Buu Saga Kai

[Valerius Dover]

I guess to celebrate the Buu arc and for people who missed out on them the first time. They are releasing two box sets: one for the Saiyan and Freeza arcs and the other for the Artificial Human and Cell arcs. They are supposed to be a more affordable release with the first Blu-ray set being roughly around $370 and the second being $100 less at around $270.

I guess their intention is to phase out the sets that have the Yamamoto score. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Episodes 1-72 have been released on DVD (likewise 1-76 on Blu-Ray) with the Kikuchi score yet. They haven't been re-issued, unlike Funimations Season Sets.

[Hujio]

Well, they are re-releasing episodes 1-98 on DVD and Blu-ray so if they were going to do it, that would be the opportunity. In all reality, I'm sure they will just have the Kikuchi replacement score.

They do indeed contain the Kikuchi replacement score. We've known since the sets were first announced.

[kei17]

Considering that the Kai DVDs and Blu-rays sold terribly, I'm pretty sure that they just repacked their already produced stock.

[Kid Buu]

Considering that the Kai DVDs and Blu-rays sold terribly, I'm pretty sure that they just repacked their already produced stock.

Can I have a source for this? I believe you, but I'm curious.

Now I know someone will link to the main site and pull that line on me...

[kei17]

Considering that the Kai DVDs and Blu-rays sold terribly, I'm pretty sure that they just repacked their already produced stock.

Can I have a source for this? I believe you, but I'm curious.

Now I know someone will link to the main site and pull that line on me...

The official website of Happinet does say that the contents will be exactly the same as what the original release had. They silently re-released all the Kai DVDs and Blu-rays with the Kikuchi score last year and they must have sold badly, so they must be repacking and re-re-releasing them as brand-new boxes.

特記
※ご注意:こちらの商品のディスク内容は、2009年〜2010年に発売された商品(BIXA-1020、BIXA-9321〜9324) と同一です。

[Valerius Dover]

Ok, thanks for the insight kei. So, a silent re-release, hm? Like when Funi re-released their old single with eyecatchers? Well, I'm still looking forward to seeing how this all unfolds.

[dbboxkaifan]

So it's like this I guess:

Japanese ver. = Smaller
International ver. = Bigger

Aside from the awful Great Saiyaman arc episodes the pacing and editing has improved a lot and I have no problems with it any more, but it's a shame that the International edition will be larger than the Japanese. However, if it means that the Great Saiyaman arc is actually entertaining in the International edition then that's good.

I remember reading that Nozawa said something about the series being 49 episodes than 69, so she was possibly saying the reality about the Japanese edition which changes for the International edition that's 69 episodes.

[El Diabeetus]

I hope the 69 episode thing is false, same with there being potentially 2 versions. Point of Kai was to cut most of the fluff out. If they're adding it back in that defeats the purpose. I'll still buy whtever FUNi gets though as I'll be excited to see what a current standard dub of the series would sound like.

[Metalwario64]

One thing I'm hoping for is that the 69 episode "international version" won't have the green tint, and that it's an artifact generated from Toei's re-editing of the Japanese broadcast version.

[Cold Skin]

Maybe it's also possible that each country can actually choose which version they want for their own market interest.
All that it takes is muting the voice files, so if they have both the "international" (which I think they really use as a word for "American" in this case) version with 69 episodes and the shorter Japan version ready to send in less than one year now, they might give the choice to each country and send the one that actually fits the country's market.

I know that it France, the cast and crew were more than happy that the episode count for each Kai saga was extremely low, and they were pretty vocal about it: the shorter the better. They did the two sagas in two months, which means the Japanese cut of the Boo saga would take one month, which would be all beneficial:

- Some of our voice actors are quite popular and not easy to get, so the least time they need to be there recording, the more they can afford to accept the proposition.
- Much less cost with less episodes to dub, and much less DVDs to produce when the number of sells is uncertain (in France, Kai DVDs are sold as just one pack for a whole saga or nothing, with 9 DVDs or 8 DVDs at once... so you better not go beyond that number of episodes and DVDs for a saga if you want an affordable pack).
- The cast has already stated that the minimal number of episodes was the huge advantage of this version, both for the public and for the cast and crew to work properly, to understand properly the plot.

