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The Show:
FUNimation continues releasing the definitive version of the
most popular anime series in the world with the Dragon Box Volume 6.
This set finished off the Tenkaichi
Tournament, encompasses the entire Babidi Saga (its only 12 episodes
long) and
jumps into the Majin Boo (that's the way it is spelled in the guide
that comes
with this set. Previously I've always
seen it as "Majin Buu.") Saga that will finish up in the next and final
box. Overall it's an exciting set of
episodes, though it's a small step down from what has come before.
When we last left the Z-Fighters they were just about to
start the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament.
Before the junior division can start however
a special event is held... a movie of Doctor Satan battling and defeating
Cell. The badly constructed video is
horrendously
(and hilariously) bad, but it gets the Z-Fighters pretty irked none the
less.
Needless to say, young Trunks and Goten both advance through
the fight brackets without much trouble until they meet each other in
the final
round.
In the adult division, things get a bit more
interesting. There are some very
powerful fighters entered into the tournament, including Spopovitch a
large guy
who continues to battle even after his neck in broken.
When it's turn for Gohan to fight however,
Spopovitch and his partner Yamu use a mysterious weapon to steal all of
the
Saiyan's energy and then run off. It
turns out they're working for the warlock Badidi who needs the energy
to revive
the evil creature Majin Boo.
The Z-Fighters pinpoint Badibi's base and when they arrive
they have to fight a series of battles in order to get to Badidi
himself. The fighters do a good job
besting Badidi's
champions, but before Goku can defeat the last one, Dabura, Badidi
transforms Vegeta
into Majin Vegeta with his magic powers.
This transformation makes the Saiyan prince even more powerful,
but evil
and he attacks the World Martial Arts Tournament and it's up to Goku to
stop
him.
While they're fighting however, enough time has passed that
the egg containing Majin Boo, the destroyer of worlds, has hatched
unleashing a
devastatingly powerful creature who has a rather unique personality. Can the Z-Fighters defeat this latest
challenge to the Earth?
While I really enjoyed the 25th Martial Arts
Tournament, the Badidi Saga and the followup, the Majin Boo saga, have
a bit of
a 'been-there, done-that' feel to them.
Don't get me wrong, these aren't bad episodes and the show
doesn't jump
the shark, but after all the other insurmountable challenges to the
Earth (and
Namek) that the Z-Fighters conquered, these last stories seem a bit
repetitive.
Having said that, there's still a lot of excitement, action,
and humor to be found in these later Dragon
Ball Z episodes. It's always great
to see Goku and Vegeta battle it out, and Majin Boo's personality, once
he
enters the series, is oddly comical in way that makes the show
interesting once
more.
When all is said and done, these episodes are still worth
owning, even if they aren't the absolute pinnacle of the series.
The DVD:
These 41 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:
The definitive version of a great show, Dragon Box Volume 6
is a must-have for fans of the show. Yeah,
the Majin Boo saga isn't the best part
of DBZ, but it only pales when
compared to what has gone before. Still
filled with fun and action, this set is sure to please otaku everywhere. Highly
Recommended.
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