My hatred of Dragonball Kai

[theoriginalbilis]

My reasons for disliking Kai are mostly personal. I like the dub and the new music, but after buying the majority of DBZ twice (and the manga in it's entirety), it's an irrelevant product for this older fan. It's incomplete (no early DB or Buu saga), and still has inconsistent animation quality even for a late 2000's show. I do think the show would be far more successful if they reanimated the whole show from scratch (like the Jump special or PtEtSS).

It's smarter for me as a financially-stretched DBZ fan to stick with my almost-complete Dragon Boxes for DBZ. Even a better dub can't convince to buy basically the same show over again, as I've liked the Japanese version ever since I watched VHS fansubs back in 1999. But I do like that new dub. I am looking to see what Ocean can do if that dub ever sees the light of day. I will say this, Kai is a great choice for getting old fans back into DBZ who have maybe left the scene as well as bringing new fans.

[TheBlackPaladin]

I love that Kai is bringing in new fans. It's so cool to see all these younger kids getting into Kai. You sort of feel like you're born again, because you think back to that time as a kid when you were channel-flipping, accidentally came across DBZ, and thought it was the coolest thing you had ever seen so far.

[thedarkuniter]

I agree about it drawing new viewers. I remember seeing bits of Z however not the whole show and it wasn't 'til later I started being in the series again. They're also really lucky to have an accurate dub this time around as well. The music though, they might get into future arguments over that.

[dbgtFO]

I don't hate Dragon Ball Kai. I find it enjoyable, but all in all I prefer Z. I guess it's really only in America that it was "needed."

[Ketchup_Revenge]

The thing I enjoy the most about the Kai English Dub is the recast. I absolutely hated Stephanie Nadolny as Gohan, and it was because of her that I hated Gohan's character in general. I even liked Seffron Henderson in the Ocean dub better than her. She made Gohan sound like a spoiled bitch who chain-smoked all day.

I'm not a huge fan of the theme songs, but whatever. That's why there's a "next scene" button on your DVD remote.

Either way, the still inconsitent animation quality that plagued the original anime series is still present, and is present if not more so in Kai. Some scenes you can tell were completely re-animated, while others stayed the same, or were only altered slightly from the original.

[AgitoZ]

I don't hate Dragon Ball Kai. I find it enjoyable, but all in all I prefer Z. I guess it's really only in America that it was "needed."

Personally, I believe the idea behind Kai was needed everywhere. An adaptation of the Saiyan arc-Boo arc, that's closer to the manga and with filler and padding removed? Yes, please.

The final product that came out of it was a lot to be desired.

[Luke Groundwalker]

Kai also should've started where the manga did imo. Dragonball had quite a lot of filler in it already and could be slimmed down quite easily.

[sangofe]

Kai also shoulded started where the manga did imo. Dragonball had quite a lot of filler in it already and could be slimmed down quite easily.

"Shoulded"?

[TheBlackPaladin]

I don't hate Dragon Ball Kai. I find it enjoyable, but all in all I prefer Z. I guess it's really only in America that it was "needed."

Personally, I believe the idea behind Kai was needed everywhere. An adaptation of the Saiyan arc-Boo arc, that's closer to the manga and with filler and padding removed? Yes, please.

The final product that came out of it was a lot to be desired.

I wouldn't have minded seeing a better dub of the Boo arc, but I always thought ending DBZ with the Cell arc would have been more appropriate. I always hated how abrupt and unsatisfying DBZ's ending was. I sympathize with Toriyama since he was stressed and clearly running out of ideas because he was being forced by his editor to write the manga at that point, but that doesn't make the ending any better. Goku's sacrifice and death at the end of the Cell arc mean so much more now that he's going to stay dead.

[jjgp1112]

Actually, Toriyama said that the Buu saga was the easiest for him to write because he had so little editor intervention.

[The Tori-bot]

The only thing I hate about Kai is that it never f*cking finished.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Actually, Toriyama said that the Buu saga was the easiest for him to write because he had so little editor intervention.

Really? Interesting...so you're saying that I like his editor-enforced stuff more? That wouldn't be good...I feel very strongly that an artist should have total control over his project, so it would be quite ironic if I actually liked a story that was produced in violation of my artistic principles.

