How Nicktoons Censored Dragon Ball Z Kai | Frieza Arc | 3/4 

I thought a lot of this stuff was lost to time; thanks for preserving it and being so thorough! I felt this way back when they aired on Nick, but I'm super grateful the "edited version" of the lines weren't cringey; they still got the necessary story across and preserved all the important character development and personality.

"Fighting?! In a show about people fighting?! I will have no such thing! Censor it!"

Never understood why they treated blood as if kids are never meant to see it, kids scrape their legs and accidentally cut themselves all the time, they probably see more blood than an adult does lmao

"All of them vanquished" is a cold line imo

2:06 I find it funny that even the common idiom "I'm dying to..." was altered to avoid even the metaphorical death reference.

4Kids Goku when Krillin --dies-- gets sent to another dimension: "This ruffles my jammies!"

Imagine the Nicktoons version being your first exposure to DBZ. My prayers go the victims

That line change in the Nicktoons version changes the context behind what Goku said to frieza pretty significantly from the Japanese version

Got to say the Nicktoons line of King Kai saying "Piccolo draws breath no more" sounds darker than the Uncut's " Piccolo has been brought down".

Never realized how much freeza enjoy choking people with his tail

Kai: "YOU RUTHLESS, HEARTLESS, BASTARD!" Nick: "🧸"

It's annoying how many people don't know that the Nicktoons version isn't the original DBZ Kai and treat Kai like the Nicktoons version

It's honestly impressive how much of the story is kept intact in the Nicktoons version, sure it censors every mention of death but the use of words like "they're gone" and "what you did" make it pretty obvious that's what happened to various characters. They don't actually shy away from it, they just choose their words carefully and only cut out the brutal action scenes to get past censors. Props to the people who handled these edits, especially whoever trimmed the fight scenes because they pretty consistently picked the right beginning & ending frames to make the cuts seemless.

And meanwhile in the CW/4Kids version, Frieza sends Krillin to the Shadow Realm.

Getting Dragon Ball suitable for 7 yearolds to watch is hard work.

13:17 Aww yeah Spongebob up next after Dragon ball Z Kai!

4:41 the lil walk he does 😭

I find it funny when goku says oh no! And doesn’t even try to dodge the trap 😂

4:36 Ayy yo why is frieza crawling like that🤣

I can't wait to see how they censored Trunks turning Frieza into spaghetti.

Can’t wait to see how they censored frieza splitting himself in half

17:47. Honestly, this change I actually prefer as it shows Frieza’s “babyrage” of not being able to do much since Goku and gang just happen to be there.

I like how they added a milisecond long flash during almost every hit scene to pretend Frieza did nothing to Goku, he just got dragged by the very strong wind

Damn NickToons should’ve never even picked it up if they were going to edit and remove so much

Thanks for documenting all these changes! I grew up with the Nicktoons version as a kid and watched the uncut version a while later. I’m grateful how lax the Nicktoons version was with its edits, and some of its line reads and line changes I actually prefer over the uncut version. It’s also crazy how much of the uncut version got slipped into the Nicktoons version, especially instances like Android 18 swearing in the last episode. The Toonzai/4Kids version went WAY crazier with the edits, even more than the Ocean dub in Z. It’s also thanks to the Nicktoons version that it introduced a whole new generation of fans to the series, just like the Toonami version did (which was also censored in its own right.) Double thanks for using the Yamamoto music for this. He’s a horrible person for plagiarizing so much of his work, but a lot of his tracks for Kai really left an imprint on me for a lot of people. It’s hard to watch Kai with the Kikuchi score, mostly because they did such a bad job at rescoring it, with the same few tracks over and over when he made hundreds of them for Z. I didn’t start softening up to the original Japanese music until DBZ: Kakarot. This whole set of videos brings back a lot of memories watching through the series again. Keep it up!

the "Hell" being switched to HFIL cracked me up

7:56 Laura Bailey as kid Vegeta in dbz Kai .

15:02 Man Mandela Effect hitting me HARD. I could have SWORN Goku said in the Nicktoons version: "You're bane of the universe, and I'm getting sick of it!"

