Poll: Dragon Ball Kai: Worth It?

[Soviet Heavy]

So since I am still way behind on these things, I found out that a recut of Dragon Ball Z came out that apparently chops out the filler and screaming episodes, and focuses more on keeping the story going at a quick pace. Since I loved the show when I was a kid, this sounds like it would be perfect, keeping the cool parts and removing the crap.

However, I am also aware of how much tighter censorship has become in Japan since the original show, so I'm worried that a lot of the blood could be cut out. And while it's cool that they got a lot of the original English VAs back, censorship over here isn't much better.

So I'm sort of confused. Should I try to find the show somewhere, or go for the Uncut version? Is the uncut version available in English? If it is, is the uncut version afflicted by the stupid edits to make it friendlier?

People more knowledgeable, lend me your advice!

 

[Crazy]

Why would the removal of cartoon blood make the show "not worth it"? If you'd like to know what channel, on Comcast, its on channel 220 Nicktoons.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Why would the removal of cartoon blood make the show "not worth it"? If you'd like to know what channel, on Comcast, its on channel 220 Nicktoons.

Well I like the blood and violence. I hate it when hit flashes are put into shows to avoid showing the actual contact when a blow lands.

Is Nicktoons anything like Nickelodeon in Canada?

 

[Crazy]

Why would the removal of cartoon blood make the show "not worth it"? If you'd like to know what channel, on Comcast, its on channel 220 Nicktoons.

Well I like the blood and violence. I hate it when hit flashes are put into shows to avoid showing the actual contact when a blow lands.

Is Nicktoons anything like Nickelodeon in Canada?

I'm not Canadian, so I have no idea. The "American" Nicktoons is quite different from Nickelodeon, if that's what you'd like to know.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Why would the removal of cartoon blood make the show "not worth it"? If you'd like to know what channel, on Comcast, its on channel 220 Nicktoons.

Well I like the blood and violence. I hate it when hit flashes are put into shows to avoid showing the actual contact when a blow lands.

Is Nicktoons anything like Nickelodeon in Canada?

I'm not Canadian, so I have no idea. The "American" Nicktoons is quite different from Nickelodeon, if that's what you'd like to know.

Yep, just checked the Nickelodeon Canada webpage, no DBK. Great. Why does the world hate giving shows to Canada again?

 

[Ace2991]

The problem with DBZ Kai is that it was made for family audiences, which doesn't make it terrible by any means I've seen a few episodes already and they're alright for the kiddies. However when I was like 10-12 years old and I watched it with my friends, it was all blood and guts and dudes named Frieza getting chopped it half by energy beams. Now if you still want to see the blood, just go to Youtube or the official DBZ website to watch all of the original episodes in glorious HD, otherwise just deal with the kiddy version for now.

 

[RJ Dalton]

Yep, just checked the Nickelodeon Canada webpage, no DBK. Great. Why does the world hate giving shows to Canada again?

I should think it has something to do with all the moose roaming around up there. People don't like moose. Mooses? Whatever.

I don't think Japan's censorship laws concerning violence have changed all that much, actually. I admittedly haven't looked too deeply into the issue, though.

 

[bluegate]

Yep, just checked the Nickelodeon Canada webpage, no DBK. Great. Why does the world hate giving shows to Canada again?

You are on the internet, if legal means can't get a certain product to your household, download it 'illegally'.

As for the series, if you are a fan of DBZ and want to relive some old moments, just watch DBKai, you won't regret it. There are some bits for purists to nitpick at, I guess, ain't there always.

I'm just bummed out they stopped after the Cell games and didn't go through with the Buu saga, loved the animation in that saga... ah well

( I saw the Japanese version though, don't know how American / Canadian people chopped it up )

 

[CODE-D]

The blood made it look weird in the old series.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/59/dbkai405.png/sr=1
So no it doesnt matter.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

What about the Uncut edition? Is it better to watch than the regular show?

 

[Raijha]

DB Kai was pretty much awesome in my opinion. It was fairly fast paced, I was only sad that it ended right after the cell games.

 

[TheLastTatlFan]

What about the Uncut edition? Is it better to watch than the regular show?

Through *Ahem* less-than-legal methods, I've watched the English, uncut episodes up to some time during the Vegeta fight in the Saiyain Saga. The uploader I watched the episodes from switched to the Nicktoons episodes after that due to not having the Blu-Rays for the rest of the episodes, and I watched up to around the time Zarbon beat the snot out of Vegeta with that cut before getting bored and forgetting to continue. I can confidently say that it doesn't really make a difference.

Although a while after that I watched a number of episodes of the original, Japanese DBZ off of Funimation's website and surprisingly enjoyed a number of the filler episodes. One that sticks out in my mind is the one where Gohan befriends a robot and it gives it's life to save him in the end, which just touched me in ways I never thought an anime filler could.

So really, if you like DBZ, it doesn't actually make a difference how what cut you're watching, just enjoy it for what it is.

 

[jane.doe]

They replaced Faulconer's score, that alone made it unwatchable IMO.

 

[Indeterminacy]

Kind of trashes the conclusion of the previous arc.

See, I think this needed to happen. Gohan was never going to be a dedicated martial artist - everything he trained and fought for was because there was a real and present threat or an injustice (such as Piccolo's death) to be reversed. He's never been in a position where he wasn't faced with a threat he knew all about; except after coming home from Namek, and he spent that studying and goofing off. You can't make someone like that be "the protector of earth". What's more, it's unfair of Goku as a parent to put this much pressure on his son. In fact, a huge part of the Cell Games was him realising this fact - that Gohan is a different person to him, and has motivations, goals and attitudes of his own.

I think this realisation had a part to play in Goku's sacrifice. If Gohan really was the sort of person that enjoyed the thrill of battle, then Goku would probably have seen little need to go to keep the peace. And this brings out the thing that the Buu saga really discusses well - that despite all he's done, Goku's attitude and way of life are, when fully understood, not the sort of thing that we really want to emulate unless we live for the next fight and are prepared to bring the consequences on those around us.

Goku's choice wasn't because he wanted to stay a hero; in fact, it was because his coming back to live the life he wants to live would be dangerous for everyone else. Ending DBZ there creates a dissonance between what the show says and what it actually does, because it makes Goku this martyr figure. The Buu saga is much better at making the point.