Dragon Ball Z Kai: Part 6 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Dragon Ball Z Kai: Part 6 Blu-ray Movie Review

Goku v. Frieza was so Volume Five.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 13, 2011

Joining an enterprise like Dragon Ball Z Kai at episode 66 is perhaps a bit like wandering into War and Peace at page 1000 and wondering why things aren’t making too much sense. Of course even War and Peace didn’t have multiple versions (at least that I’m aware of, anyway), much like Dragon Ball Z Kai, which is a revision of a sequel to the original Dragon Ball franchise. (If you’re not confused yet, get ready for the soon to street Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1, a restored version of the original Z series, with the first volume due in November of what will ultimately be a gigantic enterprise comprised of all 291 episodes of the series). Those with the fortitude to look through some previous reviews of the prior volumes of this particular iteration of Dragon Ball Z can at least glean a little information about what the series is about and what each particular volume has to offer. My colleague Dustin Somner has done an exceptional job detailing the first four volumes of Dragon Ball Z Kai on Blu-ray. You can find coverage of those previous releases here:

• Dragon Ball Z Kai: Part One
• Dragon Ball Z Kai: Part Two
• Dragon Ball Z Kai: Part Three
• Dragon Ball Z Kai: Part Four

I myself contributed a recap of what Part Five had to offer. Things are approaching the end game in rather hyperbolic fashion in this newly released Part Six, and as with my review of Part Five, I’ll attempt to give brief summaries of each episode without posting any major spoilers.

Episode 66: “The Time for Reunification Has Come! Piccolo’s Unshakeable Resolve!” The Android battle from Episode 65 continues, with Krillin needing to utilize his remaning Senzu beans to help the wounded. Part of the time travel plot arc which informs some of the storyline in this compilation of episodes is explained by Trunks.

Episode 67: “Another Time Machine? Bulma Uncovers a Mystery” It turns out Trunks may not be the only one using his time machine to visit the current day.

Episode 68: “The Monster Goes Into Motion. . .Strike of the Super Namekian!” Mysterious events in nearby Gingertown seem to have something to do with a discarded husk found by Bulma, Gohan and Trunks. Two character merge to form a new entity.

Episode 69: “I Am Your Brother! The Monster With Goku’s Energy!” Piccolo’s new hybrid form takes on an android, an android who seems to be emanating elements of Goku, Vegeta and Frieza.

Episode 70: “The Dizzying Deception and the Daring Escape! Defeat the Android Cell!” The android has revealed itself to be a monster named Cell, and may, like Trunks, be a visitor from another timeline.

Episode 71: “The Hunt for Cell is On! Goku Back in Action!” Goku reappears after a long absence, but is tinkering with event in the current timeline going to prevent calamities from the future coming back in time to wreak havoc?

Episode 72: “Break the Super Saiyan Barrier! Into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber!” Several of the heroes are attempting to smash the Super Saiyan Barrier, and part of that attempt is getting a sort of time warp training inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Meanwhile outside of the Chamber yet another battle with an Android is taking place.

Episode 73: “The Super Namekian Powers Up! Piccolo vs. Android 17!” Bulma may have figured out a way to defeat the androids, but in the meantime an epic battle is continuing, one which draws Cell into it almost like a magnet.

Episode 74: “Run Android 17! Piccolo’s All or Nothing Struggle!” Piccolo may have met his fate in the vicious battle with the android. Meanwhile, Krillin tries to meet up with Bulma to work on their strategy to defeat the androids.

Episode 75: “Power Unknown! Android 16 Breaks His Silence!” Maybe not all of th androids are pure evil, as Android 16 actually tries to prevent Cell from reaching his nefarious goal.

Episode 76: “Tien’s Desperate Attack! Save Your Friends, Goku!” Cell continues to grow in destructive power, but Goku might have an ace up his sleeve.

Episode 77: “Beyond Super Saiyan! Vegeta Confronts the Monster Cell!” Can Vegeta and Trunk’s time in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber give them the power necessary to overcome Cell?

This Sixth Volume of Dragon Ball Z Kai episodes is perhaps a trifle more involving than Volume Five, partly because the time travel element is really rather artfully handled and because the rise of Cell offers a nice new plot arc to finally replace the somewhat interminable Goku versus Frieza elements that took up so much time in previous volumes. While there are only a couple of glancing references to time travel conundrums, there is enough cross-referencing between at least a couple of timelines that keep the viewer actively engaged and wondering what actions in the current timeline are going to mean for the future, and therefore for the “past,” since there are several characters traveling back in time from the future. (Confused yet? Not to worry—the show handles this all fairly clearly). The androids and Cell provide some exciting new enemies for our heroes to confront, and the reappearance of Goku gives longtime fans something to celebrate. What some may have an issue with is yet another Deus ex Machina plot point which sees our heroes able to up their power yet again to defeat a dastardly enemy. How many more “level ups” will be needed to get us through the series’ final few episodes? We’ll soon find out.

Dragon Ball Z Kai: Part 6 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As both Dustin and I have mentioned in our previous reviews of Dragon Ball Z Kai, this AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1 isn't your typical everyday remaster and is instead a complete restructuring and restoration of old elements and in some cases creation of new elements to create this "slimmed down" storyline. What that means is this is once again a blemish and damage free presentation. Though the animation style may strike some as antiquated, that's part of the series' charm and the Blu-ray recreates that perhaps "simple" look brilliantly. Colors are very well saturated and line detail is well above average, if not quite up to today's pristine CGI standards. The sixth volume continues Dragon Ball Z Kai's nicely clean and pleasingly well detailed presentation.

Dragon Ball Z Kai: Part 6 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with previous volumes of Dragon Ball Z Kai, Volume Six is offered with two newly recorded lossless audio tracks which use most of the original voice actors. The Japanese track is presented in Dolby TrueHD 2.0 and the English dub is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1. As with Volume Five, the surround mix has a consistent utilization of discrete channelization, especially in the ubiquitous battle sequences. Fidelity in both tracks is once again superb, with excellent clarity and some great dynamic range. The Japanese track, aside from being obviously narrower than the English surround mix, also has a subtle but noticeable compression in the very highest and lowest registers. But overall, but of these tracks are excellent and you can't go wrong with either track.

Dragon Ball Z Kai: Part 6 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Textless Opening Song (HD; 1:32)
• Textless Closing Song (HD; 1:02)
• Trailers for other FUNimation Releases

Dragon Ball Z Kai: Part 6 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you're new to Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball Z or Dragon Ball Z Kai, you may well want to wait until November when the new, meaning the old, Level 1.1 iteration is released. But for longtime fans, Volume Six is incrementally more exciting and interesting than Volume Five, if for no other reason that we're at least stuck in a new interminable battle instead of being stuck in the same old, same old one. Volume Six weaves in some nice time travel elements while introducing several new nemeses who will help take us through to the finale. As with the previous volumes of this release, the scrubbed and partly redone image looks great (albeit patently old fashioned) and the newly recorded lossless tracks pack quite a bit of punch. Recommended.