Dragon Ball Kai


Dragon Ball Z Kai

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Dragonball Kai, DBK, DB Kai, DBZ Kai
Japanese: ドラゴンボール改
English: Dragon Ball Z Kai
German: Dragon Ball Z Kai
French: Dragon Ball Z Kai
More titles

Information

Type: TV
Episodes: 97
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Apr 5, 2009 to Mar 27, 2011
Premiered: Spring 2009
Broadcast: Sundays at 09:00 (JST)
Producers: Fuji TV
Licensors: Funimation
Studios: Toei Animation
Source: Manga
Genres: ActionAction, AdventureAdventure, ComedyComedy, FantasyFantasy
Theme: Martial ArtsMartial Arts
Demographic: ShounenShounen
Duration: 23 min. per ep.
Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 7.761 (scored by 252606252,606 users)
1 indicates a weighted score.
Ranked: #11272
2 based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity: #604
Members: 410,000
Favorites: 3,679

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7.76
Ranked #1127Popularity #604Members 410,000
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Episodes: /97

Synopsis

Five years after the events of Dragon Ball, martial arts expert Gokuu is now a grown man married to his wife Chi-Chi, with a four-year old son named Gohan. While attending a reunion on Turtle Island with his old friends Master Roshi, Krillin, Bulma and others, the festivities are interrupted when a humanoid alien named Raditz not only reveals the truth behind Gokuu's past, but kidnaps Gohan as well.

With Raditz displaying power beyond anything Gokuu has seen before, he is forced to team up with his old nemesis, Piccolo, in order to rescue his son. But when Gokuu and Piccolo reveal the secret of the seven mystical wish-granting Dragon Balls to Raditz, he informs the duo that there is more of his race, the Saiyans, and they won’t pass up an opportunity to seize the power of the Dragon Balls for themselves.

These events begin the saga of Dragon Ball Kai, a story that finds Gokuu and his friends and family constantly defending the galaxy from increasingly more powerful threats. Bizarre, comical, heartwarming and threatening characters come together in a series of battles that push the powers and abilities of Gokuu and his friends beyond anything they have ever experienced.

Background

Dragon Ball Kai is an edited and condensed version of Dragon Ball Z produced and released in 2009 to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the original series. In addition to its new music tracks and re-recorded voice acting, Toei Animation updated the series' visuals to take advantage of high-definition televisions. The series concluded after 98 episodes, whereas the original Dragon Ball Z took 194 episodes to reach the same point. Kai was continued in 2014 with what is considered its own series, Dragon Ball Kai (2014).

Characters & Voice Actors

Future Trunks

Supporting
Kusao, Takeshi
Japanese

Freeza

Supporting
Nakao, Ryusei
Japanese

Trunks

Supporting
Tsuru, Hiromi
Japanese

Bulma

Supporting
Tsuru, Hiromi
Japanese

Muten-Roushi

Supporting
Satou, Masaharu
Japanese

Staff

Sabat, Christopher
Producer, ADR Director
Cook, Justin
Producer, Theme Song Performance


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Opening Theme

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"Dragon Soul" by Tanimoto Takeyoshi
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Ending Theme

1: "Yeah! Break! Care! Break!" by Tanimoto Takeyoshi (eps 1-54)
2: "Kokoro no Hane (心の羽根)" by AKB48 (eps 55-97)




Reviews

Feb 3, 2025
In my original Dragon Ball Z series review, I mentioned that as much as I love the series—and think either the original Z or Kai are great ways to experience it—if you drop the nostalgia and judge it by modern anime standards, especially in English dub form, Kai is easily the better choice.

Dragon Ball Z Kai basically fixes two of the biggest issues with the original Z: the filler episodes and the overall slow pacing. Sure, the series is still long—certainly longer than your average battle shonen—but the way it gets to the point much faster makes it way more enjoyable. You don’t have to ...
Apr 28, 2022
Mixed Feelings
Better don't watch it and go on to watch Dragon ball Z.

The main story is all the same but you miss so much about the characters and so on. Then the story is all flat - just endless fighting without any sense. One of my favourite arcs - adult Gohan and young Trunks/Goten, but there is nothing about that. So sad.

I've started watching DBK just because the amount of DBZ episodes is too much, to rewatch it again, but it was a mistake so don't make it too. Because in that case you will lose a lot of joy or much of your time ...
Nov 1, 2015
I should have trusted my instincts when I decided to give Dragonball Kai a watch. It does sound quite intriguing to watch Dragonball Z again, only this time minus the filler episodes that really didn't add much or anything to the storyline; but with one change though, must come many, because for some reason writers always must omit something else that can feel almost equally important as the thing they wanted changed originally. I guess this is just one of those cases where you simply can't satisfy everyone, because DB Kai left me with a very bitter taste, and I actually prefer the original series ...

Interest Stacks

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Recent News

'Dragon Ball Kai' to Air on Toonami Beginning Fall 2014

'Dragon Ball Kai' to Air on Toonami Beginning Fall 2014

An announcement made during the Toonami panel at this year's MomoCon revealed that Toonami will begin to air Dragon Ball Kai this Fall. It was also announced th...read more

New 'Dragon Ball Kai' TV Anime Announced to Air April 6

According to a scan from the upcoming issue of Shueisha's V Jump magazine, a new Dragon Ball Kai anime series will premiere on Sunday, April 6th. The new series will...read more


Recent Forum Discussion

Poll: Dragon Ball Kai Episode 97 Discussion ( 1 2 )
kisami - Mar 27, 2011
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Feb 3, 7:39 AM
Poll: Dragon Ball Kai Episode 95 Discussion
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Jesuvius - May 16, 2010
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Poll: Dragon Ball Kai Episode 21 Discussion
fisher_88 - Aug 30, 2009
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Jan 17, 7:34 AM
Poll: Dragon Ball Kai Episode 20 Discussion
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20 repliesby SSLay »»
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