Transitioning to the Japanese version (Z or Kai?)

[MasenkoHA]

So I decided to take a step into watch Dragon Ball in Japanese since the entire original series is subbed on Hulu anyways. The transition for me isn't so bad since while Stephanie Nadolny's Kid Goku is leagues better than her Gohan it's still pretty annoying and Tiffany Vollmer is my least favorite Bulma by far compared to Lalainia Lindbjerg and Monica Rial. So not hard to get used to the Japanese voices when I didn't like the English voices to begin with. (I do prefer the English adaptations of the Japanese opening and ending to be completely honest though)


But after I finish OG Dragon Ball should I watch Z in Japanese (apparently better vocal performances and music that isn't stolen or poorly placed)but sluggish pacing) or Kai (faster pacing but a mess music wise after a certain point and I guess the actors were less inspired than when they voiced Z?)

[MyVisionity]

I say definitely go with "Z" since that's how it was originally intended via the anime, filler and all.

Also at some point, if you haven't already, you may want to go back and watch the DB opening and endings that FUNi did not release on YouTube or something.

[Dragon Sponge]

I would also recomend you to continue to watch the original Version of the Anime (Episode 154-444) since its fits better together as one Series that way. If the pacing issues might be a dealbreaker to you, you can still watch atleast the Saiyan Arc in its Original form since the pacing there is still okay and really becomes first sluggish during the Freezer Arc where you can still switch over to Kai if the pacing there becomes unbearable to you.

[Doctor.]

I'd go with Z. Though I think Kai is the better product overall, if you're just trying to experience the japanese version for the first time, then Z is the better choice. Original score and, as a whole, much better performances.

[doomydoomydoom]

I too would go with Z if you're a first timer, just because of the great old school animation, the original music (which I guess will kinda get old after a while but oh well), the original bloody fight scenes, the original performances, etc. You can just skip a lot of the filler (including Garlic Jr.) and go back and watch it some other time if you want.

Although since you're on Hulu you're probably going to be getting the Orange Brick transfers so maybe you should just go with Kai after all...LOL.

[DragonBallKing]

Go with Z unless your planning to watch orange brick quality In which case I'd choose Kai, It's that bad. Some may be able to tolerate it but after seeing Dbox quality I just can't tolerate OB quality anymore the colors make me wanna puke.

[MasenkoHA]

I would be watching DBZ from FunimationNOW which I believe uses the Orange Brick version?


I have no qualms with skipping the filler like Fake Namek and the Garlic JR saga it's more the sluggish pacing of the plot episodes. The Goku vs Freeza fight was like the length of an entire network television season.

[OmegaRockman]

While Z's presentation is certainly better, Kai is by no means a bad choice if you're concerned with the pacing. While Kikuchi Kai is a bit repetitive and badly placed at times, I don't think it's nearly as bad as most people say. I actually prefer it to Yamamoto, though I do still like that score, too (minus the plagiarism). The voice acting is only a minor downgrade - while the cast was certainly better in their prime, I don't think they turned in bad performances in Kai by any means. I admit that I miss the actors who were recast, though, especially those who are no longer with us. I do think it's worth watching the original Z in Japanese in full at least once if you're a hardcore fan, but if you're not ready to deal with the sluggish pacing then Kai should do you fine.

[Zephyr]

Go with Z. In addition to the aforementioned musical score and voice acting downgrades that you get with Kai:

While there is a lot more to consume if you go with Z, with Kai, you're still getting 159 episodes. You're committing a tremendous amount of time either way.

While the picture quality in the Orange Bricks can be absolutely terrible, Kai's "remastering" likewise removes the film grain, but in a way that makes a lot of it look (to me, at least) like some shit drawn in MS Paint. So I think picture quality is a moot point, since you're getting the short end either way.

I totally empathize with the pacing concerns, but I personally don't find it to be so consistently bad as to justify the mountain of consistent downgrades that come with that one fix.

[KBABZ]

I'd go with Z as well since there isn't a fifteen year gap for the voice actors, who will still be in their prime with Z.

[kemuri07]

So I decided to take a step into watch Dragon Ball in Japanese since the entire original series is subbed on Hulu anyways. The transition for me isn't so bad since while Stephanie Nadolny's Kid Goku is leagues better than her Gohan it's still pretty annoying and Tiffany Vollmer is my least favorite Bulma by far compared to Lalainia Lindbjerg and Monica Rial. So not hard to get used to the Japanese voices when I didn't like the English voices to begin with. (I do prefer the English adaptations of the Japanese opening and ending to be completely honest though)


But after I finish OG Dragon Ball should I watch Z in Japanese (apparently better vocal performances and music that isn't stolen or poorly placed)but sluggish pacing) or Kai (faster pacing but a mess music wise after a certain point and I guess the actors were less inspired than when they voiced Z?)

