Akihito Tokunaga: The black sheep of the Dragon Ball composers?

Discussion regarding any musical aspect of the franchise, from game soundtracks to BGM to remixes. Upcoming & classic CDs, reviews, where to find them, and more!

Moderators: General Help, Kanzenshuu Staff

User avatar
Majin Man 101
Beyond Newbie
Posts: 124
Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2013 12:45 pm

Akihito Tokunaga: The black sheep of the Dragon Ball composers?

Post by Majin Man 101 » Thu Sep 01, 2022 1:02 am

I love me some Dragon Ball BGM. I live it, I breath it, and I consume it on a daily basis.
However, when it comes to Dragon Ball GT I find it every difficult to revisit that score and have an amazing experience. Maybe a part of that is because we have never truly gotten an official release and we can only enjoy the music mostly as extracted from the Dragon Ball GT Funimaton releases.

While there are some amazing tracks for sure, it just sounds artificial and poorly mixed. I do rank Tokunaga at the bottom of the totem pole because he was never quite tickled my ear drums the same way. I would love to hear others thoughts on this topic.

User avatar
Trouser
Beyond-the-Beyond Newbie
Posts: 438
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2018 9:02 am
Location: Capsule Corp.

Re: Akihito Tokunaga: The black sheep of the Dragon Ball composers?

Post by Trouser » Thu Sep 01, 2022 3:40 am

I think Tokunaga is second best after Kikuchi if it comes to Dragon Ball. They're both amazing and their music scores are just wonderfull and pleasant to listen. Dragon Ball GT soundtrack is pure magic.
I've never liked Sumitomo, his music scores are very synthetic and soulless. From all of his tracks created for Dragon Ball Super, I like maybe two or three.
"If it means having to live under your control, I'd rather be dead!" - Trunks
English is not my first language, if I've made a mistake, please, feel free to correct me. It will help, thanks.

User avatar
MCDaveG
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 5533
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2005 5:54 pm
Location: Prague, Czechia
Contact:

Re: Akihito Tokunaga: The black sheep of the Dragon Ball composers?

Post by MCDaveG » Thu Sep 01, 2022 11:50 am

You know, I had similar sentiment coming to GT right after watching Z on TV. But basically, everything about GT was different, somehow dark. Back then, I was a bit down that Kikuchi didn't continued into GT, as to me, he is the soul of classic DB same way as John Williams is to Star Wars.

But I think that he is black sheep only because being tied up to GT, because his score alone is superb. His orchestral score was quite grand and epic and his themes for Shenron, suspense, or some of those ominous tracks, I still remember that one that one, that has sounds like coming from circular saw. Or the somber accordeon during Piccolo's sacrifice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9qJ_Z63OB4

I really love the GT score, for sentimental and objective reasons and it's a pitty that we have not a full release for the first three series.
FighterZ: Funky_Strudel
PS4: Dynamixx88

User avatar
GhostEmperorX
Regular
Posts: 601
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2020 1:53 pm

Re: Akihito Tokunaga: The black sheep of the Dragon Ball composers?

Post by GhostEmperorX » Mon Sep 05, 2022 6:03 pm

Tokunaga basically wasn't even in the general soundtrack composing business for any notable period of time. GT was practically a one-off (and also this one reboot film), doesn't help matters that it was unreleased either.
So "black sheep" would be an apt description for the most part.

User avatar
Zephyr
I Live Here
Posts: 4019
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 9:20 pm

Re: Akihito Tokunaga: The black sheep of the Dragon Ball composers?

Post by Zephyr » Tue Sep 06, 2022 10:52 am

I feel like Yamamoto might be better considered as the black sheep of DB composers. On account of all the plagiarism.

Tokunaga's score isn't really special to me, but it's not awful either. Like Sumitomo's (and Yamamoto's Kai), it's there? It exists? And it's fine? But none of them really capture the "80's Hong Kong kung fu flick" vibe like Kikuchi does, so it's a multi-way race for a very distant second place.

User avatar
GhostEmperorX
Regular
Posts: 601
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2020 1:53 pm

Re: Akihito Tokunaga: The black sheep of the Dragon Ball composers?

