Dragon Ball Z - Level 1.1 [Blu-ray]

This review primarily concerns the HD video quality of the "Dragon Ball Z" Level 1.1 Blu-ray Disc (BD). This Blu-ray presentation, which features the show in its native 4:3 aspect ratio, is based on a new telecine (the film-to-video process) of 16mm film materials FUNimation has had for a good number of years. What they received from Toei were film prints that are two or three generations removed from the original negatives. Scanning from a film print is not ideal, but sometimes--as in this case--doing so creates pleasing results (and other times, also in this case, it's all anyone CAN do, since Toei never hand anyone their negatives). Provided for the telecine process was the TAF (telecine analysis film), which specifies what the colors, blacks, and whites should be. This new HD scan reflects what the original animators had made. Unlike the Dragon Box DVDs, colors and saturation look more level with no contrast boosting and the like. Black levels are solid black, reds are more red, etc. This is what the makers of the anime series intended. Because the series was shot on 16mm film, grain is intense. Grain is what composes the image on film; to remove grain is to remove critical detail along with it (and you obviously can never fully eliminate grain; attempts to remove all traces of "visible grain" result in highly smoothed-over picture quality void of detail). However, since this new HD master was struck from 2nd- or 3rd-generation film prints, additional grain is laid on top. FUNimation handled this with a light grain filtering which largely preserves the grain and does not ruin any of the line art and background painting detail, but does cause the grain to look slightly patchy at times. I would have preferred them to leave the grain alone, but the filtering they did does nothing to ruin the image. What's left is an image that's still intensely grainy, and detail is preserved. In addition to grain filtering, frame-by-frame dirt, scratch, tape, and other debris cleanup was applied. I applaud FUNimation for handling the ugly bits in this way, rather than applying an automatic noise reduction process which would have undoubtedly destroyed the line art and overall picture integrity. (See the "orange brick" season DVDs to see how NOT to handle dirt and other defects.) The picture quality is simply beautiful, and it boggles my mind to think that we're viewing "Dragon Ball Z" in this high of quality considering the show was originally broadcast in lo-fi analog video. What's interesting to note is that the opening to each episode was sourced from the first movie, "Dead Zone" (evident by the EIRIN certificate number in the lower right of the title), but that's no problem since it's the same intro as the first number of episodes from the TV series. However, this does make the "standard definition vs. HD restored" comparison in the extra featurette on disc two a bit misleading, since this opening would have been sourced from 35mm, so it's of higher quality than the episodes themselves. The opening and closing do not contain Japanese credits (and the closing features English credits even if you're watching it in Japanese). Reason being is FUNimation were never given film elements for the opening and closing that contain the opticals for the credits. I'll take a "clean" opening in HD sourced from 35mm over a standard definition opening with credits, though it would have been nice for FUNimation to provide the SD opening/closing with Japanese credits as extras. Next episode previews are also missing for the same reason, though again, providing the SD video as an option would have been nice if enough disc space is available. The only major gripe I have with the HD video are that the episode title cards are only in English. Seems that FUNimation threw alternate angles out the window long ago. I always appreciated seeing the Japanese title cards on my "Dragon Ball" Saga DVDs, so this feels like a major step back to me. The English translations of the original titles are a whole lot more interesting to me than the English dub titles, and on top of that, I find the Japanese title cards to be much more aesthetically pleasing (despite not being able to read the kanji). Hopefully it's a problem that will be rectified on future sets. However, it's not such a major gripe that it will prevent me from purchasing future sets even if the original cards aren't provided. The video quality is otherwise astounding, so I'll happily but begrudgingly suck it up if things continue this way. There are three Dolby TrueHD audio options: original Japanese mono, English with Japanese music 5.1, and English with redone American music stereo. The Japanese mono is one channel; I think I would have preferred 2.0 dual mono, though purists may have issue with that. I believe there's no reason to be truly disappointed with any of the tracks; those who prefer the English dub with American broadcast music may gripe that the track is only 2.0, but at least it's lossless, when it wasn't even included on the Dragon Boxes at all. "DBZ" Level 1.1 on Blu-ray is the finest this show has ever looked on video BY FAR, and will continue to be the standard of quality until Toei Animation scan and restore the original camera negatives (which, given their track record, they may never do). If you're on the fence and you're a videophile, buy it, buy it, BUY IT!

For those of you who are looking for the US/Toonami version in its native full screen 4:3 aspect ratio, this is the collection for you. The Nathan Johnson (and further down the line Bruce Faulconer) music sounds amazing. While it may be just a transition from DVD to Blu-Ray, the English title cards are re-written to look more like the Japanese Kanji and Kana that were present in the Japanese version. There are three audio tracks: The US/ Toonami version with the US Nathan Johnson and Bruce Faulconer BGM, the US/Toonami version with the Japanese BGM and the Japanese version complete with original title cards and end credit title cards. If you are a die hard fan of the Japanese version with original opening title cards, original title cards, end credit title cards and original next episode previews, then this set isn't for you. However, if you are a die hard fan of the US/Toonami version with the Nathan Johnson/Bruce Faulconer BGM but were disappointed with the orange season DVD boxsets that cropped the original native full screen 4:3 aspect ratio into wide screen 16:9 aspect ratio then this set is for you.

