Dragon Ball Z was a part of my childhood like many others of my generation, and the way in which we were exposed to it was through Cartoon Network's brilliant action cartoon block Toonami. What a fantastic time to be a kid and come home everyday after school to watch Goku and company fight Freeza, Cell, and Majin Buu for years on end.

Most of us remember the cheesy, yet lovable dialogue from a then-fledgling Funimation, which had just gotten into the dubbing business for the anime industry. For the first two "seasons" of the show, they employed the Ocean Group to dub their edited-down version broadcast by Saban Entertainment in syndication. However when ratings rocketed after the jump to Cartoon Network, Funimation continued to dub episodes without the help of outside companies, instead opting to employ an in-house dub using local talent from Texas. This was the dub that we would hear for the rest of the show.

The Ocean dub was released on VHS and DVD from Pioneer Entertainment years ago, albeit in an incomplete format. Each tape/disc had about 3 or 4 episodes apiece but only one of the previous episode recaps and one next episode preview (NEP). However, in 2013 Funimation decided to cash in on this beloved dub by releasing a box set with all 53 episodes, this time with complete recaps and previews tacked onto the episodes in the proper places.

But their own dub has not seen this kind of love. After episode 54 aired, Funimation began to release their new dub. In 2000, the Ginyu Saga was released to both VHS and DVD in an uncut format that would not have aired on Toonami. The edited versions of these episodes, which any kid watching the show on TV would have seen, were released on VHS only, and like the Pioneer VHSes before it these would include only one recap and one preview. They would also include censored dialogue from the uncut version. This format would continue until the rest of the show was released to home video.

Never before has the broadcast version that we saw on Toonami ever been fully released on any format, let alone DVD, with as much "love and care" as Funimation has shown to their precious Orange Brick sets. However, it is only now that they are in a position to release the edited dub on DVD.

Funimation obviously wants to cash in on Toonami nostalgia by releasing the Rock the Dragon set, so I propose that they continue the nostalgia train right by releasing the rest of the series as it aired on Cartoon Network years ago in network-mandated edited format. This version would preserve the beloved Dale Kelly, who originally narrated episodes 54-179 (or 68-194 in uncut episode numbering), original intros and outros by Bruce Faulconer, and all the missing NEPs that never made it to the DVDs. I also propose that the Toonami versions of the Bardock and Trunks specials as well as Lord Slug with alternate music score cues by Faulconer Productions be included as to mirror the inclusion of the Toonami versions of DBZ movies 1-3. These would be edited as well to keep in theme.

Perhaps if 223 episodes is too many for a single box set then it should be divided by saga. The first set would include the Freeza and Garlic Jr Sagas (54-102), the second Android and Cell Sagas (103-179), and third Buu Saga (180-276). In any case, these sets ought to be limited to maybe a few thousand or ten thousand copies or maybe even limit this kind of thing to made-to-order status only.

Maybe fans will never see the rest of the Dragon Boxes in the Western Hemisphere, but if Funimation would do the series this little bit of justice then I would be happy even if I couldn't own the rest of the uncut Japanese versions for the rest of my life. This would be a great window between major Dragon Ball releases to put it out since the Blu-ray Season sets have just concluded their campaign and the next item to dub is the Buu Saga for Dragon Ball Z Kai. Since it's not an uncut version of the original 4:3 picture, there would be no reason for it to compete with any 16:9 uncut offerings. It would be a self-contained version of the show all to itself and could be packaged and styled similarly to the Rock the Dragon set to stand out even further.

Funimation, I beseech you to please do the TV version and my childhood justice and release this classic dubbed version of your best property on DVD.

And thank you for some of the best years of my life.