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

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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: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy

Themes: Martial Arts, Super Power

Demographic: Shounen

Duration: 23 min. per ep.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 7.74¹ (scored by 242,241 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #1124²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #588

Members: 391,292

Favorites: 3,429

Available At

Official Site

Resources

AniDB

ANN

Streaming Platforms

Crunchyroll

May be unavailable in your region.

7.74

Ranked #1124Popularity #588Members 391,292

Spring 2009TVToei Animation

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Episodes: /97

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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.

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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).

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Dragon Ball
Prequel:	Dragon Ball
Alternative version:	Dragon Ball Z
Sequel:	Dragon Ball Kai: Mirai ni Heiwa wo! Goku no Tamashii yo Eien ni

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Son, Gokuu

Main

Nozawa, Masako
Japanese

Vegeta

Main

Horikawa, Ryo
Japanese

Son, Gohan

Main

Nozawa, Masako
Japanese

Piccolo

Main

Furukawa, Toshio
Japanese

Kuririn

Main

Tanaka, Mayumi
Japanese

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

More staff

Staff

Sabat, Christopher

Producer, ADR Director

Cook, Justin

Producer, Theme Song Performance

Jouno, Masato

Producer

Kimura, Kyotaro

Producer

Edit

Opening Theme

"Dragon Soul" by Tanimoto Takeyoshi

Edit

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

Mar 30, 2023

Knuxxie

Recommended

Long time fan, new Kai viewer.
I did not watch Kai when it initially aired, rather just recently watched the blu ray releases from Funimation. Kai is definitely my preferred method for subsequent rewatches. Pacing is outstanding, although some scenes do lose a little suspense due to the increased pacing. While I didn't miss most of the filler, I do enjoy the driving test episode. Unlike most I find the Garlic Jr Saga somewhat enjoyable also. Other than that the filler isn't missed. Music is OK, Bruce Falconer's OST would have came in clutch in this for sure.
The initial run of Kai only included up ...

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Apr 28, 2022

Ethernet

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 ...

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Nov 1, 2015

Luquillo

Not Recommended

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 ... by Funimation than this.

The story to DB Kai is no different from the original series. The Earth is paid a visit by a being named Raditz whom claims to be Goku's brother; Raditz reveals to him that he's not even of Earth, instead he comes from a different race called the Saiyians whom lived on Planet Vegeta. They eventually battle, and Goku as well as his allies learn that Raditz isn't the only one out there from that race, nor is he even close to the strongest. They then prepare themselves to battle against the last two warriors of the Saiyan race.

I will mention now that the removal of various filler such as Snake Way, Garlic Jr., and various other things was definitely a plus. The show moves quite better without the constant distractions; but the truth is, even without the filler, DB Kai can still be a chore at times with situations dragging along for too much time, and the outcome simply not being a good enough pay off for some of the waiting. In any case, the overall story is fun, and DB Kai works its way up to the final battle against Cell.

DB Kai manages to keep the action well paced enough, and character personalities are fleshed out. However, things could have been so much better had the only change to the show been the various filler. One thing DBZ did well was its voice acting for the English dub and character interactions. Some serious fans will catch the removal of some dialog and it may bother them, it sure as hell bothered me because Vegeta especially had some good lines, like his threat to beat on Yamcha for practically no reason. The changing of voice actors got on my nerves as well; Colleen Clinkenbeard is annoying as hell as Gohan, and had I never seen this before I would have been wishing for his brutal death at the hands of Frieza. Now speaking of Frieza, they have Chris Ayres playing him. I hate everyone Ayres, Chris and Greg Ayres have a very annoying, whining, saccharine feel that gets on my nerves quick. Colleen Clinkenbeard also voices Android 18, and she just feels all types of wrong here. Meredith McCoy is by far the best to play her; she brought a sinister yet sexy appeal to 18 that carried over to her facial expressions and even fighting.

Another thing DBZ always did amazingly well was introduce intense music scores. Funimation's BGM is probably this anime's best quality and they know it, yet for some reason they use boring elevator music, with no variation or anything new through out the entire duration of the show. Vegeta and Piccolo's addictive themes that described their characters so well? Gone. The terrifying BGM of death when Frieza goes off to kill Vegeta while King Kai narrates this is the evil Prince's last stand? Jettisoned... for some irritating trash that doesn't enhance the scene at all. I can list plenty more examples, but this proves to me that not everyone understands the effect music can have during some scenes.

The animation and artwork appears to be remastered, but the only thing actually new is the opening. I don't have much of a problem with this, still this could have been better updated. At least DB Kai delivers the action well enough and there's plenty going on that can turn a new comer into a fan. There's loads of fisticuffs and brutal beatings to go around.

As I look around there are plenty of people that really enjoyed Kai more than DBZ. I can honestly say that I understand that because it does trim a lot of the fat and focuses more on character and story development, along with action which is the main selling point. Unfortunately for me, I look for other things in my anime and music means a lot to me; a great soundtrack can actually mask flaws in a work, and DBZ was full of them yet the BGM smoothed things out making it more tolerable. In addition, there are things that seems changed for the sake of it. None of the voice actors from the original died while this was in production, so I see no reason for the change in cast, nor the removal of some lines.

Despite my dislike for this remake, if that's what it is, I still recommend it to fans so they can see it for themselves; but I highly advise to be prepared for these various changes. I already know plenty of individuals who had the same issues with this as I did.

Highs: Some of the removal of filler does work, enjoyable action

Lows: Altering of cast and BGM is a huge blow for me

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'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

May 24, 2014 7:54 PM by Wind_Sr | Discuss (43 comments)

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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

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Recent Forum Discussion

Poll: Dragon Ball Kai Episode 5 Discussion Ishmael - May 3, 2009	44 replies	by wallus81 »» Apr 7, 1:01 AM
Poll: Dragon Ball Kai Episode 4 Discussion Ishmael - Apr 26, 2009	27 replies	by wallus81 »» Apr 7, 12:40 AM
Poll: Dragon Ball Kai Episode 3 Discussion ( 1 2 ) FireReaverX - Apr 19, 2009	54 replies	by wallus81 »» Apr 7, 12:20 AM
Poll: Dragon Ball Kai Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Danish - Apr 4, 2009	143 replies	by wallus81 »» Apr 6, 6:44 PM
Is it worth watching along with DBZ? RobertBobert - Jul 28, 2023	32 replies	by Alexioos95 »» Jan 30, 11:18 AM

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Dragon Ball Kai

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Characters & Voice Actors

Son, Gokuu

Vegeta

Son, Gohan

Piccolo

Kuririn

Future Trunks

Freeza

Trunks

Bulma

Muten-Roushi

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Dragon Ball Kai

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

Recent Featured Articles

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