Dragon Ball Z Kai is a recut and remastered version of the long-running sequel anime television series Dragon Ball Z, produced to commemorate its 20th anniversary.[1] The series was produced by Toei Animation with the intention of creating a revised version of Dragon Ball Z with re-recorded dialogue, improved animation cel quality, and omission of most anime-exclusive content not found in the Z-covered half of Akira Toriyama's original Dragon Ball manga. The series was originally broadcast in Japan on Fuji TV from April 5, 2009, to March 27, 2011,[2] with follow-up continuation covering the remaining story arcs from the original manga airing in Japan from April 6, 2014, to June 28, 2015.
Kai features remastered high-definition picture, sound, and special effects as well as a re-recorded voice track by most of the original cast.[3] 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.[4] This reduced visible damage to the original animation. To convert the animation to widescreen, some shots were selectively cropped while others feature new hand drawn portions; an uncropped 4:3 version was made available on home video and international releases for the first 98 episodes. Some countries would also air it in 4:3. Much of the anime-original material that was not featured in the manga was cut from Kai (ultimately abridging the 291 episodes of Dragon Ball Z down to 159 in Japan and 167 internationally).[5]
The series would return in 2014, running for an additional 61 episodes in Japan, and 69 episodes internationally.[6] The international version of the 2014 series was titled Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters by Toei Europe and Funimation,[7] and had initially only been earmarked for broadcast outside of Japan.[8] The home media releases of The Final Chapters contain a Japanese audio track for all episodes, including those that were never broadcast in Japan.[9]
The first DVD and Blu-ray compilation was released in Japan on September 18, 2009.[10] [11] Individual volumes and Blu-ray box sets were released monthly.[12] France was the first country to release all 167 episodes of the series on DVD and Blu-ray.[13]
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||||
| Saiyan | 18 | |||||
| Frieza | 36 | |||||
| Androids and Cell | 28 | |||||
| Cell Games | 16 | |||||
| World Tournament | 17 | 24 | ||||
| Majin Buu | 18 | |||||
| Evil Buu | 26 | 27 | ||||
| Volume | Date | Discs | Aspect ratio | Episodes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 18, 2009 | 1 | 16:9 | 1-3 | |
| 2 | October 23, 2009 | 1 | 16:9 | 4-6 | |
| 3 | November 20, 2009 | 1 | 16:9 | 7-9 | |
| 4 | December 18, 2009 | 1 | 16:9 | 10-12 | |
| 5 | January 29, 2010 | 1 | 16:9 | 13-15 | |
| 6 | February 19, 2010 | 1 | 16:9 | 16-18 | |
| 7 | March 19, 2010 | 1 | 16:9 | 19-21 | |
| 8 | March 19, 2010 | 1 | 16:9 | 22-24 | |
| 9 | April 23, 2010 | 1 | 16:9 | 25-27 | |
| 10 | April 23, 2010 | 1 | 16:9 | 28-30 | |
| 11 | May 28, 2010 | 1 | 16:9 | 31-33 | |
| 12 | May 28, 2010 | 1 | 16:9 | 34-36 | |
| 13 | June 25, 2010 | 1 | 16:9 | 37-39 | |
| 14 | June 25, 2010 | 1 | 16:9 | 40-42 | |
| 15 | July 23, 2010 | 1 | 16:9 | 43-45 | |
| 16 | July 23, 2010 | 1 | 16:9 | 46-48 | |
| 17 | August 27, 2010 | 1 | 16:9 | 49-51 | |
| 18 | August 27, 2010 | 1 | 16:9 | 52-54 | |
| Androids and Cell 1 | October 2, 2010 | 1 | 16:9 | 55-57 | |
| Androids and Cell 2 | November 4, 2010 | 1 | 16:9 | 58-60 | |
| Androids and Cell 3 | December 3, 2010 | 1 | 16:9 | 61-63 | |
| Androids and Cell 4 | January 7, 2011 | 1 | 16:9 | 64-66 | |
| Androids and Cell 5 | February 4, 2011 | 1 | 16:9 | 67-69 | |
| Androids and Cell 6 | March 4, 2011 | 1 | 16:9 | 70-72 | |
