Customer Review(s)
Customer Rating: 
Summary: The introduction of one of the most popular DBZ characters and the Clone saga begins!
Comment: With each DVD season box set release of "DRAGON BALL Z", as a hardcore fan of the series, it's just incredible to get over 30 episodes for almost the same price or less than most American television box sets.
Season 4 is definitely going to excite some fans as one of the more popular characters, Future Trunks is featured on the box cover.
The season starts off with the Garlic Jr. arc that I wasn't too caring for, while the fate of Goku is still unknown after the battle with Frieza, everyone else gets accustomed to their own lives as Gohan is stuck at home studying for school exams and his mother Chi Chi is very striict with him. Piccolo continues to train and Krillyn dates a beautiful, busty woman named Maron.
But eventually everyone reunites to take on the latest threat to their world when Garlic Jr. unleashes the black water mist upon the world and everyone turns evil with the exception of Piccolo, Krillyn, Gohan, Maron and Master Roshi. With the help of Kame and Mr. Popo, the group take on Garlic Jr. and must save the world from the black water myst.
The next chapter features the return of Frieza and his father Cooler. After Goku's battle with Frieza, it is learned that Frieza's father saved his son and made him even more powerful by taking his body parts and creating a cyborg. Of course, Frieza now back, wants revenge on Goku and friends.
As everyone prepares to battle against Frieza and Cooler, a mysterious guy from the future makes an appearance.
The unknown warrior defeats Frieza and Cooler with ease and everyone realizes that he is a Saiyajin. But the warrior tells everyone that Goku should be arriving that day and everyone is shocked to find out that Goku will be coming back.
Upon Goku's return, the future warrior reveals to Goku that he is Trunks, the son of Vegita and Bulma and warns him of upcoming danger as his world has been destroyed by the Androids. He comes to the past to warn Goku to get him and his friends prepared for their battle because he can defeat the androids but he must take medication to help eliminate a virus that he is going to have soon. According to Trunks, everyone except Gohan is killed but Goku dies due to a virus. But by giving him an antidote, Goku can survive the virus once he gets sick.
So, for the next few years, Goku, Picollo and everyone must train for this major threat from dr. Jiro and the androids.
AUDIO:
This is where I'm so happy with these Funimation releases. The fact that you can watch the series in both Japanese or English dubs but can listen to the English dub with the new digital music or the original Japanese music.
Having watched the series in its original Japanese language when it was first released, this time around, I have been watching the series in dub format and its one of the best English voice acting as Goku, Picollo, Gohan, Krillyn, every character...the voice acting is just well done. There is not one character where I felt the voice acting was off or didn't fit. Voice acting is well done!
VIDEO:
The video looks great on DVD and for those of us who have multi-generation fansubs or fading VHS tapes, just having these episodes on DVD and everything looking great. I know some people have a problem with the show receiving some cropping but for me it's quite miniscule.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Special features include trailers and open and ending themes. If there was one thing lacking, it's the fact that there are really nothing in terms of special features.
As of this review, the latest Season 6 was released and I have started on season 5. But I was quite pleased with Season 4, the whole android saga was great to watch when it first came out and to see future Trunks, Super Saiyan Vegita and everyone all together, fighting together once again. It's just an all out great, mega-brawl and it's one of the reasons why "Dragon Ball Z" has become my favorite action anime series of all time.
I do have to say that the android saga leaves off with a cliff-hanger and continues in Season 5. So, you're definitely going to want to pick up Season 5 as it leads into another major threat that relates to the android-saga.
Again, for the price of over 30 episode....it's a great deal! I just hope that Funimation sets the trend of other companies considering their anime DVD releases via box set for a similar price. But nevertheless, if you are a "Dragon Ball Z" fan, you can't go wrong with this series. Cool characters that you care about, storylines that capture your attention and a series that is just action-packed.
Another season of "Dragon Ball Z" worth owning!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Another good season set
Comment: Dragon Ball Z is the one greatest anime series ever created. With its action-packed universe and compelling storylines, Akira Toriyama's magnum opus has never failed to please. This is the latest season set FUNimation has released of the series.
