How did the DBZ movies get better BGM's than the show itself?

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
GhostEmperorX
Regular
Posts: 611
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2020 1:53 pm

How did the DBZ movies get better BGM's than the show itself?

Post by GhostEmperorX » Sat Jan 11, 2020 9:53 pm

So my opinion on the show's original JP soundtrack is that due to its excessive use of one particular key, and its general similarity to the same composer's old 70's works and lots of other stuff you'd find in that time period, it really ends up being lackluster and not unique enough to stand above being a simple BGM. And unlike so many others have done, I'm not going to use any replacement scores within the franchise as a measuring stick, but rather look at the general scene of 80's-90's BGM, but that will be reserved for another discussion.

And as far as the original, minus OP's and ED's or any such variation, none of the BGM's even employed so much as repetition or different variations of certain themes, as an example. But Movie 3 has that for certain themes (and he doesn't overuse the same key he does in the show itself). So it seems that we could have gotten better from Kikuchi during the actual show run, and in light of that fact I blame the directors for not being as deeply involved with the OST as they should have been.

User avatar
Captain-Sora
Regular
Posts: 538
Joined: Fri Sep 19, 2008 10:22 am
Location: Earth

Re: How did the DBZ movies get better BGM's than the show itself?

Post by Captain-Sora » Mon Jan 13, 2020 2:08 pm

The TV tracks did have some variants of the Gohan and Saiyan themes (the latter of which would wind up being developed further as the Super Saiyan leitmotif for the post-Movie 3 film scores), but the reason why there isn't much thematic play there outside of the OP/ED arrangements is because there aren't that many cues composed for the TV show during the Z era. Most of its music is taken from the movies, which do have a fair amount of leitmotifs utilized for the heroes, villains, and other ideas.

Toei would be quick to start pumping out two Z films every year, so they probably found it more efficient to just reuse whatever Kikuchi would compose for those instead of paying for even more new music on top of it. By that point, they already had a fairly large library comprised of DB TV, DB film, and DBZ TV cues to make use of, so yearly batches of Z film cues was satisfactory enough for 'em.

As for why they sound more interesting and diverse, that may be attributed to how the movie music, like with most film scores in general, is scored-to-picture. Movie soundtracks are typically done near the end of the production, and are composed to match the actions, characters, and events playing out on-screen. This gives a lot of room for Kikuchi to play with numerous motifs (both newly introduced ones and those returning from previous soundtracks) throughout the course of each score, and to really tailor each piece to the ambience of every scene. This results in a more thematically rich and intricate work than what is usually whipped up for television.

User avatar
GhostEmperorX
Regular
Posts: 611
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2020 1:53 pm

Re: How did the DBZ movies get better BGM's than the show itself?

Post by GhostEmperorX » Thu Jan 16, 2020 12:00 am

Captain-Sora wrote: Mon Jan 13, 2020 2:08 pm The TV tracks did have some variants of the Gohan and Saiyan themes (the latter of which would wind up being developed further as the Super Saiyan leitmotif for the post-Movie 3 film scores), but the reason why there isn't much thematic play there outside of the OP/ED arrangements is because there aren't that many cues composed for the TV show during the Z era. Most of its music is taken from the movies, which do have a fair amount of leitmotifs utilized for the heroes, villains, and other ideas.

Toei would be quick to start pumping out two Z films every year, so they probably found it more efficient to just reuse whatever Kikuchi would compose for those instead of paying for even more new music on top of it. By that point, they already had a fairly large library comprised of DB TV, DB film, and DBZ TV cues to make use of, so yearly batches of Z film cues was satisfactory enough for 'em.

As for why they sound more interesting and diverse, that may be attributed to how the movie music, like with most film scores in general, is scored-to-picture. Movie soundtracks are typically done near the end of the production, and are composed to match the actions, characters, and events playing out on-screen. This gives a lot of room for Kikuchi to play with numerous motifs (both newly introduced ones and those returning from previous soundtracks) throughout the course of each score, and to really tailor each piece to the ambience of every scene. This results in a more thematically rich and intricate work than what is usually whipped up for television.
It would have done them good to hire someone else for the TV show's composition, like Kōhei Tanaka who by that point had already established himself as a composer and already had experience with working for the series (arranging Makafushigi Adventure). He'd have captured the tonal and narrative shift from Dragon Ball to the Z portion of the anime in a very fitting way (for an equivalent albeit post-dating situation, think the difference between Naruto parts 1 and 2).

Now the movies have quite a few decent tracks here and there, but it still overall retains the 70's aesthetic which can be found in his past works (and the 70's was a decade when BGM's outside of OP, ED or insert theme variations weren't given too much focus as opposed to the 80's and 90's), plus overused keys (F minor in first place, then C minor) which cause a lot of it to sound the same. But it is definitely a level above what's used in the main show. But of course, a lot of these cues were composed for non-canon characters and events, so to reuse them they would have to be typecast to sound a certain way outside of variations.

User avatar
Rafa Fast
Beyond-the-Beyond Newbie
Posts: 427
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2018 10:18 pm

Re: How did the DBZ movies get better BGM's than the show itself?

Post by Rafa Fast » Wed Sep 16, 2020 5:17 pm

Cap Sora said it all
Also, this of "Movies Ost >>>> Anime Ost" also happens with Akihito Tokunaga and Norihito Sumitomo
Compare Tokunaga's "Path to Power" ost to his "GT anime" ost, and Sumitomo's "DBS Broly" ost to his "DBS anime" ost.
I simply wouldn't want to imagine my life without Dragon Ball, thank you Akira Toriyama (1955-2024), you are now immortal.

User avatar
GhostEmperorX
Regular
Posts: 611
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2020 1:53 pm

Re: How did the DBZ movies get better BGM's than the show itself?

Post by GhostEmperorX » Thu Sep 17, 2020 9:40 pm

Rafa Fast wrote: Wed Sep 16, 2020 5:17 pm Cap Sora said it all
Also, this of "Movies Ost >>>> Anime Ost" also happens with Akihito Tokunaga and Norihito Sumitomo
Compare Tokunaga's "Path to Power" ost to his "GT anime" ost, and Sumitomo's "DBS Broly" ost to his "DBS anime" ost.
At this point I understand now that it’s more a fault of Toei‘s directors than anything else.

Post Reply