Kai returns to Adult Swim weekdays

[mecha3000]

So, as stated here (https://screenrant.com/dragon-ball-z-ka ... le-return/), Dragon Ball Z Kai is now airing on Adult Swim from 5am-6am every morning. I believe from Monday to Friday. Don't know if it's worth always announcing when Kai returns to TV, but screw it. And watching it was the weirdest thing because watching Kai on TV (watching TV again in general) feels so odd now. I haven't really watched TV normally since 2019.

Also, I felt OLD watching DBZ Kai itself. I'm old enough now (28, turning 29 in May) to remember Kai premiering on Nicktoons back in 2010 with the Kenji Yamamoto score. But watching it now kind of felt bittersweet and a reminder of how much older I am and how much time has passed since then. I mean, think about it, the Kai dub (2010) is now much older than the '99 dub was IN 2010. In May, it turns 16 YEARS OLD. Watching it also cemented that Kai has pretty much replaced the OG Z dub at this point. Adult Swim never airs the old Z dub anymore (which is good because it's terrible). I'm sure it's more expensive anyway and Kai is more faithful and respects Toriyama better.

Also, the obvious thing is that Kai's animation by 2026 standards is now extremely old. And I'm sorry, I hate the Kikuchi replacement score. Not Kikuchi in general, just the score placements in Kai. It just makes Kai feel much older than it actually is. And to me, Kai 1.0 isn't Kai without the original Kenji Yamamoto score. Good thing I still have the Parts 1-4 Blu-ray sets, at least. I think with the Genkidamatsuri event coming up later this month, I'm going to start over and rewatch Kai on my Blu-ray sets all the way to the end of the Boo arc now that we have the Kai dub in its entirety. But did anyone else watch Kai on Adult Swim this week? As bittersweet as it was, it did bring back memories for me of classic TV/cable and my middle school/high school days.

But all in all, it's just nice to see Kai's legacy is still important even in 2026. Kai is what got me back into Dragon Ball after being banned from watching it until I was 13 for certain reasons. And over the years, I've learned that Kai really was Sean Schemmel and Chris Sabat's (all of the '99 cast actually) first time fully owning their roles and not just being replacements or dubbing the Ginyu stuff and then having to go back and redo the earlier stuff. To me, the Kai dub IS the Z dub now. So, even though I still want a full-on remake of DB one day, I still really love and have a soft spot for Kai. Sorry for the nostalgia and the long and redundant post.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Its great for the minority of people that still watch anime on traditional TV and don't have the Blu-Rays, but I won't be able to tune in as I don't live in the US.

Super just aired for the last time on Pop yesterday as the channel closed down, and I wonder whether that will be the final time Dragon Ball airs on linear TV here. Will surely feel like the end of an era if that's the case.

Your not that old though, I'm turning 35 in July and I remember watching Z season 3 air on Cartoon Network in 1999 when my dad worked in the US along with the toys they had in Burger King. Will never forget seeing the commercials for Dragon Ball Z coming to the UK and Ireland when we returned.

Kai, I saw bits and pieces back in 2012, didn't love it at the time as I grew up with the Westwood dub and preferred the Ocean cast, but it was in 2015 that I really got in to Kai as I realized by the time the Funimation cast were dubbing it they were nearly as good as the Ocean cast. It was fun to watch Kai in its entirety for the first time while waiting for The Final Chapters and Super dubs.

[mecha3000]

Its great for the minority of people that still watch anime on traditional TV and don't have the Blu-Rays, but I won't be able to tune in as I don't live in the US.

Super just aired for the last time on Pop yesterday as the channel closed down, and I wonder whether that will be the final time Dragon Ball airs on linear TV here. Will surely feel like the end of an era if that's the case.

Your not that old though, I'm turning 35 in July and I remember watching Z season 3 air on Cartoon Network in 1999 when my dad worked in the US along with the toys they had in Burger King. Will never forget seeing the commercials for Dragon Ball Z coming to the UK and Ireland when we returned.

Kai, I saw bits and pieces back in 2012, didn't love it at the time as I grew up with the Westwood dub and preferred the Ocean cast, but it was in 2015 that I really got in to Kai as I realized by the time the Funimation cast were dubbing it they were nearly as good as the Ocean cast. It was fun to watch Kai in its entirety for the first time while waiting for The Final Chapters and Super dubs.

