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[Takao]

UPDATE:

Trailer and behind the scenes for these Blu-Ray Remastered sets.

There's also been a bunch of screenshots released, but I won't post them due to them being from Funimation, which could mean a product that's not necessarily indicative of the final release.

Original post:

Via Daizenshuu EX:

FLOWER MOUND, Texas, July 21, 2011 – FUNimation® Entertainment is announcing that it is bringing the first installment of the anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z to Blu-ray disc for the first time this fall.

Among the most prized in the FUNimation catalog, the studio has used the newest technology available to remaster in high-definition and digitally restore the 291 episode series.

FUNimation worked with Dallas-based ANDTRANSFER for the digital film transfer. FUNimation previously worked with the post-production house to remaster the series for the season set releases on DVD. The transfer was performed by nationally-recognized colorist Steve Franko and supervised by FUNimation, which then finished the rest of the restoration process.

Today's state-of-the-art systems offer tools that allow restoration teams to make a wide range of repairs and focus on more difficult tasks which, in the end, deliver a clean product that faithfully presents the original version and measures up to the high-quality standards of HDTV and Blu-ray.

Once again, the Dragon Ball Z series was digitally transferred from the original Japanese 16mm film frame by frame at 1080p. Developments in restoration software gives mastering artists more to work with when they apply tools to even out film grain and remove fading, film cuts and other visual anomalies. As a result, the viewer will see brighter, clearer colors, less variance in quality between scenes, and a sharper image.

"Working with a very old and fragile source film presented a number of challenges for the restoration process," said Gen Fukunaga, CEO and president at FUNimation Entertainment. "Our purpose was to restore the series as accurately as possible, to what it must have been like to see it when it was originally mastered, and preserve the charm of the animation. After all, it is of a particular time and place."

After debuting in 1989, Dragon Ball Z has become an iconic anime series. The franchise has sold more than 25 million DVD and Blu-ray discs in its lifetime, becoming the best-selling anime series of all time.

Dragon Ball Z is the explosive sequel to Dragon Ball. The series follows the adventures of Goku and his son Gohan as they team up with their friends to battle evil forces throughout the universe to protect their beloved planet Earth. The first season covers the Vegeta Saga and chronicles the introduction of one of Dragon Ball Z's main characters, Vegeta.

This restored edition also features the original U.S. voice actors as well as the original FUNimation soundtrack – all in lossless Dolby® TrueHD.

Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1 includes the first 17 episodes on two discs with over 400 minutes of action and among the extras included on this release is a feature that looks at the restoration and remastering processes.

Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1 will be available at major retailers nationwide on November 8, 2011.

Funi Dubbies get their Falconer score, and maybe a non-cropped version? We don't know yet. We do know Funimation's 2007 cropped masters were filmed at 1080p, but after the overwhelmingly negative reception they got, I didn't think they'd use those for more retail releases.

Also, that Steve guy worked for Porn companies, heheh.

My advice - stick to the Dragon Boxes on DVD. Or buy these new Kai sets:

And cry over the lack of Boo

 

[DarkKyo]

Meh @ Funimation soundtrack. I always liked the JP one more.

 

[Takao]

Meh @ Funimation soundtrack. I always liked the JP one more.

I'm sure the Japanese score will be there.

Spoiler

In Mono.

 

[theDeeDubs]

Sweet I sold all my orange sets off while buying Kai on Blu. I like having Falconer's music too.

*Edit- I wish Gohan would get a cover for once. Can't believe he's been getting snubbed during the Cell saga releases.

 

[SuperSonic1305]

Infinitely superior Falconer music ftw! I hope these aren't gimped in some way.

 

[Takao]

Infinitely superior Falconer music ftw! I hope these aren't gimped in some way.

Hope they aren't using the cropped, and heavily DVRed masters from 2007:

 

[Kagari]

GODDAMNIT.

TAKAO THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT.

 

[Seven Force]

I could go either or on the soundtracks, really.

But yeah, I'll stick with the Dragon Box set.

 

[C.Dark.DN]

Falconer music, score
Blu-ray, score

17 episode Blu-ray where they might not finish the fucking thing if the sales are poor?, minus

Don't use the 2007 masters.

 

[Takao]

GODDAMNIT.

TAKAO THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT.

You own Dragon Boxes right?

Then you should probably skip these, as they'll likely be using the 2007 masters which cut out 20% of the frame, mess up the colours severely, and blur a lot of lines in the early seasons.

 

[Big One]

Faulcnor music fucking sucks, and this will probably be based off the orange bricks. HD versions of old DBZ episodes don't exist yet. This'll probably go through a similar process that the orange bricks went through.

