How are you watching Kai?

[Blade]

Something that hasn't been lost on me over the last few weeks as Kai has started airing in Japan again are the different watching habits in the fanbase. Some are watching it live through either being in Japan or tuning it via some means of online streaming, some are consuming the raw TV rips as soon as they surface, some wait for a fan subtitled version, whereas others are abstaining completely until a home video release is made available or Western broadcast takes place.

For me personally, I don't have either the time or inclination to incorporate a time-zone bending live stream into my weekend, so I await a raw release in which I scan through for an overall impression and to glean any noticeable changes from Z.

When it comes to watching things as of late, I'm a binger, who prefers to consume 4 or 5 episodes in one go as opposed to following something week by week - especially when it comes to Anime, where the pacing of events can make weekly viewing rather painful. So right now, I'm watching Kai in bulk once a month.

So, are you engaging with Kai? And if so - how?

[Freeza Soldier #156]

Essentially, I watch each episode twice. I've been watching it live, when it airs, and then going back and re-watching after the fansub goes up.

[VegettoEX]

Can I hand in my DBZ fan membership card now? 'Cuz I'm not watching Kai. At all.

Like, I seriously haven't seen a single second of a new Majin Buu Kai episode. That's the beauty of having four dudes on the site these days: I don't have to suffer. Someone else can.

[B]

I haven't watched any of it, mostly out of apathy in light of all the problems. I'd also prefer to watch it subbed despite knowing the story. Of course, either way, whether I'm watching a fansub or a raw, I'd have to hunt those things down and that seems like a lot of work for this project.

I'll get off my butt and catch up later, maybe.

[Blade]

That's the beauty of having four dudes on the site these days: I don't have to suffer. Someone else can.

That's certainly one way of putting it!

But yeah, total non-engagement is a totally appropriate response too. There's certainly a greater sense of disenfranchisement in the fandom towards Kai this time around than there was when it began its run, and I think that's rather poignant given the polarised and tepid response it received initially.

One wonders if the ratio of newcomers to following the franchise through Kai is favourable comparative to the number of pre-existing fans who have dropped their interest or have so far chosen to not engage with the product.

[Cold Skin]

Every week, Sunday morning, I have to see the raw (from the perspective of any place in France, Kai airs during the night from Saturday to Sunday in Japan, around 2 o'clock, so the raw is easily available to watch on Sunday morning).

I know the events and dialogues, so I don't need subtitles to discover the new episode, see how they staged it all, what filler they left, and hear the new music tracks.

I'm excited to see each new episode, each Sunday, just like always with Kai!
Meanwhile, when I see Z, it's by accident on TV, and I can usually hold for one minute before changing the channel because of the old dub, the old pace and the old music (deadly 3-hits combo here).

So Z is as bad new as the pest in heaven, and Kai is as good news as an oasis in the desert.
Since I can't stand Z, I need those weekly 20 minutes of non-stop Kai delight to start a good Sunday.

[Ajay]

I watch it live while chatting in this site's IRC channel, then about an hour and a half later I download the raw and skip through it to listen to the tracks that appealed to me again. Primarily because the audio bitrate on the stream is pretty poor so it's nice to hear them in relatively high quality.

It's usually about two days before my chosen group releases their subtitles, so I'll grab that and actually sit back and watch it on my TV properly. There's two groups who are doing this series and one is absolutely garbage. Baffles me as to why people engage them at all. They're the type of morons to leave "onii-chan" untranslated just because it's 'cool sounding'. They also decided to translate Vegeta's 'Super Saiyan Bargain Sale' line into something totally different despite him actually saying those words IN ENGLISH. So stupid.

Rant aside, I engage it weekly and on a pretty extreme level. I've usually watched the episode three times before the new one comes out. I tend to get a better perspective with each watch. First one: shock of new things, Second one: a fresher perspective, Third one: final opinion formed. The subtitled third watch tends to help me decide how I feel about music placement properly since, while I have a basic understanding of the lines, I don't know precisely what they're saying.

[GarrettCRW]

It's usually about two days before my chosen group releases their subtitles, so I'll grab that and actually sit back and watch it on my TV properly. There's two groups who are doing this series and one is absolutely garbage. Baffles me as to why people engage them at all. They're the type of morons to leave "onii-chan" untranslated just because it's 'cool sounding'. They also decided to translate Vegeta's 'Super Saiyan Bargain Sale' line into something totally different despite him actually saying those words IN ENGLISH. So stupid.

One group is wildly behind at this point (because they have too many projects going on at once from the looks of it) and was the first to announce doing the new run of Kai, so I understand why we've got the situation that we do on that front, but not the translation thing. But since the group you refer to is the one that's wildly behind, I can happily ignore them (and save my wits at the same time).

I personally just wait until the aforementioned timely sub is released, myself, and stream it to my TV using my PS3. I'll probably watch the series to completion, but I do fear that it will utterly sap any interest I have in the concept long before it finishes, though.

[Hujio]

That's the beauty of having four dudes on the site these days: I don't have to suffer. Someone else can.

Ouch. Mike, that hurts, like deep down hurts... I don't know that I can go on.

I guess I look at it as an excuse to finally finish up all the equivalent Z episode and manga chapters pages. And the completist in me says I need to cover it (it's a curse). More than anything, I just enjoy the work, and it is nice having something new every week. I am disappointed with how the series has turned out at this point, but I can't say I'm entirely surprised. Anyway, with my schedule, I usually watch it Sunday nights and then make all the appropriate pages.

[GarrettCRW]

That's the beauty of having four dudes on the site these days: I don't have to suffer. Someone else can.

Ouch. Mike, that hurts, like deep down hurts... I don't know that I can go on.

Just wait until the next podcast drops, and it's nothing but evil laughter.

[The Tori-bot]

Waiting for the inevitable Funi Blu-ray, and then for said Blu-ray to drop in price. I've only just got around to getting the full S1 set, so I'm not exactly chomping at the bit for Kai.

[Daimo-Rukiri]

I haven't watched any of the Kai Buu saga at all, I've just been busy and really haven't watched TV in general this year and my DVRs are full because of that fact.
I'll probably just catch Kai on Toonami as it airs.

Once the Blu-Rays are announced I'll probably finish picking up kai as I stopped once it was announced that it would have ended at the defeat of cell which was kind of a bummer...

[gohann]

Online, and a relative's uncut DVDs.