Recent and Upcoming Dragon Ball DVD Releases

[Chris]

November 19, 1997 - This is the official date that Dragon Ball GT ended in Japan, thus ending the legendary Dragon Ball anime series. Normally anime would vanish into the darkness and something else would replace it.

It's 2005, bordering on to 2006, and Dragon Ball is still as globally popular as it was when it was on Japanese airwaves. It really shows when you have a ton of DVDs being released and planned for release in Japan and the US.

Right here, I have a list and info of all the current and upcoming DVDs coming up in Japan and the US. Rather a nice sized list.

Japan

Dragon Ball - The only current form of Dragon Ball's TV series on DVD in Japan was available on the Dragon Ball Dragon Box set. It's no longer available and there are currently no plans or any kind of announcements on whether single DVDs of the Dragon Box set DVDs will be released for Dragon Ball. The first four movies are being released on the upcoming Dragon Box The Movies set.

Dragon Ball Z - Here's where the magic begins. Originally, Toei Animation released two boxed sets of Dragon Ball Z back in 2003. One set featured the begining of Z to the end of the Cell saga, whereas the other set started off from the Afterlife Tournament to the end of Z. Both sets were part of the Dragon Box releases. The quality of the episodes were cleaned up significantly. Unfortunately, if you didn't have $1,000 you could easily part with, you'd have probably missed out on getting either set.

Fortunately, they begun re-releasing the Dragon Box DVDs for Z, but in the form of single discs. Japan currently has started releasing three DVDs per month, which include six episodes per disc. Only two months have gone by and Japan has already gotten past the Saiyan saga and is starting the Freeza saga next month (compared to FUNi's DVD releases that started in April and STILL won't be finished with the Saiyan saga until April of next year..) Two note-worthy things about these DVDs. They feature BRAND NEW artwork for Dragon Ball Z and the DVD cases are not your standard DVD cases. The cases are DVD case sized jewel cases (pretty much the cases you get with CDs and Dreamcast or Playstation games). Also note that there are NO English subtitles on these DVDs as they are Japanese and are Region 2 encoded. There aren't even any Japanese subtitles.

[img139]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/Tsukento/jpzdvd1.jpg[/img139] [img139]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/Tsukento/jpzdvd2.jpg[/img139] [img139]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/Tsukento/jpzdvd3.jpg[/img139]
Volumes 1, 2 and 3 were released November 02, 2005 and feature episodes 001 through 018.

[img139]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/Tsukento/jpzdvd4.jpg[/img139] [img139]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/Tsukento/jpzdvd5.jpg[/img139] [img139]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/Tsukento/jpzdvd6.jpg[/img139]
Volumes 4, 5 and 6 were released December 07 2005 and feature episodes 019 through 036.

Volumes 7, 8 and 9's covers have yet to be revealed. However they will feature episodes 037 to 054. They will be released on January 11, 2006.​

As for how many volumes there are going to be, Japan intends to release 49 volumes of the ENTIRE series which will go on until 2007 (compared to FUNi's 1996 'til Lord Knows When and it's 80+ volumes of DVDs).

Now, the biggest wait is for the next, and probably last, Dragon Box set. On March 24, 2006, Dragon Box The Movies will be shipped out to everyone who pre-ordered the box set before December 21, 2005. Once they're shipped, they're no longer in print. This box set will feature EVERY Dragon Ball movie released. This includes four Dragon Ball movies, and thirteen Dragon Ball Z movies (Note: History of Trunks and Bardock - Father of Goku are NOT movies but are TV specials and were included in the first DBZ Dragon Box set). The movies will be significantly cleaned up like the other Dragon Box sets and will come with eight discs. As a bonus, the box set will include two walkie-talkie Scouters and a book with artwork and info regarding the movies and characters.

