FUNimation Announces "Kai" License ("DBZ Kai")

[LilKokuLink]

I think we must bare in mind that some perfect pronounciations may not mix well with the american language like it does with japanese. Although I don't see why they say "Kay-o-ken".

[Budogenkai]

I guess its the "5th release of the 2nd part in the Dragonball Series"

Which is still a lot of releases for part of a series.

[JulieYBM]

I guess its the "5th release of the 2nd part in the Dragonball Series"

Which is still a lot of releases for part of a series.

Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball Kai are three completely different series'. If anything, I think you're looking for the word 'story' and even then, Dragon Ball Kai is the second adaptation of the second half of the story.

[LeprikanGT]

I'm not really sure Z and Kai are 'completely different, but yet DB and Z are two different things.

[Soul]

Okay I'm going to be completely honest here, in terms of how I think FUNi should Market Kai.
And I apologize to anyone who
A) Enjoys and likes the Filler
B) Enjoys and likes the Drawn Outness
C) Enjoys and likes the Staredowns
D)... you get the point

"COMING IN MAY! It's DRAGON BALL Z KAI! The original Dragon Ball Z recut and digitally remastered for HD! And staying in line with Akira Toriyama's Original Manga! DRAGON BALL Z KAI! Dragon Ball Z! Without the Bull****!"

[penguintruth]

Yeah, Funimation is going to really market Kai in a way which actively tries to convince the consumer not to buy their other DBZ products. That's going to happen.

[MarcFBR]

Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball Kai are three completely different series'. If anything, I think you're looking for the word 'story' and even then, Dragon Ball Kai is the second adaptation of the second half of the story.

Yeah... no. That's a bullshit description, and I say so to anyone who claims as such.

Kai is an edited down Z.

It is not a 'second adaption'. It's a cute way to try and convince people it's a 'new' show.

[Commander_Red]

They could be cute and jokingly point out it's yet ANOTHER version of essentially the same footage they think we should buy from them.

[Kendamu]

...with brand new music from a seasoned Dragonball composer, new acting from the original core cast, brand new actors for minor roles, new openings and closings, new eyecatches, new animation for the Ki blasts, and almost no filler.

Yep. It's "just" edited down Z. A summary of sorts. Anyone could've done with with Windows Movie Maker and a little too much free time and it would've been the exact same thing.

[VegettoEX]

Anyone could've done with with Windows Movie Maker and a little too much free time and it would've been the exact same thing.

Yep!

(OK, not so much on the Windows Movie Maker...)

[Kendamu]

Anyone could've done with with Windows Movie Maker and a little too much free time and it would've been the exact same thing.

Yep!

(OK, not so much on the Windows Movie Maker...)

Damn your awesome video!!! If WMM was that good my videos would look better!

Actually, years ago, I would use Doomrider to "watch DBZ" back before the Season Sets and whatnot.

[Super Ghost Kamikaze]

...with brand new music from a seasoned Dragonball composer, new acting from the original core cast, brand new actors for minor roles, new openings and closings, new eyecatches, new animation for the Ki blasts, and almost no filler.

Yep. It's "just" edited down Z. A summary of sorts. Anyone could've done with with Windows Movie Maker and a little too much free time and it would've been the exact same thing.

I'm going to break this down, in no specific order.

Opening/closing themes and eyecatches are, really, supplemental materials. When you get to the actual show, 90% of the actual footage is being reused.

The new animation is just a re-do of an element of the original show, a new "special effect". The new Star Trek DVDs(and Blu-Rays) with upgraded special effects aren't a compilation of a new show, and people would find the enterprise suspect if they slapped a new name on the box.

Almost no filler is the "cut down". It's not an addition, it is taking something out. Like saying that the Director's Cut and the Theatrical Cut of a movie are completely different entities. Yes they have their differences. Those differences are in the editing.

The voicework is dealing with the same script, it mainly is done to allow a full, seamless stereo mix. The music is a similar issue, you can't just cut in the middle of a song, they had to slap some new music on there. These are the most valid arguments, but I think when placed on top of a new edit of old footage using an old script, the show really is just Z again. A different experience, yes, and one that you can end up preferring, but the idea that Kai is a brand new show altogether seems extremely suspect to me.

[Kendamu]

Sorry, you just can't convince me. I was watching some Dragonbox Z last night while listening to the podcast and Mike used some Kai music in a transition. After that point, I was like, "Man, I really wanna watch Kai now!" So, I threw some Dragonball Kai on and, while it is the same story and mostly the same animation, it felt completely different and fresh watching Kai instead of Z because of all that stuff I listed before in addition to the pacing.

If Kai was "just Z again" then I'd have kept my Dragonbox Z disc playing because it wouldn't have been any different one way or the other. If it was "just Z again" then I wouldn't have a preference.

[SuperSaiyan3Goku]

Figured I'd throw my two cents into the "Funimation-acquires-Kai" news.

I do like the dub cast, not so much with the Faulconer score, in the series. I keep most of it on my Ipod, cause I like epic-sounding rock music. But I do have some memories of watching the series, and on occasion I would watch certain scenes with the dub music (Goku's SSJ3 transformation scene, for example) and other scenes that just seem epic with that music in the background. So it's coming from the music standpoint, not just the series.

Now about Kai. I would watch the dub, just with a new script, and keeping Kai's current score. If they change the voices, it would just mess up my whole perception of the dub and the voices that could be really good with a great script. And I like the music, so keep it in. Kaypleasethanks.

[lost in thought]

@Kendamu:
So, rather than engage rational discourse you're going to play the "you can't convince me" card and shut the door on it? Smooth. But I'll be damned if that beats me.

