Did Toei make the right move?!

[FortuneSSJ]

Ignoring the Pre-z stuff, I mean.

I think not. The new generation will watch Kai without know what happened before. Its like starting to read a book by the middle.
Even though Dragon Ball has a story easy to follow, they still miss the growth of the first cast.

I rewatched DB last year and really feels outdated, most of it. Should get the same treatment than DBZ, which is not great, but its better than nothing.

DBZ appeals to a wider audience yeah, but the beginning shouldn't be ignored. At least, they should make it for home release.

Another wrong move, was calling it Dragon Ball Kai and not Dragon Ball Z Kai.
Funimation did the right choice here (can't believe I would ever say this).

Do you know some people of this generation?! If so, do they bother to find what happened in DB?!
And do you think Toei will ever remaster DB?!

[sintzu]

They made the right move in terms of starting with Z cause that's what needed it the most but I think it'll be a mistake to not go back and give the original a Kai version especially with how popular the franchise is now which would help it's sales and ratings.

[Lord Beerus]

I think the original Dragon Ball anime should remain untouched. It was perfectly handed in my opinion, as far as animation and pacing goes. And all of the filler was tolerable and did nothing to really disrupt the story or narrative in an irritating and unnecessary way that DBZ's filler did at times. And Toei have proved with Dragon Ball Kai's Majin Boo arc, that when left to their own resources, they can produce shitty remasters of old anime. So, no thanks.

But I am still waiting for the original DB anime to get the Blu-Ray treatment it so desperately deserves.

[sayian_nation_]

If they're going to reintroduce Dragonball, I feel like they would have to cut some episodes out.

[dbboxkaifan]

They shouldn't have even made Kai to begin with, but ultimately, yes.

Dragon Ball is a classic and doesn't need to be reworked.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

You definitely miss a lot by skipping the first part of the series, but you aren't lost if you start with Dragon Ball Kai, so it's OK I guess. What happened before isn't extremely relevant to the current plot, and you learn everything you need to know from the past in Kai again. Those who start with Kai can watch the original DB series if they are interested, and see how the main cast from Z/Kai met each other.

Funimation did the right choice here (can't believe I would ever say this).

It wasn't FUNi's choice, actually. It was Toei that decided to change Dragon Ball Kai into Dragon Ball Z Kai for the other countries.

[Valerius Dover]

This is my only major gripe with Kai right now. They call it manga accurate, and the first thing they do is skip 38% of the manga, only because of a division that does not exist in the manga. And then they called it Dragon Ball Kai. Toei definitely made the right choice to change it to Dragon Ball Z Kai internationally.

This just creates even more of a divide then there needs to be, so more and more newer fans won't have any idea that there was anything of significance before Raditz. There are fans who think the Pilaf Gang are new characters introduced for Battle of Gods, for instance. Anyway, since they're doing this new series now, I think we can safely say Toei is done with Kai and has no interest in the original series.

[Theophrastus]

For what it's worth, if Toei ever does end up doing a Kai version of the first DB anime, they could easily call it "Dragon Ball Kai: Shonen-hen" or some such for Japan (and something like The First Chapters internationally to not make things horribly confusing).

[dbboxkaifan]

For what it's worth, if Toei ever does end up doing a Kai version of the first DB anime, they could easily call it "Dragon Ball Kai: Shonen-hen" or some such for Japan (and something like The First Chapters internationally to not make things horribly confusing).

Toei clearly had no intention to bring back Kai to Japan but due to foreign fans wanting it they did but as things are now, Kai really isn't something they'd want to create ever again. It's sloppy, lazy, mediocre and forgettable.

I'm not sure how Kai even has fans who want to have a Kai-version of DB.

By the way, my nickname is the only like that because I was really enjoying Kai before the whole plagiarism happened because afterwards it turned to shit.

[coola]

With how poorly Kai sales in Japan, i don't think it replaced DBZ at all.

[TheBlackPaladin]

What if people watch Kai or Z before Dragon Ball?

It wouldn't be anything new. That's how most of us were introduced to the show. There's nothing chronologically appropriate about how most English-speaking fans were introduced to the series. First we had 13 episodes of Dragon Ball, then it was cancelled, then we had 53 trimmed-down, edited episodes of DBZ, then we had a few more trimmed-down episodes with a new dub cast before the episodes eventually started matching the Japanese episodes, then midway through that Dragon Ball started again with a new cast, then we had GT where 13 episodes were reduced to 1 because FUNimation thought the first 13 were boring (even though they released those 13 episodes and began airing them after the first run), and then the new dub cast went back and redubbed the first 53 episodes of DBZ, expanding it to its original count of 66 episodes.

