Dragon Ball Z - Dragon Box 1-7 (2009-2011)
Dragon Ball Z - Dragon Box 1-7 (2009-2011)
42xDVD9 | NTSC | English (5.1) Japanese (1.0) | MPEG2 720x480 59.94 fps 9500 kbps | EN: AC3 5.1 48.0 kHz 384 kbps | JP: AC3 MONO 48.0 kHz | 301 GB
Menu: Untouched | Extras: Untouched | Subtitles: English | Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 | 7000 mn | Studio: FUNimation
Genre: Series, Animation, Anime
FUNimation Dragon Box Sets are DVD boxsets of the Dragon Ball Z series, based on the original Dragon Box released in Japan. These boxsets were released by FUNimation Entertainment under the titles of Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box. The Dragon Box releases feature an aspect ratio of 4:3, the original Japanese audio (with options for an English track or English subtitles), the original episode previews (these are the only American box set releases to feature "next episode" previews), original opening and closing credits, and a complete collector’s booklet. Each Dragon Box contains roughly 1000 minutes of footage on 6 discs. The English audio features Dolby Digital 5.1 while the Japanese audio is in monaural.
Dragon Ball Z - Dragon Box 1-7 (2009-2011)
Dragon Ball Z - Dragon Box 1-7 (2009-2011)
Format : MPEG-PS
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 134 Mbps
Video
ID : 224 (0xE0)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, Matrix : Default
Format settings, GOP : M=3, N=12
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 131 Mbps
Maximum bit rate : 9 500 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Scan order : 2:3 Pulldown
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 15.778
Stream size : 996 MiB (97%)
Color primaries : SMPTE 170M
Transfer characteristics : SMPTE 170M
Matrix coefficients : SMPTE 170M
Audio #1
ID : 189 (0xBD)-128 (0x80)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Muxing mode : DVD-Video
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 384 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 2.94 MiB (0%)
Audio #2
ID : 189 (0xBD)-129 (0x81)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Muxing mode : DVD-Video
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 96.0 Kbps
Channel(s) : 1 channel
Channel positions : Front: C
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 752 KiB (0%)
Menu
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 134 Mbps
Video
ID : 224 (0xE0)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, Matrix : Default
Format settings, GOP : M=3, N=12
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 131 Mbps
Maximum bit rate : 9 500 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Scan order : 2:3 Pulldown
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 15.778
Stream size : 996 MiB (97%)
Color primaries : SMPTE 170M
Transfer characteristics : SMPTE 170M
Matrix coefficients : SMPTE 170M
Audio #1
ID : 189 (0xBD)-128 (0x80)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Muxing mode : DVD-Video
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 384 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 2.94 MiB (0%)
Audio #2
ID : 189 (0xBD)-129 (0x81)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Muxing mode : DVD-Video
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 96.0 Kbps
Channel(s) : 1 channel
Channel positions : Front: C
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 752 KiB (0%)
Menu
Originally announced at the Otakon 2009, FUNimation has stated that the reason why the Dragon Box was so hard to get was that Toei Animation wanted to keep the Dragon Boxes a Japanese release only, so they would not grant FUNimation access to release the Dragon Boxes in North America, or any region.
Once Toei finally granted permission for FUNimation to produce a North American Dragon Box, they began work to reproduce the Japanese Dragon Boxes as faithfully as possible. They promised they wouldn't touch a single detail of picture or language or violence (example: 16:9 cropping controversy from Dragon Ball Z season sets). At Otakon 2009 FUNimation put a Dragon Box mock-up prototype on display, but the discs were yet to have the footage added into them, and the book that was provided had only blank pages.
Unlike the Japanese Dragon Box for Dragon Ball Z, which was released in two volumes, each containing roughly half the entire series, the North American Dragon Box is being released in seven volumes, each with roughly 42 episodes on six discs.
FUNimation marketed the Dragon Box for "Hardcore" Fans, which by their estimation meant "fans of the Japanese version" as the Japanese version with subtitles is the default language when viewing, the Japanese title cards are used with no alternate angles, and all of the packaging and booklets use the Original Japanese spellings for the characters' names. (IE: Son Goku, Tenshinhan, Freeza etc.) Adding an English dub was said to have been an "Afterthought" on FUNimation's part, and thus they only used the 5.1 surround dub track from the Season Sets. The 5.1 Track was carried over from the Season sets and is the "English Voices and original Japanese Music" track. The Boxes entirely exclude the "Broadcast Audio" track featuring the US score by Bruce Faulconer. This was seemingly done to keep the video and audio bitrates at an acceptable level, as more audio tracks would cause the bitrate to dip low.
Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box One was released on November 17, 2009 in North America, and Dragon Box Two was released on February 16, 2010. Dragon Box Three was released on May 4, 2010. Dragon Box Four was released on September 21, 2010, and Dragon Box 5 was released on April 26, 2011. Dragon Box 6 was released on July 19, 2011, and Dragon Box 7 was released on October 11, 2011.
These were limited edition releases and all of them are now out of print. This has caused their price to skyrocket on sites like eBay and Amazon.
To date, is the is only fully uncut home video release of the show in North America that is in the original aspect ratio, covering the entire Dragon Ball Z series from start to finish. Unlike the Japanese boxes, these ones do not include the television specials (most likely because FUNimation had already released them as stand-alone movies). Although they have not been confirmed, FUNimation is considering producing Dragon Boxes for Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball GT, and the movies.
Download Content:
Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box, Vol. 1 November 17th, 2009
Episodes: 1 - 42 Vegeta Saga, and early Namek Saga
Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box, Vol. 2 February 16th, 2010
Episodes: 43 - 84 later Namek Saga, Captain Ginyu Saga, and early Frieza Saga
Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box, Vol. 3 May 4th, 2010
Episodes: 85 - 126 later Frieza Saga, Garlic Jr. Saga, Trunks Saga, and early Androids Saga
Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box, Vol. 4 September 21st, 2010
Episodes: 127 - 168 later Androids Saga, Imperfect Cell Saga, Perfect Cell Saga, and early Cell Games Saga
Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box, Vol. 5 April 26th, 2011
Episodes: 169 - 209 later Cell Games Saga, and Great Saiyaman Saga
Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box, Vol. 6 July 19th, 2011
Episodes: 210 - 250 World Tournament Saga, Babidi Saga, and Majin Buu Saga
Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box, Vol. 7 October 11th, 2011
Episodes: 251 - 291 Fusion Saga, and Kid Buu Saga
iMDB Rating Series: 8.9
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