Buu Saga Kai

[Hujio]

I'm really enjoying all the speculation and discussion going on, but I figured I'd jump in and start clearing some stuff up. First off, for those that hope there won't actually be two different versions and that it may turn out to be false, I'm sad to say that that ship has pretty much sailed. There will be an "international" version (aka "The Final Chapters") for everywhere outside of Japan, and of course the Japanese version. At this point, it's happening. "But why?", you ask. Well, since I can't just outright tell you everything due to certain constraints, let's just take a look at the timeline of known/documented events leading up to Kai. I think this may help a lot of people out with what happened. I've also included some of my own commentary, so enjoy that.

• 27 March 2011 - Dragon Ball Kai broadcast ends in Japan
• 01 January 2012 - Broadcast of new episodes of Dragon Ball Z Kai ends on Nicktoons; series continues in reruns
• April 2012 - Saban purchases 4Kids' assets including first 52 episodes of Dragon Ball Z Kai; no additional episodes licensed
  [It's important to note this because now new episodes are only licensed to air in the U.S. on Nicktoons. More on that in about a year.]
• Mid-2012 - Sources indicate FUNimation comes to an agreement with Toei Animation to produce additional episodes of Dragon Ball Kai
  [Every source I've talked to has said FUNimation was the main company that pushed for the continuation of Kai. However, no one knows for sure if Toei wasn't already considering reviving the series, but I'm sure some incentive helped. Also note that I've made an assumption about the date here, but this is most likely where it fits in the timeline.]
• 02 November 2012 - Toshio Furukawa and Mayumi Tanaka let slip that the production of Kai is continuing in Japan; indicate it will not air in Japan (solely intended for international release)
  [At this point in time, there was absolutely no intention of having Kai air in Japan. I cannot stress this point enough. It was solely being created due to international demand and their willingness to purchase the product. And for those that have asked, yes, the Japanese cast did record all the equivalent lines for the "international" version.]
• 11 January 2013 - Christopher Sabat confirms at IchibanCon that Dragon Ball Z Kai has been planned to continue thru the Buu arc
• 14 March 2013 - Christopher Sabat says at Oz ComicCon that "FUNimation have just licensed 66 more episodes of Kai"
  [Mr. Sabat speaketh the truth, although his numbers are a bit off.]
• 26 March 2013 - FUNimation denies claims of additional Dragon Ball Z Kai episodes on official Facebook page
  [Deny until you're allowed to confirm.]
• 12 April 2013 - Nicktoons does not renew their contract with FUNimation to broadcast Dragon Ball Z Kai
  [Dragon Ball Z Kai no longer has a place to call home on U.S. television.]
• 24 April 2013 - Sean Schemmel and Kyle Hebert announce they have begun/finished recording lines for the Majin Buu arc of Kai; comments almost immediately retracted
  [Again, deny until you're allowed to confirm.]
• 23 November 2013 - Australia's Madman Entertainment states on Facebook that Kai should be coming in 2014, as they're simply waiting for dubbing to be completed
  [It appears production is still underway.]
• Late-2013 to Early-2014 - Fuji TV decides to cancel Toriko; approaches Toei Animation about possible replacement series and they pitch a revival of Kai
  [The exact point in time this happened is unclear, but the fact that it happened is undeniable. An important point to make here is that most every new show on Fuji TV starts in the Spring, usually around April. -- What follows here is logical speculation on my part solely based on these known events. -- So now suddenly Toei Animation's gears start shifting; they've already fully produced an entire 69 episode series, including voices and score, and distributed it to other countries for dubbing, but Fuji TV only needs a weekly series that will run a year. So, should Toei recall the series from every country, scratch what's been fully produced, and then lose the majority of their investment by starting from scratch to cut down the episode count? Nope. Some brilliant person comes up with the idea of creating a new version for the Japanese market that will fit their constraints, and not lose them money. And voilà, two different versions are born!]
• 17 February 2014 - V-Jump announces Dragon Ball Kai will be returning to TV in Japan (replacing Toriko)
• 30 March 2014 - Toriko broadcast ends in Japan
• 06 April 2014 - Majin Buu arc of Dragon Ball Kai begins its broadcast in Japan
• 16 April 2014 - Toei Animation Europe announces "Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters" will be broadcast in various European countries; announces 69 total episodes
  [Now that Japan has Kai underway, other countries can finally start announcing its return elsewhere.]
• 24 May 2014 - FUNimation announces Dragon Ball Z Kai will be broadcast on Toonami in Fall 2014
  [FUNimation finally comes thru with a new home for their dub of Dragon Ball Z Kai.]

So yeah, that's the general gist of what happened based on what's been seen publicly. I'm hoping it's pretty clear that none of this was ever intended to screw over other countries, it was just caused by a monkey wrench being thrown right into the middle of everything. There was only ever supposed to be just one version of the Buu arc, but plans changed due to the circumstances. Unfortunately the plans didn't change until after everything was already produced. Personally, I'm more apt to hold the poor production and sloppy remastering against them over there being two versions. Does it suck? Yeah. But from a financial standpoint, from the perspective of every company involved, it makes logical business sense.

[Kid Buu]

12 April 2013 - Nicktoons does not renew their contract with FUNimation to broadcast Dragon Ball Z Kai and Dragon Ball GT
[Dragon Ball Z Kai no longer has a place to call home on U.S. television.]

GT too? I could have sworn I saw it on Nicktoons the other day.

[Valerius Dover]

Awesome, Hujio! Having inside information you can't share is quite a bummer, but thanks for clearing all this up. It's good to know the Japanese cast recorded the full version and everything. I don't know about everyone else, but I think this International Version deal sounds pretty good. This is going to be interesting. I guess that shouldn't cast too many doubts on Funimation dubbing it, but then again, they did outright say they weren't doing it. Maybe it's been canned or something?