| Androids and Cell 7 | May 3, 2011 | 1 | 16:9 | 73-75 | |
| Androids and Cell 8 | May 3, 2011 | 1 | 16:9 | 76-78 | |
| Androids and Cell 9 | May 3, 2011 | 1 | 16:9 | 79-81 | |
| Androids and Cell 10 | May 3, 2011 | 1 | 16:9 | 82-84 | |
| Androids and Cell 11 | June 2, 2011 | 1 | 16:9 | 85-87 | |
| Androids and Cell 12 | June 2, 2011 | 1 | 16:9 | 88-90 | |
| Androids and Cell 13 | July 2, 2011 | 1 | 16:9 | 91-93 | |
| Androids and Cell 14 | July 2, 2011 | 1 | 16:9 | 94-96 | |
| Androids and Cell 15 | August 2, 2011 | 1 | 16:9 | 97-98 | |
| Majin Buu Box 1 | September 2, 2014 | 2 | 16:9 | 99-110 | |
| Majin Buu Box 2 | December 2, 2014 | 2 | 16:9 | 111-122 | |
| Majin Buu Box 3 | March 3, 2015 | 2 | 16:9 | 123-134 | |
| Majin Buu Box 4 | June 2, 2015 | 2 | 16:9 | 135-146 | |
| Majin Buu Box 5 | September 2, 2015 | 2 | 16:9 | 147-159 | |
| Vegeta and Frieza | December 2, 2014 | 18 | 16:9 | 1-54 | |
| Androids and Cell | January 6, 2015 | 16 | 16:9 | 55-98 |
| Volume | Date | Discs | Aspect ratio | Episodes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 18, 2009 | 1 | 4:3 | 1-3 | |
| Box 1 | October 23, 2009 | 4 | 4:3 | 4-15 | |
| Box 2 | February 19, 2010 | 4 | 4:3 | 16-27 | |
| Box 3 | April 23, 2010 | 4 | 4:3 | 28-39 | |
| Box 4 | June 25, 2010 | 5 | 4:3 | 40-54 | |
| Androids and Cell Box 1 | October 2, 2010 | 4 | 4:3 | 55-65 | |
| Androids and Cell Box 2 | February 4, 2011 | 4 | 4:3 | 66-76 | |
| Androids and Cell Box 3 | June 2, 2011 | 4 | 4:3 | 77-87 | |
| Androids and Cell Box 4 | August 2, 2011 | 4 | 4:3 | 88-98 | |
| Majin Buu Box 1 | September 2, 2014 | 2 | 16:9 | 99-110 | |
| Majin Buu Box 2 | December 2, 2014 | 2 | 16:9 | 111-122 | |
| Majin Buu Box 3 | March 3, 2015 | 2 | 16:9 | 123-134 | |
| Majin Buu Box 4 | June 2, 2015 | 2 | 16:9 | 135-146 | |
| Majin Buu Box 5 | September 2, 2015 | 2 | 16:9 | 147-159 | |
| Vegeta and Frieza | December 2, 2014 | 18 | 4:3 | 1-54 | |
| Androids and Cell | January 6, 2015 | 16 | 4:3 | 55-98 |
| Name | style=rowspan="2" colspan="3" "width: 140px;" | Date | style=rowspan="2" colspan="2" "width: 140px;" | Discs | Aspect ratio | Episodes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA | AU | UK | Blu-ray | DVD | ||||
| Part One | May 18, 2010 | 2 | 2 | 4:3 | 1–13 | |||
| Part Two | September 14, 2010 | 2 | 2 | 4:3 | 14–26 | |||
| Part Three | December 14, 2010 | 2 | 2 | 4:3 | 27–39 | |||
| Part Four | March 8, 2011 | 2 | 2 | 4:3 | 40–52 | |||
| Part Five | June 28, 2011 | 2 | 2 | 4:3 | 53–65 | |||
| Part Six | September 13, 2011 | 2 | 2 | 4:3 | 66–77 | |||
| Part Seven | March 20, 2012 | 2 | 2 | 4:3 | 78–88 | |||
| Part Eight | June 5, 2012 | 2 | 2 | 4:3 | 89–98 | |||
| The Final Chapters - Part One[14] [15] | April 25, 2017 | June 7, 2017 | October 22, 2018 | 3 | 4 | 16:9 | 99–121 | |
| The Final Chapters - Part Two[16] [17] | May 23, 2017 | August 16, 2017 | November 12, 2018 | 3 | 4 | 16:9 | 122–144 | |
| The Final Chapters - Part Three[18] [19] | June 20, 2017 | September 6, 2017 | December 10, 2018 | 3 | 4 | 16:9 | 145–167 |
| Name | Date | Discs | Aspect ratio | Episodes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA | UK | |||||
| Season One | October 18, 2011 (original) May 22, 2012 (re-release) | August 3, 2015 | 4 | 4:3 | 1–26 | |
| Season Two | May 22, 2012 | September 28, 2015 | 4 | 4:3 | 27–52 | |
| Season Three | September 11, 2012 | November 9, 2015 | 4 | 4:3 | 53–77 | |
| Season Four | March 12, 2013 | December 28, 2015 | 4 | 4:3 | 78–98 | |
| Name | Date (AU) | Discs | Episodes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Final Chapters Complete Series | June 6, 2018[20] | 12 | 99–167 | |
| The Complete Epic | October 7, 2020 | 25 | 1–167 |