

Namely, both DBZ and Kai remained lighthearted, half-comical anime that focused more on the characters than on the plot and profound themes. Visual differencesĪnd while Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Kai are essentially the same show, some visual changes have been made. This is why several recasts had to be made and this is what changed: Characterĭragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Kai voice actor changes 4. Others, unfortunately, had long since passed away. In Japan, some of the original voice actors had already retired by the time Kai was ordered and aired.

We’re only going to discuss the original Japanese cast, not the cast of the American dub. The time span between the premieres of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Kai was exactly 20 years, so it’s not unnatural that some things changed in the lives of the voice actors. People’s careers change, they grow older and some, sadly, passed away in that time. Voice actorsĪ lot can happen in 20 years. The first ending song is “Haikei, Tsuratsusutora” by Good Morning America, and the second was “Junjō” by Leo Ieiri, which ran from episodes 112 to 123. The second ending, used until episode 98, was “Kokoro no Hane” performed by Team Dragon, a unit of the idol girl group AKB48. Takayoshi Tanimoro performed the first OP and ED, “Dragon Soul” and “Yeah! Break! Care! Break!” the ending was used for the first 54 episodes, while the OP remained the same during the initial run of 98 episodes. Unlike DBZ, Kai had a total of two different openings and four different endings used throughout the series, with both runs using one OP and two EDs each. Toei Animation also decided to change the original opening (OP) and ending (ED) songs and use completely new songs for the Kai version. Toei had to change the soundtrack once more due to Yamamoto’s music infringing on the rights of unknown third parties, thus the music for The Final Chapters was changed and a score composed by Norihito Sumitomo was used. The soundtrack was also lauded by critics and compared to a motion picture soundtrack, being much more epic and a lot more serious than the original soundtrack composed by Kikuchi. Kenji Yamamoto composed the majority of the soundtrack while collaborating with other musicians such as the members of the band Dragon Soul. When Dragon Ball Kai started airing, Toei Animation decided to use a completely new soundtrack instead of remastering the old one. Although it was different from the original, it also became a memorable part of the show’s airing in the West. When the show was sold to the United States, the dubbed version had a metal-inspired soundtrack composed by Bruce Faulconer. The original Japanese music for Dragon Ball Z was composed by Shunsuke Kikuchi and the orchestral sound created by Kikuchi and his collaborators have become one of the best-known elements of the original Japanese version of Dragon Ball Z.

The original Dragon Ball Z anime had a very distinct soundtrack that became very popular among the fans, both the original Japanese version and the version made for Western markets. Still, there are quite a few differences between them and we are going to list them for you: 1. They follow the same characters and the same narratives, with Kai being a remastered version of the original DBZ anime. Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Kai differences (ultimate comparison) Differences between Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Kai (at a glance)ĭragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Kai differences (ultimate comparison)ĭragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Kai are basically the same anime.
