The color pallet is a controversial topic. They both actually have pretty much the same color pallet. Kai looks the way it does because the creators wanted to bring back the original look that the show had, but due to film aging, and horrible remasters, Z has never truly looked the way it was supposed to.
Yeah the Color pallete is so oversaturated in most Funimation releases and even the orange bricks suffer from faded colors. It's honestly kinda sad to see
@@yinsolaya It's kinda the opposite case for the Dragon Boxes. For Funimation not only are they working with a later generation copy of the show (it's like having a photocopy of a photocopy) but they just crank up the contrast really high and run it through a DNR filter, causing the colors to be really bright, bleed into each other and lose overall detail. While Toei has access to the original film, the DBoxes just... gave us the raws from them. Problem is, the film they have is _really_ old, and weren't stored in the best conditions, (RIP original broadcast audio) which caused the colors to become a bit off and faded. Funi version suffers heavily from them doing too much to it, while Toei was hurt slightly by the age of the film and doing nothing to it. The Level Sets were the closest Funi came to fixing this mess... but of course they cancelled them 2 sets in.
Agree, he watched the funimation home release and thinks that's how DBZ is supposed to look like. I got a clip of goku vs vegeta on my yt page ripped from the selecta vision bluray release, much better remaster and faithful to the original films. Even better looking than Kai imo
Kai is a less fluffy version, I like how it gets to the point much faster, as a kid in the 90s nothing was more painful than a wasted episode of power ups and massive fluff, you’d wait 3 weeks to get 3 minutes in a fight
Man you just made me have flashbacks. I was disagreeing with kai pacing being better until I read your comment. I vividly remember watching Z and looking up at the clock seeing the time go by and noticing the episode was almost over and we had just wasted like 15 mins powering up and talking nonsense. It was the worst feeling.
Listen the only reason why Kai isn’t good as people are saying it’s because your watching the nicktoons dub if you wanna see the uncut dub with the blood the cursing and all that you gotta get the home releases cause that’s where they really take it far
@@redfive6020 i guess nosetalgia plays a part as well because the voices im used to and the sound. I watched Kai all the way through and its still DBZ so i will watch it but it doesnt recreate that feeling which is something thats unquantifiable
For dialogue, the original subtitles. There's so many little differences between the sub and dub. But if I just want to watch with it on background, dubbed for sure. But kais dialogue...idk. personally
There needs to be a version that is 4k, uncut, no cropping, has the best color, fixed redraw issues, has all the soundtrack and dubbed versions you can pick on the fly. So if you want original music, or Faulconer you can switch so you get the best experience. I guess Blu-ray is the closest.
I don't think I've ever seen someone on the Internet put together such a well thought out and reasonable explanation of their point of view without being completely toxic in some manner. You sir have a gift and I will be following your channel! I only watched your video to kill some time and have never watched kai, I'm someone who grew up in the 90s watching the original dragonball z day by day. I'm a teacher now and kinda roll my eyes with kids talk about super but never thought of it how you mentioned their ultra instinct is our super saiyan transformation. I'll definitely be more open in future. Thanks for the excellent review 👍
Pacing in Kai is definately much better then the original but I think that sometimes it doesnt give some room to breathe during good moments and also cuts out filler that actually helped to develop the characters. Also the redraws really are horendous, its less terrible in the cell saga or during scenes when bright ki blasts are going out but they always look so bad.
I don't think the redraws were bad at all. Which redraws do you think were really bad? I remember they fixed the error with Trunks balding edges 😂😂😂😂😂when was transforming into Super Saiyan to blast at the Androids when they first woke up and destroyed Gero's lab.🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
I have not seen Kai, only Z. I’m actually gonna watch Kai for the first time with my girlfriend who doesn’t like anime, but wants to see DB because of how popular is. So for someone like that Kai seems to be the better choice. I’m guessing Garlic jr. is no where to be seen in Kai
Dbz Kai dub captured gokus personality right and made him sound like less super man but a warrior burning with rage when someone messed with his friends and didn't care about justice.
OG cartoon network's Toonami DBZ was the best DBZ ever produce. Those who didn't grow up back then and see its entry have no idea of its impact. This was a time when NO anime was even being aired over here in the USA. The visual art and Bruce Faulconer score are paramount to the effect. What memories!
I'm with you. People younger than us haven't even watched it and say kai is better. The Z they watched was the Japanese music. So they've only seen garbage and hit garbage kai. The falconer score was half the impact
@KeeperPlus Bro, Falconer is to DBZ what cheese is to pizza! The perfect combination! I remember in like 99 or 2000 DBZ coming on right after Sailor Moon and how anxious I was to see it. Between that and WWF, I don't know what defined my childhood more!
I was a 90s kid and I grew up worshipping DBZ almost religiously. However, Kai is superior in almost every way, especially the writing, which transforms the show. You go from cheesy 90s Power Rangers dialogue to exceptionally well written, paced and accurate to the original material.
I grew up on the original Z run on Toonami. I grew up buying the orange brick DVD releases. I grew up with all the corny speeches. And I 100% prefer the uncut edition of Dragon Ball Z Kai. I will take that any day over watching Z at this point. I still love Z for nostalgia sake, but I will always prefer a dragon Ball Z Kai
@@MrCliffda3rd YES! But at least in the uncut version of Z Krillin would occasionally say“bastard“ i’m pretty sure Vegeta would occasionally say “dammit” they would never let Goku say any of it though. Not until Dragon Ball Z Kai. I wonder if it’s because they tried to give this image of Goku that looked like Superman or something. Because like I said even in the uncut version of Dragon Ball Z other characters with occasionally cruise with the exception of Goku
Great review man! Just started watching Kai the other day. Grew up with the original series and it’s awesome nostalgia but feels off so far hope it gets better.
Colors in DBZ and DBZ Kai should be identical. The issues with DBZ’s colors is due to mishandling of the original film recordings. Both should be 4:3 and have identical colors. The issue comes from how many poor rereleases of DBZ there have been, especially in the western releases. The redraws look poor due to how the digital coloring and digital compositing the scenes went through. If you want more information AnimeAjay and Totally Not Mark have done amazing breakdowns in how badly the home releases have been handled. I suggest watching those as they are pretty much required viewing on why DBZ looks awful in the coloring department. It really is a shame because there are tons of other cel anime that have been rescanned in a far more faithful way to the original without losing the quality My experience is also with the DBZ JP dub as I’ve never liked the English cast myself. The Japanese cast does just as good as they did in the original DBZ anime with their re-recorded lines. I cannot comment on the English cast and how they did on both. Always loved the Kikuchi score. Now I never saw the entirety of DBZ and only watched Kai after first reading the manga. However I have seen the entirety of OG DB and DBS(both manga and anime) fully as well
Honestly if my computer wasn't shit I'd make a fan edit of DBZ Kai that adds the Kikuchi score, the Japanese Openings/Title cards/Commercial Bumpers/End credits and I'd try to upscale and color corect the dragon box footage of the Buu Saga because I hate how the footage for the DBZ Kai Final Chapters are cropped to be in a 16:9 aspect ratio and with a wired teal blue color filter
@@ItsBigTuneThe dragon box Has completely accurate colors and it's 4 by 3. Not crop to shit like the funimation version. The best way to watch it if just to watch the Japanese dub.
damn brah, got me in my feels just thinking about this amazing anime. Grew up watching it and still love it. really liked the way you articulated yourself.
Crazy that I would see this video the morning after I just started rewatching Kai. Overall, I do agree with your assessment, although I must admit I've always defended some of the filler from the original broadcast of the Buu Saga because it did improve some of the character development. (I'm thinking some of the more fleshed-out interactions between Mr. Satan and Fat Buu, and the dynamic between Goku and Vegeta post-Fusion when they were navigating Buu's stomach.)
I love the original DBZ. It's not even the nostalgia, it just hits all the bases, the raw art style, the music the color, the blood, the VA and dialogues no matter if it matches the manga or not, Goks's line after he went ssj against freiza gave me chills back in the day. Idk but Kai just looks like something from which DB super got its weird art style and plastic like color palette from.
I honestly thing the SSJ speech to Frieza was better done in Kai tbh imo It felt alot less like he was running for president like in the original dub dialogue.
Whenever I take a look at Z and Kai, I always think of the Cell Games arc, Z’s version was so fucking well done with Gohan turning SJJ2, The fact it had its own theme, the silence in Gohans face, and the performance of Masako Nozawa when they scream, absolute chills. Such a well done scene, I still think Kais is good though, just not as impactful how Z did imo
The bad dialogue in DBZ is a small part of what made it great at times, much like the old Resident Evil games and their corny dialogue. Kai changes the mood and the setup of a lot of lines and scenes and key moments. It ruins the show. There is literally no reason for anyone who loves the original Funimation dub to watch Kai. It feels dull and lifeless and the actors/writers honestly seemed bored and uninspired by this point. My only complaint about the original dub is merely that the inner monologues were a bit much. They thought the characters had to be talking at every turn and that’s just not true. Gohan going SSJ2 in the Japanese version proves this. He didn’t need to say shit to convey his anguish in that scene. The dub is still good, but it really didn’t need that entire spiel.
I remember when nicktoons aired dragon ball movies for a while. For reasons I can't comprehend, they aired the uncut versions with all the blood and swearing intact. It was such a jarring tonal shift and I loved it.
This + keeping 18 saying "now I'm pissed" in the final Kai episode of the Cell arc, like they kinda stopped caring by the end it feels like, but they did cut out some scenes like Trunks peeing on Broly in Second Coming & for obvious reasons Goten & Trunks beating Hitler.