[img139]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/Tsukento/dboxmovies.jpg[/img139]​

• DB Movie 1 - Dragon Ball (Theatrical Title)/Legend of Shenlong (Home Video Title)
• DB Movie 2 - The Sleeping Princess in the Devil's Castle
• DB Movie 3 - Mystical Great Adventure
• DB Movie 4 - The Path to Ultimate Strength

• DBZ Movie 01 - Dragon Ball Z (Theatrical Title)/Return my Gohan!! (Home Video Title)
• DBZ Movie 02 - The World's Strongest Guy
• DBZ Movie 03 - Super Decisive Battle for the Entire Earth
• DBZ Movie 04 - Super Saiyan Son Goku
• DBZ Movie 05 - The Best of Strongest Versus Strongest
• DBZ Movie 06 - Clash!! 10 Billion Powerful Warriors
• DBZ Movie 07 - Extreme Battle!! Three Great Super Saiyans
• DBZ Movie 08 - Burn Up!! A Close, Intense, Super-Fierce Battle
• DBZ Movie 09 - The Galaxy at the Brink!! The Super Incredible Guy
• DBZ Movie 10 - Dangerous Duo! Super-Warriors Can't Rest
• DBZ Movie 11 - Super-Warrior Defeat!! I'm the One who'll Win
• DBZ Movie 12 - Fusion Reborn!! Goku and Vegeta
• DBZ Movie 13 - Dragon Fist Explosion!! If Goku Won't Do It, Who Will?

The price from Toei Animation and CDJapan is ¥50,000. Making that roughly about $420-something. Excluding any taxes or shipping fees. Although Amazon's Japanese site is cheaper, though still expensive (already have my copy reserved though, not missing this Dragon Box ).

Dragon Ball GT - Like Dragon Ball, there's really nothing coming out in Japan. Most likely due to the low fanbase over in Japan and poor ratings, although the GT Dragon Box sold out before they closed taking reservations and had to produce more copies to keep up. If singles are released for this set, it'll probably be the last of the TV series' to see single releases.

Now to go across the seas.

North America
Dragon Ball GT may have ended airing earlier this year, but that won't stop the releases of more Dragon Ball DVDs. With now every episode made available on television, here come the DVD releases.

Dragon Ball - Dragon Ball's TV series is entirely on DVD with the exception of the first thirteen episodes due to legal issues. So what can FUNimation do to respark interest in Dragon Ball fandom? Release the last three Dragon Ball movies in one boxset.

[img139]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/Tsukento/usdbmoviebox.jpg[/img139]​

Dragon Ball Movie Box features Dragon Ball movies 2, 3 and 4. This is the first time movie 2 is made available on DVD and with the Japanese audio and subtitles option in the US. Movies 3 and 4 are bundled to make the set woth purchasing since they're already available for a cheap as dirt price ($5.99). This box set is available now for the retail price of $29.95 (I suggest going to DeepDiscountDVD.com to get this one, $18.14 > $29.95). If you already have movies 3 and 4, don't fret. FUNi's making the second movie available as a seperate DVD release. On December 20th, they'll be releasing Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle on DVD. Because Curse of the Blood Rubies is tied up in the same legal issues as the first thirteen episodes, it will not be rereleased in an uncut or redubbed format until the issues are resolved.

Dragon Ball Z - Even though DBZ's ended quite a while ago and all of the uncut episodes aired, we've still got some more DBZ dubs coming along the way. Let's start off with the TV series.

[img139]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/Tsukento/uszdvd7.jpg[/img139] [img139]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/Tsukento/uszdvd8.jpg[/img139]​

Ultimate Uncut Edition continues the Saiyan saga in these two DVDs. We end the first portion of the saga with "Vegeta Saga I" on Vol. 7 and begin with "Vegeta Saga II" on Vol. 8. And with that, the colors are swapped into an easier on the eyes look in designs. Vol. 7 has episodes 019 through 021, while Vol. 8 has episodes 022 through 024. Like the previous DVDs of these sets, they will contain English, Japanese and Spanish dubs along with English and Japanese subtitles. Don't fret, Spanish dub watchers, the dialogue from the Spanish dub is pretty much 100% identical to the Japanese dialogue (why couldn't FUNi do this with their dub?). The retail price for both are $24.98 each.

Now we move on to the one thing EVERYONE, including Japanese fans, have been waiting for.

[img139]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/Tsukento/uszmovie12.jpg[/img139]
Dragon Ball Z Movie 12: Fusion Reborn​

Everyone's been awaiting the release of this movie on DVD to rid themselves of their craptastic quality VHS fansubs. Those who can't afford the Dragon Box will also find joy in being able to buy this DVD. The movie features the debut of Gogeta, the Fusion form of Goku and Vegeta after having performed the Fusion Dance. In this movie, Hell breaks loose (literally) and the Z-Senshi must stop everyone from breaking out and attacking the living world. Goku goes down to Hell to stop the creature that caused the abnormality, while Paikuhan (Pikkon) tries to revert the judgement area back to the way it was. Gohan, Goten, and Trunks, however, must protect Earth from all the previous villains and even Hitler and his Nazi soldiers. Not only is this movie hilarious, but it's quite possibly the best looking Z movie to be released in the US and the fights between Goku, Vegeta and Janemba are well done. Shame GT tried borrowing the whole "everyone break out of Hell" plot and screwed it up royally.

