Dragon Ball Z - Season 3 (Frieza Saga)

I know the purists are sharpening their blades on stones after reading that header, but believe it or not, I'm just a guy who likes Dragon Ball Z. It wasn't my first Anime, but it was the first one I really sunk my teeth into and stuck with way back in the day when Toonami was running first-run Frieza Saga stuff. I remember vividly the promos they were using when the "Trunks Saga" was about to air. Good times.Here was my dilemma. At one point, I had the orange boxes ALMOST completely collected and I thought they were pretty solid, but sold them off to pay some bills. Years later, Dragon Ball Z Kai comes along, and the pacing is perfect and I fall in love!--Until EVERY scene they re-drew popped in and took me completely out of the experience. It doesn't have that grit; it looks clean. It looks gross. It looks fake. I hate that I own them all; I bought them at once after seeing a few episodes and enjoying the pacing, and now they just sit there because the redrawn bits form this sort of pseudo "uncanny valley", like they took a computer and used a one-thickness digital pen to redraw the lines, color in the shading and called it good. If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about.And then this BR release comes along. Honestly, I understand the frames are clipped at the top and/or bottom to make the picture have a proper ratio for widescreen, but I couldn't tell you which inch off the top of their head was missing from the original TV aspect, or which inch of the nuts is cut off from the bottom. It was very well cropped; clearly the impact on the overall picture quality is minimal. It's not like you see their mouths moving and everything from the nose up is cut off; if you didn't know the show was originally aired in 4:3, you'd never be able to tell. And this looks VERY SHARP on HDTV. The colors are a bit brighter... it just looks very good in HD. I have Dragon Ball on DVD in its entirety, and while I enjoy watching it very much and love it to bits, the black bars are kinda distracting, and there's definitely some grit. With this Blu-Ray series, it fills the screen and looks and sounds fantastic, and there's absolutely nothing taking me out of the experience. It's like it's brand new again.I will be completing this collection on Blu Ray, and it will be my penultimate collection of DBZ, until/if they decide to release a pure Dragon Box set in HD. I'm guessing that'll probably have to wait for the next super-HD format ten years down the line. But I'll be here.If you enjoyed the orange boxes, or don't really have a preference, for the price, you can't go wrong.

The media could not be loaded. So happy to finally add the complete set to my collection just in time for Christmas. Bought each season of Dragonball z separately. Dragon ball z Kai is next as well as the movies.

I have already reviewed Season One and Two, so I'll write this again here (with revised content):This has to be the best release of Dragonball Z that has ever been released. The video is so crisp and clear. Sure the picture is cropped, but not as much as the Orange Bricks were. Plus, to be perfectly honest it really doesn't take anything away from the picture or overall quality of the presentation. Most of the distracting film grain and scratches have been removed. The colors are much more crisp and vibrant as ever. And the video fills the entire HDTV screen (unlike the Kai releases which had black bars on the sides of the TV) without stretching the picture.The audio is nothing short of astounding. It will sound great on your home theater system or on stereoscopic headphones. Bruce Faulconer's score is omnipresent, this time remastered in all its glory.The extras on this disk are a little different here than on previous DVD releases. Just like Season Two, this set also includes 3 featurettes that are an hour long in total:"Inside Dragonball Z: Interview with Gen Fukunaga" (President of FUNimation Entertainment)"Inside Dragonball Z: Interview with John Burgmeier" (ADR director, script writer, and voice of Tenshinhan)"Look Back at the Hummer Tour: With Sonny Strait" (voice of Krillin)These are all the memories of DBZ from the points of view of DBZ's Cast, FUNimation Staff, and fans of the series. I actually really enjoyed these, especially Mr. Fukunaga's interview. Its really amazing to see him go into detail about the genesis of Dragonball Z in America and its influence on the popular culture here. He explains that it is because of DBZ's influence that anime is as big here in the West now as it is in Japan.Do NOT listen to the naysayers and always trust the "Amazon Verified Purchase" sticker on any review (which is to say that, 95% of the reviews that don't say this, in all likelihood, were from people who have not actually purchased the item).All in all, I'd say this is the definitive version of Dragonball Z. Probably even better than Kai was. If you want to experience uncut DBZ perfection, then this release is for you. If you want a more fast paced version, go with DBZ Kai. Either way, you can't go wrong. Believe me I have both and never regretted my purchases.