Kai Continues Outside Japan

[Tanooki Kuribo]

At first I thought this made sense because the 2013 movie is set around the later part of the series. But it's not airing in Japan so, I don't know what's going on. Perhaps FUNimation is funding this? It seems a little out of their league though, right? Even if this was within the realm of their financial capabilities, it doesn't make sense for them to fund a show that just did OK.

Perhaps Toei is just creating this to sell overseas for some extra money? I mean, they did sell it to almost every contry that aired DBZ originally, I'm sure there's money to be made in that aspect....? ::shrugs::

[Travis Touchdown]

I am conflicted over this. I was satisfied with Kai ending with Cell, but I enjoy seeing Gohan as an adult. I wonder how many episodes it will be. The original Buu Saga clocks in at, what? 96 episodes? I wonder if they'll be able to cut that down to 50-60 or so.

[Li'l Lemmy]

This has turned out to be quite a year for DragonBall.

I really thought that Kai had seen its end, though. So glad to see that I (and most everyone else) was mistaken.


~Da Lemmy

[Kaboom]

Oh geez. Now I've got myself wondering if the series' continuation could provide incentive for Ultimate Butoden to get a "better-late-than-never" western release sometime next year. I think I need to rein in my shiny-eyed hopefulness a bit before I get hurt.

[Super Sayian Prime]

Hmm, could the Japanese version of Boo air on FujiTV's secondary channel? They were airing repeats of Kai, and if the show isn't big enough for a broadcast on the main network, and run elsewhere wouldn't be unexpected.

[Li'l Lemmy]

Hope is what got us Boo arc Kai. T'taint nothin' wrong with a little hope.

Well, and a lot of money. I'm sure that money did some talking, here.


~Da Lemmy

[kei17]

Considering that this is clearly aimed at the international market, I wonder whether Toei is censoring it themselves. Also, maybe the opening is going to be one-minute-long.

[TheMajinRedComet]

Hopefully the funimation release will match up with the first half. In general I think this is good news, The BUU ARC could use a trim more then most DBZ arcs.

[JulieYBM]

Doesn't Kai still air on FujiTV Two? Maybe this will air there?

[TheBlackPaladin]

Well, with regard to the Japanese performances, I think DBZ was better than Kai. So I'm mostly interested in the inevitable English dub. Having said that, there's one thing I'm REALLY hoping for on the Japanese end..........for the love of God, bring Kageyama back to do a new opening! Please, please, PLEASE, Toei!

[ssgOverlord]

That news about recording more DBZ made me think of everything but Kai. I'm happy though! Maybe I'll pick up the remaining sets I need this Christmas, and hopefully there will be a sale on the parts through Rightstuf's Christmas sale or something.

But having a Japanese audio track makes sense. Offering an international product with nothing but an audio track with background music and sound effects, along with a stack of scripts, would make it a little less appealing to licensors. Although I do wonder, what is the demand for more Kai in Japan?

[TheBlackPaladin]

Although I do wonder, what is the demand for more Kai in Japan?

From what I gather, the demand is relatively non-existent in Japan. Which makes their decision not to air the Kai-Buu arc completely understandable.

I totally get why they're recording Japanese vocals, though. Firstly, on a production level, as previously mentioned, dubbing companies need something to go off of. Secondly, for the inevitable bilingual home video releases, there will be a demand for it. Finally, in the case of some countries like Portugal, they're doing a sub-only TV airing, so they're not going to pick it up unless they have vocals to sub. Something tells me a video with only music, sound effects, and subtitles with no voices...wouldn't go over well on TV.

[JulieYBM]

Not to mention, again, Toei can easily just air this on FujiTV Two with the other episodes they have been repeating. Voila.

EDIT: Ack, looks like that wouldn't happen, according to Hujio.

[Cold Skin]

That's just fantastic!!
I didn't even believe it could happen anymore!!
Really, really happy!

Let's hope they have new music once more (I dare to hope they'll hire Takaki after what his amazing job on Ultimate Tenkaichi's reanimated scenes).
At the very least, it means new openings and endings!

[CashmanX]

*Dances*

I wonder if they're going to make a new animated opening as well....

[Hujio]

While I'm quite happy for this announcement, the webmaster part of me is really annoyed that the release and handling of Kai has officially become the most confusing thing ever. To try sit down and try to explain it to someone not familiar with the situation is a nightmare. On the other hand, the "completionist" in me is very happy, assuming they do indeed finish out the series. So, I'm just all over the place on this. More than anything I'm curious about the BGM, themes, actors, distribution, etc. So, basically everything.

[Solidus]

This is great news. I wonder if this is what Manga Entertainment meant by Toei making DBZ Kai announcements soon.

[Li'l Lemmy]

Kara Edwards as Goten, please. Don't make me go on a killing spree.


~Da Lemmy

[gmster]

The rumor is Funimation, Ocean, and Saban all chipped in to fund it. In Saban's case, that makes sense. Exclusive new Buu!Kai episodes would do well to boost the profile of their somewhat-struggling Vortexx block.

[Son Goku]

Makes sense to me. I had a feeling Kai's success in the international market would encourage Toei to continue it to the end of DBZ. This whole thing is very reminiscent of TMS continuing Sonic X for foreign countries, right down to recording a Japanese track even though the additional episodes never aired in Japan.

Saban Brands helping to fund this is definitely possible. As things stand, the rest of the Cell arc will only last Vortexx until July (unless they take a break after episode 78, like what CW4Kids was doing every 26 episodes), but add the Buu arc on top of that and they'll have the potential for new episodes through to 2015.

(Oh wow, this is the first time I've posted in 3 years...)