Daizenshuu EX - Guides - DVD Guide - DragonBall Z TV Series

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Daizenshuu EX - Guides - DVD Guide - DragonBall Z TV Series

The first two seasons of FUNimation's dub have been released by Pioneer as edited and dub-only. These have completed a confusing re-release that included a canceled "Ultimate Uncut Edition" run in favor of a faux-"remastered" widescreen release which contains a redub using FUNimation's current voice cast. After that, the entire TV series is uncut and bilingual, released directly from FUNimation. The original releases were phased out in favor of FUNimation's faux-"remastered" widescreen release of the rest of the series, which themselves were succeeded by "Dragon Box" releases of the entire TV series. FUNimation has also announced a new remaster of the series for Blu-ray.

Volumes Released / Announced: 87 individual (plus corresponding box sets), 9 canceled individual, 9 faux-"remastered" box sets, 7 "Dragon Box" sets, unknown number of Blu-ray sets
Total Volumes Expected: 87 individual (plus corresponding box sets), 9 canceled individual, 9 faux-"remastered" box sets, 7 "Dragon Box" sets, unknown number of Blu-ray sets
Episodes: 1-276 (-291) English / 1-291 Japanese

AVAILABILITY:

Edited, English Dubbed Only (1-53 / 1-67)
Uncut, Bilingual (54-276 / 67-291)
Uncut, Redubbed, Trilingual (1-27 / 1-27)
Uncut, Bilingual (1-291, season sets)
Uncut, Bilingual (1-291, "Dragon Box")
Uncut, Bilingual (1-ongoing, Blu-ray)

Of all products from the DragonBall franchise, the DragonBall Z TV series has the most convoluted and confusing release in North America. The series went through three distinct releases (including one canceled one) with two different home-format distributors and varying audio contents such as musical scores and voice casts.

The Saiyan Conflict and The Namek Saga are the first and second season, respectively, of DBZ for the North American syndication television market as produced by FUNimation. The episodes released on those discs are as-is from their original syndication run on American television beginning in 1996 (although in the original run episode 26 was considered part of season one, it is included on the season two boxset). This means they are edited, English-dubbed ONLY (with the Ocean Studios cast, as opposed to FUNimation's in-house cast, which did not yet exist), and were distributed by Pioneer Home Entertainment. The Japanese episodes listed with these discs in this guide indicate which original Japanese episodes these dubbed episodes correspond to based on their visual content due to edits and episode splicing. FUNimation's sub-licensing agreement with Pioneer (later renamed to Geneon) expired on 31 August 2003, resulting in a complete return to FUNimation's control. For more information on the Pioneer/FUNimation licensing agreement, please refer to the "Newbie Guide".

In the meantime, FUNimation had struck a deal with Cartoon Network in 1999 (based on airing existing episodes beginning in 1998) to continue production of the DBZ TV series with a broadcast in their "Toonami" timeslot. Captain Ginyu marks the end of home distribution by Pioneer, now coming right from FUNimation, themselves. These discs also mark the beginning of the bilingual releases of DBZ (both English and Japanese audio), with translations provided by Steven J. Simmons. The first disc (Assault) has two video tracks, because the English and Japanese audio could not quite be lined up exactly due to FUNimation's censoring of seasons one and two off-setting so many episodes. From volume 19 to the end of the series, however, all discs are perfectly synched and can have their audio switched at will.

FUNimation announced plans to go back and re-dub the first two seasons with their own in-house actors (which had already done the rest of the series), and release this re-dub uncut on DVD with the Japanese version (and amazingly, the Spanish version), as well. These discs had been in-process of release under the "Ultimate Uncut Edition" line. The English-dubbed version of these episodes were aired "uncut" (in visual content only; FUNimation's English dub of the series runs the gamut in terms of accuracy to the original Japanese script) on Cartoon Network beginning in fall 2005.

In mid-2006, FUNimation abruptly (and silently) halted the release of the "Ultimate Uncut Edition" line after the ninth volume, which left the remainder of a second "season box" for the "Vegeta Saga" left to fill. Images and SKUs of an additional "Complete Vegeta Saga" had leaked online, with the official word from FUNimation being that more information on the set (supposedly consisting of five DVDs and becoming available in February 2007) would be available soon, and that other "major announcements" concerning the release of the series will follow.

