Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Dragon Ball Z: Season 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 6, 2014

It may not rise to the Super Saiyan level of battles between Goku and Gohan and Vegeta and Frieza, but there has definitely been a storm a-brewin’ for several years now from fans of Dragon Ball Z, certainly one of the most loyal congregations in the entire history of anime. FUNimation Entertainment has built much of its anime fortress upon the foundation of Dragon Ball Z, and those who grew up with the series are among the fiercest defenders of what they see as the show’s somewhat unstable treatment by the label. Just a cursory use of our search engine above will show how many different releases of Dragon Ball Z (and its redacted version Dragon Ball Z Kai) have been released over the past several years. Huge amounts of bandwidth on this site alone have been used up with debates over which of the many releases is “best”, or at least “most faithful” to the Dragon Ball Z saga. Many (including yours truly) thought that FUNimation had finally gotten everything just about right with the so-called “Level Sets” (Dragon Ball Z: Level 1.1, Dragon Ball Z: Level 1.2), remastered versions that included a reported frame by frame restoration but which left the original 16mm film grain intact, and which also included three soundtrack options. But here’s the catch: while a lot of fans were supporting these ultimately abandoned releases with a good amount of lip service, evidently not enough of them actually forked over their hard earned cash to buy them, and FUNimation put the kibosh on the releases almost as soon as they had begun putting them out. And here’s where that old bugaboo of Art vs. Commerce comes into play: if FUNimation can’t sell product, they’re certainly not going to spend the money to tidy it up and mass produce discs. This may at least help to explain FUNimation’s latest go ‘round with the venerable Dragon Ball Z franchise. They have now reframed the series for 16:9 displays as well as given the show a sleek, grainless “video” appearance that I’m sure they believe will be an easier sell to the public at large and perhaps just as importantly to potential broadcast licensors. This new approach met with a lot of fury with the first volume (Dragon Ball Z: Season 1), but FUNimation not only has the second season out now, it’s already announced the next two seasons in this new format, so indications are that despite the naysaying someone is buying these, and perhaps there are broadcast outings in the offing.

Instead of rehashing content for the umpteenth time that has already been covered in several previous reviews, I suggest you use our search function to look at previous releases of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Z Kai. This set features episodes 40 through 74. You’ll find useful summaries of some of the bigger plot arcs in my colleague Dustin Somner’s reviews of Dragon Ball Z Kai: Part 2, Dragon Ball Z Kai: Part 3 and Dragon Ball Z Kai: Part 4.

Dragon Ball Z: Season 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Dragon Ball Z: Season 2 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. FUNimation includes this text with the Blu-ray:

We embarked on a frame by frame restoration process to remove any blemishes, tape marks and foreign bodies that might have tarnished your viewing experience. All three audio tracks have been re-mastered in the interest of noise reduction and superior sound quality. The bolder, more vibrant color of this ultimate release closely mirrors the visual aesthetics of today's entertainment. Lastly, we undertook a precise shot-by-shot reframing of the entire series to create a modern HD widescreen presentation of this legendary fan favorite.

Some may feel that's a self-serving rationale for changing an original, a decision that seems especially odd given the fact that FUNimation at least embarked on what could have been a definitive edition in high definition which preserved the original aspect ratio and (admittedly quite) grainy appearance of the series (though as mentioned above, FUNimation can certainly not be blamed for the commercial failure of that approach). There's no denying that this is an intensely colorful revision of the original, with deeply saturated primaries and occasional lush pastels. The changes here are perhaps not as abrupt as some of the most vociferous objectors have claimed, but they're noticeable, nonetheless. The reframing is done rather artfully, as far as these things go, though as I mentioned in the Season 1 review, anyone who is used to the original 4:3 aspect ratio is going to notice things like missing tops of heads on characters. The biggest issue many fans have had and will continue to have with this release is the over aggressive denoising. This simply does not resemble anything approaching film anymore. It in fact looks like a clumsily animated (meaning "old style") digital creation. There's little depth to the imagery anymore, simply flashy, bright colors. Though FUNimation has no doubt gone to some great expense doing this, there are still odd anomalies in line with what I mentioned in the first season review, including weird quasi-warping effects and instability that almost looks like telecine wobble, except that it only affects characters or elements within the frame. Those with no history with the series may actually find this iteration perfectly acceptable and even "great" looking. Fans who do have a history with the series are no doubt going to continue to complain rather loudly. My score of 3 may therefore be seen as either too lenient or too harsh, depending on your personal background.

Dragon Ball Z: Season 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

FUNimation has at least continued with their laudable three audio options on this latest season. I simply repeat my thoughts about these three tracks from previous reviews here. FUNimation has provided three lossless offerings on this Blu-ray, the English dub in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 with the original Japanese music, the original English language broadcast version (with broadcast version music) in Dolby TrueHD 2.0 and the original Japanese track (with Japanese music) in Dolby TrueHD mono. For the bulk of my watching, I opted for the 5.1 mix, as the synth heavy, proto-pop "stylings" of the broadcast version's music weren't as much to my personal liking as the 5.1's original Japanese music. Add to that some very smart and fun surround repurposing, without attendant fussiness or gimmickry, and the 5.1 track is the clear winner here, at least for those who want a fairly consistently immersive experience. Fidelity is top notch on this track, and the battle scenes are filled with slams, punches and crazy sound effects that ping pong around the surrounds with abandon. There's some great LFE in many (if not most) episodes, and the music is very well represented as well. Dynamic range is exceptional on this track, though truth be told, Dragon Ball Z tends to work at a fairly consistent hyperbolic level most of the time. The Japanese language track sounds noticeably muffled compared to the two English tracks, most likely due to age and the original recording environment and techniques.

Dragon Ball Z: Season 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Inside Dragon Ball Z: Interview with Christopher R. Stabat (1080p; 19:03). This starts with some kind of funny interview with Dragon Ball Z fans, most of whom caught it on Cartoon Network. That segues to an interview with Stabat, who details how he got the job (while still in college). He gets into some of the trials of recording the series in this enjoyable supplement.


• Inside Dragon Ball Z: Interview with Sean Schemmel (1080p; 18:23) begins with fan interviews, per the Stabat interview, and then segues to Schemmel who gets into his history, which included working as French Horn teacher!


• Justin Cook Shares His Headshot Collection (1080p; 9:41). Cook's voice, giving some of his history with the show, plays out over headshots he's received in his long tenure at FUNimation.


• Textless Opening Song (1080p; 1:54)


• Textless Closing Song (1080p; 1:41)


• U.S. Trailer (1080p; 00:17)


• Trailers for other FUNimation Entertainment Releases

Dragon Ball Z: Season 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Has the marketplace spoken? Well, it certainly did with regard to the "Level Sets", and no matter how much fans bemoan the fact that those weren't continued, there's no doubt that had sales been vigorous enough, FUNimation certainly wouldn't have abandoned them. Perhaps the verdict is still out on this newest iteration of Dragon Ball Z, but my hunch is this is going to be the only set for the foreseeable future, especially since FUNimation is understandably trying to position the franchise for the future, where younger audiences won't be aware (and my frankly not even care) that the show was originally a grainy, 1.33:1 "relic" of a bygone era. As a longtime fan of the series, I can't outright recommend this since it simply doesn't look like the original. The content here is a lot of fun, and the audio and supplements are certainly worthwhile. But I prefer a video presentation that recreates the original, and that is just as certainly not the case with these new releases.