The Dragon Ball Z Season One DVD box set contains 39 episodes that span six DVDs. The first five discs in the set contain seven episodes, while the sixth disc contains four episodes and the DVD extras.
On the main menu of the first five discs, you can choose to watch all the episodes, watching the disc using the marathon feature, choose which episode you want to watch, and set up your language and subtitle options. Personally, I really liked the marathon feature. This allows you to watch all of the episodes back-to-back, but only having to see the opening credits once (and the ending credits are not shown during the marathon feature). The marathon feature really helped my viewing experience of the set, and it didn't take as long to watch a whole disc. I wish more DVD box sets would include a marathon feature. The only drawback to the marathon feature is the fact that it really reinforced how much the story in Dragon Ball Z has been stretched out; for example, the climactic battle between our heroes and the Saiyans runs for at least seven or eight episodes (when it could have easily been told in three to four episodes).In the setup menu, you can choose between three audio selections: the English audio from when the series originally aired on television, English dialogue with the original Japanese music, and Japanese dialogue and music. In the menu, you can also choose to turn the subtitles on and off.
The menu on the sixth DVD is similar to the menu on the first five discs, but this menu includes a link to the special features. Overall, the special features weren't very exciting. There is a five-and-a-half minute featurette titled, "Dragon Ball Z: Rebirth – Part 1." In this featurette, one of the colorists working on the remaster talks about various aspects of the project, such as the film to video transfer, adjusting the colors, restoring the footage, and the new cropping. There are also some side-to-side comparisons of the original footage and the remastered footage. In some respects, I wish the featurette was a little longer and went into a little more detail about the remastering.
There is also a three-minute long feature titled, "A New Look." Essentially, it is just a long promotional piece for the Dragon Ball Z remastered DVD box sets. There are also "Textless Songs," which are the opening and closing credits without the text. The final extra is labeled as "Trailers," and in here are trailers for: the FUNimation Channel, Dragon Ball Z, Full Metal Panic!, Yu Yu Hakusho, Solty Rei, Robotech, Case Closed, and the Z-Store.
While the special features aren't all that great, this DVD set is a "must get" for any Dragon Ball Z fan. Not only do you get all 39 episodes of the first season in this set, but most retail outlets seem to be selling the set for about $30-$40. That's actually a pretty decent price for what you get.
In order to write this review, I checked out a copy of this DVD box set through the King County Library System.
| The New Threat Reunions Unlikely Alliance Piccolo's Plan Gohan's Rage No Time Like the Present Day One | Gohan Goes Bananas The Strangest Robot A New Friend Terror On Arlia Global Training Goz And Mez Princess Snake | Dueling Piccolos Plight of the Children Pendulum Room Peril The End of Snake Way Defying Gravity Goku's Ancestors Counting Down |
| The Darkest Day Saibamen Attack The Power of Nappa Sacrifice Nappa's Rampage Nimbus Speed Goku's Arrival | Lesson Number One Goku vs. Vegeta Saiyan Sized Secret Spirit Bomb Away Hero in the Shadows Krillin's Offensive Mercy | Picking Up the Pieces Plans For Departure Nursing Wounds Friends Or Foes Bonus Features |
