Do you think Nicktoons will give Kai a break?

[Cowboy Dev]

What I mean is if they'll take a break from airing new episodes so they don't spoil a good thing all at once. I bring this up as I heard a rumor awhile back they were planning to take one after Trunks told Goku about the artifical humans. What do you guys think?

[TheGreatness25]

I think that's far into the series. They should take a break right after Goku defeats Freeza.

You have no idea how much it irks me that the home release is so far behind. I don't watch it on Nick Toons for a variety of reasons. One, I'm never home to watch it. Two, even if I was, I don't want to watch the censored version of it. Three, I like to watch it on my time, I'm not a kid anymore who waits for it to air like that.

ARGH! Why are the releases done so idiotically?! That's right, "idiotically!" I didn't even know if that was a real word, but damn it, it's not underlined, so it must be!

Back in the good old days, they would have the DVD release before the show aired. What happened to that? That sounds reasonable. Kind of like, "If you want to see new episodes, buy them! If not, screw you, and we'll show them to you on TV three months later!"

[RazorX]

I think it's certain they will take a break. I'd be very surprised if they didn't. Hopefully the break comes soon, so it gives FUNimation more time to dub Kai, and not rush it like mad as they are now.

I heard a rumor awhile back they were planning to take one after Trunks told Goku about the artifical humans.

That's exactly where the UK and Netherlands had their 2nd break. The first break was after Freeza transformed for the second time.

[JulieYBM]

They might, or they might not. I doubt it would change the release schedule. FUNimation can only produce so much content in the space of three or so months. They have many other titles to work on, as well. Toei Animation also probably is fearful of reverse importation and has stippulated that a certain release schedule.

[TheGreatness25]

If they keep banging out new episodes without taking a break, won't they surpass Japan's TV broadcast of it? As far as I know, Japan is only up to the episode where everyone is chasing Dr. Gero before he activates 16, 17, and 18. They'll definitely take a break. There is practically zero chance of Japan allowing DBZ here to surpass them. They probably didn't even give FUNimation the entire show yet for that reason.

[JulieYBM]

If they keep banging out new episodes without taking a break, won't they surpass Japan's TV broadcast of it? As far as I know, Japan is only up to the episode where everyone is chasing Dr. Gero before he activates 16, 17, and 18. They'll definitely take a break. There is practically zero chance of Japan allowing DBZ here to surpass them. They probably didn't even give FUNimation the entire show yet for that reason.

This weekend is where Piccolo decides to merge with God, actually.

I think it depends heavily on whether or not Toei Animation will give him the materials for episode #55. I think it's very possible that FUNimation currently only has the materials for the first fifty-four. It would become financially irresponsible in FUNimation's eyes to keep up with the Japanese airings because they would then have to call in the voice actors for one episode at a time, instead of multiple episodes a session. Of course, I could be completely wrong and FUNimation would take the hit to promote new episodes as "airing [x amount of] hours after the Japanese broadcast." That would be kind of interesting to see, actually. Assuming they catch up (which I sort of doubt will happen) they could literally air their edited dub episode on Saturday nights. I think Japan records episodes a month before they air so the other materials could conceivably be ready by then (assuming FUNimation receives all materials digitally).

[Cowboy Dev]

@TheGreatness25 - You would be surprised how much they allow. More so than Cartoon Network ever did.

Yeah, they'll probably take a break after the Freeza saga is all said and done. That will be a little over 50 episodes, plenty to run back to back in the months awaiting the Android/Cell saga and for the DVD releases to catch back up.

[Kai_fan]

Assuming that Kai continues to air once a week in Japan, and twice a week in the US (which WON'T happen for any number of reasons), there will HAVE to be a break.

If the current rate were to continue, the US broadcast would be caught up to the Japanese version at episode 99.

Because I was procrastinating a few days ago, I decided to plug some formulas into Excel to look at the distance between the broadcasts.

As you can see, we were 13 months behind at the beginning, as of this week's batch, we've cut the gap in half!


