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. 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 Television and its affiliates from April 5, 2009 to March 27, 2011. The series returned in 2014, running for an additional 61 episodes in Japan from April 6, 2014 to June 28, 2015, and 69 episodes internationally. The international version of the 2014 series was titled Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters by Toei Animation Europe and Funimation,Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters Listed at 69 Episodes Anime News Network (April 17, 2014). Retrieved on May 12, 2014. and had initially only been earmarked for broadcast outside of Japan.

Kai 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. This reduced visible damage to the original animation. To convert the 4:3 animation to 16:9 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).

The first DVD and Blu-ray compilation was released in Japan on September 18, 2009. Individual volumes and Blu-ray box sets were released monthly. France was the first country to release all 167 episodes of the series on DVD and Blu-ray. The home media releases of The Final Chapters contain a Japanese audio track for all episodes, including those that were never broadcast in Japan.

Series overview SagaEpisodesOriginally 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

Episodes Saiyan Saga (2009)

Frieza Saga (2009–10)

Androids and Cell Saga (2010)

Cell Games Saga (2010–11)

World Tournament Saga (2014)

Majin Buu Saga (2014)

Evil Buu Saga (2014–15)

Home media releases Japanese DVD 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

Blu-ray 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

English Volumes Name Date 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 OneThe Final Chapter - Part One - Blu-ray | home-videoThe Final Chapter - Part One - DVD | home-video April 25, 2017 June 7, 2017 October 22, 2018 3 4 16:9 99–121 The Final Chapters - Part TwoThe Final Chapter - Part Two - Blu-ray | home-videoThe Final Chapter - Part Two - DVD | home-video May 23, 2017 August 16, 2017 November 12, 2018 3 4 16:9 122–144 The Final Chapters - Part ThreeThe Final Chapter - Part Three - Blu-ray | home-videoThe Final Chapter - Part Three - DVD | home-video June 20, 2017 September 6, 2017 December 10, 2018 3 4 16:9 145–167

Seasons 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

Complete Series Name Date (AU) Discs Episodes The Final Chapters Complete Series June 6, 2018 12 99–167 The Complete Epic October 7, 2020 25 1–167

Notes

References

External links

ja:ドラゴンボール改 zh:七龍珠改