My guts tell me France would jump on the Japanese cut instead of the 69 episodes, so I think it's a possibility that Toei will actually have them both ready without problem and give the choice to each country, and that when they say "international version" right now, they mostly mean "American version" cause they know what Funimation's been asking for, not what other countries' market preferences are.
But I have no proof, it's just an intuition.

[DBZ_Lee]

Though seeing as the "International Version" was revealed officially on the Toei Europe Website, I would assume it means everywhere outside of Japan is considered International.

I'm convinced FUNimation will release this lower count, they will have seen the reaction to the bloated 69, and will no doubt license the Japanese market one, especially if it means not having to re-record a new dub entirely (assuming they have already completed the 69).

In all honesty, I think they will end up releasing both eventually, an "Uncut" version & a "Manga faithful" version. I for one can see myself buying both, I'm very curious to see what they left in 1st time around.
If it is simply a case of the filler has been removed, but they left in all fight content, then I may just stick with the 69, but if they have left filler in, then I'll pick up the Japanese version without a doubt.
The whole point of Kai is to remove the filler, and improve on pacing, I don't want to watch long periods of staring with nothing happening, and Mr. Satan's many filler scenes - I can do that with my Orange boxes.

[Valerius Dover]

Those are good points, but now that it's been done, I'd much rather prefer to go with the full uncut version of what was recorded. I'm really iffy about edited stuff. I know Kai is technically edited from the beginning, but if I had a choice, I'd go with a longer version. More awesome dubbing. More Kuu-Zen-Zetsu-Go.

[sintzu]

I'm convinced FUNimation will release this lower count, they will have seen the reaction to the bloated 69, and will no doubt license the Japanese market one, especially if it means not having to re-record a new dub entirely (assuming they have already completed the 69).

They saw the reaction fans had against the 16:9 dbz dvd's yet they went and released the blu-ray's in the same format

[Valerius Dover]

Then again, who knows? Funimation has said that they have no plans to do it. The voice actors may have recorded lines with the project coming to a halt for whatever reason. Hopeless hoping aside, I'm pretty sure we won't be getting a dub of this. A sub only release will be better than nothing, though.

Then again, they did surprise us with an earlier than expected announcement for Movie 14, so it could go either way I suppose.

[RocktheDragon]

Consider this a result of me being away from the boards for a while, but I can't believe that there is this whole new International/Japanese version topic to now discuss. I just can't believe that this is even a thing!

I guess it goes to show that Toei really is trying to squeeze every last drop of the DB franchise. I was a nonbeliever at first, but when you seem to increase the episode count just for the increased amount of funds I severely question any such decision. I do hope that not everything about this has been disclosed (obviously not) and Toei makes a statement that makes this appear at least a bit better...

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

Well that's going to be messy. What's the point?

I'm convinced FUNimation will release this lower count, they will have seen the reaction to the bloated 69,

Funimation likely knows next to nothing about any of the important but ultimately obscure rigamarole Kanzenshuu forum members talk about.

They saw the reaction fans had against the 16:9 dbz dvd's yet they went and released the blu-ray's in the same format

As evidenced by this, and the sales they seem to be subsequently pulling.

Minute discussions over a product they have likely done nothing with and probably will not be doing anything with some time, or an audience they've seem to have deemed either too hard to please or discountable, probably aren't going to ring through to Texas. Let's not overstate our own importance, here.

[Hellspawn28]

How well the merchandise has been sell for the show so far?

[B]

I don't see why FUNimation would bend over backwards for the Japanese market version. They're not exactly proactive when it comes to making sensible decisions like that.

[El Diabeetus]

I don't see why FUNimation would bend over backwards for the Japanese market version. They're not exactly proactive when it comes to making sensible decisions like that.

They do treat Kai as a seperate (and usually better) entity from DBZ. Their Kai releases up to now have been as stellar as most of their non-Z releases (or like the Dragon Box if you want to compare it to a solid release - or the Level sets until they were cancelled) are.

[B]

Right, but there weren't two versions of Kai before now. Why would they fight Toei for the shorter version? Because Kanzenshuu wants it? The longer international version serves its purpose by having more episodes to sell overseas.