Dragonball Returns!

[nate_bartlet]

Forget about the US attempt at Dragonball with that pitiful film about to be released. Dragonball will be returning to japanese television later this month with the release of Dragonball Kai.
Apparently Dragonball Kai is going to be a remake of the original Dragonball Z series and its setup will be more of a directors cut of the original series. Its being updated for HD and will more closely follow the original manga upon which the series was based. Its going to be based on the original animation and basically updating it with new technology.
From what i've found so far its scheduled to air on April 5th and several fansub groups have already lined up to begin subbing it into english. This website has most of the information that i've been able to find so far.

http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Ball_Kai

and a video preview

+ YouTube Video

[maxtortheone]

Hopefully it's not going to a crappy, hurried remastered version like the one Funimation did. It's also good to hear that the Japanese aren't going to chop the video as in the aforementioned cut.

[The_Finn]

Why can't they re-release the good dragonball... you know the original...

[Lupin_IV]

Originally Posted by The_Finn

Why can't they re-release the good dragonball... you know the original...

It didn't become popular until they watered it down...

[Koenig]

I dunno...I think the Dragon Ball series is pretty overrated as far as animes go. What we need is HD remakes of Neon Genesis, Gundam: Char's Counterattack, Stardust Memories and the 08th MS Team.

[nate_bartlet]

Originally Posted by Koenig

I dunno...I think the Dragon Ball series is pretty overrated as far as animes go. What we need is HD remakes of Neon Genesis, Gundam: Char's Counterattack, Stardust Memories and the 08th MS Team.

Neon Genesis has had so many re-releases now its gotten difficult keeping track of them all. I doubt that there would be remakes of those particular gundam shows since they tend to do a different Gundam show each year. 08th MS Team was the last one to be set in the Universal Century timeline. Since then theres been MS Gundam Seed/Destiny and MS Gundam 00 seasons 1 & 2, don't know what they've got planned for next year.
The reason why Dragonball holds such high regard for me is that its one of the anime shows that introduced me to the genre. I had already been introduced years before with Robotech (particularly the SDF Macross saga) but Dragonball was the first one where i really took notice.

[RUU-CHAMA]

I wonder if this means that they will also do Dragonball GT?

[Koenig]

Originally Posted by nate_bartlet

Neon Genesis has had so many re-releases now its gotten difficult keeping track of them all. I doubt that there would be remakes of those particular gundam shows since they tend to do a different Gundam show each year. 08th MS Team was the last one to be set in the Universal Century timeline. Since then theres been MS Gundam Seed/Destiny and MS Gundam 00 seasons 1 & 2, don't know what they've got planned for next year.
The reason why Dragonball holds such high regard for me is that its one of the anime shows that introduced me to the genre. I had already been introduced years before with Robotech (particularly the SDF Macross saga) but Dragonball was the first one where i really took notice.

Yeah, but the Gundam series' of the last 10 years have all been crap. I can understand why some people like the Dragonball series if it introduced you to anime as a whole. For me, it was Saint Seiya; totally blew my young mind the first time I saw it.

[nate_bartlet]

i don't know about the Gundam's of the last 10 years have been crap, Gundam SEED and Destiny were both good & highly enjoyable, the recent series of Gundam 00 was fairly decent. i can understand what you mean though. There hasn't been a Gundam series on the scale of Zeta Gundam or Gundam Wing for quite a while now. But i don't think the series is far from dead. I often think of it as the anime variation of Star Trek in the amount of spin-off's it churns out. Although according to http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...-ace-manga-mag the next series of Gundam will be set back in the Universal Century as part of the 30th Anniversary celebrations.
Back on topic though, the new Dragonball series should breathe life in the series once again. its been gone since Dragonball GT ended (i never watched all of GT, without Akira Toriyama behind the wheel it lost most of its appeal and heart). If its successful then i don't see why they should do the same with the original Dragonball.

[MattD1zzl3]

I demand a Gundam Wing Remake..... no not that angel wing faggotry, another one!

edit: beaten like an Afghanistan whore

[maxtortheone]

Okay, after seeing about 10min into the first episode here's my take on it: It truly is a new cut of the original Dragon Ball Z with an intro about Goku's arrival on Earth and some clips with Bardock. The series intro features a new song and updated graphics with some CGI. All the voices and sound effects are re-recorded(Roshi is a different actor because the original sound actor passed away). The video is a cropped HD of the original show with some added brightness/clarity. That pretty much everything I can say for now, gotta watch the full ep for more details.
I'm glad that the DB anime is getting new media attention and not that crap movie released later this week.

[nate_bartlet]

Watched the first episode earlier and its great seeing Dragonball back, especially with it being in widescreen HD. although some scenes don't translate well to widescreen and it is showing its age a bit. It mostly reminds me a lot of the Star Wars special editions with its improved sound effects and added scenes. Adding the stuff from the Bardock tv special was a good move in setting up the storyline.
The only thing i wasn't sure about was the new song... its good, however i do miss Cha La Head Cha La.
Regardless it's probably far superior to the american attempt at remaking Dragonball. I've never understood how their attempt could go so far away from the original source material. I'll carry on watching these remakes, really looking forward to the Super Saiyan stuff and the Trunks arc.

[Ilpav]

Where did you guys see the episodes?

Edit: Just saw this opening to the show.

+ YouTube Video

Holy crap! Did they actually redraw everything to make it look modern? Is this basically a remake of DBZ, but with modern animations?

[nate_bartlet]

If you do a search for Dragon Ball Kai on mininova you'll find the first episode has already been subbed and is available in normal avi or hd on mkv.
the animation is new for the into and ending. the animation of the actual episode is mostly the same as the original but has been touched up and re-done for widescreen.

also heres the ending

+ YouTube Video

[Ilpav]

Yeah, I just watched some of the first episode on Youtube and was disappointed to find out that the new animations were for the intro/ending only.

How good would it be if they actually remade it from scratch with new drawings!? Imagine: that brilliant story of the Dragonball sagas, but with new, sleek animations. :sigh:

Still, the animations for the original were made in the late 80's, and they still look pretty good today, even if they're showing their age.

[jayhawk]

Originally Posted by RUU-CHAMA

I wonder if this means that they will also do Dragonball GT?

For the love of everything holy, I hope not. It was terrible; you know it, I know it.

[rx7_ted]

it really is just a director's cut, i can't even tell that they've done anything to the animation aside from making it widescreen. i think i'll wait until the whole story arc finishes cause i hate watching one episode a week. i wonder if they will ever redo every single frame of the animation for dbz. probably not lol... but i'd actually buy it if they do. used to be such a dbz fanboy when i was little.

edit:
i forgot how awesome those power level HUD eye pieces are!
*beep**Beep* haha puny human! only battle power 5.
i'd probably have battle power 3 lol =(

[nate_bartlet]

actually what i enjoy most is comparing it to the american dubbed version i saw years ago on the Cartoon Network channel here in England. Most specifically the first opening minutes of Raddicks arrival. Where the farmer attempts to stop him with a rifle, only for Raddick to catch the bullet and fling it back at him. In the original japanese version he kills the farmer, in the american dub they've altered it so you hear the farmers voice saying "oh that hurts!" plus also there's the whole, american dub cannot say kill, they must say destroy thing.