I’ll say this, Kai is great for not only telling you the main story, but it has improved dialogues with voice actors that still stuck around that have clearly improved their work. BUT, i still love the fillers and the old z dub (both Japanese and English), as I was raised by both at once, I’ll appreciate that Kai introduced a new generation of db fans, and the memories the old z gave to us.
@@chazo1367Depending on the scene. The best acting in the OG Z dub is definitely during the Buu saga. I think Kai is better in basically every scene, but the Buu saga is the exception to that.
Also another thing that they dropped the ball on regarding the Kai soundtrack is that when Yamamoto got fired, they started using the Kikuchi soundtracks and later replaced the re-run episodes with them as well (Buu Saga Kai was when they had Suitomo) , problem is that they used a limited amount of kikuchi soundtracks and it was so repetitive, there’s like 5 hours worth of soundtracks to choose from and they only used like 15 tracks
Kai had better voice acting and less than annoying fillers, the original although not the best with questionable lines has some time to develop minor characters and Bruce Faulconer's musical theme is exceptional
Fun fact: the final chapters wasn't intended to be made. This harkens back to Toriyama essentially being forced to make the Buu saga, so the original ending of Kai was supposed to be the "canon" ending to the series. However, an anime adaptation of Toriko airing at the same time flopped hard. That was canceled and Toei rushed out the final chapters to fill a vacant time slot.
@GeteMachine Toriyama has personally stated several times while writing the manga that he planned to end the series, but was convinced by the magazine editors to keep going, which is how we got Dr. Gero, then the androids after executive meddling, then Cell after more executive meddling, then Gohan in high school, then Buu after an initial negative response.
@@theotherjared9824That's just not true pal, Toriyama only stated that he wanted to end DB after the Pilaf arc but decided to continue, the rumors that said he wanted to end DB earlier are misinformations and bad translations, Freeza saga? that was his editor that said he would personally end the series at the freeza saga, not Toriyama, Cell saga? He never wanted to end it there he just wanted to make Gohan the main character. The ending he truly wanted was where he ended the manga, the end of z arc, that's it.
I grew up Z, but I’m not 5 anymore, the filler makes the pacing a nightmare to watch, and the English dub aged so poorly, Kai is the only one I ever go back watching, despite owning seasons 1-9 of the original dragonballz
I have 3 kids who are all boys. I am going to love introducing them to the dragonball universe however…….the original dragon ball definitely has a lot of sexual humor that are not appropriate for my two oldest who are 2 and 4. I didn’t grow up watching dragon ball, but the original DBZ. that series was legendary and it was one of the first cartoons I watched where I got emotionally invested in the characters and got to see some of them grow up. I started watching dragonball with my kids and they love it. It’s also nice to see goku and krillin as kids training under master Roshi. I didn’t get to see that part of thier lives before and knowing what goku and krillin become. It’s good to see them as kids…..however I might wait until my kids are alittle older, because Master Roshi’s motivations for doing favors for people are very much on the perverted side. I don’t remember dragon ball z having the same kind of themes.
@@jaypenha5352wait a couple of years, and show them the nicktoons dub. Hopefully by the time that they finish Kai and move on to The Final Chapters, they’ll be old enough to understand to not follow his example, because The Final Chapters never aired on nicktoons, so there’s no censored dub of those episodes.
I really appreciate this video. I'm an old head fan who grew up with the Ocean Dub in the mid-late 90's all the way through the in-house Funimation dub and the orange bricks. I love the old Faulconer score, but I gotta say, I totally agree with you when it comes to the Yamamoto score. Dude did plagiarize and I will not excuse that, but damn... Those tracks hit so hard. Wish they would've kept the OG DBZ tracks for Trunks killing Frieza and SSJ2 Gohan transformation, though... But yeah, man, you nailed it. For me, Kai is the absolute best way to introduce someone to DBZ, and maybe even the franchise as a whole since it recaps Dragonball a little bit. I showed my wife DBZ Kai first and she absolutely loved it, and then she wound up loving the original DB even more because it almost felt like a "prequel"! Anyways, good stuff, subbed!
@@milkbottle4u in the original he screams “this is for Gohan” right before killing 18” In Kai after killing 18 he says “ that one was for my friends, and this one is for me and my teacher Gohan” and then kicks 17 It’s just not the same
@@EverRusting dbz kai is objectively a better experience if you're wanting the closest story of DB told. Z is badly outdated and fans can't take off the nostalgia goggles for their lives, even though personally I still prefer Z cause I bonded with it through childhood. If I'm gonna suggest a new watcher to dbz, I have to say Kai for the pacing hands down (and the dub is objectively better aside from some actor changes)
Can’t watch DBZ without the Bruce Faulconer score, but that’s a me problem lol. Respect no matter how you watch the show! Android / Cell saga is peak. Watching it for the first time shortly after pokemon gold and silver came out during winter time will always be a memory that sticks with me. Dope video!
Final Chapters was done by Toei in house while the previous Kai show was outsourced to another company. I grew up on OG Z and that was the way for me until I decided to give Kai a shot after learning the show isn't censored on the blu ray and how it was supposedly more faithful to the manga I never looked back
Agreed. Kai is only better in areas where the old dub was bad, like in the Saiyan and Namek arc, but after that where the Z dub actually got better in the Android arc, Kai feels a bit flat. Unnecessary.
I was in the same boat as you when it came to not bothering with final chapters due to already seeing z, but man original kai was absolute peak dragon ball, the score is very memorable. I still love kikuchi's score as that is the definitive sound of dragon ball, but man Yamamoto was built different. I have checked out some of final chapters and a lot of dialogue is actually arguable if kai or z did it better (*ahem* majin vegeta)
In terms of pacing, accurate script, and most voice acting, yes. In terms of music, I gotta go with Z. Bruce Faulconer was just on a whole different level. My dream DBZ dub would be Kai with the Faulconer music.
@@gowther1973 Kai also has an uncensored version that swears and shows blood. Most fans that hate on Kai hate it based on the Nicktoons/CW version on TV where it was so watered down, but they don't realize that there's an uncensored version.
Kai pacing is more digestible. But original with filler is more classic. Because when we were kids and didn’t know any better and watching filler episodes they were just regular episodes to us we thought were cannon and they still had impactful moments that Kai doesn’t. Gohan solo journey in jungle and meeting those orphan kids and Pigero I will never forget his name because it’s in my dbz mind from stuff i watched as a kid. Fake Namek and Bulma and gang gettin fooled by aliens who just wanted to steal their ship to get off what Bulma thought was Namek but a actual murky planet that is hard to escape in disguise. That was skipped in Kai. Although fake Namek was only like 3 episodes. They skipped a lot of Goku solo training sessions before he got out the hospital and when he left hospital and trained in gravity from 20 - 50 - 75 - 100 they pretty much skipped all of Goku gravity training. As well as garlic jr saga was first time I saw them save earth without Goku being around and just Vegeta space travel looking for Goku and having hallucinations was fun.
@@omarcraft7166 it was pretty good episodes in my opinion they were in space for a month so it fit in that’s the thing with filler in dbz it always fit in the story while filler in other anime doesn’t
Exactly like the filler episodes in Z were actually trying to keep the OG DragonBall in there "hence" why there where alot of "adventure " type filler( fake namek) (goku/gohan red ribbon) (gohan and icreus) (great sayaman) exc.. they tried to keep the DragonBall aspect alive while being in the DbZ setting. Where as Ki is strictly Z. Ki dialog is better in most part some I give to Z. But Z will always be the best one for me
As a kid growing up between the age of 5 to 8 I absolutely hated a good bit of the filler. I was so annoyed tht very lil progressed when I really wanted to see something progress. It was at its worst with the entire Goku vs Frieza fight. lol
Kind of agree love the buu saga but it would’ve been nice to end z on a tournament arc like dragon ball and then like in super dragon ball is at its absolute best during a tournament arc
I liked how you talked about the new generation of DB fans feeling like Super is the best in the franchise. It just do be like that. You see it in games like Halo too. No matter what you think of Super it doesn't change the fact that the new kids to the fanbase are super into it. You can kinda see this reflected in DB Legends the gacha game. If I remember correctly a big part of the fanbase is just kids according to analytics. Seeing which banners get the most hype and all that gives a decent lense to see what the fans love and yeah you get my point. Obviously Super has its flaws but never let that push you to make fun of and gatekeep new fans.
As someone who grew up watching the original Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z on either Toonami or on VHS tapes, when I went back to re-watch DBZ for the first time in over a decade, I couldn't stomach the thought of sitting through all of the episodes from the original. If it were the only way that I could watch it again, I would have done it. But thankfully, we had Kai. When I re-watch it again later this year, I'll be watching it again using the Kai version, and when I become a father, I'll most likely show my kids the Kai version as well.