Thats why it was so lit because as a kid they were airing the uncut version

13:15 lol the "NEXT THEN LATER" pop up has me dead

Kid friendly goku “ I’m going to deck you into shnoz”

So happy I was able to grow up watching the uncut versions, I’d feel robbed if not lol

Uncut: 2:22 Frieza: You fell for it! Uncut: 2:23 Goku: OH CRAP

Meanwhile me remembering every single frame and dialogue in all versions

8:00 an interesting double change here that was missed was when it showed Bardock being killed, the Nicktoons version showcases the moment a little later when he starts to smile, whereas the uncut version has him remained stunned. Also the timing of Vegeta and Kid Vegeta’s voices change at different places. Personally I like the nicktoons version when kid Vegeta’s voice changes to adult when he says “Kakarott”

4:22 SANS UNDERTALE?!?!

Early 2000s Cartoon Network was savage. I remember them showing all the death scenes as a kid and frieza jumping with an impaled krillin on his horn ugh! 😖

Wow Nicktoons you can’t have Frieza saying I got dying to show you you wow 😮

6:11 Aww yeah I remember Avater and DBZ doing back to back!

It's crazy how much different it actually is and to think that the cartoon Network version of it was even more different.

God I remember watching the Nicktoons version, its what got me to watch DBZ at all after not really having much interest

I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THE "You ruthless, HEARTLESS" LINE FOR SO LONG

Unfortunately, due to this version being more common, it caused a lot of fanbase to not know there is an uncensored version.

I liked the og funi voices and ocean dub before Namek, gives you the sense they matured over time😂

I prefer Goku's "I Am" speech in the Nicktoons version. The uncut version is great, but I prefer the line, "I'm a proud Saiyan who calls Earth home." to "I'm the Saiyan who came all the way from Earth for the sole purpose of beating you." 16:04 That's weird, because Nick has had villains say "perish" before.

6:08 Wha…. HOW WOULD YOU CONSENT TO FALLING UNCONSCIOUS??

I like the uncut version

It's interesting that the ocean and funi original dub air in the late 90's and early 2000's is pretty much uncensored compared to this. It's still censored with things like hfil and tien saying dead ppl will be okay. But it shows the difference a decade makes in terms of what you can show on tv. When I was a kid I liked the series because of the brutal fights, the blood and the seriousness of the series. It's a pity we can't do it anymore.

“I’m going to break you”. “What?” (Goku breaking Friza’s fingers) “Like a KitKat bar™️” “What?” DBZA

Original Freeza: Twitter level of word nuclear hazard Censored Freeza: "i'm evil, however also a gentleman"

Goku saying Bastard is weird 😂I thought he's supposed to be pure 😂

Freiza calling Saiyans monkeys but casually scurrying off like a monkey is crazy

Nick censored Crap. Nick... who is known for hosting shows that make crap jokes... censored the word Crap from a non-Nickelodeon IP. Nick?? Nickelodeon: We only like to smell our own crap.

I grew up with this version...

im glad the cartoon network toonami version wasnt as censored compared to nicktoons version

The uncut vereion is 42069x better than the child version

I was 5 years old or younger when I saw Bulma with those frogs. I only ever saw that episode once while I was at a daycare. It was the late 90's. I never saw the episode again until the youtube days. They never reran that episode, or if they did I missed it.

every day is a new opportunity to see the wonders of original subbed anime, no cuts, no cringe dialogue, no changes, no small adjustments, just pure content...remember "dont shoot, he's not black"? i sure do....

Man this is how I got re into dbz I remember this. Man those were the days

When freiza used his tail, I was shocked like it was soo tuff when I was a kid watching.

Kai already as it was it was horrible and a lot of good stuff was already removed from the original version. To censor it even further sucks. I’m so glad I grew up on the original thing.

is it weird how some times the censored dialogue can wind up feeling like an extension of the uncensored dialogue?

I first watched Dragon Ball Z Kai on nicktoons. I didn't even know it was censored before, but it didn't affect how much I enjoyed watching it for the first time.

2:00 i feel like this one is more disrespectful

Never knew DBZ was on nicktoons

14:06 I was so confused as kid when this happened

Okay, unpopular opinion... that last edit you covered with Frieza launching the Death Ball to the core of Namek... that was a good dialogue change.

I feel sorry for those that began watching DBZ like this

Nah this was my childhood

When did Bulma die the first time? I don't remember her dying anytime before Namek.

4:41 The way Frieza prances away like a happy puppy is sending me to orbit

Destroy is like the cartoon word for kill And they censored destroy!!