 

[Kagari]

You own Dragon Boxes right?

Then you should probably skip these, as they'll likely be using the 2007 masters which cut out 20% of the frame, mess up the colours severely, and blur a lot of lines in the early seasons.

I wonder what the chances of the Dragon Box version appearing on BD are...

 

[Takao]

Faulcnor music fucking sucks, and this will probably be based off the orange bricks. HD versions of old DBZ episodes don't exist yet. This'll probably go through a similar process that the orange bricks went through.

Orange Brick masters are in 1080p!

I wonder what the chances of the Dragon Box version appearing on BD are...

We do not know if Toei and Pony Canyon did their restoration in 1080p.

 

[Instro]

Well it having the Faulconer music is a huge plus.

 

[MikeMyers]

I own the Dragon Boxes.

My prized possession.

 

[Kagari]

We do not know if Toei and Pony Canyon did their restoration in 1080p.

Considering how long ago it was, I somehow doubt it.

 

[Stat Flow]

Faulconer music for the WIN.

 

[Odoul]

Faulconer music for the WIN.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-pVJ3w0tJI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrogZTkvRxs&feature=related

Preach

 

[Anth0ny]

They will almost certainly use the orange brick transfer for this shit. They made a big deal about how it was REMASTERED IN 1080P back when the DVDs were first released.

If you like the dub, don't wait for this shit. Just pick up the orange bricks, they're like $15 a pop on amazon right now. About 30+ episodes in each set. That's stupid cheap.

If you like the original Japanese version, you own the Dragon Boxes already. If you don't, buy them immediately

 

[Trojita]

Japanese music is superior.

 

[Takao]

Considering how long ago it was, I somehow doubt it.

Yeah, if they did master them in HD, Kai would've been kind of a silly production (more so than it was).

 

[Uno Venova]

I love Falconer music, the Kai soundtrack has some great ones but none that i like as much as.

Time Chamber.

Android 16.

This unofficial Ginyu track is awesome too.

 

[TheVampire]

Id really like a new series (ignoring GT) but then all the main characters are so strong at the end of Z they are pretty much like gods.

 

[Anth0ny]

Id really like a new series (ignoring GT) but then all the main characters are so strong at the end of Z they are pretty much like gods.

Honestly, they made it work with GT. Kinda. I think the evil dragons was an awesome idea, but the execution was so, so wrong.

They'd think of something.

 

[Pein]

I love the Falconer music, but I'd rather get the kai bluray's.

Honestly, they made it work with GT. Kinda. I think the evil dragons was an awesome idea, but the execution was so, so wrong.

They'd think of something.

Yeah execution was sloppy in GT. The fights were dope though.

 

[Takao]

It's kind of crazy that the franchise has pushed 25 million DVDs, and BDs.

dat money for funimation

moo moo

 

[Pein]

It's kind of crazy that the franchise has pushed 25 million DVDs, and BDs.

dat money for funimation

moo moo

Yeah, I've already bought the series 3 times over. I'm a sucker.

 

[VGChampion]

I'm hyped for the soundtrack. I really really hope we finally get a good release for those of us who watched it on Cartoon Network. I couldn't stand the orange boxes for multiple reasons, wanted the Dragon Box but couldn't give up my music, Kai was okay but I couldn't stand Gohan's new voice; at least the music was better, but this is what I want. Please don't screw it up. Please oh please oh please.

 

[Big One]

My problem with the Falconer music stems more from the context it is used. Falconer music is fine on it's own if you listen to it on youtube or on your iPod (even though it gets a little repetitive). But in the actual episodes pretty much in actual tone it just sounds completely inappropriate with what's going on. Sometimes there'll be a blatant comical moment with Falconer music in the background that sounds like it would be used for something more atmospheric.

And that's another problem I have too, Falconer music just tries too hard to be scifi atmospheric in tone in a series that doesn't really sync well with it. This is VERY noticeable in the Buu Saga which is meant to be comical, but straight up has atmospheric Falconer music plastered all over the place. This is why Kikuchi's soundtrack works so well. While Kikuchi's music can be labelled as "atmospheric" also, it still uses real instruments and vocals in it's soundtrack, and also follows up from Dragonball's soundtrack in style and tone. Kikuchi's music is just epic, while Falconer's music is more about techno and synth shit.

I really would rather listen to this in the background than any of Falconer's music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKfgvXnAWbg

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

fuck that.

Just buy the Dragon Boxes.

 

[theDeeDubs]

My problem with the Falconer music stems more from the context it is used. Falconer music is fine on it's own if you listen to it on youtube or on your iPod (even though it gets a little repetitive). But in the actual episodes pretty much in actual tone it just sounds completely inappropriate with what's going on. Sometimes there'll be a blatant comical moment with Falconer music in the background that sounds like it would be used for something more atmospheric.

