Personally, find the Blu-Ray footage too dark, but otherwise the remaster looks surprisingly solid for a Funimation release, even if I prefer the Dragon Boxes.
Z
Dragon Ball Kai – Episode 96 Review
Episode 96, "Combine Our Power! The Mightiest, Final Kamehameha"
*****SPOILERS***** Synopsis: Gohan resigns himself to death as Cell powers a Kamehameha which will destroy the planet. However, from the afterlife, Goku encourages him to strike back. Gohan fires a one-handed Kamehameha and the two beams meet. Gohan struggles to overpower Cell. Piccolo, Kuririn, Tenshinhan, and Yamucha all attack Cell, but it does little to stop him. Suddenly, when all seems lost, Vegeta attacks, giving Gohan an opening to finish Cell off. Gohan’s beam finally overtakes Cell and he dissolves in the blast. Gohan has won the fight and saved the world. Comments: Ah, the long Kamehameha duel. I’m actually fond of this part. I know that it takes up a lot of time, but I don’t feel like it drags on. I feel like it gets the time it needs, given the gravity of the situation. It gets the right build up and ends with the proper catharsis. By the time it ends, the viewer is ready to pass out from the intensity, same as Gohan. You get a real sense of victory from what happens. I seem to remember Z proper overextending the bit where Goku’s allies all chip in to try to wear Cell down. Whatever the case is, I was dreading having to see Piccolo et al thrown back for a half hour. But it’s all very compact. Their loyalty to Goku, and Gohan by extension, is really touching. They know they can’t defeat Cell, but they owe Goku so much, they can’t just stand by. Vegeta delivering the last blast before Gohan overcame Cell was a good part as well. Vegeta must’ve had to overcome his pride to help out. Naturally, Piccolo was the first to jump to Gohan’s aid. I really liked what Yamucha and Tenshinhan’s thoughts on the matter, their lives having been touched by Goku to a great extent. Gohan finally overcomes Cell and destroys him. My favorite character will probably always be Goku, but I have a great affection for Gohan, too, and was glad to see him as the hero here. One of my favorite parts is right after he collapses, when the fight is finished, and we see Gohan breathing hard on the ground as the Earth and Goku are also shown and Gohan and Goku are thanked by the narrator. It gives a real sense of passing the torch. (Though with the Buu arc, it didn’t turn out quite that way.) What I was really impressed with, besides some of the reworked art shots, was Shunsuke Kikuchi’s score. Sometimes its placement in Kai makes it awkward. Too few pieces are used, and the ones that are used are used too often. But here there’s the perfect economy and each piece suits the scene it’s in perfectly. I especially liked the use of movie 9’s music, it being my favorite musical suite in the franchise. This episode has the perfect use of every piece. It’s a fantastic episode. Overall Score: 4.5 out of 5Dragon Ball Kai – Episode 95 Review
Episode 95, "Bye Bye, Everyone! This is the Only Way to Save Earth"
*****SPOILERS***** Synopsis: Cell declares his plans to self-destruct and take the Earth out with him. He gloats over his apparent victory. Gohan regrets not finishing Cell when he had the chance. Goku thinks hard, then finally says goodbye to his friends, teleporting over where Gohan and Cell are. Goku places his hand on Cell and teleports away with him to Kaio’s planet. He apologizes to Kaio as Cell begins to explode. The explosion destroys Kaio’s planet and takes Goku with it. Back on Earth, Gohan dispairs over his father’s demise. In the afterlife realm, a dead Goku apologizes to the dead Kaio. But they notice that Cell isn’t there. On Earth, a beam cuts through an enormous cloud of smoke, piercing Trunks. When the cloud breaks, Cell appeaers, in his Perfect Form again. Cell reasons this is because of the Saiyan cells in his system, which cause him to be stronger whenever he returns from near death. He also knows Goku’s teleportation technique. Gohan powers up, happy that he can repay Cell back for his father’s death, and vowing to kill him. Vegeta is so enraged by Trunks’ death that he attacks Cell, but it’s of no use and Cell injures him. Gohan takes a beam for Vegeta which damages the left side of his body. Cell decides he’s had enough of the fight, and prepares to charge up a Kamehameha to finish Gohan off. Comments: Okay, so, wait. Wait. Why didn’t Goku teach any of the others how to use Instantaneous Movement? I mean, there was all that time training and he didn’t think that it could be useful if somebody else besides him could use it? Somebody who was a little more expendable? Imagine if the person who sacrificed themself was Oolong. Yeah, I went there. Teaching Oolong to teleport. Well, that might not be the best idea, since he’d just be using it to get into women’s changing rooms. Then again, I guess it would ultimately result in the same thing. Somebody sacrifices themself, Cell explodes, Cell comes back. But maybe they could have teleported him out sooner or something. It seemed like Goku was thinking awfully hard about what to do before he decided. In that same time, he could have teleported Cell away and returned, too, but he wasted time saying goodbye. I know that this sort of takes the air out of the sacrifice, but Cell coming back did that on its own. Speaking of Cell coming back, what’s the deal with that? He says that because he’s a Saiyan he grew stronger from being near death, thus his return in Perfect Form. Okay, I guess I can buy that, but wasn’t his whole being blown up? Before it was said