Kai Movies - Yay or Nay?

[Gonstead]

So lets say for discussion's sake that Toei decided to create more DB related movies under the Kai franchise using animation used like in Ultimate Tenkaichi's cutscenes.

Would you support it? Do we have enough movies as it is?

Personally, I would support it only if the movies could be canonically acceptable in the series. What really sucked about the movies for me were how difficult a good number of them couldn't fit into the series (Except for Cooler's Revenge, Bojack Unbound and Wrath of The Dragon + The Bardock and Trunks special's).

Heck, perhaps they could even go back to those movies and fix those mistakes so they can fit into canon since I always did like Cooler's movies the best.

So lets hear what you have to say.

[JulieYBM]

Of course, there's plenty to do and bringing back new stories to the franchise would be awesome. As hit-or-miss as the movies during the intial run were they were still adding something fun to the franchise. Since Toriyama doesn't particularly care and Toei no longer has to hold on to any prefixes of keeping the series popular (as they did with GT) they can pretty much do anything. I'd love to see a series/movie/OVA series that developed some of the characters from the latter half of the series more. Bra, Pan, Marron, Oob...even Gohan's classmates. Heck, a series could take a multi-segment format: one covering Gohan's school life (and eventual romance with Videl), one covering Goten and Trunks' shenanigans and eventual tenure in high school. Comedic segments about Gokuu and Chichi's married life now that the kids have grown up (or just aren't around), segments about Vegeta and Bulma's married life (with guest appearences by Bulma's parents), Mister Satan and Boo's super-bachelor adventures...

...Hell, why haven't we seen more of this stuff? This is comedy gold just waiting to be written.

[penguintruth]

Aw, I thought you meant cutting all scenes of Hiyaa Dragon out of the movies he's in and adding new music and voice acting.

[Savage68]

I was open to this idea up until you mentioned the neo computerized shiny-mation. My thumbs are down now.

[Chuquita]

I would love a DB movie that could rival OP's Strong World. :3

Probably won't happen though.

I'd settle for another Jump Super Anime Tour special though, I really enjoyed Goku in that.
Speaking of, has anyone heard which series are getting animated shorts for this year's tour? I'm having a weird amount of trouble locating news on it.

[Dorexx]

I would love any well-written DB related story, but the animation and that poor coloring strategy they're using are a big awful insult.

[sangofe]

With Kai flopping both in Japan and internationally, I never see this happen; I'd even go as far to say that I never see Dragonball being revived again... But... I would love more Dragonball regardless if it's via DB, DBZ, DBZ K or yes, even DBGT - an OVA about Goku and Vegeta Jr. wouldn't be displeasing.

[DragonBalllKaiHD]

With Kai flopping both in Japan and internationally, I never see this happen; I'd even go as far to say that I never see Dragonball being revived again... But... I would love more Dragonball regardless if it's via DB, DBZ, DBZ K or yes, even DBGT - an OVA about Goku and Vegeta Jr. wouldn't be displeasing.

..... There's only one international broadcast of Dragonball Kai, and that would be U.S. Kai is doing extremely well here. It's a 2nd revival of DBZ.

[Michsi]

With Kai flopping both in Japan and internationally,

Did it really do that bad? I remember a chart floating around with Kai doing extremely well internationally.

I just hope that Toei realizes that Kai's lack of financial success was their fault for the most part. I doubt it has much to do with the franchise itself.

I just don't understand how one of the oldest and richest animation studios (at least that's what I read, correct me if I'm wrong )
can produce some of the cheapest quality out there.

[JulieYBM]

Toei has been trying to clean up their act a bit lately, particularly with their theatrical films. They're trying to expand into overseas by expanding into CG films (One Piece has a second CG film coming out soon, a CG Saint Seiya and Captain Harlock are on the way, too) and they also have a lot of their eggs placed into the upcoming film adaptation of Tezuka Osamu's Buddha. Much of their budget for the TV market, though, is going to Pretty Cure and Toriko. Toei in general seems to shy away from hiring free-lance animators, though, which is a shame considering how many genius free-lancers are in Japan. I think Toei wants to focus on building the skill set of their TAP studio, too, which might explain why they're reluctant to use free-lancers in Japan and taking on too many titles at once.

For its time Dragon Ball had a pretty huge budget. The animation was consistent and well done, even when Last House became terrible the series was still making use of many, many highly talented key animators. I think Toei's afraid of having to try to live up to that level of quality again, which is why they simply re-used the older animation for Kai. Some of Dragon Ball's most influencial key animators are also working on other titles these days, too. Sometimes Shida Naotoshi manages to sneak in, but otherwise Yamamuro Tadayoshi is the most consistently used veteran animator these days (because he's the character designer) and other than Ultimate Blast's opening that doesn't seem to be changing soon.

[funrush]

I'd love to see a series/movie/OVA series that developed some of the characters from the latter half of the series more. Bra, Pan, Marron, Oob...even Gohan's classmates.

