What's the best way to get all of DB and DBZ on DVD?

[Zubon]

I've recently started re-watching my old episodes of Dragonball Z but I only have odd ones, as I got them some time ago in a rather erratic fashion. Now that I have more money, I was wondering what the best (read: cheapest) way of getting all of DB and DBZ is? (GT can wait!)

I can see on this site that you can buy each saga for about $45 dollars, but considering that's for about 12 episodes it's a little more expensive than I'd hope these old series would be.

Is there a clever way to get all of them for less, or do I just have to accept it and buy them by saga?

[Leader Desslock]

If you're asking someone on AN (a forum sponsored by a retailer) to recommend a place where you can obtain this series for less than AN sells them, it would be against the rules for anyone to tell you. As far as this forum is concerned, AN's the way to go.

Shop around, watch out for bootlegs and good luck.

[ryushe]

Just DL the fansubs, doubt you wanna hear the english VA's anyway.

[Soluzar]

If you're asking someone on AN (a forum sponsored by a retailer) to recommend a place where you can obtain this series for less than AN sells them, it would be against the rules for anyone to tell you. As far as this forum is concerned, AN's the way to go.
I think you're mistaken. He's asking about the proliferation of different releases, I think. He's right to ask. Soon, there will be another release of DBZ, in larger box sets. They will be much cheaper than the ones which are currently available. He should clearly wait until this happens, unless he wants them now. It shouldn't be long.

[Suiko Eiji]

Just DL the fansubs, doubt you wanna hear the english VA's anyway.

Ignore this. All piracy issues aside, most of the fansubs are about as atrocious as the dubbing and script re-writes, especially those prevalent in the earlier production. While there were a handful of decent fansubbers who did DBZ way back in the day, I can't imagine finding those files would be any easier than finding somewhere that has the discs you are looking for, for the price you desire. Not to mention, I can say with 99.99% accuracy, the video quality will be absolutely horrid as most of those fansubs would have to be transferred from VHS to a diitized, "computer" format.

Going with the DVDs is the way to go on this one and I would take Soluzar's advice. If you are patient enough and watch for the right releases then I'm sure you can find it at the appropriate prices.

[Soluzar]

Going with the DVDs is the way to go on this one and I would take Soluzar's advice. If you are patient enough and watch for the right releases then I'm sure you can find it at the appropriate prices.
I'm not quite certain of the details anymore, but I seem to recall they are going with 50-Episode boxes next time around for DBZ, and that they will be priced considerably less than a corresponding amount of episodes in "saga" boxsets. I'm fairly sure that should be happening soon.

[John]

FUNimation claims that they'll begin releasing Dragonball Z in cheap "season" boxed sets beginning early next year. That's probably the best and cheapest way to get all of DBZ. Still no word on original Dragonball, though, since the first 13 episodes have still never been released uncut in America.

[Soluzar]

FUNimation claims that they'll begin releasing Dragonball Z in cheap "season" boxed sets beginning early next year. That's probably the best and cheapest way to get all of DBZ. Still no word on original Dragonball, though, since the first 13 episodes have still never been released uncut in America.I'm sure you already know this, John, but for the benefit of others, I might point out that there is an English subbed boxset for the first 13 episodes published in Australia, I believe by Madman. Worth the purchase for the serious Dragonball fan.

[John]

I'm sure you already know this, John, but for the benefit of others, I might point out that there is an English subbed boxset for the first 13 episodes published in Australia, I believe by Madman. Worth the purchase for the serious Dragonball fan.

That's the FUNimation uncut Dragonball DVD volume 1. I assume that FUNi will release that collection here in America eventually, possibly when Trimark's distribution rights to those episodes expire.

[Suiko Eiji]

That's the FUNimation uncut Dragonball DVD volume 1. I assume that FUNi will release that collection here in America eventually, possibly when Trimark's distribution rights to those episodes expire.

Given what they've been doing to correct their earliest releases with the Ultimate Uncut set of Dragonball Z, I can only imagine that FUNi not doing this would be not being able to license them from Toei once the Trimark license expires. And I really cannot imagine Trimark fighting to hold onto them once the license experation comes up.

[EternityOfPain]

FUNimation claims that they'll begin releasing Dragonball Z in cheap "season" boxed sets beginning early next year. That's probably the best and cheapest way to get all of DBZ. Still no word on original Dragonball, though, since the first 13 episodes have still never been released uncut in America.

