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Dragon Ball Z Kai

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Dragon Ball Z Kai
Japanese logo for the series
ドラゴンボール改（カイ）
Doragon Bōru Kai
Genre
Based on
Dragon Ball
by Akira Toriyama
Developed by
  • Caramel Mama[a]
  • Kazutaka Satoh (#1–98)[a]
Directed by
  • Yasuhiro Nowatari
    (#1–98)
  • Naohiro Terazaki
    (#99–167)
Voices of
Music by
Country of originJapan
Original languageJapanese
No. of episodes
  • 159 (Japan)
  • 167 (International)[1]
(list of episodes)
Production
Producers
List
    • Masato Seino (#1–98)
    • Kyōtarō Kimura [ja]
      (#1–98)
    • Kohei Obara (#1–65)
    • Kazuya Watanabe
      (#15–98)
    • Gō Wakabayashi [ja]
      (#66–98)
    • Osamu Nozaki (#99–167)
    • Naoko Sagawa (#99–167)
    • Norihiro Hayashida
      (#99–167)
Editors
  • Nobutaka Maki
  • Kenta Katase
Running time23 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkFuji Television
ReleaseApril 5, 2009 (2009-04-05) –
March 27, 2011 (2011-03-27) (#1–97)[c]
ReleaseApril 6, 2014 (2014-04-06) –
June 28, 2015 (2015-06-28)
(#99–159)[d]
Related

Dragon Ball Z Kai, known in Japan as Dragon Ball Kai (ドラゴンボール改（カイ）, Doragon Bōru Kai), is a Japanese anime television series based on the manga series Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama. Produced by Toei Animation to commemorate the anime television series Dragon Ball Z's 20th anniversary, Kai serves as a recut and remastered version of it that re-records dialogue, improves animation cel quality, and omits most anime exclusive content that was not featured in the original manga. The series aired on Fuji Television and its FNS affiliates[e] from April 2009 to March 2011. A continuation that covers the final Z sagas, respectively titled internationally as Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters, aired on the same network from April 2014 to June 2015 under the same Japanese title from its original run.

Production

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See also: List of Dragon Ball Z Kai episodes

In February 2009, Toei Animation announced that it would begin broadcasting a remastered version of Dragon Ball Z as part of the series' 20th anniversary.[2] The series premiered on Fuji Television and its FNS affiliates[e] in Japan on April 5, 2009, under the title Dragon Ball Kai. The ending suffix Kai (改（カイ）) in the name means "updated" or "altered", reflecting the improvements and corrections of the original work.[3] The original Z footage was remastered into HD, featuring new animated opening and ending sequences, a new original soundtrack, and a re-recording of the vocal tracks.[3][4] The original Z footage was used for the series, with any damaged or erroneous cel frames being redrawn over. A majority of the filler content from Z was omitted to more closely align with the manga's story, resulting in a faster-paced anime series.[5] According to Torishima, Kai was conceived when Bandai asked Toriyama if a completely new Dragon Ball anime could be made to increase the franchise's merchandise sales. Toriyama declined to write a new story, so it was decided that a new version of Dragon Ball Z that better aligns with the manga would be produced. Toriyama's reaction to the concept of Kai was positive, with Torishima noting "so it all worked out".[6]

The series initially concluded with the 97th episode in Japan on March 27, 2011, with the finale of the Cell Games. The series was originally scheduled to run for 98 episodes; however, due to news coverage regarding the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the last episode was not aired during the original run and instead released as a direct-to-video exclusive in Japan on August 2, 2011.[7]

In November 2012, Mayumi Tanaka, the Japanese voice actor of Krillin, announced that she and the rest of the cast were recording more episodes of Dragon Ball Kai.[8] In February 2014, the Kai adaptation of the Buu Saga was officially confirmed. The continued run of the series, titled Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters internationally, began airing in Japan on Fuji Television and its FNS affiliates on April 6, 2014, and concluded its run on June 28, 2015.[9] The continuation of Kai was produced to run for a total of 69 episodes.[10] However, the Japanese broadcast was edited down to 61 episodes to fit into a timeslot scheduled to be taken over by a new anime series for the franchise, titled Dragon Ball Super, which premiered on July 5, 2015.

