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This review of the Ginyu DVDs is a bit late since these DVDs were released months ago, but I just purchased them so I figured why not just write the review. Before I begin, I guess I should point out that these were the first DVDs released by FUNimation and there were numerous problems that have been fixed. Perhaps writing this review now that the Trunks DVDs and various movies have been released is a good thing, allowing me to compare them to the more recent well-done versions.

To begin, I will discuss the packaging. Again, a basic screen capture has been used, which all hybrid DVDs thus far have contained. This is still disappointing and unforgiveable since a better cover is not hard to create. The description stating that the DVD contains both the English and Japanese versions is located at the bottom, which isn't better or worse than the newer versions placement. Both have their pros in that this version does not take away from the cover, covering parts of the image such as the Bardock DVD had. However, the newer versions placement makes the DVDs easier to spot and diversify from the regular Pioneer DVDs. The back of the casing is the same as all others, short descriptions of each episode contained within plus a small screencap to the side. There is nothing wrong with this technique; in fact, it is the best way that I know of to go about the back cover. Within the casing there is again no extras. No DVD has yet to resolve this little dilemma, but I guess we can go beyond something so trivial.

Now for the DVD itself, I will begin with the opening. What can I say other than "eh". A basic screen capture of Ginyu is used on both DVDs with the dubbed background music heard at the end of each dub episode from season 3 on. The "assault" DVD contains three episodes while the "double cross" DVD contains 4. Since the Trunks DVDs contained 3, I speculate that the "double cross" DVD is an exception that won't be seen too often in future DVDs. The menu is nothing more than disappointing, containing just the opening, closing, and episodes listed with a dragon ball on the side. To make matters worse, there are no extras on these DVDs at all. The more recent DVDs have had entertaining extras such as commercials and historys of the story; which shows that FUNi has dealt with this problem. The dub episodes are, as stated countless times before, horrible. Dialogue, music, voices, nothing came close to being even remotely acceptable. However, the Japanese version is almost perfect. The picture quality is flawless, something that should be expected. The sound is mono, but the original versions that aired in Japan were as well, so this is something that I find perfect. I don't want the show changed from its original format, that includes the music and how it is encoded. The eye-catchers are non-existent, but that doesn't lesson the quality of the DVD. The only real problem with the subtitles is that the dub names are used for the characters. When Buruma says "Son-Kun", "Goku" is put. "San", "chan", "sama", etc. are also not part of the subtitles but each of these problems has been dealt with in the future DVDs. The subtitles themselves seem to be a little too high, but they are white with a black background making them extremely easy to read. This may be something that was only of my DVD, but during the first 10 minutes or so of the first episode of "Assault", an incessant ringing seemed to be going. I think I remember other reviews stating the same problem, but with a little patience and focus, you can block out the sound.

To sum up, the Ginyu DVDs have their problems, but all DVDs that have followed have taken care of the majority of these. For the money, I wouldn't buy them unless they are some of your favorite episodes or you want to possess them all. Later minna!

© Eric