8.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The nonstop action continues with a furious flurry of flying fists that will leave heads spinning! Krillin and Gohan test our their new and improved powers in a throwdown with Vegeta, Frieza struggles to unlock the magic of the Dragon Balls, and Goku races through space on a collision course with the Ginyu Force! This installment of Kai has it all: 7 Dragon Balls, 4 epic heroes, and 3 horrifying villains bent on universal domination!
Starring: Masako Nozawa, Ryō Horikawa, Toshio Furukawa, Mayumi Tanaka, Hiromi TsuruAnime | 100% |
Foreign | 89% |
Action | 68% |
Fantasy | 51% |
Sci-Fi | 46% |
Adventure | 46% |
Comic book | 45% |
Martial arts | 38% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1, 1.33:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Japanese: Dolby TrueHD 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Despite the prominence of the Dragon Ball franchise among Japanese anime enthusiasts since its inception in 1984, the series received little exposure on western shores during the 80’s and early 90’s. Thankfully, as the new millennium approached, television entertainment aimed at younger viewers began to undergo a profound transition thanks to the Pokemon craze, leaving the door wide open for the proliferation of anime entertainment in the Saturday morning cartoon block. Plenty of card-trading clones emerged to anxiously gobble up a piece of the pie, but other production studios recognized the potential for success in anime series that fit a different mold. With this in mind, the aging Dragon Ball franchise was introduced to America’s youth, offering a violent-but-campy storyline, and all manner of outlandish characters. Unfortunately, the first series never gained much traction with the younger viewing audience and was soon replaced by the action-heavy Dragon Ball Z incarnation. When the second series met the same fate during its trial run, FUNimation made the wise decision to rethink the target market of the series, and re-release it during the adult-oriented Toonami slot on Cartoon Network. As a result of that move, Dragon Ball Z became a breakaway success on television and home video, earning its designation at the top of the most recognizable anime series in history.
The Ginyu Force is always good for a chuckle.
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 26Mbps), Dragon Ball Z Kai looks as good as I anticipated in the transition to Blu-ray. As mentioned earlier in the review, this isn't simply a remastered version of the series (as offered on prior DVD editions), it's a full-blown frame by frame digital clean-up, with newly created animation replacing entire segments. Identifying these new scenes is easy given the subtle stylistic differences (mainly in shadowing and the consistency of lines), but they blend well enough to avoid causing any major distractions. Aside from the new animation, the major difference in this newly-minted version is a complete lack of print flaws found in the original elements. Gone are the large burn-marks, dust blobs, and nicks that we've grown accustomed to finding throughout most episodes. In their place, we're given a clean image that accurately reflects the core intentions of the simplistic animation, but doesn't artificially enhance aspects of the hand-drawn style. You'll still notice byproducts of limitations in the source material, such as line breaks, slight image shift (from one frame to another), and a marginal level of detail, but considering the age and budget of the series, this is likely the best it will ever look.
To accompany the upgraded visuals, the Japanese and English audio tracks have been reworked from the ground up to include newly recorded dialog from the original voice-actors. The Japanese version offered on the disc is a lossless 2.0 mix, which presents a clean, full sound despite the lack of true surround separation. On the English side, we've been treated to a lossless 5.1 mix, which quickly earned its designation as my track of choice. I typically prefer the Japanese language track on most anime series, but given my extensive introduction to the dubbed version of Dragon Ball Z on Cartoon Network, I associate the voice-work of the English cast with the nuances of each character in the show. Switching back and forth between the two tracks, it's clear the English offering incorporates a greater sense of immersion, separating sound effects across the surround spectrum to accompany the onscreen action. However, the differences in volume balance, clarity, and overall richness are negligible, allowing fans of either track ample reason to rejoice.
As with prior box sets of the series this release is a bit light on supplements, though it's nice to have at least one value-added element.
If you're a Dragon Ball Z fan and you own the prior two box sets of the Kai series, a purchase decision on the third release should be a no-brainer. We're stepping into one of the best segments in the series as our heroes enter a showdown with Frieza, and the slow emergence of Vegeta as an unlikely ally more than makes up for the lack of Goku during this 13-episode story arch. From a topical analysis, Dragon Ball Z will always have its fair share of weaknesses due to the redundant nature of the programming, but the restructuring on Kai is shaping up to be a major step in the right direction, delivering a final product that should stand the test of time.
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鋼の錬金術師 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST
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