[Innagadadavida]

I believe that creativity is most strong when there are limits. When an artist can adapt at any given moment to a new set of parameters and still make something interesting and fun, it speaks volumes about that person's creativity. That being said... I prefer the Buu arc.

Oh yeah, I also dislike Kai for the blatant disregard of one third of the story.

[dbgtFO]

Actually, Toriyama said that the Buu saga was the easiest for him to write because he had so little editor intervention.

Really? Interesting...so you're saying that I like his editor-enforced stuff more? That wouldn't be good...I feel very strongly that an artist should have total control over his project, so it would be quite ironic if I actually liked a story that was produced in violation of my artistic principles.

Depends on which parts of the Cell Arc you like the most, since the guy, that gave Toriyama the most freedom was employed around the time Cell achieved perfection, so the Cell Arc's ending was most likely not influenced by any significant editor intervention.

[Luke Groundwalker]

Kai also shoulded started where the manga did imo. Dragonball had quite a lot of filler in it already and could be slimmed down quite easily.

"Shoulded"?

That was a genuine mistake, sorry. Fixed it.

But my point still stands, we should've gotten a proper slimming down of the entire manga story.

[vegetaslegacy15]

Actually, Toriyama said that the Buu saga was the easiest for him to write because he had so little editor intervention.

Did he really? I had no idea he ever said that. Can you show me a source please? you can send t in a PM.

But anyways yes I knd of wish they were going to do the Buu arc too but oh well.

[jjgp1112]

Actually, Toriyama said that the Buu saga was the easiest for him to write because he had so little editor intervention.

Did he really? I had no idea he ever said that. Can you show me a source please? you can send t in a PM.

But anyways yes I knd of wish they were going to do the Buu arc too but oh well.

http://kanzentai.com/intended_end.php?id=07

[MetaMoss]

I do think Kai's existence is pretty much meaningless other than the improved English dub. If Kai had shown up three years ago, I would've hated it. I used to be a HUGE dubbie, right down to the 'Kameyameya' and the 'Say-in', ever since DBZ first aired on CN in 1998. The Faulconer track was the music that scored my favorite show, and Linda Young the voice of one of my favorite villains. Then, one day, when I borrowed a Fusion Saga single from my library, I turned the subtitles on and the voices to Japanese. I was intrigued by these voices and music that defied the ones I knew and loved. Eventually, I came to prefer these voices, and after thorough watching of the early Z sagas in Japanese, I rejected the thing I knew as DBZ when I was a mere child. The Kai dub became the only version of DBZ I could watch in English, and it came at the right time, only a few months after I had completely turned my back on the old FUNi dub. So I believe that even the biggest lover of Faulconer can come to appreciate the Kai dub for what it is: the way FUNi should've done it from the start.
Don't take this as me jabbing at you, vegetasleagacy15, but just a way of saying that you can appreciate the Kai dub when you let go of nostalgia and see clearly. That's how it worked for me.

[Kendamu]

I wouldn't quite call Kai "meaningless" beyond the better dub. I, for one, an am absolute fan of the pacing. I was watching the DBZ Goku vs Cell fight the other day on DBox 5 and got absolutely bored with it enough to turn it off, head over to the Nicktoons website, and watch the latest episode of Kai they had on there.

What I noticed, once I got done snickering at Piccolo's theme being used as the recap music, I watched Vegeta show up, talk trash, transform, and beat the snot out of Cell for twenty minutes and noticed that I was actually having fun watching the show with misplaced Kikuchi music and all! That's right... fun!

I sort of got jaded with Kai after the lack of Boo arc and the mid-show music change for the dub, but now that the new Kai sets coming out this Fall will have a consistent Kikuchi score, I think I might actually pick it back up!

[vegetaslegacy15]

Actually, Toriyama said that the Buu saga was the easiest for him to write because he had so little editor intervention.

Did he really? I had no idea he ever said that. Can you show me a source please? you can send t in a PM.

But anyways yes I knd of wish they were going to do the Buu arc too but oh well.

http://kanzentai.com/intended_end.php?id=07

Oh thank you sir. much Obliged