Should Super Use Insert Songs?

[Gyt Kaliba]

I'm starting this thread here since it seemed like the best bet until it can hopefully be moved to the Super section.

'Mezase Tenkaichi', 'Unmei no Hi', or even going all the way up to Kai with 'Super Dragon Soul' and 'Ginyu Tokusentai', Dragon Ball has had some great insert songs over the years, some arguably representing the series itself just as well, if not better, than any of the iconic opening or ending themes. Dragon Ball had a lot of insert songs, DBZ had a fair few even if it started to fall to the wayside towards the end, GT missed out (from what I recall anyway), but even Kai in all of it's random nature managed to bring us back some great scene making insert songs. I know there's a lot of discontent (understandably) towards the BGM that's being used in Super, so doing insert songs every now and then wouldn't completely solve that issue...but am I the only one that really would like to see Super use insert songs at some point anyway? They've already missed their chance to re-use 'HERO' and 'F' in their respective arcs, but I'd love to see something pop up eventually in the Champa/Universe 6 arc, should a scene that would really benefit from one come up.

I realize this is pretty vague since obviously we don't know where it's all heading and thus can't make guesses about what kind of scenes there might be to even give one too, but what do you guys think? Would you like to see insert songs return or am I alone on this one?

[JulieYBM]

If the scene that the insert song is used in is well directed and animated, of course. I don't think Columbia is going to allow old songs to be used and I'm not sure if the producer from Columbia feels like it's a good time to do new insert songs. It feels like they're still recovering from Yamamoto Kenji.

[Vijay]

Man, the recovering from Yamamoto Kenji part made me ROFL. Almost as if he was cancer & now Columbia/TOEI's going through therapeutic treatments

OT, I feel it doesnt make any difference. The conposer they have now isn't gonna deliver spell-binding insert songs as in DN, FMAB, HXH2011 or even on par to our glorious Z counterparts as you have mentioned

Just sticking with mediocrity is what TOEI does best, especially so when it comes to GT, Kai, Kai 2.0, Super etc

[Kuririn Fan]

YES IT SHOULD!!! I love all of the insert songs in DB, DBZ and DBKai!

[Super Saiyan Swagger]

Yes please. I love me some great insert song moments. Kai was full of great ones. They can probably do an insert song for the finals in the Champa arc tournament.

[Gyt Kaliba]

OT, I feel it doesnt make any difference. The conposer they have now isn't gonna deliver spell-binding insert songs as in DN, FMAB, HXH2011 or even on par to our glorious Z counterparts as you have mentioned

Is the composer really the one in charge of insert songs too? I mean, it'd make sense, but...hmm. I've never heard anyone say if it was Kikuchi for example going 'Hey, I think an insert song would go great here, let's get in touch with Kageyama again', or anything like that. Have there ever been any interviews anywhere about the franchise's music specifically, that would tell us how that kind of thing was decided?

[Lord Beerus]

I certainly think that insert songs would help compliment certain scenes in the anime much more. Especially considering that the OST for Super has been quite a mixed bag.

[LuckyCat]

Absolutely YES! I think it's smart not to just throw them in all the time, which makes me glad they weren't in the movie adaptations. But, I thought one of the defining good qualities of the Android arc were its clever use of insert songs. Echoing JulieYBM's statement, If Super ever reaches a climax of that scale, then by all means punch it up with an insert song.

[Araki]

The three EDs so far could be easily used as insert songs, they're all pretty good.
But anime these days doesn't have that very often, unless it's something about music.

[ArchedThunder]

Absolutely, I'm really hoping we get an insert song in the climax of the tournament.

[Xeztin]

This is something the movies done so well, Cooler's Revenge had a lot of good songs, especially when Goku goes Super Saiyan and "Change" by Deftones kicks in. Gave me goosebumps. Especially while Goku's giving a speech. Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7P2QOMhWgw

[Cipher]

TBH, I think Z is the only series where insert songs really added something, although the Tenkaichi song in Dragon Ball is kind of wonderfully kitschy.

I hated -- hated -- all of Kai's insert songs. They're so obvious and heavy-handed it's a bit cringe-inducing. I don't have much faith in modern Dragon Ball's music placement or general musical aesthetics (though there have been a few excellently placed Sumitomo tracks in Super thus far).

[mecha3000]

I want an insert song for when either Monaka or Cabba showcase their abilities for the first time. Lately, I've been obsessed with the music that played when Trunks annihilated Freeza (Battle Point Unlimited) and it'd be cool if a new song had the same effect to show Monaka's or Cabba's awesomeness.

[MozillaVulpix]

Eventually, yes, but rarely.

They have to use it at either an incredibly cool or incredibly emotional moment. Like, THE moment of the arc. They can't do it every time someone dies, or every time someone shows off a new transformation.

As an example, I WOULDN'T want them to put an insert song for Goku's SSGSS transformation because it was lacking in context. It didn't feel big enough to justify it.

The final match of a very long tournament? Definitely big enough.

A new character being introduced in one of the most shocking moments in the entire series? Big enough.

An existing character obtaining the first transformation of its kind, whilst finally satisfying a hanging plot point introduced at the start of their series? You bet that's big enough.

But doing it too often makes it lose its...shock appeal, I'd call it. When something awesome happens and you're not expecting it.

[sailorspazz]

I love insert songs! Especially when they're character songs So it'd be great if they made some new tunes and slipped them into episodes at climactic moments. Though, admittedly, it does seem pretty old school, since most modern anime don't use insert songs like that (though I guess Kill la Kill used insert songs frequently, but it kinda had an old school vibe, anyway). If Dragon Ball Super is trying to be more modern, they might avoid doing that...but with the callbacks and flashbacks to the old series, I'm not sure if they actually are trying to update to the newer standards. Who knows? The short answer is, I'm a cranky old fan who likes the way anime was done in the 80s and 90s, so give me mah damn epic insert songs!

[Jaetinh]

Insert songs would be great, anything other than that horrible keyboard music that Super is using right now would be good.

[DragonHermit]

I'm disappointed as hell they haven't.

[FortuneSSJ]

Episode 39. They used it and it was awesome!
A great insert song always makes a great difference for the entire experience of the viewer.

I'm disappointed as hell they haven't.

Do you feel better now?

[Gyt Kaliba]

I was meaning to bump this thread after hearing about us getting a new insert song finally! I can't wait to hear it when I get to see the episode.

It also makes me think of another question I meant to ask before and forgot - does anyone wish they had re-used the movie insert/ending themes as insert songs in Super, or do you prefer that they left them in the movies, thus leaving yet another way for the movies to be special by comparison.

[DragonHermit]

Episode 39. They used it and it was awesome!
A great insert song always makes a great difference for the entire experience of the viewer.

I'm disappointed as hell they haven't.

Do you feel better now?

Over the moon