Dragon Ball Kai

Next Time On Dragon ball Z...Oops I mean Kai. Many like me who have seen the original and yet have seen this and thought well Kai is obviously the same isn't it? Well Yeah thats because it is But there are differences here and there to mention but it isn't as major as a lot of people like to assume so I will be making some comparisons here that you'll expect to see in this review since this is based on my analysis of this show from watching it twice alongside Dragon ball Z. Story - 9 The story is sped up much more better compared to the original for obvious reasons of course, It sticks to major characters along with the main plot, less over the top screaming (Though there is that occasionally at times) and less deviating to different locations with little going on in them. better direction of how the pacing is handled within the story to how it is in the manga though I would argue that some certain moments in this version like the original happened quite differently in the manga. The short prologue to the beginning of what happened to Goku's father Bardock was a nice touch compared to how the original started off. It sets the story very nicely by showing bardock's assault on frieza's army and also the major difference was a removal of the fillers from the original which I like a lot about this. Now for me I enjoyed some of the fillers from the original anime such as Gohan surviving out in the wilderness as part of his training or Goku and Piccolo amusing test driving episode or even seeing some of the characters trying to find the dragon balls or just randomly seeing some of the supporting characters in their own segments like Tien, Krillin, Yamcha, Chichi etc. The fillers were also placed in some of the right spots in the story to give some fun easy going highlights towards characters and even progression for example gohan on his adventure out in the wilderness by piccolo to adapt to his surroundings and to not be afraid had a nice throwback to the original dragonball that in a way keeps it connected. To me, Some of the Fillers like these are still a joy to watch personally unlike some certain animes that just shoehorn filler episodes to disrupt the flow of their story and action badly (cough cough Bleach and Naruto) The Filler from the original offered a nice casual distraction away from the main plot but also kept up in the right places as well as still offering the action, drama and humour to the show as a whole, I mean sure the negative to that is filler episode could tend to drag but they were also placed in convenient places that to me made sense and I wish a lot of shonen animes would do this. (I could go, But moving on) But to note I also know from the original anime you have fillers that are just too slow and time wasting, For the love of god I totally did not like the whole fake Planet Namek filler and Goku when he fell off snake way when he met those 2 annoying Orges, including the fillers that stretch the length of certain episodes or just random added silly moments which I also wasn't a fan of. Now with Kai most of these fillers are pretty much gone which really helps viewers to stick with the main plot which in term keeps it more direct and maintains that balance of content and at least help it to not completely drag on for very long which is a major improvement. Art/Animation - 6 Honestly I am however disappointed with Toei animation. A series that finished a long time ago, that was beloved by loads of fans all round the world gets this reboot in 2009 and did they improve on art and animation? honestly.. Not that much at all. This very much annoys me to say this but Dbz kai in terms of its animation capturing the same dated 4:3 ratio like the original did with certain colour correction and contrast but with the very same style of animation which in today standards of art and animation is undeniably lazy from Toei Animation standards considering this reboot came out in 2009!! Just unacceptable. I have no problem with the art/animation with the original series since it came out in the late 80s/Early 90s, but Come On Now!.. this is practically the same with little certain things that they kinda enhanced which look like anybody could do on PowerPoint! What seems very good from the very opening of truly great animation that would of suited the series as whole for it in this era of animation only comes to slap people in the face when they see this and say where is the improvement on the animation?? (No way only in the opening!?....Really? Surely they had a lot more time right?) The original recycled animation has been limited but still not showing enough of that change that should of been implemented with better quality in the first place and some of the uncut blood and violence is replace by bruises which looks silly and yes even though the manga isn't too violent it still looses some of its believability at times when something violent occurs which does make me sympathies with those that did not warm up towards this series but again another thing is at least its not bad compared with the original in terms of missing features to the characters and what not. As a really good example look at original JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders reboot. It got an updated look of the animation as well as other features in their new series to bring its source material of the manga to life so why not Dragon ball kai?? I get that the studio works on other different shows in Japan now and then but Is it really that much of a chore for them to do so for their most profitable franchise besides just animating the opening? They might as well just get Madhouse to work on it like they did for Hunter X Hunter 2011 if they aren't really up to the task. Music - 6 Right Okay..I honestly feel pretty mixed about this one. While Kenji Yamamoto was originally the music composer behind The music of this series but had to be replace because of some corporate music scandal he had done. before this show was release on DVD/bluray to the public they had the music to be replace with the former composer from the original series in 2009 which yet again is a problem, like the animation the music score sounds too dated like I'm watching an old detective show that sounds like 1966 The Green Hornet, The Hell!? seriously its Dragon ball Z!!! So Understand that the mixes of genres of this show falls under Battle Shounen, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Martial Arts, Sci Fi, Super Power which adds a lot of variety for this show so It should feel and sound like it has its own uniqueness here especially to other music soundtracks nowadays but it unfortunately doesn't since this anime has more of an out of date feel to it now which does not make me feel invested towards the episodes as much at times. I LOVE the music composer Kikuchi Shunsuke from the original series I've nothing against him, but his soundtracks for a reboot version/ Remastering of this series up to this point just doesn't really make me feel excited or engage to whats happening on scene especially since certain Iconic soundtracks are not present there like the original show and with this issue I feel, It just doesn't really resonate with me when something is taking place. Of course I am aware that Kai added a few new music scores in place of the show and they sound good but are only once during different characters moments which makes it pretty pointless honestly. It was more better in the original because it was more authentic and done so well for particularly in that time period of anime back then. The Opening Is okay, not really topping the original in anyway since the original Opening sounded so Iconic and with this opening I just felt it was played too much that but could've added more instead of hearing the same opening song throughout 97 episodes and again In no way competes with the opening of Dragon ball Z CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA since its so Iconic from the previous installment. …

