Dragon Ball Kai

Five years after the events of Dragon Ball, martial arts expert Gokuu is now a grown man married to his wife Chi-Chi, with a four-year old son named Gohan. While attending a reunion on Turtle Island with his old friends Master Roshi, Krillin, Bulma and others, the festivities are interrupted when a humanoid alien named Raditz not only reveals the truth behind Gokuu's past, but kidnaps Gohan as well.

With Raditz displaying power beyond anything Gokuu has seen before, he is forced to team up with his old nemesis, Piccolo, in order to rescue his son. But when Gokuu and Piccolo reveal the secret of the seven mystical wish-granting Dragon Balls to Raditz, he informs the duo that there is more of his race, the Saiyans, and they won’t pass up an opportunity to seize the power of the Dragon Balls for themselves.

These events begin the saga of Dragon Ball Kai, a story that finds Gokuu and his friends and family constantly defending the galaxy from increasingly more powerful threats. Bizarre, comical, heartwarming and threatening characters come together in a series of battles that push the powers and abilities of Gokuu and his friends beyond anything they have ever experienced.

Son, Gokuu Main

Nozawa, Masako Japanese

Vegeta Main

Horikawa, Ryo Japanese

Son, Gohan Main

Nozawa, Masako Japanese

Piccolo Main

Furukawa, Toshio Japanese

Kuririn Main

Tanaka, Mayumi Japanese

Future Trunks Supporting

Kusao, Takeshi Japanese

Freeza Supporting

Nakao, Ryusei Japanese

Trunks Supporting

Tsuru, Hiromi Japanese

Bulma Supporting

Tsuru, Hiromi Japanese

Muten-Roushi Supporting

Satou, Masaharu Japanese

Sabat, Christopher Producer, ADR Director

Cook, Justin Producer, Theme Song Performance

Jouno, Masato Producer

Kimura, Kyoutarou Producer

Reviews

Jul 13, 2024

REC3

Recommended

My review for Dragon Ball Z Kai. Dragon Ball Z was already one of my favorite anime series, before watching this series. Yes, I watched all of Dragon Ball Z before watching this. Kai is the definitive version of DBZ up to the Majin Buu saga in my opinion. I'll probably just watch the Majin Buu saga on Blu-ray full screen edition and not the chopped up DBZ Kai Final Chapters widescreen edition. Like other old TV Series the best way to watch DBZ is full screen edition. Because unlike movies they were meant to be viewed on the ... television screen. The reason is movies are sent first to the movie theater and are filmed in widescreen format, except for really old films like The Wizard of Oz and Peter Pan where widescreen theater exhibitions didn't exist. Television series only became widescreen around the late 2000's when widescreen TV's became mass marketed.

DBZ Kai is gorgeous to look at as someone else said this is how a Blu-ray transfer should be done. My only small complaint is the picture very slightly shakes. This is because DBZ is an old series and DVD's didn't even come out until the late 90's. You probably wouldn't even notice if you had an old CRT TV or Box TV to watch it on. It's slightly noticeable on a Flat or widescreen TV, but you get used to it. This is how DBZ should look, I've seen other versions and Blu-ray full screen is the way to go. Not the Dragon Boxes unless you want to hear Rock the Dragon by Bruce Falconer with lyrics.

Story wise I liked the DBZ Kai abridged story. I would say watch the unabridged version first if you can and then watch DBZ Kai. Of course you should watch Dragon Ball before you watch Dragon Ball Z. If you don't feel like investing the time or money just watch DBZ Kai (which cuts out about half the episodes) and finish with the last three parts of the Majin Buu Saga in full screen of course.

Sound wise it was excellent. The closing and opening songs were very good. They included a few pump up little songs for the big fights, I thought this was a great addition.

In conclusion, this is the definitive way to watch DBZ just skip the DBZ Kai Final Chapters.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Apr 28, 2022

Ethernet

Mixed Feelings

Better don't watch it and go on to watch Dragon ball Z.

The main story is all the same but you miss so much about the characters and so on. Then the story is all flat - just endless fighting without any sense. One of my favourite arcs - adult Gohan and young Trunks/Goten, but there is nothing about that. So sad.