Great bluyray and amazing way to watch the show but when i ordered this the plastic was like melted? i swapped the case for another bluray one i had laying around so good as new but still odd

The Blue ray releases of DB or other anime in general does not very often entice me to pay more than a DVD for example,however growing up as a fan of Dragon ball Z and having just plain awesome memories of the shows,made me check this out,In my opinion these are great for the hardcore fan and the casual alike,they are cheap,(in comparison to the Dragon boxes) and look great to watch,I must note on the audio side of things I only watched the Japanese mono version,and it sounds good,for those of you who are torn about either purchasing the dragon box or the blue rays,I must say if you are more of a kind of person who likes things to look good,but not pay an "arm and a leg" for perfection,I'd check it out,however if you are on the hardcore side of things, this is a affordable and great addition to your collection! I am not denouncing the Dragon boxes(as i own 3 at the moment) I just do appreciate what has been done here.

I really enjoyed this, watched it a few times over and I have to say that some of the episodes just didnt get the love that others did when they retouched it, but it is all still quite a wonder to behold, I also really enjoy that it has the original Japanese audio and tons of options to mix and match the voice overs and sound tracks.. this is well worth it for anyone looking for the ultimate experience in Dragon Ball Z and yes, I know, they have postponed the rest of the series, this is a very labor intensive project and it is sad that they haven't just added some more muscle into getting this project done, its not like they are lacking money.

I haven't watched DBZ in 15 years +. Also this was my GF's first time watching DBZ. It was the perfect way to introduce her and reintroduce myself (Level 1.1 [Blu-Ray]). Un-cropped 4:3, blue skies, normal colours. Red blood. DBZ fans have done them selves a huge dishonour by allowing this version to be cancelled. As I cannot afford the dragon boxes and I don't want to miss 100 episodes cut out by Kai. Cropped Bluray is the only way to go now. What a shame. I'll always wonder what could of been, the level's series was a true work of art, worthy of being a cherished heirloom, now just a faded memory. This planet needs more awake ppl. This level series was an attempt to truly preserve the show for the respect of the fans. Too many oblivious kids demanded full screen and bought the orange bricks. Might as well put chilli powder in my eyes and watch it through a broken mirror.

When I first heard about the Blu-ray sets, I was VERY skeptical. I was sure it was just going to be the orange brick masters converted to Blu-Ray, but how wrong I was! What is presented on these sets is a frame by frame restoration of the series, removing virtually all the damage on the prints. It is presented in 4:3 ratio with no frame jittering whatsoever. The picture is crisp, clean and looks even better than the Dragon Boxes. Each set will only contain 15 - 17 episodes a set (Level 1.1 has 17). But this is understandable since the episodes are restored manually frame by frame unlike the dreaded orange brick sets which were just put through a machine. My only visual complaint is that there is no alternate angle options so you can have the Japanese Title cards and credits, but it's only a minor gripe. Audio wise, there are 3 options to choose from: 1: English with Japanese Music 5.1 Dolby Digital. This Audio track is the English dub audio with the music composed by Shunsuke Kikuchi. This is a good way to watch it in English while capturing the feel of the Japanese version. The only downside is that some insert songs are removed. 2: English with US Music 2.0 Dolby Digital. This Audio track is the English dub with music composed by Nathan Johnson (Bruce Faulconer in later sets). Unlike the Japanese counterpart, this soundtrack has a much darker feel with very eerie music that will send a chill down your spine. In my opinion this music fits the English dialogue a little better because the English dialogue is quite inaccurate to the Japanese dialogue, so sometimes this creates awkward moments with the English/Japanese music track. My only complaint about this track is that the music is VERY quiet at times to the point where you can barely hear it. 3: Original Japanese Mono 1.0 Dolby Digital. If you want to watch the show as it was originally broadcast in Japan with Japanese Music and voices then this track is for you. Although given the fact it was recorded in 1989/1990, the audio is quite muffled compared to the English dub, but it is still very enjoyable. Overall, if you want to own the series with a very high quality restoration, then this is for you. Forget the terrible orange bricks or the very expensive Dragon Boxes and pick this up ASAP!

Wow, it's about time Funimation got around to releasing Dragon Ball on Blu-ray and its well worth the price as you get the first 17 episodes in Beautiful picture quality. Included in the set is two Blu-ray discs containing the episodes and a nice signed card with Vegeta on it and a signature from Christopher Sabat, the voice of Vegeta. The extras on the Disc's are a feature where they tell you how the episodes were restored to Blu-ray format, clean opening and closing and some trailers for other animes.

The people that buy these short lived BluRays already know these are the closest to perfect since the DragonBox. The Level set was canceled after 1.2 (Vegeta) which is unfortunate because the Seasons set (The newer BluRays) Aren't good remasters. These Blurays get the colours, Aspect Ratio and the contrast and grain correct. Bravo to whomever did the remaster on these. Too Bad Funimation can't understand what is good and what isn't.

It is the best solution to viewing DragonBall Z in HD. It renders the DVDs obsolete, you can't go back after watching only an episode! This is masterful. Hopefully they start remastering DragonBall and GT as well! Can't wait to collect all these! :D The menu is great too.