Anyone who is looking into getting the first 13 episodes of DB uncut I recommend getting the R4 DVD. Its titled "The Saga of Goku" and is released uncut 1-13 on 2 dvds. I personally own them and its great.

[Levon]

Anyone who is looking into getting the first 13 episodes of DB uncut I recommend getting the R4 DVD. Its titled "The Saga of Goku" and is released uncut 1-13 on 2 dvds. I personally own them and its great.

I should be getting that in the mail soon. I only watched Saga 1 dubbed & edited & enjoyed it a lot-_-; Can't wait to see it subbed & uncut.

But anyone who buys it needs to have a multi-region DVD player that runs R4 PAL. I have a Motorola & Panasonic DVD player but they won't run PAL but my RCA does. Sadly I let my brother borrow my RCA & he says its broken, so even if I get Dragonball Saga 1 in the mail I can't watch it anyway<_<(unless I watch on my DVD-rom or buy a new DVD player).

[DocWatson]

I have had the same problem, and have come up with the following list the current R1 DVD releases for Dragon Ball:Tournament Saga (Episodes 14-28)
• Red Ribbon Army Saga (Episodes 29-45)
• General Blue Saga (Episodes 46-57)
• Commander Red Saga (Episodes 58-67)
• Fortuneteller Baba (Episodes 68-83)
• Tien Shinhan Saga (Episodes 84-101)
• King Piccolo Set 1 (Episodes 102-111)
• King Piccolo Set 2 (Episodes 112-122)
• Piccolo Junior Set 1 (Episodes 123-137)
• Piccolo Junior Set 2 (Episodes 138-153)AnimeMania is the best resource for commercial North American releases.

Edit: Removed link.

[Soluzar]

I should be getting that in the mail soon. I only watched Saga 1 dubbed & edited & enjoyed it a lot-_-; Can't wait to see it subbed & uncut.It's very different. More than I was expecting. :wacko

But anyone who buys it needs to have a multi-region DVD player that runs R4 PAL. I have a Motorola & Panasonic DVD player but they won't run PAL but my RCA does. Sadly I let my brother borrow my RCA & he says its broken, so even if I get Dragonball Saga 1 in the mail I can't watch it anyway<_<(unless I watch on my DVD-rom or buy a new DVD player).
An xbox with a softmod makes a wonderful region-free player that handles both PAL and NTSC. It also plays DivX, XviD and some H.264, as AVI, MKV and OGM files. Every anime fan needs one. ;)

[Suiko Eiji]

I have had the same problem, and have come up with the following list the current R1 DVD releases for Dragon Ball:Tournament Saga (Episodes 14-28)
• Red Ribbon Army Saga (Episodes 29-45)
• General Blue Saga (Episodes 46-57)
• Commander Red Saga (Episodes 58-67)
• Fortuneteller Baba (Episodes 68-83)
• Tien Shinhan Saga (Episodes 84-101)
• King Piccolo Set 1 (Episodes 102-111)
• King Piccolo Set 2 (Episodes 112-122)
• Piccolo Junior Set 1 (Episodes 123-137)
• Piccolo Junior Set 2 (Episodes 138-153)

While the listing of information is good, linking to another vendor's site, even if it is an "Amazon Associate" (which I assume is like an e-Bay Store), has been declared "verboten" on the forums.

[ZeroRyoko1974]

It's very
An xbox with a softmod makes a wonderful region-free player that handles both PAL and NTSC. It also plays DivX, XviD and some H.264, as AVI, MKV and OGM files. Every anime fan needs one. ;)
o rly? tell me more. Is x-box modding an acceptable subject on AN >_>. Is there a good divx dvd player out there that is upgradable to be able to read newer sound and video codecs?

[DocWatson]

While the listing of information is good, linking to another vendor's site, even if it is an "Amazon Associate" (which I assume is like an e-Bay Store), has been declared "verboten" on the forums.Oops. Though it is not like an eBay Store—it's an affiliate program (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affiliate). I.e., Mr. Peters gets a kickback from Amazon every time someone uses a link on his site to go to Amazon and buy something.

[Suiko Eiji]

^Thanks, I appreciate the correction.

[DocWatson]

^Thanks, I appreciate the correction.And I appreciate not being banned (even if you are not a moderator). ^_^;

[Suiko Eiji]

And I appreciate not being banned (even if you are not a moderator). ^_^;

You meant well, though I would personally recommend removing the direct link. But that's advice, I don't have a red name nor banning powers.