Okay now, so you feel that it's 'completely different' and 'fresh' and that automatically makes it as such? You do realize that your reasoning is flawed from the start, by being based on nothing more than anecdote and abject reasoning, right? See, addressing how a product makes you feel and what sort of response it engendered in you with exposure is little more than anecdotal of the effect said product has on you, and is rather meaningless when dealing in concepts that don't necessarily depend upon individual interpretation to give them weight and substance. Something that the discrepancy in question here does not place emphasis upon.

Of course, if we should give individual perspective weight and meaning far beyond its inherent value, then maybe we ought to take it up a notch and use the community to gauge, I don't know, any other concept that is by itself unhindered by opinion, and is what it is, regardless; just because we can. But that wouldn't work, because its fucking stupid.

Now, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that my intention isn't to slight on your enjoyment of the show (and if you do, more power to you) nor to say that it shouldn't be percieved in a different way than Z is; but that perception can only really go so far. See, when you get right down to the brass tax, shit like subjective personal interpretation and all the ancillary bullshit of the product are meaningless, and to strip that away is, as previously noted, leaving you with only doctored and recut video, and legitimately new audio. So, yeah, that does indicate there's new elements within the product, but a new product isn't made simply because there's been tweaking and replacement.

What we're left with is a modified product by a company that clearly wanted to find an alternative means of getting its fanbase into buying yet another product based on a beloved franchise, without actually putting a great deal of effort into. And as I write that, the concept sounds familiar. I wonder where I've heard that before....


And finally, I wanted to say something different from what I already had, something meaningful or at least funny, with regard to your whole "z disc" thing. But that point is silly, and you should feel bad for even writing it.


Well then, because I am tired of writing now, I am going to end this with an anecdote of my own, and one of a different variety:
What DragonBall Kai really is, is Z. But rather, it's DragonBall Z after developing an eating disorder to combat its obesity, and after having lost a lot of weight it changed its name in an attempt to escape the past and be happy. But as a result of crippling emotional issues and a striking lack of confidence in itself, it now has taken to whoring itself up in a desperate cry for affection, only serving to allow itself to be taken advantage of, since it doesn't know any other way to garner the attention it so desires.

In short: Kai is a whore. I wonder what the reaction will be....
(And for the record, my perspective is: It's boring, and I don't wanna watch it. If I wanted to watch DBZ without the filler, I'd just fast forward. Or shoot myself.)

[B]

In short: Kai is a whore. I wonder what the reaction will be....
(And for the record, my perspective is: It's boring, and I don't wanna watch it. If I wanted to watch DBZ without the filler, I'd just fast forward. Or shoot myself.)

Or save yourself the trouble and just skip to the next episode when the eyecatch shows up.

And really, couldn't anything with an original source adapted by Toei be called a whore?

[Castor Troy]

Anyone could've done with with Windows Movie Maker and a little too much free time and it would've been the exact same thing.

Yep!

(OK, not so much on the Windows Movie Maker...)

Toei should have contacted us to shorten the series.

[SparkyPantsMcGee]

...with brand new music from a seasoned Dragonball composer, new acting from the original core cast, brand new actors for minor roles, new openings and closings, new eyecatches, new animation for the Ki blasts, and almost no filler.

Yep. It's "just" edited down Z. A summary of sorts. Anyone could've done with with Windows Movie Maker and a little too much free time and it would've been the exact same thing.

I'm going to break this down, in no specific order.

Opening/closing themes and eyecatches are, really, supplemental materials. When you get to the actual show, 90% of the actual footage is being reused.

The new animation is just a re-do of an element of the original show, a new "special effect". The new Star Trek DVDs(and Blu-Rays) with upgraded special effects aren't a compilation of a new show, and people would find the enterprise suspect if they slapped a new name on the box.

Almost no filler is the "cut down". It's not an addition, it is taking something out. Like saying that the Director's Cut and the Theatrical Cut of a movie are completely different entities. Yes they have their differences. Those differences are in the editing.

The voicework is dealing with the same script, it mainly is done to allow a full, seamless stereo mix. The music is a similar issue, you can't just cut in the middle of a song, they had to slap some new music on there. These are the most valid arguments, but I think when placed on top of a new edit of old footage using an old script, the show really is just Z again. A different experience, yes, and one that you can end up preferring, but the idea that Kai is a brand new show altogether seems extremely suspect to me.

Yea, but all these same elements make the American Dub a different show to some people on this forum so why can't the same logic be applied to Kai?

DUB: New Script+New Music+ Plus New Voice Actors= different show

but at the same time...

Kai: New Script+New Music+ Plus New Voice Actors=/= different show

I see both sides but really it's up to user interpretation. With all the changes Toei has made, technically Kai is its own new show and Kendamu is correct. However, you are also correct because well technically it's just Z all over again. The show is whatever you want it to be, for me, it's just another hole in my already Swiss(ah puns!) wallet.

[Adamant]

DUB: New Script+New Music+ Plus New Voice Actors= different show

but at the same time...

Kai: New Script+New Music+ Plus New Voice Actors=/= different show

Well, with Kai it's Same Script With Some Scenes Cut + New Music + Plus Mostly The Same Voice Actors.

[Gaffer Tape]

Okay, earlier in this thread I said that, as an original version fan who doesn't watch the dub anyway, I was generally okay with Linda Young as Freeza. However, I was basing that on my old season 3 memory of the slightly pitch modulated final form Freeza they used there. Having just gotten my Dragon Box, I spot checked the dub only to find that unmodulated, Linda Young's voice seems way too high-pitched. Just wanted to throw that in there.