English dub production and broadcasting

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Funimation licensed Kai for an English-language release in February 2010 from Toei Animation Inc. The series was initially broadcast in the United States on Nicktoons from May 24, 2010, to January 1, 2012, continuing to rerun the series until its syndication license for it expired in April 2013.[11][12] In addition to Nicktoons, the series also began airing on the 4Kids-owned Saturday morning programming block Toonzai on The CW in August 2010,[13] then on its successor, the Saban-owned Vortexx, beginning in August 2012 until the block ended in September 2014.[9] Both the Nicktoons and CW broadcasts were edited for content to accommodate their targeted demographics of young children. Kai began airing in its uncut format on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block on November 8, 2014,[14] and reruns of the previous weeks' episodes were aired on an evening slot on Adult Swim proper from February 2015 to June 2016.[15] In the United Kingdom, CSC Media Group acquired the broadcast rights to Kai and began airing it on Kix! in early 2013.[16][17][18]

Despite Kai's continuation not being officially confirmed at the time, Funimation voice actors Sean Schemmel (Goku) and Kyle Hebert (Gohan) announced in April 2013 that they had started recording an English dub for new episodes of the series.[19] In November 2013, Kai's Australasian distributor Madman Entertainment revealed that the Majin Buu arc of Kai would be released in 2014 and that they were waiting on dubs to be finished.[20] In February 2014, Funimation officially stated that they had not yet started recording a dub for the final arc of Kai.[21] On December 6, 2016, Funimation announced the continuation of Kai would begin airing on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block. The continuation aired from January 7, 2017, to June 23, 2018, alongside the English dub for Dragon Ball Super.[22]

An alternate English dub of Kai by Ocean Productions was recorded for the first 98 episodes, featuring many of the original Vancouver cast reprising their roles. However, this dub has never been publicly released.[23][24][25][26]

Editing

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During the original Japanese TV airing of Dragon Ball Kai, scenes involving blood and brief nudity were removed. Nicktoons would also alter Kai for its broadcast; it released a preview showcasing these changes which included removing the blood and cheek scar from Bardock and altering the color of Master Roshi's alcohol.[27] The show was further edited for its broadcast on The CW's Toonzai block; most notoriously, the character Mr. Popo was tinted blue. The show's DVD and Blu-ray releases only contained the edits present in the original Japanese version. A rumor that Cartoon Network would be airing Kai uncut was met with an official statement to debunk the rumor in June 2010.[28] It would eventually air uncut on the network as part of Adult Swim's Toonami programming block four years later.

Music

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Kenji Yamamoto originally composed the score for Dragon Ball Kai. The opening theme, "Dragon Soul", and the first ending theme used for the first 54 episodes, "Yeah! Break! Care! Break!", are both performed by Takayoshi Tanimoto of the unit, Dragon Soul, in Japanese. Sean Schemmel, Justin Cook, Vic Mignogna, Greg Ayres, Sonny Strait and Brina Palencia performed the English version of the opening theme, while Jerry Jewell performed the English version of the ending theme.[29] The second ending theme, used from episodes 55–98, is "Kokoro no Hane" (心の羽根; "Wings of the Heart") performed by Team Dragon, a unit of the idol girl group AKB48, in Japanese and Leah Clark in English.[30] On March 9, 2011, Toei announced that due to Yamamoto's score infringing on the rights of an unknown third party or parties, the music for remaining episodes and reruns of previous episodes would be replaced.[31] Later reports from Toei stated that except for the series' opening and closing songs, as well as eyecatch music, Yamamoto's score was replaced with Shunsuke Kikuchi's score from Dragon Ball Z.

