Review: Dragon Ball Z Kai – Season Two (Anime)

Dragon Ball Z is nothing short of a cultural phenomenon. I first experienced it in high school, but if I had been of an elementary school age, I can guarantee that along with pretending to be superheroes and G.I. Joes on the playground during recess, we would have thrown in the Z Fighters. I’d have run around that playground shouting Kamehameha and arguing the effects of my attacks until I was blue in the face. Of course, doing that in high school would have branded me as an even larger nerd than I already was, so it’s probably for the best that I refrained.

Continuing the quality revision of Season One, Season Two presents the next 26 episodes in the Dragon Ball Z Kai series, episodes 27-52 , in re-mastered, re-recorded, re-animated glory. In the original Dragon Ball Z series, the battle against Frieza, from start to finish, lasted approximately 27 episodes. In Dragon Ball Z Kai, the filler is removed, and the battle is trimmed down to 16 action-packed episodes. The 26 episodes contained cover the content of approximately 44 episodes, matching the 40%+ filler savings of the Season One discs. Season Two takes you to within moments of the conclusion of Goku’s battle with Frieza, leaving you on a cliffhanger while waiting for the Season Three discs to be released.

During Goku’s Super Saiyan transformation, Dragon Ball Z Kai presents the first time in the entire series, in any of its English dub iterations, that Goku refers to himself by his proper name of Son Goku, as he proclaims, “I am the Super Saiyan, Son Goku!” For fans of the original Dragon Ball Z series that went beyond the anime and got into the universe in depth, this is a welcome reference that serves to enhance the viewing experience by tying it into the original Japanese.

As with the Season One collection, the extras are nothing to look forward to when purchasing the set. Following suit at a MSRP of $49.98, though, Dragon Ball Z Kai Season Two will be available this Tuesday for you to relive your Dragon Ball Z experience in a more protracted and reasonable way. There are two more Season collections planned that will complete the current Dragon Ball Z Kai series up through the Cell Saga. There are currently no plans to continue Kai through the Buu saga and the end of the Dragon Ball Z story. One can only hope.