"Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters" FUNimation English Dub Official Announcement and Discussion Thread

[Hellspawn28]

I think the Buu saga Kai will just start after episode 98 of Kai airs.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

So, no one's going to say anything?

Nothing happened. Nothing new Dragon Ball wise was announced.

I'm beginning to think they might just air it without announcing it.

Yup same here, then slowly start to release it psychically. Now that they are starting to dub Super tells me they have something planned and ready for Super otherwise why waste money and resources dubbing that when they have not made any money from Buu Kai back yet.

[TheGreatness25]

Well, they have to "announce" it; it's just a matter of how. I don't think that they can make a big spectacle of it like at a convention or something simply because they have bigger fish to fry. I mean it's been two years since the Boo arc of Kai was done in Japan.

But they definitely have to advertise it. They need to make fans aware that after the current run of Kai is done, there will be more instead of restarting the series. I'm assuming many fans wouldn't watch it yet again if it was on reruns. Plus, they should probably inform people if DVDs/Blu-rays are coming out.

[Lord Beerus]

I think the Buu saga Kai will just start after episode 98 of Kai airs.

That what I think will happen, too. There won't be any announcement of Boo arc Kia from FUNimation and Toonami will just quietly slot it right after Kai 1.0 ends and continue the show like nothing happened.

[Xeztin]

Think Funimation will call it the final chapters?

[DBZ_Lee]

Think Funimation will call it the final chapters?

It isn't a choice, as that is the sub heading of the Series, by Toei.

[mecha3000]

So, no one's going to say anything?

Nothing happened. Nothing new Dragon Ball wise was announced.

Dude, I knew that when I posted this. I just asked because no one had posted anything about that fact that nothing was announced. I was just trying to move the conversation past WE'RE GETTING THE CONFIRMATION TONIGHT back to SPECULATION FUN TIME. Also, basically I was asking everyone to address their disappointment. At this point, I don't think Funimation will announce anything until at least after summer. Or like everyone else is saying, a surprise Toonami announcement. There's also Otakon like some are speculating, but given Funimation's track record - I doubt it.

I never even saw One-Punch Man coming until a Toonami commercial advertised it (despite Toonami announcing it at Anime Expo) so Kai could easily go the same route in about November. Still, with Marvel and DC DOMINATING at Comic-Con with their news - You'd think Toei and Funimation would at least try to emulate that with a panel of their own. Imagine if Funimation's Comic-Con panel had announced: Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters (Buu Saga) dub with a sneak peak, Dragon Ball Super dub (with an Episode 1 sneak peak), and the Dragon Ball specials (2008 special, Bardock, Plan to Eradicate) dub. That would have been the way SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENT they were teasing in addition to the AoT live action movie and Godzilla, and a great way to end their Comic-Con industry panel.

I mean, Dragon Ball is their number one property so it sucks not to see them push it in the same way Marvel does with their stuff. I don't know if it's a time issue or Toei (or Funimation) being stingy - but it just sucks. Still, at least we know Buu Saga of Kai is done and DB Super's english dub is basically confirmed now by Jason Douglas.

[DBZ_Lee]

Having thought a long while about this whole situation with "The Final Chapters", I feel I may have stumbled upon a reason as to why, after 3 years, the Arc is still to air in the USA.

In April 2013, Sean Schemmel & Kyle Hebert both state they are about to start recording the series.
Suddenly, both retract their statements - Sean saying "it wasn't quite official as I thought" (or words to that effect).
And Kyle simply removed his tweet.

At that point in time, Kai was airing on the CW's Vortexx block, and with Toei wanting a TV deal, it seemed a foregone conclusion that it would simply go on there right after episode 98 (which aired that November) if dubbing was to start, it would have most likely been around the summer at the latest to be ready for that point.

However, the CW likely informed Toei/Funimation that they wouldn't (at that moment in time at least) commit to taking any more episodes due to the uncertainty of the block moving forward.
So, with the CW TV deal off the table, Funimation/Toei had to find another network.
The issue was, that the CW held the TV contract to air Kai exclusively until September 2014 meant that any deal would have to wait until after the CW contract ended.

Then came the option of Toonami, which began broadcasting Kai in November 2014, and at this point, Funimation had began dubbing at some point before.
We know this, as Sean confirmed it on Kyle Hebert's Big Bald Broadcast in December of that same year.

Then, the picture becomes clearer - Toei settle for Kai airing on Toonami, so they issue Funimation the contract and they start dubbing at their leisure.
It would make no sense for Toonami to start airing Kai with the Buu Arc, and Funimation at that time, didn't have enough dubbed to be able to fulfill them going straight there, so Funimation knew they had at least 98 weeks (not including marathons for Kai & other shows) to get the dub finished, and thanks to Sean, we know it was wrapped early this year.

