Program Rating: A-

DVD Technical Ratings:

Video: B+

Audio: B

Extras: C-

Overall Rating: B+

Ok, I'll admit this review is a little late. This set came out on February 6 th, and although this kid and teen oriented YourHub site did not launch until after this date, I'm still late getting this review up. Basically, I decided to write this review for three reasons. 1: Because I love this set and want to tell readers about it. 2: Because Season Two is coming to DVD on May 22 nd and 3: Because my family just got our first hi-def widescreen TV and I'm re-watching the series to see it on a widescreen TV, something this set demands. DBZ fans know what I'm talking about, but more on that later.

First off, I'd like to explain the story of Dragon Ball Z (henceforth referred to as DBZ.) DBZ is the continuation of Dragon Ball (no Z) which is, like DBZ, an anime (Japanese animated show) that is based on the manga (Japanese Comic) Dragon Ball. Dragon Ball is about a super-strong teen named Goku who has a real tail...no joke....and his adventures in a strange, funny, and dangerous world. He saves the earth many times from various invaders, and DBZ is the story of his adulthood.

Season One is all about Goku finding out the secrets of his heritage and past, and the unbelievably disastrous chain of events that happens after he learns this. Goku's older brother, Raditz, comes to Earth and tells Goku that he is his brother and that they are both Saiyans, a mighty alien race made for conquering other planets. As a baby, Goku was sent to Earth to eradicate all human life, but got amnesia and forgot his mission, and instead grew up to be Earth's savior.

After Goku refuses to join Raditz, Raditz kidnaps his son, Gohan, and threatens to kill him. Goku teams up with his arch-nemesis from Dragon Ball, the Demon King Piccolo, to defeat Raditz. They succeed, and get Gohan back, but Goku is killed in the process. With the Dragon Balls, magical spheres that when collected grant the user one wish, Goku can be brought back. But Piccolo learns that two Saiyans much stronger than Raditz are on their way, and in the other world, Goku must train with the legendary Kaio-Sama to become strong enough to fight the Saiyans.

That's only the first six episodes. This set has the first 40. This is one of DBZ's best seasons, and is an unimaginably good start to an unimaginably good show. When the Saiyans finally arrive, you will be on the edge of your seat, watching the epic, brutal battle for Earth. The show, its whole 291 episode run, is an A+ show, without question. Season One gets an A- because the Anime producers have inserted 14 episodes of filler that, while fun, make the story ramble just a tad bit too much.

FUNimation, the American distributors, have never given this show dignity on DVD. They've released it in 3 episode volumes, priced at 20 bucks a piece, with a bad dub and no features. Well, this set gives you 40 episodes, digitally remastered, with better sound, for only 35 dollars (at most stores). This is the hands-down best set FUNimation has yet released.

This set has also been subject to much controversy among anime fans. See, FUNimation decided to crop the fullscreen show to a widescreen display. This means you lose 20 percent of the image on the top and bottom together. This bothered me, at first, until I saw a report from FUNimation detailing how the "cropped" version has never before seen image (15 percent more) on the sides. This stuff is important-more important then cropped hair or chin. Throw in the fact that fullscreen TV's actually crop some image from all sides anyway (all fullscreen TV's do this; it's called overscan) and this set presents more image of DBZ than has EVER been shown. It still might bother people using a fullscreen TV, but for widescreen TV users, it won't cause any problems at all.

Presented in an unbelievably stunning anamorphic transfer, DBZ has never looked better. NEVER. The remastering done is absolutely stunning. My jaw literally dropped to the ground while watching this show. This is the best picture I've ever seen for a hand drawn show, and this show is from the eighties. FUNimation took the original film prints (the absolute best place to go for remastering) to remaster the film, and it shows. The colors have been reset to their original, natural scheme, and this is what makes the image look so good.

Previously in America, DBZ dvd's have darkened the colors, making it look somewhat fuzzy and very unnatural. The colors on this set are more vibrant and have more depth than any DVD I've ever seen. Hands down. The clarity is also unbelievable, especially on a hi-def TV. So why didn't I give this image an A+? I gave it a B-. Why?

Film grain.

Lots and lots of film grain.

The only grain removal was done by an automatic noise reducer, which gets rid of most grain. But considering this is a twenty year old master, a noise reducer just can't do the job. The grain is rarely distracting, and only noticeable about half the time, but that's still way too much for such an otherwise stellar image. 16mm film (what DBZ was filmed on) is the hardest in the world to remove grain from, but I still would have expected better. Surprisingly, the grain is most noticeable in the opening and ending theme songs. I would have thought if one place was to be free of grain, it would be these, because they're in every episode. But alas, I was mistaken. The only time it really made me turn my head though was in a late episode where a piece of grain was apparent that stretched from the bottom left hand corner to the upper right hand corner. That's the biggest grain I've EVER seen. But it's a small price to pay for the rest of this otherwise stellar image.

Onto the audio. DBZ fans usually prefer to watch the show in the original Japanese. Why? The English Dub, in the past, has sucked, and sucked hard. The voice acting was just bad. Also, the English Dub replaced the excellent musical score and replaced it with a new, synthesized and horrible musical score. But as with the picture quality, FUNimation has redeemed themselves in the sound too.

There are three audio options. The first is the best, in my humble opinion. It is the English dub (GASP!) but with the Japanese soundtrack. (BIGGER GASP!) They actually included this, and it rocks. The dub sounds ten times better with the classic music re-instated, and the voice actors pulled out all the stops to do their best this time. This track is presented in 5.1 Dolby Digital, and sounds excellent. Sound revolves around your living room at the speed of light, and puts your right in the show.

The second option is the Dub with the original American soundtrack. This is the worst option. Don't even bother. But, of course, some fans do enjoy the American music, and sadly, this track is only presented in 2.0 stereo. This would be acceptable if 5.1 elements didn't exist, but they do. I can watch these episodes on a 3-episode volume DVD with this track in 5.1. Why isn't it in 5.1 here? People who like it should be respected.

And finally, the Japanese track, the second best. It's in mono, again. Why? Ask FUNimation, not me. It doesn't make a lick of sense. They have the music from this track in 5.1 on the other track, so why isn't this in 5.1?

Onto the extras. Short version: They suck. Hard.

Long version: There are two noticeable feature on here, one called Dragon Ball Z: Rebirth, a six minute summary of the remastering done. It's a nice little watch, but this should have been three times as long. Way too short. There are also too ads for this set seen on the internet, and seven or eight ads for other shows. Those aren't features. Not in my book.

The other noticeable feature is an excellent 24 page book with episode summaries, character bios, and a (short and incorrect) history of DBZ in America. It's great, and pushes the extras from a D to a C.

But where is the excellent Goku vs. Vegeta featured on previous DVD's? Where's footage of actors in the sound booth recording dialogue? Where are the original Japanese TV spots? Where is anything of value? FUNimation put a lot of time and effort into this set, but left us hanging with the extras. Oh well. Maybe next time. I didn't buy this set for bonus features anyway. I bought it for the episodes, which deliver better than I could imagine.

Overall, this set does not disappoint. Bonus Features disregarded, I'm ecstatic to own this set, and am glad they will be releasing the whole series like this. FUNimation has jerked fans around for years, and now they have redeemed themselves. Video, Audio, and an unbeatable price. This is a love letter to fans, and even if you don't like it, you have to forgive FUNimation and give them a smile to the effort put into it, just for us, the loyal DBZ fans.

BTW, this show is rated TV-PG, but should be TV-14. There's lots of brutal violence, some swearing, and is not suitable for those under 12 and 13.