For me, Bruce Faulconer will always be part of Dragon Ball Z. When I first watched DBZ Kai and I thought the show was ok. I didn't like the change of voice actors for Bulma, Gohan, Freiza, Android 18 and the color palette. The redrawing's in some of the episodes was bad idea. With Bruce Faulconer, Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Future Trunks and others all had their own theme soundtracks. The really wished that DBS would have brought back Bruce to do the soundtrack for the series. During the first 3 years of Dragon Ball Super, the characters looked like had plastic and glossy look to them. That crap disappeared by the beginning of the Tournament of Power saga. The fights were much more brutal, and the color palette was as close as to DBZ as we were going to get. A lot of people hated of how dumb, stupid and careless Goku had become during Dragon Ball Super. It got to the point where Goku had forgotten about Gohan. He had his dumb moments in DBZ, but Goku knew when it was time to get serious. Even DBGT Goku wouldn't have made those mistakes that DBS Goku. Other than the soundtrack and color palette, I think the dumb Goku issue is what kind ruined Dragon Ball Super in the long run.
wait, that glossy plastic look ends up disappearing later on in the show? I couldn't watch super because the art style looked horrendous, and when I have to listen to Bulma's voice actor, my ears fold in on themselves. Nothing will ever replace the Faulconer soundtrack, I tried watching Kai with the japanese soundtrack and it was so boring and uninteresting that I couldn't help but feel it was missing something the entire time.
Yeah I prefer DBZ Kai too. Though I did grow up watching the original DBZ on Cartoon Network in the late 90s/early 00s, I've still been able to put aside my nostalgia and appreciate Kai more for various reasons between the better pacing and the more accurate English dub.
damn you're young. nonetheless, glad you've been able to enjoy this incredible series! Seeing the new younger audience that kai brought in to the fandom makes me appreciate it even more.
That score is really the main reason DBZ took off in the US. I doubt it would’ve been as popular. I want aggressive music when a form that’s literally based on rage is happening, and people are beating the snot out of each other, not that happy tranquil w/e the hell the OG score had. Want to talk about a bad score? Look at US DBGT…
@@billbob4856 That music is nowhere near what Dragonball is..I used to think like that until I listened to the original score and heard what Dragonball actually sounds like plus not only does it sound bad and not fit it would never shut up.
Watching Dragon Ball Z Kai en espanol latino in the dominican repuclic when i was a little kid made me happy because Mario Casteneda as Goku and Rene Garcia as Vegeta was a lot better in DBZ KAI than in Z
If I could like this video twice, I would. Most of the takes you had were the same as mine. People think I'm a hater to the original but I personally love Kai. (The uncut verison ofc) Subscribed man!
The only upside the TV version of DBZ Kai has is Chris Sabat screaming the *"It's over 9000!!!!!"* line as Vegeta matching brian drummond's Vegeta th-cam.com/video/K5irQgiajDc/w-d-xo.html&pp=ygUWZGJ6IGthaSBpdCdzIG92ZXIgOTAwMA%3D%3D
Dbz kai will always be my favorite out of the two. Ill never forget watching it on nicktoons along with the dbz movies all those years ago as a kid. I also grew up with the yamamoto score as well which is my favorite soundtrack to listen to while watching kai.
Kai sounds more like a low budget netflix acting where you can tell their voice acting is coming by reading the script word per word while Z feels very naturally human.
@@DreamingWhiteColors *“You worthless, heartless, BASTARD!”* Kai’s voice line with each character is way better anyways, they’re much more clear to understand. Also you have to admit, Frieza sure did sound like a lizard in Z, but Kai made Frieza’s voice way way more iconic.
@@kindplanet1 Freiza in Super/Kai sounds like a nice British butler trying to be like a mean butler lmao, Z Frieza sounds threatening and it has character. Nothing about Kai and Super feels human, you can feel like they are reading of a script, it sounds fake.
"Kids watching goku go ui is like us watching goku watching goku go ssj" haha idk why but instead of getting defensive about seeing Goku go SSJ that line made me smile. As if we're watching the next generation start their journey with the Z fighters
I can say Kai is better to certain extent which cuts out alot of drags and some of the animation during the sagas looked better , but the original versions music score throughout surely can't be beat , and that's mostly the only thing that the Z Kai version can't match
I swear, y'all have to be like 12 years old. The voice acting, the music, the filler episodes, everything about Z IS LIGHTYEARS ahead of Kai. Wtf?? Y'all are some kids.
@@FlipFreedom1997 music maybe, but voice acting? You can't seriously think that the voice acting in the original is better without being blinded by nostalgia, when the voice acting in Kai is literally just an upgraded version of the original and is more faithful to the manga, most of the voice acting in the original is just the VAs reading the lines with no emotion whatsoever, at least in the dubbed version, I don't really know much about the subbed version
@@vesha6274 Some of the voice actors in Kai sound terrible. Even if the dialogue is closer to the manga That alone doesn't save it for me to be ok with it. I'm sure There is more than what I can remember But what I do remember is Android 18. The voice actor ruined her in kai. In the dbz funimation version Her voice actor is very fitting to her character's Personality and looks. I know there are more examples that I can bring up but I'm not gonna waste my time Doing all that I think you can see my point.
Great analysis! I grew up with the “OG” dub on Toonami, but I still say Kai is a better watch. Sure, Kai has its issues, but if you look at the whole picture and don’t just cherry-pick things, it is a better show overall. I just wish the Yamamoto score hadn’t been scrubbed from all the “official” releases. Even with the plagiarism issues, I still prefer that music for Kai, haha.
I prefer _Kai_ due to it flowing much better, the script, dialogue, and characterization being a lot closer to Toriyama's vision, and the voice acting being WAY better. A lot of the creative decisions in dub of _Z_ honestly undermine the emotional resonance of the actual story (such as how they handled Goku's "I Am" speech or Gohan going SSJ2 for the first time).
I grew up with the Ocean/OG Funimation dub, and at 34 years old there's no doubt in my mind that Z Kai is much better. The better voice acting, more mature dialog, and the lack of Bruce's nonstop music is so much better. Like you I love some of Bruce's tracks, but I gotta go with that old school Japanese music. There's only maybe up 3-4 lines of dialog or a few moments in fight scenes I prefer in the OG version.
Kai is so much better. I watched it with some friends and family. I suggested we watched the cell saga with Og Dbz. Everyone was screaming at me to turn it off because it was dragging on forever. No complaints when Kai is on
Great video! I personally prefer dbz original, because I think it's longer pace, voice actors playing multiple roles, and more dated, hand-drawn feel of the animation carry a lot of the show's charm for me. Of course, that's what I grew up on though, so I learned to fall in love with those aspects, and understand how it may turn off viewers who weren't initially exposed to it
Also, to note on the soundtrack, I agree that the opening for dbz kai is the best and most iconic of them, and I do think faulconer's soundtrack is flawed, but faulconer's most iconic themes are some of the greatest examples of scoring ever, especially in the cell arc, and for me probably can't be topped. Only thing about faulconer is that ALWAYS having music no matter what can be a bit clunky, but again there's a charm to that
I love both versions honestly and I’m perfectly okay to admit that I only feel that way because of nostalgia. I would NEVER recommend the original Z dub to anybody new to show but for me who grew up with Z I can never fully let go of that original dub as corny as it often is. I own both Kai and the original dub on blu ray and happy that I do.
the issue i have with kai is that the voice actors seemed bored, they didnt seem to put any real emotion into the lines, and in a show like dragon ball that is not ok. you cant just limp on by with no energy in your voice, even in super it seems like the actors dont care nearly as much as they use to sure its a fresh script and they clearly care more than with kai but its not the same as with the original dragon ball z dub and thats because that dub gave them the chance to put emotion into everything
'the issue i have with kai is that the voice actors seemed bored, they didnt seem to put any real emotion into the lines" This is extremely ridiculous, are you joking? You either never sat to watch Kai front-to-back and is just talking out of your ass, or is straight up out of your mind. The kai actors were very clearly putting their all into their reprised rolls and were at their A-game, especially in the original Saiyan-to-Cell run. It's very clearly Dragonball's best dubbing performance and it's not even close. Goku's super saiyan transformation namek scene is leaps and bounds better than Z's; Sean put a fuck ton more heart into it and it's audibly evident.
Bro no offense but you need to get your eardrums checked. Or maybe some glasses since you're blinded by nostalgia. The voice actors in Kai's dub are so much better on experience alone. That's like the one thing people can agree on. A lot of Z sounds like it's their first voice acting gig. Some of the actors literally went back and redid their lines in season 3 of the dub because of how rough they were. Goku has this really weird delivery during the whole Frieza saga where it sounds like someone told the voice actor he couldn't lower his voice below a certain pitch. A lot of the voices don't really get fully comfortable until around Cell Games/Buu saga. Their stilted delivery in Z isn't putting more emotion in everything, it's because they lacked the skill/experience for subtly, to have the characters not just be mad or sad. Now they portray more complex feelings like frustrated or guilty. If anything the sub of Kai is where the voice actors are old and aren't really at their peak.
While I do appreciate how Kai shortened out the series an cutting out the filler, I'd still have to go with the original. The Bruce Falconer score I consider to fit a lot better when we started basting off into space. The ambiance fit the vastness of the universe better. You could feel the demise of Namek, a lot of the individual character songs really fit the mood. I actually don't like a lot of this new digital aged drawings either. Super is a particular offender as the colors are so bright that they don't really allow the actions or characters to shine. Some things come off too symmetrical to where you realize it wasn't done by hand.
