Dragon Ball Kai Z-Cut | The Definitive Dragon Ball Z Experience

[u/AtomicEXE]

Dragon Ball Kai Z-Cut is a complete re-edit of Dragon Ball Kai (itself a condensed recut of Dragon Ball Z), the aim of this project is to bring the updated dialogue/performances and streamlined pacing of Kai together with the classic look, feel, sound, and presentation of the original Dragon Ball Z broadcast.

NOTE: This is primarily an English dub project, there are options for Japanese, but the focus is on the Funimation Kai dub.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

For all information about the project, go to the Kanzenshuu Forums or Archive.org and search Dragon Ball Kai Z-Cut.

To see comparisons between Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Kai and Dragon Ball Kai Z-Cut, go check out the playlist on YouTube by searching Dragon Ball Kai Z-Cut.

Or feel free to join the Kai Z-Cut Discord Server!

KEY FEATURES & EDITS

VISUALS

Kai Z-Cut utilises the Seed of Might Colour-Corrected Dragon Ball Z Footage, synced directly to Kai's audio, thanks to the Dragon Box Kai Team. This means that for Kai 1.0 (EP001 to 098), there is no longer any redrawn animation, and for The Final Chapters (EP099 to 167), the footage is no longer in cropped widescreen and featuring a green tint.

OPENINGS, ENDINGS & EYECATCHES

The Kai openings and endings have been replaced with the original Z version's in high quality audio:

• Dragon Soul replaced by CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA
• Kuu-Zen-Zetsu-Go replaced by WE GOTTA POWER
• Yeah! Break! Care! Break!/Wings of the Heart replaced by ZENKAI Power!
• Never Give Up!!! replaced by We Were Angels

Additionally, the eyecatches have also been replaced by their Z equivalent.

PRESENTATION & STRUCTURE

There are a number of other changes made to Kai to be closer to Z's structure including:

• Previous Episode Recaps being moved back to after the Opening Titles.
• Custom Episode Title Cards created for each episode, with background art from the original DBZ episode the Kai episode is based on, and original Z music.
• Re-stylising Kai's Next Episode Previews to match original Japan exclusive Z preview format.
• Creating a custom Next Episode Preview for Episode 99, seamlessly bridging the gap between Kai 1.0 & The Final Chapters.

AUDIO & SUBTITLE OPTIONS

Kai Z-Cut includes 3 audio tracks, including:

• Funimation English Shinsuke Kikuchi Rescore 

This track is the Kai Funimation Dub with a custom-made rescore of the original Dragon Ball Z soundtrack composed by Shinsuke Kikuchi, created by Diccolo-420 (EP001 to 098) and Stridster (EP099 to 167). 

NOTE: The original Kai also features a "Kikuchi Score", however this was created after the revelation that the original Kai soundtrack created by Kenji Yamamoto featured plagiarised tracks. A replacement score of Kikuchi's Dragon Ball Z soundtrack was made, however it features only a fraction of his songs and is not faithful to the original placements in Z. These rescores aim is to do a better job.

• Funimation English Faulconer Productions Rescore

This track is the Kai Funimation Dub with a custom-made rescore of the American Dragon Ball Z soundtrack composed by Faulconer Productions, created by Diccolo-420.

•   Original Japanese Kai Audio

This track is the original Japanese audio from Dragon Ball Kai.

NOTE: The English releases of Dragon Ball Kai are available in surround sound. This allows people to isolate the dialogue and change the background music, making the rescores possible. The Japanese release is only available in 2 channel audio, meaning all sounds are mixed together and cannot be separated to change the music.

Also included are 2 subtitle options:

• English Dubtitles (for English Audio)
• English Subtitles (for Japanese Audio)

SF | SPOILER-FREE VERSION

An alternate version of Kai Z-Cut is available titled the SF | Spoiler-Free version. It's intended for first time viewers experiencing DBZ. It removes Next Episode Previews and retitles several episodes to prevent major plot spoilers. All episodes for that version are available as well

QUALITY CONTROL & FEEDBACK

There is a chance that I may have missed an error such as a visual, audio or subtitle mistake.

