crisp and clear. I couldn’t ask for more and it’s the best quality available for the Dragon Ball Z series.

   Audio: The set includes two audio options, Japanese Mono in 96kb/s stream (vs. the original 448 kb/s in the Japanese Dragon Boxes) and the English Dub w/ Japanese music 5.1 surround sound. While FUNi’s Dragon Boxes have less kb/s compared to the Japanese release, it’s the best audio quality we’ll ever get for the Japanese track on a English Dragon Ball release. It sounds clear and more vibrant than the prior releases. There’s not much you can do with a mono track either, so it’s another minor problem. The English 5.1 track is pretty much the same track that was on the Season Sets.

   Content and Packaging: The Dragon Box includes the first 42 episodes of the series spanning from the Saiyan arc to the beginning of the Namek arc. The packaging is great with an epic prologue reminiscent of the Star Wars films and what looks like an Akira Toriyama designed Son Goku (It’s actually Nakatsuru Katsuyoshi, veteran Dragon Ball designer/artist for the TV show). Part of the spine image shows said Goku and Son Gohan with later releases. The episodes are split into 6 discs. 3 on each container with the Dragon Book packaged in the middle making up part of the spine image. The Dragon Book (or should I say Dragon Books) was originally done in 2 volumes spanning 128 pages each. The Dragon Books contained an introduction by Akira Toriyama himself and content such as a recap of the early Dragon Ball series, Episode summaries (with original air dates), Character profiles, Character relationships, Dragon Columns which includes the History of Dragon Ball Z along with real world events at the time, Fashions of the series, Character sketches, and a whole lot more. What FUNimation decided to do is to release the Dragon Books in 7 separate volumes co-relating with the 7 separate planned releases. The first FUNimation Dragon Book is a near-perfect replica of part of the original Japanese Dragon Book Volume 1. It includes the recap of the Dragon Ball series, character profiles, relationship chart, episode summaries with the original airdates, part of the Dragon Columns (which include parts of the History of Dragon Ball Z and the Fashion Check). No Akira Toriyama introduction unfortunately. All of the original names and attack terminology are even used. No Krillin, Tien, Destructo Disc, and Special Beam Cannon to be found here. Even the original Japanese voice actors are listed under each character. There’s a lot of content and fun facts to know here in the Dragon Book that even the casual fan can appreciate.

   Overall, the packaging is great and even better than most FUNimation releases. For a company that thrives itself in giving quality releases for other series’s like One Piece, Yu Yu Hakusho, and the such, that’s really saying alot.

   Other Thoughts/Conclusion: This set might not really for the casual/dub fanbase that grew up with the broadcast syndication. For those dub fans in the know of the Season Sets and want the Dragon Box quality with the Falcouner score, I sincerely feel sorry for them. But with FUNimation, having a perfect Dragon Ball release is near impossible. There’s always something wrong with each release that comes out and the FUNimation Dragon Box is no exception. There’s the lingering possibility that the Dragon Boxes may or may not include the TV specials (Bardock and Trunks) and the infamous “Lost OVA”/Playdia Footage, “The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans”, which was never EVER released in North America. FUNimation did claim to purchase all of the Dragon Ball Z Dragon Box Masters, so it’s a definite possibility to be able to see the “Lost OVA” in the FUNimation Dragon Box. If the Bardock and Trunks TV specials aren’t included with the Dragon Box sets, I would be very disappointed. I just don’t think there would be a valid reason not to include it. There just as important parts to the TV series as the episodes themselves. All it takes is an extra disc co- relating with the set of episodes it aired alongside with. Despite a problem or two with the Dragon Boxes, it’s still a great and damn near perfect release. It shows that FUNimation is giving proper respect to a series that’s really done well for them over the years. I can’t highly recommend this set more than I already have. With the Amazon price, it’s really more worthy of a purchase. Go get it.
   

2. 

   J. Green

   June 13, 2010 at 7:57 am

   Review by J. Green for Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box One
   Rating:
   Like many, I grew up watching Dragon Ball Z. Unlike most, I grew up watching it through nth generation fansubbed VHS. For years I wanted a box set of DBZ that was presented the way I remember (With a more vibrant picture and clearer sound of course.). Funimation’s earlier efforts were foolish to say the least, but it was understandable when you consider and understand Toei gave them very little to work with.

