Is there interest in a DEFINITIVE version for Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters?

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Sykin
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Is there interest in a DEFINITIVE version for Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters?

Post by Sykin » Mon Apr 15, 2019 6:37 am

Image
I want to start this out by saying that I've recently been hired to a job that has a lot of downtime. By a lot, I literally mean that 90% of it is me doing nothing. I'm prefacing with this because the vision and scope of the project I'm proposing are extremely ambitious. Enough about that, though, let me explain WHY I would like to do this.

Personally, I have always preferred Dragon Ball Kai (w/ the Kenji Yamamoto score) over Z. I understand that's a controversial opinion among some Dragon Ball fans but that's just my preference. I want to extend my love for Dragon Ball Kai by fixing the problems that exist with Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters. If you aren't aware, The Final Chapters is riddled with numerous problems that include, but are not limited to:

-A green tint present on the image throughout the entire series.
-Being cropped from 4:3 to 16:9, resulting in a loss of picture.
-An unusual amount of filler being left in.
-A score that many believe to be lack-luster.

I plan to fix all of these issues and more with this edit. I understand that this is a very ambitious project, but it is something I would truly be willing to work on.

Image

The goal of this project is to create a definitive version of Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters that can hopefully be comparable in quality to the original run of Dragon Ball Kai.

Video:
While I am planning for this to stand in the place of Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters, ironically enough, I won't actually be using any of the footage from that release for a multitude of reasons, mainly because there isn't enough room to work with. Instead, I will be opting to use the Dragon Ball Z Dragon Box releases for this project. The reason behind this is that it's essentially the purest release of Dragon Ball Z "commonly" available as of the creation of this post. While it is the currently best release of Dragon Ball Z currently available, it still isn't optimal as the colors in the Dragon Box releases are not accurate. They are certainly lightyears ahead of The Final Chapter, but they aren't perfect by any means. The color inaccuracy stems from degradation in the film masters used to create the Dragon Box release. The color inaccuracies are most noticeable when it comes to the character's skin-tones where instead of a fleshy peach color, they've been discolored to an almost salmony pink.

I understand that some people enjoy the color palette of the Dragon Boxes, but I believe it should be changed as this wasn't how Dragon Ball Z was ever intended to look. Because of this, I will be attempting to color correct the Dragon Box releases to be more consistent with the original run of Dragon Ball Kai.

Dub:
I will primarily be sourcing the dub from Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters as I believe it to be the superior dub. However, with that said, there are a few lines and performances from the original Dragon Ball Z dub that I may end up using in place of Kai's. This will likely be a rare occurrence, but in any case, I will be sourcing that audio from the Dragon Ball Z Dragon Box releases unless the 2014 Blu-Ray release of Dragon Ball Z happens to be of noticeable higher quality in some way that I'm not aware of.

Soundtrack:
The score is my biggest hangup with this project. In my mind, there are only 3 options for the score of this project, all with their own pros and cons.

1. Using Shunsuke Kikuchi's score from Dragon Ball Z.
2. Using Kenji Yamamoto's score from Dragon Ball Kai.
3. Using Norihito Sumitomo's score from Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters and Dragon Ball Super.


As of now, I'm currently leaning towards the Kikuchi score as I feel like it would be the most consistent for the most people, but what I use may change in the future. I'm really interested in what you guys would rather see.

Content:
Personally, I am going to take an approach similar to the original run of Dragon Ball Kai when it comes to cutting filler. In my eyes, that means cutting needless and excessive content that was not present in the manga while leaving in somethings that allow scenes to flow better. Because of this, I want to make it crystal clear is that this isn't going to be a 1:1 manga cut. Obviously filler arcs and anime only content will be cut down to a minimum, but with that said, I want to try and leave in some anime only content that allows dialogue and action scenes to flow better. Kai actually did this and they did it rather well. In fact, most people don't even know that Kai left a lot of what could be considered "filler" in. I don't mean filler events, but rather just anime only content that allows an episode to flow better. If I were to make a 1:1 manga cut, I feel that the pacing would be harmed. You have to remember, Dragon Ball Z is an adaptation of a manga, things will be added to better translate chapters into a 24-minute time slot.

Image

Video Sources:
Dragon Ball Z Dragon Box release
Dragon Ball Z Kai Blu-Ray release(as references for color correction)


Dub Sources:
Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters Blu-Ray release
Dragon Ball Z Dragon Box release

Sountrack Sources:
TBD

Here is a summary/TL;DR of the major changes this project aims to make:

•A reversion from 16:9 to the original aspect ratio of 4:3 used for both Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Kai.
•Dragon Box source video color corrected to be more consistent with Dragon Ball Z Kai
•Some lines and performances from the original Z dubs added
•An updated/changed score
•Cut Filler


I'm really interested in what everyone thinks about a project like this. If there does happen to be enough interest, I'll create a proof of concept sample, and from there I'll decide if there's enough interest to warrant me committing to realizing this project to the end.

