The International Version of the Buu-Kai Arc

[DBZ_Lee]

Saw another episode today, the one with the Battle Royale at the Tenkaichi Budokai.

So far, I can confirm that the following episodes (107 to 110) are exact equivalents to the Japanese broadcast (including editing and soundtrack - except for the recaps and previews of course):
- Secrets of the Terrible Majin. The Man Behind the Curtain Appears!!
- The Heinous Mage Babidi and King of the Underworld Dabra’s Trap
- Don’t Underestimate a Super Saiyan! Vegeta and Goku’s Full Throttle Power!
- Who is the World’s Greatest?! A Battle Royal Match to Decide!!

The next episode, named What Incredible Kids!! The Great Struggles of No. 18, will also be exactly the same according to the preview.

Therefore, when you watched episodes 107 to 111 (if not more, as we'll see soon enough), you were already watching the international version.

It seems that the Toei staff chooses entire phases that they shorten and edit into new episodes (such as the Great Saiyaman and tournament), while other entire phases are kept as in the international version (potentially all of the Babidi/Boo episodes so far).
It is unknown what could be the next phase with a great decrease in episode numbers, cut heavily similarly to the Great Saiyaman and Tournament phase.

Thanks for the info, Cold Skin

What you've said here is now confirmation of what we've all suspected to be the case for a while in regards to the episodes in question (including the recent ones) anything from 107 to current 122 should be from the original version.

[kei17]

^ However, the episode will surely be different once it's the one showing Vegeta's sacrifice, which includes Battle of Gods music, which is not possible in the international version.

Actually, when I participated in the taping of Hoko x Tate in early 2013, one of the staff members told me that they were producing episodes on which Buu is about to appear, so obviously it's just that they began recycling the BoG score after that.

^Somebody else mentioned one of the earlier episodes was the same in content, but had its music placement altered drastically for whatever reason. At any rate, that new ED should be coming along soon.

All the international version episodes I've seen so far have exactly the same music placement as that in the corresponding unedited episodes in the Japanese version.

[Puto]

The one I saw with different placement was ‘Gohan the Teacher! Videl's Introduction to Bukūjutsu’. The music placement on the parts that DBZ_Lee managed to record from the online TV thingy didn't match the Japanese airing, but the video seemed to be on-sync.

[Cold Skin]

Currently on the international version, Vegeta has been possessed.
Nothing special to notice for now, the Japanese broadcast has the exact same content and there's a good chance it will stay that way until the episodes currently broadcast in Japan, which are likely perfect equivalents to the international version.

They will undoubtedly have to enter a new era where they have to heavily trim down content just like they did for the Great Saiyaman and tournament eras, but the current Japanese pace hints that it's still following the international version.
To cut 69 episodes to 50-ish episodes, there needs to be other phases that will be extremely edited, but they don't seem to be in a hurry right now. I wonder what phase of the plot they're going to trim down, knowing that they like to show what's going on for characters elsewhere, so don't expect anything showing secondary characters to be cut: you'll likely still see Boo going to the Other World to visit Krilin or Dabra hanging around with Chichi and Bulma in Heaven.

So, I don't have a clue what they're waiting for to enter a new heavy-cut phase, when cutting most of Boo's destructive adventures to exactly what it is like in the manga would allow the episode count to severely decrease while ejecting redundant stuff (Boo has fun destroying cities and making people panic and eating, we get it).

[Valerius Dover]

^Vegeta's possessed and there's no new ED? That's odd. Maybe we were wrong. But then I wonder what this other song really is.

[SSJ Electric Fury]

Currently on the international version, Vegeta has been possessed.

Did you happen to catch the episode number for that?

[DBZ_Lee]

Currently on the international version, Vegeta has been possessed.

Did you happen to catch the episode number for that?

Should be #22.


Judging from what we currently know, the International Version has 37 episodes remaining - assuming this Week's Japanese airing matches the original.

So, episode #123 is the same as "The Final Chapters" #32. So this leaves 37 episodes remaining to adapt the final 50 of "Z".

With 13 episodes worth of content left to be cut in total, this equates to a reduction of 4hrs 20m. Lets hope they cut the horrible filler inside Buu and the other world scenes. It would appear they only cut if it actually contradicts the plot.

[Valerius Dover]

Wouldn't it be 47 Episodes left after 22? I really would've thought we'd have gotten a new ED by Episode 20 at least.

[DBZ_Lee]

Wouldn't it be 47 Episodes left after 22? I really would've thought we'd have gotten a new ED by Episode 20 at least.

I was referring to 37 remaining after Japanese broadcast #123, sorry if I confused you.

[Cold Skin]

If France keeps airing the Boo saga without stopping at some point, it will soon catch up with the Japanese broadcast.
It would be funny to actually have a reversed situation, discovering the content of upcoming episodes through the international version first and then seeing what they're like when being aired in Japan.

But in that case, I don't know if I should spoil the content of episodes going beyond the Japanese broadcast.
Some fans here could be interested in reading about the international content before hand and being able to see it later in the Japanese broadcast, sometimes with the surprise that it's been edited.
But other fans here could be offended that the likely content of the Japanese episodes is spoiled before they can see it all by themselves, potentially ruining the interest of watching Kai's Japanese broadcast every week out of curiosity.

