DBZ: The Good Edition (aka Dragonball Z Kai) Review - Dub

I very recently got the English season 1 part 1 DVD for Dragonball Kai, and after even watching just half of the episodes I had to sit down and lay it all out for you guys.

In case you weren’t aware, Dragonball Kai is a re-edited version of Toriyama Akira’s masterpiece manga/anime series, Dragonball Z, which first aired in Japan in the late 1980s. An English dub version was aired in America in the late 90s, and in both countries it was very successful. The show has since then defined the characteristics of most shounen anime, such as Bleach and Naruto, and had about 10 or so movies that kind of sucked, except for those two TV specials. But that’s for another day—onto the review!

First, a word on the Japanese side of things: the editing on Kai is a welcome idea for a show that is so badly in need of fine-tuning. It cuts the show down to the basics and takes away the frustration that was so heavily involved in sitting down to watch the original series. This, I’m sure, makes the show completely more accessible to those who don’t already like DBZ. But it’s even more of a treat for someone who loved the original series and thinks it deserves a better re-telling. So… me.

There are a few times where, due to the editing, some scenes are not explained or things happen without showing actual footage of it (for example, while training, Gohan is shown with the dinosaur with its tail already cut off by him, but that actual scene was never shown in Kai), but honestly, only someone familiar with DBZ would notice, or even care. It doesn’t detract at all from the enjoyment of the series, especially for someone who practically has the plot and dialogue memorized.

And it just fucking looks a lot better. The video has pretty much been restricted to the scenes with better animation, and it definitely looks more crisp and fluid. The original version was already colorful enough, but the colors look just wonderfully vivid here. True, the show still sometimes utilizes repeated animation, but I’ve only noticed it in a few scenes, where as in the original that was a staple tool of filling the 25 minutes the show takes up.

I’ve heard the soundtrack criticized for being over-dramatic, but I find that hard to swallow when the 1980’s Japanese soundtrack was practically the definition of over-dramatic. I think that most of the time, it did fit the mood of the scene well, with only a few exceptions. The original English soundtrack wasn’t half bad, and looking back on it I have to admire that they even tried to make one, and hearing it again would be major nostalgia points for Mk. But, I understand for someone without those ties to the English music, these new tracks are just fine. The opening and ending themes are re-dubbed in English, and they kind of suck. I always skip over them. By the way, didn’t an AKB subgroup do the opening and endings? Where they not able to license them or something?

The new dub track and script are fantastic. The clunky awkwardness of the original English script is gone, and the result is fluid-sounding dialogue that still manages to be faithful to the Japanese script. Honestly, I haven’t seen many dubs pull it off like this, not even my other favorites like Fullmetal Alchemist. This proves more than ever that Funimation still is the producer of the best dubs out there, proving that one can be loyal to source material but make the script itself enjoyable for English speakers. There were honestly times where I laughed out loud at jokes or comments, and believe me, I rarely get that reaction from anime. There were a few times that the storyline actually calls for jokes itself (like when King Kai has Goku tell a good joke for his first test) and the results sound pretty forced in English. But I’m glad they didn’t keep the exact wording of the jokes the same as in the Japanese, because then it would be completely incomprehensible, whereas with what they did it’s merely awkward-sounding and pun-ish.

The dialogue of every character really shines here, and the addition of some light profanity does help to keep the show exciting and more fun for a viewer that’s not ten years old. Once again, referring to myself here. But really, every character is expressed well with the dub – Goku’s childish ignorance and idiocy is there, along with his determination; Piccolo is, if possible, even more badass then before; King Kai’s still a giggling weirdo. Gregory’s’ voice is actually really cute, and although one might assume a high-pitched voice coming out of a large grasshopper would just suck balls constantly, it’s actually easy on the ears and definitely had a smile on my face. The voice actress who plays Gohan is clearly giving a different performance than the first time around, and I’m honestly not sure what to make of it just yet. Raditz was pretty much on par with everyone else, but there were some times that his voice got really high and scream-y and I don’t know why they made that choice; he just sounds fucking crazy.

So, all in all, this is the kind of thing that makes me fall crazy in love with Dragonball Z all over again. Many of the show’s original flaws that it’s often (rightly) criticized for are largely gone – dragged-out pacing, a poor English dub track—and for fans of the show and first-time viewers, it makes the whole thing go down much easier. But, hey—if you don’t like crazy colorful shounen anime with training episodes and long, long battles, it’s not like this version is going to change your mind—it’s still Dragonball Z. But if you were on board the first time, you’ll fucking throw yourself back on the moving train for this version.

Grading:

Editing: 9/10 (makes the show way more watchable; only a few discrepancies as a result)

Animation Quality: 8/10 (it doesn’t look like anime does now, but it still is enough to make you stop and admire the new quality)

Soundtrack: 7/10 (nice, gets the job done)

Script: 8/10 (the flow is miles ahead of the original, even makes me genuinely laugh)

Acting: 7/10 (the same gang is back, and they’ve definitely improved, but it’s still an anime dub track so there’s only so good I can expect it to be.)

So, that’s it. I know this was a weird-timed review, but I just recently got my hands on this even though it came out May 2010. But I couldn’t stop myself from gushing about it.

I swear I like Japanese music, guys. I promise. Maybe someday that GO!GO! album review will be up here.