Is it worth it to own both Z and Kai.

[JEFFMAN219]

I already own all of Kai but I am now tempted to pick up the new dragon ball z Blu rays and even though they are not perfect it looks like a decent release from what I can tell. My question is, is it worth it to buy Z when I already own Kai and do many of you own both shows in its entirety?

[eledoremassis02]

Z is good if you like filler and the nostalgia factor Kai while same is kinda different (though I have not watched it with the replacement score)

[qjz123]

If you already own Kai and you're currently content with it then its better to hold off on buying Z until a 4:3 release eventually becomes available.

[EmmaWinters]

until a 4:3 release eventually becomes available.

If it becomes available. I'm holding my breath.

[Rukura]

I personally feel like it's worth owning all of Z, but not Kai. The best reason I can see for someone wanting all of Kai is for a good english dub.

Kai is a butchered version of Z, with re-drawn bits and pieces of the same Z bits and pieces. Then you get into Kai, with a different aspect ratio than the previous 98 episodes, worse looking footage and a terrible score.

Personal preferences aside, Z is worth it just for consistency alone.

[JEFFMAN219]

I personally feel like it's worth owning all of Z, but not Kai. The best reason I can see for someone wanting all of Kai is for a good english dub.

Kai is a butchered version of Z, with re-drawn bits and pieces of the same Z bits and pieces. Then you get into Kai, with a different aspect ratio than the previous 98 episodes, worse looking footage and a terrible score.

Personal preferences aside, Z is worth it just for consistency alone.

Ya Toei especially fucked up the buu saga of Kai with there cheap remastering and lazy edits.

[Cold Skin]

Well, that depends if you think Kai is too fast and doesn't have good music.
Cause that's the two main things that will change with Z: things will go much, MUCH slower than in Kai and music will be old.
Other changes are minor details that won't impact the experience so much.

From my own point of view, going from Z to Kai saves the show (it becomes faster, every episode feels like a step forward in the plot, the music has more relief and variety and is more intense and engaging), but going from Kai to Z is hell (things become slow like a snail, feeling like you're not moving forward and watching buy-some-time useless and sometimes stupid things, the music feels flat and boring, the extra adventures feel terribly "un-Dragon Ball", you can tell they were not written by Toriyama).

I swear after tasting Kai, I can't sit through a Z episode without facepalming and cutting it short in less than 5 minutes.
Kai has its flaws, but it has essentially corrected the two big things that make the show unwatchable nowadays: boring length (that's for sure for pretty much everyone), boring music (personal preference - also tends to be the opinion of new or "casual" fans from I've seen these last years since the new music seems more "cinematic" / "AAA game", while most "hardcore" fans will say the old Kikuchi score is genius and the new score is just painful).
As a bonus, the image quality is now more watchable by modern standards and not VHS-like.
If sometimes when watching Kai you think "why did they keep that moment?!", then beware: Kai has already eliminated most of those, so you know what's waiting for you in Z.

So ultimately, it's like asking "is it worth owning both Resident Evil and Resident Evil Rebirth?". Only if you're utterly allergic to the remake, yes. Cause otherwise, you might as well throw the original PS1 version away forever without a second thought once you've tasted the new version that feels nicer overall, because the old version will bring major flaws to the experience.

To me, it's definately worth owning all of Kai, but Z has become totally useless nowadays, Kai is a magnified version of Z made to make it finally watchable again today, Z is like a flawed "alpha" version in comparison before they eliminated what was wrong for the final product.
You would trade the minor flaws Kai bring for major flaws Kai has eliminated to make it watchable again.
But again, that's just my personal opinion, cause others will tell you the new Kai soundtrack IS a major flaw like never before, among other things (aspect ratio, actors' performances, editing, etc...)

To me, all I see is that: I watch Z, it's painful, I quit. I wouldn't stand ten episodes of that. I watch Kai, I feel entertained and engaged all along. I gladly watch it all over again sometimes, right from the start.
Just watch an episode of Kai, watch an episode of Z, and FEEL what's better to your heart. (I sound like some Disney morale here)
If both feel interesting, then own both. If only one comes out as watchable while the other only irks you, then mercilessly ditch the bad one and keep only the one that feels right.

[EmmaWinters]

Kai's redrawn scenes could have been handled better, and I'd have preferred a consistent soundtrack,
but those are pretty minor issues compared to how substantially improved it is over the bloated hog we call Z.

It shines brightest in the drastically improved dub, which most English-speaking people are going to go with.
I feel reluctant recommending new viewers a near-300 episode version with nearly (over?) 50% filler and a butchered script.

[sintzu]

Do many of you own both shows in its entirety?

I have 6 of the dragon boxes but i'v only seen the buu saga and it was very hard thanks to kai and i don't plan on watching it or the rest of Z again

Cold skin said it best so put what $$$ you have into other Anime,Games,ect

[JEFFMAN219]

Do many of you own both shows in its entirety?

I have 6 of the dragon boxes but i'v only seen the buu saga and it was very hard thanks to kai and i don't plan on watching it or the rest of Z again

Cold skin said it best so put what $$$ you have into other Anime,Games,ect

I don't buy other anime that much. My original plan was to buy DBZ back in 2012 but I didn't realize that funimation had so many versions and releases for the show lol. So you don't like both Z and Kai??