as long as he has a single cell in his brain he can come back, but his entire body blew up. Then there was that time earlier when Goku blew off his head. Maybe it’s that there has to be AT LEAST that cell in his brain. It all seems a bit convenient for Cell to come back his his Perfect Form, but there’ve been more convenient things in the show before. I guess. I remember when I first saw Goku’s sacrifice, back in the Toonami days. I must’ve been real emotional around that time, because I was actually tearing up. And this was when Sean Schemmel’s Goku sucked and the Bruce Faulconer music was being used. So even with the impediments it made me sad. In fact, I think it was around this time of year, too. Wow. This episode marks where Kenji Yamamoto’s music is first replaced by Shunsuke Kikuchi’s. It feels a little weird hearing Kikuchi’s music in Kai after so many episodes with Yamamoto. Apparently, though, Toei aired on the side of caution when it came to the big plagairism kerfuffle. Instead of just not using the offending tracks, they didn’t use any of them, and went to Kikuchi’s stuff. It’s good music, mind you, but the placement isn’t always great. Overall Score: 4 out of 5Dragon Ball Kai – Episode 94 Review
Episode 94, "The Perfect Form Breaks Down! The Super Iron Fists of Rage Explode"
*****SPOILERS*****
Synopsis: Everyone is impressed by Gohan’s power except Cell. Cell powers up to his full power, but Gohan is unmoved. Gohan takes a punch from Cell but is unharmed. He delivers a sharp blow to Cell’s mid-section, then one to his chin, knocking Cell down. Cell is angered by this. He tries hitting Gohan, but Gohan blocks and delivers a kick that sends Cell flying and crashing into the ground. Cell uses various techniques, but to no avail. Cell can’t believe he’s actually feeling fear and retreats into the sky. He fires a powerful Kamehameha, intending to destroy the Earth, but Gohan fires his own, overpowering it and sending the beams hurdling towards Cell, hitting him. Cell is greviously injured. Goku urges Gohan to finish Cell off, but Gohan disagrees, wanting to make Cell suffer. Cell once again regenerates. Angry, he amps up his body, but is too slow to keep up with Gohan. Gohan kicks Cell so hard that he throws up Artificial Human 18 and his Perfect Form breaks down. Cell transforms back into his Semi-Perfect form. Enraged and devestated at losing his perfect form, Cell tries to strike Gohan, but can’t. Completely outmatched, Cell puffs up his body to enormous proportions, telling Gohan it’s the end.
Comments:
Gohan continues to be totally badass in this episode. Cell is completely overwhelmed by his power and speed. Especially the speed. The key difference between Cell and the rest of the fighters is that he’s extremely fast, so even if they had enough raw power, they’d be too slow. Trunks learned that a while back when he found his ascended Super Saiyan form was no match for Cell. But Cell makes the same mistake Trunks did in his fury and loses his Perfect Form because of it.
The art is a bit inconsistent in this episode. There are times it’s decent, even pretty good, but then you get moments where the characters seem a little off. I do especially like all the shots of Gohan glaring at Cell. My favorite shot, though, is Gohan smirking, taking pleasure in Cell’s plight. It’s a pretty scary sight when you think about it. I always liked the sparks the Super Saiyan 2 form makes, the effect is really good.
Another scene I really liked is Cell’s Kamehameha being destroyed by Gohan’s own. We all know that they’re getting into a duel with Kamehamehas in a bit, and a lot of people overlook this. Gohan easily counters Cell. Cell is just completely outclassed. Returning to Semi-Perfect form, he’s actually no longer a match for several of the others. Cell’s pride is smashed.
An excellent episode, despite the art flaws.
Overall Score:
4 out of 5
Some Thoughts On: Dragon Ball Kai (English Dub) Episodes 53-66
As Goku’s fight with Freeza wraps up and the coming of the Artificial Humans begins, the script accuracy begins to falter here and there. In episode 55, there’s a scene in which, in Japanese, Bulma wonders if Vegeta has ever worn the type of clothing they (she and other Earthlings) wear. In English, Bulma instead asks if it’s possible Vegeta would hold her and her friends hostage to get Goku to return from space. The change irks me for two reasons. One, that’s not what Bulma said in the Japanese version, or even close to it. And two, it doesn’t make any sense. Vegeta would have to know where Goku is to inform him that he’s taken his friends hostage, and she knows he doesn’t. The only way Goku would know is if he returned from space, which would negate his need to take hostages. Bulma isn’t stupid, and you would have to be to say something like she said in English.
Dragon Ball Kai – Episode 93 Review
Episode 93, "Fighting Spirit Free from Hesitation! Gohan Pulverizes the Cell Juniors", or "Kami-Damn, Gohan Is Fucking Badass"
*****SPOILERS*****
Synopsis: Gohan transforms himself, unleashing a great amount of power. He immediately snatches back the bag of senzu beans and destroys one Cell Junior in a single blow. He kills another who was tormenting Kuririn. He proceeds to beat on the duplicates. They team up and attack him, but don’t hurt him. He picks them off one by one. He throws the bag of senzu to Trunks and faces off with Cell. Trunks gives Kuririn and others senzu beans. Gohan engages Cell in combat with great speed. Piccolo realizes that Goku fought Cell first to show Gohan how Cell fights. Cell is frustrated with how good Gohan has become.
