Kai Episode 137 (11 January 2015)

[RazorX]

General Discussion for Dragon Ball Kai episode 137, broadcast 11 January 2015

特訓完了！これで終わりだ魔人ブウ
Tokkun Kanryō! Kore de Owari da Majin Buu!
Special Training Completed! You’re Finished Now, Majin Buu!

New ending, and it's an animation sequence covering Goku throughout DB and DBZ, I like the sequence!

[TheRed259]

The new ending with the images from the original DB series is kinda weird/unfitting for the Buu Saga.

[JulieYBM]

Did anyone take even just a low quality copy of the Ending? I want to see who is credited for doing the animation.

[DBZ_Lee]

Another decent episode. Was that a new track I heard when Gotenks was fighting Super Buu? really liked it!. Still just over 10 episodes worth of content to go in the last 23.

And that ending animation was... weird, if they covered the first part of the manga, then it would have been "ok", but it's random to say the least. I know it's the final ending, so they want to wrap up with pictures from then entire story, but it looks odd, and out of place.

[ShinGaijin]

Here's the 4th ending : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7enMknkH33k
From a crappy "color-corrected" version, that's why the colors seems so bland.Sorry about that.

[songohan619]

Here's the 4th ending : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7enMknkH33k
From a crappy "color-corrected" version, that's why the colors seems so bland.Sorry about that.

Man, I think this is my favorite ending animation ever!

[JulieYBM]

Shida Naotoshi is once again credited with 'Ending Assistance'. I think that just means he drew the Ending himself.

[Naruto6583]

Here's the 4th ending : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7enMknkH33k
From a crappy "color-corrected" version, that's why the colors seems so bland.Sorry about that.

Man, I think this is my favorite ending animation ever!

the song is very cool!

[JulieYBM]

Screen captures from the new Ending. Shida really dug deep for this one.

[Metalwario64]

That song is terrible. The singer is incredibly nasally and it abuses autotune and filters. It just sounds like any old song from any generic modern anime. I miss the old days when anime (and especially Dragon Ball) had their own freakin' theme songs.

[TheKingOfKamehamehas]

I really love the animation. This is what BOG and Fukkatsu No F should have been like so Great Job Shida! As for the song its decent, but I think they could have matched up with a more uplifting and epic song considering it is going through Goku's Life.

[Ajay]

Outside of the SSJ3 bug eyes, this is really nice. It'd be nice to see some of his work in motion though. Panning stills only excite me so much.

I think that just means she drew the Ending himself.

That typo totally threw off my perceptions for a second. I didn't notice the 'himself' bit and thought I'd misgendered the guy for years!

[JulieYBM]

Crap, what a horrible typo. He's a man, we have proof!

[MagicBox]

I miss the old days when anime (and especially Dragon Ball) had their own freakin' theme songs.

It's funny. "Kuu-Zen-Zetsu-Go" is the only one of these songs that was actually written for Dragon Ball, and wouldn't you know it? That's the only one that I end up liking enough to want to purchase. These random pop/rock artists are just killing me.

I wonder if this is how fans like us reacted back when they first heard GT's songs in '96...

Anyway, we're in the final stretch! Soon we'll finally be able to close the book on Kai!

Was that a new track I heard when Gotenks was fighting Super Buu? really liked it!.

Which reminds me...

Should we pretty much give up hope for a soundtrack CD by now? They've completely missed their chance. If Columbia had wanted to cash in on this show while it was relevant, they would have had a soundtrack out in stores by August at the latest. At this point, the show'll be over before any CDs can be made. I think Sumitomo fans might be out of luck...

[JulieYBM]

I think the problem here is more so with Dragon Ball Kai being stuck with awful musicians, rather than the songs not being made for the franchise. As much as I love me some old school anison-style songs it doesn't mean the alternative is inherently bad. Naruto and Bleach don't get their own songs, but that doesn't stop the Opening and Endings from being good. Naruto Shippuuden Opening #16 is a great example of this, although Sessha Gorou's kickass directing and the key animators he brought on help make the experience really memorable. Opening #12 is another really cool one!

In other words, Dragon Ball Kai just sucks.

[Metalwario64]

I miss the old days when anime (and especially Dragon Ball) had their own freakin' theme songs.

It's funny. "Kuu-Zen-Zetsu-Go" is the only one of these songs that was actually written for Dragon Ball, and wouldn't you know it? That's the only one that I end up liking enough to want to purchase. These random pop/rock artists are just killing me.

I wonder if this is how fans like us reacted back when they first heard GT's songs in '96...

Definitely in agreement. I am glad that at least we got intro themes made for the show (and Yeah Break Care Break, which was replaced with the idol stuff after Freeza).

While it did start with GT, at least for me those songs were pretty nice. I think all of these Kai 2.0 (and the second Kai ending song) are not only unfitting, but they're just very bland and generic songs.

[Xeogran]

The choices for Kai endings are terrible. Why not include Kageyama/JAM Project for the final ending instead.

Rethinking it though, Kai isn't worthy of them.

[Dogasu]

That song is terrible. The singer is incredibly nasally and it abuses autotune and filters.

Holy shit you're not lying. I shudder to think what Yamasaki Seiya sounds like live.

[Cold Skin]

The drawings are taken straight out of the manga panels, and were likely traced from those, with very minor differences if you look very closely and really search for them.
Other than that, if you put the pictures side by side, the shapes and proportions really tried to reproduce the manga panels rather than their anime counterparts, with every milimeter taken in account.
Even details such as Goku's thumb slightly going over the third finger of his closed fist...

So yeah, I think despite very subtle differences, it's been directly traced from the manga.
It is very unusual to see the anime stick to Toriyama's style, usually the anime artists don't (or can't?) reproduce his exact style. Even the expressions on his face, it's... the "Toriyama version of Goku" for the first time in the anime.
It's the very first time that I saw anime pictures and thought "wait, those are the exact manga panels, those are Toriyama's very specific drawings I've seen for years, they've traced over the manga panels".

Shouldn't they always do that in the first place? Trace each manga panel as the key animation frame and THEN do their own stuff for the in-between animation to make it move? (also probably extending the drawing if the original panel is not enough to fill the screen)
That would ensure maximum fidelity to the author's style at every moment...

EDIT: I've just seen that in another general thread, FatNagger69 has proven it's really traced from the manga.

Spoiler:

[JulieYBM]

Yeah, Shida Tweeted all he did was storyboard the Ending, which probably didn't take more than a few days if that. Still, I have to assume the 'Dragon' he was working on in 03 December 2014 was really this new Ending's storyboard and not Fukkatsu no F.