The Cartoon Network Southeast Asian Broadcast of Kai

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Today we'll be taking a look at Dragon Ball Kai on Cartoon Network in Southeast Asia, what we know and hopefully learn more from fellow fans.

Little is known about this broadcast other than when and where it premiered, and I'm not aware of any recordings existing but here's what we know.

Promos started airing around August 1, 2011 with episode titles on their website confirming it would be the Funimation dub. The series began airing on August 15th that year.

Timeslots varied from country-to-country, in India and Thailand it aired at 8pm and in Malaysia and Singapore it aired at 9pm. It also aired in Pakistan at an unspecified time, maybe at 8pm since they are part of the Indian subcontinent.

The show aired weeknights at these times.

It also reportedly aired on Toonami Asia at some point in 2013. There was also one promo for new episodes that was uploaded to Youtube around that time, but that's the only one I can find.

Does anyone remember these airings? When did each of the arcs premier? When did the series end? Be great to hear all your stories.

[90sDBZ]

I remember watching promos for Toonami Asia on YouTube around the time.

I'm pretty sure they also aired some of original Z not that long after they aired Kai. I remember their youtube channel uploading clips of it. Weirdly I only remember seeing promos for the Saiyan and Buu Sagas as far as Z was concerned. I'm pretty sure it was the remastered dub with Jonson/Faulconer, which was rare for a TV broadcast.

This would've been before Kai's TFC dub came out, so it's possible they just aired Z's Buu Saga after Kai 1.0, and also decided to air Z's Saiyan Saga at some point too (I'm not sure what order it aired in).

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I remember watching promos for Toonami Asia on YouTube around the time.

I'm pretty sure they also aired some of original Z not that long after they aired Kai. I remember their youtube channel uploading clips of it. Weirdly I only remember seeing promos for the Saiyan and Buu Sagas as far as Z was concerned. I'm pretty sure it was the remastered dub with Jonson/Faulconer, which was rare for a TV broadcast.

This would've been before Kai's TFC dub came out, so it's possible they just aired Z's Buu Saga after Kai 1.0, and also decided to air Z's Saiyan Saga at some point too (I'm not sure what order it aired in).

I know what you mean about most of the clips and promos just featuring the Saiyan and Buu sagas, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility Toonami Asia may have aired the arcs in between.

In 2015 they launched an Anime Seige block, and one promo featured very short clips of the Cell saga. Oddly enough one shot from Kai was also used in that promo to promote Dragon Ball Z, so maybe they were just using random clips without putting much thought into them.

I don't know exactly when Dragon Ball Z premiered on Toonami Asia, but the earliest I recall seeing mentions of it would probably be 2013 so there would have been plenty of time for them to air the whole series, not to mention Toonami Asia was also a full-on channel rather than a block.

I really wish I documented Toonami Asia at the time, feels like theres so much lost history behind that channel. Its an even bigger can of worms than Kai on Cartoon Network Southeast Asia (which you can tell from my OP little is known about too).

Its also a shame neither Cartoon Network India nor Toonami Asia aired the Ocean dub of Kai as some Ocean dubs aired in those territories. From what I was told the local branch of Turner was under the impression Ocean had shut down, which is a shame because it was never true.