This DVD will be out March 28, 2006 (just a few days after Dragon Box The Movies is released in Japan). The retail price is $24.98. It will feature English and Japanese audio along with subtitles on the Uncut version. The Cut DVDs will only come with the English dub audio.

Dragon Ball GT - Absolutely nada to report. Dragon Ball GT's been entirely released on DVD. Nothing lost, either. The US got GT 100% as is, including original eyecatchers and episode previews for EVERY episode (minus the one at the end of GT for the Dr. Slump remake series). The only lost bits for GT were the original opening for the TV special, A Hero's Legacy, and the eyecatchers that told you that it was a TV special.

And there you have it. Just about every bit of release info is here for now. I'll update this with more release info whenever I get anything. Hopefully this'll be useful to some of you.

 

[Yuugis Black Magician]

I'm going to die waiting for Fusion Reborn! I wonder if FUNI's scribes will keep in all the name-calling by Paikuhan, LOL.

Those JPN cover arts look great, too...

Thanks a lot Ed.

 

[rust]

Hey, Ed... Can I have the Scouters that come with the Dragon Box? j/k Seriously though, the Scouters sound cool... And if you had no use for them... And I had some money when you got them...

Fusion Reborn sounds cool. And It comes out on my Birthday! Although, I still haven't seen the other 2 Broly movies...

 

[MagicBox]

This post was much longer, but when I hit the post button, the computer logged me out and I‘m ******. I’m too lazy to retype my whole post, so I’ll just post the gist of it.

Just a few quick questions from me. Even though I've been following some of these sets for a while, there are a few things that still aren't quite clear.

Regarding the Dragon Ball movie boxset, from the info you posted, it gives the impression that all FUNi did was throw Mystical Adventure into the set. Did they really not redub it or anything? We still have Dende-voiced-Goku and subtitles that are watered-down to avoid swear words?! That seems like a rip-off to me.

I also had a question about the Japanese DVDs. I know that the episodes/movies were remastered for the Dragon Box/single set releases, and I've seen screencaps of the picture quality; it's great. My question is about the audio. Is the audio on these sets just restored mono or have the episodes/movies been given stereo mixes as well? 5.1 Surround?

Still, I'd be glad to have any of these. I won't go out of my way to pick up the Japanese ones, but they are very appealing. I especially love the coverart for volumes 3, 4, and 6. The ultimate uncut editions' coverart is just as good, in my opinion. It's a shame FUNi wastes such good coverart on three-episode-DVDs. Considering the picture quality on the American DVDs is significantly lower than that of the Japanese DVDs, Funi could put 7-8 episodes on each DVD without having to worry about compression issues interfering with the picture quality. They’re just too money-hungry to do so.

Looks like a fun few months for DVD collectors.

 

[Chris]

Hey, Ed... Can I have the Scouters that come with the Dragon Box? j/k Seriously though, the Scouters sound cool... And if you had no use for them... And I had some money when you got them...

I'm not selling either Scouter. This set's too priceless.

Regarding the Dragon Ball movie boxset, from the info you posted, it gives the impression that all FUNi did was throw Mystical Adventure into the set. Did they really not redub it or anything? We still have Dende-voiced-Goku and subtitles that are watered-down to avoid swear words?! That seems like a rip-off to me.

Nope, no redub. It's the same Mystical Adventure and Path to Power DVDs that are available already. And actually, the subtitles aren't watered down at all. There's very little swearing in Dragon Ball to begin with. My one problem with the subtitles is that it wasn't subbed by Steve Simmons but by the primary Dragon Ball subber (the one who subbed the DB TV series). He tends to leave out a few things or change the name of words (Ki was left out of the subtitles and was replaced with "energy" or "energy force," Goku's accent and speech pattern is ignored in the subs).

I also had a question about the Japanese DVDs. I know that the episodes/movies were remastered for the Dragon Box/single set releases, and I've seen screencaps of the picture quality; it's great. My question is about the audio. Is the audio on these sets just restored mono or have the episodes/movies been given stereo mixes as well? 5.1 Surround?