If you catch any mistakes or would like to submit feedback:

- Kanzenshuu Forums

- Discord/X/YouTube | u/atomic_kaidb

- Email | atomic.kaidb@gmail.com

CREDITS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

- Diccolo-420 | 1.0 Rescore

- Stridster | TFC Rescore

- Seed of Might | Colour-Corrected Z Footage

- Dragon Box Kai Crew (Anon90, Emreald, and team) | Kai Z Audio Sync 

- Hydrus | Technical assistance

- IAmTheMilkMan | Recuts and project inspiration

- BladeBGM | High-Quality BGM resources

- Community | Everyone who sends in errors, fixes, or feedback

- My Fiance | For giving me the push to start and supporting me throughout!

- Akira Toriyama | For everything.

DISCLAIMER

This is a non-profit fan project. Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball Kai are owned by Toei Animation, Funimation, and Akira Toriyama. Please suppor the official release.

[u/Alex3884]

How do we acquire?

[u/AtomicEXE → u/Alex3884]

You can find it by checking out the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION section at the top of the post :)

[u/ShotokanEditor]

Im looking for all the kai epeisodes but with ORIGINAL DIALOGS AND OST Is there such a project?

[u/AtomicEXE → u/ShotokanEditor]

As in Dragon Ball Z Funimation Dialogue and Soundtrack?

[u/Fanedit895]

For the openings and endings, are the songs in japanese or using english covers?

[u/AtomicEXE → u/Fanedit895]

Original Japanese Versions

Very far down the line, for a Version 2, there'll be an option for Kageyama's English Covers with the English Dub Kikuchi Rescore Audio :)

[u/imHumza]

This is awesome, exactly what in looking for, regarding redrawn scenes, didn't kai introduce some completly new scenes aswell? Or am I thinking wrong here.

[u/AtomicEXE → u/imHumza]

Thanks! As for new scenes, I believe all footage in Kai is remastered or re-drawn footage from Z so no "new" content was produced :)

[u/Cap_Abdulll]

I’ve been looking to get into db, is there also something like this for the og dragon ball series

[u/AtomicEXE → u/Cap_Abdulll]

If you're looking for a Kai-like experience for OG Dragon Ball, I would recommend WhereIsTheMilkmans Dragon Ball Recut.

Reduces the episode count drastically to be more in line with the manga :)

[u/Flood-Mic]

This is a legendary piece of work!

All the best aspects of Kai (accurate script, tighter pacing) with sharper and un-ruined visuals, plus support for all of people's favourite soundtracks. Even special considerations for spoilers! Brilliant!

Having recently completed a fan edit with several soundtrack replacements for stereo audio, I really wouldn't recommend it. It requires a lot of messy voice isolation and I had to manually recreate all of the sound design. I'm glad nobody had to do that for Kai, at least in the English Dub.

I do have a question/suggestion regarding this edit:

I understand you used the Diccolo-420 Falconer re-score rather than the newer one by ShenronsEyes/JC Dragonball, which is all well and good. As far as I'm aware, the main difference is that the ShenronsEyes edit has higher audio quality and is a bit more consistent about only using Faulconer tracks.

Depending on your priorities, those differences may not be worth the effort of including that version. But there's one soundtrack choice in Episode 92 of the ShenronsEyes edit (During the Gohan transformation) that in my opinion elevates the scene well beyond the original. It replaces the original bizarre and rather un-memorable electro track with a more emotionally appropriate one that fits literally perfectly with the scene.

If nothing else, would you consider including that audio track as an option for just that episode?

Thanks so much for your efforts in putting this together, I've been following it for a while and it's turned out great!

[u/Maleficent-Virus-734]

What is your personal recommendation for the English audio track?

The kikuchi rescore or the faulconer rescore?

[u/AtomicEXE → u/Maleficent-Virus-734]

For me, 1000% Kikuchi.

Kikuchi's compositions are incredible, so varied in tone and intensity, and he has such a large body of work. It's the best way to experience Dragon Ball in my opinion, especially if you are also a fan of OG Dragon Ball.

