Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

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Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by simtek34 » Sat Jun 10, 2017 1:36 pm

The Options are...
Shunsuke Kikuchi (DB, DBZ, DB Kai)
Akihito Tokunaga (DBGT)
Kenji Yamamoto (DB Kai)
Norihito Sumitomo (DB Kai: The Final Chapters, DBZ: Battle of Gods and Resurrection "F", DB Super)
Peter Berring (DB Ocean)
Shuki Levy and Ron Wasserman (DBZ Ocean)
Faulconer Productions (DBZ Dub)
Mark Menza (DBGT Dub)

My order from best to worst
Kikuchi
Yamamoto
Sumitomo
Tokunaga
Levy
Berring
Faulconer
Menza

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Re: Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by DBZAOTA482 » Sat Jun 10, 2017 1:38 pm

Kikuchi, then Yamamoto. The others are unnecessary.
fadeddreams5 wrote:
DBZGTKOSDH wrote:... Haven't we already gotten these in GT? Goku dies, the DBs go away, and the Namekian DBs most likely won't be used again because of the Evil Dragons.
Goku didn't die in GT. The show sucked him off so much, it was impossible to keep him in the world of the living, so he ascended beyond mortality.
jjgp1112 wrote: Sat Jul 18, 2020 6:31 am I'm just about done with the concept of reboots and making shows that were products of their time and impactful "new and sexy" and in line with modern tastes and sensibilities. Let stuff stay in their era and give today's kids their own shit to watch.

I always side eye the people who say "Now my kids/today's kids can experience what I did as a child!" Nigga, who gives a fuck about your childhood? You're an adult now and it was at least 15 years ago. Let the kids have their own experience instead of picking at a corpse.

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Re: Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by Saikyo no Senshi » Sat Jun 10, 2017 2:53 pm

At first, there's the wuxia fitting, perfect tone matching, emotional but also fun and atmospheric with a variety of tracks which adds so much to the world created by Toriyama. That is Kikuchi Shunsuke's musical score.

Then, a huuuuuuuuuuge gap.

Tokunaga Akihito comes next. While not as good as I thought on first viewing, it still has an identity. Misses the mark several times, but definitely not unmemorable.

The rest add nothing to Dragon Ball as far as I'm concerned. By rest, I mean Yamamoto and Sumitomo.

I do not care about the contributions of the replacement composers in FUNi and their staff's version of Dragon Ball. It is not the original version. It is not made by Toei Animation and their staff and on principle I prefer what comes from the original staff. No disrespect to the people who enjoy it, but I don't care about it.

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Re: Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by Lord Beerus » Sat Jun 10, 2017 3:23 pm

From best to worst:

Kikuchi - His score provides that grand and epic wuxia nature that Dragon Ball encompasses as a whole. It's rich, diverse and even if you're not into Dragon Ball, it's just great music to listen to on its own. The only real fault I have with Kikuchi is that his track get a bit repetitive in the Majin Boo arc. His musical contributions to Dragon Ball were immense and what made Dragon Ball such a interactive experience. It goes without saying he is a fantastic composer, that captures the true essence of Dragon Ball through every track he has composed. From the comedic moments, to the heartwarming moments, to the sad moments and the intense/awesome moments. It's rich, diverse and even if you're not into Dragon Ball, it's just great music to listen to on its own. The only real fault I have with Kikuchi is that his tracks get a bit repetitive in the Majin Boo arc. But nonetheless, for me, Kikuchi's score is Dragon Ball.

Tokunaga - He really took great strides from Kikuchi and provided a stellar soundtrack for GT and Path To Power that, much like Kikuchi's score, just really nailed the tone of Dragon Ball. The only weakness for this guy is that he never provided more music. I really wish Tokunaga had come back for Kai and Super too. His scores for GT and Path To Power were fantastic and really captured the essence of Dragon Ball.

Summitomo - This guy is so frustrating. Someone in Toei really needs to have word in Sumitomo's ear and tell him to focus solely on full orchestral pieces, where he seems to truly shines in a major way as seen in Battle Of Gods and some parts of Super, as supposed to instead of wasting energy on all the synthesized shit he puts together. I was reminded one too many times of Crash Bandicoot listening to some of his tracks in Majin Boo Kai and Super. And while I love Crash Bandicoot, I don't want its type of music anywhere near Dragon Ball in any remote sense.

Faulconer - Produced a few decent tracks such as SSJ Theme, Vegeta's SSJ Theme, Gohan Power's Up and the SSJ3 Ascension Theme, but it's overall quality is greatly marred by a plateau of awful, droning, unfitting music that never knew when to shut the fuck up. The score honestly would fit more with a Transformers cartoon from the 80s than Dragon Ball.