I won't waste time reviewing Dragonball because it think that by now most people know it and already have their own opinion about it. I'll just focus on Kai and the changes it has Story 10/10. Ok, so the story in dragonball has never been really complex or deep, but it's still fun to watch. In my opinion, the biggest improovement Kai has over DBZ is that all the anoying fillers are gone and now the story goes, mostly, acording to the manga. No more eternal power charging, no more eternal "he is so strong" internal monologues a no more feeling that nothing really happened in the last 10 chapters. Yeah there are some fun filler missing, like when goku and picolo go to the driving school, but in the end what is gained with the exclusion of the filler is far more than what is lost. I've read here that the story got cut out, that's not true, they just cut out all the filler that made the original Dragonball anime a pain to whatch for the poeple that have read the original manga. Art 5/10. The art in dragonball has allways been decent considering the times when it was released. But just as the new opening makes you believe at first, this could have been a real remake but the only thing we get here are the exact same animation but on a higher resolution, that's all. Sound 9/10. The audio has been remade and sounds great. After finishing KAI I watched some episodes of the original anime and the difference was clear. I also liked some of the aditions to the soundtrack, though not all of them. Enjoyment 10/10. At least to this date, this is the best way to watch dragonball. If you are a newcomer to the world of dragonball you will be able to see the story and fights just as Toriyama made them in the original manga. If you already saw the original anime or manga you will be able to go throught this all time classic once again without having to be tortured by the neverending fillers. Overall 8/10. It's good, but it could have been so much more. I really would have loved to see a real remake with the kind of animation that we get in the opening of kai.

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

This show needed some filler like Bleach, but this is still one of the best crazy shows I have ever seen. I only gave 9 and not 10 because this show was too much dude on dude and NO FILLER to get to know the dudes. Let me tell you all about this crazy show. Story is pretty much a copy of Bleach and that one ninja show if you put super man in there. Big aliens from his past keep coming along to put him in his place, but he gets new powers just like Itchygo did. If you have narcolepsy dont watch this show because theres so many lights you never stop shaking. Art in show isnt very good and colors are really weird like they feel all floral which makes me think theres gay agenda in this show. They always fight men and become shirtless and theres no women characters at all really who get naked. Sound is better off muted because it could cure a deaf person with no ears. Seriously they scream like crazy so on mute. Characters are cool but no development and theyre all good guys who just want to kill the bad guy. Sometimes you feel they might be kind of gay for each other and one guy's name starts with a V and ends in an A and I can't say it here. I was like, really!? Overall this show is crazy but its really fun to watch even though its pretty dumb and sometimes seems gay. I wish they had made it longer, then it would be perfect.

Overview: I mentioned in my review of DBZ that the series had some serious flaws and wasn't a perfect adaptation of Toriyama's original manga. Today I look at Dragon Ball Kai, which actually tries to be much closer to the source material. Does it do well or did DBZ classic do it better? Let's analyze further. Story and Characters: 8/10 I already reviewed the story of DBZ, so this will largely focus on the differences between Kai and the original DBZ. A massive improvement is the removal of the obnoxious filler that bogged down DBZ. How much filler was in DBZ? An illustrative example would be that 7 of the first 16 episodes were entirely filler and not part of the official canon. In Kai it no longer takes 20 episodes for a planet to explode in supposedly 5 minutes. There are no episodes where characters power up pointlessly for nearly the entire episode. The use of recycled animation simply to take up time is also mercifully decreased. Kai cut out the fat while leaving in all the action, character development, and everything that made the story great in the first place! Other than that, no substantial changes were made to story and characters. Art and animation: 5/10 Unfortunately the entire series didn't look like the opening theme animation like many fans hoped it would. The art is slightly improved from DBZ in terms of definition and quality, but the animation is still that classic, cheap and sloppy animation that we saw in the early 1990s. The art obviously looks much worse relative to other popular series in the 2010s than it did in the early 1990s when it was being compared against Yu Yu Hakusho and Sailor Moon. One major complaint from some fans was Kai's removal of much of the grit and gore from the original series. Although I also feel it is missing in some scenes, the original manga was NOT a bloodbath and this was in fact more faithful to the original. Sound: 9/10 The original OST from DBZ (Japanese version anyways) was great and didn't really need much improvement. Having said that, Kai added some nice tracks of its own and did a good job in the music department. Overall: 7/10 Dragonall Kai is indeed more faithful to Toriyama's manga and is in my opinion an improvement. Why it is rated an 8.0 on MAL compared to DBZ's 8.3 is honestly a bit confusing to me. Maybe hours of filler is acceptable as long as a tiny bit more blood is added? I have no idea what our voters were thinking. Obviously this new generation of kids didn't embrace Dragonball to the degree that my generation did, but I don't blame Kai for that. Anime is no longer an oddity and something that kids will watch just because it looks different. Very little anime is currently on American TV and young anime fans watch entirely online, which wasn't an option when I was growing up. If the internet existed in 1998 with the speed to stream videos rather than take 15 minutes of loud dial up sounds just to get on the internet, my 10 year old self probably would have watched something darker and more violent to make myself feel like a badass. I watched DBZ and enjoyed it at least partially because it was the best thing available at that timeslot for a 10 year old boy. Everyone got out of school and rushed home to watch DBZ, because honestly there was nothing better on. I didn't have the option of watching Black Lagoon on my laptop. If I did, than I likely would have made the same choice that the 10 year old punks of 2014 are making.

