Shunsuke Kikuchi (Japanese Music) or Bruce Faulconer (USA)?

Puto · Post by **Puto** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 6:01 pm

Shunsuke Kikuchi all the way. Seriously, I can't even watch DBZ for more than 2 minutes with Faulconer's music without wanting to turn the thing off.

ImmortalSandwich · Post by **ImmortalSandwich** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 7:02 pm

I grew up watching DBZ on Toonami, so Faulconer's music sounds much more natural to me, depending on the episode. Sometimes, it sounds really cheesy, though other times, I enjoy it quite a bit. I like the Japanese score too, but not as much as Faulconer's.

So for the DBZ episodes, I usually prefer Faulconer. The movies, however are a bit of a different story. I love the Japanese score in DBZ Movie 1, and I just don't think watching it would be anywhere near as enjoyable with an American sound track. Movie 12 on the other hand, the American sound track (not sure if it's done by Faulconer or not) is awesome, and I don't care to hear the Japanese score for that movie.

DBGT, the BACKGROUND music was okay and fitting at times, though I really couldn't stand any of the rap stuff. I mean I don't hate rap in general, but ugh... The Japanese score for GT is far better IMO.

Saiyajin no Tatsujin · Post by **Saiyajin no Tatsujin** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 6:43 pm

It's a no-brainer. Shunsuke Kikuchi's compositions fit the classic anime series perfectly.

jjgp1112 · Post by **jjgp1112** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 10:03 pm

Faulconer for the show after the first two Seasons. But for the Saiyan and Namek sagas as well as the movies, sans 4, 5 and 8, I prefer the Japanese music. I think that the Japanese music got boring in the Buu saga, whereas it was my favorite point for Faulconer. Faulconer had a lot of awesome themes, and so did the Japanese score.

Chrono Trigger · Post by **Chrono Trigger** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 12:16 am

I enjoy both scores but whoever was in charge of the music in the original made some strange and sometimes terrible choices as far as what BGM was used in a certain scenes.

kenisu3000 · Post by **kenisu3000** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 12:56 am

Chrono Trigger wrote:I enjoy both scores but whoever was in charge of the music in the original made some strange and sometimes terrible choices as far as what BGM was used in a certain scenes.

I WILL concede that. Don't get me wrong, I love them all to death, as though I myself were the composer and these were my children, but it is pretty freaking weird to have that loopy, happy Gohan leitmotif playing while Gohan and Piccolo fly off into space for an all-out assault on Dr. Willow. Freaking weird.
And just today, I was typing up my notes on GT, and I came across a scene I had totally forgotten about, where the music is just messed up and inconsistent with what's happening onscreen. Si Xing Long is underground in a sewer, searching for Goku, and Goku comes up behind him for an ambush... and they play the "Bulma flashy Kame Sennin" music from Path to Power. It's just too... GOOFY!

Captain Awesome · Post by **Captain Awesome** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 2:39 am

I looove the original Japanese score.

So naturally I don't really dig the whole faux hardcore WWE in space vibe I get from the Faulconer stuff, it all just sounds so obnoxious and incoherent to me.

AnzuMazaki · Post by **AnzuMazaki** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 3:46 am

Captain Awesome wrote:I looove the original Japanese score.

So naturally I don't really dig the whole faux hardcore WWE in space vibe I get from the Faulconer stuff, it all just sounds so obnoxious and incoherent to me.

I agree with you here, Captian Awesome.

Shunsuke Kikuchi's awesome BGM matches the classic feel of the series much better than Falconers "Hardcore Action Earth's Most Powerful Soldiers" nonsense.

I just feel like Kikuchi's Mystical-like BGM matches Dragonball better.

jjgp1112 · Post by **jjgp1112** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 4:10 pm

Chrono Trigger wrote:I enjoy both scores but whoever was in charge of the music in the original made some strange and sometimes terrible choices as far as what BGM was used in a certain scenes.

And don't forget playing a the peaceful Spirit Bomb theme from Movie 7 when Cell was powering up to his full power.

cRookie_Monster · Post by **cRookie_Monster** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 5:24 pm

Captain Awesome wrote:I I don't really dig the whole faux hardcore WWE in space vibe I get from the Faulconer stuff, it all just sounds so obnoxious and incoherent to me.

Note that we didn't really have a choice on this matter. The trunks music was a case in point.