Watching color fixed Dragonbox fan edits of the original 4:3 DBZ with the broadcast audio is the best experience (check Nyaa), but if I want the english dub I'll take Kai (maybe with Faulconer edited in depending on the day) over dub DBZ every time. I grew up on early 2000s Toonami and horrible quality Realplayer rips of the japanese version to see what I was missing over here. The tapes and dvds at the time seemed alright but the orange bricks were horrific by any standard. DBZ is 4:3, period. Kai was cool though, I much prefer the pacing and vastly better english script and dub but it makes too many visual sacrifices, the redrawn elements look out of place and subpar, I miss the film grain, and not a fan of the intro music and eye catchers. Yamamoto's soundtrack was pretty cool plagarism or not, but I grew up on his awesome Butoden arrangements so that didn't surprise me much on either count. Whatever version you watch of DBZ it's gonna have some cons though, glad I have a few options. Usually just read the manga or watch a few iconic scenes at this point but it'd be cool to get a definitive fan DBZ Onepace type treatment using the best video sources and offering whichever audio options you want. Those colorfixed Dragonbox releases with all the audio tracks would be a good start, just a lot of editing to do from that base if you wanted a "manga cut".
I grew up with Z but I prefer Kai. I prefer the dub because if I wanted to read anime, I’d just read the manga. But the actors in Kai have a decade under their belt and their delivery is much better than Z. Also, they made Kai grow up with the audience. Gone are the darns and you monsters and replaced with damns and you bastards.
@@martinbrown3979 LMAO, both DB and DBZ were popular before Bruce Faulconer. It's so funny how you people think Bruce Faulconer is a big part of DBZ when he's not. He's only a big part in the USA, that's it. He's not on the level of Toriyama himself or Shunske Kikuchi and never has
@@orlandoacosta2631 There’s being popular and theres worldwide fame and of course he’s not on the level of Toriyama, Toriyama created the whole show so there’s no debate but let’s not act like adding the Funimation dub did not have an massive impact for the English audience across the world. When the majority of DBZ fans think of DBZ they think of Sean Schemmel, Toriyama, Ocean & Funi dub including Bruce falconer soundtrack
Prefer DBZ no contest. I never saw the pacing as "slow" I saw it as appropriate build up, keeping tension. And while the OG Kai soundtrack was good it's no longer the official score and Faconner is fantastic. Also, Piccolo, Bulma and Gohan are better in Z than Kai
This is the first time seeing this answer, and I respect this so much. It's weird, but sometimes I just want the show I'm watching to be long. Makes me feel like I'm along for a ride.
I was literally going to make a top 10 reasons DBZ Kai is better than DBZ. But you summed it all up :) You failed to bring up how they potrayed Frieza correctly 😑😑. So I'll bring it up :P Charismatic, menacing, charming to an extent, AND MY GOD CHRIS AYRES NAILED THAT CHARACTER PERFECTLY... RIP, though 😭😭
I really do miss Chris Ayers. His portrayal of Freeza made Freeza my favorite villian out of the entire series. I think Daman Mills is a perfect understudy to Ayers and probably in some way a tiny bit better as blasphemous as it is to suggest that. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I don’t mind the filler but even if some of the filler were annoying it….the big Difference is the Music. Vegeta’s themes were my favorite but also the theme for Goku becoming SSJ and Gohan turning SSJ2 all gage those moments the nostalgia that it does have(not only but mostly). I also liked Piccolo’s associated music.
Honestly if they had kept the Falconer music I would have been willing to give Kai more of a chance. Or if they had redone the animation. Can you imagine what Dragonball Z with the animation from the Dragon Soul opening could've been like? All they really ended up doing was cutting out things that DBZ had, redoing the dialog, and putting in dialog that was "closer to the manga" as though that's actually a point in it's favor.
I prefer the original Z but Kai music was fire every time the music would start slow than the music starts picking up when shit goes down just made it feel new the soundtrack is called the formidable warrior
In DBZ Abridged, the Android and Cell saga combined only lasted 30 episodes, and improved upon the source by humanizing the Cyborgs and giving a motivation for Doctor Gero to hate Goku so much, and for Android 16 to have a fascination with birds, although I've heard that in the anime it was nature in total, not just the birds. DBZ Abridged made a point that Cyborgs 17 and 18 only really did things because they used to not have the choice, and are still abit sour over being made into cyborgs. Even if something will go bad for them, they'll do it, because atleast it's their choice to make. Sure, DBZ Abridged may not be a direct translation of the anime, but it's shorter and better. Granted, it's abit more on the comedy side, but it does have heart touching moments. Granted, again, it's usually atleast mildly wrapped in comedy, but it still does have them. Also I guess more towards the start it's entirely comedy, but still. So anyways, you say DBZ Kai cut out *all* the filler? DBZ Abridged added stuff, and still had less episodes. And most episodes were under twenty minutes long. (Edit): Also, is Kai as filler heavy as Super? Because I couldn't get through the 6th episode of Super. *WAY* too filler heavy. (Edit): 9th episode I just found out, and nevermind, I'm hooked on Kai final chapters.
The color pallet is a controversial topic. They both actually have pretty much the same color pallet. Kai looks the way it does because the creators wanted to bring back the original look that the show had, but due to film aging, and horrible remasters, Z has never truly looked the way it was supposed to.
Yeah the Color pallete is so oversaturated in most Funimation releases and even the orange bricks suffer from faded colors. It's honestly kinda sad to see
@@lssjgaming1599 yeah Orange bricks and blu ray season sets were a diabolical monstrosity.
@@yinsolaya It's kinda the opposite case for the Dragon Boxes.
For Funimation not only are they working with a later generation copy of the show
(it's like having a photocopy of a photocopy) but they just crank up the contrast really high and run it
through a DNR filter, causing the colors to be really bright, bleed into each other and lose overall detail.
While Toei has access to the original film, the DBoxes just... gave us the raws from them.
Problem is, the film they have is _really_ old, and weren't stored in the best conditions,
(RIP original broadcast audio) which caused the colors to become a bit off and faded.
Funi version suffers heavily from them doing too much to it,
while Toei was hurt slightly by the age of the film and doing nothing to it.
The Level Sets were the closest Funi came to fixing this mess... but of course they cancelled them 2 sets in.
Agree, he watched the funimation home release and thinks that's how DBZ is supposed to look like. I got a clip of goku vs vegeta on my yt page ripped from the selecta vision bluray release, much better remaster and faithful to the original films. Even better looking than Kai imo
Not to mention how it was then displayed through CRT.
Cartoons by their nature are so much more sensitive to the this change in tech.
Kai is a less fluffy version, I like how it gets to the point much faster, as a kid in the 90s nothing was more painful than a wasted episode of power ups and massive fluff, you’d wait 3 weeks to get 3 minutes in a fight
Man you just made me have flashbacks. I was disagreeing with kai pacing being better until I read your comment. I vividly remember watching Z and looking up at the clock seeing the time go by and noticing the episode was almost over and we had just wasted like 15 mins powering up and talking nonsense. It was the worst feeling.
Listen the only reason why Kai isn’t good as people are saying it’s because your watching the nicktoons dub if you wanna see the uncut dub with the blood the cursing and all that you gotta get the home releases cause that’s where they really take it far
That wasn’t painful it was literally my childhood 😢
I'd rather wait the 3 episodes and see blood vs the horrible sensors though. I can't find the original dbz anywhere 😫
@@Code1LyokoHulu has the uncut version.
this was such a mature and non biased video. well done brother
Yeah it was BIASED cope harder Kai fanboy
@@LouvreJaramill u good? ur beefing w nobody LMAO
@@LouvreJaramillme when I argue about a remaster being “worse than” the original when they both are the same series:
it was a whole lot of kai glaze nothing more nothing less
it was a whole lot of kai glaze nothing more nothing less
I think Kai does a better dialogue bc who tf would say
"Everyone get down, take cover, get moving, Goku's gonna release the kameyameya wave"
😂😂😂😂 but at the same time Majin Vegeta speeches are waaaaaay better in the original DBZ
@ i agree Z has better dialogue in some scenes but my god the majority is just like this
@@redfive6020 i guess nosetalgia plays a part as well because the voices im used to and the sound. I watched Kai all the way through and its still DBZ so i will watch it but it doesnt recreate that feeling which is something thats unquantifiable
lol i remember this shit, i was about to die that day XD
For dialogue, the original subtitles. There's so many little differences between the sub and dub. But if I just want to watch with it on background, dubbed for sure. But kais dialogue...idk. personally
There needs to be a version that is 4k, uncut, no cropping, has the best color, fixed redraw issues, has all the soundtrack and dubbed versions you can pick on the fly. So if you want original music, or Faulconer you can switch so you get the best experience.
I guess Blu-ray is the closest.
Faulconer music was on point
@@kakarot3674 it was loud and annoying and only worked for a couple of moments Japanese audio track all the way
@@rudysmith1552 Faulconer dub all the way b
@@kakarot3674 Fr I loved watching DBZ with Faulconer Dub it sounds so appealing to the ears.
I want to be able to switch to the yamamoto score. Objectively the best and the only way I can watch it.
I don't think I've ever seen someone on the Internet put together such a well thought out and reasonable explanation of their point of view without being completely toxic in some manner. You sir have a gift and I will be following your channel!
I only watched your video to kill some time and have never watched kai, I'm someone who grew up in the 90s watching the original dragonball z day by day. I'm a teacher now and kinda roll my eyes with kids talk about super but never thought of it how you mentioned their ultra instinct is our super saiyan transformation. I'll definitely be more open in future.
Thanks for the excellent review 👍
Pacing in Kai is definately much better then the original but I think that sometimes it doesnt give some room to breathe during good moments and also cuts out filler that actually helped to develop the characters. Also the redraws really are horendous, its less terrible in the cell saga or during scenes when bright ki blasts are going out but they always look so bad.
