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[Lights and Waves]

As most of you are aware, the animation in Dragon Ball Super is tragic. The parent company, Toei, owns some of the most iconic anime of all time and treats most of their properties like trash, placing more importance on selling merch than actually producing quality content.

Earlier this year, Sailor Moon Crystal (the reboot of Sailor Moon with a direction that follows the manga) was an object of much controversy as it was a much hyped about reboot of a billion dollar franchise, and the results were lack luster. The animation was cruddy. Mind you, it was a web series before it started to air on television in Japan, but regardless, this is one of the most important anime ever and it was treated like a joke.

There was, however, a saving grace. Toei's blu-ray releases. See below:

Webisode:

Blu-Ray:

Webisode:

Blu-Ray:

Image credit: crystalcomparisons.com

As the BR are released several weeks after the airing of each episode, the animation team goes back to redraw some key frames and important scenes, giving the series a much needed polishing.

Now the question stands, do you think Dragon Ball will get the same love, or is the series too ambitious in scope to undergo such a project? As a reference, SMC is 26 episodes and DBS is (allegedly) going to be more than 100.

 

[mcrommert]

My understanding from watching and reading others was that dragon ball super was fine quality...didn't look bad to me

 

[Dega]

Looks fine to me.

 

[Linkark07]

My understanding from watching and reading others was that dragon ball super was fine quality...didn't look bad to me

Besides episode 5, I´d say the animation has been mediocre.

 

[BassForever]

My understanding from watching and reading others was that dragon ball super was fine quality...didn't look bad to me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlrcxeQau1E&t=0m35s

What you see in the later parts of this video from Episode 5 will most certainly be redone

As a whole though DB Super has looked fairly acceptable, though I imagine they'll touch it up for the Blu Ray anyways

 

[Squalor]

My understanding from watching and reading others was that dragon ball super was fine quality...didn't look bad to me

Looks fine to me.

It's ugly as sin a lot of times just like all broadcast versions of Dragon Ball series before it.

You either don't pay close enough attention or don't care to.

 

[Reset]

My understanding from watching and reading others was that dragon ball super was fine quality...didn't look bad to me

Dunno if it's really from the show since I dropped it after the second episode since the show was trash.

 

[Lights and Waves]

Looks fine to me.

 

[Baka Sempai]

My understanding from watching and reading others was that dragon ball super was fine quality...didn't look bad to me

Looks fine to me.

The animation & the characters are horribly drawn.

(see below for a screencap)

 

[Strangelove77]

Looks fine to me. Only difference I see in those Sailor Moon screenshots is that they added more shadow to it.

 

[massoluk]

The first episodes were really good quality, episode 5 went to trash tier.

 

[tuffy]

Just about every anime title gets some level of fixing before arriving on Blu Ray these days, so I don't think the latest Dragon Ball will be an exception.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Oh my god, that looks terrible.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

Jesus Christ you guys, it doesn't look that bad compared to Sailor Moon Crystal. One Kotaku article and a bunch of screenshots of in-between frames is all it takes for you guys?

There are plenty of times the episodes look great but nobody gives a shit about that.

 

[Squalor]

Looks fine to me. Only difference I see in those Sailor Moon screenshots is that they added more shadow to it.

Are you hard of seeing?

Never mind, I already know the answer.

 

[Dega]

Ah

Guess it don't bother me then. Looks fine for the most part to me.

 

[ReplacementPelican]

I was under the impression that one episode was awful, there's a few shit frames every now and again but it's overall good enough. The OT was full of praise for the newest episode.

 

[CryptiK]

Those bluray shots look bad.

 

[Orbis Tabula]

The animation & the characters are horribly drawn.

(see below for a screencap)

When people say something looks amateur-ish, this should be the new bar. This could be a screencap from Newgrounds circa 2005.