[DocWatson]

You meant well, though I would personally recommend removing the direct link. But that's advice, I don't have a red name nor banning powers.<sigh> I've done so, but I think that it's silly (in most cases, anyway) to object to a site because of its advertising practices.

[John]

Is there a good divx dvd player out there that is upgradable to be able to read newer sound and video codecs?

In case anyone is interested, I picked up a Toshiba SD-3990 at Best Buy. It supports optional DivX subtitles. It doesn't support the H.264 codec or high resolution encodes, but it does have limited QPEL and GMC support, so it will play digital fansubs that the more common Philips DVP-642 won't play. (For example, Lunar's Ouran Host digisubs play a little buggy, but they won't even load on a DVP-642.) Best of all, it's one of the very few (maybe the only) currently available AVI support DVD players that will display digital fansubs properly. If you set the video display to "original" instead of the default "auto-fit," it won't allow overscan, so digisub subtitles don't get cut off by the bottom of the TV screen.

As a DVD player, it's NTSC only, but it does have a simple remote control region hack. It's a great cheap stand alone digital fansub player, but I can't recommend it as a primary DVD player. There are other better and more versitile DVD players available for the same price or less.

[Levon]

That sounds great John, I really wanted a DVD player that played AVI but I was afraid the subs would get cut off. I'm gonna try buy one. I found the region code hack too.

[Zubon]

Wow, thanks for all the replies. It's quite a lot to take in at once.

From what I gather, there's soon to be a more efficient (both in terms of episodes per set and overall cost) set of DBZ DVDs released? I think I'll hang on for those in that case.

As for the DB (not Z) DVDs, if I follow correctly, they are available from the US, but the first 13 eps are only available uncut from Australia? Australia is PAL like here (the UK) but unfortunately is region-4, unlike the UK which is region-2. Oh well, that was nearly perfect!

Anyone know when these larger DBZ boxed sets are to be released?

[DocWatson]

Anyone know when these larger DBZ boxed sets are to be released?From what I understand from the discussion(s) on the Anime on DVD forums, the schedule has not been finalized or announced, and it has been a while since the collections were originally announced, leaving some fans rather annoyed.

(I'm new to trying to collect DB*, so I am just catching up.)

[John]

The first Dragonball Z "season" boxed set was originally scheduled for release in November, but just a few weeks ago FUNimation sent word to retailers that it was delayed until sometime next year. At Otakon, FUNi implied that the first DBZ "season" boxed set would be available early next year, and it would cost less than 3 individual "uncut" DVDs.

[Zubon]

I see. So, 3 individual DVDs would contain in the region of 9 to 12 episodes altogether, right? And these new boxed sets will contain around 50 episdodes? :o

[Soluzar]

I see. So, 3 individual DVDs would contain in the region of 9 to 12 episodes altogether, right? And these new boxed sets will contain around 50 episdodes? :o
That's roughly right, yes. It sounds almost too good to be true, but FUNi have no reason to tell us these details if they aren't true.

[John]

I have a feeling that the upcoming FUNimation DBZ DVD "season" boxed sets may be similar to the Viz Naruto and Inuyasha "season" sets and contain only 13-27 episodes rather than a massive 50. FUNi has confirmed "season" boxed sets and said that they'll be inexpensive, but hasn't said anything about how many episodes will be in each "season" set.

[Soluzar]

That sounds more believable. The buzz on various internet sites has been about 50 episodes per box, but if there hasn't been an official comment on the size of a "season", 30 episodes per box seems more credible.

[SonGokuQ]

I'm glad someoene asked this question because I'm a huge Db fan and I am thinking about getting the whole series as well. I already have all the movies. These new releases, will they be totally uncut?
And I saw somewhere that the X-Box 360 is a region free player. Does anyone know if the Playstation 2 or 3 is like that?

[Suiko Eiji]

I think I've heard about making PS2's regionless, but as far as I know it may not be able to convert PAL-NTSC or back. PS3 as a Blu-Ray player should probably be region locked within the 3 BR Regions. Also probably will not have the ability to convert between PAL and NTSC.

As far as I know, the newest Dragonball Z sets look to be a cheaper re-print of the Ultimate Uncut DVDs, which are both in-tact, un-edited video and translations.