The EMBARRASSING Failure of Dragon Ball Z Home Releases

The embarrassing failure of Dragon Ball Z has a long unfortunate history. Everything from the Orange Bricks to the Orange Boxes and even the famous 30th Anniversary disaster... It's all here in agonisingly depressing detail. So join in on the misery as I cover the entire history of DBZ. Uncovering why and how one of the most famous and successful series in the world has yet to have a competent home releases.

MUSIC USED

M1706 (DBZ)
Dvorak's Symphony No.9 but Kazooed to death
M1805 (DBZ)
Battle Point Unlimited (DBZ)
Lavender Town (Pkmn)
Goku SSJ3 in Faulconer minor (Cover by Jeffrey Middelveld)
M725 (DBZ)
M811 (DBZ)
M817 (DBZ)
M1307 (DBZ)
M1315 (DBZ)
Bonus Room Blitz (DKC)
M1510 (DBZ)
Mr.Satan (DBZ)
M126 (DB)
Let's Get Out There (DBZ)

[BaalFridge]

This is what we get for supporting the official release...

[miffedakko]

TFS: "please support the official release!"

Mark: "No."

[bobjeezorham]

Given just how huge and iconic Dragon Ball Z is, it baffles me how it still has no home releases that are completely accurate to the original broadcasts. Weird thinking about how I somehow never noticed how bad the orange boxes were as a kid, I have no idea how I missed that

[psychomoth]

Geekdom 101 did an excellent talk on this subject for the Plastic Power podcast. One of the worst bits is where he reveals that a fan actually offered Toei the original broadcast audio for free so they could have it for future releases, and THEY TURNED IT DOWN. The fact that they’ve consistently screwed up every time is enough to make one think they’re doing this on purpose.

[SuperMasterJefe]

13:51 Its quite amazing how for the buu saga the orange bricks looked so much better than the blu ray. Its like they went backwards and made it worse and worse

[dylanracho]

The Level sets are the epitome of the right thing at the wrong time. It’s really a shame because they put a lot of effort into it

[GuardianAngel..]

I believe that Funimation has the Perfect Dragon Ball Z Film Masters in their possession but they will never release them to the public because they know that once they do this they won’t be able to sell anymore DVD’s or Bluerays after that.

[selfloathingweekly]

Just a heads up

The awful HD Blu Ray versions of DBZ are marketed as "Amazon Exclusive" versions now and are the most common versions you'll come across in stores and online, including Walmart.

They go under different names with alternating artwork, namely (generic) "The Complete Box Set" and "seasons 1-9"

They won't let Orange Brick die.

[beefcho]

AB Groupe did an incredible job with OG, time will only tell how they continue to remaster

[kellyrocheleau]

Does this mean that you had to buy all of these to get the footage? You're doing Kami's work

[charlescherris]

Dragonball Z truly is the Star Wars of anime. Not just because both are extremely influential fiction and have been referenced in Pop culture for decades, but also because both franchises are a massive pain in the ass to watch as they were originally intended.

[VEwRaAve]

Just want to note that as a GT fan I decided to go out on a limb and obtain one of the old DVD singles (the ones ending in "-ion"), and I have to say I notice a pretty massive difference between that and whatever is on Crunchyroll. Maybe its a difference in the film grain removal but for some reason it really is night and day to me.

[sabershark]

All these years watching clips on youtube i thought everyone who uploaded them just decided to mess with the contrast and saturation. The fact that this is what the official release looks like is a mindblowing revelation

[goldenghost]

Please cover the other releases from dragon ball to GT to Kai. The world needs to truly know what they're dealing with.

[elphive]

The best version of Dragon Ball Z is the iKaos version, also known as Seed of Might. It’s a fanmade version, and is available in certain places online.

It is the only release which features all surviving dubs, and the higher-quality Japanese broadcast audio which was omitted from the Dragon Box. It has two releases, with one based on the Levels Sets for the first season, and another where video was based on a stacked mix of the Japanese and U.S. Dragon Box releases to include more detail than either.

[charleschamp]

I like how your little avatar/sona/whatever you call it has different colors, grain, cropping, etc depending on which one you're rating. Nice touch.

Even if that group can't get together with rights holders in other regions at the very least I hope they're able to go through the entire franchise. OG DB, Z, hell even GT.

[miki]

Dragon Ball's treatment in the west is tragic as a whole, and it's a complete crime that the fanbase has grown up being led to believe these poor releases were presented to respect the accuray of the original visual intent of the show. Here's hoping that the phenomenal work by AB paves the way to a competent and accurate release in the west, and that people can be informed enough to refrain supporting the drivel we've gotten these past decades

[JG-fzzg]

Anybody notice he changes the quality of his character to the quality of the given release each time he grades one? Small details but I love it.

[Ruki]

Just as a heads up:
Germany started putting out a Blu-Ray Release this year (after a quite competent DVD release a while ago) which seems to be really good as well. Most likely they use the same stuff France did (as our dub came from France as well). They have 3 of the OG Dragon Ball volumes out so far. I have two of those, but haven't had the time to look into it - According to reviews though it seems like it's really, really good. It's distributed by Crunchyroll over here.

[antonioherrera]

Bro, i mean this in the most respectful way possible and i do appreciate the knowledge you shared, that being said, i remembered running to my aunt's house in the evenings to watch Dragonball through the window on the side of the road, and running back to my house during commercial breaks like 300 feet, i had chores i had to do and for dragonball I was just happy to watch 10 mins total, the freeza fight was so intense for me, i loved it, (this was back in Mexico) i did buy the orange boxes but never paid attention to all the details as u pointed them out, I'm with you on the respect they ought to have to the original source, no question about that, and thanks for the video