 

[ZombiePlatypus]

I couldn't watch after two episodes. No idea how some are saying it looks fine. How extensively do they fix these things for bluray anyway? Did they fix ALL the janky scenes in SM:Crystal? Or just some?

 

[Lights and Waves]

Those bluray shots look bad.

In what world?

 

[Strangelove77]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlrcxeQau1E&t=0m35s

What you see in the later parts of this video from Episode 5 will most certainly be redone

As a whole though DB Super has looked fairly acceptable, though I imagine they'll touch it up for the Blu Ray anyways

Looks good up until the fighting stuff in the second half. Feels like they're trying to half ass some of the animation like in the old days when the characters were far away, but don't take into account that the show is in HD now.
I can't speak for DB because I haven't seen it in a long time, but most cartoons and anime did this during the SD era. Shit was so far away and blurry on tv that they knew few would notice their badly drawn barely recognizable animation.
Maybe my standards are low, but if the show only looks this bad every once in a while, it's not really deserving of being call trash or terrible or whatever hyperbolic name you want to give it.
That being said, they should definitely go back and redo it. The people who buy this stuff care about this and it needs to be fixed.

 

[ArchedThunder]

Those bluray shots look bad.

 

[Coffee Dog]

jojo's bizarre adventure got cleaned up for blu ray as well. I would actually be surprised if dragon ball wasn't considering it's got a pretty large outcry.

 

[entremet]

Looks like Toei went for the lowest bidder.

 

[Lights and Waves]

I couldn't watch after two episodes. No idea how some are saying it looks fine. How extensively do they fix these things for bluray anyway? Did they fix ALL the janky scenes in SM:Crystal? Or just some?

A good majority of them. The source website in my OP finds all the redrawn scenes and compares them to the originals. It's really fun to look at.

 

[DragonSworne]

My only issue is that Goku has forgotten how to fight. He is worse than Yamcha in figthing technique.

 

[Baka Sempai]

When people say something looks amateur-ish, this should be the new bar. This could be a screencap from Newgrounds circa 2005.

and let's not even compare it to the 2014 movie ....

If people don't see the difference, fine then.

 

[Strangelove77]

Are you hard of seeing?

Never mind, I already know the answer.

Apparently I am. It's both a gift and a curse.

 

[ArchedThunder]

jojo's bizarre adventure got cleaned up for blu ray as well. I would actually be surprised if dragon ball wasn't considering it's got a pretty large outcry.

Not to mention that Dragon Ball is Toei's biggest seller in the west. It'll be fixed up for the Bluray and dubs.

 

[andymcc]

there were some pretty lousy looking dragon ball z episodes but they never got released officially in Japan until far after broadcast.

i guess it could be fixed. do the DVD releases of One Piece get corrected?

 

[Strangelove77]

Holy shit wtf at those screenshots on the left. Jesus Christ.
It literally looks retarded.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

and let's not even compare it to the 2014 movie ....

If people don't see the difference, fine then.

It's a movie. Of course it looks better then a TV series?

Toei has to balance multiple long running TV series (One Piece, Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, PreCure, World Trigger) so they have to spread out accordingly. This is not an issue stemming from the mystical and all powerful "budget" but just simple time constraints 90% of the time.

 

[Sephzilla]

I think some of the hate for DB Super's animation is getting a little out of hand. Outside of Episode 5, the series has looked fine. Plus, let's not pretend that DBZ didn't have moments of inconsistency. Like how Trunks went from this

to this later on in the same series

 

[Gentleman Jack]

Jesus Christ you guys, it doesn't look that bad compared to Sailor Moon Crystal. One Kotaku article and a bunch of screenshots of in-between frames is all it takes for you guys?

There are plenty of times the episodes look great but nobody gives a shit about that.

You're going to have to do better than your own cherry picked series of screenshots to counter the argument that DBS looks like crap. I mean, what is the actual ratio of 'acceptable' to 'rushed' in that series? What percentage of the shots are going to have to be re-drawn?

