Dragon Ball Z Kai took what was already an overly-long, awkwardly- paced, zero-stakes anime that, admittedly, was a highly influential show and redid it better. The show was more sleek and at least watchable, but it still has major flaws.
In short, I don't think Dragon Ball Z was great, but it was definitely important. It exposed a new generation of adults and children to a medium that was pretty fringe in the United States up until that point. However, no amount of cultural importance could really change the quality of that show. The show was plagued by unbearably long charging scenes, transformation scenes, reaction shots, and filler, not to mention stilted dialogue, bad dubbing, and unfunny jokes that are just really dated. Characters that were pretty paper-thin, a contrived plot that was sometimes compelling but moved along at a snail's pace, and the only saving grace (the action) was mostly interrupted by all these other terrible things that I mentioned.
Dragon Ball Z Kai took an already flawed anime and made it a lot more enjoyable. Pull out all the filler, update the animation, and get some new voice-actors (most of which were superior, a few being inferior). It took out a lot of the choppiness and the show ended up an above- average show that's not a classic. But, you couldn't help but feel when watching it that they were just milking the cash cow to try to squeeze more money out of it, just like another show I can think of . . . it's on the tip of my tongue . . . GP? CT? No, that's not it, never mind.
In conclusion, the show's fine, better than the original, but definitely not one of the 250 best television shows of all time.
In short, I don't think Dragon Ball Z was great, but it was definitely important. It exposed a new generation of adults and children to a medium that was pretty fringe in the United States up until that point. However, no amount of cultural importance could really change the quality of that show. The show was plagued by unbearably long charging scenes, transformation scenes, reaction shots, and filler, not to mention stilted dialogue, bad dubbing, and unfunny jokes that are just really dated. Characters that were pretty paper-thin, a contrived plot that was sometimes compelling but moved along at a snail's pace, and the only saving grace (the action) was mostly interrupted by all these other terrible things that I mentioned.
Dragon Ball Z Kai took an already flawed anime and made it a lot more enjoyable. Pull out all the filler, update the animation, and get some new voice-actors (most of which were superior, a few being inferior). It took out a lot of the choppiness and the show ended up an above- average show that's not a classic. But, you couldn't help but feel when watching it that they were just milking the cash cow to try to squeeze more money out of it, just like another show I can think of . . . it's on the tip of my tongue . . . GP? CT? No, that's not it, never mind.
In conclusion, the show's fine, better than the original, but definitely not one of the 250 best television shows of all time.