When the Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Boxes were released in Japan, they only released two boxes that each contained roughly half of the series. When FUNimation released the Dragon Boxes in North America, they broke the set up into seven boxes. Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box One was released by FUNimation on November 17, 2009, and it contains the first 42 episodes of the series; these episodes cover the entirety of the Vegeta saga and the early episodes from the Namek saga.

The Dragon Boxes were being marketed to the "hardcore" Dragon Ball fans, which was evident through some of the decisions made by the company when this set was put together: the default language for viewing is set to Japanese language with English subtitles, the title cards for the episodes use the Japanese titles for the episodes instead of the titles for the English dub, only the original Japanese music score is included, and the packaging and booklets use the original Japanese spelling for the characters' names instead of the alternate spellings that were used in the English dub. In addition, the episodes are presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio, instead of the 16:9 cropping that was done for the nine "orange box" season sets.

Dragon Box One comes with a 47-page hardcover book that has a right-to-left orientation. The book begins with a brief overview of the first Dragon Ball series, character profiles, and an "Ultimate Character Relationship Chart." The bulk of the book, however, is a section talking about the episodes that are included in the set. The episode section of the book includes the Japanese titles for the episodes, a description for each episode, the original airdate for each episode, still images from the episodes, trivia, and a brief overview of the story that appears on each disc in the set. The book concludes with a "fashion check" that comments on some of the outfits that are seen in the episodes in this set and line art drawings of some of the characters.

A drawback to this set is the fact that there are no special features included on any of the discs; FUNimation didn't even bother to put on the textless opening and closing or any trailers. I would guess that the company felt that since the book was included, that there really wasn't a need for special features on the discs. Also, I was disappointed to see that the "Marathon Feature" from the "orange brick" season sets wasn't included, because it made it easier to watch the episodes back-to-back on each disc. On the plus side, if you watch the Japanese language versions of the episodes, you get to see the next episode previews at the end of each episode; these had not been included in the original "orange brick" season box sets that FUNimation had released.

I would recommend Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box One to fans of Dragon Ball Z who want to have a better version of the episodes than what appears on the "orange bricks."

I wrote this review after watching a copy of this DVD box set that my husband and I purchased.

Disc 1	Disc 2	Disc 3
The New Threat Reunions Unlikely Alliance Piccolo's Plan Gohan's Rage No Time Like the Present Day 1	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

Disc 4	Disc 5	Disc 6
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? Held Captive Look Out Below The Search Continues