Unfortunately, it's impossible to give these sets stereo mixes. They were recorded in mono (don't ask me WHY Toei Animation would record THEATRICAL MOVIES in mono) and can only be restored in a crisper sounding mono. The "stereo" effect Pioneer did was simply make the sound louder and add in Hanna Barbera sound effects to make it sound "cool" and "stereo" by having two things going at once. So to answer the question, the episodes, TV specials and movies are all in mono on the Dragon Box sets as well as the singular DVDs. The only stereo portions are the Dragon Ball GT ending themes. All of them were recorded in stereo (hence why the music seems so loud compared to the rest of the episode if you play a DVD in Japanese audio).

Considering the picture quality on the American DVDs is significantly lower than that of the Japanese DVDs

Tell me about it. I really wish Toei gave them cleaned up video rather than what they supplied. Seriously, the first DVD is FILLED with grain whereas the Dragon Box and Vol. 1 DVD from Japan have such clear looking quality. x_X;

 

[kaibachaoschampion]

So, exactly why can't they release the first 13 Episodes Uncut?

 

[Chris]

Kidmark has the license in the US to release the first thirteen episodes and first movie of Dragon Ball. Before FUNimation was on its own, they had other companies sublicense the series in order to release them on VHS and DVD. Kidmark got Dragon Ball and Pioneer (now Geneon) had Dragon Ball Z. Pioneer's license ran out, but absolutely no one knows when Kidmark's will expire. No one at FUNimation seems to know.

The first thirteen episodes can be bought outside of the US in DVD similar to the other Dragon Ball DVDs. "The Saga of Goku" is available in Australia with English and Japanese audio, with subtitles. Unfortunately, it's a differently coded region DVD, so it won't play on US DVD players unless it can play all kinds of regional DVDs.

 

[kaibachaoschampion]

Kidmark has the license in the US to release the first thirteen episodes and first movie of Dragon Ball. Before FUNimation was on its own, they had other companies sublicense the series in order to release them on VHS and DVD. Kidmark got Dragon Ball and Pioneer (now Geneon) had Dragon Ball Z. Pioneer's license ran out, but absolutely no one knows when Kidmark's will expire. No one at FUNimation seems to know.

The first thirteen episodes can be bought outside of the US in DVD similar to the other Dragon Ball DVDs. "The Saga of Goku" is available in Australia with English and Japanese audio, with subtitles. Unfortunately, it's a differently coded region DVD, so it won't play on US DVD players unless it can play all kinds of regional DVDs.

Well, I guess thats bad for the US, fortunatly though I have a multiregion DVD and I live in the UK so I guess i'll just import it. Thanks for the info

Edit: After looking around I have found this Boxart for an Australian release:

http://www.sanity.com.au/product.asp?intProductID=535497&intArtistID=183007

This would include the Uncut versions for 1-13 and Movie 1 of Dragonball wouldn't it? Thanks ^_^

 

[Chris]

Yep, that's the one. Although from what I hear, the movie is in first dub form only. Can't confirm it since no one I know has really even imported the darn thing. Reason it's thought to be first dub form rather than redub and sub is because FUNimation's made no announcements about any kind of redub for it ever being in the works. We do know the first thirteen episodes were redubbed and shown on TV. Though I'm not sure about if the movie's redubbed and uncut.

And in case you're wondering, the dub is by FUNimation but released by an Australian company.

 

[kaibachaoschampion]

Yep, that's the one. Although from what I hear, the movie is in first dub form only. Can't confirm it since no one I know has really even imported the darn thing. Reason it's thought to be first dub form rather than redub and sub is because FUNimation's made no announcements about any kind of redub for it ever being in the works. We do know the first thirteen episodes were redubbed and shown on TV. Though I'm not sure about if the movie's redubbed and uncut.

And in case you're wondering, the dub is by FUNimation but released by an Australian company.

W00t, then I must but it Thanks ^_^ I'll say about the movie when it arrives, which will probably be next year due to Christmas.

 

[Mumage]

I think you missed a movie: Dragonball GT: A Hero's Legacy. I ordered that movie ^_^. And it takes place at the end of GT where it shows Goku Jr. (Pans Grandson) and Vegeta Jr. (Vegeta's Decendant) battle off at the tournament and thats where this movie starts.