This show is great. And before we start they announced a Buu Saga so yes it follows the manga. This review comes from someone who watched a lot of the Cell and Buu Saga EPs as a kid. The only complaint people have that I have talk to is that "oh no they took out the Rock music that FUNimation put in the original, which I could care less about because they kept the Japanese music this time which never would piss me off. The story follows manga much better than the original with less AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, but with more fighting and no filler episodes. Now you can watch the story quicker than you did before, 194EPs to 98EPs. It was very enjoyable and characters are as great as they were in the original. The only thing I could give to the Kai haters is the lack of new animation (there are some redone scenes for a variety of reasons, but not the whole show), but I like that because the animation reminds me of the older anime like Yu Yu Hakusho, Original Series of Pokemon, and early One Piece and Case Closed/Detective Conan. Voice acting is better, but that's only an opinion on both sides.

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.

Dragon Ball Z (or for short DBZ) sure made the merchandise called Dragon Ball (or for short DB) the most popular anime merchandise in the word. It starts from manga, 2 anime adaption (DB and DBZ), couple spin-offs (DBGT, DBS), lots of movies and lots of games, and it seems that this merchandise that exist for over 30 years now doesn’t going to fade soon, with every other year new item in this merchandise is appearing even though the story is so old and in fact so unuqdated that even the general opinion seems divided by two major opinion (by my eyes at least) - The first, the fans who are still loving the story no matter how much time will go, it’s still will be saved in their hearts as their childhood series or rather great anime of all times. But the second opinion is realistic, and sees that though the anime had made his move in the world, the world has advanced, and there’s much better anime that had been released since the world has know DBZ who are much better. Though there’s clear answer for that opinion - DBZ is what actually made most of the anime those days, it was what made the shounen battle anime so popular and mainstream, sure it doesn’t have so much of a story and not that deep characters than most of new anime, but since in the time DBZ was masterpiece, it’s not relevant to compare it to newest shounen anime. But that answer is actually the words of a fan, in true face of the critic that opinion is right, doesn’t matter how much DBZ effected the anime world ‘till those days, the lack of story except for “fight the strong guy”, lack of character development except for few, and a lot of plot holes and plot convinces and plot armours, doesn’t does good to DBZ. But those critic points is actually what makes the truth on the other face of the truth - Enjoyment. What actually makes the so old anime, is not some complicated story, strong ideology characters, but actually the simpleness of the those points is what makes the anime so damn addictive, with good tense and characters with simple dilemmas your can recognise with, and not some deep narrative with three dimension characters. The simpleness of the story and the characters are what making DBZ so great so the watcher doesn’t need much to just enjoy Toriyama’s ideas and nothing more, so the story is just running ahead without need to understand big and complicated staff, in critic eye it’s bad, in enjoyment eye it’s what makes DBZ rolls. What’s all that gotta do with the remake Dragon Ball Kai? It’s all directed to one big question when one watching Toei so-called “remake” of DBZ alone ‘till cell arc (the 2nd part DBK14 will get a little treat later on), why they called this remake at all? And I will explain. Usually remake (at least in my eyes, but I’m sure others will agree) is taking the manga that had been done for it one anime series in the past and adapting it from the start, the likely reason to do that, is the old anime had reached some point and ended, because it reached the manga and the producers decide to end it, or doing original anime end, and because the manga finally reached it end, the producers decided to come back and do justice to the manga again. Usually, those remakes are redrawn, and not just being retold without any change, but taking the direction of the anime in some new way to entertain the watcher in new way of direction even though it’s the same old story. The famous examples for this kind of remakes we saw in FMA03 that got FMA09 (or in the more famous name FMA: Brotherhood / FMAB) and HxH99 that got HxH12. Dragon Ball Kai on the other hand is kinda far from being such remake. What Toei had done is basically taking the old 1989 DBZ, cut the filler scenes (and there’s a lot of them), reformatting them to HD scales, and presented it as “Remake” in new name “DBK”, new opening, new ending, recorded again all the voices, renew the OST, damaged frames were redrawn, needed frames were drawn, and that’s it. Something new from old DBZ? Not at all, on the surface it’s presented as “Remake” but in reality it’s maybe looks newer and sharp (due the HD reformat) but apart from that we just got again the DBZ, only in shorter version. Though all that, there’s still kind of Remake here, that the non-fillers idea, and the shorting of the episodes due the fillers, do makes a feel of remake here. Who watched the old DBZ would know what I mean when I will say, that DBZ though to be great and exciting anime, had it’s own very much problems, either from fillers and either from longevity, and that sure effected the experience of Dragon Ball story, for best or worse. Exciting moments, felt much more exciting in the anime, but some battles and situations, got too much length, some of them are the famous “5 min” battles. While in DBK, all those are changed. Remembered what I said about DB simpleness? Well, those are magnified in DBK, mostly due those samples I talked about. The “5 min” battles though to be still long got improved a lot, and the dragged story in DBZ is more more directed and connected to the events. On the other hand, some of the exciting moments in DBZ that were magnified by long moments, felt much less exciting but directed. So yeah, though DBK isn’t real remake in term of retelling the story but cutting the fillers scene, but it’s still remake in term of how to present the story, rather it would be for good - because that’s how Toriyama wrote the story, or bad - because it removed the more exciting moments DBZ managed to make, the simpleness I talked about earlier have much better impact, so DBZ never had been more exciting and enjoying to watch. But with all that being said about DBK remake being “free fillers” isn’t that accurate. In fact, there are still some fillers in the series, some of them are true needed, where Toei filled some materials that fills Toriyama’s world with more spice. But while those are showing there are still some fillers who felt untouched, some of them even non-manga readers can observe them immediately for the long moments of characters doing nothing and feeling of dragging, and some that manga readers can notice them without a problem, some of them are additions to the battle where Toei inserted useless extra fighting, true that some people love the extra violence in DBZ, but in true eyes it’s dragging. For those fillers, there might be true reasons for Toei to keep them, some because if you delete them the original story material will be damaged (mostly the dragged content), and some for filling hole for the episodes minutes (mostly the extra violence). All what I said right now might seems petty, but in some point it seems that Toei didn’t care anymore but left entire episodes without cutting, maybe some here and there extra fillers stories, but when seeing extra useless dragging in version claiming to be “free fillers” it’s makes bad impression, especially after they cut some fillers dragging that actually made good impact in original DBZ (as I mentioned above) those full dragged episode untouched felt really unnecessary. So yeah, though Toei shortened long 199 episodes (Frieza-Cell sagas) to 98 episodes is sure impressive, and make it worth to rewatch DBZ again (and I will talk later for who it’s worth), it’s not perfect “free spoiler” version. Story: 8/10 All that “what they cut and what they didn’t kinda made me headache, so let’s talk about something that sure make our mind much busier than minuteness - the HD converting. In that area Toei sure made great job, especially since DBZ is old anime, the year 1998 isn’t that close and the animation back there had lot of good things but also bad things, but animation unlike movies, since they are animation it’s easy to make good quality of them when you have the source, and Toei made great use of the HD. In my version I have at last - BlueRay 1080p - the colours are looking sharp and colourful, the fact that in the BlueRay version that scale is 4:3 and not upscaled is making …