I'm actually almost done with DB (using a combination of both the manga and the anime), and I'm also thinking about whether or not I just want to go with Z (I think I'll go anime only) or go with Kai. Even though the dub tends to be my preference, there's something overtly nostalgic about watching the series in Japanese (and I'm enjoying the subbed version of DB so I should just continue from there), and it pairs so well with the music.

I like Kai, probably more than most. Particularly because it has best dubbing that Funimation has ever done for the series. But man the HD'd up scenes, especially when I have the Dragon Boxes to go over with, really do kill it for me.

[sintzu]

I'd go with Kai as it's the best looking version currently available outside the dragon boxes. The content is also easier to sit through as it doesn't take anywhere near as long for the plot to develop.

I would also recomend you to continue to watch the original Version of the Anime (Episode 154-444) since its fits better together as one Series that way.

I don't know how it fits better with the original DB when one moves at a normal pace while the other moves slower than a turtle.

I say definitely go with "Z" since that's how it was originally intended via the anime, filler and all.

The only reason it was like that was to keep it from getting close to the manga. It's anything but "intended". The reason Kai even exists apart from Toriyama not wanting to do a new anime back then was to get rid of all that useless content.

[Vegard Aune]

While Z has better music placement and voice acting, Kai is less sluggish and has far better audio quality. So it's kind of a matter of which you'd prefer... Though I'd probably say Z for the Boo-arc at least, what with the Kai version of that featuring Sumitomo at his worst combined with there being so much filler retained that the stuff they cut barely even registers.

[SuperCyan2]

Dragon Ball Z and then Dragon Ball Kai. The original cast did an amazing job on their original runs of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT but legally speaking you can't get clear audio from any of the official releases so if you'd want to hear it with non-muffled quality you'd have to go the 'Space Warriors' way. Even with all that said, I highly recommend watching Kai too but with the original music cause the replacement completely revoked the essence, spirit and feel of how it was intended to watch Kai.

[Dragon Sponge]

I'd go with Kai as it's the best looking version currently available outside the dragon boxes. The content is also easier to sit through as it doesn't take anywhere near as long for the plot to develop.

I would also recomend you to continue to watch the original Version of the Anime (Episode 154-444) since its fits better together as one Series that way.

I don't know how it fits better with the original DB when one moves at a normal pace while the other moves slower than a turtle.

I say definitely go with "Z" since that's how it was originally intended via the anime, filler and all.

The only reason it was like that was to keep it from getting close to the manga. It's anything but "intended". The reason Kai even exists apart from Toriyama not wanting to do a new anime back then was to get rid of all that useless content.

The thing is that change in pace still happens gradually and the Saiyan Arcs pacing is still pretty much on the same level than previous Arcs and its not until the Freezer Arc that the pacing becomes really sluggish, so Kai for the sake of pacing isen't really needed before the Freezer Arc. Its also not like pre Z DB had consistend pacing all throughout. The first 28 episodes had the fastest pacing from the original run, no filler Episodes just added filler inbetween canon content and slight alterations at points. After that the Anime introduces filler only Stories and the pacing gets slower. The original Anime Saiyan Arc still might have not perfect pacing but neither do the Red Ribbon & Piccolo Arcs. The pacing would have gotten worse regardless if Toei split the Series or not, just look at One Piece it was never split into two Series but the pacing still got worse over time. Also Z episode 1 (DB episode 154) fits way better as the next episode than Kai episode 1. Z ep 1 just starts with the narrator adressing what happened curently before the timeskip. Kai ep 1 on the otherhand starts with a guy in space who lookes like Son Goku and throws a energyball to some Alien guy in at his spaceship, who then makes an even bigger energyball and throws him back at him, killing him, the alien soldiers around him and some red planet behind them, laughting maniacally at it. Then we see how Goku as a Baby gets found by Grampa Gohan. After that we get a big montage recapping all the stuff we just saw not long ago. Also the Dragon Soul opening is way too modern to follow up Makafushigi Adventure and it would not in anyway feel like just the next episode of the Series with it. While at Chala Head Chala, if you would remoove the Z from the title, people would just see it as the next episode with a new Opening. And honestly i'm sure if Toriyama ended Dragon Ball at the Saiyan Arc there would be a lot less people who would compain about DBs pacing. The mentality that Z is sluggish comes pretty much from the Freezer, Cell & Buu Arcs.

[MasenkoHA]

^ Even the Saiyan arc had a lot of extra gunk in the original Z. It was 35 episodes long in Z. Kai cut it down to 16 episodes. But like I said I have no problem skipping filler and apparently without the total filler episodes the Saiyan arc in Z is only like 24 episodes?


Good point about Z's first episode working better as a follow up to Kai though since Kai's prologue is built on the assumption a lot of its viewers never saw the original Dragon Ball and straight up tells you Goku was sent from space instead of the reveal in the 2nd episode of Z.

