Dragon Ball Z Kai - Season 1 [Blu-ray]

It arrived about a week ago. I just finished watching all four seasons today. Wow, what an enjoyable experience. As far as my familiarity with the series goes, I followed Kai during it's original Japanese broadcast, and I also saw some of the Saiyan arc on Nicktoons. So it's been about 3 years since I last watched Kai. This is my first time watching Kai with Shinsuke Kikuchi's score. I have always been a huge fan of Dragon Ball Z, having become hooked as a youth during its Toonami days. I have owned various versions of the original series for some time now. I recently started following the Japanese broadcast of the Buu Saga, and that reignited my interest in the series. So I decided to purchase all four seasons of Kai, and I have to say I couldn't have been more happy with these releases.The picture is beautiful and vibrant, as much softer colors were used in its restoration. The video has two black bars on the side of the image to fit a 16:9 TV, while still keeping the series in its correct 4:3 aspect ration. Some may dislike that, but I personally prefer it. I find that when you stretch the image to fit the full 16:9 AR, quality is lost. When you crop the image, you obviously lose parts of the image. So 4:3 is perfect to me because that is the way the series was truly meant to be seen. You get the entire image in high definition. My only gripes with Kai concern some of the reanimated scenes. Many of them were just flat out ugly, and would have looked better if they were recolored in the same manner as most of the other scenes. But that's a minor complaint.The audio is great as well. The dub by all accounts is fantastic. I prefer the Japanese audio, so I strictly watch the series with the Japanese audio. I must say that Funi's subtitles for the series were exceptional, and far more accurate than the fansubs I would watch a couple years ago. As I mentioned, this was my first time watching Kai with Kikuchi's score. As someone who enjoyed Kenji Yamamato's score, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed the placement of Kikuchi's score for this rendition. Although his music was arranged differently than it was in Z, the songs chosen usually worked with their particular scene. I enjoyed Kikuchi's score so much, that I now find myself a little disappointed in the score they are currently using for the Buu saga.Now, to discuss the content. I absolutely love Kai, and I am ready to take the leap and say that it is now my preferred way of watching the series. When I first popped in the discs, I suspected that I would end up skipping straight to the fight scenes, as I often do with Z. But after playing episode 1, I found myself watching entire episodes in sequence. Before I knew it, I was having marathon sessions daily. Now here I am, a week later, writing a review after going through all 98 episodes. The pacing is so much better than Z, and much more accurate to the Manga. I forgot how fluid the series was. I even went through the Dragon Books in my Dragon Box to look over the episodes. I was shocked to realize how much longer it took to get through certain phases of the series. I'm no longer sure how I watched the entire series with such enthusiasm as I did back then, considering how unbearably long some arcs now seem. But that is the effect Kai has had on me. Arcs such as the Namek arc, seem much more watchable now. I mean think about it. The Cell arc ends at episode 98 of Kai, and episode 194 of Z (If I'm correct). So that means of the first 194 episodes of Z, 96 episodes worth consisted of filler material. That just seems like such a ridiculous number, in retrospect.In my opinion, Kai is a must have for all fans of the series. I know some still love the original, filler and all. I still love Z, as well, and will watch it from time to time. But Kai has certainly won me over. It is certainly not without its flaws, and it is executed poorly in some instances. It probably would have been better had Toei chose to reanimate the series completely, as they did the opening and ending sequences, as well as the eye catchers. However, I can still appreciate the series for what it attempted to do. That is to show Z in a true-to-the-manga director's cut. Again, things could have been done better. But I still consider it good enough. That's enough of my rambling. However, I want to make it clear that Kai has my stamp of approval, and I would recommend it to fans both new and old.

I am a ridiculous Dragon Ball fan, and my favorite moments of the series are right around when King Piccolo appears in Dragon Ball up until the end of the Frieza saga. That places DBZ Kai Season 1 directly in the middle of this, and it just so happens to be that its no slouch.The quality of the DVDs are great, while there are few extras, there are quite the number of episodes on each disc. The best part is that with all of the filler removed and the script staying more accurate to the Dragon Ball manga, I was finally able to get my wife to watch my second favorite anime of all time (favorite is Yu Yu Hakusho- we *love* Yu Yu). I've been with this woman for over a decade, now, and I was never able to get her to watch this show simply because she thought it was nothing but people shouting at each other and powering up episode after episode- she has been watching the whole of Season 1 with me and this, combined with Dragon Ball Z Abridged, has thoroughly entertained her and she even *gasp* enjoys it! Well, she enjoys Abridged more than Kai, but let's be honest: TeamFourStar is amazing and even if you haven't watched the series, if you're watching it with someone who has then they can explain any jokes you don't get.Kai is shaping up to be one of my favorite iterations of DBZ yet, as one of my least favorite things about the anime is that there was a ludicrous amount of filler episodes not originally shown in the manga (episodes that were done for the sole purpose of letting the manga catch up to the anime, as the episodes were produced at a faster rate than the monthly manga chapters), and I disliked almost all of them save one during the Android saga where Goku and Piccolo learn how to drive. Losing those episodes loses nothing from the story, and DBZ is far, far better off for it, at least in my opinion. It was like a brand new show, to me, and this is coming from a guy who watched the original series on Cartoon Network, low-quality eBay discs, the orange sets, read the entirety of the manga (twice!) and is now watching Kai. Seriously, Kai, ignoring the terrible intro and outro theme songs, is severely good in picture quality, sound and pace. Some of the new voices take some getting used to, but they're by no means bad and nothing to dishearten those who have never experienced DBZ before.If you've yet to experience one of the best anime of all time, I'd say this is the way to start- Kai Season 1 is worth your time if you like shonen anime.

Well what can I say that others havent ... This fixes nearly all that was wrong with dragonball z ... But not all . The dragonball z that aired around the late 90s to 2006 was a great show with an awsome soundtrack and great characters . But it had filler that dragged on forever . The voice acting could be cringe worthy at times and the dialouge could be very cheesy . Well with dragonball z kia they cut out most filler so now that it's more true to the manga . This really helps the story flow in a more cohesive fast way and is actually much easier to just pick up and watch . Now I really liked some of the filler in the original show but it dragged things on and some things never even got resolved or went anywhere . Now on too the voice acting well for the most part everyone really brings there A game it certaintly is an improvement . Although gohan and Burma have new voice actors/actresses they really good once you get used to them . The dialouge is improved tremindiously , everything sounds so much more down to earth and real . With them actually cussing and what not . Which also is much more true to the manga . Another thing is that they redesigned certian shots which look really good in my opinion . And the picture is its original aspect ratio instead that cropped stuff we got last time . There is one thing im kinda iffy on and it's the japenese soundtrack . I mean it's pretty good but bruce faulconers original score will always be amazing and the definitive score to me . But there are some tracks on this version i really do like . All in all i say buy dragonball z kia on blu ray/dvd it's well worth your money is your fan . And is your not just check it out on adult swim . Also even check out the original dbz it's still a great show and is worth a watch .

Best DBZ ever!