The first Blu-ray and DVD volume of the Dragon Ball Super (Dragon Ball Chou) anime has been released by Toei Animation (Dragon Ball Z, One Piece), which contains the first 12 episodes of the anime. The series itself has had some questionable scenes in regards to the anime’s quality, but now that the first home release is out, let’s see how much Toei has improved and changed the anime since its release?
Since the Blu-rays are released after the original TV version, studios have additional time to reproduce scenes of the anime that may have been rushed to make schedules, deadlines and meet TV regulations. They may redraw scenes, add new ones, include flashier effects, remove censorship or just improve the general quality of the anime. It is always interesting to see the differences between the initial version and the final one, seeing the clever tricks they use to cover up rushed frames and their efforts to brush up on quality.
One of the episodes in Dragon Ball Super was notorious for its poor and rushed quality. Now that the Blu-ray is out, we can compare what the difference in quality for Episode 5. Twitter user @_3_9_4_ has compiled a series of images comparing the two. The images on the left are from the original TV broadcast and the images on the right are from the Blu-ray release.
Spoilers for Episode 5
Click on the images for the full resolution:
The main cast of the anime includes:
- Masako Nozawa (Tetsuro Hoshino in Ginga Tetsudou 999) returns to voice Goku
- Masako Nozawa will also be voicing Gohan
- Masako Nozawa also voices Goten
- Ryo Horikawa (Heiji Hattori from Detective Conan) as Vegeta
- Takeshi Kusao (Dororo from Keroro Gunsou) is voicing Trunks
- Toshio Furukawa (Ataru Moroboshi in Urusei Yatsura) voices Piccolo
- Mayumi Tanaka (Luffy Monkey D. in One Piece) is back as Krillin
- Masaharu Satou (Woll Dolnard in Maze☆Bakunetsu Jikuu) voices the role of Master Roshi
- Hiromi Tsuru (Dokin-chan in Sore Ike! Anpanman) will voice Bulma
- Naoko Watanabe (Catty in Gall Force) is voicing Chi-Chi
- Yuko Minaguchi (Hotaru Tomoe/Sailor Saturn from Sailor Moon S) as Videl
- Unshou Ishizuka (Jet Black in Cowboy Bebop) will voice Mr. Hercule/Mr. Satan
- Kouzou Shioya (Mondo Agake in Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ) returns as Majin Buu
- Koichi Yamadera (Togusa in Ghost in the Shell) is back to voice Beerus
- Masakazu Morita (Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach) voices Whis
The anime is set years after the end of the Dragon Ball Z anime where the notorious Majin Buu has been defeated and peace has returned to Earth. Toriyama will be the developing the original story and concept for Dragon Ball Super, having a larger involvement in the new series than GT. In addition, the first staff members were also revealed:
- Director: Kimitoshi Chioka (Hakaba Kitarou, Kamisama Kazoku)
- Producers: Naoko Sagawa (Toei Animation) and Atsushi Kido (Toei Animation)
- Animation Studio: Toei Animation (Dragon Ball Z, One Piece)
Dragon Ball is an acclaimed manga created by Akira Toriyama that was first published in 1984. The first anime adaptation of the manga, Dragon Ball, first aired in 1986 and was produced by Toei Animation. The series ended in 1989, in which the second half of the manga was then adapted with a new name: Dragon Ball Z. The anime and manga series were insanely popular in Japan, with the manga itself selling over 156 million copies to date, being the second highest selling manga of all time. The anime was soon picked up by Funimation Entertainment in 1995 to distribute in North America, where they made their own dub for the anime. Since then, a slew of merchandise, films, manga, games and card games, began releasing worldwide to capitalise on the franchise’s popularity till this day, over 30 years since the manga was first published.
Here is the synopsis of the original series from MAL:
Bulma is a girl in search of the mystical Dragonballs that when brought together grant any wish. In her search she bumps into the owner of one of these balls, a strange boy named Goku. The two then set off together, Bulma in search of the Dragonballs and Goku on a quest to become stronger.
The first Blu-ray and DVD of Dragon Ball Super (Dragon Ball Chou) is currently available on Amazon Japan for ¥12,147 (~ US$98.40). The second release will be out on March 2nd. The anime is currently airing on Fuji TV every Sunday at 9:00am JST for a total of 100 episodes.
You can visit the anime’s website here: http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/dragon_s/
And follow their Twitter: @DB_super2015
“Dragon Ball Super”, “Dragon Ball Chou”, “Dragon Ball Z”, “Dragon Ball”, images and all associating brands and titles © 2015 Akira Toriyama and Toei Animation