In February 2007, FUNimation's "remastered" Season One boxset saw its release to DVD. Touted as a complete remastering, this release was produced in a (cropped) widescreen presentation with a "remastering" process by Video Post & Transfer in Texas. Despite FUNimation's claims, the set is indeed cropped (missing approximately 20% of its vertical resolution while only gaining approximately 5% of its horizontal resolution), it is not remastered frame-by-frame from its original film, and the color has been adjusted. Of note is the inclusion of a new audio track, featuring FUNimation's traditional voice track (with minor line alterations where appropriate) played alongside the original Japanese musical score. This release also marked the last inclusion of FUNimation's replacement musical score for their English dub (previously heard on North American broadcast television), with subsequent home releases and online streaming reverting back to its proper, original Japanese musical score. FUNimation continued with this "season" release style for the entirety of the DragonBall Z TV series, marking the first time it had ever received a "consistent" release from beginning to end in North America.

Across all of these previous releases for the DragonBall Z TV series, no Japanese-version episodes contain next-episode previews. No sound was given to FUNimation to go along with the video for next-episode previews (which also occurred with Sailormoon). For most releases, FUNimation created an English-dubbed-only version of a single next-episode preview used as an "Extra" to promote either the next discs or box set in the series.

In July 2009 at their industry panel at the Otakon anime convention in Baltimore, FUNimation announced their licensing and forthcoming release of "Dragon Box" sets based on the genuinely-remastered release of the same name from Japan several years prior. The release would begin in November 2009 and span across seven sets. Clearly aimed at "hardcore" fans (and specifically those of the original Japanese version of the show), the packaging would closely mirror the Japanese packaging, would include a hardcover book with each box, and even default to the original Japanese language track. This set would be the fourth official release of some earlier episodes of the DragonBall Z TV series in North America, would be the second "consistent" release of the entire series, and for many fans, was set to be the definitive release, finally coming to them a full fifteen years after FUNimation first acquired the license to the franchise.

In July 2011 at their industry panel at Comic-Con in San Diego, FUNimation announced a new Blu-ray release of the standard DragonBall Z TV series (non-Kai) for release later that year. It was later clarified to be an entirely new remaster, separate from the "season set" DVD releases produced from 2007-2009, despite the prior releases being originally created in 1080p. The new remaster was also confirmed to be in its original and proper 4:3 aspect ratio.

For a more complete and detailed history of FUNimation's various releases for the DragonBall Z TV series (including direct comparisons across all releases), please see our major "Feature" from July 2009.

BLU-RAY SETS (REMASTERED, PROPER 4:3 ASPECT RATIO)

LEVEL 1.1

Released: 08 November 2011
Discs: 2
Episodes: 1-17 English / 1-17 Japanese

AVAILABILITY:

New remaster in high-definition 4:3

LEVEL 1.2

Released: 13 December 2011
Discs: 2
Episodes: 18-34 English / 18-34 Japanese

AVAILABILITY:

New remaster in high-definition 4:3

"DRAGON BOX" SETS (REMASTERED, PROPER 4:3 ASPECT RATIO)

BOX ONE

Released: 17 November 2009
Discs: 6
Episodes: 1-42 English / 1-42 Japanese

AVAILABILITY:

Licensed release of the "Dragon Box" masters of the same name from the Japanese release several years prior
Defaults to original Japanese language track
Includes one English dub track (featuring the original Japanese musical score)

BOX TWO

Released: 16 February 2010
Discs: 6
Episodes: 43-84 English / 43-84 Japanese

AVAILABILITY:

Licensed release of the "Dragon Box" masters of the same name from the Japanese release several years prior
Defaults to original Japanese language track
Includes one English dub track (featuring the original Japanese musical score)

BOX THREE

Released: 04 May 2010
Discs: 6
Episodes: 85-126 English / 85-126 Japanese

AVAILABILITY:

Licensed release of the "Dragon Box" masters of the same name from the Japanese release several years prior
Defaults to original Japanese language track
Includes one English dub track (featuring the original Japanese musical score)

BOX FOUR

Released: 21 September 2010
Discs: 6
Episodes: 127-168 English / 127-168 Japanese

AVAILABILITY:

Licensed release of the "Dragon Box" masters of the same name from the Japanese release several years prior
Defaults to original Japanese language track
Includes one English dub track (featuring the original Japanese musical score)

BOX FIVE

Released: 26 April 2011
Discs: 6
Episodes: 169-209 English / 169-209 Japanese

AVAILABILITY:

Licensed release of the "Dragon Box" masters of the same name from the Japanese release several years prior
Defaults to original Japanese language track
Includes one English dub track (featuring the original Japanese musical score)

