Dragon Ball Z-3.3: Z Warriors Prepare (2000) |
BUY IT |
General | Extras | ||
Category | Anime |
Notes-Previous Saga Info Biographies-Character Featurette-DBZ Web Promo Trailer-Preview Next Saga DVD Credits |
|
Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2000 | ||
Running Time | 61:04 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | Daisuke Nishio |
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 |
Anyhow, the DVD is comprised of three parts; two episodes (109-110) and one episode length documentary. The two episodes don't really progress the series further in terms of plot, they are more character development (Vegita) and comic relief (episode 110).
In more detail they are:
The World Of Dragonball Z: For people who haven't watched the older episodes of DBZ, this is an informative clip-filled look back at the past sagas. The blurb on the box is somewhat misleading, as it states that it will take you through how DBZ has become a classic anime worldwide when really the special is just full of clips. Good watching for someone who has no idea about the series, but I struggled through it since I have seen it all before many times already.
Z Warriors Prepare (Episode 109): All the Z warriors are training towards a common goal, to defeat the coming Androids, with Vegita pushing himself at our gravity multiplied by three hundred! The episode mainly centres around Vegita but also has a very funny scene where Gokuu praises Gohan (his son) for some good work while sparring and then proceeds to knee him in the stomach - very nice indeed!
Goku's Ordeal (Episode 110): In the most comedic episode of the series thus far, Chi Chi forces Gokuu and Piccolo to get their driver's licenses so she can have a car and not walk anywhere. The two questions I asked myself when watching this episode were:
Why doesn't Chi Chi just get her own driver's license? She can't drive without one, and it's not like Gokuu will be around much to drive her places as he is always saving the world.
Madman is doing a great job getting the uncut version of DBZ to Australia but still have not provided us with the Japanese language track - where is it I ask?
It is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced. If only DBZ was widescreen...
The transfer is as sharp as usual, with this DVD fitting somewhere in between DBZ 3.1 and DBZ 3.2. The only reason I didn't award it five stars for "Sharpness" was that a couple of times during the second episode the transfer exhibited a blurred look, but this was only for certain shots inside the gravity machine. Shadow detail is exemplary as usual.
Colour was very much on the red side for the two episodes, as when inside the Capsule Corp. capsule, everything is pretty much red. Fortunately, no chroma noise was spotted, so the transfer was spot on in this regard.
Due to the ageing materials that this transfer was made from, grain is a big problem, but this has reduced in visibility on this DVD, so maybe the episodes will get cleaner as they get further into the series. Aliasing was kept to a minimum but film artefacts were still apparent, presumably inherent in the source materials.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
Dialogue was comprehensible at all times, which was lucky since no English subtitles have been provided yet again. Audio sync was perfect without taking into account the Japanese/English translation.
The music was your typical forgettable synthesizer tunes - in fact, I have already forgotten them. I'm hearing a call for the Japanese musical score, are you hearing this call Madman?
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The video quality is as per usual.
The audio quality is a little bland but perfect technically.
What these DBZ DVDs need are extras, and good ones.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
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 |