And hey, we turned out just fine. So I don't think it'll be that big a deal. Sure, a chronological airing of the show would have been preferable, but all things considered, things turned out OK.

[Valerius Dover]

Well, I'd be ok with it if they actually DID cover Dragon Ball in Kai, but they're clearly not doing so.

[sintzu]

I'm not sure how Kai even has fans.

Not having to sit though Z's filler and getting a great dub is more then enough for me to look past it's problems and enjoy it.

[dbboxkaifan]

You're saying that as if all of Z's filler is bad which isn't true.

[bleed0range]

You're saying that as if all of Z's filler is bad which isn't true.

I actually like a lot of the filler in DBZ. Kai is so much lower in over-all quality to the original show, that I would just rather watch DBZ even with the bad filler (fake planet namek, etc.).

I finally watched my first episode of the Buu arc Kai and it was awful. I mean, the heart of the thing is still so awesome (the story/characters/etc.) that it's still entertaining... but when you know there's a better version out there, why would you wanna watch Kai?

[Lord Beerus]

You're saying that as if all of Z's filler is bad which isn't true.

I actually like a lot of the filler in DBZ. Kai is so much lower in over-all quality to the original show, that I would just rather watch DBZ even with the bad filler (fake planet namek, etc.).

I finally watched my first episode of the Buu arc Kai and it was awful. I mean, the heart of the thing is still so awesome (the story/characters/etc.) that it's still entertaining... but when you know there's a better version out there, why would you wanna watch Kai?

You see, the JPN version of Z I wouldn't mind watching over Kai. But in regards to the dubbed version, honestly, I'd take Kai over it any day.

[Doctor.]

I mean, Dragon Ball is important and all, but Dragon Ball Z rarely makes reference to the first part of the story and you don't need to know much about it to watch and understand DBZ. I don't think they should have ignored it as it's just as important as part 2, but still.

[andrewtuell1991]

I think the original Dragon Ball anime should remain untouched. It was perfectly handed in my opinion, as far as animation and pacing goes.

Everything past Episode 28 says hi, and even the first 28 episodes themselves could use some pruning. The Red Ribbon Army, 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai, and the Piccolo Daimao arcs have every bit the atrocious pacing of a Z arc.

And all of the filler was tolerable and did nothing to really disrupt the story or narrative in an irritating and unnecessary way that DBZ's filler did at times.

I like how they kept interrupting the Piccolo Daimao fight for random scenes of rioting and the misadventures of two one-offs from the RRA arc. [/sarcasm] And no, that's not the only example, it's just the first one off the top of my head.

You're saying that as if all of Z's filler is bad which isn't true.

It is. Filler is nothing more than a bunch of random fan-fiction from hack Toei writers that was sloppily inserted into the story with no regards to pacing, coherency, or possible future plot holes. There's not a single ounce of filler from DB or DBZ that adds anything of genuine worth to the series.

Dragon Ball is a classic and doesn't need to be reworked.

The manga is a classic, the anime is an inconsistently animated half-ass effort of adapting that manga. Kikuchi's score and the Japanese voice actors are awesome but the animation and pacing practically kill the whole thing. It's embarrassing that Toei has cranked out not one but two terrible animated adaptations of one of the greatest action-adventure manga of all time.

For the topic at hand, I'm conflicted. On the one hand, I think they should've started from the real beginning to start with instead of following some stupid, pointless division that doesn't even exist in the original manga in the first place. On the other hand, it'd be another half-assed Frankensteining of an already half-assed series.

Plus, tons of voices from the Japanese side of things would be re-casted, the most noticeable being Muten Roshi, the Narrator, Kami, and Piccolo Daimao. Also, Mr. Popo, Gyu-Mao, Umigame, Shen Long, Commander Red, Tao Pai Pai, Tenshinhan, Chi-chi, Dr. Briefs, Ninja Murasaki, Senbei Norimaki, the Tenkaichi Budōkai Announcer, and Uranai Baba would be different from the original DB. It just wouldn't be the same. For some reason, Toei's good at casting someone for a Dragon Ball role the first time, but completely suck at re-casting. I can't understand why.

[Storm]

There's not a single ounce of filler from DB or DBZ that adds anything of genuine worth to the series.

That's... quite the bold statement.

[Lord Beerus]

There's not a single ounce of filler from DB or DBZ that adds anything of genuine worth to the series.

I disagree with that profoundly. I think filler like Gohan's extended training in the Saiyan arc, the Other World Tournament and practically 90% of the filler in the Dragon Ball anime helped expand the universe and fill holes in the narrative where the manga didn't.