This set picks up where the last one left off. Goku has defeated Frieza, and the Z-Fighters have returned to Earth. Goku is alive, but has opted not to return to Earth, instead continuing personal training in the vastness of space.
An old foe, Garlic Jr., has escaped from his Dead Zone prison. Using a black mist, he turns all of mankind into vampiric zombies. It's up to Gohan, Krillin, and Piccolo to work together to defeat this returned threat... but how will they contend with an IMMORTAL foe?
It doesn't stop there. Frieza somehow SURVIVED his battle with Goku, and has come to Earth seeking revenge. But upon Frieza's arrival, a mysterious youth comes to their aid. Will he be a match for the tyrant who has conquered numerous galaxies?
Three years later, following extensive training, the Z-Fighters find themselves face-to-face with the Android threats that were announced to them by the mysterious young man who helped them before. It isn't long before our heroes, even with all their training, find themselves outnumbered - and Goku is bedridden with a heart virus! How will the Z-Fighters win against what could be their greatest challenge yet?
The DVD set is divided amongst six discs, and contains the Garlic Jr., Cyborg Frieza, Android Training, and Android Sagas. The picture has been subjected to digital noise reduction, and the set includes a booklet of character profiles and episode listings.
Obviously, if you're new to the Dragon Ball franchise, you'll want to start with the Season One box set, but if you're already a fan, you'll enjoy these episodes. I won't lie, this is one of the weaker box sets, it's basically everything that links the Frieza and Android/Cell Sagas. The Garlic Jr. Saga has some good moments, but it's ultimately an anime-only filler that contributes nothing to the overall storyline. The Android Training episodes fare similarly (Chi-Chi wants Goku to get a drivers license despite the fact that she was seen driving in an early episode of the series?) Even the Android Saga itself gets off to a rough, slow start. But amongst the filler and obligatory slow-moving plot progression stuff, there is some great moments, namely the battle with Cyborg Frieza, and the introductions of Androids 16, 17, and 18 - and the battles with them that follow. These aren't the best episodes of the series, but some of them ARE key moments in the series.
One of my personal favorite features of the set is the Marathon feature. FUNimation includes a feature in these sets that allows you to view all of the episodes on each disc from start to end with no interruptions from intros/outros/recaps/etc. This is an extremely handy feature I wish more TV shows on DVD had.
Like earlier Dragon Ball Z season sets, the picture has been cropped at the top and bottom (this was done due to excessive grain and damage to the original source), and it has been subjected to the digital noise reduction process. Obviously a lot of fans, myself included, were disappointed to see the picture get cropped. While the digital noise reduction doesn't do as thorough a job cleaning up the image as you'd hope, it IS the best these episodes have ever looked. In other words, it's a "give and take" scenario. You lose some of the picture you could see on earlier full-frame DVDs (and there ARE a few gaping moments that will really make you question FUNimation's decision), but on the good side, you gain some picture on the sides, and the image quality is superior to all earlier DVD releases.
Sound quality is similar to the earlier sets. English audio quality is fantastic, but the dub is still translated poorly and the voice cast is hit and miss. On the other hand, the Japanese audio quality is poor, showing its age, but it does feature a well-translated subtitle track from Steven J. Simmons that lets you experience the series as originally intended. Is Dragon Ball Z EVER going to get its Japanese audio remastered?
Additionally, like the earlier sets, you have the option of watching the English voice cast played against the original Japanese audio.
Disappointingly, the next episode previews aren't included. But they weren't in any earlier season set, so it's no big surprise.
No special features are included here unless you count the trailers and the same textless opening/closing sequence all other sets like this have had. On the good side, the set does include a booklet similar to the earlier sets, with character profiles and an episode guide, making it handy to go right where you need to go on the DVDs.
It's another good set. If you're a fan of the series and don't already have these episodes, you can get them all here for one low price. Cropping issues aside, this is a great set, and a good value, especially compared to the older DVD releases.
Highly recommended to any fan of Dragon Ball Z.