The music for The Final Chapters was composed by Norihito Sumitomo [ja].[32] The opening theme is "Kuu Zen Zetsu Go" (空•前•絶•後) by Takayoshi Tanimoto of Dragon Soul, while the first ending song is "Haikei, Tsuratsusutora" (拝啓、ツラツストラ; "Dear Zarathustra") by Japanese rock band Good Morning America,[33] and the second "Junjō" (純情; "Pure Heart") by Leo Ieiri from episode 112 to 123.[34] The third ending song is "Oh Yeah!!!!!!!" by Czecho No Republic from episode 124 to 136,[35] the fourth "Galaxy" by Kyūso Nekokami from 137 to 146, and the fifth is "Don't Let Me Down" by Gacharic Spin from 147 to 159.[36] The international broadcast features two pieces of theme music. The opening theme, titled "Fight It Out", is performed by rock singer Masatoshi Ono, while the ending theme is "Never Give Up!!!", performed by rhythm and blues vocalist Junear.

Home media

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In Japan, Dragon Ball Kai was released on wide-screen on 33 DVDs and fullscreen on a single Blu-ray and eight four-disc Blu-ray sets from September 18, 2009, to August 2, 2011.

Funimation released eight DVD and Blu-ray box sets of Dragon Ball Z Kai from May 18, 2010, to June 5, 2012.[37][38] These sets contain the original Japanese audio track with English subtitles, as well as the uncut version of the English dub, which does not contain any of the edits made for the TV airings. Before the final volume was even published, Funimation began re-releasing the series in four DVD and Blu-ray "season" sets between May 22, 2012, and March 12, 2013.[39][40] Funimation released The Final Chapters in three DVD and Blu-ray volumes from April 25 to June 20, 2017.[41][42][43]

Reception

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The first episode of Dragon Ball Kai earned a viewer ratings percentage of 11.3, ahead of One Piece and behind Crayon Shin-chan.[44] Although following episodes had lower ratings, Kai was among the top 10 anime in viewer ratings every week in Japan for most of its run.[45][46] Towards the end of the original run the ratings hovered around 9%-10%.[47][48] Dragon Ball Z Kai premiered on Nicktoons in May 2010 and set the record for the highest-rated premiere in total viewers, and in tweens and boys ages 9–14.[49] Nielsen Mega Manila viewer ratings ranked Dragon Ball Kai with a viewer ratings with a high of 18.4% for October 30 – November 4 in 2012.[50] At the end of April 2013, Dragon Ball Kai would trail just behind One Piece at 14.2%.[51] Broadcasters' Audience Research Board ranked Dragon Ball Z Kai as the second most viewed show in the week it debuted on Kix.[52] On its debut on Vortexx, Dragon Ball Z Kai was the third highest rated show on the Saturday morning block with 841,000 viewers and a 0.5 household rating.[53]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Credited for cooperation
  2. ^ Yamamoto's score was replaced due to allegations by Toei Animation that his music was infringing on the rights of third parties.
  3. ^ Episode 98 did not air on the original run due to news coverage regarding the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
  4. ^ The Japanese run aired 159 episodes, while all 167 episodes were released internationally.
  5. ^ a b With the exception of Fukushima Television