My Childhood's favorite Anime has returned ! I watched the whole series quite a while ago, but I heard that they were recording the voices for the rest of Dragon Ball (We're going up against Buu!) Yeay ! If you loved Dragon Ball Z once before, but haven't seen it in a while, I strongly suggest that you rewatch it with through Kai ! It is just better quality and improved removing most of the bullcrap.I simply can't wait to continue with Buu !

EDIT: I recently made a video review of Kai on my Youtube channel which is heavily based off this review. If you'd rather watch it in video format instead of reading it, then you can check it out here https://rumble.com/vs5j8x-dragon-ball-z-kai-is-epic.html I've been a fan of Dragon Ball for 6 years now and I finally decided to sit down and watch Kai to see how it would compare to Z and the manga. Also this is a review for the first season (97 or 98), 2009 Kai, or whatever you want to call it. Just know that this does not include 2014 Kai (Buu Saga) as I will review that once I complete it in the coming weeks since my score will most likely be different from this one's. Story: 9 As for the story, Kai is basically the exact same in terms of plot when compared to Z and the manga with some very minor differences. Kai is an edited version of the original DBZ which ran for a total of 291 episodes where Kai cuts it down to 167 episodes. This is a mix of cutting out filler episodes entirely and trimming a lot of the fat and filler in the canon episodes which could easily be condensed to a shorter time. Unlike other big shounens with filler such as Naruto and Bleach, DBZ didn't have TOO much filler episodes. Out of the 291 episodes, about 40 episodes (14%~) are filler/not canon so a good amount of the fat comes from the filler in the canon episodes themselves. This leads to the biggest change coming from Z which is the pacing which everyone knows is typically slow. I can defend Z despite accepting its flaws and I can say that I usually didn't mind the slow pacing, and in some instances the slower pace or inclusion of scenes usually weren't bad or at least I didn't mind their inclusion. That's not to say every minute of Z was great because it definitely wasn't. The Frieza fight is clearly better in Kai than in Z, it was fine on a first viewing and I was hooked to see what happens but on a second viewing its very slow and dragged out even for me. Most of Z isn't like this but the Frieza fight was probably the worst case of pacing. Kai overall is much faster paced and is half the length of where the Cell saga ended in Z and a majority of the cut content I am fine with leaving off. However, I still prefer some aspects of Z's pacing even if Kai is clearly the better when it comes to an overall experience. I'd say for about every scene I enjoyed more in Z, I'd enjoy at least 5 more in Kai or something like that. DBZ is a very action oriented show and the fights were dragged on longer than they were supposed to in Z and in Kai they are much faster paced which is for the better. However, slower, peaceful, and more dialogue heavy moments are probably better in Z just because its a nice change of pace and DB's cast is great, so seeing these characters interact is always fun. Besides removing filler from the canon episodes there is the lack of filler episodes and arcs and for the most part I am entirely fine with this change. DBZ thankfully didn't have 40% or 50% filler episodes and only had some but those filler arcs were usually not good. Seeing Gohan train was dragged on way too long and those episodes of the Z warriors training were not great. Fake Namek was pretty shitty, Garlic Jr. was shit, and the Other World Tournament was actually watchable, I don't like it as much as some do, but I have no problem with it being cut out or at least just being shown in a montage for about a few seconds. Unfortunately some of the good filler was cut out which is mainly just the driving episode of Z which is probably my second favorite episode in Z for sure. There's a training episode for the androids after which I enjoyed, the filler with Taoi right before the Cell Games is pretty good, there's some filler before the Saiyans arrive like seeing Launch live with Tien and then leaving which at least gives some explanation to why she's missing but overall the cut filler episodes is easily for the better. I basically just want to say that not all the filler and pacing in Z is bad or worse compared to Kai. Big moments such as Frieza's and Cell's defeat have a bigger impact just because there's much more time spent on them being the villain of the saga so finally seeing them die after 60+ episodes is much more satisfying than around 30. Also certain scenes that are slower paced such as Vegeta powering up his final flash I prefer in Z just because it gives off the impression of how much power and time it takes to charge up a super finishing move, but again these are only some scenes. I'm still going to prefer a lot of the fights in Kai when compared to Z just because it is paced much better. Now as for the actual story itself, Kai adapts the Frieza (or Saiyan and Namek) and Cell (or Androids) sagas. These two sagas are my favorite out of all of Dragon Ball and a majority of the fanbase agrees as well. Honestly I'd probably give Z the same score as I did for Kai if the Buu saga was listed separately just like it is for Kai. The Frieza saga is exciting and nail biting from start to finish. The series starts out revealing that Goku is an alien of a race that is one of only 4 left, then having him team up with the evil Piccolo in order to defeat his evil brother who came to Earth to destroy it and bring Goku back with him. This ends up with Goku dying at the beginning of the show and then having a majority of friends who fight die. The hook is insanely strong and has a lot of memorable moments and creative ideas. There isn't too much to complain about in the Frieza saga besides some nitpick or small complaints. For example, Goku arriving on Namek and kicking the Ginyu Force's asses, while still amazing, is basically just his arrival on Earth and beating Nappa, even if the scene is an improved version. There's also this weird part where Goku can read people's minds which is never brought up again but again, this is very minor. The Frieza saga feels like everything was planned out from the moment it started until the moment it ended. The Cell saga on the other hand is the complete opposite, but at least is still just as if not only slightly weaker than Frieza. Just like the Frieza saga, the Cell saga starts off with just as much of a banger with Frieza coming back as half machine, even more powerful, and with his father, King Cold. After what seemed like a never ending fight, seeing this scared the shit out of me the first time I saw this in Z. I expected this to last for another 20 episodes or so but instead we get introduced to a new character, Trunks, who destroys and humiliates Frieza and his father by cutting Frieza into pieces and blasting King Cold out of existence, while at the same time going Super Saiyan just like Goku. We then learn that Trunks is Vegeta and Bulma’s son who came from the future where his timeline was ruined by two androids that were created by Dr. Gero which is a nice callback to the original Dragon Ball. While this is a great start on paper, some of the flaws of the arc become very noticeable especially as it goes on. For starters, it’s a bit unbelievable that Dr. Gero could create androids using Earth technology that are stronger than Goku and Frieza, especially when Frieza is, or was, supposed to be the strongest being in the universe. That I can glance over and deal with but from a story perspective it's easy to pick out the flaws in the Cell saga. Like I mentioned, the Frieza saga felt as if the entire saga was planned out ahead of time and Toriyama knew exactly what he was doing. For Cell, the main antagonist(s) change about 3 times. Frieza and King Cold I can give a pass so in total we get 3 villains who were initially the main threat to the series at one point. While Frieza’s soldiers such as Dodoria, Zarbon, and the Ginyu Force got their time to shine, it was always clear that even when they were defeated, Frieza was still the main villain of the story. In Cell we go from Androids 19 and 20, then going from 16, 17, and 18, and then fi…