Would it work to watch Z (filler-free most likely) up until the Goku/Freeza fight then switch to Kai for the Goku/Freeza fight since its not 20 episodes like and back to Z for Android/Cell saga and beyond?

[sintzu]

Would it work to watch Z (filler-free most likely) up until the Goku/Freeza fight then switch to Kai for the Goku/Freeza fight since its not 20 episodes like and back to Z for Android/Cell saga and beyond?

Yes, you can do that. Watch Z up until the end of episode 86 then start Kai from episode 43 up until the end of episode 54. After that go back to Z starting from episode 118.

[Dragon Sponge]

^ Even the Saiyan arc had a lot of extra gunk in the original Z. It was 35 episodes long in Z. Kai cut it down to 16 episodes. But like I said I have no problem skipping filler and apparently without the total filler episodes the Saiyan arc in Z is only like 24 episodes?


Good point about Z's first episode working better as a follow up to Kai though since Kai's prologue is built on the assumption a lot of its viewers never saw the original Dragon Ball and straight up tells you Goku was sent from space instead of the reveal in the 2nd episode of Z.

Would it work to watch Z (filler-free most likely) up until the Goku/Freeza fight then switch to Kai for the Goku/Freeza fight since its not 20 episodes like and back to Z for Android/Cell saga and beyond?

And like i said before, the Red Ribbon & Piccolo Arcs also had their fair share of gunk & hit or miss filler and if its considered fine to watch them in their original form, so is it fine to watch the original Saiyan Arc (+its original Kikuchi placement) since there are no " Episode 10+" fights at this point. Switching to Kai right before the Freezer fight might fit better (outside of the Dragon Soul opening, the lack of pre Z & Tree of Might movie BGM & tunes that shouldent be there yet) since there is no Big Series recap here. But the Freezer fight wasen't the only one who was dragged out too much so you might need to switch back & forth to keep better pacing, which dosen't sound that great. Anyway what i meant is, if you just want to watch Kai because of the BIG pacing issues, then it would make sense to make the switch where the BIG pacing issues actually start (Freeza Arc) & keep it that way for the remainder.

[SuperCyan2]

^ Even the Saiyan arc had a lot of extra gunk in the original Z. It was 35 episodes long in Z. Kai cut it down to 16 episodes. But like I said I have no problem skipping filler and apparently without the total filler episodes the Saiyan arc in Z is only like 24 episodes?


Good point about Z's first episode working better as a follow up to Kai though since Kai's prologue is built on the assumption a lot of its viewers never saw the original Dragon Ball and straight up tells you Goku was sent from space instead of the reveal in the 2nd episode of Z.

Would it work to watch Z (filler-free most likely) up until the Goku/Freeza fight then switch to Kai for the Goku/Freeza fight since its not 20 episodes like and back to Z for Android/Cell saga and beyond?

If you're honestly going to be cherry picking the episodes to be "manga-consistent" then you may as well just go with the manga or Kai. You'd be doing a disservice to watching the original Z Japanese cast and then switch to Kai Japanese, not only does the music change dramatically but the audio/voice quality differs quite a bit too.

[MasenkoHA]

^ Even the Saiyan arc had a lot of extra gunk in the original Z. It was 35 episodes long in Z. Kai cut it down to 16 episodes. But like I said I have no problem skipping filler and apparently without the total filler episodes the Saiyan arc in Z is only like 24 episodes?


Good point about Z's first episode working better as a follow up to Kai though since Kai's prologue is built on the assumption a lot of its viewers never saw the original Dragon Ball and straight up tells you Goku was sent from space instead of the reveal in the 2nd episode of Z.

Would it work to watch Z (filler-free most likely) up until the Goku/Freeza fight then switch to Kai for the Goku/Freeza fight since its not 20 episodes like and back to Z for Android/Cell saga and beyond?

If you're honestly going to be cherry picking the episodes to be "manga-consistent" then you may as well just go with the manga or Kai. You'd be doing a disservice to watching the original Z Japanese cast and then switch to Kai Japanese, not only does the music change dramatically but the audio/voice quality differs quite a bit too.

It's less about being manga-consistent and more about how much of Z's filler is just pretty awful. Like I don't think I'm missing out skipping fake namek or the afterlife tournament arc that utterly ruined its two previous major villains in a quick scene. I probably shouldn't say watch filler free because there was some filler I liked such as the Gohan -robot episode in the Saiyan saga. And I will probably watch at least that since if I could enjoy it with Stephanie's smoker's rasp I'm sure I'll like it even more with Miss Masako Nozawa

You make a good point about how switching between would probably not be a good idea due to the audio/voice quality though. I mean shoot I still have to watch all of Dragon Ball before I come to the decision. RIght now I'm leaning to Z I think though. Still iffy on if I'm going to want to watch the 20 so episode of Goku fighting Freeza