References

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  1. ^ "Dragon Ball". Toei Animation USA. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  2. ^ Dragon Ball Z Kai, April 5, 2009, archived from the original on September 28, 2023, retrieved 2018-10-19
  3. ^ a b "Japan's Remastered DBZ to Be Called Dragon Ball Kai". Anime News Network. February 19, 2009. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  4. ^ "Dragon Ball Z to Rerun on Japanese TV in HD in April". Anime News Network. February 6, 2009. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2009.
  5. ^ "｢ドラゴンボールZ｣放送開始20周年記念! HDリマスター坂で テレビアニメが堂々復活!! 孫悟空伝説再び!! その名も... DRAGON BALL KAI". V Jump (in Japanese). Japan: Shueisha: 10. February 9, 2009.
  6. ^ Interview de l'éditeur de Dragon Ball — L'influence de Dragon Ball — Partie 6 (web video). Kazé. January 17, 2015. Event occurs at 6:27. Archived from the original on March 12, 2021. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
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  21. ^ "Funimation Has Not Recorded a Dub for Dragon Ball Z Kai's Buu Saga". Anime News Network. February 17, 2014. Archived from the original on May 19, 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  22. ^ Funimation (December 6, 2016). "Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters heading to Toonami!". www.funimation.com. Funimation. Archived from the original on December 9, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  23. ^ Brian Drummond Interview: History of the Ocean Dub, ORIGINAL Vegeta, Over 9000, 90s Dubbing + MORE!. Archived from the original on March 11, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2020 – via YouTube.
  24. ^ Voice Actor Panel at Holiday Matsuri Part 1 - YouTube. Archived from the original on March 25, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2020 – via YouTube.
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  26. ^ "List of Canadian programs certified by the Commission". CRTC.gc.ca. January 17, 2019. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
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  29. ^ オープニング&エンディングテーマが決定! (in Japanese). Toei Animation. Archived from the original on April 9, 2009. Retrieved April 15, 2006.
  30. ^ "チームドラゴン fromAKB48 : チームドラゴン from AKB48、『ドラゴンボール改』ED曲を全11種類のパッケージで発売 / BARKS ニュース". Barks (in Japanese). June 1, 2007. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2007.
  31. ^ Loo, Egan (March 10, 2011). "Toei Replaces Possibly Infringing Dragon Ball Kai Music". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on March 13, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2011.
  32. ^ "Shino Kakinuma Replaces Yuko Minaguchi as Videl in Dragon Ball Z Kai". Anime News Network. March 10, 2014. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  33. ^ Loo, Egan (March 3, 2014). "Rock Band Good Morning America Performs New Dragon Ball Kai Ending". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on June 12, 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  34. ^ "Leo Ieiri Performs 2nd Dragon Ball Z Kai Anime's Ending Theme". Anime News Network. June 18, 2014. Archived from the original on May 22, 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  35. ^ ""Dragon Ball Kai" New ED Song PV by Czecho No Republic". Crunchyroll. November 1, 2014. Archived from the original on June 21, 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
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  37. ^ Dragon Ball Z Kai: Part One Blu-ray, ASIN B0036ZA8G2
  38. ^ Dragon Ball Z Kai: Part Eight [Blu-ray], ASIN B007NU53C0
  39. ^ Dragon Ball Z Kai: Season 1 [Blu-ray], ASIN B0079KGANU
  40. ^ Dragon Ball Z Kai: Season 4 [Blu-ray], ASIN B00AUJH3GU
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  42. ^ "The Final Chapter – Part Two – Blu-ray|home-video". Archived from the original on April 20, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  43. ^ "The Final Chapter – Part Three – Blu-ray|home-video". Archived from the original on April 20, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  44. ^ "Japanese Anime TV Ranking, March 30-April 5". Anime News Network. April 13, 2009. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2009.
  45. ^ "Japanese Anime TV Ranking, April 6–12". Anime News Network. April 16, 2009. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2009.
  46. ^ "Japanese Anime TV Ranking, April 13–19". Anime News Network. April 22, 2009. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2009.
  47. ^ "海外で話題の日本アニメをソーシャルメディアから探る！ ～「ワンピース」が各国のつぶやきで上位に～". Videor.co.jp. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
  48. ^ "バックナンバー2011年度 VOL.6 2011年 1月31日(月) ～ 2月6日(日)". Videor. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
  49. ^ "Nickelodeon Ranks As Basic Cable's Top Network with Kids, Total Viewers; Scores Most-Watched May Ever with Total Viewers" (Press release). New York City: Viacom. June 2010. Archived from the original on June 6, 2010. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
  50. ^ Tuazon, Nikko (April 30, 2013). "AGB Nielsen Mega Manila Household Ratings (Oct. 30-Nov. 4): Be Careful with My Heart Rules Daytime; 24 Oras and Ina Kapatid Anak Share Primetime Lead". Pep. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
  51. ^ Tuazon, Nikko (April 30, 2013). "AGB Nielsen Mega Manila Household Ratings (April 26 to 28): Aljur Abrenica's Magpakailanman episode tops Saturday ratings". PEP. Archived from the original on October 31, 2014. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
  52. ^ "Viewing data Top 10s". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Archived from the original on July 18, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  53. ^ Kondolojy, Kondolojy (August 30, 2012). "Saturday Morning Vortexx Ratings Notes for the CW: 'WWE Saturday Morning Slam', 'Dragon Ball Z Kai', 'Justice League Unlimited' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on September 1, 2012. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
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