*NO SPOILERS* Recently, i came across an internet post of someone saying Dragon Ball Z may be the greatest anime of all time. I replied with something validating and someone responded with, "There's a hell of a lot of anime better than Dragon Ball, dude." This really got me thinking, Dragon Ball isn't even my favorite series, so why did i think that statement could be valid? Well, It's about objectivity. I've always thought there was something to be said about media that's easy to digest, stuff with relatively simple plots and a good mix of action and nonaction (example:"The Princess Bride"), I think Dragon Ball easily fits within this category. You'd know it for it's fights and it's yelling, but those fights wouldn't be nearly as iconic without all of the emotion behind them, without each character having their own reason to fight, without the enemies willing to play by a set of rules - leaving the stakes high but the mood not too dark; Dragon Ball is about a hell of a lot more than fighting. I honestly believe that anyone could enjoy it on some level if they just gave it a tiny chance. It may not be your favorite anime, It's not even mine, But how many people will enjoy your Loli Romance Magic robot fighting anime? How many people will enjoy your absurdist existential novel written from the perspective of god? Maybe a lot, if they really wanted to give it a chance, but maybe not, probably not. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it doesn't fit into a specific niche, it just "is Dragon Ball", which is a good thing. Watching it is an experience in itself even if you're only thinking about the fact that you're finally enjoying a piece of history and culture that spread across the globe like wildfire. You may think I sound like a crazy mega-weeb talking about it like that, but who in the world doesn't know Goku?

