'Dragon Ball Z' 30th Anniversary Collector's Blu-ray Reveals Footage Comparison Reel

Dragon Ball Z is hitting a major milestone this year. At long last, the classic shonen will celebrate its 30th birthday in 2019, and Funimation plans to gift fans with a collector's Blu-ray for the occasion.

However, it turns out fans have been on the fence with the bundle, and a new video has come out to hopefully assuage those fears.

For those unaware, Dragon Ball Z had its anniversary bundle teased awhile back by Funimation. It didn't take long for news to come out about the collector's Blu-ray bundle, but fans had questions about its remastered footage. While this bundle will be cut in the 4:3 aspect ratio, it will feature a remastered finish, and Dragon Ball Z purists were quick to rebel.

Now, the video above has hit up fans to show off the footage comparison between this upcoming Blu-ray and previous bundles. You can see the difference for yourself in the reel, and it is hard to miss how smooth the remaster looks. Much of the grain and texture present in the 2003 Dragon Ball Z remaster is gone, and that isn't to say anything about the show's original broadcast footage. While there are fans who prefer this cleaner look, others are unhappy with how intensive the remaster is. This video is meant to give fans interested in pre-ordering the Blu-ray bundle the chance to see what they're buying into, but Funimation took even more steps to explain their remaster reasoning to fans.

"We received questions from fans like you regarding the aspect ratio for the Dragon Ball Z 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition. We'd like to give a more in-depth and transparent explanation regarding how the video was handled for this upcoming release," Funimation wrote in a recent blog explaining the situation.

"We have the materials for the entire Dragon Ball Z series from beginning to end, as a transfer from how they existed on film. Our previous Blu-ray releases for Dragon Ball Z were cropped to 16:9 to match modern standard sensibilities that have evolved over the years as widescreen has become more adopted, but for this particular project, we wanted to release the series in 4:3 for the more hardcore subset of DBZ fans who want to experience the series with higher integrity," the company explained.

"Regarding the image itself, there is some digital video noise reduction to clean up some of the noise, dust and grain from the original film materials, which we felt was mandatory for this release based on the different levels of fan support from various past DBZ releases with different levels of noise reduction over the years."

So, what do you make of this footage controversy? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Dragon Ball Super currently airs its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami block Saturday evenings. It is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese language release is available to stream on FunimationNOW, VRV, and Crunchyroll.

-----

Have you subscribed to ComicBook Nation, the official Podcast of ComicBook.com yet? Check it out by clicking here or listen below.

In this latest episode, we cover the possible new Hawkeye series coming to Disney +, argue if Batman casting fatigue is setting in, we grade WWE Wrestlemania, and so much more! Make sure to subscribe now and never miss an episode!