   The Orange bricked sets released a few years ago was not how I remembered DBZ. The widescreen presentation was a major turn off. I heard about the Japanese Dragon Box sets but considering it was over $500 to order and it was strictly in Japanese I passed on them. Then the Otakon announcement hit and my mind was blown. After a back and forth email session with a friend with connections to Funimation I quickly preordered it.

   Three months later, I received it. THIS is the DBZ I remembered! The picture and audio quality is impeccable to say the least. The packaging is as close to the JP release as possible. I thank those who brought the orange boxes because if it wasn’t for them, The Dragon Box would still be a Japan exclusive.

   I’ll grab all the other volumes and movies. After that I will be content as Kai is an abomination (In a nutshell, it’s as if DBZ was restored and remastered by George Lucas). I’m surprised the fanbase isn’t hostile towards Toei like the Star Wars fans 10 years ago. But that’s neither here nor there.

3. 

   Maria P. Green

   June 13, 2010 at 8:10 am

   Review by Maria P. Green for Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box One
   Rating:
   I have now received my Dragon Box, and it is a very great set! Everything that was advertised about this set is 100% completely true and unless you’re a big fan of the English Dub Music (which this set lacks), this set is a must-buy for Dragon Ball Z fans.

   PROS:
   
   - Video quality is EXCELLENT! Very “fresh” and high quality, yet still maintains the same old-school visual appeal
   
   - Is NOT cropped in Fullscreen (or Widescreen if your TV stretches it out)
   
   - Includes both Japanese voices and the Dub (in 5.1 Surround Sound)
   
   - Does not include the English dub music (I am against it, this is just my opinion)
   
   - The quality of the Japanese Mono audio is much more clearer and better than the Remastered Japanese Track
   
   - Packaging is top notch and superb
   
   - The Dragon Book is a very nice collectible, full of info.
   
   - Next Episode Previews!

   CONS:
   
   - Disc overlapping

   I recommend this set and give it a 10/10 or 5 stars.

4. 

   A. J. Bee

   June 13, 2010 at 8:54 am

   Review by A. J. Bee for Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box One
   Rating:
   After alienating so many fans with the very poor season set releases, FUNimation have lovingly crafted what could be considered an apology to hardcore Dragonball fans.

   It’s fullscreen, beautifully restored from the first generation film prints, and is truly the way the series was meant to be seen.

5. 

   A. J. Reick

   June 13, 2010 at 9:13 am

   Review by A. J. Reick for Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box One
   Rating:
   When I first heard the Dragon Box was coming to America, I thought it was some kind of lame joke. But it turns out that it is actually true. For those who don’t know. The Dragon Box was released in Japan years ago which featured a true frame by frame restoration of the Dragon Ball Z anime. The original 16mm film was used to create the DVDs that were sold in Japan, so the original colors and frame alignment are being displayed correctly.

   One thing about the Japanese Dragon Box release was the price. It actually came in 2 seperate boxes, each containing one half of the series, which retailed for about 100,000 yen, or about $850 USD for each box. So for the Japanese release, you would spend over $1700 USD for the entire series. Also keep in mind there is no subtitles on the Japanese release as well, just Japanese language only. Instead of 2 boxes, FUNimation has decided to split the set in 7 seperate sets. This will make it easier to purchase the entire series at a much lower cost. For all 291 episodes of Dragon Ball Z in Dragon Box format, you could probably expect to pay around $400 as opposed to $1700 for the Japanese version.

   Now, thanks to FUNimation, the Dragon Boxes are coming to the US with subtitles and English audio options and most importantly, a FULLSCREEN aspect ratio. This definitely makes up for the much reviled “season sets” in which they tried to convince the public that it was in “widescreen” when in reality they actually cropped the footage resulting in substaintial loss of original footage.

   This release is not for everybody, if you are already satisfied with the orange brick season sets, then stick with them. But if you want to view Dragon Ball Z “the way it was meant to be seen,” I highly recommend tbe Dragon Box sets to see this great series in its original broadcast form.