Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Dragon Ball Z: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

A massive upgrade for Dragon Ball Z fans.

Dragon Ball Z is an essential anime classic: a masterpiece of action-adventure that hits so many right notes throughout the series run. The introductory season of the series is one of the best and kicks the series off in high-gear. Based on the original manga series created by Akira Toriyama, the beloved classic is essential viewing for anime fans. A sequel series to Dragon Ball (which can be viewed afterwards if one desires), Dragon Ball Z has a firm hold in the history of the medium as one of the greatest action series of all time. Take the journey of a lifetime with this masterful gem.

The world's greatest hero, the kind-hearted Goku, faces one of his biggest threats to date: the evil Saiyan Raditz. As the super-strong villain arrives on Earth with diabolical plans, the entire population of the planet is in danger as Raditz aims to annihilate everything in sight. Can Goku and his friends save the world from total destruction? Non-stop action awaits!

At last in 4:3.

As the plot thickens, a new threat is on the way to Earth: Vegeta. An even more powerful Saiyan, Vegeta is a threat unlike anything else earth's mightiest heroes have ever faced. With only one year to train and prepare for the arrival of the Saiyan, can the heroes train themselves to defeat the biggest threat to them yet? With changing alliances and surprises along the way, Dragon Ball Z amps up the action.

Season 1 of Dragon Ball Z includes episodes 01-39 and both the Raditz and Vegeta story arcs. The 30^th Anniversary Edition at last presents the entire first season in the original 4:3 full-frame aspect ratio on Blu-ray. Packaged in a collectible steelbook, the set is a must-own for fans. For more technical details, keep on reading.

Dragon Ball Z: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Funimation, Dragon Ball Z: Season 1 is presented in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame on the 30^th Anniversary Edition. The release is a massive improvement over the previously available edition of season one. The previous set was in a awful cropped widescreen version with boosted contrast and colors that drained all the life out of the animation. The framing on that previous set was terrible and made the series unwatchable. The presentation is significantly better on these 30^th anniversary edition discs (even if the set isn't an entirely faultless one). Funimation did apply some digital noise reduction (DNR) to the image and sometimes it is a minor distraction from the viewing experience.

While I am an advocate against the use of DNR application, the set still looks remarkably better than previous Blu-ray editions (with the lone exception being the canceled "Level" sets which were sans DNR). On a more positive note, the color reproduction looks outstanding and is arguably the best looking replication of the animation seen on the format to date (surpassing the "Level" sets in this regard). There were never any moments during the set in which the framing appeared unnatural or distracting. Though not a perfect video encode that hits all marks, the set is going to please the majority of fans. The animation has never looked better and this is a worthwhile upgrade.

Dragon Ball Z: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Funimation has presented three lossless audio options for fans of Dragon Ball Z to choose from on this 30^th Anniversary Edition: English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD with original Japanese music, English Dolby TrueHD 2.0 stereo with the U.S. score music, and Japanese mono (with English subtitles). This is certainly a nice mix of lossless audio options for fans. The English dub audio was recorded much later than the original Japanese language dub, so the English audio tracks are much clearer and crisper when compared to the somewhat dated sounding original audio mix. Regardless, fans of the series should be pleased to have options.

One element of the release which was particularly frustrating was that selecting the English dub with Japanese music option presents the opening video with the dub background-music theme and not the original song (which is featured when selecting the Japanese language track). This was a disappointing element of the release and it is something which seems like an unfortunate oversight on the part of Funimation. Fans who don't enjoy the U.S. score as much might prefer to select the "Marathon" viewing mode and self-select the original Japanese theme song before reverting back to the other presentation option. No fan should have to do this but Funimation always seems to find something to cause fans frustration.

Dragon Ball Z: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The 30^th Anniversary Edition of Dragon Ball Z: Season 1 is packaged in a collectors edition steelbook package. The gorgeous steelbook design features Vegeta in a number of poses (on both the front and back). The disc-art also features different images of Vegeta for each of the four discs included inside. The inside art-work features more impressive animation from the Dragon Ball Z series. There is an impressive shimmery effect to the steelbook print quality and the design showcases spot-gloss. The print quality is noteworthy and will satisfy steelbook collectors.

The release is light on supplemental materials on-disc and ports over the same bonus features from the previously-released Season 1 Blu-ray collection.

On disc extras include:

Textless Opening Song (HD, 1:51)

Textless Closing Song (HD, 1:41)

Dragon Ball Z: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Dragon Ball Z is one of the best anime series of all time. The series gets off to a brilliant start with the action-packed excitement of season one. The 30^th Anniversary Edition is a worthwhile set which will please the majority of series fans. While there are a few minor nitpicks one might have about the set, the overall video quality is a massive improvement over previous releases and it is a true joy to finally be able to re-visit the series in the original broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame. Toss Funimation's old Blu-ray season sets in the garbage can and get this much-improved version. An essential upgrade for series fans. The steelbook package is a nice added bonus, too – steelbook collectors will love the shimmery design and high print quality. Highly recommended.