Did you watch his score second? I'm curious if it would seem less out of place to someone who grew up watching in on CN.

I'm a sucker for DBZ . Take my money Funi.

 

[Big One]

Did you watch his score second? I'm curious if it would seem less out of place to someone who grew up watching in on CN.

I'm a sucker for DBZ . Take my money Funi.

I grew up watching DBZ on Toonami so no. It's just after rewatches of both the dub and even the original Japanese I realize how out of place his tracks are in the series. I admit though some of them are really cool I just don't think it fits Dragonball's tone.

 

[M.Bluth]

So why didn't they reanimate the series, again?

 

[Takao]

So why didn't they reanimate the series, again?

How will they sell you more DVDs in 5 years if they did that now?

 

[theDeeDubs]

I grew up watching DBZ on Toonami so no. It's just after rewatches of both the dub and even the original Japanese I realize how out of place his tracks are in the series. I admit though some of them are really cool I just don't think it fits Dragonball's tone.

I'm currently watching Kai which uses I believe original tracks. I too first experienced DBZ through Toonami. I find myself liking the original score a lot but certain times I miss a Faulconer track here and there. Once Kai gets into Androids and Cell I think I'll miss him the most mainly for nostalgia.

 

[ZealousD]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s2Ksz7rpck

Faulconer haters can go suck a dick.

Probably won't be buying these Blu-Rays just like I didn't buy the orange boxes either. Would purely be a nostalgia trip and I'd hate to ruin the magic by actually reliving the series again.

 

[Big One]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s2Ksz7rpck

Faulconer haters can go suck a dick.

Listen to it in context: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gP9hzyTars

It really doesn't work very well at all, especially here where it's noticeable.

 

[params7]

FFFFFFAAULLLCONNNERR FFFFFUUUUUUUUUCKKKK YEAHHHHHHHHH


Preordering this complete series. DBZ is the real DBZ.

Kai is shit.

 

[Deadbeat]

So what box set is the best currently for DBZ release?

 

[Cipherr]

This will be the one I buy, Love falconers music, couldnt stand the other dub, music ruined all the moments I liked, it was fucking horrific. I just hope this version isnt cropped to shit.

Edit: Damn, not until November.

 

[SuperAndroid17]

Listen to it in context: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gP9hzyTars

It really doesn't work very well at all, especially here where it's noticeable.

lol?

the extended theme was perfect including the creepy buu theme.

 

[Big One]

lol?

the extended theme was perfect including the creepy buu theme.

Yeah if you say so.

But to me when something like "creepy" is used to describe DBZ in tone, then I'd be confused as hell since that's a factor that has never really been a part of the series aesthetically.

Falconer's music just takes itself too seriously, which doesn't work well in Buu Saga.

 

[Ronin]

Wait...people actually like that awful Faulconer synth crap?

 

[Anth0ny]

Some of Falconer's music isn't horrible, it's mostly the way it's used that's horrible. It doesn't need to be playing all the damn time. Silence works once in a while.

Spoiler

the awful acting and bad script of the dub doesn't help though

 

[params7]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s2Ksz7rpck

Faulconer haters can go suck a dick.

Probably won't be buying these Blu-Rays just like I didn't buy the orange boxes either. Would purely be a nostalgia trip and I'd hate to ruin the magic by actually reliving the series again.

I used to think the same way, until I bought the orange bricks and lived through the epic, it brings back the nostalgia and does not ruin it in any way. Watch it once before you find you're 40yrs old and unable to enjoy this anymore.

 

[params7]

Wait...people actually like that awful Faulconer synth crap?

Wait, people actually like the awful Kindergarten crap?

 

[Dead]

Falconer score = musical embodiment of poo

 

[Pein]

Listen to it in context: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gP9hzyTars

It really doesn't work very well at all, especially here where it's noticeable.

I think it sounds good.

 

[Uno Venova]

Wait...people actually like that awful Faulconer synth crap?

Yeah, they're a lot of good songs posted in the thread from him, he makes great themes.

Listen to it in context: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gP9hzyTars

It really doesn't work very well at all, especially here where it's noticeable.

That should have ended Buu, yeah it would have been a short saga but it's a great way for Vegeta to go out, instead it was basically meaningless.

 

[Big One]

Wait, people actually like the awful Kindergarten crap?

How the fuck is the Japanese music in any way "Kindergarten"? What the fuck, have you even listened to the tracks I posted? Yeah god forbid you use real instruments instead of synth