Maybe if France goes beyond Japan's current position in the plot, I should put any information regarding further episodes between spoiler tags, just in case.
But we'll see, it's possible that somehow, Toei will say "nope, France. You do not go beyond the events we're currently showing in Japan. Stop airing new episodes and air re-runs for now".

[TheRed259]

http://www.toei-animation.com/en/node/1446

[Cold Skin]

^ That's a bit unexpected yet not too surprising. Alright, here is what we can conclude from this official Toei news from the official Toei website.

France was catching up on Japan extremely fast and would soon go beyond Japan, being the first ones to show the next episodes. Toei would not let this happen, Japan has to air the new episodes before any other country.
So they told France that from October 13th, the deal was going to be changed to simulcast from October 13th onwards.

This monday, France will air episodes 30-31-32-33 in one go to catch up (those are obviously the numbers of the international version, since Japan will only have aired their episode "26" by that time).
Since Japanese and international episodes are now the same, and with those four episodes in a row Monday, France will be up to date when October 13th arrives.
From that point, it is pretty clear: from October 13th onwards, Japan airs the Japanese version of the episode on Sunday morning, while France airs the French version of the very same episode on Monday evening (24 hours later, but in the evening since it's a school day during which nobody can watch an anime in the morning).

Basically, if you were wondering what would happen if another country caught up with Japan, this is the answer: Toei will not allow a country to go beyond them, but will allow them to follow them almost simultaneously the next day (which they still call a "simulcast" in their official news despite the slight delay).

France therefore becomes the first country to simulcast an anime of the Dragon Ball franchise if I'm not mistaken.
Glad to see that France and Japan still go hand in hand when it comes to Dragon Ball after all those years, whether it's for anime or mangas. Though Battle of Gods would have a word to say about that "going hand in hand" part, it's still nowhere to be seen in France unlike many other countries! Can't have everything!

[Valerius Dover]

^That's odd.

How can they simulcast this is the episode counts don't correspond?

[Cold Skin]

^ Probably means that from now on, Japanese episodes will be exact international episodes.

[Valerius Dover]

How far along is it now? Aren't there around 20 episodes worth of difference?

[G1GACANN0N]

Sorry, haven't been here in a while so you'll have to catch me up please.

There's a french dub of Buu Kai before English? Has the show been dubbed into any other languages, is it airing in other countries outside of Japan & France?

IIRC, some of the Funimation VA's confirmed they were working on Buu Kai last year, yet Funimation said an english dub doesn't exist. What's your opinions on this?

Makes sense that Funimation would wait to release Buu Kai after the Blu-ray season sets are concluded I suppose. Did the show have to air on TV in it's entirety in the US before the original Kai Blu-ray's were released? Or will we most likely be able to buy Buu saga on Blu-ray before many (or any) of the episodes have aired on TV?

With DBZ Kai starting from the beginning uncut on Toonami Nov 8, maybe they will start with the Buu saga in direct succession to episode 98, once they get there...

I also heard it was again confirmed by various VA's that an alternate english dub is indeed in the works...confirming what has been speculated for the last number of years.

[Cold Skin]

^ To answer one of your questions, it's also aired in Korea right now.

How far along is it now? Aren't there around 20 episodes worth of difference?

Judging by Dbz_Lee's count, they are seven episodes apart. Japanese episode 10 is international episode 17.
Therefore, with the perfect equivalence maintained ever since Kaio Shin's briefing: French episode 33 aired on Monday will be Japanese episode 26, and guess what - episode 26 airs this Sunday, while French episode 33 airs this Monday.
It all fits!

[Valerius Dover]

Well, that fits pretty well. But what episode is the French version currently on at this moment? I don't know exactly what the pace is here. If it's past the mid 20s, then I guess there aren't any other EDs after all. But then what is this Let it Burn song?

[sangofe]

Well, that fits pretty well. But what episode is the French version currently on at this moment? I don't know exactly what the pace is here. If it's past the mid 20s, then I guess there aren't any other EDs after all. But then what is this Let it Burn song?

This monday, France will air episodes 30-31-32-33 in one go to catch up (those are obviously the numbers of the international version, since Japan will only have aired their episode "26" by that time).
Since Japanese and international episodes are now the same, and with those four episodes in a row Monday, France will be up to date when October 13th arrives.
From that point, it is pretty clear: from October 13th onwards, Japan airs the Japanese version of the episode on Sunday morning, while France airs the French version of the very same episode on Monday evening (24 hours later, but in the evening since it's a school day during which nobody can watch an anime in the morning).

[Cold Skin]

If it's past the mid 20s, then I guess there aren't any other EDs after all. But then what is this Let it Burn song?

Don't forget that the Japanese version has to change the ending every three months, but that's not the case with the international version that can change the ending at any time and keep one ending for as long as they want.
Because the first ending shows Boo, Dabra and Babidi, they are not forced to change until Dabra is gone and possibly until Vegeta has died, or even until Boo has changed his shape...

For all we know, there could be only two endings, since Let It Burn was the only other song officially registered for the international version. Never Give Up!!! around the first half of episode (until 30-something) and then Let It Burn until the end.