 

[Chris]

A Hero's Legacy takes place in the middle of episode 64 of Dragon Ball GT. It aired in Japan between episode 41 and 42, however, and is not a movie but a TV Special. It takes place in the middle due to the fact that this was Goku Jr's introduction and we see Pan is older. It develops his character and shows his transition into the Super Saiyan state (even though that's incredibly impossible). The special aired on March 26, 1997 whereas the final episode aired in November 19, 1997. Heavy foreshadowing there, especially when it aired BEFORE the Super 17 arc.

I didn't list it because it's been out for about a year and one month now.

 

[MagicBox]

Unfortunately, it's impossible to give these sets stereo mixes. They were recorded in mono and can only be restored in a crisper sounding mono.

Animated films such as Bambi, Cinderella, and Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs were all originally recorded in mono and that did not stop Disney from remastering those soundtracks into 5.1 surround for their DVD debuts. It's possible, it just takes a lot of work.

It sucks that nothing was done with Mystical Adventure before repackaging it, but I'll still get the movie box set since I have yet to see movies 2 or 3 and I want that box to hold them in. I'll just sell my extra copy of Path to Power sometime.

It develops his character and shows his transition into the Super Saiyan state (even though that's incredibly impossible).

That's the one thing I didn't like about Hero's Legacy. After the Cell saga, they just started handing the SS transformation out to people who really didn't deserve it (Goten, Trunks, Goku & Vegeta Jr.).

 

[Chris]

Actually, the problem with Goku Jr. is that his blood is waaay more human than Saiyan. Goten and Trunks were simply half Saiyan. One of the Daizenshuu even states the reason Pan couldn't go Super Saiyan was because her blood was more human. Obviously Toei ignored this and made Goku Jr. into a Super Saiyan anyways, rather than making him similar to the very same person who caught our attention all those years ago.

Son Goku being a Super Saiyan wasn't what made him what he was. It was his personality and his abnormal strength as a kid that had him grow on us. Unfortunately they developed Goku Jr. to become a Super Saiyan. :|

 

[Mumage]

Actually, the problem with Goku Jr. is that his blood is waaay more human than Saiyan. Goten and Trunks were simply half Saiyan. One of the Daizenshuu even states the reason Pan couldn't go Super Saiyan was because her blood was more human. Obviously Toei ignored this and made Goku Jr. into a Super Saiyan anyways, rather than making him similar to the very same person who caught our attention all those years ago.

Son Goku being a Super Saiyan wasn't what made him what he was. It was his personality and his abnormal strength as a kid that had him grow on us. Unfortunately they developed Goku Jr. to become a Super Saiyan. :|

Your right I checked and hes only 1/16 Saiyan.

 

[Chris]

Got abit of more news. Japanese DVD news, actually.

First off, the box art for the Dragon Box set has been finalized. This is the artwork they're going with for it. Not only have they given us the new art, but they've released a screenshot of what the Scouters, that are included with the box set, look like.

[img139]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/Tsukento/dboxmovies2.jpg[/img139] [img139]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/Tsukento/scouter.jpg[/img139]​

Then we have the newly released box art for the single DVDs, Volumes 7 through 9.

[img139]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/Tsukento/jpzdvd7.jpg[/img139] [img139]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/Tsukento/jpzdvd8.jpg[/img139] [img139]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/Tsukento/jpzdvd9.jpg[/img139]
Volumes 7, 8 and 9 will be released January 11, 2006 and feature episodes 037 through 054.​

 

[Mumage]

What does the scouter do in real life?

 

[Chris]

It's pretty much just a walkie-talkie. The box set includes two of them. Most Z fans will know the reason they chose it to be a walkie-talkie is because the Scouters also act as a communicator.

 

[MagicBox]

http://member.toei-anim.co.jp/esp/photo/DSTD02536_1.jpg

Look at the bottom left corner. I thought the box would be bigger than that considering there are 8 discs to hold.

The scouter looks pretty cool. I can't wait to see screenshots of the entire Dragon Box set inside and out once pictures are provided on the internet somewhere. I like the coverart for volumes 8 and 9, but Bulma and Gohan look off-model in volume 7's cover, especially Bulma.

 

[Chris]

Nah. The box set is most likely like the other Dragon Box sets in which the DVD cases inside are like thin books which hold the DVDs in (similar to the bootleg Hong Kong anime DVDs).

When I get a hold of my copy of the Dragon Box set, I'll take pictures of the entire thing. If my comp's DVD can play the DVDs I'll take screenshots. I'm unsure if it'll play or not, so all I've got to go with at the moment is my PS2 and Magic Swap. :s