I can agree with this
W take
Kai pacing is much faster which I prefer a lot compared to the original Z
Filler didn’t help develop characters
I don't think the redraws were bad at all. Which redraws do you think were really bad? I remember they fixed the error with Trunks balding edges 😂😂😂😂😂when was transforming into Super Saiyan to blast at the Androids when they first woke up and destroyed Gero's lab.🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
At the end of the day, Dragon ball Z Kai gave us dragon soul. It was worth it.
I prefer Kai even though I do love a lot of the filler in Z
W take
W
Bro take all the W's
With the exception of Garlic Jr, I agree with this.
I have not seen Kai, only Z. I’m actually gonna watch Kai for the first time with my girlfriend who doesn’t like anime, but wants to see DB because of how popular is. So for someone like that Kai seems to be the better choice. I’m guessing Garlic jr. is no where to be seen in Kai
Dbz Kai dub captured gokus personality right and made him sound like less super man but a warrior burning with rage when someone messed with his friends and didn't care about justice.
OG cartoon network's Toonami DBZ was the best DBZ ever produce. Those who didn't grow up back then and see its entry have no idea of its impact. This was a time when NO anime was even being aired over here in the USA. The visual art and Bruce Faulconer score are paramount to the effect. What memories!
I'm with you. People younger than us haven't even watched it and say kai is better. The Z they watched was the Japanese music. So they've only seen garbage and hit garbage kai. The falconer score was half the impact
Faulconer score was trash
@@isayasbashiri5371nope
@@isayasbashiri5371i know everybody have they opinion’s but Bruce falconers soundtrack is the definitive for dbz 💯that other soundtrack is pure ass
@KeeperPlus Bro, Falconer is to DBZ what cheese is to pizza! The perfect combination! I remember in like 99 or 2000 DBZ coming on right after Sailor Moon and how anxious I was to see it. Between that and WWF, I don't know what defined my childhood more!
I was a 90s kid and I grew up worshipping DBZ almost religiously.
However, Kai is superior in almost every way, especially the writing, which transforms the show. You go from cheesy 90s Power Rangers dialogue to exceptionally well written, paced and accurate to the original material.
I grew up on the original Z run on Toonami. I grew up buying the orange brick DVD releases. I grew up with all the corny speeches. And I 100% prefer the uncut edition of Dragon Ball Z Kai. I will take that any day over watching Z at this point. I still love Z for nostalgia sake, but I will always prefer a dragon Ball Z Kai
Original Z: Home of the DARN HIM!!
@@MrCliffda3rd YES! But at least in the uncut version of Z Krillin would occasionally say“bastard“ i’m pretty sure Vegeta would occasionally say “dammit” they would never let Goku say any of it though. Not until Dragon Ball Z Kai. I wonder if it’s because they tried to give this image of Goku that looked like Superman or something. Because like I said even in the uncut version of Dragon Ball Z other characters with occasionally cruise with the exception of Goku
I wish Kai had Veggetas Hells bells theme, if they had that I would 100% prefer Kai, because of that I only 75% prefer it 😊😂
@@joek1989 I will say the music scores did hit pretty hard. I miss that, especially love piccolos THEME
Same here bro. I personally own both Z and Kai
Great review man! Just started watching Kai the other day. Grew up with the original series and it’s awesome nostalgia but feels off so far hope it gets better.
Colors in DBZ and DBZ Kai should be identical. The issues with DBZ’s colors is due to mishandling of the original film recordings. Both should be 4:3 and have identical colors. The issue comes from how many poor rereleases of DBZ there have been, especially in the western releases. The redraws look poor due to how the digital coloring and digital compositing the scenes went through. If you want more information AnimeAjay and Totally Not Mark have done amazing breakdowns in how badly the home releases have been handled. I suggest watching those as they are pretty much required viewing on why DBZ looks awful in the coloring department. It really is a shame because there are tons of other cel anime that have been rescanned in a far more faithful way to the original without losing the quality
My experience is also with the DBZ JP dub as I’ve never liked the English cast myself. The Japanese cast does just as good as they did in the original DBZ anime with their re-recorded lines. I cannot comment on the English cast and how they did on both. Always loved the Kikuchi score. Now I never saw the entirety of DBZ and only watched Kai after first reading the manga. However I have seen the entirety of OG DB and DBS(both manga and anime) fully as well
Facts
Honestly if my computer wasn't shit I'd make a fan edit of DBZ Kai that adds the Kikuchi score, the Japanese Openings/Title cards/Commercial Bumpers/End credits and I'd try to upscale and color corect the dragon box footage of the Buu Saga because I hate how the footage for the DBZ Kai Final Chapters are cropped to be in a 16:9 aspect ratio and with a wired teal blue color filter
@@ItsBigTuneThe dragon box Has completely accurate colors and it's 4 by 3.
Not crop to shit like the funimation version. The best way to watch it if just to watch the Japanese dub.
@rudysmith1552 Dragon Box and the level sets are the two best looking versions of DBZ to me
@@rudysmith1552
No, the Dragon Boxes have film aging issues as well.
damn brah, got me in my feels just thinking about this amazing anime. Grew up watching it and still love it. really liked the way you articulated yourself.
Crazy that I would see this video the morning after I just started rewatching Kai.
Overall, I do agree with your assessment, although I must admit I've always defended some of the filler from the original broadcast of the Buu Saga because it did improve some of the character development. (I'm thinking some of the more fleshed-out interactions between Mr. Satan and Fat Buu, and the dynamic between Goku and Vegeta post-Fusion when they were navigating Buu's stomach.)
I love the original DBZ. It's not even the nostalgia, it just hits all the bases, the raw art style, the music the color, the blood, the VA and dialogues no matter if it matches the manga or not, Goks's line after he went ssj against freiza gave me chills back in the day. Idk but Kai just looks like something from which DB super got its weird art style and plastic like color palette from.
I honestly thing the SSJ speech to Frieza was better done in Kai tbh imo
It felt alot less like he was running for president like in the original dub dialogue.
Complete nonsense
Whenever I take a look at Z and Kai, I always think of the Cell Games arc, Z’s version was so fucking well done with Gohan turning SJJ2, The fact it had its own theme, the silence in Gohans face, and the performance of Masako Nozawa when they scream, absolute chills. Such a well done scene, I still think Kais is good though, just not as impactful how Z did imo
Kai was gay.
@@mfundoh8148 💀😂
The only thing better about Kai is they changed a lot of the bad dialogue in the original . But not a fan of Kai’s gohan compared to the og .
💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀
The bad dialogue in DBZ is a small part of what made it great at times, much like the old Resident Evil games and their corny dialogue. Kai changes the mood and the setup of a lot of lines and scenes and key moments. It ruins the show.
There is literally no reason for anyone who loves the original Funimation dub to watch Kai. It feels dull and lifeless and the actors/writers honestly seemed bored and uninspired by this point.
My only complaint about the original dub is merely that the inner monologues were a bit much. They thought the characters had to be talking at every turn and that’s just not true. Gohan going SSJ2 in the Japanese version proves this. He didn’t need to say shit to convey his anguish in that scene. The dub is still good, but it really didn’t need that entire spiel.
This only matters if you are watching in English.
@@karascrowI grew up with the Funi dub and I could not disagree more. The acting is so much better in Kai. It’s not even close.
@@danielcroaker1517Strongly disagree. Watching DBK makes me nearly cringe every single time. There are very few scenes that are done better.
I remember when nicktoons aired dragon ball movies for a while. For reasons I can't comprehend, they aired the uncut versions with all the blood and swearing intact. It was such a jarring tonal shift and I loved it.
This + keeping 18 saying "now I'm pissed" in the final Kai episode of the Cell arc, like they kinda stopped caring by the end it feels like, but they did cut out some scenes like Trunks peeing on Broly in Second Coming & for obvious reasons Goten & Trunks beating Hitler.
I’ll say this, Kai is great for not only telling you the main story, but it has improved dialogues with voice actors that still stuck around that have clearly improved their work.
BUT, i still love the fillers and the old z dub (both Japanese and English), as I was raised by both at once, I’ll appreciate that Kai introduced a new generation of db fans, and the memories the old z gave to us.
Japanese is ass goku sounded like a fag doesn't help English version or Spanish is by far superior
The way Vegeta trash talks Kid Buu is superior in the OG Dub to Kai imo.
For some reason I can *not* get enough of Faulconer's music for DBZ. Especially, the themes of the Dragon, Vegeta, SSJ transformation and SSJ3 etc.
@@chazo1367Depending on the scene. The best acting in the OG Z dub is definitely during the Buu saga. I think Kai is better in basically every scene, but the Buu saga is the exception to that.
@@victorsamsung2921Not really Faulconer's music. Almost every track was composed by other artists who got no credit.
Also another thing that they dropped the ball on regarding the Kai soundtrack is that when Yamamoto got fired, they started using the Kikuchi soundtracks and later replaced the re-run episodes with them as well (Buu Saga Kai was when they had Suitomo) , problem is that they used a limited amount of kikuchi soundtracks and it was so repetitive, there’s like 5 hours worth of soundtracks to choose from and they only used like 15 tracks
Kai had better voice acting and less than annoying fillers, the original although not the best with questionable lines has some time to develop minor characters and Bruce Faulconer's musical theme is exceptional
Fun fact: the final chapters wasn't intended to be made. This harkens back to Toriyama essentially being forced to make the Buu saga, so the original ending of Kai was supposed to be the "canon" ending to the series. However, an anime adaptation of Toriko airing at the same time flopped hard. That was canceled and Toei rushed out the final chapters to fill a vacant time slot.