Yamamoto - *sigh* This guy. Well, I'll certainly give credit where it's due and say that his soundtracks for the videos games and Kai was bombastically brilliant and powerfully poignant when it wants to be... BUT... his best work in both regards is plagiarized. So... yeah... fuck him.

Menza - Not postiive about that guy. Literally nothing redeemable about any kind of music he's produced for Dragon Ball

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Re: Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by Dbzfan94 » Sat Jun 10, 2017 6:23 pm

Lord Beerus wrote:
Menza - Not postiive about that guy. Literally nothing redeemable about any kind of music he's produced for Dragon Ball
Menza did the movie/'remastered' opening, so that's one good point to him in my book. Overall agree though

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Re: Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by Lord Beerus » Sat Jun 10, 2017 6:40 pm

Lord Beerus wrote:Kikuchi - His score provides that grand and epic wuxia nature that Dragon Ball encompasses as a whole. It's rich, diverse and even if you're not into Dragon Ball, it's just great music to listen to on its own. The only real fault I have with Kikuchi is that his track get a bit repetitive in the Majin Boo arc. His musical contributions to Dragon Ball were immense and what made Dragon Ball such a interactive experience. It goes without saying he is a fantastic composer, that captures the true essence of Dragon Ball through every track he has composed. From the comedic moments, to the heartwarming moments, to the sad moments and the intense/awesome moments. It's rich, diverse and even if you're not into Dragon Ball, it's just great music to listen to on its own. The only real fault I have with Kikuchi is that his tracks get a bit repetitive in the Majin Boo arc. But nonetheless, for me, Kikuchi's score is Dragon Ball.
I just released that I repeated myself when commenting on Kikuchi. I was gushing so much over him that I made the same comment over and over again. :lol:

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Re: Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by Ripper 30 » Sun Jun 11, 2017 10:09 am

From Best to worse :

Shunsuke Kikuchi - He did an awesome job for Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z and truly captured what the show was about and it had that wuxia feel in it along with good variations which were fitting for heart warming moments, sad moments, dark moments, Funny moments or Intense Moments this man knew what the show was about and even as a piece of Music they are really enjoyable and his music was one of the reasons I got hooked to the show.

Akihito Tokunaga - He composed the Music for Dragon Ball GT because Kikuchi retired after Working on Dragon Ball Z so that's why Tokunaga was chosen to do the music for GT but still he did a great Job for the show. DBGT as a show is already critisized but still it's Openings, Endings and the Soundtracks were really memorable. His music sounded more like 90's Anime music but still it fits with the space Adventure Vibe of the show. It may not have been as good as Kikuchi's music still it was good music and had a Triumphant feel to it and had some good variations of Dan Dan Kokoro too.

Kenji Yamamoto - I think his Music was really good and had some really well composed tracks with good variations. His music was mostly Orchestra and was more like Kikuchi's Music or Budokai games music but with modern instruments. He also had music for Dark, goofy or intense moments but it's just that it was plaguirized and at times the placement of his music made a certain scene one dimensional unlike Kikuchi's Music which was really unique to listen too but overall the Yamamoto music was plaguirized that's why it got replaced with misplaced Kikuchi's score of Z. I also liked the insert songs in Kai 1.0 but I know it wasn't done by Kenji.

Norihito Sumitomo - well, I liked his music in Battle of Gods and in Ressurrection 'F' too it was great. But, in Kai TFC it just sounded so bland and Horrible at times Though some of his Tracks were great like the one used for Vegeta Sacrifice, Goku SSJ3 or Goku killing Kid Boo.but his music placements were too repetitive at times and same with his Music in Super, it was average In initial part but from Black Goku Arc he started producing some good tracks but his Orchestral music and the one with Choir is better than his Techno tracks.

As Saikyo no Senshi said the Dub Replacement score not the intended Scores and are not Really the Scores produced by TOEI Animation which is the Original source that's why I don't really relate Bruce Faulconer, Mark Menza,Shuki Levy or Nathan Johnson Score with DBZ but if had to rank them (Even Though I don't like them) it will be :

Shuki Levy

Bruce Faulconer

Mark Menza

Nathan Johnson

Though I personally think Faulconer's music is too much overrated when in reality I don't find it to be that special even as a piece of Music it's not something Great and The Composer didn't really knew much about the show. I think they were going for a Hardcore Action Cartoon type Music and the worse thing about these dub replacement score was that it never knew when to shut up.
I prefer Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, DB/Z/GT Movies, Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball GT in Japanese.
For DBZ Kai and two new Movies I like both Dub and Sub. I Prefer Shunsuke Kikuchi Soundtracks over All other Composers.
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Re: Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by Kakacarrottop » Sun Jun 11, 2017 12:02 pm