[Vijay]

To be blunt, Kai isn't worth it.

The music is atrocious, the redrawn animation hardly impresses with jarring quality. You're basically sacrificing your childhood nostalgia for the sake of filler-free, thus faster progression of plot.

Stick to Z. I knw opinion differs. Strictly speaking, Z's appeal stays while Kai's cheap money-making machine. No offence to Kai fans.

[sintzu]

So you don't like both Z and Kai??

What i ment by it is the buu arc of Z not Kai

Kai to me is the best and only way to watch Dbz

[ABED]

The music is atrocious

The music is the same as in DBZ, just in different places.

You're basically sacrificing your childhood nostalgia for the sake of filler-free, thus faster progression of plot.

How is that a sacrifice, that seems like a gain to me.

I say it's worth it for the two different experiences. I watch Z for the sub, and Kai for the dub and the pacing.

[JEFFMAN219]

To be blunt, Kai isn't worth it.

The music is atrocious, the redrawn animation hardly impresses with jarring quality. You're basically sacrificing your childhood nostalgia for the sake of filler-free, thus faster progression of plot.

Stick to Z. I knw opinion differs. Strictly speaking, Z's appeal stays while Kai's cheap money-making machine. No offence to Kai fans.

What do you think about the dubbing done in Kai? Ya I can't lie many of the redrawn scenes look ugly for example, when Goku used instant transmission and came to the air plane that the Z fighters were in after he recovered from the heart virus that redrawn scene looked fucking horrible.

[SupremeSSJ]

I personally would buy z simply because its all there

[Mewzard]

I say it's worth it for the two different experiences. I watch Z for the sub, and Kai for the dub and the pacing.

This is what I'd say. For the sub, Z is the better of the two in voice work. For the dub, it's Kai. Kai got a really good dub, and that's how I watch it now (it also helps that the pacing is massively improved...Z really did Drag On at times *rimshot*).

I own all the manga in its most uncut form availiable, the first six dragon boxes, and the four Yamamoto-themed Kai parts on DVD. I was hoping to get the last Dragon Box, all the Kai Season Sets on Blu Ray, the color manga release, and wait for possible future Dragon Boxes for the original, GT, and the movies to really complete my collections in means to view the series.

[Vijay]

To be blunt, Kai isn't worth it.

The music is atrocious, the redrawn animation hardly impresses with jarring quality. You're basically sacrificing your childhood nostalgia for the sake of filler-free, thus faster progression of plot.

Stick to Z. I knw opinion differs. Strictly speaking, Z's appeal stays while Kai's cheap money-making machine. No offence to Kai fans.

What do you think about the dubbing done in Kai? Ya I can't lie many of the redrawn scenes look ugly for example, when Goku used instant transmission and came to the air plane that the Z fighters were in after he recovered from the heart virus that redrawn scene looked fucking horrible.

I'm not fan of Dubs. No matter how great the Dub is, it'll still be miles behind Original version when it comes to authentic, grounded work of the seiyuu's.

Kai dub was good, wasn't great.

@ ABED

I've mentioned in my previous post & I'll say it again. No offence to Kai fans.

My point was Z provided wholesome experience, Kai didn't. Pacing? Then what's the use of Fast Forward button anyway?

Kai's rush destroys every possible suspense & dramatic overtones present in the Z which are thoroughly enjoyable when it comes to "Repeated Viewing".

[Baggie_Saiyan]

I know someone who owns Z for the Japanese experience & Kai for the English experience.

I was gonna own Kai instead of Z but as others have pointed I didn't like the music or the redrawn scenes especially during the Frieza arc . And now that the Buu Saga is going to be 69 eps long, there really is no point in getting Kai now.

[JEFFMAN219]

I know someone who owns Z for the Japanese experience & Kai for the English experience.

I was gonna own Kai instead of Z but as others have pointed I didn't like the music or the redrawn scenes especially during the Freeza arc . And now that the Buu Saga is going to be 69 eps long, there really is no point in getting Kai now.

To me I thought that the redrawn scenes got bad during the android saga and I don't know why Toei made the boo saga of 69 episodes like what the fuck. Even though Z had a lot of filler and a bad dub for some arcs I'm starting to appricate it more because it was the original. Kai could of been really great if Toei animation weren't so damn cheap with the remastering of the show.

[ABED]

I'm not fan of Dubs. No matter how great the Dub is, it'll still be miles behind Original version when it comes to authentic, grounded work of the seiyuu's.

Kai dub was good, wasn't great.

@ ABED

I've mentioned in my previous post & I'll say it again. No offence to Kai fans.

My point was Z provided wholesome experience, Kai didn't. Pacing? Then what's the use of Fast Forward button anyway?

Kai's rush destroys every possible suspense & dramatic overtones present in the Z which are thoroughly enjoyable when it comes to "Repeated Viewing".

The dub is 2 or 3 rungs below the original on a very tall ladder. It's also better than Kai's redub. You said the dub was good, but that's very vague. Good can mean worth owning especially if the price is good enough, and you can find many of the Kai volumes for under 20 bucks, which is a great bargain.

Fast forwarding isn't the same thing as Kai at all. Not everything in Kai is rushed, they leave in plenty of pauses. Z often stretches out the drama past the breaking point, and fast forwarding kills the mood as well.