There is no canon
Thats a myth. Nobody said Toriyama was forced to make the Buu arc, and people keep acting like its terrible. Its not.
@GeteMachine Toriyama has personally stated several times while writing the manga that he planned to end the series, but was convinced by the magazine editors to keep going, which is how we got Dr. Gero, then the androids after executive meddling, then Cell after more executive meddling, then Gohan in high school, then Buu after an initial negative response.
@@theotherjared9824That's just not true pal, Toriyama only stated that he wanted to end DB after the Pilaf arc but decided to continue, the rumors that said he wanted to end DB earlier are misinformations and bad translations, Freeza saga? that was his editor that said he would personally end the series at the freeza saga, not Toriyama, Cell saga? He never wanted to end it there he just wanted to make Gohan the main character. The ending he truly wanted was where he ended the manga, the end of z arc, that's it.
Pulled from nowhere
I personally like Z more than Z Kai because I love filler and I also grew up watching Z.
Same here z better
I grew up Z, but I’m not 5 anymore, the filler makes the pacing a nightmare to watch, and the English dub aged so poorly, Kai is the only one I ever go back watching, despite owning seasons 1-9 of the original dragonballz
Filler is shit bruh
Yeah I felt Kai went by way too fast
@@jasonyork7892blinded by nostalgia
0:53 Tbf Kai copies the manga word for word
Chris Ayers came with Kai. That, alone, makes Kai better imo.
Loved Ayers, but preferred Nadolnies Gohan so it was a wash for me
No
Great breakdown bro👏
Disagree but any dbz content is good content
I prefer to follow the series of every Dragon Ball
1. Dragon Ball
2. Dragon Ball Z
3. Dragon Ball Super
4. Dragon Ball GT
Imagine if GT is after super, I wonder what would super Saiyan blue look like
Imagine vegeta going blue evolved or ultra ego when baby showed up and the entire series being over in the 2nd arc
I have 3 kids who are all boys. I am going to love introducing them to the dragonball universe however…….the original dragon ball definitely has a lot of sexual humor that are not appropriate for my two oldest who are 2 and 4. I didn’t grow up watching dragon ball, but the original DBZ. that series was legendary and it was one of the first cartoons I watched where I got emotionally invested in the characters and got to see some of them grow up. I started watching dragonball with my kids and they love it. It’s also nice to see goku and krillin as kids training under master Roshi. I didn’t get to see that part of thier lives before and knowing what goku and krillin become. It’s good to see them as kids…..however I might wait until my kids are alittle older, because Master Roshi’s motivations for doing favors for people are very much on the perverted side. I don’t remember dragon ball z having the same kind of themes.
@@jaypenha5352 The perversion isn't as blatant in Z, but it's still there IIRC.
@@jaypenha5352wait a couple of years, and show them the nicktoons dub. Hopefully by the time that they finish Kai and move on to The Final Chapters, they’ll be old enough to understand to not follow his example, because The Final Chapters never aired on nicktoons, so there’s no censored dub of those episodes.
I really appreciate this video. I'm an old head fan who grew up with the Ocean Dub in the mid-late 90's all the way through the in-house Funimation dub and the orange bricks. I love the old Faulconer score, but I gotta say, I totally agree with you when it comes to the Yamamoto score. Dude did plagiarize and I will not excuse that, but damn... Those tracks hit so hard. Wish they would've kept the OG DBZ tracks for Trunks killing Frieza and SSJ2 Gohan transformation, though...
But yeah, man, you nailed it. For me, Kai is the absolute best way to introduce someone to DBZ, and maybe even the franchise as a whole since it recaps Dragonball a little bit. I showed my wife DBZ Kai first and she absolutely loved it, and then she wound up loving the original DB even more because it almost felt like a "prequel"! Anyways, good stuff, subbed!
Kai cut out Trunks “this is for Gohan” line when he went back to his timeline to kill the androids, automatically makes it not better
I just watched it like a week ago…No they didn’t what tf are you talking about? 😂
@@milkbottle4u in the original he screams “this is for Gohan” right before killing 18”
In Kai after killing 18 he says “ that one was for my friends, and this one is for me and my teacher Gohan” and then kicks 17
It’s just not the same
@@Gentledegenerate I don't know anything about DBZ but if it's closer to the source material (manga) then I take it any day over the modification
@@EverRusting Nah dude, you're just wrong.
@@EverRusting dbz kai is objectively a better experience if you're wanting the closest story of DB told. Z is badly outdated and fans can't take off the nostalgia goggles for their lives, even though personally I still prefer Z cause I bonded with it through childhood. If I'm gonna suggest a new watcher to dbz, I have to say Kai for the pacing hands down (and the dub is objectively better aside from some actor changes)
Can’t watch DBZ without the Bruce Faulconer score, but that’s a me problem lol. Respect no matter how you watch the show! Android / Cell saga is peak. Watching it for the first time shortly after pokemon gold and silver came out during winter time will always be a memory that sticks with me. Dope video!
I have DBZ Kai with Faulconer score. I can’t watch dbz without the GOAT music either 😂
Final Chapters was done by Toei in house while the previous Kai show was outsourced to another company.
I grew up on OG Z and that was the way for me until I decided to give Kai a shot after learning the show isn't censored on the blu ray and how it was supposedly more faithful to the manga
I never looked back
W video bro
I prefer Kai for the Saiyan and Frieza sagas, and Z for the Android and Buu sagas.
Agreed. Kai is only better in areas where the old dub was bad, like in the Saiyan and Namek arc, but after that where the Z dub actually got better in the Android arc, Kai feels a bit flat. Unnecessary.
The dbz Kai theme song was absolute fire.
I was in the same boat as you when it came to not bothering with final chapters due to already seeing z, but man original kai was absolute peak dragon ball, the score is very memorable. I still love kikuchi's score as that is the definitive sound of dragon ball, but man Yamamoto was built different. I have checked out some of final chapters and a lot of dialogue is actually arguable if kai or z did it better (*ahem* majin vegeta)
watched the first part, remember none of the music. Falconers score will always be the best.
@@jimmythecrow not even close man, I don't get the appeal of it. It sounds so corny
@@jimmythecrowfalcouner songs are so garbage
No p3ak
I watched dbz kai as my first time watching dbz. I enjoyed every second of it and am glad it didn't have any filler tbh.
In terms of pacing, accurate script, and most voice acting, yes. In terms of music, I gotta go with Z. Bruce Faulconer was just on a whole different level. My dream DBZ dub would be Kai with the Faulconer music.
So should I watch og z or Kai? Because I want to re watch it
@@gowther1973 if you want to get through it faster watch Kai. If you don't mind the filler watch Z
@@obsessivefanboy7 ah I see I just don't like the censorship
@@gowther1973 Kai also has an uncensored version that swears and shows blood. Most fans that hate on Kai hate it based on the Nicktoons/CW version on TV where it was so watered down, but they don't realize that there's an uncensored version.
@@obsessivefanboy7 oh that's perfect than I'm gonna watch it than
Listened to two of you videos so far and I share almost all your opinions on Dragon Ball so far. Liked & subbed
Kai pacing is more digestible. But original with filler is more classic. Because when we were kids and didn’t know any better and watching filler episodes they were just regular episodes to us we thought were cannon and they still had impactful moments that Kai doesn’t. Gohan solo journey in jungle and meeting those orphan kids and Pigero I will never forget his name because it’s in my dbz mind from stuff i watched as a kid. Fake Namek and Bulma and gang gettin fooled by aliens who just wanted to steal their ship to get off what Bulma thought was Namek but a actual murky planet that is hard to escape in disguise. That was skipped in Kai. Although fake Namek was only like 3 episodes. They skipped a lot of Goku solo training sessions before he got out the hospital and when he left hospital and trained in gravity from 20 - 50 - 75 - 100 they pretty much skipped all of Goku gravity training. As well as garlic jr saga was first time I saw them save earth without Goku being around and just Vegeta space travel looking for Goku and having hallucinations was fun.
Said it perfectly I definitely like Z way better. I didn’t mind the filler.
Bro bulma getting fooled by all was just to scretch the arc more 💀
@@omarcraft7166 it was pretty good episodes in my opinion they were in space for a month so it fit in that’s the thing with filler in dbz it always fit in the story while filler in other anime doesn’t
Exactly like the filler episodes in Z were actually trying to keep the OG DragonBall in there "hence" why there where alot of "adventure " type filler( fake namek) (goku/gohan red ribbon) (gohan and icreus) (great sayaman) exc.. they tried to keep the DragonBall aspect alive while being in the DbZ setting.
Where as Ki is strictly Z.
Ki dialog is better in most part some I give to Z.
But Z will always be the best one for me
As a kid growing up between the age of 5 to 8
I absolutely hated a good bit of the filler.
I was so annoyed tht very lil progressed when I really wanted to see something progress.
It was at its worst with the entire Goku vs Frieza fight. lol
good shit bro. glad to see more brothers making DBZ content! Subbed 💪
Cell Games was the proper end for DBZ anyways
Kind of agree love the buu saga but it would’ve been nice to end z on a tournament arc like dragon ball and then like in super dragon ball is at its absolute best during a tournament arc
@@darkdog42Cell Games is only a tourney in name, there’s literally 2 fights 😂
I only tolerate Buu Saga because we got Majin Vegeta and SSJ3 Goku
N0
@@jase276 ssj3 sucks tho
Super interesting video 👍
I liked how you talked about the new generation of DB fans feeling like Super is the best in the franchise. It just do be like that. You see it in games like Halo too. No matter what you think of Super it doesn't change the fact that the new kids to the fanbase are super into it. You can kinda see this reflected in DB Legends the gacha game. If I remember correctly a big part of the fanbase is just kids according to analytics. Seeing which banners get the most hype and all that gives a decent lense to see what the fans love and yeah you get my point.
