Kai Episode 47 (7 March 2010)

[Khalid Shahin]

General Discussion for DragonBall Kai episode 47, aired 7 March 2010.

目覚めろ伝説の戦士…超サイヤ人、孫悟空！
Mezamero Densetsu no Senshi... Suupaa Saiya-jin, Son Gokuu!
Awaken, Legendary Warrior... Son Goku, the Super Saiyan!

[kenisu3000]

Hah, I figured they'd work the scene where Kaio delivers the news to Yamcha, Tenshinhan and Chaozu like that: they cut out every shot of the Ginyu Tokusentai so that we only get the close-up reactions of Yamcha and Tenshinhan.

Also, they moved the scene with Bulma and frog Ginyu to just after Kuririn says he completely forgot about her.

And as for the Super Saiyan transformation scene... they simply used "A Moment For Shuddering", an instrumental piece, NOT Ultra-Super Dragon Soul!

[Vino]

How the hell could they use that track instead of dragon soul? what were they thinking? the music was not that bad, but come on, that music was fucking used to death.

[Puto]

Generic SSJ transformation scene was generic.

[kenisu3000]

It is pretty weird, especially since they usually whore out the insert songs, but I do have to admit, "A Moment For Shuddering" is one of my absolute favorite tracks on the first Kai OST, and I was getting pretty sick of everyone marking their words that "Ultra-Super Dragon Soul" was going to be in the transformation scene...

[Blue]

Well there goes me defending the Kai OST's variety. At this point there is no doubt in my mind that they can't stop using the same friggin 9 tracks.

[Vino]

Its not that bad....it worked out ok....and I have to admit, that insert song wouldn't work well with the SSJ scene.

[Metalwario64]

And as for the Super Saiyan transformation scene... they simply used "A Moment For Shuddering", an instrumental piece, NOT Ultra-Super Dragon Soul!

Yeah, it seems they're really cooling it with those insert songs. I liked the cool reverb and pitch bending effects used in the transformation; it felt very much in the spirit of the original, just updated with modern effects. I had thought that they would have just had no vocal effects for the transformation like they had in a couple of flashbacks in Z, so it was nice that they did something special at least.

The piece they used went well with the animation, and it also fit the mood similarly with the original Shunsuke Kikuchi score. Personally, an insert song like Super Dragon Soul would have ruined the scene, as that's not what it was about. It was about the anger and shock that Goku was feeling, the rage building within him and the whole direness of the situation. It's supposed to be more "Holy shit!" rather than "Wow epic awesomeness wow Goku is badass omg!"

Of course, I hope an insert song is used when Gohan transforms into a Super Saiyan 2...

Also, why could they get rid of the "Ginyu Force on Kai's planet" filler, but they couldn't get rid of "Bulma the frog" filler? They would simply have to cut out some pointless reaction shots from Gohan and the rest. Did they just decide what filler would remain for the sake of pacing?

[Blue]

Also, why could they get rid of the "Ginyu Force on Kai's planet" filler, but they couldn't get rid of "Bulma the frog" filler? They would simply have to cut out some pointless reaction shots from Gohan and the rest. Did they just decide what filler would remain for the sake of pacing?

Do you think they only decided to cut out the Ginyu on Kaio's planet filler because it directly conflicted with the canon? (As in there is no way in HFIL Yamcha and co. would be that strong.)

[kenisu3000]

Well there goes me defending the Kai OST's variety. At this point there is no doubt in my mind that they can't stop using the same friggin 9 tracks.

My humble theory is that they're waiting for the Freeza saga to end (which should be somewhere around ep. 52), and then they're going to overload us with at least half a new OST's worth of new tracks.

Which is a really stupid way of going about things. Kenji Yamamoto knows his stuff well enough, but he has got to be the laziest composer I've ever admired the music of.

EDIT: Lol, just realized the irony in saying "humble" and then accusing somebody of doing something stupid in the same post.

[penguintruth]

It's not necessarily due to Yamamoto's "laziness", Toei might've only contracted him to do a certain amount of work. My problem is with the limited sound of his pieces more than their overuse. I didn't complain much about the Kikuchi's score's overuse because I felt there was a bit more variety.

Certainly the SSJ transformation scene was better in Z than here, but it's hardly a make or break scenario. Don't forget that you're still getting the best pacing for this material outside the manga.

Frankly, I suspected they weren't going to do anything special here. Maybe they were even concerned that if they had, it would have taken the thunder from the original version (but I doubt it, it's just a crackpot theory I came up with). Whatever the case, I'll take the Kikuchi piece used in that scene over the piece used here.

Actually, what could have been better than the piece they used was silence. Just silence. Just the scream to speak for itself.

[Hujio]

People do realize that Kenji Yamamoto has nothing to do with the song selections, right? He just composes as many songs as they ask him to. The sound supervisor, Nagasaki Yukio, is the one who makes all the calls on what music to use. He's basically the "big guy" in charge of the audio side of the series.

[Kendamu]

Generic SSJ transformation scene was generic.

Just like DBZ!

[penguintruth]

Generic SSJ transformation scene was generic.

Just like DBZ!

This was generic?

[Kendamu]

Generic SSJ transformation scene was generic.

Just like DBZ!

This was generic?

Yes. There wasn't an insert song for it nor was there a brand new tune for it. Just like Kai.

[penguintruth]

Yes. There wasn't an insert song for it nor was there a brand new tune for it. Just like Kai.

The BGM used was much more intense than Kai's piece.

Hell, even the Faulconer piece used in the dub was probably more appropriate than what they used for Kai.

But like I said, it's not like it destroys the whole show.

[kenisu3000]

People do realize that Kenji Yamamoto has nothing to do with the song selections, right? He just composes as many songs as they ask him to. The sound supervisor, Nagasaki Yukio, is the one who makes all the calls on what music to use. He's basically the "big guy" in charge of the audio side of the series.

Yeah, so I had a stupid moment. It happens, much more often than I'd care to admit.

Either way, I'm really not keen on the way the music is being handled in this series as a whole, whether or not that's Yamamoto's fault. My favorite Sentai series, Denji Sentai Megaranger, was only 51 episodes long (and Kai's almost that far), but it contained some 119+ pieces of music. Compare that with the 60-70 or so that's been composed for Kai, especially since they're not being very versatile with what they've got, and things really come into perspective.
Of course, I'm pretty sure not a single piece of Megaranger BGM, outside of the vocal melody orchestrals, even hits the two-minute mark (whereas Yamamoto's compositions range from 30 seconds to over three minutes), so I may just be blowing smoke here. What's ironic about it all is that Yamamoto himself had a hand in a later Sentai series, Abarenger.

[Vino]

Is it me or Goku's eyes were black when he turned SSJ?

[JulieYBM]

Yeah, Dragon Ball Z did the scene far better, but I'm glad the sound boys didn't play an insert. The scene's always felt to me to be not a moment of 'badassery', but one of horrific, tragic, and shocking dread and anticipation. Dragon Ball Kai went for something close, but not quite the cigar Kikuchi's score made.

[Blue]

Hell, even the Faulconer piece

Woah woah woah, let's not say things we can't take back.