From best to worst:
1. Shuki Levy and Ron Wasserman (While you can argue whether It actually fits the series or not, it just sounds good and interesting to me on purely musical terms.)
2. Peter Berring (Same as above.)
3. Akihito Tokunaga (Easily my favorite of the Japanese composers. It actually reminds me of a less American-nized version of the Wasserman and Berring scores.)
4. Kikuchi (This kind of music generally isn't my cup of tea, although a few of the tunes have a campy appeal to them which I like.)
5. Mark Menza (Droning, emotionless music that is almost headache inducing. Still, I find it easier to view the series with this rather than the BF score since its less distracting and or infuriating.)
6. Faulconer Productions (A few of the tunes are quite good on their own merit, although bleak futuristic techno music still has no business being on a retro early 90s Japanese cartoon.)
7. Kenji Yamamoto (All I hear is generic video game/action music.)
8. Norihito Sumitomo (Like Yamamoto, but even worse. Literally generic TV music you'd find in some bad reality show or documentary.)

I also really like the recycled music from the "late" Ocean dub by Tom Keenlyside and John Mitchell, although you didn't seem to include it as an option. I also find the nu-metal/rock band music used in the Funimation dub movies to be far worse than Sumitomo or anyone else.
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Re: Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by floofychan333 » Fri Jul 07, 2017 6:56 pm

Kikuchi-sensei
Sumitomo
Johnson
Menza
Tokunaga
Faulconer
Kelly

I've never heard anybody else. There's a huge gap between Kikuchi-sensei and Sumitomo.
"All of you. All of you must have KILL all the SEASONS!" -Dough (Tenshinhan), Speedy Dub of Movie 9.

"My opinion of Norihito's Sumitomo's new score is... well, very mixed. The stuff that's good is pretty darn good, but the stuff that's bad makes elevator music sound like Jerry freaking Goldsmith." -Kenisu

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Re: Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by Ripper 30 » Sun Jul 09, 2017 4:41 am

floofychan333 wrote:Kikuchi-sensei
Sumitomo
Johnson
Menza
Tokunaga
Faulconer
Kelly

I've never heard anybody else. There's a huge gap between Kikuchi-sensei and Sumitomo.
Kenji Yamamoto?
I prefer Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, DB/Z/GT Movies, Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball GT in Japanese.
For DBZ Kai and two new Movies I like both Dub and Sub. I Prefer Shunsuke Kikuchi Soundtracks over All other Composers.
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Re: Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:49 pm

Kikuchi
Yamamoto
Tokunaga
Sumitomo
Levy
Johnson
Menza
Faulconer
Megaman guys
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Re: Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by floofychan333 » Sun Jul 09, 2017 10:24 pm

Ripper 30 wrote:
floofychan333 wrote:Kikuchi-sensei
Sumitomo
Johnson
Menza
Tokunaga
Faulconer
Kelly

I've never heard anybody else. There's a huge gap between Kikuchi-sensei and Sumitomo.
Kenji Yamamoto?
No, I haven't watched Kai.
"All of you. All of you must have KILL all the SEASONS!" -Dough (Tenshinhan), Speedy Dub of Movie 9.

"My opinion of Norihito's Sumitomo's new score is... well, very mixed. The stuff that's good is pretty darn good, but the stuff that's bad makes elevator music sound like Jerry freaking Goldsmith." -Kenisu

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Re: Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by SoundVox » Wed Aug 09, 2017 11:29 pm

Didn't know Wasserman did anything for DB. But I pretty much prefer Kenji Yamamoto. Yeeeeees, he stole. But...darn if I didn't like the tracks. Then Kikuchi. Then I pretty much agree with OP's list. That dub GT ost is amazingly bad, I'm no fan of the Faulconer music anymore, but I can stand it to an extent. Can't at all with dub GT.

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Re: Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by sangofe » Wed Aug 09, 2017 11:47 pm

My order from best to worst
Kikuchi
Tokunaga
Whoever did the score for the newest Bardock special and pretax.
Yamamoto
Sumitomo
Levy
[/quote]

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Re: Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by PremiumSalt » Fri Oct 13, 2017 12:04 pm

1. Shunsuke Kikuchi: The original, the classic, the best. His music fits the tone of Dragon Ball perfectly throughout the series, from the more adventurous days of the earlier arcs to the more action packed days of Z. Absolutely brilliant all around.

2. Kenji Yamamoto: Yes, yes, I know, he’s a massive plagiarist. But for me personally I think he did an excellent job of creating a score that matched the tone of that particular portion of the series while at the same time sounding more modern and updated. Even if a significant portion of that score wasn’t his own work.