Obviously Super has its flaws but never let that push you to make fun of and gatekeep new fans.
I'm glad somebody understands😂
As someone who SUFFERED through watching the saiyan saga on Cartoon Network back in the day, the Kai versions were SO much more enjoyable to watch.
Dragon ball z Kai was awesome and dbz was great as well too.
As someone who grew up watching the original Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z on either Toonami or on VHS tapes, when I went back to re-watch DBZ for the first time in over a decade, I couldn't stomach the thought of sitting through all of the episodes from the original. If it were the only way that I could watch it again, I would have done it. But thankfully, we had Kai. When I re-watch it again later this year, I'll be watching it again using the Kai version, and when I become a father, I'll most likely show my kids the Kai version as well.
that sucks show em teh original Z you'll have a longer go of it too
Fool
Dbz on toonami is goated you had to be there 5pm est
For me, Bruce Faulconer will always be part of Dragon Ball Z. When I first watched DBZ Kai and I thought the show was ok. I didn't like the change of voice actors for Bulma, Gohan, Freiza, Android 18 and the color palette. The redrawing's in some of the episodes was bad idea. With Bruce Faulconer, Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Future Trunks and others all had their own theme soundtracks. The really wished that DBS would have brought back Bruce to do the soundtrack for the series. During the first 3 years of Dragon Ball Super, the characters looked like had plastic and glossy look to them. That crap disappeared by the beginning of the Tournament of Power saga. The fights were much more brutal, and the color palette was as close as to DBZ as we were going to get. A lot of people hated of how dumb, stupid and careless Goku had become during Dragon Ball Super. It got to the point where Goku had forgotten about Gohan. He had his dumb moments in DBZ, but Goku knew when it was time to get serious. Even DBGT Goku wouldn't have made those mistakes that DBS Goku. Other than the soundtrack and color palette, I think the dumb Goku issue is what kind ruined Dragon Ball Super in the long run.
In contrast to the author of this video, you offer a solid opinion. Lol
wait, that glossy plastic look ends up disappearing later on in the show? I couldn't watch super because the art style looked horrendous, and when I have to listen to Bulma's voice actor, my ears fold in on themselves. Nothing will ever replace the Faulconer soundtrack, I tried watching Kai with the japanese soundtrack and it was so boring and uninteresting that I couldn't help but feel it was missing something the entire time.
Yeah I prefer DBZ Kai too. Though I did grow up watching the original DBZ on Cartoon Network in the late 90s/early 00s, I've still been able to put aside my nostalgia and appreciate Kai more for various reasons between the better pacing and the more accurate English dub.
L take
damn you're young.
nonetheless, glad you've been able to enjoy this incredible series!
Seeing the new younger audience that kai brought in to the fandom makes me appreciate it even more.
Kai is better than Z in every way possible... People only pick Z for nostalgia or that bum ass faulconer score.
That score is really the main reason DBZ took off in the US. I doubt it would’ve been as popular. I want aggressive music when a form that’s literally based on rage is happening, and people are beating the snot out of each other, not that happy tranquil w/e the hell the OG score had.
Want to talk about a bad score? Look at US DBGT…
@@billbob4856 That music is nowhere near what Dragonball is..I used to think like that until I listened to the original score and heard what Dragonball actually sounds like plus not only does it sound bad and not fit it would never shut up.
Tbf the cell saga and buu saga were just straight up better in the og dub.
Watching Dragon Ball Z Kai en espanol latino in the dominican repuclic when i was a little kid made me happy because Mario Casteneda as Goku and Rene Garcia as Vegeta was a lot better in DBZ KAI than in Z
If I could like this video twice, I would. Most of the takes you had were the same as mine. People think I'm a hater to the original but I personally love Kai. (The uncut verison ofc) Subscribed man!
The only upside the TV version of DBZ Kai has is Chris Sabat screaming the *"It's over 9000!!!!!"* line as Vegeta matching brian drummond's Vegeta
th-cam.com/video/K5irQgiajDc/w-d-xo.html&pp=ygUWZGJ6IGthaSBpdCdzIG92ZXIgOTAwMA%3D%3D
Great video bro
Dbz kai will always be my favorite out of the two. Ill never forget watching it on nicktoons along with the dbz movies all those years ago as a kid. I also grew up with the yamamoto score as well which is my favorite soundtrack to listen to while watching kai.
Excellent comparison , thanks !
Toonami was my favorite 🤗
Short answer: Yes, and anyone who says otherwise is blinded by the original DBZ nostalgia
Z's dub is so horrible and corny that I think Kai wins by default, even with all of it's flaws.
Kai sounds more like a low budget netflix acting where you can tell their voice acting is coming by reading the script word per word while Z feels very naturally human.
@@DreamingWhiteColors
*“You worthless, heartless, BASTARD!”*
Kai’s voice line with each character is way better anyways, they’re much more clear to understand.
Also you have to admit, Frieza sure did sound like a lizard in Z, but Kai made Frieza’s voice way way more iconic.
@@kindplanet1 Freiza in Super/Kai sounds like a nice British butler trying to be like a mean butler lmao, Z Frieza sounds threatening and it has character.
Nothing about Kai and Super feels human, you can feel like they are reading of a script, it sounds fake.
@@DreamingWhiteColors You're going to tell me with a straight face that the OG dragon ball z's voice acting isnt corny as fuck and cringe?
@@DreamingWhiteColors
Maybe because everything has a writing script? Are you dumb?
"Kids watching goku go ui is like us watching goku watching goku go ssj" haha idk why but instead of getting defensive about seeing Goku go SSJ that line made me smile. As if we're watching the next generation start their journey with the Z fighters
I can say Kai is better to certain extent which cuts out alot of drags and some of the animation during the sagas looked better , but the original versions music score throughout surely can't be beat , and that's mostly the only thing that the Z Kai version can't match
I swear, y'all have to be like 12 years old. The voice acting, the music, the filler episodes, everything about Z IS LIGHTYEARS ahead of Kai. Wtf?? Y'all are some kids.
@@FlipFreedom1997 nostalgia bias
@@vesha6274 Nostalgia? Or actual quality voice acting and music? Kai doesn't bring that. Remember where Kai came from buddy.
@@FlipFreedom1997 music maybe, but voice acting? You can't seriously think that the voice acting in the original is better without being blinded by nostalgia, when the voice acting in Kai is literally just an upgraded version of the original and is more faithful to the manga, most of the voice acting in the original is just the VAs reading the lines with no emotion whatsoever, at least in the dubbed version, I don't really know much about the subbed version
@@vesha6274 Some of the voice actors in Kai sound terrible. Even if the dialogue is closer to the manga That alone doesn't save it for me to be ok with it.
I'm sure There is more than what I can remember But what I do remember is Android 18. The voice actor ruined her in kai.
In the dbz funimation version Her voice actor is very fitting to her character's Personality and looks.
I know there are more examples that I can bring up but I'm not gonna waste my time Doing all that I think you can see my point.
you just gave me a class bra, good job.
RIP Akira Toriyama
Great analysis! I grew up with the “OG” dub on Toonami, but I still say Kai is a better watch. Sure, Kai has its issues, but if you look at the whole picture and don’t just cherry-pick things, it is a better show overall. I just wish the Yamamoto score hadn’t been scrubbed from all the “official” releases. Even with the plagiarism issues, I still prefer that music for Kai, haha.
I prefer _Kai_ due to it flowing much better, the script, dialogue, and characterization being a lot closer to Toriyama's vision, and the voice acting being WAY better.
A lot of the creative decisions in dub of _Z_ honestly undermine the emotional resonance of the actual story (such as how they handled Goku's "I Am" speech or Gohan going SSJ2 for the first time).
Awesome intro!
Rock the dragon is my favorite opening for DBZ it was the first one I saw when I was little and it got me hyped for the show
I grew up with the Ocean/OG Funimation dub, and at 34 years old there's no doubt in my mind that Z Kai is much better. The better voice acting, more mature dialog, and the lack of Bruce's nonstop music is so much better. Like you I love some of Bruce's tracks, but I gotta go with that old school Japanese music.
There's only maybe up 3-4 lines of dialog or a few moments in fight scenes I prefer in the OG version.
Kai is so much better. I watched it with some friends and family. I suggested we watched the cell saga with Og Dbz. Everyone was screaming at me to turn it off because it was dragging on forever. No complaints when Kai is on
Great video! I personally prefer dbz original, because I think it's longer pace, voice actors playing multiple roles, and more dated, hand-drawn feel of the animation carry a lot of the show's charm for me. Of course, that's what I grew up on though, so I learned to fall in love with those aspects, and understand how it may turn off viewers who weren't initially exposed to it
Also, to note on the soundtrack, I agree that the opening for dbz kai is the best and most iconic of them, and I do think faulconer's soundtrack is flawed, but faulconer's most iconic themes are some of the greatest examples of scoring ever, especially in the cell arc, and for me probably can't be topped. Only thing about faulconer is that ALWAYS having music no matter what can be a bit clunky, but again there's a charm to that
Short answer, objectively yes. Better voice acting, better quality image, actual manga accurate dialogue, less filler and padding
I love both versions honestly and I’m perfectly okay to admit that I only feel that way because of nostalgia.
