The final canonical episodes of Dragon Ball Z come home on the Kai series. Aimed at eliminating the ton of filler present within Dragon Ball Z, Kai acts as a re-release which groups together all of the major key points from the Dragon Ball manga that were adapted within the anime. The Final Chapters of Kai cover the Majin Buu arc from beginning to end.

Dragon Ball Kai is a 2009 revision of Dragon Ball Z, it is produced by Toei Animation and licensed by Funimation. It is currently available on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Gohan enters high school in the Final Chapters.

After a three year hiatus in Japan, Dragon Ball Z’s revised series ‘Kai’ returned to cover the remaining episodes and final major villain Majin Buu. Featuring a young adult Gohan as the main star of the show(for part one), The Final Chapters first half details Gohan attempting to live a normal life, a new Budokai with a returning Goku, and Vegeta’s huge betrayal of the Z Fighters.

Goku returns for a visit in The Final Chapters.

THE GOOD: If you have yet to see Dragon Ball Z (for some reason), and hate its extremely long count of filler episodes then Kai is a fine way to get into the series for the first time. In comparison if you’re an original Dragon Ball fan who’s seen Z, but want to give the series a re-watch Kai can also act as a reintroduction for you.

Gohan training with Goten.

THE BAD: Unless you’re a new fan or just itching to re-watch Dragon Ball Z with no filler holding back the canon, there isn’t much here for you. The new voice actors for certain characters such as Bulma are a tad off putting and will take some serious getting used to.

The introduction of new characters such as Videl (right) adds new story to Dragon Ball’s lore.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: While the idea of Dragon Ball Kai is excellent in theory, some of its execution is off. This of course includes some of the new voice acting. The main attract of the series is that it’s not boggled down with a ton of filler which Dragon Ball Z had been known for in the past, but unless you’re a new fan or just itching to re-watch a more compressed version, then there isn’t a whole lot here. Otaku Dome gives Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters Part One Blu-Ray a 78 out of 100.