DVD Review: Dragon Ball – Collection 5

All things must come to an end; and sadly thats what happens in this fifth collection of Dragon Ball episodes, but what can we expect from this DVD release by Manga Entertainment UK? Find out in our Dragon Ball – Collection 5 Review.

Synopsis:

In the aftermath of his epic battle with Piccolo, Goku embarks on an electrifying quest to rescue his fallen friends from the realm of the dead. His perilous journey will take him to the heights of Korin Tower – and beyond – as he searches for Kami, a mystical being with the power to resurrect Shenron and restore the magic of the seven Dragon Balls! But even if Goku succeeds in raising the dead, there’s no guarantee he’ll live long enough to enjoy a reunion with his slain comrades.

The World Martial Arts tournament is just around the corner, and an eerily familiar foe known only as Junior wants to teach Goku the true meaning of pain! To survive the tournament and finally earn the title of World’s Greatest Martial Artist, Goku must train his mind as well as his body in order to complete his amazing transformation from a bushy-tailed boy into a man to be reckoned with!

Our View:

This is it; the final TV Series instalment into the Dragon Ball saga and coincidentally it’s also the one some Dragon Ball fans have been waiting for – the arrival of Piccolo Jnr, or Piccolo as we know him as in Dragon Ball Z, and the further introduction of beam attacks, rising power levels and never giving up attitudes. This is the final bout and only one can be left standing.

Following on directly from where the last episode ended, which saw Goku ultimately defeat King Piccolo, Goku embarks on another quest in order to restore the magical abilities of the Dragon Balls so that his friends who died in battle can be returned to life. Interestingly this quest is short-lived as after introductions to some familiar faces, namely Mr Popo and Kami, Goku decides to stay at the lookout in order to train for the next martial arts tournament. From here the next selection of episodes are pretty much ‘beyond weird’ with Goku tasked to do various things; including defeating Mr Popo in battle and the retrieval of a mysterious crown.

To me these episodes felt relatively stupid, as one episode even sees Goku travel back in time to train with Master Roshi and the Crane Hermit, and added nothing to the overall Dragon Ball experience – but it does tend to ‘fill-out’ the episodes and highlight how Goku mastered some of his skills, such as mental state and concentration. In retrospect the first disc of episodes is nothing but filler styled content that sees Goku train in various environments and locations against various people; including a clay model of himself. The only ‘good aspects’ of these episodes is the introduction of Piccolo Jnr and his discovery of beam attacks; but even this is brief and quickly glanced over.

Fast forward three years into the future, and onto the second disc, with then find ourselves at the beginning of the World Martial Arts Tournament – and the bulk of this release – but even this comes with a few surprises. To begin with everyone has aged, with Goku, Chi-Chi and Piccolo being drastically taller and older than they were before, but more interestingly is that characters from past storylines of the sagas, such as Mercenary Toa and Hermit Crane, make a re-appearance within the tournament. Of course this tournament isn’t about rekindling past-relationships, although at one point it does when Chi-Chi makes a scene, it’s about Piccolo getting his revenge on Goku, defeating everyone else in his path and trying to conquer the planet; just like his farther.

Extras:

In terms of extra features then this fifth instalment is no better, or worse, than previous sets thus far; as included on each disc is a selection of character profiles while every other discs (i.e. Disc 1 and Disc 3) feature trailers for other Madman licensed shows.

Each DVD Disc contains character profiles related to the episodes being portrayed on that disc; for instance since this is the Piccolo Jnr saga we have character profiles for regulars such as Goku, Krillin, Bulma and Chi Chi as well as character profiles for newcomers such as Piccolo Jnr, Mr. Popo and Mutatio.

The final piece of bonus content bundled with this set is a selection of trailers for other DVD releases, however don’t get too excited as a some of the products are either not available within the UK or have been discontinued; such as Full Metal Panic FUMOFFU and Chrono Crusade. Interestingly an easter egg (of sorts) can also be found by highlighting General’s Tao eyes – which upon clicking it while bring up the Disc Credits for people involved with this sets production.

Specs:

Media: DVD 9 x4
Region: 2
Running Time: 2:50:38 (Disc 1), 3:14:57 (Disc 2), 3:14:45 (Disc 3), 3:14:47 (Disc 4)
Video: MPEG-2
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 224kbps (English & Japanese)
Subtitles: English (Yellow)
Resolution: 720 x 576 (576i)
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Frame Rate: 25 fps

Overall:

When it comes to Dragon Ball if you’ve seen one storyline you’ve probably seen them all and when it comes to this fifth collection of episodes it is pretty much business as usual, albeit with a few interesting twists and a ‘questionable’ growth spurt for several members of the cast. For instance Goku, Piccolo, and to a certain extent Krillin, have now grown-up and become young adults – now while this isn’t surprising (as growing up is a part of life) the fact they have become so tall so quickly is just mind boggling; especially seeing as Piccolo was only born three years ago; but either-way this is the way the story is going so let’s follow it.

Of course ‘bizarre’ growth spurts aren’t the only disappointment I found with this release; as while the “filler” styled episodes I found to be a bit dumb there were some small issues with the product itself. Just like previous instalments the picture quality remains ‘questionable’ with heavy grain and some ‘potential’ ghosting going off during fast movements – the same is apparent in this fifth collection – however more immediate concerns can be found elsewhere.

For instance during selective episodes, such as the Time Room episode on the first DVD disc, the audio – on both English and Japanese Audio tracks – would cut out momentarily with a crackling noise; these occurred at 2:29:55, 2:30:37 and 2:31:16. Additionally during the first ‘cut-out’ the picture broke-up as well; which suggests that a glitch occurred during the authoring process. Furthemore on the same episode subtitles do not appear for Goku after he gets hit by Mr Popo; to me it sounds like goku is saying “ow that hurt” where as in the English Dub it’s just him saying “argh!”. Of course both of these ‘glitches’ could be at the fault of Madman Entertainment, as unlike recent Manga UK releases this set has been authored by Madman Entertainment.

Overall Dragon Ball – Collection 5 is what you expect it to be, the remaining collection of episodes which bring the Dragon Ball storyline to its conclusion and leaves itself open for the next chapter; Dragon Ball Z. Interestingly there are disappointments to be had, such as the overall picture quality and audio glitches during selective episodes, but they don’t make it unwatchable.

Score:

Dragon Ball – Collection 5 will be available on DVD from the 24th November 2014 within the UK.