# US Airing Jap Airing Days Months
1 05/24/2010 04/05/2009 414 13
2 05/24/2010 04/12/2009 407 13
3 05/25/2010 04/19/2009 401 13
4 05/25/2010 04/26/2009 394 12
5 05/26/2010 05/03/2009 388 12
6 05/26/2010 05/10/2009 381 12
7 05/27/2010 05/17/2009 375 12
8 05/27/2010 05/24/2009 368 12
9 06/01/2010 05/31/2009 366 12
10 06/02/2010 06/07/2009 360 11
11 06/03/2010 06/14/2009 354 11
12 06/07/2010 06/21/2009 351 11
13 06/08/2010 06/28/2009 345 11
14 06/09/2010 07/05/2009 339 11
15 06/10/2010 07/12/2009 333 10
16 06/14/2010 07/19/2009 330 10
17 06/15/2010 08/02/2009 317 10
18 06/16/2010 08/09/2009 311 10
19 06/17/2010 08/16/2009 305 10
20 06/21/2010 08/23/2009 302 9
21 06/22/2010 08/30/2009 296 9
22 06/23/2010 09/06/2009 290 9
23 06/24/2010 09/13/2009 284 9
24 06/28/2010 09/20/2009 281 9
25 06/29/2010 09/27/2009 275 9
26 06/30/2010 10/04/2009 269 8
27 07/01/2010 10/11/2009 263 8
28 07/07/2010 10/18/2009 262 8
29 07/08/2010 10/25/2009 256 8
30 07/14/2010 11/01/2009 255 8
31 07/15/2010 11/08/2009 249 8
32 07/21/2010 11/15/2009 248 8
33 07/22/2010 11/22/2009 242 8
34 07/28/2010 11/29/2009 241 7
35 07/29/2010 12/06/2009 235 7
36 08/04/2010 12/13/2009 234 7
37 08/05/2010 12/20/2009 228 7
38 08/11/2010 12/27/2009 227 7
39 08/12/2010 01/10/2010 214 7
40 08/18/2010 01/17/2010 213 7
41 08/19/2010 01/24/2010 207 6
42 08/25/2010 01/31/2010 206 6
43 08/26/2010 02/07/2010 200 6
44 09/01/2010 02/14/2010 199 6
45 09/02/2010 02/21/2010 193 6
46 09/08/2010 02/28/2010 192 6
47 09/09/2010 03/07/2010 186 6
48 09/15/2010 03/14/2010 185 6
49 09/16/2010 03/21/2010 179 5
50 09/22/2010 03/28/2010 178 5
51 09/23/2010 04/04/2010 172 5
52 09/29/2010 04/11/2010 171 5
53 09/30/2010 04/18/2010 165 5
54 10/06/2010 04/25/2010 164 5
55 10/07/2010 05/02/2010 158 5
56 10/13/2010 05/09/2010 157 5
57 10/14/2010 05/16/2010 151 4
58 10/20/2010 05/23/2010 150 4
59 10/21/2010 05/30/2010 144 4
60 10/27/2010 06/06/2010 143 4
61 10/28/2010 06/13/2010 137 4
62 11/03/2010 06/20/2010 136 4
63 11/04/2010 06/27/2010 130 4
64 11/10/2010 07/11/2010 122 3
65 11/11/2010 07/18/2010 116 3
66 11/17/2010 07/25/2010 115 3
67 11/18/2010 08/01/2010 109 3
68 11/24/2010 08/08/2010 108 3
69 11/25/2010 08/15/2010 102 3
70 12/01/2010 08/22/2010 101 3
71 12/02/2010 08/29/2010 95 3
72 12/08/2010 09/05/2010 94 3
73 12/09/2010 09/12/2010 88 2
74 12/15/2010 09/19/2010 87 2
75 12/16/2010 09/26/2010 81 2
76 12/22/2010 10/03/2010 80 2
77 12/23/2010 10/10/2010 74 2
78 12/29/2010 10/17/2010 73 2
79 12/30/2010 10/24/2010 67 2
80 01/05/2011 10/31/2010 66 2
81 01/06/2011 11/07/2010 60 1
82 01/12/2011 11/14/2010 59 1
83 01/13/2011 11/21/2010 53 1
84 01/19/2011 11/28/2010 52 1
85 01/20/2011 12/05/2010 46 1
86 01/26/2011 12/12/2010 45 1
87 01/27/2011 12/19/2010 39 1
88 02/02/2011 12/26/2010 38 1
89 02/03/2011 01/02/2011 32 1
90 02/09/2011 01/09/2011 31 1
91 02/10/2011 01/16/2011 25 0
92 02/16/2011 01/23/2011 24 0
93 02/17/2011 01/30/2011 18 0
94 02/23/2011 02/06/2011 17 0
95 02/24/2011 02/13/2011 11 0
96 03/02/2011 02/20/2011 10 0
97 03/03/2011 02/27/2011 4 0
98 03/09/2011 03/06/2011 3 0

[Ultimate_DB_Fan]

What I mean is if they'll take a break from airing new episodes so they don't spoil a good thing all at once. I bring this up as I heard a rumor awhile back they were planning to take one after Trunks told Goku about the artifical humans. What do you guys think?

To me, they should just continue dubbing and pumping out episodes at the pace they're currently going. With only two episodes premiering a week now, that's more than enough time to get the voice work done.

Nicktoons taking a break with the show is inevitable, but I would hope it happens after Goku beats Freeza. I really wanna see how the performances come out. It may be the broadcast version, but it's still an overall new experience.

[Kai_fan]

ARGH! Why are the releases done so idiotically?! That's right, "idiotically!" I didn't even know if that was a real word, but damn it, it's not underlined, so it must be!

Back in the good old days, they would have the DVD release before the show aired. What happened to that?