text written in English Before you speak anything I chose to talk about Kai Z inves for the reasons that Kai has no fillers and the animation is a bit prettier. The history of anime is simple (I copy the super-man sauhsahusa Zoas), the plot is not very nice, the characters also I did not like the anime comes down to one thing FIGHTS, the struggles of DB KAI are fantastic, but the other things in the stories are very bad and is far from the WORLD OF ANIME BEST. The author offspring random characters, making them more expensive Monster possible powers are greatly exaggerated, and do not understand why everybody like him. The characters do not have any characteristics only are people with powers fuckers who want to become stronger to protect the Earth, and alias until the villains are different and such, one is an alien, another is an inexpensive and another is a fat ( I know he is the most vo Z considers it as the Kai too), plus the same objetivosdestruir the land, annihilation of terraquios ... Not counting the clichés of the villains to have changes. The animation and voice acting are very good (for that time) and openigs and endigs are more or less Overall DB Kai is an anime for children damn story, just have struggles, it is very rare to see an adult assitindo DB (unless his childhood was marked by DBZ). Texto escrito em Pt-Br(Minha lingua) Antes de falarem qualquer coisa eu escolhi falar do Kai ao inves do Z,pelos motivos que o Kai não tem fillers e a animação é um pouco mais bonita. A história do anime é simples(copio do super-man sauhsahusa zoas),o enredo não é muito legal,os personagens também eu não gostei,o anime se resume em uma coisa LUTAS,as lutas de DB KAI são fantásticas,mas as outras coisas na histórias são muito ruins e está longe de ser o MELHOR ANIME DO MUNDO. O autor crias personagens aleatórios,fazendo os caras mais monstro possível,os poderes são muito exagerados,e não entendo o por que de todo mundo gostar dele. Os personagens não tem caracteristicas nenhuma,só são pessoas com poderes fodões que querem se torna mais fortes para proteger a Terra,e alias os vilões até que são diferentes e tal,um é um alien,outra é uma barata e outro é um gordo(eu sei que ele é do Z mais vo considera ele como no Kai também),mais os mesmo objetivosdestruir a terra,aniquilação dos terraquios...Sem contar dos clichês dos vilões de ter transformações. A animação e a dublagem são muito boas(para época)e as openigs e endigs são mais ou menos Em geral o DB Kai é um anime para crianças que dane-se a história,só tem lutas,é muito raro ver um adulto assitindo DB(a menos que a infância dele foi marcada pelo DBZ).

Dragon Ball Z, I guess, is one of those animes you really need to have the patience for. Even though it was the first anime I ever saw and got me hooked on other stuff, it was unbearably long and the fights dragged on for dozens of episodes at a time. After browsing through some of Funimation's works however, I came across what was basically 'DBZ without the filler'. So naturally, I gave Kai a shot. And I tell you, it actually does give a new outlook on the DBZ story. Granted, the fights can and do drag on still for some time, but the amount of filler that's reduced the first six seasons to only 98 episodes is astounding! By episode 13, Goku and Vegeta have already begun their first battle, while in the original dub, that didn't commence until episode 30! For someone who's also read the DBZ manga, Kai is practically a live-saver with its fast-pacing and dialogue that's closer to the manga. The voice cast Funimation provides for Kai is, like most of their projects, top-notch. With more then 100 voice actors at their disposal unlike the late 80s and 90s, the voice actors have much more experience not just with voice acting alone, but with these characters, and it practically feels like a whole new experience. (Especially now that there aren't ten characters all voiced by Chris Sabat.) The art for the show wasn't what I had expected, I had figured that the show would be done from scratch like other anime reboots. Unfortunately, the only thing really noticeable about Kai's art from the original's is that the colors have been heightened and sharpened. Also, for those willing to give Kai a chance, make sure you find it uncut. I see too many people turn Kai away purely for the fact that they viewed the Nicktoons edit which removes the blood and most of the action. Go out and buy Part 1, experience Kai in uncut-glory! In my opinion, it's defiantly worth it!

The dragonball series (Despite Dragonball GT) has always had an outstanding story, even if it didn't make since sometimes. The story is told in Sagas; the saiyan saga, the namek saga, captain ginyu saga, freezia saga, garlic jr. saga, trunks saga, android saga, imperfect cell saga, perfect cell saga, cell games saga, great saiyanman saga, world tournament saga, babdi saga, majin buu saga, fusion saga, and kid buu saga. These sagas are within what are called arcs; saiyan arc, freezia arc, cell arc, and buu arc. However, this is just a knock-off of the original in my point of view, since it takes away the filler which made it longer and more satisfying (at least to me). Yet, I cannot bring myself to give the story a bad score since it is the dragonball Z that I've known and love, so it has to be given a ten. The art in the dragonball series was also special. Over hundreds of characters with such detail to boot, no one character is the exact same. The different environment and animals is also great art that the series has going for it. The wind moves the characters clothing and picks up dirt, such detail! If not a ten I don't know what is! The shear number of characters also earns a ten for character. Although, if I were to rate character development, it would be around a eight or seven since the development is only for few main characters. The sound is given a great score because although it is awesome and it feels like that your hearing what it would sound like, it could be given a few improvements. Then again, sound is only one thing that makes up an anime and in my opinion that's not even a big part of it. The enjoyment anyone will have by finishing and re-watching this series is outstanding to say the least! I will give it an ten! Overall this particular version of the series earns a 6, since it doesn't last as long as the original by taking away filler. However, for fans of the series I have to say that if you want to watch dragonball z without the filler you have to watch this!