I like the Faulconer score, but definitely not as much as the original soundtrack. Ultimately, it's up to you which soundtrack you prefer, but I would choose Kikuchi everytime :)

[u/DatabaseWise8723]

Is it safe to torrent withoutr a vpn?? I know you need one for piracy so is it the same for this

[u/AtomicEXE → u/DatabaseWise8723]

I don't feel I am allowed to give explicit advice on how to watch the project here on r/fanedits but I would advise as a general rule it is best to have a form of protection if using a torrenting client.

For any other questions, I'm happy to chat over DMs or in the Kai Z-Cut discord :)

[u/Recon_Assassin64]

Hey just wanted to know if the torrent file is the only way to watch it?

[u/AtomicEXE → u/Recon_Assassin64]

If you hop into the discord server, there's another method in there for members :)

[u/Maleficent-Virus-734]

I've noticed some weird hiccups in the animation, is that just a feature of original z ani.ation or a rendering issue?

[u/AtomicEXE → u/Maleficent-Virus-734]

Just went through and checked and that's from the original Z footage. I compared my EP1 with the original Z footage from Seed of Might's DBZ EP2 scene and they're identical footage wise :)

[u/CactusLambchop]

Does anyone know, is there a version of the Z-Cut that utilizes Seed of Might's HD upscaling?

[u/AtomicEXE → u/CactusLambchop]

Z-Cut currently is using Seed of Might's Colour Corrected 480p Footage released in December 2025.

Currently, a HD version of Seed of Might's work has been released by Neo Raws that upscales the footage into 1080p. A future version of Z-Cut that uses Neo Raws 1080p footage may be available one day but not anytime soon :)

[u/ThoughtVolcano]

Looks awesome! Curious if anyone could provide insight on how this compares to Stridster's Dragon Ball Z Kai Revamped? And/or TeamKienzan's Dragon Ball Z Recut?

[u/AtomicEXE → u/ThoughtVolcano]

Thanks! And yeah Stridster (who provided the Kikuchi Rescore for TFC on Z-Cut) released his revamp during the production of Z-Cut. From what I've seen, the main differences are:

• Stridster keeps the Kai structure (Recap > Opening > Title Card) while I changed it to be more like Z (Opening > Recap > Title Card)

• Stridster removed filler while I kept all 167 episodes of Kai as they were (a recut of my project will be made in the future)

• My cut has 3 audio tracks currently with 2 more in Version 2 while theirs has only Kikuchi Rescore

• Both of our cuts change the OP to Cha-La/We Gotta Power and change the eyecatches to Z but my cut also changes the title cards, endings and next episode preview to be more like Z while his keeps Kai's versions

• I'm unsure if his cut has subtitles but Z-Cut has subtitles for Japanese dialogue and Subtitles

• Z-Cut contains special alternate version episodes with changes to offer different viewing experiences like replacing EP1's flashback to the version from DBS Broly, adding the driving filler to EP58 and more

Those are all the changes I can think of off the top of my head :)

[u/Maleficent-Virus-734]

In the FAQ section of your discord server you list a condensed edit as a long term possibility for the project, would that include a removal of eye catches and previously on segments in addition to other changes you plan to make?

Next week on segments also seem like low hanging fruit.

[u/AtomicEXE → u/Maleficent-Virus-734]

I will likely still be including elements like Eyecatches, Recaps and Next Episode Previews. I plan on keeping the structure of the episodes the same, just reducing filler and episode count, similar to Milkman's Kai Recut project.

Removing the eyecatches would likely make for some jarring cuts as the audio at times quickly stops when the eyecatch begins and also the eyecatch audio can have a faint echo when finishing.

Additionally, some opening recaps are actually new scenes such as Gero arriving at his lab, the alternate version of Gohan going SSJ2, Vegeta arriving to fight Android 20, and so on.

I removed the Next Episode Preview for the Spoiler Free version but that was simply to keep to the goal of that version to avoid spoiling as much as reasonably possible.

All episodes will have chapter markers for quicker skipping if anyone does wish to skip the OP/Recap/etc. during their viewing

Hope that helps :)