Dragon Ball Z - Seasons 4-6 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		1.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Dragon Ball Z - Seasons 4-6 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Neil Lumbard November 14, 2022

An adrenaline rush of epic proportions, Dragon Ball Z remains one of the greatest hits in the history of animation (anime or otherwise). Packed to the brim with exciting adventure, Dragon Ball Z adapts the beloved manga from original creator Akira Toriyama. The journey is outstanding every step of the way. An essential classic that remains important to this day. Don't miss it.

If there is one area where Dragon Ball Z excelled above all other anime series, it is without-a-doubt the masterful action sequences. The fight scenes are exceptional and deliver in spades. There is a sense of energy throughout the series that is outstanding to behold. As a fan of action anime, Dragon Ball Z is still the high-water benchmark against all other anime series. Nothing else even comes close.

The series features stunning animation as well. The production aesthetics are uniformly great and manage to imbue the anime with a style that is highly distinctive and undeniably great. As a fan who admires cell-based animation that is drawn by hand, Dragon Ball Z still reigns supreme. Most modern productions simply can't muster up the energy or creativity to compare to the style of animation which was used during the golden age of hand drawn anime. The animators crafted a true masterpiece. Breathtaking.

The score is another compelling element that adds to the excitement of the production. Series composer Shunsuke Kikuchi (Dragon Ball) delivers the goods and elevates the action sequences time and time again. There is something so impeccable about the musical compositions and the brilliance which is delivered by Kikuchi. The score is as epic in scope as a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster (and that stands out as something truly remarkable).

Featuring screenwriting by Takao Koyama (Dr. Slump) and direction by Daisuke Nishio (Dragon Ball),  Dragon Ball Z is an anime series so brilliant in its execution and technique that to never experience the series would be a massive loss for any anime fan: genre enthusiasts should consider it to be one of the most entertaining thrill-rides the genre has ever seen. Accept no substitutes: Dragon Ball Z is magic.

Season 4 of Dragon Ball Z includes episodes 108-139 and features the entire Garlic Jr. saga, the Android saga, and the Trunks saga! This makes season 4 one of the most jam-packed sets yet. Featuring some of the best episodes in the entire series run,  Dragon Ball Z: Season 4 is truly exceptional.

Season 5 of Dragon Ball Z includes episodes 140-165 and focuses on the Imperfect Cell and Perfect Cell sagas. These are some of the most entertaining episodes in the entire series run and fans will be on the edge of their respective seats.

Season 6 of Dragon Ball Z includes episodes 166-194 and contains the complete Cell Games saga. The set focuses on a massive tournament of fighters that will test them and their abilities to the fullest. As Cell has now achieved his "Perfect Cell" status, things heat up in the arena – and behind the scenes. One of the most thrilling sagas in the entire Dragon Ball Z saga.

Dragon Ball Z - Seasons 4-6 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Funimation Entertainment, Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 4-6 are presented in 1.78:1 widescreen. The release is one of the more disastrous looking releases available from the anime distributor. The presentation is presented in a cropped widescreen presentation. The widescreen framing is not the result of open-matte framing (as is common with some live-action series) but severe cropping in order to achieve the widescreen ratio. The result? The animation looks terrible. There are so many shots with character heads partly missing, entire details devoid, and artistic background scenery missing (without) action. The animation was also "enhanced" with boosted colors to achieve a more "modern" aesthetic.

The result is the animation looks less like Japanese anime and more like a modern cartoon at times. It certainly suffers from egregious DNR (digital noise reduction) and it appears as though all of the film grain was removed. The video quality is also quite noisy at times (despite the DNR application) with digital noise causing the video to sometimes suffer from macroblocking and other video detriments. Likewise, the release has an abundance of banding and it is one of the more severe examples. The extravagant banding issue may even be related to the remastering process used for these half- baked widescreen masters.

Dragon Ball Z - Seasons 4-6 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The audio quality on the release is far from exceptional but it is a bit better sounding than the video counterpart. The audio presentation includes English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound and 2.0 stereo options. The release also includes the original Japanese language audio track in Dolby TrueHD mono. It is unfortunately not a pristine audio presentation but it is certainly serviceable. The original Japanese track sounds a bit less clear and robust compared to the English dub (which is perhaps understandable given the production-year differences).

Dragon Ball Z - Seasons 4-6 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Season 4:

Disc 4:

Inside Dragon Ball Z: Interview with Matthew O'Hara (HD, 17:21)

Inside Dragon Ball Z: Interview with Daniel Mancilla (HD, 18:48)

From the Vault: Goku vs. Vegeta Featurette (SD, 27:04)

From the Vault: The World of Dragon Ball Z (SD, 20:12)

Textless Opening Song (HD, 1:51)

Textless Closing Song (HD, 1:43)

U.S. Trailer (HD, 00:17)

Trailers:

Serial Experiments Lain (HD, 1:45)

Eureka Seven (HD, 1:44)

One Piece (SD, 00:35)

Robotics; Notes (HD, 1:20)

Karneval (HD, 1:45)

Anime Classics (HD, 00:56)

Funimation.com (HD, 00:32)

Season 5:

Disc 3 –

Textless Opening Song

Textless Closing Song

Trailers:

Fairy Tail (HD, 1:02)

Serial Experiments Lain (HD, 1:45)

Eureka Seven (HD, 1:44)

Shangri-La (SD, 1:44)

Appleseed XIII (HD, 2:02)

One Piece (SD, 00:35)

The Galaxy Railways (SD, 1:26)

Funimation.com (HD, 00:32)

Disc 4 –

Inside Dragon Ball Z: Interview with Sonny Strait (HD, 20:33)

Inside Dragon Ball Z: Interview with Meredith Mauldin (HD, 13:11)

Toei Tour: Raw Footage (HD, 14:01)

U.S. Trailer (HD, 00:17)

Season 6:

Disc 3 –

Textless Opening Song (HD, 1:51)

Textless Closing Song (HD, 1:43)

Trailers:

Toriko (SD, 00:44)

Code: Breaker (HD, 1:25)

The Devil is a Part Timer! (HD, 1:18)

Eureka Seven (HD, 1:44)

Ben-To (HD, 1:02)

Shakugan no Shana (HD, 00:39)

Steins; Gate (HD, 1:05)

Funimation.com (HD, 00:32)

Disc 4 –

Inside Dragon Ball Z: Interview with Eric Vale (HD, 19:14)

Inside Dragon Ball Z: Interview with Cynthia Cranz (HD, 18:12)

Dragon Ball Z Trivia (HD, 11:05)

U.S. Trailer (HD, 00:17)

Dragon Ball Z - Seasons 4-6 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

One of the best anime series ever made, Dragon Ball Z remains a classic. The series has high-octane action in spades. The series made a mark as one of the most entertaining anime series with great characters and plenty of adventure. Unfortunately, the Season 4-6 collection includes cropped widescreen presentations with plenty of missing information in the frames. The video quality is exceedingly sub-par and has excessive color enhancement and DNR (digital noise reduction). The cropping is the worst part of the release, though. (A 30^th anniversary steelbook edition in the original 4:3 aspect ratio is also available and is far superior to this edition). Splurge for the steelbook collectors editons with the original 4:3 aspect ratio.