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In February 2009, Toei Animation announced that it would begin broadcasting a revised version of Dragon Ball Z as part of the series' 20th-anniversary celebrations.[34] The series premiered on Fuji TV in Japan on April 5, 2009, under the title Dragon Ball Kai (Also Known as Dragon Ball Z Kai in the United States). The ending suffix Kai (改「かい」) in the name means "updated" or "altered" and reflects the improvements and corrections of the original work.[35] The original footage was remastered for HDTV, featuring updated opening and ending sequences, new music, and a rerecording of the vocal tracks.[35][36] The original material and any damaged frames were removed to more closely follow the manga, resulting in a faster-moving story.[37] Torishima later explained the origins of Kai; Bandai was having a hard time increasing their sales and asked if a new Dragon Ball anime could be made, but Toriyama refused to create a new story (at the time). Realizing that the anime-exclusive scenes that were added to increase the distance between the original anime and the manga hurt the pacing of the series, Torishima thought of cutting them so that it faithfully followed the manga. He said the reception to Kai was positive and Bandai had a hit with a card game, "so it all worked out".[38]
The series initially concluded on its 97th episode in Japan on March 27, 2011 with the finale of the Cell arc. It was originally planned to run 98 episodes, however, due to the Tōhoku offshore earthquake and tsunami, the final episode was not aired and was later released direct-to-video in Japan on August 2, 2011.[39]
In November 2012, Mayumi Tanaka, the Japanese voice of Krillin, announced that she and the rest of the cast were recording more episodes of Dragon Ball Kai.[40] In February 2014, the Kai adaptation of the Majin Buu arc was officially confirmed. The new run of the series, which is titled Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters internationally, began airing in Japan on Fuji TV on April 6, 2014 and ended its run on June 28, 2015.[41] The final arc of Kai was originally produced to last 69 episodes (as most of the international versions run),[42] but the Japanese broadcast cut it down to 61 episodes.
English dub production and broadcasting[edit]
Funimation licensed Kai for an English-language release in February 2010. The series was initially broadcast in the U.S. on Nicktoons from May 24, 2010 to January 1, 2012 (continuing in re-runs until April 2013).[43][44] In addition to Nicktoons, the series also began airing on the 4Kids-owned Saturday morning programming block Toonzai on The CW in August 2010,[45] then on its successor, the Saban-owned Vortexx, beginning in August 2012 until the block ended in September 2014.[41] Both the Nicktoons and CW airings were edited for content, though the CW version was censored even more so than Nicktoons. Kai began airing uncut on Adult Swim's Toonami block on November 8, 2014,[46] and re-runs of the previous week's episodes aired at the beginning of Adult Swim proper from February 2015 to June 2016.[47] CSC Media Group acquired the broadcast rights to Kai in the United Kingdom and began airing it on Kix! in early 2013.[48][49][50]
Despite Kai's continuation not being officially confirmed at the time even in Japan, Funimation voice actors Sean Schemmel (Goku) and Kyle Hebert (Gohan), announced in April 2013 that they had started recording an English dub for new episodes.[51] In November 2013, Kai's Australasian distributor Madman Entertainment revealed that the Majin Buu arc of Kai would be released in 2014 and that they were waiting on dubs to be finished.[52] In February 2014, Funimation officially stated that they had not yet started recording a dub for the final arc of Kai.[53] On December 6, 2016, Funimation announced the continuation of Kai, titled Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters internationally, to begin airing on Adult Swim's Toonami block. The series would air from January 7, 2017 to June 23, 2018, alongside Dragon Ball Super.[54]
An alternate English dub of Kai by Ocean Productions was recorded for the original 98 episodes, featuring many of the original Vancouver cast reprising their roles, but it has yet to air.[55][56][57][58]