Dragonball (Z) Kai [Review]
Ah, Dragonball Kai. I have not forgotten about this series as it was one of the highly anticipated series of Spring 2009 along with Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood that is soon to be concluded. I checked out a few episodes to see if it’s worth the trip down memory lane. I said to myself that it wasn’t worth the hype since I knew what was going to happen… just that it is going to be 100-ish episodes shorter.
Now that FUNimation is releasing Dragonball Kai (or Z Kai to avoid confusion of it being an entirely new series), I decided to give it another chance-more so that I recently won a copy of Dragonball Z Kai Part One on Blu-ray from the guys at Con-News.com (Thanks x9,000!!). In Japan, they are at the beginning of the Android Saga, one of my favorite arcs in the series. In the US, it is currently airing on Nicktoons TV and the Vegeta Saga just wrapped up (that’s only 15 episodes, folks!).
Just like Spring ’09′s favorite FMA: Brotherhood, Dragonball Kai is a complete remastered version of the original Dragonball Z in High Definition: keep in mind that this is not a new series. Not only is it remastered, but as mentioned, it is shorter than the original 291 episode run from 1989 to 1995, with original cast of Dragonball Z reprising their roles as well. In the first episode, there is an introduction that was never seen before (but not new) in the original of the origin of Son Goku: the destruction of Planet Vegeta, Bardock, and Freeza; in 1989, all we see is a space capsule heading to earth in the very first shot after the opening song.
If you’re a DBZ fanatic as I am, you know where the first few episodes lead to: Raditz’s Arrival, Goku and Piccolo vs. Raditz, training to fight Vegeta and Nappa, and the epic Goku vs. Vegeta fight. In Kai, the encounter with Raditz takes three episodes compared to five in 1989. In fact, the entire Vegeta arc in ’89 took 36 episodes compared to 17 in Kai: this took out a huge chunk of filler episodes involving Gohan after the Raditz fight.
In other words: it’s an abridged version of Dragonball Z for people that despised anything relating to the series as it’s nothing but a shouting match. Airing on Nicktoons, it’s also a chance for younger fans to experience the excitement as their older brother and/or sister watched on Toonami 10 years ago. Watching the Dragon Boxes, it’s easy to see what was removed or simplified: power-ups, unnecessary drama, repetitive speeches of why this or that happened, etc. Being a remastered series for HD, some scenes are replaced that were too muddled from Z. I noticed slight difference in the picture on the Blu-ray from the TV version, but I think the series speaks for itself when they mean “remastered”!
We won't have to ask ourselves if we were drinking acid when Vegeta had brown hair and armor anymore.
Back in the day, Dragonball Z had a total of 2 OP and 2 ED themes: “CHA-LA-HEAD-CHA-LA”, “WE GOTTA POWER”, “Zenkai Power!”, and “We Were Angels”, respectively. As of Dragonball Kai, Episode 61, the opening is Dragon Sou, with the newest ED theme “Kokoro no Hane” by AKB48. Thanks to current on-going series like, One Piece, Bleach and Naruto, we may see more music choices later in the series. With the exception of the opening theme, while it’s the same song, the animation changes reflecting a certain point of the series: Vegeta Saga = Goku vs. Vegeta; Trunks/Android Saga = Z Fighters vs. Androids #17 and #18.
I would stick to the original Dragonball Z, but if you’re like me and have a any interest in Kai at all, it can be fun to see what was changed from the original: and it’s a plus if you have the Blu-ray version (and we don’t have to see the awful Garlic Jr. filler, yay!). Like Z, going up to the Android Saga, it picks up steam.
As to whether if Dragonball Kai is worth watching: if you had trouble understanding the plot under all the screaming, plot holes, and glowing, shiny aliens, then this is the chance to watch the series once more before writing it off as a “kiddie” Anime (if you’re curious about the editing on Nicktoons, yeah… It’s butchered a bit).
Rating:
nice Review but isn’t the Kai still running? who knows maybe hey could spoil it still ^_^
In Japan it’s at the Android Saga after Vegeta turns Super Saiyan. In the US it’s at the Namek Saga, but it will probably go on break soon until the Japanese run catches up.
well I think this show has some violence but nothing to harsh but some name calling and a bit of bullying but other than that its ok for the eleven year olds
…the author didnt even mention the replacement of crappy dubs. Fail! A lot of stuff wasnt even translated to english correctly, adding stupid “Have heart, and you can do it, boo hoo” speeches instead, thus throwing off the US viewers even more. That’s the MAIN reason why I like DB Kai a bit better than DBZ (except the fact they cancelled ep. 98, wtf?)
I also like that in Kai, they kept the ORIGINAL TITLE of the episode, rather than “Deja Vu Awesomeness” junk from the Hollywood dumpster. Dont even get me started on the cheap “metal-head music” in the background, (Perfect Cell theme anyone?) Hell, even I could have done a better job on my guitars.
Also, the narrative in the original DBZ in Japan, wasn’t some redneck sounding moron, shouting into the microphone “LAST TIME ON DRAGON BALL ZEEEEEE!!! HELLZ YEAH!!!” IN Kai, they replaced that village-idiot, with some proper narration by the talented Doc Morgan. Sounds just like the calm, yet inspiring narration done by the original Japanese narration, sounding a LOT more intelligent.
A LOT you forgot to mention there in your little “review”. Choose a different major. Peace~
It’s up to them if they want to watch the Japanese or English dub (knowing the majority would watch it in Japanese), so I, this reviewer, didn’t bother to go into detail. I knew someone would disagree if I talked about it, but it would happen either way. The English localization corrected mistakes from the original dubbing of Z and stuck to the original Japanese script as best as possible so the dialog would make sense in the translation. Kai was still airing in Japan [at the time of this review] with hardly a full English dub, and with barely two volumes of the DVD/BD. All that mattered was the story, with the difference of it being shortened (sans the Buu saga), along with the modernization of the series as a whole.
The final episode was never shown because it happened to air the weekend of the earthquake last year. I understand why because there were better things to talk about like recovering from a major disaster than worrying about what was going to happen next… an event that everyone knew what was going to happen anyway. The episode is on the home releases of Kai, so it’s not like it’s gone forever.
I’m sorry if this review offended you… Though it seemed like you just wanted to rant about the dubbing, the “choose a different major” text was unnessasary. Everyone has a style of review, and there are those who intend to stick to it while teaching themselves to evolve in their “major” while doing it, especially for a series that wasn’t completed… And a series that’s the same as the original. People can get easily confused thinking that Kai is a brand new series, so the only thing I can do is present the differences.
It’s kind of a rant. Sorry about the “choose a different major” comment btw. Was having a rough week.