I've started watching DBK just because the amount of DBZ episodes is too much, to rewatch it again, but it was a mistake so don't make it too. Because in that case you will lose a lot of joy or much of your time ... watching DBZ after DBK.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Nov 1, 2015

Luquillo

Not Recommended

I should have trusted my instincts when I decided to give Dragonball Kai a watch. It does sound quite intriguing to watch Dragonball Z again, only this time minus the filler episodes that really didn't add much or anything to the storyline; but with one change though, must come many, because for some reason writers always must omit something else that can feel almost equally important as the thing they wanted changed originally. I guess this is just one of those cases where you simply can't satisfy everyone, because DB Kai left me with a very bitter taste, and I actually prefer the original series ... by Funimation than this.

The story to DB Kai is no different from the original series. The Earth is paid a visit by a being named Raditz whom claims to be Goku's brother; Raditz reveals to him that he's not even of Earth, instead he comes from a different race called the Saiyians whom lived on Planet Vegeta. They eventually battle, and Goku as well as his allies learn that Raditz isn't the only one out there from that race, nor is he even close to the strongest. They then prepare themselves to battle against the last two warriors of the Saiyan race.

I will mention now that the removal of various filler such as Snake Way, Garlic Jr., and various other things was definitely a plus. The show moves quite better without the constant distractions; but the truth is, even without the filler, DB Kai can still be a chore at times with situations dragging along for too much time, and the outcome simply not being a good enough pay off for some of the waiting. In any case, the overall story is fun, and DB Kai works its way up to the final battle against Cell.

DB Kai manages to keep the action well paced enough, and character personalities are fleshed out. However, things could have been so much better had the only change to the show been the various filler. One thing DBZ did well was its voice acting for the English dub and character interactions. Some serious fans will catch the removal of some dialog and it may bother them, it sure as hell bothered me because Vegeta especially had some good lines, like his threat to beat on Yamcha for practically no reason. The changing of voice actors got on my nerves as well; Colleen Clinkenbeard is annoying as hell as Gohan, and had I never seen this before I would have been wishing for his brutal death at the hands of Frieza. Now speaking of Frieza, they have Chris Ayres playing him. I hate everyone Ayres, Chris and Greg Ayres have a very annoying, whining, saccharine feel that gets on my nerves quick. Colleen Clinkenbeard also voices Android 18, and she just feels all types of wrong here. Meredith McCoy is by far the best to play her; she brought a sinister yet sexy appeal to 18 that carried over to her facial expressions and even fighting.

Another thing DBZ always did amazingly well was introduce intense music scores. Funimation's BGM is probably this anime's best quality and they know it, yet for some reason they use boring elevator music, with no variation or anything new through out the entire duration of the show. Vegeta and Piccolo's addictive themes that described their characters so well? Gone. The terrifying BGM of death when Frieza goes off to kill Vegeta while King Kai narrates this is the evil Prince's last stand? Jettisoned... for some irritating trash that doesn't enhance the scene at all. I can list plenty more examples, but this proves to me that not everyone understands the effect music can have during some scenes.

The animation and artwork appears to be remastered, but the only thing actually new is the opening. I don't have much of a problem with this, still this could have been better updated. At least DB Kai delivers the action well enough and there's plenty going on that can turn a new comer into a fan. There's loads of fisticuffs and brutal beatings to go around.

As I look around there are plenty of people that really enjoyed Kai more than DBZ. I can honestly say that I understand that because it does trim a lot of the fat and focuses more on character and story development, along with action which is the main selling point. Unfortunately for me, I look for other things in my anime and music means a lot to me; a great soundtrack can actually mask flaws in a work, and DBZ was full of them yet the BGM smoothed things out making it more tolerable. In addition, there are things that seems changed for the sake of it. None of the voice actors from the original died while this was in production, so I see no reason for the change in cast, nor the removal of some lines.

Despite my dislike for this remake, if that's what it is, I still recommend it to fans so they can see it for themselves; but I highly advise to be prepared for these various changes. I already know plenty of individuals who had the same issues with this as I did.


Highs: Some of the removal of filler does work, enjoyable action

Lows: Altering of cast and BGM is a huge blow for me

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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