The first part of Dragon Ball Z covered in DBZ Kai is, in my opinion, a masterpiece. While initially the show starts off a little slow, it very quickly picks up the pace, most significantly due to the fact that this show cuts out most of the filler content from the original version of the anime. Gone are the days of watching Goku run on Snakeway for 16 episodes, and meaningless development of Gohan that is instantly revoked as soon as the saiyans arrive because... that development didn't happen in the manga. No, instead we get a shorter, more true telling of the Dragon Ball Z story, as if you were reading the manga. Now that isn't to say that all of the filler is cut out, It really isn't. There are some things that the anime did that would be impossible to cut out in order to make Kai. But what was there was perfectly fine and it felt like everything flowed really well. I love Dragon Ball Z. I think that from beginning to end it is an engaging story with extremely well-written and likeable characters. My favorite of which being Vegeta. Vegeta may get a lot of development later on in the series, that being the Buu Saga, or the second part of Kai. However I think that the first part of Kai here shows plenty of character development for our favorite Prince of all Saiyans. When first introduced Vegeta is shown as a ruthless, heartless villain whos willing to kill his own comrade just for messing up in battle. Him and Goku have their famous fight and Vegeta retreats until the day they can fight again. However, this is when we start to see a different side of Vegeta. As soon as Vegeta arrives back at his outpost he is instantly berated by one of his co-workers. The viewer gets the sense that Vegeta is actually not at the top, not even close really. This all cumulates later during the conversation between Goku and Vegeta on Planet Namek when you see Vegeta finally say what he truly feels. Looking back, it's a powerful scene. I think that a lot of the early arcs in DBZ are much better than I first took them for and have really grown on me over time. What they did for the characters and what they meant for the story as a whole really echos through the rest of the franchise in a way I think I did not fully appreciate at first. For example, the first time Goku goes Super Saiyan. I thought it was ok. I mean... we've all seen a Super Saiyan, it was no surprise anymore. But, looking back on it now. I think the first Super Saiyan transformations is one of the best moments in the entire show, and a very powerful moment for Goku. Especially in the Kai version. Sean Schemmel did a very good job expressing the raw emotions that Goku felt in that moment, voice cracks in all. So as I said before, the characters are very well written and enjoyable. And the show really knows how to keep picking up the pace. The first part of Kai ends at the end of the Cell Arc, and must I say, what an incredible place to end it. From Cell's first time on screen to Episode 97, the whole thing is extremely enjoyable and Cell is shown as a serious threat that the Z Fighters must stop at all costs. If the first part of the Cell Arc wasn't good enough, it gets EVEN BETTER once the Cell Games begin. If you thought the moments early on in the show were powerful, you haven't even seen the half of it. The Cell Games deliver on some emotional, highly impactful moments that effect all the characters and cumulate into an amazing climax that really wraps everything up in a nice little bow. Long story short, it's an incredible ending to the story. Much like earlier how I talked about Vegeta, it is undeniable that the character with the most development in Dragon Ball Z, not just up to the Cell Arc but probably for the entire series as a whole, is Gohan. When you watch DBZ you get to see Gohan grow up into a competent fighter who is willing to do what he must to protect those he cares about. He may not like fighting like his father, but he knows that it's important to protect those you care about. That's what I love about Dragon Ball as a whole. From Volume 1 to Volume 42 it feels like an ever changing, growing world. The characters age and have kids of their own, and then their kids age too. The world feels alive and meaningful, like it exists beyond the confines of the episodes we watch. I think this is most highlighted in the Buu Arc when we get the 7 year time skip. 7 years pass by and when we're reintroduced to the characters they aren't just the exact same people we said goodbye to in the Cell Arc, they've changed. And they've changed because... it's been 7 long years. But I think I'll talk more about that when I write my review of the Buu Arc.

Even though the Kai series was a step down for me personally ... I just love the Dragon Ball series so much! As for why it was a step down; As the first thing I was exposed to was the dub on TV, the soundtrack is the first thing that comes to mind. The Ocean and Faulconer soundtracks for me were way more impacful, you could feel the dread and pain or even the hype during fights, the soundtracks of Kai didn't have the same strength. Just looking at Goku's first transformation with the Faulconer track vs the Kai track or even Gohan's power up to SSJ 2 during Cell. The new animated scenes and art just stuck out like a sore thumb, it didn't fit the original scenes at all and it just takes you out of the moment, especially during the Freeza saga. The faster pace at times did help but at other times it just makes the scenes less emotional or impactful. This is also why the supposed filler episodes never stood out to me as "filler", it was just a part of the Dragon Ball experience. I would have loved more time with Gohan and Goku at the start of Kai or more time seeing the Ginyu force. even entire sagas were removed like the Garlic Jr. Saga which I loved. The one thing that I think was a great improvement was the voice acting, the delivery was a lot better. I wasn't a fan of some of the new VA's like Gohan or Tien but after a while I got used to it, I actually think the new VA for Freeza did a fantastic job. - Gohan's VA stepped up too. One weird thing I noticed was that "Destructo Disc" is translated to Kienzan in the Freeza Saga but in the Cell sage it's back to Destructo Disc To summarize, if you're an old fan of Dragon Ball Z and want to relive the nostalgia, you're missing out on way too much compared to the older series, even if it's double the length in episodes. - Meaning you should definitely watch Z. If you're a new fan or can't afford to watch almost 300 episodes Kai should be fine for you as it does what it was advertised as, just don't expect to resonate with the fans of Z as it's a completely different experience.

DBZ Kai in a word: Noice! I think Kai was a good idea. The animation is better, it's closer to the manga, and the story and fight scenes run at a better pace. I love the original DBZ, but in order for it to appeal to kids today, I think they had to make Kai. It doesn't rob from DBZ in any unfortunate way. There are a few things I miss (like the driving episode between Piccolo and Goku) but those are only trifles. I hope they continue to make more for seasons 7-9, since those are my favorite, I would like to see them reconstructed with cleaner animation and a little less lag in the fighting sequences and the story. Plus the kids who only have access to Kai aren't getting the full story! All in all I don't got nuthin' against Kai.

The only thing I liked about DBZ Kai was because it followed the manga more than DBZ. However, I was disappointed by the visuals because, when they mentioned a "DBZ remake", I though that the animation would be new. Instead, the animation was "remastered". Not as I expected. Also, I was really disapointed because the Majin Buu arc was never shown. It seems to me that Akira Toriyama gave us "remastered" version instead of a full remake because he probably wanted to make maximum profit without spending a f*ckload of money.

