In 1996, Dragon Ball Z was dubbed in English for the first time. Audiences experienced a version that was different from the original Japanese dub, and different from the current Funimation Dub. Now known as "The Ocean Dub" or "The Saban Dub", these episodes were trimmed down from the original length and received a unique score and dubbing. Unfortunately, there is no great way to watch this version since all DVD copies are out of print. Even if you manage to get your hands on a DVD, there are still limitations. This project serves to rebuild this version of DBZ with the best possible audio and video sources. ### Video There are officially three ways to watch this dub of DBZ on disc, the Pioneer DVD Singles, the Madman DVD Singles, and the Rock The Dragon Edition DVD. While each version has slightly different video quality, all versions suffer from [low bitrate and interlaced video](https://slow.pics/c/xwDkwjWB) as well as visual censorships of [violence and alcohol](https://slow.pics/c/005UrnLg). Due to these issues, nearly all of the video footage has been replaced, to include [the opening, end credits, and original graphics](https://slow.pics/c/sKXUMe7Q). The bulk of the replacement footage comes from the Seed of Might "Merge" version of Dragon Ball Z, which you can [read more about here](https://dombito.github.io/mergeproject/R1R2.pdf). Sections of the opening are mostly pulled from deinterlaced fullscreen versions of the first three DBZ movies on the Funimation UUE movies pack. The encoding settings used are intended to preserve video quality and aspect ratio as much as possible. Pioneer, Madman, and Rock the Dragon compared here: https://slow.pics/c/inrGdM3Z ### Audio There are three audio options I could pick from when creating this, each with different levels of quality: Rock the Dragon 192kbps AC-3 < Madman Singles 224kbps AC-3 < Pioneer Singles 384 kbps AC-3 (All stereo) All sources come directly from the DVD ISOs. You might think it would be best to use the Pioneer Singles audio only, but it gets a little more complicated. The Pioneer Singles DVD episodes only have the intro for the first episode on the disc, the NEP and ending for the last episode on the disc, and lack the "Last time on Dragon Ball Z..." intros. As such, those missing portions in the Pioneer Singles audio has been rebuilt with the audio from the Madman Singles. This audio has been exported as a lossless FLAC file. This is the default audio track for the videos. This means there's no reason to use the Rock The Dragon audio at all right? Nope. Interestingly enough, this is the only version to be "uncensored" in regards to dub lines. References to death that were toned down in other versions remain intact here. For specific audio censorship with timestamps, refer to the Audio Difference text file in the torrent. This audio track is either FLAC for the first episode since audio editing was done to sync the extended intro, or kept as AC-3 if untouched. ### Subtitles Subtitles were created by me. The default subtitle track is for the default Rebuilt audio track. The second subtitle track is for the uncensored Rock the Dragon audio track. All subtitles are .srt since there are no fancy effects and this ensures compatibility. ### Chapters Chapters timed by me. Useful for anyone who feels like binging and doesn't want to watch certain things again. ### Potential Questions **Q. Didn't someone already do this?** A. Nope. The version you're thinking of is synced to the original Japanese dub and Funimation dub. That version keeps the video untouched but extends the Saban/Ocean dub audio with parts of the Funimation dub. My version here edits the video to match the audio track creating a more seamless final product for this specific dub only. But you can check that one out here https://nyaa.si/view/1331089 or here https://nyaa.si/view/1478354 **Q. Why is there English only? Where is the original Japanese dub?** A. Since the episodes are cut down, the Japanese dub would not make sense to include here. There are other resources on this website if you would like to watch that version. **Q. You said nearly all the video was replaced? What scenes remain the same?** A. This version of DBZ has a unique [animated logo at the end of the opening as well as unique title cards](https://slow.pics/c/Ubl23zzu). As such, they are the only scenes that use video from the Rock the Dragon DVD set, but have been deinterlaced and only account for 12 seconds of footage. **Q. Seed?** A. If you can read this, I am seeding, regardless of what the number says. *Dragon Ball Z, the way you remember it, only better!*