BOX SIX

Released: 19 July 2011
Discs: 6
Episodes: 210-250 English / 210-250 Japanese

AVAILABILITY:

Licensed release of the "Dragon Box" masters of the same name from the Japanese release several years prior
Defaults to original Japanese language track
Includes one English dub track (featuring the original Japanese musical score)

BOX SEVEN

Released: 13 September 2011
Discs: 6
Episodes: 251-291 English / 251-291 Japanese

AVAILABILITY:

Licensed release of the "Dragon Box" masters of the same name from the Japanese release several years prior
Defaults to original Japanese language track
Includes one English dub track (featuring the original Japanese musical score)

"REMASTERED" SEASON BOX SETS (CROPPED 16:9 ASPECT RATIO)

SEASON ONE

Released: 06 February 2007
Discs: 6
Episodes: 1-39 English / 1-39 Japanese

AVAILABILITY:

Released and touted as "Digitally Remastered", which contains a cropped widescreen presentation, faux-"remastered" footage, and three audio tracks (original Japanese, English broadcast audio, and English audio with Japanese musical score)
Replaced "Series 1" from the original two runs of individual discs

SEASON TWO

Released: 22 May 2007
Discs: 6
Episodes: 40-74 English / 40-74 Japanese

AVAILABILITY:

Released and touted as "Digitally Remastered", which contains a cropped widescreen presentation, faux-"remastered" footage, and three audio tracks (original Japanese, English broadcast audio, and English audio with Japanese musical score)
Replaced "Series 2" & "Series 3" from the original run of individual discs

SEASON THREE

Released: 18 September 2007
Discs: 6
Episodes: 75-107 English / 75-107 Japanese

AVAILABILITY:

Released and touted as "Digitally Remastered", which contains a cropped widescreen presentation, faux-"remastered" footage, and three audio tracks (original Japanese, English broadcast audio, and English audio with Japanese musical score)
Replaced "Series 4" from the original run of individual discs

SEASON FOUR

Released: 19 February 2008
Discs: 6
Episodes: 108-139 English / 108-139 Japanese

AVAILABILITY:

Released and touted as "Digitally Remastered", which contains a cropped widescreen presentation, faux-"remastered" footage, and three audio tracks (original Japanese, English broadcast audio, and English audio with Japanese musical score)
Replaced "Series 5", "Series 6", & "Series 7" from the original run of individual discs

SEASON FIVE

Released: 27 May 2008
Discs: 6
Episodes: 140-165 English / 140-165 Japanese

AVAILABILITY:

Released and touted as "Digitally Remastered", which contains a cropped widescreen presentation, faux-"remastered" footage, and three audio tracks (original Japanese, English broadcast audio, and English audio with Japanese musical score)
Replaced "Series 8" & "Series 9" from the original run of individual discs

SEASON SIX

Released: 16 September 2008
Discs: 6
Episodes: 166-194 English / 166-194 Japanese

AVAILABILITY:

Released and touted as "Digitally Remastered", which contains a cropped widescreen presentation, faux-"remastered" footage, and three audio tracks (original Japanese, English broadcast audio, and English audio with Japanese musical score)
Replaced "Series 10" from the original run of individual discs

SEASON SEVEN

Released: 11 November 2008
Discs: 6
Episodes: 195-219 English / 195-219 Japanese

AVAILABILITY:

Released and touted as "Digitally Remastered", which contains a cropped widescreen presentation, faux-"remastered" footage, and three audio tracks (original Japanese, English broadcast audio, and English audio with Japanese musical score)
Replaced "Series 11" & "Series 12" from the original run of individual discs

SEASON EIGHT

Released: 10 February 2009
Discs: 6
Episodes: 220-254 English / 220-254 Japanese

AVAILABILITY:

Released and touted as "Digitally Remastered", which contains a cropped widescreen presentation, faux-"remastered" footage, and three audio tracks (original Japanese, English broadcast audio, and English audio with Japanese musical score)
Replaced "Series 13" & "Series 14" from the original run of individual discs

SEASON NINE

Released: 19 May 2009
Discs: 6
Episodes: 255-291 English / 255-291 Japanese

AVAILABILITY:

Released and touted as "Digitally Remastered", which contains a cropped widescreen presentation, faux-"remastered" footage, and three audio tracks (original Japanese, English broadcast audio, and English audio with Japanese musical score)
Replaced "Series 15" & "Series 16" from the original run of individual discs

INDIVIDUAL DISCS (PROPER 4:3 ASPECT RATIO)