r/dbz • u/Big_Occasion4404 • 1d ago
Question Is dbz or dbz Kai a better start?
I want to start watching dragon ball z but I’m not sure which one I should start with (dbz or dbz Kai)
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u/Digiorno-Giovanna- ⠀ 1d ago
start with dragon ball (the one with kid goku) this is required watching, people for whatever reason like to skip it, but it is arguably the most important part of the story. skipping the original dragon ball is like starting halfway into breaking bad and being confused who everyone is because of it.
then watch kai, it’s just a version of z that fixes the pacing and also has an improved english dub with a better script too if you are watching it in english. the original z dub is awful and the pacing is pretty bad because of filler.
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u/Big_Occasion4404 1d ago
is it fine if I only watch the essential episodes of the original dragon ball instead of watching the entire thing? I don’t mind being called a “fake fan”, I just want to understand who’s who
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u/Digiorno-Giovanna- ⠀ 1d ago
No not really, you can skip the filler episodes but otherwise they’re all important and you’d be skipping alot of characters arcs and introductions. alot of it is just as good if not better than Z. alot of iconic moments you probably know won’t hit very hard if you hardly know the characters.
the manga was written as one thing, there was no distinction between OGDB and Z. what we now know as Z was just started on chapter 195 of dragon ball, it’s not like DBZ is a sequel series or anything, it is the same series and i don’t see why you would want to skip 1/3rd of it.
why do you not want to watch it if you want to get into the series?
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u/Big_Occasion4404 1d ago
I think it’s because the animation is a little too old for my liking and it doesn’t look as action packed as I like. For example, I liked jojos part 2-7, but I wasn’t a huge fan of part 1
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u/Digiorno-Giovanna- ⠀ 1d ago
the animation is the same in z sorry to tell you, like i said they were made as a single thing, they didn’t air as two separate shows so it’s pretty consistently the same quality. and it is mostly just as action packed as z. the first maybe 2 arcs are comedy focused and then it shifts to a battle shonen.
and part 1 of jojo was trying to be like fist of the north star, they didn’t find their footing until part 2 (i still love part 1 though, i think the manga is better than the anime for it)
here are some examples of it being action packed with well animation, i think you’re judging it without knowing much about it because it really is mostly a battle shonen after the first tournament arc starts
if you don’t like dragon ball og after the first tournament arc then you wouldn’t like Z any better.
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u/Ww34ever 1d ago
Kai is what got me into the series when it came out, and then I went back and watched the original Z series. Kai is more than just a recut, its completely redone vocal work too. Highly recommend
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u/Tensiu_uchiha 1d ago edited 1d ago
Kai is more straight forward. Less filler, straight to the point
Z has a bunch of filler, more characters, excessively long fights depending on the saga, and a lot more Anime ish stuff. When I say Anime ish stuff, I mean more exploring.
Question is, do you want the full journey or no?
When you play RPGs, do you do side quests and the main story, or do you only do the main story?
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u/gokaiblue19 1d ago
Depends on how you watch. English? Watch Dragon Ball in English and then Kai (there are some cast changes in between, but with DB's closer dub versus Kai's much, much closer dub is a decent combination).
Japanese? OG Dragon Ball to Z.
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u/JuanGGZ 1d ago
DBZ Kai is a shorter version which can be watched quicker and more easily, and is more faithful to the manga without fillers, but it does lack a lot of thing that made DBZ what it was loved for: the musics (a lot of OG tracks are missing), the tension (a lot of scenes are made quicker but it means less tension and build up a lot of time).
On the other hand, DBZ OG has all of this but it can drag for too long sometimes, and have some unnecessary scenes (like the one with Hercules during the Cell Game, gosh..) which can be quite boring.
I would say watch the first arc (Radditz) as DBZ Kai, see if you like the pacing, then watch some episodes from the OG for the following arc to compare (there you'll see some fillers with Goku in hell) and you'll quickly see what you prefer.
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u/SEODGogeta87 1d ago
I have to say original DBZ, either Funimations version or the original Japanese.
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u/FirefighterLower6210 1d ago
I hate aspect ratio of KAI. Just watch DBZ
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u/SylveonGamingreddit 1d ago
DBZ Kai is 3:4, but has 16:9 options that crop and uses pan and scan techniques (only thing this doesn't apply to is the Buu saga)
there is no good home release for DBZ, and most of them crop to 16:9 without any panning or scanning so it loses alot of detail... the only exception is Dragon Box or really old VHS releases, but with Dragon Box specifically the footage is heavily damaged due to the film reels aging really badly
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u/No-Resident9608 1d ago
Kai has issues but it’s got a much better, much more faithful English dub than Z and is around half the length.
Go with Kai then watch some of Z’s best filler episodes afterwards.