Could Kai've been more condensed?

[matt0044]

Watching cartoons like Avatar/Korra and comparing their pacing within the episodes made me wonder if Kai could've been a bit more condensed with individual episodes (especially in the unlikely event of being totally reanimated) and cut out shots or scenes that clearly beat around the bush.

Thoughts?

[JulieYBM]

Well, it's possible. Hajime No Ippo managed two to four chapters an episode. If the series was animated and storyboarded from scratch they could've skipped and re-written a lot of the plot.

[B]

Well, they were working with pre-existing material that already took a fairly great deal of liberties.

[Gonstead]

Welll...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQorv4NJtaE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho_G54VIp7Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIz4diy9Ly8

[penguintruth]

They obviously had to keep some things in to make 22 min episodes that began and ended at a point that made sense for a weekly broadcast.

[theoriginalbilis]

I personally feel they did a pretty decent job with cutting down the original source material. Though I thought certain parts of the Saiyan arc could've been cut less. I'm hoping this Buu arc cut of Kai won't really be 60+ episodes, because it seems to me like they should be able to cut that down to less than 50 episodes easily.

[matt0044]

Welll...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQorv4NJtaE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho_G54VIp7Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIz4diy9Ly8

Oh yeah, I saw those. If you combined them all and then some, you could get a full episode with plenty of content and not merely one event.

[Ajay]

Welll...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQorv4NJtaE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho_G54VIp7Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIz4diy9Ly8

Whilst I appreciate the intentions behind these - they don't work on a filmic level. Anime will always be more drawn out than the manga because it's a totally different medium (as if that needs saying). In film, you need time to build tension, to let a viewer dwell on a moment or take in a scene. To edit it down to something like those links simply doesn't work - they're poorly edited, to put it bluntly.

Kai could have been more concisely edited in terms of some of the 'let's stare at each other angrily' scenes - particularly in the late Freeza and Cell arcs but I think it did a good job overall. I would have liked to have a seen a little less of the aforementioned and little more of the character side of things. There's certainly a lot of opportunity for that in the Boo saga so hopefully they can find a nice balance (without removing too much Majin Vegeta).

EDIT: I don't mean to offend. They're well edited in what you were trying to do which I assume was to make, quite literally, manga paced edits. You pull that off perfectly. I just mean to say that that kind of editing doesn't work for proper visual narrative.

[Gonstead]

Indeed. Though it may not work on a filmic level, they're there to see on what Kai could have literally been like if it really was just a Manga-cut paced story.

Combining those three cuts together, it only goes up to about 12 and a half minutes worth of an episode.

[Ajay]

Indeed. Though it may not work on a filmic level, they're there to see on what Kai could have literally been like if it really was just a Manga-cut paced story.

Combining those three cuts together, it only goes up to about 12 and a half minutes worth of an episode.

Must have taken some time. Nice job!

[dbzfan7]

They did a good job at cutting material. So as long as they keep this pace I will be happy.

I hope the Boo saga also gets some good cuts. But I am afraid for how long the Majin Vegeta vs SSJ2 Goku fight may be effected. It actually benefited from the extended time. I also wouldn't mind the Base Vegetto segment being intact as more Vegetto is always welcomed by me.

[matt0044]

I also wouldn't mind the Base Vegetto segment being intact as more Vegetto is always welcomed by me.

Oh yeah, definitely. Goku's first SSJ change was like one panel in the Manga but the Anime actually extended it into something dramatic as hell. Changes like that worked for sure.

[matt0044]

Honestly, I feel that Episode 1 of Kai could've eliminated the stuff with Gohan in the woods and started with the farmer encountering Raditz and ending with Goku and Piccolo teaming up. That kind of first episode would be very good, covering plenty of material and not wasting a single second.

[ABED]

Honestly, I feel that Episode 1 of Kai could've eliminated the stuff with Gohan in the woods and started with the farmer encountering Raditz and ending with Goku and Piccolo teaming up. That kind of first episode would be very good, covering plenty of material and not wasting a single second.

I don't think it's that simple.

[johnboy1]

I don't think it's that simple.

Why not? That's basically what Ocean did, and aside from Gohan spontaneously appearing on a tree branch, you'd never know anything was missing.

[matt0044]

I don't think it's that simple.

Why not? That's basically what Ocean did, and aside from Gohan spontaneously appearing on a tree branch, you'd never know anything was missing.

Yeah, to be far, for all their dubbing mistakes, Ocean was clever enough to skip and/or shorten the filler scenes.

[ABED]

It's not as easy as lifting stuff out that you deem unneccessary. The episodes still need to end in places that make sense.

[JulieYBM]

It's not as easy as lifting stuff out that you deem unneccessary. The episodes still need to end in places that make sense.

They could have combined the first two episodes into one easily. Without speeding up the film and maker finer cuts I've managed to trim the first episode into eight minutes. I could probably do even better if I wasn't using Windows Movie Maker.

Prologue: Raditz lands on Earth, kills a farmer.
Opening
Title Card
Blooma arrives at Kame House.
Raditz finds Piccolo and they have a go at it. Raditz leaves to find 'Kakarrot'.
Eye Catches
Son Gokuu arrives at Kame House with Gohan.
Raditz shows up and runs off with Gohan.

[matt0044]

It's not as easy as lifting stuff out that you deem unneccessary. The episodes still need to end in places that make sense.

They could have combined the first two episodes into one easily. Without speeding up the film and maker finer cuts I've managed to trim the first episode into eight minutes. I could probably do even better if I wasn't using Windows Movie Maker.

Prologue: Raditz lands on Earth, kills a farmer.
Opening
Title Card
Blooma arrives at Kame House.
Raditz finds Piccolo and they have a go at it. Raditz leaves to find 'Kakarrot'.
Eye Catches
Son Gokuu arrives at Kame House with Gohan.
Raditz shows up and runs off with Gohan.

Mind if you showed us? If not, okay.

[JulieYBM]

That would be breaking some rules, not to mention I have finished my work on the thing.