Dragon Ball Z-3.1: Trunks-Mysterious Youth (2000) |
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Dragon Ball Z-3.1: Trunks-Mysterious Youth (2000) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Anime |
Notes-Previous Saga Info Biographies-Character-9 Trailer-Dragonball Z Web Promo Trailer-Dragonball Z - Android Saga Notes-DVD Credits |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2000 | ||
| Running Time | 61:27 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By |
Minoru Okazaki Daisuke Nishio |
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Studio
Distributor |
Toei Animation Madman Entertainment |
Starring |
Sean Schemmel Christopher Sabat |
| Case | Brackley-Trans-No Lip | ||
| RPI | $24.95 | Music |
Shuusuke Kikuchi Chiho Kikuchi Takeshi Ike |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame | English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) | |
| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.33:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | None | Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
Dragonball Z is currently the most popular anime ever. Why is it so popular? The most likely reason is the relationship the viewer can attain with the on-screen characters. They are mostly human, although some of the main characters (Son-Gokuu, Gohan, Vegita) are actually what the series calls Saiyans. These Saiyans are not human but somewhat of a hybrid. They can transform into giant apes under the light of a full moon and are also the most powerful beings in the universe. This is due to the fact they they can channel their power better than anyone else and use it in several different attacks, some including Kamehameha blasts (a fireball) and Kaiouken powering-up techniques (a way in which fighters can increase their energy tenfold and higher).
Even though the show isn't really based around humans, a lot of the show's themes relate to human life, such as never giving up and trying your hardest. Fans love this, and fans also love the insane fight scenes and definitely-not-for-small-children violence and blood. The show is also not like a normal cartoon where the story of the episode is finished in less than thirty minutes. Dragonball Z has sagas. This DVD is the start of the fourth main saga, and when I mean sagas, I mean fifty episode long storylines that are rather detailed and have huge amounts of character exploration rather than just fight scenes. Tension is built up during the fight scenes over several episodes, as fight scenes last for sometimes around fifteen episodes. I myself am a HUGE fan and get up every morning to watch the show, albeit in its censored form, on Cheez TV.
The three episodes (only three?) on this DVD are:
Frieza's Counterattack (Episode 103): This is the first episode after the end of the Garlic Jr. saga (a quite boring one in my opinion). Gohan is finally getting back to some school work and has a new tutor, Mr. Shoe. He along with the rest of the Z fighters feel a very strong and familiar power coming toward the Earth, they soon realize that it is Frieza, a villain from a past saga who they thought was dead. Suspense is built up during this episode, with the next two having more action.
The Mysterious Youth (Episode 104): Frieza and his father King Cold land on the Earth, eager to destroy it because of Gokuu defeating Frieza in a previous battle and finishing him off...or so we thought. Frieza has been rebuilt with spare parts to become even stronger than before, and is a little similar to The Terminator. All of the Z fighters are ready to fight, but they know that they cannot defeat Frieza as his power level is much too high. Nonetheless, they are still going to try. But, all of a sudden a mysterious spaceship lands and an unknown warrior steps out. Although these episodes don't tell you his name, I will - it is Trunks, and he is one of the coolest anime characters ever.
Another Super Saiyan (Episode 105): Trunks (still unnamed at this point, another way to build up suspense) has begun to chat to Frieza and King Cold about his plans to destroy them. As we find out in later episodes, Trunks has come back from the future (where are those DVDs?) to save the world and to start he has to destroy these two Icers (the race that Frieza and King Cold belong to). This episode has a lot more action than the first two and is quite exciting, Trunks gambles with his life against Frieza,and the outcome is? You will have to wait until the next episode.
For the first time in Australia, Dragonball Z has been presented in its uncut video form (the audio is still dubbed). This pushes the rating up from a PG to a solid M15+, while I think this is absolutely ludicrous as these episodes aren't really all that violent compared to others in the series. Still, at least we get to see DBZ as it is meant to be seen. DBZ is censored due to the fact that when it was ported from Japan to North America, the people who did it (Funimation) decided to Americanize it. This was done by removing vital parts of episodes (not violent parts, just parts that "they" said weren't needed) and also digitally removing blood, cigarettes, certain body parts, and so forth. This has butchered DBZ, and in my opinion, the only way to watch it is uncut.
Madman, the DVD authors should be commended for finally bringing the uncensored version of Dragonball Z to Australia, but they should have done better as there are a couple of problems with the DVD. For starters there is no Japanese language track (the R1 version does have this), which means we have to sit through the corny English dialogue instead of the swift and precise Japanese scripts. Just so Madman knows for next time, a Japanese language track is COMPULSORY on an anime DVD. The other problem I noted was that only one set of credits was supplied for all three episodes. While this is all well and good for an American cartoon, where the credits are identical each time, in DBZ the credits differ for each episode.
In essence, the content of this DVD is a good start which can be immensely improved upon, even though the actual episodes on this DVD aren't the best except for the third one. Once the episodes pick up, hopefully so too will the DVDs. DBZ fans, get it now!
It is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 as most television shows are. It is not 16x9 enhanced.
When taking into consideration the ageing source materials, the transfer excels in many areas. As it is animation, the sharpness level is spot on, showing great amounts of detail with sharp lines and well-defined edges. The shadow detail was also excellent but was in a way artificial due to it being animation. No low-level noise was noted.
The colour is absolutely fantastic. DBZ is a very bright and vibrant anime and this DVD really does do it justice. No chroma noise was spotted.
The only problem with this transfer was the large amounts of grain present in practically every scene, although this is not a mastering problem but rather a source material problem. The cels haven't kept so well and it shows. Unfortunately, not much can be done about this. There were no aliasing problems, but a few times telecine wobble was apparent especially in the end credits. Film artefacts were also quite constant but this too is a source material problem. Kudos to Madman for a great transfer with the materials available.
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There is only the one track on this DVD being an English Dolby Digital 2.0 effort, encoded at 224 Kb/s.
The dialogue quality was clear and easy to understand at all times. This is due to the fact that all dialogue has been looped over the video as cartoon characters don't tend to talk by themselves (!). Due to the video being timed to Japanese syllables and not English ones, sync is slightly out at times.
The original musical score (not the one on this DVD, as this is the Americanized music) is very powerful and suits the action perfectly while this one is cheap synthesizer music that American cartoons have made famous - another big reason to get a Japanese language track on the disc.
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| Overall | |
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The video quality is excellent with what was available.
The audio quality is adequate, but was let down by the poor alternate music.
The extras were welcome as they are useful to a new viewer of the series.
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| Plot | |
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer DV-626D, using Component output |
| Display | Toshiba 34N9UXA. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to DVD player. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Yamaha CX-600 Pre-Amp, Yamaha MX-600 Stereo Power Amp for Mains, Yamaha DSP-E300 for Center, Teac AS-M50 for Surrounds. |
| Speakers | Main Left and Right Acoustic Research AR12s, Center Yamaha NS-C70, Surround Left and Right JBL Control 1s |