The good old days of what?

Not DBZ itself, certainly.

In fact, I can't think of a single TV show which was released to DVD before it was shown on air.

[Cowboy Dev]

I think he's right though. I remember buying some of Funimation VHS releases of the Cell arc MONTHS before they aired on Toonami. Same thing with the Boo arc.

[Eddie]

In fact, I can't think of a single TV show which was released to DVD before it was shown on air.

Family Guy has had specials release on DVD prior to airing them on television.

[Mewzard]

I got the Trunks VHS (including paying for that third Burger King tape and the special) before they aired on TV.

As for why they aren't releasing the Blu-Ray/DVDs sooner is simple, Toei likely fears fans will import the cheaper US releases *not like the quality is lacking, the Japanese audio is there, and the DVDs are even full screen*. It's not as much a problem with the Dragon Boxes as Toei already did their releases of them.

[xzero]

In fact, I can't think of a single TV show which was released to DVD before it was shown on air.

Family Guy has had specials release on DVD prior to airing them on television.

Actually, the original run of DBZ regularly had episodes available on DVD before they aired on TV. As Mewzard pointed out, the Trunks material was available ahead of time (summer of 2000, and the episodes aired that September). I think the Android stuff came out that August, at least in part. After that, they went back and started releasing the Freeza Saga episodes on the singles, one every two weeks.

Later, during the Buu stuff, I distinctly remember the DVD releases for the Majin Vegeta episodes being nearly concurrent with the TV airings (I picked up Babidi: Rivals the weekend after seeing "Vegeta's Pride" on TV). Because of the Toonami cutoff after Vegeta blew himself up, there was a good amount of down time for the series, going until the following September. Funimation released several DVDs in that time period, and actually the episode "Final Atonement" was the last one to ever air before receiving a DVD release, even if it was only by a few days. The first Kid Buu episode (which was the last one to air in the fall of 2002 season, as they held Kid Buu over until March of 2003) aired one week after the first 6 Kid Buu episodes were released on DVD. In fact, the entire Kid Buu saga was finished releasing two weeks before the episodes aired. As a final note, except maybe for the "Lost Episodes," GT was--I think--always ahead on DVD.

[TheGreatness25]

Exactly what I meant. When I said "good old days," that didn't mean that I was implying DBZ had the most perfect dub lol I meant that it was nice buying it months before airing. Wish it was like that now.

[RazorX]

There's a much bigger difference between the DVDs/Blu Rays and the broadcasts in Funi's dub of Kai than before. I think one reason for the delay may be that if people buy the Blu rays before the episodes are broadcasted, many people might not bother to watch the broadcasts, which will result in a drop in ratings. If that happens, CW may even reconsider their decision to broadcast DBZ Kai on their network.

Whereas now, people who only want to see the uncut version may be inclined to watch the broadcasts alongside those who would watch the broadcasts anyway, especially considering the voice changes. When the DVD/Blu rays are released, those who watch the broadcasts will want to watch the DVDs for the "less censored" dialogue. It's a way of persuading people to watch both versions.

Even Funi's voice actors are thrilled at the fact that DBZ Kai set records on Nicktoons as the most watched premier of a show ever. It's in Funi's interests to try and keep the ratings high. From a business perspective, it makes sense to delay the releases.

[Kendamu]

If they take a break after Freeza is defeated then I won't mind at all. If I had it my way, I'd leave our broadcast just a little behind Japan's broadcast and then drop the new episodes to once-per-week just like Japan. That way we could get the new episodes on US TV while they're still relatively new.

Also, an uncensored* simulcast online with subs would be cool by that point, too.

* Yes, we know Goku didn't have a hole in his chest. Shut the fuck up.

[Kai_fan]

All good points about DBZ's latter season releases. I guess a lot of that stuff DID come out earlier than the broadcast.

However, aside from a few isolated examples, DVD-before-TV is highly anomalous among TV shows in general.

I understand that it's frustrating, but it's industry standard!

I've been waiting to watch the 4th season of Dexter for almost a year, and the DVD is still two weeks away...

[Ishtar318]

Potential bad news. TVGuide specifically lists repeats for all of next week. Mon-Thurs 8pm airings are specifically listed as the first 4 episodes. If we don't get any promos about a new episode for next week, it'll be confirmed that Nicktoons is finally taking a break. When new episodes start again could be as early as sometime this fall, or even next spring/summer at the latest.

[DB_Fan1991]

Potential bad news. TVGuide specifically lists repeats for all of next week. Mon-Thurs 8pm airings are specifically listed as the first 4 episodes. If we don't get any promos about a new episode for next week, it'll be confirmed that Nicktoons is finally taking a break. When new episodes start again could be as early as sometime this fall, or even next spring/summer at the latest.

Well I didn't see anything about new episodes at all. So I guess that means we may have to wait until August's Nicktoons schedule comes out.