3. Akihito Tokunaga: As much as I have quite a few criticisms of Dragon Ball GT, the score certainly isn’t one of them. While it is unfortunate Kikuchi did not return for the series, Tokunaga was a worthy successor who produced a score that fit Dragon Ball very well while still having its own identity.

4. Norihito Sumitomo: I...really don’t know how to feel about this guy. On the one hand, I think some of his more recent work on Super has been great. However, some of his earlier work, in particular Kai TFC....yeah not a fan. Especially that annoying “disco track” that kept playing at completely unfitting moments. So while I think he has significantly improved, some of his earlier work leaves much to be desired. If he continues to do as well as he has been recently, he may move up in my rankings.

5. Faulconer Productions: Oh boy. While I understand a lot of people have a nostalgic attachment to this score, it’s just not that good in my opinion. A select few of the tracks are decent on their own merits, but none of them fit Dragon Ball in any way, shape, or form.

6. Mark Menza: No. Just...no. Absolutely atrocious, 0 redeeming qualities. Just god awful.

The rest I haven’t heard, so I have no opinion.
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Re: Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by sangofe » Fri Oct 13, 2017 12:23 pm

My order from best to worst
Kikuchi.
Tokunaga.
Yamamoto.
Whoever composed for the Bardock special and plan to eradicate the super saiyans.
Sumitomo.
[/quote]

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Re: Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by DHM211 » Fri Oct 13, 2017 2:16 pm

1)Norihito Sumitomo
2)Kenji Yamamoto
3)Who ever composed the US soundtrack for movies 12 and 13.
4)Akihito Tokunaga (Don't really remember what GT sounded like but his Path to Power soundtrack was good).

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Re: Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by Ripper 30 » Sat Oct 14, 2017 3:42 am

DHM211 wrote:1)Norihito Sumitomo
2)Kenji Yamamoto
3)Who ever composed the US soundtrack for movies 12 and 13.
4)Akihito Tokunaga (Don't really remember what GT sounded like but his Path to Power soundtrack was good).
No kikuchi?
I prefer Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, DB/Z/GT Movies, Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball GT in Japanese.
For DBZ Kai and two new Movies I like both Dub and Sub. I Prefer Shunsuke Kikuchi Soundtracks over All other Composers.
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Re: Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by Cipher » Sat Oct 14, 2017 4:56 am

1) Shunsuke Kikuchi - Impossible to separate Dragon Ball from the flavor his soundtrack lends it. Even if it's not something I'd listen to separated from the show, it's absolutely something that gives it its identity. He's the only composer to let the series' genre roots really be reflected in its score.

2) Akihito Tokunaga - Though no Kikuchi, I do feel Tokunaga offered a soundtrack that could encompass the entire series. While it was initially written to match the leisurely, nostalgia-tinged space adventure that was the beginning of GT, it holds up quite well in its 10th anniversary movie outing as well. I think it offers several memorable tracks. Easily could have stuck with the series had it continued further in the mid-'90s.

3) Kenji Yamamoto's '90s video-game work - Plagiarism aside, if there was a piece of Dragon Ball's musical identity separate from Kikuchi's score during the original run, it was the slick, synthy, somewhat self-serious one offered up by the Butoden games and their successors. Yamamoto offered something here his later work never captured. It's perfectly fitting for Dragon Ball's increasingly action-oriented early-'90s identity. It's dated as all hell now, but that's exactly why it works.

4) Norihito Sumitomo - There are some extremely enjoyable tracks sprinkled throughout Super and Kai 2014, and at his best, I feel Sumitomo manages to capture the kind of atmosphere of Yamamoto's video-game work more than latter-day Yamamoto ever did himself. At its best, it's well-composed and fitting for Dragon Ball in that way. But there's a lot of forgettable or out-of-place material mixed in. More jazz and synth, please.

Don't particularly care to comment on any others, but I do want to say that as a kid I enjoyed the Faulconer score more than what most domestic shows were offering at the time, and apart from its dismal scoring within most episodes, I'd like to offer thanks to the crew. Of any of the replacement scores, I think it was the strongest outing.

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Re: Kanzenshuu Members Favorite Composers ROUND 1

Post by DHM211 » Sat Oct 14, 2017 5:18 am

Ripper 30 wrote:
DHM211 wrote:1)Norihito Sumitomo
2)Kenji Yamamoto
3)Who ever composed the US soundtrack for movies 12 and 13.
4)Akihito Tokunaga (Don't really remember what GT sounded like but his Path to Power soundtrack was good).
No kikuchi?
Not really.
The first of any Dragon Ball I watched was Nicktoons Kai so if I'm nostalgic about anyone it's Yamamoto.

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