List of Dragon Ball Z Kai episodes

Dragon Ball Z Kai (known in Japan as Dragon Ball Kai) is a revised version of the anime series Dragon Ball Z, produced in commemoration of the original series' 25th anniversary. Produced by Toei Animation, the series was broadcast in Japan on Fuji Television from April 5, 2009 to March 27, 2011. It features remastered high definition picture, sound, and special effects as well as a re-recorded voice track by most of the original cast. As most of the series' sketches and animation cels had been discarded since the final episode of Dragon Ball Z in 1996, new frames were produced by digitally tracing over still frames from existing footage and filling them with softer colors; thus reducing visible damage to the original animation. Some frames were selectively cropped, while other frames feature new portions added to scenes that were hand drawn to conform to the designated picture ratio. Much of the material from the Dragon Ball Z anime that was not featured in the Dragon Ball manga has been left out in Kai; significantly reducing the total episode count to 167 episodes. The first Blu-ray and DVD compilation was released in Japan on September 18, 2009, with individual volumes releasing monthly as well as Blu-ray box sets.

In 2010, Funimation licensed Kai for an English-language release in the U.S. Funimation's dub of Kai features most of the voice actors from their in-house dub of Dragon Ball Z (though also several re-casts), as well as a more faithful adaptation of the Japanese dialogue than their previous dub. The series aired on Nicktoons, in addition to The CW's Toonzai programming block (later replaced by Vortexx). Furthermore, Funimation has also released bilingual uncut Blu-ray and DVD volume and season box sets of the series in North America. In the U.K., the kids TV channel Kix! aired the opening edited episodes in December 2012, followed by a full series run commencing in January 2013.

On May 25, 2014, Funimation and Adult Swim announced that the uncut version would be airing on Toonami starting Fall 2014. Adult Swim's Toonami block began airing Dragon Ball Z Kai at midnight in place of Bleach, starting on November 8, 2014. Starting on February 21, 2015, a re-run of the previous week's episode airs at 8:00 PM, outside of the Toonami block but still during Adult Swim's hours.

In November 2012, Mayumi Tanaka, voice of Krillin in the series, announced that she and the rest of the cast are recording for more episodes of Kai of the Majin Buu story arc. In April 2013, voice actors Sean Schemmel and Kyle Hebert, the English voice actors of Goku and Gohan, announced that they have started recording for these episodes. In November 2013, when questioned about it on their Facebook page, it was stated by Australian anime distributor Madman Entertainment that the Buu Saga of Kai should be released sometime in 2014, as they are just waiting for dubs to be finished. In February 2014, despite earlier news that the show was not going to continue on Japanese television, V-Jump confirmed that Kai would continue broadcasting on Fuji TV on April 6, 2014. The series is planned for 69 episodes and is titled Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters by Toei Europe.

The background music for the series was composed by Kenji Yamamoto, whose music was used for most of the series; however, Yamamoto's music was later replaced with music cues originally composed for Dragon Ball Z by Shunsuke Kikuchi, after Yamamoto was accused of copyright infringement. Although the story footage was taken from existing material, the opening and closing sequences were made from scratch using updated animation methods. For the first series, three pieces of theme music are used. The opening theme, "Dragon Soul", and the first ending theme used for the first 54 episodes, "Yeah! Break! Care! Break!", are both performed by Takayoshi Tanimoto}. The second ending theme, used from episodes 55â€"98, is "Kokoro no Hane" (心の羽根, "Wings of the Heart") performed by Team Dragon, a unit of the idol girl group AKB48. In the Funimation releases, these themes are sung in English by various voice actors.

For the Japanese version of The Final Chapters, six pieces of theme music are used. The opening theme, titled "Kuu-Zen-Zetsu-Go" (空・前・絶・後 Kuu-Zen-Zetsu-Go, lit. "The Greatest of All Time"), is once again performed by Takayoshi Tanimoto. The ending theme for episodes 99â€"111 is "Haikei Zarathustra" (拝å•"ツラツストラ, Haikei Tsuratsusutora, lit. "Dear Zarathustra") performed by Good Morning America, while the ending theme for episodes 112â€"123 is "Junjou" (ç´"情, "Pure Heart") by Leo Ieiri. The ending theme for episodes 124â€"136 is "Oh Yeah!!!!!!!" by Czecho No Republic, and the one for episodes 137â€"146 is "GALAXY" by "Kyuuso Nekokami" (キュウソネコカミ). The fifth and final ending theme used in the remaining episodes 147â€"onwards "Don't Let Me Down" by Gacharic Spin. The international broadcast features two pieces of theme music. The opening theme, titled "Fight it out", is performed by rock singer Masatoshi Ono, while the ending theme is "Never give up!!!", performed by rhythm and blues vocalist Junear.

Episode list

Season 1: Saiyan Saga (2009)

Season 2: Frieza Saga (2009â€"2010)

Season 3: Androids Saga (2010)

Season 4: Cell Saga (2010â€"2011)

Season 5: Majin Buu Saga (2014)

Season 6: Evil Buu Saga (2014â€"2015)

Notes

DVD and Blu-ray release

Region 1 (North America)

Volumes

Seasons

References