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Re: Is there interest in a DEFINITIVE version for Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters?

Post by sintzu » Mon Apr 15, 2019 8:43 am

I also like Kai more than Z and it's become my go to version for that part of the manga. I agree that the final chapters could've cut out more but overall I'm satidfied with the end result, despite its flaws.
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Re: Is there interest in a DEFINITIVE version for Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters?

Post by PremiumSalt » Mon Apr 15, 2019 10:29 pm

Count me interested. Kai TFC is an extremely flawed product, so I'm always interested in alternate takes on it. I'll also put in a vote for using the Kikuchi Score, it's the score that goes best with Classic Dragon Ball material.
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Re: Is there interest in a DEFINITIVE version for Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters?

Post by JohnnyCashKami » Tue Apr 16, 2019 3:18 pm

Kai TFC is a very flawed series but I'll just take it as it is. My favorite release of Kai TFC are the German Blu-rays so I'm mostly satisfied with it.

I'd say that Kai TFC was intended to be 4:3 AR but TOEI ultimately decided to screw us all with a single 16:9 AR release. I'm not against 16:9 AR but 4:3 AR would have been better.

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Re: Is there interest in a DEFINITIVE version for Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters?

Post by Hulk10 » Sat Apr 20, 2019 11:53 pm

I wasn't aware that Kai had an undefinitive version.
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Re: Is there interest in a DEFINITIVE version for Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters?

Post by Supermist » Sun May 05, 2019 2:24 pm

You may be duplicating efforts as Mr Mark did this with the Buu Saga already. Its a few threads down.

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Re: Is there interest in a DEFINITIVE version for Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters?

Post by Jesta' » Mon May 06, 2019 5:37 pm

This is something I've been thinking about for awhile now. I was holding off expecting a new remaster of Z from Toei or Funimation, and we all know where that went. I think a Yamamoto/Sumitomo score would be appropriate. Maybe use the Fusion theme for the recap and keep some tracks like "No More", "Vegeta's Sacrifice", "Battle Royale II".


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Re: Is there interest in a DEFINITIVE version for Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters?

Post by linkdude20002001 » Tue Nov 26, 2019 2:57 pm

Sykin wrote: Mon Apr 15, 2019 6:37 am Soundtrack:
2. Using Kenji Yamamoto's score from Dragon Ball Kai.
Cons:
-Yamamoto never really got the chance to compose anything for Kai with the Buu arc in mind due to his controversies. Because of this, I would be forced to reuse tracks from the first run of Dragon Ball Kai. It might technically be more consistent, but it's very possible that things could easily get stale after awhile.
You COULD actually throw in some old songs he composed for the games. Specifically the 90s games. Some of them are EXACTLY the style used in Kai. For example, “The Demon King Is Revived!!” from Super Gokuh-den’s arranged album. In fact, I believe one song (I forget which) already was reused from an old game.
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Re: Is there interest in a DEFINITIVE version for Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters?

Post by TheRainmaker » Sat Jan 04, 2020 4:53 pm

Is there still interest in this project? After reading the first post by OP, I got very interested in the potential of something along these lines. I second the idea to integrate some video game scores into this, to keep the musical tone similar but with new tracks.

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Re: Is there interest in a DEFINITIVE version for Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters?

Post by Ghosty64 » Wed Feb 19, 2020 10:54 pm

I'd personally love if something like this were to be done. My favorite score is the Yamamoto score, and if certain video game tracks (and his Kai stuff) was used for TFC, I'd prefer that over the actual TFC score.

I'd even be fine, at bare minimum, if we still used the TFC Blu-Rays for it (over better quality footage).
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Re: Is there interest in a DEFINITIVE version for Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters?

Post by Woodlandbuckle » Fri Mar 06, 2020 3:45 pm

Something you guys should know before even attempting this is that Dragon Box Footage is in 29.97 FPS while the Kai Blu-Rays are in 23.976. So you'll either have to edit the Dragon Box footage in 23.976 FPS or the Kai audio in 29.97 FPS. I'd recommend to edit in 29.97, since whenever I change the frame rate of the Dragon Boxes to 23.976 all of the panning shots stutter and it's annoying. If you guys want any other tips I'd be happy to help.
Also, I come onto this thread and see the original post and think "Oh hey, I inserted Yamamoto's score into Kai TFC and used Dragon Box footage. I should post the links here to see if anyone would be interested." But I see it's already been done for me. Thanks
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Re: Is there interest in a DEFINITIVE version for Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters?

