Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		1.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Dragon Ball Z - Seasons 7-9 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).

Season 7 of Dragon Ball Z includes episodes 195-219 and contains the entire Great Saiyaman and World Tournament sagas. The action- packed adventure continues to be a thrill ride with the 7th great season. The World Tournament saga has some exciting tournament battles to keep audiences engaged with exhilarating fights.

Dragon Ball Z: Season 8 continues the journey. The set contains episodes 220-253 of the beloved anime series. These episodes focus on two sagas: the Babidi arc and the Majin Buu saga. These storylines test the heroes strengths and abilities as the world needs saving – once more. With the diabolical Babidi threatening all of humanity, can our heroes save the day and prevent total annihilation? Then the greatest threat to date arrives when Buu enters the stage.

The Buu saga is one of the most debated action sagas to be explored in the Dragon Ball Z franchise. The character can be a surprise – in more ways than one. Sometimes the goofy element on display seems far-fetched compared to the Cell saga and the comedic play is a lot different than the more serious villain moments throughout the series. Regardless, the Buu saga still has plenty to offer.

Dragon Ball Z: Season 9 is the epic conclusion to the long-running anime series (even if the anime was eventually rebooted in the hit sequel-series Dragon Ball Super). The ninth season includes episodes 254-291. The set focuses on concluding the Majin Buu saga (and the entire epic tale – momentarily, at least - comes to an end). The ninth season of Dragon Ball Z wraps up the epic action-adventure with a send-off sure to please die-hard fans.

The concluding episodes of Dragon Ball Z actually wrap-up the storyline in a surprise way: offering fans an epilogue (of sorts). The last several episodes are focused on the characters and not the fight scenes (as much). The storyline has some nice call backs to the original Dragon Ball (and there is something neat in store: a tournament that brings Goku back to the stage). These episodes focus primarily on giving a proper send-off to the characters that made Dragon Ball Z so memorable. Everything seems nostalgic in the final moments and some fans might feel emotional by the conclusion.

Daisuke Nishio (Dragon Ball) managed to imbue the final season of Dragon Ball Z with plenty of action and energy to keep the series entertaining to the ending. As head director of Dragon Ball Z, Nishio managed to give fans what they wanted: a send-off to the heroes. Akira Toriyama made a masterful story that managed to find a proper balance of action and heart. No fan should miss the conclusion.

Dragon Ball Z - Seasons 7-9 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Funimation Entertainment, Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 7-9 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 7-9 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 7-9 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Season 7:

Disc 3 –

Textless Opening Song (HD, 1:51)

Textless Closing Song (HD, 1:39)

Trailers:

Toriko (HD, 00:44)

One Piece (SD, 1:09)

Fairy Tail (HD, 1:03)

Steins; Gate (HD, 1:05)

A Certain Magical Index II (HD, 1:05)

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

Baka & Test (HD, 1:08)

Funimation.com (HD, 00:32)

Disc 4 –

Inside Dragon Ball Z: Interview with Justin Cook (HD, 20:51)

Inside Dragon Ball Z: Interview with Nathanael Harrison (HD, 20:35)

Dragon Ball Z Card Game: Past, Present, and Future (HD, 38:24)

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

Season 8:

Disc 4 –

Inside Dragon Ball Z: Interview with Kyle Hebert (HD, 25:48)

Inside Dragon Ball Z: Interview with Kara Edwards (HD, 27:06)

Dragon Ball Z: Coming to America (HD, 28:21)

Textless Opening Song (HD, 1:51)

Textless Closing Song (HD, 1:39)

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

Trailers:

Toriko (SD, 00:39)

A Certain Magical Index II (HD, 1:05)

One Piece (SD, 1:10)

Code: Breaker (HD, 1:25)

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

Fairy Tail (HD, 1:01)

Attack on Titan (HD, 1:50)

Funimation.com (HD, 00:32)

Season 9:

Disc 4 –

Textless Opening Song (HD, 1:51)

Textless Closing Song (HD, 1:39)

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

Trailers:

A Certain Magical Index II (HD, 1:05)

Toriko (SD, 00:39)

Ghost in the Shell: Arise (HD, 1:44)

One Piece (SD, 1:10)

Chaos; Head (HD, 1:18)

Bayonetta: Bloody Fate (HD, 1:34)

Attack on Titan (HD, 1:50)

Funimation.com (HD, 00:32)

Disc 5:

Inside Dragon Ball Z:  Interview with Josh Martin (HD, 18:46)

Inside Dragon Ball Z: Interview with Chris Rager (HD, 20:37)

From East to West: Dragon Ball Z's Epic Journey (HD, 47: 56)

A Completely Serious Discussion About the Comedy of Dragon Ball Z (HD, 53:05)

Dragon Ball Z - Seasons 7-9 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The conclusion of Dragon Ball Z is epic and grandiose in every sense of the world. The final seasons are action-packed, entertaining, and full of wonder. The last chapters in the original Dragon Ball Z saga are essential to the story. The characters go on an epic adventure and the final battles are against some of the most memorable opponents in the series run. Unfortunately, the Season 7-9 box-set collection has sub-par presentations with lackluster widescreen cropped encodes. The encodes suffer from egregious cropping (with characters body parts chopped off in many frames of the animation) alongside excessive DNR, gross macroblocking, and weak encoding. The 30^th anniversary steelbook editions are far superior and provide the original 4:3 aspect ratio. Skip the sub-par Dragon Ball Z: Seasons 7-9 box set collection and spring for the vastly superior 30^th anniversary edition remasters. SKIP IT.