02/02/2010:

FUNimation licenses Dragon Ball Kai

To be released in North America later in the year

FUNimation licenses Dragon Ball Kai

Anime fads may come and go, but it sometimes seems like the popularity of the Dragon Ball franchise will live forever. Certainly, I would imagine that FUNimation will be hoping that this will be the case, with the latest financial conference call from the company's owner Navarre revealing that the newest instalment in the Dragon Ball anime franchise has now been licensed in North America.

Dragon Ball Kai (or Dragon Ball Z Kai as it will be referred to in this western release) is in fact a recent "refresh" of the original Dragon Ball Z series, complete with new music and a quickened storytelling pace, while the show also sees the return of most of the original Japanese voice actors for the series.

There are no firm launch dates or news as to how this series will released as yet, with Navarre simply stating that it should hit retail shelves later this financial year - Considering this latest conference call was for the third quarter of said year, we could well see it hit North America in the next three months.

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