Appreciate the "not that old" comment, man. Also, 35 is still a prime age in life and pretty young in the grand scheme of things. And I'm glad you gave Funi Kai a chance. I remember back in 2015 agonizing over when The Final Chapters was coming out and finally getting it in 2017. Now in 2026, it's easy to forget how annoying the wait for Kai's Buu arc dub was. But honestly, between the 16:9 aspect ratio, green tint (doesn't bother me too much, but still), and Sumitomo's score - I vastly prefer Kai 1.0 (Kenji's score). Despite that, I'm just glad we have the Kai dub in its entirety and maybe it'll even air all 167 episodes on Adult Swim this year. Shouldn't take too long at the pace they're going.

But yeah, you're right. Most people don't even watch TV anymore and even watching Kai this week on Adult Swim felt weird (nostalgic, but weird nonetheless). And that also has to do with having to sit through commercials and the extremely weird Off-The-Air show that Adult Swim airs right before Kai. Stuff like that makes me not at all miss cable so I won't be following this new airing too much. But on the positive side, Regular Show aired for an hour right after the hour of Kai. And I kind of grew up on Regular Show in my teen years so it was nostalgic too (but again made me feel old because of how old that show itself is now). Both the Kai dub and Regular Show debuted the same year back in 2010 during my seventh and eighth grade years of middle school. Ah, good times.

And again, it's just nice to see that the legacy of Kai is still alive. And the wait for the Ocean dub of it also helps with that too, but that's another story for another thread.......

[Yellow Flower King]

Its great for the minority of people that still watch anime on traditional TV and don't have the Blu-Rays, but I won't be able to tune in as I don't live in the US.

Super just aired for the last time on Pop yesterday as the channel closed down, and I wonder whether that will be the final time Dragon Ball airs on linear TV here. Will surely feel like the end of an era if that's the case.

Your not that old though, I'm turning 35 in July and I remember watching Z season 3 air on Cartoon Network in 1999 when my dad worked in the US along with the toys they had in Burger King. Will never forget seeing the commercials for Dragon Ball Z coming to the UK and Ireland when we returned.

Kai, I saw bits and pieces back in 2012, didn't love it at the time as I grew up with the Westwood dub and preferred the Ocean cast, but it was in 2015 that I really got in to Kai as I realized by the time the Funimation cast were dubbing it they were nearly as good as the Ocean cast. It was fun to watch Kai in its entirety for the first time while waiting for The Final Chapters and Super dubs.

Appreciate the "not that old" comment, man. Also, 35 is still a prime age in life and pretty young in the grand scheme of things. And I'm glad you gave Funi Kai a chance. I remember back in 2015 agonizing over when The Final Chapters was coming out and finally getting it in 2017. Now in 2026, it's easy to forget how annoying the wait for Kai's Buu arc dub was. But honestly, between the 16:9 aspect ratio, green tint (doesn't bother me too much, but still), and Sumitomo's score - I vastly prefer Kai 1.0 (Kenji's score). Despite that, I'm just glad we have the Kai dub in its entirety and maybe it'll even air all 167 episodes on Adult Swim this year. Shouldn't take too long at the pace they're going.

But yeah, you're right. Most people don't even watch TV anymore and even watching Kai this week on Adult Swim felt weird (nostalgic, but weird nonetheless). And that also has to do with having to sit through commercials and the extremely weird Off-The-Air show that Adult Swim airs right before Kai. Stuff like that makes me not at all miss cable so I won't be following this new airing too much. But on the positive side, Regular Show aired for an hour right after the hour of Kai. And I kind of grew up on Regular Show in my teen years so it was nostalgic too (but again made me feel old because of how old that show itself is now). Both the Kai dub and Regular Show debuted the same year back in 2010 during my seventh and eighth grade years of middle school. Ah, good times.

And again, it's just nice to see that the legacy of Kai is still alive. And the wait for the Ocean dub of it also helps with that too, but that's another story for another thread.......