 

[Dega]

and let's not even compare it to the 2014 movie ....

If people don't see the difference, fine then.

http://abload.de/img/bogggodvgodkns39.jpg[IMG]

[IMG]http://abload.de/img/fingerpokeofdoombogcqsav.png[IMG][/QUOTE]

Isn't that to be expected?

 

[sixteen-bit]

why change perfection?

 

[shadowsdarknes]

Let's hope.

Sometimes the drawing is fine. Sometimes its shit. The animation is kinda meh usually.

It's heart breaking to see this show being treated like this.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

Plus, let's not pretend that DBZ didn't have moments of inconsistency. Like how Trunks went from this

to this later on in the same series

Two different forms. What's inconsistent?

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

You're going to have to do better than your own cherry picked series of screenshots to counter the argument that DBS looks like crap. I mean, what is the actual ratio of 'acceptable' to 'rushed' in that series? What percentage of the shots are going to have to be re-drawn?

As opposed to people cherry picking a bunch of in betweens from a weak episode? That episode in particular (7 or 8 I think) looked good. Shots are redrawn in even the best looking shows, Toei's focus is hardly on Blu-rays either.

Dragon Ball Super even looks above average for Toei. There are spots where it is weak (the fighting oddly enough looks off sometimes) but people are far overstating it.

 

[Syntsui]

OP chose some really bad examples from Sailor Moon, but yeah Super will probably get some rework for the Blu Ray discs.

 

[Sephzilla]

Two different forms. What's inconsistent?

The fact that one image is beautifully drawn and the other image, from the same show, looks it was drawn by some kid during a boring class in Junior High

 

[SomedayTheFire]

The only difference I can see in the Sailor Moon screenshots are the eyes look bigger and more shiny. I am posting from a phone though.

 

[ArchedThunder]

You're going to have to do better than your own cherry picked series of screenshots to counter the argument that DBS looks like crap. I mean, what is the actual ratio of 'acceptable' to 'rushed' in that series? What percentage of the shots are going to have to be re-drawn?

They have to get them out for a deadline, the "redrawn" stuff is done over the exiting frames, so it takes less work and they also have more time to work on it for Bluray releases. The anime industry is absolutely fucked and it is ridiculously hard to get a hold of even mediocre animators.

 

[Daingurse]

I think some of the hate for DB Super's animation is getting a little out of hand. Outside of Episode 5, the series has looked fine. Plus, let's not pretend that DBZ didn't have moments of inconsistency. Like how Trunks went from this

to this later on in the same series

You don't even have to go that far. Trunks looks way worse in the very next episode lol.

 

[Reset]

I think some of the hate for DB Super's animation is getting a little out of hand. Outside of Episode 5, the series has looked fine. Plus, let's not pretend that DBZ didn't have moments of inconsistency. Like how Trunks went from this

He's SS in one picture, of course he'll look different!
Anyway both those pics look better than Dragon Ball Super lol

 

[Jotamide]

All anime these days sees a cleanup on Blu-Ray releases. That's how they get the hardcore fans to pay hundreds of dollars for BR that contain only like 4 episodes per release.

 

[ArchedThunder]

All anime these days sees a cleanup on Blu-Ray releases. That's how they get the hardcore fans to pay hundreds of dollars for BR that contain only like 4 episodes per release.

Dragon Ball Super is only doing 12 episode sets.

Anyways, I think the BoG arc will have some heavy work done for the bluray and dubs, but hopefully they can keep the quality standard up now, episode 10 looks great and the preview for 11 looks great too.

 

[Sephzilla]

You don't even have to go that far. Trunks looks way worse in the very next episode lol.

He's SS in one picture, of course he'll look different!
Anyway both those pics look better than Dragon Ball Super lol

And Super Saiyan Trunks has been drawn way better than that in the series as well.

 

[JadedWriter]

Why does her head look like an upside down acorn?