Oh, Dragon Ball Z Kai, where do I even begin? The reason why I am writing this review, the reason why I am on this website, the reason I love anime, the reason why I even convert oxygen to carbon monoxide every day, is because of you. You were my first true love. Coming home after elementary school, and you were always there on my television, I would leap into your arms. Begging my mom to buy me a hoodie with the Z Fighters on it, playing Battle of Z on my psvita, spiking my hair up to make it seem like Goku's hair. You were my childhood. To this day, I defend you like you were my own family member. You are the father of shonen, you changed anime forever. The voice acting, the gritty colors, the chemistry between characters, iconic villains. We get comedy, romance, fights, depression, twists, compelling backstories, victories, losses, joy. It's everything you want in an anime. Someone dares say a bald gimmick character could beat Goku, I simply turn away, and then I pray that they get better in the head. Someone dares say that there is no real storyline, I whack them silly right then and there. I will defend you till I die. Everyone deserves to enjoy the out-of-body experience that is Dragon Ball Z Kai. It will be the best time of your life, whether you recognize it now, or in 40 years.

In my original Dragon Ball Z series review, I mentioned that as much as I love the series—and think either the original Z or Kai are great ways to experience it—if you drop the nostalgia and judge it by modern anime standards, especially in English dub form, Kai is easily the better choice. Dragon Ball Z Kai basically fixes two of the biggest issues with the original Z: the filler episodes and the overall slow pacing. Sure, the series is still long—certainly longer than your average battle shonen—but the way it gets to the point much faster makes it way more enjoyable. You don’t have to sit through episodes of unnecessary padding and events that are never referenced again in any Dragon Ball series. Now, do these changes suddenly make Kai a perfectly paced series? Obviously not. Even without filler, battle shonen series tend to drag out certain scenes and arcs longer than necessary. But Kai at least trims things down to a more compact, digestible format, which helps a lot. In my original Dragon Ball Z review, I focused more on the macro level—how the fight scenes are consistently great and, more importantly, how much I love the character growth and interactions. Goku’s love of fighting, Gohan and Piccolo finding their places in the group, Vegeta’s drive to surpass his rival—these elements all add depth beyond just the action. Now, for this Kai review, I want to give more specific thoughts on the various arcs. The Saiyan Saga is a great way to introduce the ever-expanding scope of Dragon Ball. Before this, outside of Piccolo’s introduction and Goku’s tail becoming irrelevant, the series was pretty grounded in terms of power progression. The reveal that Goku is an alien was the ultimate retcon in the best way possible. Toriyama opened up the world in a way that explained Goku’s powers beyond just being mysterious. Plus, the Saiyan Saga had real stakes before Dragon Balls became ridiculously overpowered, which added a layer of tragedy that later sagas lacked. The Frieza Saga, while iconic, is honestly a bit overhyped—or, as the zoomers say, “glazed.” Once the fight with Frieza starts, it’s amazing. But everything leading up to it drags, even with Kai cutting the filler. I like the idea of Gohan, Krillin, and Bulma having to strategize to survive while different groups hunt for the Dragon Balls, but there’s just too much running around that ultimately leads to nothing. This saga also kicks off the annoying trend of sidelining characters while waiting for Goku, to the point where they have to keep knocking him out just so he doesn’t end the arc too early. The Cell Saga at least fixes this by keeping more characters involved, but watching just Gohan, Krillin, and Vegeta go up against various enemies gets dull fast. That said, once Frieza himself finally enters the battle, the long, grueling fight to take him down is incredible and serves as the ultimate payoff to everything set up since Raditz’s arrival. The Android and Cell Sagas are widely considered the best parts of Dragon Ball Z for good reason. Pacing-wise, they’re the best of the longer arcs, though this happened somewhat by accident due to Toriyama’s editor constantly pushing him to change the main villain. Despite these changes, the saga still feels cohesive, which just shows how good Toriyama is at improvising and making things work with his simple yet engaging writing style. The Cell Arc serves as a necessary turning point for characters like Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan, showcasing their flaws and forcing them to learn from their mistakes. Cell himself is an awesome villain—genuinely terrifying in his early forms and hilariously cocky once he’s perfect. That said, as much as I love this arc, I have issues with it that keep it from being the “perfect” arc many fans claim it is. The constant villain changes, while interesting, make it hard to take each new villain seriously, knowing they’ll be replaced in 20 episodes. Similarly, while I like the idea of negative character development leading to growth, there are too many moments where characters act downright stupid just to drag the plot out. Characters like Krillin, Android 18, Android 16, Vegeta, Goku, and even Piccolo and Trunks make baffling decisions that stretch things out unnecessarily. It’s entertaining to watch the train wreck that leads to Cell reaching his perfect form, but it’s also frustrating how much of it happens purely because characters act dumb. Also, while this arc tries to keep non-Saiyan characters relevant, it’s obvious Toriyama was struggling. Tien’s Tri-Beam, Krillin’s attempt to deactivate 18, and even Piccolo’s brief power boost all feel like last-ditch efforts before those characters become completely outclassed. This review might sound a bit harsh for a series I’m ultimately rating very highly, but that’s just because I’m passionate about it. Dragon Ball Z Kai is still one of my favorite anime to just pick up and watch anytime. I just wanted to point out that it’s not flawless, especially since so many fans overhype the pre-Buu Saga arcs. Regardless, Dragon Ball Z Kai is easily one of my favorite anime of all time and is hands down the best way to watch the series from start to finish—unless you’re really attached to the old-school delivery of certain quotes in the original English dub.