I wonder if Nicktoons could actually get better ratings if they aired DBZKai like they are airing Spongebob. Main Nick and Nicktoons was the only kids channel that actually didnt lose viewers and even gained some. Or even on Main Nick. The ratings are so low but kids still love Dragon Ball. It might have been worth a shot lol.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I wonder if Nicktoons could actually get better ratings if they aired DBZKai like they are airing Spongebob. Main Nick and Nicktoons was the only kids channel that actually didnt lose viewers and even gained some. Or even on Main Nick. The ratings are so low but kids still love Dragon Ball. It might have been worth a shot lol.

Nicktoons almost certainly wouldn't have the rights to broadcast Kai anymore, obviously Spongebob is different because it's an original show. It also wouldn't be as good as the original run of Kai because they wouldn't be able to use the Yamamoto score.

Would be great if it happened so we could get better recordings of the Nicktoons/Ocean cut of Kai. I quite liked that version despite the censorship, and some of the alternate lines, like Freeza's "To be crushed like an insect" were good.

[Yellow Flower King]

It just occurred to me. In the anime streaming wars, Paramount+ has NEVER EVER taken anime as seriously as Netflix, Disney or even THE BBC do. I cant think of one anime that's exclusive to that service.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

It just occurred to me. In the anime streaming wars, Paramount+ has NEVER EVER taken anime as seriously as Netflix, Disney or even THE BBC do. I cant think of one anime that's exclusive to that service.

Star Trek has seen a resurgence in the last decade and even had the first animated series in nearly 50 years with Lower Decks so maybe they will attempt an anime in that universe at some point.

[mecha3000]

So, just checked randomly to see where Kai is at on Adult Swim as of today and funny enough, at 5am, they aired the episode where Goku goes Super Saiyan for the first time against Freeza. Then, at 5:30, THE FIRST EPISODE??? Yeah, Prologue to Battle! The Return of Goku! Like, why not just keep going forward? I mean, it was kind of nice because when Kai first aired mornings again on AS, I missed the first episode back in December. So, it was cool to catch the first few minutes of it before turning it off. I didn't even watch all of the Super Saiyan episode, just the part where Freeza got hit with the Spirit Bomb. Again, it's nice Kai is back on Adult Swim, but I don't really feel compelled to watch it except every once in a while, maybe. Especially in the age of streaming and the fact that I own Kai in its entirety on Blu-ray. And for Kai, I just really REALLY hate the Kikuchi score, especially the placements of it. So bad.

Also, I just realized that Dragon Ball Z Kai is airing 5-6am weekdays while Dragon Ball Daima is airing Saturday nights at 2:30am. So, two separate Dragon Ball series are currently airing on Adult Swim as of this posting. That's so cool. Like the old Toonami days I was too young for where Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT all aired together on Cartoon Network. And with the news of Dragon Ball Super returning this year with the remake and eventually the new arcs, it's nice to see Dragon Ball represented twice on TV.

Imagine Super airs on Adult Swim again along with Kai and Daima and it's like a modern version of DB (Kai), DBZ (Super), and DBGT (Daima).

[Yellow Flower King]

So, just checked randomly to see where Kai is at on Adult Swim as of today and funny enough, at 5am, they aired the episode where Goku goes Super Saiyan for the first time against Freeza. Then, at 5:30, THE FIRST EPISODE??? Yeah, Prologue to Battle! The Return of Goku! Like, why not just keep going forward? I mean, it was kind of nice because when Kai first aired mornings again on AS, I missed the first episode back in December. So, it was cool to catch the first few minutes of it before turning it off. I didn't even watch all of the Super Saiyan episode, just the part where Freeza got hit with the Spirit Bomb. Again, it's nice Kai is back on Adult Swim, but I don't really feel compelled to watch it except every once in a while, maybe. Especially in the age of streaming and the fact that I own Kai in its entirety on Blu-ray. And for Kai, I just really REALLY hate the Kikuchi score, especially the placements of it. So bad.

Also, I just realized that Dragon Ball Z Kai is airing 5-6am weekdays while Dragon Ball Daima is airing Saturday nights at 2:30am. So, two separate Dragon Ball series are currently airing on Adult Swim as of this posting. That's so cool. Like the old Toonami days I was too young for where Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT all aired together on Cartoon Network. And with the news of Dragon Ball Super returning this year with the remake and eventually the new arcs, it's nice to see Dragon Ball represented twice on TV.

