The unedited version of the first Dragon Ball Z saga continues in Vegeta Saga Volume 7. The pace really picks up in these three episodes with Goku starting, and finishing, his training with King Kai, the Z Warriors go back to Earth and prepare for a fight, and the Saiyans finally arriving on Earth. There are some interesting extra scenes that weren't shown on US television too, appearing here for the first time in region 1.

Background or Aren't these on DVD already?:

Dragon Ball Z first came to the US in its cartoon form in 1996. The only problem was that these shows were sanitized for American audiences with any hint of blood cut or swearing cut out. That made the shows run a little short, so episodes were spliced together to make sure that they'd run the proper length.

Then in early 1999, Pioneer started releasing this series on DVD. The only problem was that the weren't putting the original Japanese episodes out, they were releasing the edited US TV versions. I suppose they thought that the only people who would watch them were kids. The entire first two story arcs were released in that format. FUNimation took over after that and continued the series, and their releases were uncensored happily, but that still left the first dozen and a half DVDs in cut form only.

Now FUNimation has decided to go back and re-release the early Pioneer discs in their uncut form. If you've been holding off getting these discs, wait no longer.

Series Synopsis:

Goku is a Saiyan, a race of the greatest fighters in the galaxy. He's lived on Earth since he was a tot, and is peaceful and kind. Unfortunately another Saiyan, his brother, came to Earth to destroy everyone living there. Goku and his greatest enemy Piccolo team up against this common enemy They manage to destroy him but not before the Saiyan could signal three more of his race to Earth and at the cost of Goku's life.

The Saiyan's will arrive in one year, so Krillian, Yamcha, and the rest of the gang only have a short time to train and hone their powers to defend the Earth. Piccolo decides to rain by himself but takes Goku's son Gohan in order to turn him into a fighter too. For the first step of the training: leaving Gohan in the wilderness to fend for himself. Meanwhile, the dead Goku is in the afterlife heading to King Kai's in order to get special training from the master before he is wished back to life with the Dragon Balls.

This volume:

As this volume starts, there are only 88 days until the Saiyan warriors arrive on Earth. Goku has just arrived at King Kai's planet, and starts his training. The Kai's training methods are a little unusual though, and Goku's first task is to make the martial artist laugh. Then he has to capture Kai's pet monkey, Bubbles.

Back on Earth the training continues too. Piccolo is working poor Gohan right to his level of endurance, forcing the little tot to become stronger in order to face the Saiyans. The Z Warriors have finished training at Kame's too, and just in time. The Saiyans have nearly arrived on Earth, and it's time to summon Goku back to life.

There is some new footage that hasn't been released in the US previously on this disc. The best new scene takes place during a break in the training when King Kai tells Goku about the history of the Saiyans. The planet Vegeeta was actually inhabited by two races, the violent Saiyans who are few in number and the technologically advanced Tsufruians (translated as "tuffles" in the English dub.) How the Saiyans came to dominate their world and the story of how their race becoming planet pirates is all revealed. A very nice addition to the story.

This disc contains the next three episodes of Dragon Ball Z in its uncut format. The disc comes in a standard keepcase. One interesting item of note is that viewers have the option of having English or Spanish menus.

Audio:

This DVD has four audio options: the original Japanese in stereo, English and Spanish stereo dubs, or an English 5.1 soundtrack. I preferred the original soundtrack over the English dubs, though the English actors did a good job. The English track has music added to the background, and though it fits in well with the show, I liked the more Spartan sounding original track. The sound is very good for a show of this age, there isn't any noticeable hum or distortion, and the range is fine.

Video:

This show is pretty old, being first broadcast in Japan in the late 1980's, but the image looks good for the most part. The colors are bright and the lines are tight. There is some mosquito noise in all of the shows, but it wasn't too bad. There was a minor amount of print damage, just an occasional white speck, but this was fairly rare. Overall a nice looking disc.

Extras:

FUNimation has included some bonus items on this disc. There is a DBZ trivia contest, though most of the questions come from later in the series. There is also an episode of Mr. Stain on Junk Alley, an odd CGI series that's worth watching, and a series of trailers.

Final Thoughts:

This was a very good volume of DBZ. The pace really picks up with all of the main characters finishing their training and preparing for the arrival of the Saiyans. The new scenes not previously seen in the US are a nice addition to the show too. A solid disc that will leave you in breathless anticipation of the next volume. Recommended.