Post by GhostEmperorX » Thu Sep 08, 2022 5:28 pm

Zephyr wrote: Tue Sep 06, 2022 10:52 am I feel like Yamamoto might be better considered as the black sheep of DB composers. On account of all the plagiarism.
That reason pretty much excludes him from being a composer in the first place :wink:

User avatar
Rafa Fast
Beyond-the-Beyond Newbie
Posts: 423
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2018 10:18 pm

Re: Akihito Tokunaga: The black sheep of the Dragon Ball composers?

Post by Rafa Fast » Sun Sep 25, 2022 12:26 am

1: The Answer to your question is Yamamoto

2: Actually, Tokunaga indeed does have a problem, and it's not his compositions, but how limited his work in the series was.

Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z got their scores composed by Shunsuke Kikuchi, and the fact is, every new year Kikuchi composed two new scores for both series. DB Got 3 movies, Z 13, and the soundtracks of the movies were used in the TV series, so adding this to the scores composed directly for the actual series, we get a huge library of tracks to use, which was perfect for both series. Both got more than 100 episodes, and every 15/20 episodes you would hear a new score debuting in the TV series, avoiding just a single score being used in the whole series. They hired Kikuchi to literally compose 40/50 new track per year.

Now, GT, unfortunately that's not the case, while the score is amazing, Tokunaga wasn't hired to composed new scores for the new arcs and hindmost episodes, while the first episodes of the series were being made, at the same time Tokunaga composed the 70 tracks we all know, and....that's it, he never composed something new for the series again, not even a single track. So due to this, Toei literally had to keep using the same score over and over again throughout all of the 64 episodes. Which is a problem, because this can result in some tracks sounding way too repetitive; you'll always hear the same battle themes, melancholic themes, etc.

Due to this we have the classic criticism that Instrumentals of Dan Dan Kororo always plays during the episodes. Of course that always happens, because there weren't any more tracks for them to use. That can also result in bad music placement, as there are multiple scenes with the purpose of being something dark and dangerous, but in the background plays a comical track. The only new score they got to use in the series was the score for the 10th Anniversary Movie "Path to Power," a bit before the Baby Saga started, but not even that was much, because not even the half of that score was used in the series. So in the end, it's not even Tokunaga's fault, but rather the producers.

Try to imagine a different dimension where the Z movies were never made, and Kikuchi composed just the score for the Saiyans Saga, so then you would need to hear the same M7XX score tracks and "Cha La Head Cha La" variations over and over throughout all of the first 199 episodes. Sounds very repetitive, right? And Z's most famous tracks come from the movies; the Freeza and Cell arcs only have their so memorable scores because the Garlic Jr., Dr Wheelo and Cooler movies exist.
I simply wouldn't want to imagine my life without Dragon Ball, thank you Akira Toriyama (1955-2024), you are now immortal.

User avatar
MCDaveG
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 5533
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2005 5:54 pm
Location: Prague, Czechia
Contact:

Re: Akihito Tokunaga: The black sheep of the Dragon Ball composers?

Post by MCDaveG » Thu Oct 06, 2022 8:07 am

This is interesting, as One Piece follows the same suit with movies.
And other "classic" series too. You have a basic limited score that gets expanded with movie music.
I wonder how it would look like if DB didn't had any movies.

For example in Super, there are some tunes taken from the Kai and the two Z movies, but not as much and each arc got new pieces of music.
Black arc had lot of new tracks and Tournament Of Power got a load of new tunes.
Or with other shows, they have new themes for new arcs.

I would say that with DB and One Piece it was a lot more about the comfort. Why would we compose new stuff when we are getting two new movies with original scores annually and it is the same composer and style.
FighterZ: Funky_Strudel
PS4: Dynamixx88

User avatar
Rafa Fast
Beyond-the-Beyond Newbie
Posts: 423
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2018 10:18 pm

Re: Akihito Tokunaga: The black sheep of the Dragon Ball composers?

Post by Rafa Fast » Mon Oct 10, 2022 2:25 pm

MCDaveG wrote: Thu Oct 06, 2022 8:07 am For example in Super, there are some tunes taken from the Kai and the two Z movies, but not as much and each arc got new pieces of music.
Nope, Super only reused the Kai Boo score, the score for Fukkatsu no F was never used outside of the movie itself, and actually only Kai Boo used a few tracks from the Battle of Gods movie (in the Japanese version they used a few more)
I simply wouldn't want to imagine my life without Dragon Ball, thank you Akira Toriyama (1955-2024), you are now immortal.

Post Reply