Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		1.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 1-9 Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Dragon Ball Z is one of the most legendary anime classics in the history of the medium. The anime masterpiece is a gem of animation and an anime that belongs in the collection of every anime collector. Crunchyroll has assembled a limited collector’s edition containing the entire nine-season box-set. The set includes every episode of the production. The Limited Edition is an exclusive product designed by Crunchyroll for sale exclusively through the Crunchyroll web store. This limited-edition item includes exclusive packaging with a different outer-box than other releases of Dragon Ball Z made available previously by Crunchyroll.

For more information on Dragon Ball Z, please refer the following reviews:

Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 1-3 Collection Blu-ray Review

Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 4-6 Collection Blu-ray Review

Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 7-9 Collection Blu-ray Review

Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 1-9 Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Crunchyroll, Dragon Ball Z: Complete Series (Crunchyroll Store Exclusive Edition) is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in a cropped and reformatted 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio. This set of Dragon Ball Z looks atrocious on the Blu-ray format (with these cropped, zoomed, and reformatted editions). The picture quality is abysmal and has blown colors – terrible widescreen framing – and lack of detail.

The presentation stands as one of the worst on the format with colors unfaithful to the original versions, widescreen cropping (with part of the image cut off on the top and bottom to turn the original aspect ratio 4:3 version into a widescreen version), and DNR (digital noise reduction) has been cranked up to the max.

For more information on the Dragon Ball Z video quality, please refer the following reviews:

Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 1-3 Collection Blu- ray Review

Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 4-6 Collection Blu- ray Review

Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 7-9 Collection Blu- ray Review

Please Note:

Funimation (now Crunchyroll), previously released a limited-edition version of the series with significantly better presentation-quality – the original aspect ratio, less DNR, and better color reproduction. These remastered presentations were only made available in limited edition sets, providing a better and more faithful version. (These were released in the 30^th Anniversary Collectors Set and standalone 30^th anniversary steelbook releases.) These sets are enormously improved and there is a lot of joy in having the original aspect ratio preserved – as well as the better restoration effort. I only ask: why on Earth does Crunchyroll continue to re-issue the widescreen, cropped, color boosted, versions?

Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 1-9 Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, English Dolby TrueHD 2.0, and Japanese Dolby TrueHD Mono (with English subtitles).

For more information on the Dragon Ball Z audio quality, please refer the following reviews:

Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 1-3 Collection Blu-ray Review

Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 4-6 Collection Blu-ray Review

Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 7-9 Collection Blu-ray Review

Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 1-9 Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Dragon Ball Z: Complete Series (Crunchyroll Store Exclusive Edition) comes with a limited-edition outer box that is unique and exclusive to the webstore. For some strange reason, Crunchyroll opted to produce a flimsy and cheap cardboard box for this limited edition exclusive. The cardstock is paper thin, cheap, and feels lackluster in hand. The outer packaging feels cheap all around and even though the art looks great, it is such a poor-quality print of the outer box that I wonder why Crunchyroll didn't opt for a higher-quality box (like the rigid, high-quality artbox used by VIZ Media for the recently issued Naruto: Complete Series box-set).

For more information on the Dragon Ball Z bonus features, please refer the following reviews:

Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 1-3 Collection Blu-ray Review

Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 4-6 Collection Blu-ray Review

Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 7-9 Collection Blu-ray Review

Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 1-9 Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Dragon Ball Z: Complete Series (Crunchyroll Store Exclusive Edition) features exclusive artwork for the collector's box. The exclusive artwork is the best thing about the release. Unfortunately, the set is not worth recommending. The art-box is flimsy, cheap, and poorly manufactured. The discs are simple re-issues of the widescreen cropped version of Dragon Ball Z.

There are better 30^th anniversary editions of Dragon Ball Z featuring the original aspect ratio, better colors, and less DNR. Fans of Dragon Ball Z will certainly feel tempted by this set at first glance but please consider opting for a 30^th anniversary edition instead – the 30^th anniversary sets preserved the series. I don't even understand why Crunchyroll keeps churning out so many reissues of the widescreen version as it is an atrocity as far as presentations go.