Heck, a series could take a multi-segment format: one covering Gohan's school life (and eventual romance with Videl), one covering Goten and Trunks' shenanigans and eventual tenure in high school.

I would buy these literally the second they get released.

[Attitudefan]

I was open to this idea up until you mentioned the neo computerized shiny-mation. My thumbs are down now.

Yeah with art that looks nothing like Toriyama's! How's it it true Dragonball then if it doesn't present itself to be as authentic as possible?

[JulieYBM]

Yeah with art that looks nothing like Toriyama's! How's it it true Dragonball then if it doesn't present itself to be as authentic as possible?

Toriyama's art is hardly ever consistent. His style was (and still it) always changing. Yamamuro's been key animating Dragon Ball since the beginning of the first TV series, he knows what he's doing. This is simply how the art style has evolved.

[Savage68]

I was open to this idea up until you mentioned the neo computerized shiny-mation. My thumbs are down now.

Yeah with art that looks nothing like Toriyama's! How's it it true Dragonball then if it doesn't present itself to be as authentic as possible?

I wasn't commenting on accuracy, only on how crap I think it looks compared to... just about any of the art styles in the DB/Z/GT series. There are so many other character models that I would rather look at than the ones in every animated feature since Budokai 2's intro.

[B]

How would this be any different from a Dragon Ball movie without the Kai label? Animation is done digitally now, the Kai OPs/EDs don't look the way they do because that was a stylistic choice.

[Attitudefan]

Yeah with art that looks nothing like Toriyama's! How's it it true Dragonball then if it doesn't present itself to be as authentic as possible?

Toriyama's art is hardly ever consistent. His style was (and still it) always changing. Yamamuro's been key animating Dragon Ball since the beginning of the first TV series, he knows what he's doing. This is simply how the art style has evolved.

But they could be consistent to how they look in each arc. They still keep consistent to the old rounded style of Original dragonball (see video games) but not DBZ. It's frustrating for me! I like art, I consider myself an artist in my own respect and to see what they do now is a slap in the face.

[kei17]

Yeah with art that looks nothing like Toriyama's! How's it it true Dragonball then if it doesn't present itself to be as authentic as possible?

Toriyama's art is hardly ever consistent. His style was (and still it) always changing. Yamamuro's been key animating Dragon Ball since the beginning of the first TV series, he knows what he's doing. This is simply how the art style has evolved.

But Yamamuro's current art style does not capture any of Toriyama's styles in any periods. It just looks like his own, and honestly I hate that. I've never seen almost any Japanese fans liking his recent artworks.

[Attitudefan]

Yeah with art that looks nothing like Toriyama's! How's it it true Dragonball then if it doesn't present itself to be as authentic as possible?

Toriyama's art is hardly ever consistent. His style was (and still it) always changing. Yamamuro's been key animating Dragon Ball since the beginning of the first TV series, he knows what he's doing. This is simply how the art style has evolved.

But Yamamuro's current art style does not capture any of Toriyama's styles in any periods. It just looks like his own, and honestly I hate that. I've never seen almost any Japanese fans liking his recent artworks.

Thank you! Thank you! That's exactly right! Just look at the characters compared to the manga!

One of the best scenes to pick out is when Nappa kills Piccolo in Ultimate Tenkaichi. Nappa looks the worst as he doesn't resemble any period of Toriyama's style at all! He just looks awful!

[JulieYBM]

Yeah with art that looks nothing like Toriyama's! How's it it true Dragonball then if it doesn't present itself to be as authentic as possible?

Toriyama's art is hardly ever consistent. His style was (and still it) always changing. Yamamuro's been key animating Dragon Ball since the beginning of the first TV series, he knows what he's doing. This is simply how the art style has evolved.

But Yamamuro's current art style does not capture any of Toriyama's styles in any periods. It just looks like his own, and honestly I hate that. I've never seen almost any Japanese fans liking his recent artworks.

It doesn't need to capture Toriyama's multiple styles. Toei's been doing that for twenty years. Yamamuro is now forming his own new era for the franchise's art. There isn't much point in trying to copy Toriyama's art absolutely perfectly, panel-for-panel, a second or third time. The current stuff Yamamuro supervises is refreshing for that very reason, it sets itself apart from what has come before without being completely unfamiliar.

[sangofe]

With Kai flopping both in Japan and internationally, I never see this happen; I'd even go as far to say that I never see Dragonball being revived again... But... I would love more Dragonball regardless if it's via DB, DBZ, DBZ K or yes, even DBGT - an OVA about Goku and Vegeta Jr. wouldn't be displeasing.

..... There's only one international broadcast of Dragonball Kai, and that would be U.S. Kai is doing extremely well here. It's a 2nd revival of DBZ.

Someone is not educated and tries to play smart without knowing what he's talking about it. Kai is being broadcasted in Brazil, France, Mexico, Korea, Thailand, and Spain as well, plus I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple of contries. Internationally, in overall, it is actually doing bad. Quite bad compared to how DBZ did at its time, and it is not regarded too highly; in Italy they're not even gonna bother importing it.