So, it is possible no dubbing took place in 2013, as no TV deal would have been on the table until sometime in 2014, the Toonami deal was announced in November, but as to exactly when the deal was made, that is something undisclosed.

So, the 3 year wait has, to be fair, been in no way Funimation's fault.
The CW's Vortexx block cancellation, and having to wait around for that contract to end before going elsewhere has pushed this back, especially as Toonami had to start from the very beginning, as Funimation wouldn't have had the contract long enough for them to dub much, and they needed to secure the slot, so they aired the first 98.

I fully expect Buu Kai to begin straight after the Cell Arc concludes.

[ShadowDude112]

It's possible it will just be announced, but not at a con. Remember, Kai was announced in like a conference call in February 2010, and Battle of Gods wasn't announced at a con, it was just announced. Maybe the same will happen with Buu Kai.

[DBZ_Lee]

It's possible it will just be announced, but not at a con. Remember, Kai was announced in like a conference call in February 2010, and Battle of Gods wasn't announced at a con, it was just announced. Maybe the same will happen with Buu Kai.

I think it will be announced, but won't be a big deal. No panels or anything like that.
And to be fair, it doesn't need that treatment.

[coola]

Yeah, hate to be that guy, but i find Buu Saga Kai to be the biggest disappointment in Modern Dragon Ball history, worse than Episode of Bardock, worse than Minus, not only it's in 16:9, badly remastered with horrible green tint, but worst of all, it even fails at what it's supposed to be, DBZ with as little filler as possible, it have tons of pointles filler, even Hell one (Oni meeting Goku, it never happened in Kai) Toei didn't even try to make it good, i wouldn't get it even for superior English dub, this is part of franchise i wil never get, only good tihng, is that it reached bottom, and it can onl get better.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

Good points DBZ_Lee, Sean confirmed that they finished start of 2016 and that BoG and Resurrection "F" definitely took precedent over it so it explains why Toonami didn't continue Buu and started from scratch, it all makes sense. FUNi will likely announce a few weeks before Kai 1.0 ends. Super is a different kettle and I feel both may air concurrently but on difference stations with Super on a more kid friendly one.

Does anyone know the exact date Kai 1.0 is expected to end?

[sintzu]

Does anyone know the exact date Kai 1.0 is expected to end?

I think it'll end on the last week of October.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

Does anyone know the exact date Kai 1.0 is expected to end?

I think it'll end on the last week of October.

That ain't that far way for some reason I had it in my head as December ish.

[simtek34]

If there are no marathons or any kind of delay, episode 98 will air December 3rd. btw, should toons I have a Kai marathon? If they do, then we can get 7 episodes out of the way + the adult swim rerun, then Kai 1.0 will end on November 15th.


A little off topic, but should Funimation start releasing the Japanese 16:9 widescreen version of Kai 1.0 from the tv broadcast so it matches with the Boo Kai which is only 16:9?

[sintzu]

Should Funimation start releasing the Japanese 16:9 widescreen version of Kai 1.0 from the tv broadcast so it matches with the Boo Kai which is only 16:9?

Whenever I watch Kai I adjust my screen to fit it into 16:9 and it looks good so I don't think they need to give it its own release and no one has said anything about Buu's aspect ratio so it could end up getting a 4:3 release as well.

[Nejishiki]

I'd rather they not. Dragon Ball Kai's Boo arc is already wildly different in production value than its first 98 episodes. I think the tonal shift should stay, if only to easily distinguish it as such. It opens up a can of worms that confuses the general market over which version to buy once more. At least this time, it was created in 16:9 from the start.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

There is still a chance Buu Kai from FUNi might be in 4x3 I wouldn't completely rule it out the question.

[sintzu]

There is still a chance Buu Kai from FUNi might be in 4x3 I wouldn't completely rule it out the question.

The opening scenes that are in both versions (Japanese's & the international version) are framed differently so there's a high chance that it was changed to 16:9 afterwords like the original which would explain the different framing.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

There is still a chance Buu Kai from FUNi might be in 4x3 I wouldn't completely rule it out the question.

The opening scenes that are in both versions (Japanese's & the international version) are framed differently so there's a high chance that it was changed to 16:9 afterwords like the original which would explain the different framing.

It would make sense, they have to have it 16x9 for TV purposes in Japan but the original intention was too release it internationally (and maybe domestically on BD) so why go through the trouble of cropping when they can send out 4x3.