I always thought the flashes were to make it more impactful I didn’t know it was censorship

Dragonball Z abridged with Krillin dying!:AH! AH! AH!(LOL!)😆

11:22 I don’t get this line at all, in either version. What does Frieza mean, he thought all the Namekians had died already? He literally just fought Piccolo in his second and third form a few episodes ago, and saw him getting healed. Even taunted him and the others in his final form to come at him while he tortured Vegeta. Was the line different in Japanese, or did he say the same thing here? Did Frieza just forget the others were a thing completely, while he was fighting Goku?

What about the original '90s ocean dub Was that already done or covered?

Im old enough now I realize they're not even talking about the original dbz run. I've never seen the Kai series. Freeza doesn't even sounds like I remember.

I remember when Krillin was sent... to the next Dimension. 😢

Found your channel randomly and imma be binge watching. Thank you for this content

"Wait.. fighting in a main show focused on fighting?! i will censor and cut out the violent part's, this is absurd!"

2:21 “OH CRAP” “OH NO” how is crap a curse word

That is actually facts because I used to watch dragon Ball z Kai the censored version of course in nicktoons when I was a kid but now I see the dialogue really did change by the original

I miss seeing DBZ Kai on Nicktoons.

When Frieza said in the uncut version that he’d rather die by his own hand aka commit s*icide than to die by a saying yeah I can see why they needed to be changed

I love how they edit out all references to death when little boys are literally constantly yelling, "DIE DIE DIE!"

14:13 This part in particular is throwing me for a loop because I remember clearly hearing "You ruthless, heartless, bastard"/"I will make you suffer" when I first watched Kai on TV. I even remember mishearing "tch, heartless" as "tortless" at the time. The "Monster"/"You're going to pay for that" version is _completely_ foreign to me.

You forgot to mention that In the recap of episode 47, the Narrator also changed the dialog with the Uncut Saying "Piccolo is Quicky Defeated, and then turned his rage on Krillin, Murdering him in cold blood in front of Goku's eyes" to where in the Nicktoons version saying "Piccolo is quickely defeated. As was krillin!" I forgot what the rest of the line was said in the Nicktoons version. Sorry.

They definitely made it 7 year old friendly. My mom would’ve let me watch this for sure. lol

i dont remember anything other than the harsh language being removed, i remember when frieza got cut in half, it was completely shown, there was just black voids where his blood was before, and all the blood coughs were spit

I remember this on nicktoons, it's nice to see them introduced Dragon Ball z to a younger audience, expose a whole new generation to a legendary anime, I just don't like how kid friendly they went with the series. Originally, this show was very gory and heavily targeted towards teens. In a way, I kind of miss that I miss how bloody this show used to be, but you can't please everyone and unfortunately, targeting things towards kids is more profitable

THERE IT IS

7:28 I'm actually glad the Nicktoons version added in the shorts.

I finally found where the: YOU RUTHLESS, HEARTLESS, BASTAR- meme came from.

Where is the fighting then? , almost all fight scenes footage were removed

One of these days I'm going to go back and watch Dragon Ball all the way to Dragon Ball Z. Including the movies. I just don't know if I'll skip the Buu Saga or not.

I'm a 90s kid and TV wasn't afraid to show us the REAL Stuff. Cartoonnetwork basically played the uncut version. From Tien arm getting knocked off by Nappa to That scary scene where Dr. Gero almost killed Yamcha

When dragon ball z first aired in the UK it was censored, so I saw the no blood version. I remember watching it one day and My older brother said to me in Japan they show blood and they swear\curse sometimes and it was uncut. So the first time I saw the full uncut version wasn’t until we went and got some bootlegs from Japan . It’s crazy because my memory tells me even now there was blood in the UK original version, but there wasn’t because when I watched the uncut versions for the first time it blew me away back then. And Then the English dub remastered uncut official dvds came out and the rest is history🙌

Lucky I have the uncensored one.

The irony of this censorship is back in the 90's we watched it with the "violence" intact, they just took out the blood, and we all turned out fine. Sorta sad they censor so much action from an anime about fighting. Kinda stupid, actually.

Wait a sec, we got ourselves a retcon. Frieza in the fukkatsu no F was resurrected cut up, Krillian should have been resurrected blown up to bits.