I would NEVER recommend the original Z dub to anybody new to show but for me who grew up with Z I can never fully let go of that original dub as corny as it often is.
I own both Kai and the original dub on blu ray and happy that I do.
the issue i have with kai is that the voice actors seemed bored, they didnt seem to put any real emotion into the lines, and in a show like dragon ball that is not ok. you cant just limp on by with no energy in your voice, even in super it seems like the actors dont care nearly as much as they use to sure its a fresh script and they clearly care more than with kai but its not the same as with the original dragon ball z dub and thats because that dub gave them the chance to put emotion into everything
I watched the JP dub so I’ve never heard of this
I think it's the opposite lowkey
'the issue i have with kai is that the voice actors seemed bored, they didnt seem to put any real emotion into the lines"
This is extremely ridiculous, are you joking? You either never sat to watch Kai front-to-back and is just talking out of your ass, or is straight up out of your mind. The kai actors were very clearly putting their all into their reprised rolls and were at their A-game, especially in the original Saiyan-to-Cell run. It's very clearly Dragonball's best dubbing performance and it's not even close. Goku's super saiyan transformation namek scene is leaps and bounds better than Z's; Sean put a fuck ton more heart into it and it's audibly evident.
Pretty much sums up my thoughts
Bro no offense but you need to get your eardrums checked. Or maybe some glasses since you're blinded by nostalgia. The voice actors in Kai's dub are so much better on experience alone. That's like the one thing people can agree on. A lot of Z sounds like it's their first voice acting gig. Some of the actors literally went back and redid their lines in season 3 of the dub because of how rough they were. Goku has this really weird delivery during the whole Frieza saga where it sounds like someone told the voice actor he couldn't lower his voice below a certain pitch. A lot of the voices don't really get fully comfortable until around Cell Games/Buu saga. Their stilted delivery in Z isn't putting more emotion in everything, it's because they lacked the skill/experience for subtly, to have the characters not just be mad or sad. Now they portray more complex feelings like frustrated or guilty.
If anything the sub of Kai is where the voice actors are old and aren't really at their peak.
0:41 no it is more accurate to the manga. As someone who has seen Kai and read the manga I can confirm
I grew up with kai so its better to me right there, but I also think the voice acting is just much better, animation is cleaner, etc.
Kai Gohan always give me the creeps...
Brilliant summary! Thank you!
While I do appreciate how Kai shortened out the series an cutting out the filler, I'd still have to go with the original.
The Bruce Falconer score I consider to fit a lot better when we started basting off into space. The ambiance fit the vastness of the universe better. You could feel the demise of Namek, a lot of the individual character songs really fit the mood.
I actually don't like a lot of this new digital aged drawings either. Super is a particular offender as the colors are so bright that they don't really allow the actions or characters to shine. Some things come off too symmetrical to where you realize it wasn't done by hand.
Bro, the DBZ Kai soundtrack BLOWS the DBZ soundtrack out of the water. No comparison, man. Sucks that he plagiarized, but boy was cookin
Watching color fixed Dragonbox fan edits of the original 4:3 DBZ with the broadcast audio is the best experience (check Nyaa), but if I want the english dub I'll take Kai (maybe with Faulconer edited in depending on the day) over dub DBZ every time. I grew up on early 2000s Toonami and horrible quality Realplayer rips of the japanese version to see what I was missing over here. The tapes and dvds at the time seemed alright but the orange bricks were horrific by any standard. DBZ is 4:3, period. Kai was cool though, I much prefer the pacing and vastly better english script and dub but it makes too many visual sacrifices, the redrawn elements look out of place and subpar, I miss the film grain, and not a fan of the intro music and eye catchers. Yamamoto's soundtrack was pretty cool plagarism or not, but I grew up on his awesome Butoden arrangements so that didn't surprise me much on either count. Whatever version you watch of DBZ it's gonna have some cons though, glad I have a few options. Usually just read the manga or watch a few iconic scenes at this point but it'd be cool to get a definitive fan DBZ Onepace type treatment using the best video sources and offering whichever audio options you want. Those colorfixed Dragonbox releases with all the audio tracks would be a good start, just a lot of editing to do from that base if you wanted a "manga cut".
Agreed
I grew up with Z but I prefer Kai. I prefer the dub because if I wanted to read anime, I’d just read the manga.
But the actors in Kai have a decade under their belt and their delivery is much better than Z. Also, they made Kai grow up with the audience. Gone are the darns and you monsters and replaced with damns and you bastards.
As soon as I heard ‘I’m not fan of Bruce falconer’ im out
Exactly. Kai just ain’t it
Right, it's notnlike Dragon ball was already a pop culture pehnomenon before Faulconer. Oh wait....
@@orlandoacosta2631 Phew, thank God you said Dragonball because Dragonball Z! Got its true fame from funimation & the Bruce falconer take over
@@martinbrown3979 LMAO, both DB and DBZ were popular before Bruce Faulconer. It's so funny how you people think Bruce Faulconer is a big part of DBZ when he's not. He's only a big part in the USA, that's it. He's not on the level of Toriyama himself or Shunske Kikuchi and never has
@@orlandoacosta2631 There’s being popular and theres worldwide fame and of course he’s not on the level of Toriyama, Toriyama created the whole show so there’s no debate but let’s not act like adding the Funimation dub did not have an massive impact for the English audience across the world. When the majority of DBZ fans think of DBZ they think of Sean Schemmel, Toriyama, Ocean & Funi dub including Bruce falconer soundtrack
You da goat for mentioning Flava in ya ear. So much starpower in that remix
Prefer DBZ no contest. I never saw the pacing as "slow" I saw it as appropriate build up, keeping tension. And while the OG Kai soundtrack was good it's no longer the official score and Faconner is fantastic. Also, Piccolo, Bulma and Gohan are better in Z than Kai
In my opinion the filler is way too excessive and drags everything out for too long
"I've watched all of One Piece, thats enough proof I can get through just about anything" the most accurate statement i heard
The Blue-Ray version of Kai, the uncut version, is in my opinion so much better than any version of Z.
W upload bro
I’ve never fully watched Kai, I just enjoy how long Z is tbh
This is the first time seeing this answer, and I respect this so much. It's weird, but sometimes I just want the show I'm watching to be long. Makes me feel like I'm along for a ride.
@@ItsBigTune feel the same way 🙌🏻
I was literally going to make a top 10 reasons DBZ Kai is better than DBZ. But you summed it all up :)
You failed to bring up how they potrayed Frieza correctly 😑😑. So I'll bring it up :P
Charismatic, menacing, charming to an extent, AND MY GOD CHRIS AYRES NAILED THAT CHARACTER PERFECTLY... RIP, though 😭😭
I really do miss Chris Ayers. His portrayal of Freeza made Freeza my favorite villian out of the entire series. I think Daman Mills is a perfect understudy to Ayers and probably in some way a tiny bit better as blasphemous as it is to suggest that. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
@@angrybeaver4995 Daman Mills is the SUCCESSOR.
Manga is the BEST since it's the ONLY TRUE cannon for real💯
I don’t mind the filler but even if some of the filler were annoying it….the big Difference is the Music. Vegeta’s themes were my favorite but also the theme for Goku becoming SSJ and Gohan turning SSJ2 all gage those moments the nostalgia that it does have(not only but mostly). I also liked Piccolo’s associated music.
Honestly if they had kept the Falconer music I would have been willing to give Kai more of a chance. Or if they had redone the animation. Can you imagine what Dragonball Z with the animation from the Dragon Soul opening could've been like?
All they really ended up doing was cutting out things that DBZ had, redoing the dialog, and putting in dialog that was "closer to the manga" as though that's actually a point in it's favor.
I love most of the fillers (especially the trip to Namek which made me so excited for that planet) and dont wanna miss them.
If you get over the nostalgia, Kai is the superior by far.
For real. Glad I grew up with kai with kikuchis score
When you said you grew up watching clips of Dragon Ball Z in 09', that spoke to me man🥲
Yes. Take the nostalgia glasses off. Kai is better. It's essentially the manga.
You don’t even have to argue. It’s just simply better.
I prefer the original Z but Kai music was fire every time the music would start slow than the music starts picking up when shit goes down just made it feel new the soundtrack is called the formidable warrior
kai is less of a remix, more of a remaster
In DBZ Abridged, the Android and Cell saga combined only lasted 30 episodes, and improved upon the source by humanizing the Cyborgs and giving a motivation for Doctor Gero to hate Goku so much, and for Android 16 to have a fascination with birds, although I've heard that in the anime it was nature in total, not just the birds. DBZ Abridged made a point that Cyborgs 17 and 18 only really did things because they used to not have the choice, and are still abit sour over being made into cyborgs. Even if something will go bad for them, they'll do it, because atleast it's their choice to make. Sure, DBZ Abridged may not be a direct translation of the anime, but it's shorter and better. Granted, it's abit more on the comedy side, but it does have heart touching moments. Granted, again, it's usually atleast mildly wrapped in comedy, but it still does have them. Also I guess more towards the start it's entirely comedy, but still. So anyways, you say DBZ Kai cut out *all* the filler? DBZ Abridged added stuff, and still had less episodes. And most episodes were under twenty minutes long.
(Edit): Also, is Kai as filler heavy as Super? Because I couldn't get through the 6th episode of Super. *WAY* too filler heavy.
(Edit): 9th episode I just found out, and nevermind, I'm hooked on Kai final chapters.