Imagine Super airs on Adult Swim again along with Kai and Daima and it's like a modern version of DB (Kai), DBZ (Super), and DBGT (Daima).

I really dont know why Adult Swim is NOT airing Kai on Weekday Afternoons. When they did, like Cartoon Network and Nicktoons did they literally printed money. Not to mention they really dont have another appealing show that is both soft enough to air on afternoons yet edgy enough for it to REALLY earn its place on Adult Swim.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Looking at current ratings Kai is actually doing better than Daima, which is interesting.

Jan 19: 5a 60k / 5:30a 56k
Jan 20: 5a 92k / 5:30a 80k
Jan 21: 5a 66k / 5:30a 56k
Jan 22: 5a 43k / 5:30a 38k

[mecha3000]

Looking at current ratings Kai is actually doing better than Daima, which is interesting.

Jan 19: 5a 60k / 5:30a 56k
Jan 20: 5a 92k / 5:30a 80k
Jan 21: 5a 66k / 5:30a 56k
Jan 22: 5a 43k / 5:30a 38k

Interesting. Guess that just goes to show that Daima really wasn't the hit Toei maybe wanted it to be? But again, turning Goku back into a kid again and only being 20 episodes with only, like 4 or 5 of those episodes having hype moments, definitely didn't help Daima.

Still, crazy how Kai (which for the dub, turns 16 years old this May) is still having better ratings than Daima, which is only a little over a year old. Guess Dragon Ball Z will always be a big draw for people.

[wjbraden]

So, just checked randomly to see where Kai is at on Adult Swim as of today and funny enough, at 5am, they aired the episode where Goku goes Super Saiyan for the first time against Freeza. Then, at 5:30, THE FIRST EPISODE??? Yeah, Prologue to Battle! The Return of Goku! Like, why not just keep going forward?

It's because that's all Adult Swim seemed to pick up the rights for this time around. Toonami Rewind failing probably had something to do with that, because after that they were only airing it at 2 in the morning (where Daima is right now). They probably didn't see it worth snagging the last 50 or so episodes. The only reason Kai's on at 5am now is because they lost the rights to some Fox shows and needed to fill some time slots.

What's interesting is that the rights appear to be running out for those first 47 episodes on February 23rd, as evidenced by the episodes streaming on adultswim.com (which also coincides with the two-year anniversary of Kai coming back to the network in February 2024...TV rights for anime typically last for two years). So either they'll have to make a move to renew it or Kai will be going off the air again soon.

[Yellow Flower King]

Looking at current ratings Kai is actually doing better than Daima, which is interesting.

Jan 19: 5a 60k / 5:30a 56k
Jan 20: 5a 92k / 5:30a 80k
Jan 21: 5a 66k / 5:30a 56k
Jan 22: 5a 43k / 5:30a 38k

Interesting. Guess that just goes to show that Daima really wasn't the hit Toei maybe wanted it to be? But again, turning Goku back into a kid again and only being 20 episodes with only, like 4 or 5 of those episodes having hype moments, definitely didn't help Daima.

Still, crazy how Kai (which for the dub, turns 16 years old this May) is still having better ratings than Daima, which is only a little over a year old. Guess Dragon Ball Z will always be a big draw for people.

Airing Dragon Ball Weekly ONCE is a terrible idea, DB thrives on an all weekday broadcasts or at least 1 hour every Saturday Morning. Airing it on an unfavorable timeslot ONCE PER WEEK was a terrible idea.

[90sDBZ]

You'd think them constantly restarting before finishing Namek would hurt the ratings. I know from reading reddit threads that people are tired of it.

I'm sure people would love them to re-air Cell and Buu.

[Yellow Flower King]

You'd think them constantly restarting before finishing Namek would hurt the ratings. I know from reading reddit threads that people are tired of it.

I'm sure people would love them to re-air Cell and Buu.

The problem is that Toonami only commissioned up to 52. If they kept going they would need to pay more just to finish Namek satisfactorily

[90sDBZ]

You'd think them constantly restarting before finishing Namek would hurt the ratings. I know from reading reddit threads that people are tired of it.

I'm sure people would love them to re-air Cell and Buu.