[dan2026]

So does this basically mean the 'international' version will be choc full of filler?

Because the pacing of the current Buu arc Kai has been almost perfect.

[sintzu]

So does this basically mean the 'international' version will be choc full of filler?

Because the pacing of the current Buu arc Kai has been almost perfect.

I think it will have more and longer fights

[Ajay]

I predict many fan edits to fix the rushed Saiyaman arc to go along with the good stuff we're getting now.

Interesting information though. I guess it's cool that the only reason we have Boo Kai is due to international pressure. Go us?

[Hujio]

GT too? I could have sworn I saw it on Nicktoons the other day.

Yeah, you're right, it is still airing on Nicktoons. I had meant to remove that.

[Karrit]

Awesome, Hujio! Having inside information you can't share is quite a bummer, but thanks for clearing all this up. It's good to know the Japanese cast recorded the full version and everything. I don't know about everyone else, but I think this International Version deal sounds pretty good. This is going to be interesting. I guess that shouldn't cast too many doubts on Funimation dubbing it, but then again, they did outright say they weren't doing it. Maybe it's been canned or something?

Why wouldn't FUNimation dub the Buu saga? It would make sense with the rest of Kai going to be airing on Toonami this fall.

[Valerius Dover]

Why wouldn't FUNimation dub the Buu saga? It would make sense with the rest of Kai going to be airing on Toonami this fall.

Yeah, it would make the most sense, but they specifically denied that the Buu arc was ever coming to the US. It's one thing to say "I don't know anything" or "I know something but can't tell you" but outright denying it usually means no. True, it wouldn't make sense, but when have businesses ever made sense? Then again, I could be wrong and they're just trolling us to see how many people actually want it. I do, for one.

[Ajay]

Huh? Of course they're dubbing it. Huijo's post pretty much dictates that it's only being made due to them wanting more Kai to put out themselves. It also details the voice actors' comments about dubbing it that were retracted since FUNi will want to save the hype until they announce it officially themselves.

It's their biggest franchise, it'll be dubbed absolutely.

[Karrit]

Huh? Of course they're dubbing it. Huijo's post pretty much dictates that it's only being made due to them wanting more Kai to put out themselves. It also details the voice actors' comments about dubbing it that were retracted since FUNi will want to save the hype until they announce it officially themselves.

It's their biggest franchise, it'll be dubbed absolutely.

Gotcha. I was perplexed too based on my talk with Kyle back in 2013. He never confirmed the dub, but he did state he would be offered to reprise his role as Gohan. I'm a little surprised Sabat and Schemnel at first said they supposedly recorded lines. Usually, they are forbidden from talking about projects until FUNi makes an official announcement.

For example, I was texting Sonny about updates for one of his websites. He mentioned he was recording for something, but wouldn't say what it was at the time. He was reprising his role of Lupin for the Fujiko Mine series.

It would make sense for FUNi to deny so the hype died down (if that's possible) until they formally announce it.

[Tanooki Kuribo]

[The exact point in time this happened is unclear, but the fact that it happened is undeniable. An important point to make here is that most every new show on Fuji TV starts in the Spring, usually around April. -- What follows here is logical speculation on my part solely based on these known events. -- So now suddenly Toei Animation's gears start shifting; they've already fully produced an entire 69 episode series, including voices and score, and distributed it to other countries for dubbing, but Fuji TV only needs a weekly series that will run a year. So, should Toei recall the series from every country, scratch what's been fully produced, and then lose the majority of their investment by starting from scratch to cut down the episode count? Nope. Some brilliant person comes up with the idea of creating a new version for the Japanese market that will fit their constraints, and not lose them money. And voilà, two different versions are born!]

So, if I understand this correctly, Toei took the version of Kai that was already finished (the international version) and went back and cut things here and there so that it would fit into the span of a year? Hmm. That's pretty interesting. I'm glad I'm saving all these Dream 9 broadcast's. It might come in handy down the road.

[kei17]

If the rumor of two different versions is true, the Taiwanese or Catalan broadcast will probably be the first time to show the longer version in Japanese.

[JulieYBM]

This really is an odd situation. With how FUNimation releases their cartoons we won't be able to get full, unedited credits for the international version so it will be hard to tell exactly who did what.

[Valerius Dover]

This really is an odd situation. With how FUNimation releases their cartoons we won't be able to get full, unedited credits for the international version so it will be hard to tell exactly who did what.

Hm? I'm confused. Haven't they also credited the Japanese cast in Dragon Ball Z Kai so far? I don't see how that will change.

[ChibiGoku]

This really is an odd situation. With how FUNimation releases their cartoons we won't be able to get full, unedited credits for the international version so it will be hard to tell exactly who did what.

From what I recall, FUNimation's credits for Dragon Ball Kai are complete, so we should be safe there.

There's also to consider the other regional broadcasts may leave the Japanese credits intact.

[usotsuki]

That would be atypical; Catalonia, Galicia and France all aired the original run of DBK with no credits, and Mexico and Brazil with Funi credits.

[Puto]

There's also to consider the other regional broadcasts may leave the Japanese credits intact.

I doubt it. Toei pulled a TMS with the original Dragon Ball Kai and stripped off all credits from the video masters that they provided everyone with (even subtitled airings in France and Portugal were stripped clean), probably at the same time as they changed the logos to say 'Z Kai'.

[JulieYBM]

Even if FUNimation did translate the credits that wouldn't be entirely authoritative to have on hand for documentation and reference, to say nothing of opening the subject up to errors on their part. Hopefully some other region has the credits left intact.

[Puto]

Like I said, though, I'm pretty sure Japanese-credited footage isn't even provided to foreign licensors — even countries that are historically known for always keeping Japanese credits in anime had Kai textless.