Thursday July 21, 2011 at 04:00 pm by Rojas
Dragon Ball Z Sees November Release on High-Definition Blu-ray Disc™ Format
Flower Mound, TX (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.
Visit the official Dragon Ball Z website at http://www.dragonballz.com/
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Comments
There is only one way i buy this and that is if it is the dragon box footage with both music scores original and faulconer otherwise ill stick to my awesome Dragon Boxes. Sooner or later the DBoxes will be on Blu-Ray lol.
So is this the extent of Funimation news from this con? No offense but I'm just not able to justify in my mind getting DBZ period. At one point I was thinking about it but then I REALLY looked at the episode numbers. I'm already following One Piece and I intend to get Fairy Tale and frankly, I think I've already got too many long runners at this point.
Ummmm, okaaaaay....
I have mixed feelings (albeit slightly negative) about this news. Why re-(re-re-re-)release Z, this time on Blu-ray? Why such a low episode count compared to the Orange Bricks or the Dragon Boxes? Will it be 4:3 like it's supposed to? Will it have the superior original Japanese BGM? Will it have the touched-up English dialogue from the Orange Bricks/Dragon Boxes?
I'm perfectly happy with my Kai releases and Dragon Boxes. I don't see myself dipping in for the Blu-ray releases here, but more power to you on this.
(Maybe at Otakon we'll get the Dragon Box for the 12 Movies and the 2 TV specials? And "Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!" OVA from 2009?)
Just to be clear, will this release include the Japanese Kikuchi score as well?
If I might suggest something: *please* put out a trailer for the Blu-Ray release that compared old vs. new footage just like what was done for Yu Yu Hakusho. The news has barely broke and I'm already seeing a lot of skepticism out there on the net. Such a trailer would be the perfect way to deal with that and to perfectly inform fans about what they'll be getting for this release.
Thanks! I'll be watching the news on this with interest.
FUNimation has been releasing and re-releasing (and re-re-releasing) DRAGONBALL Z for some thirteen years now...
I think it's about time we euthanized this series.
Eh... I'll pass on this. But this is neat (Let's keep milking those cows!) Since I'm not really a big DBZ fan, I might buy the Dragon Boxes... or heck, the orange boxes... Just need DBZ some where in my collection. ._.
Mario, they will have that on here this time. But this release is meaningless to me. I have what I want in the Dragonboxes and I'm not wasting money on Blu-Ray. Total pass.
Can we PLEASE have the Funimation Music BGM Sound track! I hate the Japanese Sound track. If the Funimation sound track isn't in I am not buying. That is the main reason the Dragon Boxes mean nothing to me.
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