The problem is that Toonami only commissioned up to 52. If they kept going they would need to pay more just to finish Namek satisfactorily

Then whenever their licence for 1-52 expires, they should licence the later episodes instead of renewing the earlier ones.

[Yellow Flower King]

You'd think them constantly restarting before finishing Namek would hurt the ratings. I know from reading reddit threads that people are tired of it.

I'm sure people would love them to re-air Cell and Buu.

The problem is that Toonami only commissioned up to 52. If they kept going they would need to pay more just to finish Namek satisfactorily

Then whenever their licence for 1-52 expires, they should licence the later episodes instead of renewing the earlier ones.

I think they really should. These airings are surprisingly good for ratings. Way better than simply airing a generic show. I do wish they aired it on Afternoons. I think Toonami Rewind could have been a huge hit had it NOT been weekly.

[mecha3000]

You'd think them constantly restarting before finishing Namek would hurt the ratings. I know from reading reddit threads that people are tired of it.

I'm sure people would love them to re-air Cell and Buu.

I thought about that too, but then again, from what I hear, DBZ always got up to Ginyu on Toonami back in the day before restarting with episode 1. So, I guess Kai going from episode 1 to Goku turning Super Saiyan is just history repeating itself (except unlike back then, Kai is fully dubbed and available to purchase). Also, interesting to know Adult Swim only has the rights to the first 47 episodes of Kai and that those episodes are the only ones available on their website. That clears things up for me.

Still, what was the point of even bringing Kai back to Adult Swim if it was only going to air for a few months? I guess it really was just to fill up the timeslot before finding another replacement series to air. Oh, well. At least, Kai got some extra exposure and maybe inspired people to check out the Blu-rays/DVDs and watch it on streaming. But yeah, it sucks that Kai can't go to the Cell and Buu arcs in what now seems like a temporary timeslot for Kai.

[Yellow Flower King]

You'd think them constantly restarting before finishing Namek would hurt the ratings. I know from reading reddit threads that people are tired of it.

I'm sure people would love them to re-air Cell and Buu.

I thought about that too, but then again, from what I hear, DBZ always got up to Ginyu on Toonami back in the day before restarting with episode 1. So, I guess Kai going from episode 1 to Goku turning Super Saiyan is just history repeating itself (except unlike back then, Kai is fully dubbed and available to purchase). Also, interesting to know Adult Swim only has the rights to the first 47 episodes of Kai and that those episodes are the only ones available on their website. That clears things up for me.

Still, what was the point of even bringing Kai back to Adult Swim if it was only going to air for a few months? I guess it really was just to fill up the timeslot before finding another replacement series to air. Oh, well. At least, Kai got some extra exposure and maybe inspired people to check out the Blu-rays/DVDs and watch it on streaming. But yeah, it sucks that Kai can't go to the Cell and Buu arcs in what now seems like a temporary timeslot for Kai.

They probably expected way too huge ratings, which they didnt get. They forgot a big part of why Sailor Moon and DBZ were so successful back then (And even with Nicktoons!) was because there was a new episode every weekday. At least with Sailor Moon, they got to air the finale as it was in Japan. The USA has finally seen the Sailor Guardians die in the tragic final battle.

[TechExpert2021]

At least with Sailor Moon, they got to air the finale as it was in Japan. The USA has finally seen the Sailor Guardians die in the tragic final battle.

That's because the 1995-2002 DiC/Cloverway/Optimum dub of Sailor Moon never covered the anime's final season (Sailor Stars). And the Optimum dub was not only censored and edited to begin with, but also had certain episodes removed (for example, episode two of the first season) and, sometimes, two episodes merged into a single episode (the final episode of season one).

As for this thread, it's nice to see DBZ Kai still airing on an American TV network (even though streaming has mostly replaced cable TV in the United States), and this is coming from someone whose introduction to Dragon Ball is through DBZ Kai and DB Super on Adult Swim in the late-2010s. But with the upcoming acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by either Netflix or Paramount Skydance (the former's bid only includes WBD's Streaming and Studios division, with the Global Linear Networks division being spun off as a separate company under the name Discovery Global, which will carry all of WBD's remaining debt; the latter's bid, on the other hand, includes the entire company), I wonder how either acquisition will affect Adult Swim and Toonami.