Post by Ghosty64 » Tue Mar 10, 2020 5:37 pm

Something you guys should know before even attempting this is that Dragon Box Footage is in 29.97 FPS while the Kai Blu-Rays are in 23.976. So you'll either have to edit the Dragon Box footage in 23.976 FPS or the Kai audio in 29.97 FPS. I'd recommend to edit in 29.97, since whenever I change the frame rate of the Dragon Boxes to 23.976 all of the panning shots stutter and it's annoying. If you guys want any other tips I'd be happy to help.

Also, I come onto this thread and see the original post and think "Oh hey, I inserted Yamamoto's score into Kai TFC and used Dragon Box footage. I should post the links here to see if anyone would be interested." But I see it's already been done for me. Thanks
Thanks for the tips on the FPS difference between the Dragon Boxes and the Kai Blu-Rays. I didn't know about the difference.
Also thanks for making the YouTube videos of your TFC/Dragon Box fan edits. I watched almost all of them recently, as it's essentially what I want for a "definitive TFC." I hope something like that eventually gets done, as per what your videos displayed.
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Re: Is there interest in a DEFINITIVE version for Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters?

Post by Kakkaroto735 » Sat Jun 27, 2020 10:12 am

Maaan this died fast. But if you make it, don't use the English opening, the Japanese openings and endings are far better.

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Re: Is there interest in a DEFINITIVE version for Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters?

Post by EGonzo » Sun Jun 28, 2020 8:10 pm

I'd love to see this. I remember trying to watch the Buu saga a while back and being surprised that it was basically Z. I would prefer the Japanese dub, since I didn't watch the English growing up and I still have issues with how they translate Dragon Ball. But I can stand it fine so it's not a big deal.

I wonder if you'll try to adapt the final battle to follow the manga (Goku going straight to SS3 instead of SS2)

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Re: Is there interest in a DEFINITIVE version for Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters?

Post by Kakkaroto735 » Tue Jun 30, 2020 2:30 pm

EGonzo wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2020 8:10 pm I'd love to see this. I remember trying to watch the Buu saga a while back and being surprised that it was basically Z. I would prefer the Japanese dub, since I didn't watch the English growing up and I still have issues with how they translate Dragon Ball. But I can stand it fine so it's not a big deal.

I wonder if you'll try to adapt the final battle to follow the manga (Goku going straight to SS3 instead of SS2)
Doesn't he go SSJ1 in one version?

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Re: Is there interest in a DEFINITIVE version for Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters?

Post by EGonzo » Tue Jun 30, 2020 11:13 pm

Kakkaroto735 wrote: Tue Jun 30, 2020 2:30 pm
EGonzo wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2020 8:10 pm I'd love to see this. I remember trying to watch the Buu saga a while back and being surprised that it was basically Z. I would prefer the Japanese dub, since I didn't watch the English growing up and I still have issues with how they translate Dragon Ball. But I can stand it fine so it's not a big deal.

I wonder if you'll try to adapt the final battle to follow the manga (Goku going straight to SS3 instead of SS2)
Doesn't he go SSJ1 in one version?
Maybe in a game? I only remember the manga (straight to SS3) and anime (SS2 first, then SS3)

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Re: Is there interest in a DEFINITIVE version for Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters?

Post by Kakkaroto735 » Thu Jul 02, 2020 10:07 am

EGonzo wrote: Tue Jun 30, 2020 11:13 pm
Kakkaroto735 wrote: Tue Jun 30, 2020 2:30 pm
EGonzo wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2020 8:10 pm I'd love to see this. I remember trying to watch the Buu saga a while back and being surprised that it was basically Z. I would prefer the Japanese dub, since I didn't watch the English growing up and I still have issues with how they translate Dragon Ball. But I can stand it fine so it's not a big deal.

I wonder if you'll try to adapt the final battle to follow the manga (Goku going straight to SS3 instead of SS2)
Doesn't he go SSJ1 in one version?
Maybe in a game? I only remember the manga (straight to SS3) and anime (SS2 first, then SS3)
I remember him going ssj to kill buu in every version wtf

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Re: Is there interest in a DEFINITIVE version for Dragon Ball Kai: The Final Chapters?

Post by Matches Malone » Thu Jul 02, 2020 10:25 am

Kakkaroto735 wrote: Tue Jun 30, 2020 2:30 pmDoesn't he go SSJ1 in one version?
No, at least not in the anime and manga.

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