DVD Guide

Beginning in 2003, Toei, in cooperation with the DVD manufacturing company Pony Canyon, began releasing a series of 4 box sets in Japan covering the entire DragonBall TV series property, which were dubbed the "Dragon Boxes". By mid-2005, all four TV series had been released, although out of chronological order, which marked the first time that any of these properties were available on a home video format in Japan. In 2006 Toei dropped Pony Canyon and released all of the DragonBall movie properties in the fifth and final Dragon Box.

The Dragon Boxes were limited items in the truest sense of the word. An order start date would be announced several months in advance, as well as an order deadline. The ordering windows were typically several months in length, and all manufacturing of the box sets were based solely on the number of orders received. In other words, they only made enough boxes to satisfy the orders made within the given timelines, after which point production on the boxes ended indefinitely. With so few actual Dragon Boxes in circulation (most of which already in the loving arms of DragonBall fans), it makes finding these boxes nowadays a virtual impossibility.

Following the release of the TV series Dragon Boxes, Toei announced the release of their individual discs, giving fans that didn't own the Dragon Boxes a chance to own these properties. Unfortunately, these individual discs wouldn't contain any of the extras that came with the Dragon Boxes, but instead special diorama sets were created exclusively for those that purchased all of the individual discs. Following this, individual discs for all of the movie properties were also released.

In early 2009, Toei Animation announced that a "refreshed" version of the DragonBall Z TV series, re-titled DragonBall Kai, was being produced for a high-definition (HD) presentation in honor of its 20th anniversary. This was the first time that any DragonBall property would be released on high-definition Blu-ray, bringing DragonBall into the digital age. So far, DragonBall Kai is the only series to see both a standard-definition DVD and a high-definition Blu-ray release. It is also the only series to see any sort of release while the series is still being broadcast in Japan. Visit the "Episode Guide" for more information about DragonBall Kai.

In 2009, Shueisha released the DragonBall "Jump Super Anime Tour" Special through a limited mail-in order. Unlike the Dragon Boxes, the process for ordering this DVD was much more complex and limited. Anyone in the world was allowed to order any of the Dragon Boxes as long as the order was placed before the deadline ended. However, this DVD release was restricted to those living within Japan and Shueisha even went so far as to specifically note that orders from outside of Japan would not be accepted.

Later in 2011, Shueisha released both DragonBall Z TV specials which were previously only available through the limited Dragon Box releases. Unlike the DragonBall "Jump Super Anime Tour" Special DVD, this release was easily obtainable through most online retailers to those outside of Japan. Interestingly, the DVD contained some great bonus material that weren't included with the Dragon Boxes.