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The
Show:
The most famous anime series in the world gets a definitive
release with
FUNimation's Dragon Box series, and box five is no exception. Covering the series high point, the Cell
Games, this is collection has some of the best episodes from the show's
run. There's drama, excitement, a
world-shaking battle, and more than a little comic relief thanks to
Mister
Satan and (later in the set) the Great Saiyaman.
As this set starts, the artificial creation of Dr. Gero, the
seemingly unstoppable Cell, has announced that he'll be holding a
contest: the Cell Games.
With the fate of the entire world in the balance,
the Z-fighters go off to train.
Surprisingly Goku cuts his training short to spend time relaxing
at
home, something that raises more than a few eyebrows.
Once the games start Cell, as expected, turns out to be a
very formidable opponent. The first real
opponent to face the monstrous creature is Goku, who goes after Cell at
full
power. The battle is fierce, with some
incredible fighting and powerful attacks, but just as the contest is
heating up
Goku concedes! This shocks the other
Z-Fighters (and most viewers the first time they see it) but Goku, far
from
defeated, cheerfully announces that he can't beat Cell and resigns. Instead, he declares that his young son,
Gohan,
will not only be the next challenger, but that he is the more powerful
fighter!
Things heat up after that, with mini-Cells attacking and
some of the fiercest fighting in the series.
The whole of the Cell Games is a high point for the show, and
not only
tells a great story but sets things up for the next chapter in the
Dragon Ball
Z saga.
After the games conclude, there's a short four-episode story
that nicely wraps up the fate of one of the main characters and then
the
narrative jumps forward 7 years. Young
Gohan has been studying hard with his mother at home and now is a
teenager. He may have traveled across
the universe and saved the Earth, but there is one great challenge he
hasn't
yet faced: high school. With no schools
near his mountain home, Gohan travels to Satan City,
named after the person that the world thinks was responsible for
defeating Cell,
to attend formal school for the first time.
On his way to Orange
Star High
School, Gohan encounters a police stand off. Thieves are robbing a bank and are in a
battle with the police. Gohan decides to
put a stop to things so he turns into Super Saiyan mode and easily
defeats
them. Of course his exploits are the
talk of the town and by the time he gets to school, everyone is talking
about
the 'Golden Fighter' who stopped the bank robbery.
One of his new classmates is Videl, the daughter of Mr.
Satan, and she's determined to find out who this new hero is. Gohan, on the other hand wants to be just a
normal kid and is trying to fit in without revealing his true strength. When he gets to PE though, he doesn't do such
a good job of acting normal.
This was a great collection.
The Cell Games is my favorite DBZ story arc, and the follow-up
stories
are a nice change of pace. The
four-episode Anoyoichi Saga was a touching and fun way to wrap up a
major
character's story and works especially well after the dynamic Cell
Games.
That's followed by the beginning of the High School Saga,
and the first episode of that story is one of the funniest episodes of
DBZ ever. My two sons and I were laughing
out loud
through the entire show. Just the set
up, that high school could be a bigger challenge for Gohan than Frieza
or Cell,
is amusing and they really played this episode for laughs.
When one of the bank robbers aims a machine
gun at Gohan and fires at point blank range, the young Saiyan catches
all of
the bullets (with one hand.) The look on
the robber's face as he drops the slugs onto the ground is priceless.
Things become even more hilarious when he gets to
school. Since he made perfect scores on
his entrance exams, the jock of the class starts picking on poor Gohan. Little does he realize that Gohan has no clue
that he's being mean, and that this kid is much harder to hurt than he
can
imagine.
The DVD:
These 42 episodes arrive on six DVDs that are held in a pair of
'books', three
discs each. Two of the discs are overlapping (boo!) on one side
while the
third has a side all to itself. There is also a hardcover book
included
with the set (more on this in the extras section.) The three
books are
stored in a thick slipcase and the books themselves have a spanning
spine. Altogether it's a very nice looking set.
This is the definitive collection too. All of the episodes are
restored,
uncut, presented with their original aspect ratio, with the original
Japanese
openings, original music, and even the original episode previews.
What
more could you want??
Audio:
This time the options are the original Japanese mono audio or a 5.1
English dub
(with the Japanese music... the English music is not to be found in this
set,
which is fine by me.) I viewed it with the Japanese track, and
though the
English dub is good and a much more immersive experience (especially
during the
frequent fight scenes) I enjoyed the original track just a bit
more. Both
tracks were clean and free of hiss and distortion and the show sounded
great,
even in mono.
Video:
The image is in its original full screen aspect ratio this time, and I
couldn't
be happier. The picture has been cleaned up, frame by frame, from
the
original 16mm film. I have the original Pioneer releases and this
is an
improvement. There is less grain and some spots have been
removed.
The colors are a bit more even, though not as bright as the original
releases,
which I found a little odd. Though this version does look a
little more
realistic, I don't think that's what they were going for
originally. The
colors aren't oversaturated though, as has been reported with the
FUNimation
season sets. They also didn't go overboard with the digital
smoothing as
happened with the earlier brick collections.
In any case the lines are tight and the colors are even and
solid. The
blacks are generally deep. On the digital side of things the
shows look
good too. There is some minor aliasing and light posterization in
a few
places but neither is ever a distraction and other compression
artifacts such
as blocking are absent. Overall this is the best looking version
of
Dragon Ball I have seen, and the set I'd recommend to fans.
Extras:
There aren't any extras on the discs themselves, which is fine by
me. I'd
much rather have the show presented with the way it was meant to be
seen.
I can live without the English dub cast 'party' commentary tracks.
There is a 48 page hardcover book that comes with the set and it is a
real
asset. Not only does it contain a synopsis of every episode in
the set,
but there's a profile of Goku's family and a relationship tree that
lets you
know who is working with whom. There are tidbits of trivia
scattered
through the book as well as character sketches. It's very nice
and a
wonderful addition to the set.
Final Thoughts:
This is a must-buy collection. Not only
does this set nicely illustrate just why Dragon Ball Z is one of the
most popular
animated titles in the world, but the show is presented with love and
care, in
a definitive set. The stories included
in this box are some of the best in the history of the show, running
the gamut
from surprising, to tragic, to laugh-out-loud funny.
This is easily a DVD Talk
Collector's Series
title.
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