We basically went from this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M56bt_cFmk&fmt=18

To this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzSMhKoOt6I&fmt=18

I actually arranged both of those for Trunks. I preffered the first one by far.

Can you hear me going ,"IS THIS WHAT YOU *#&$^%#ING WANTED FUNIMATION??????"

in the Destruction track?

Cause that's what I was thinking....

Chrono Trigger · Post by **Chrono Trigger** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 5:38 pm

Kenisu3000 wrote:I WILL concede that. Don't get me wrong, I love them all to death, as though I myself were the composer and these were my children, but it is pretty freaking weird to have that loopy, happy Gohan leitmotif playing while Gohan and Piccolo fly off into space for an all-out assault on Dr. Willow. Freaking weird.
And just today, I was typing up my notes on GT, and I came across a scene I had totally forgotten about, where the music is just messed up and inconsistent with what's happening onscreen. Si Xing Long is underground in a sewer, searching for Goku, and Goku comes up behind him for an ambush... and they play the "Bulma flashy Kame Sennin" music from Path to Power. It's just too... GOOFY!

Yeah it's weird. I might be alone in this but I'll never understand why they used that one bgm in the scene where Goku first transforms into a Super Saiyan. It really just makes the scene awkward. They had plenty of better songs to choose from and for such an important scene they should have made a new song.

jjgp1112 wrote:And don't forget playing a the peaceful Spirit Bomb theme from Movie 7 when Cell was powering up to his full power.

Yeah that too! That's the one scene I always forgot when this topic comes up. Maybe they just interpreted those scenes differently than we did when they was adding the bgm to it.

Onikage725 · Post by **Onikage725** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 6:30 pm

jjgp1112 wrote:Faulconer for the show after the first two Seasons. But for the Saiyan and Namek sagas as well as the movies, sans 4, 5 and 8, I prefer the Japanese music. I think that the Japanese music got boring in the Buu saga, whereas it was my favorite point for Faulconer. Faulconer had a lot of awesome themes, and so did the Japanese score.

I can get behind this. I'm not a huge fan of the American score, but I do think it hit it's stride in the Buu Saga while Kikuchi's was kinda running down. There are a number of character-specific themes that stand out to me from the American score, but I think the normal scene-filler or combat-enhancer BGM was at best generic IMO. It also seems like it is composed specifically for each scene, sometimes matching specific blows and movements- which really makes some tracks hard to listen to as stand alone pieces. The Japanese score I enjoy listening to on CD, but the composition within the series is sometimes repetitive. For example, I adore Piccolo's theme, but do they have to randomly use versions of that track 100 times in the Saiyan Saga?

For dub movies, I think the redubbed 1-3 movies did alright, but I dunno why they bothered. The new scores captured the feel, but they weren't serious departures from the Japanese scores. I also think movie 5 did alright for itself. The idea to use modern bands for movie 4 didn't work for me because the arrangement feels off. While I don't think the tracks should be in the series, movie 5 is edited well enough that the second half of the film feels like a bunch of kickass mini-AMVs strung together.

NeptuneKai · Post by **NeptuneKai** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 7:17 pm

cRookie_Monster wrote:
To this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzSMhKoOt6I&fmt=18

Holy Hell on a dick my ears are bleeding. I give the dub score a lot of shit but the rest of the tracks sound like Mozart's symphonies compared to this thing.

Innagadadavida · Post by **Innagadadavida** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 8:07 pm

NeptuneKai wrote:
cRookie_Monster wrote:
To this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzSMhKoOt6I&fmt=18

Holy Hell on a dick my ears are bleeding. I give the dub score a lot of shit but the rest of the tracks sound like Mozart's symphonies compared to this thing.

That track is never played in it's entirety. From what I remember, it's played when there is, well, destruction. And there's usually sound effects and voices too.

NeptuneKai · Post by **NeptuneKai** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 8:11 pm

Innagadadavida wrote:
NeptuneKai wrote:
cRookie_Monster wrote:
To this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzSMhKoOt6I&fmt=18

Holy Hell on a dick my ears are bleeding. I give the dub score a lot of shit but the rest of the tracks sound like Mozart's symphonies compared to this thing.
That track is never played in it's entirety. From what I remember, it's played when there is, well, destruction. And there's usually sound effects and voices too.

I don't know if "well it's shorter and is droned out by loud noises in the actual show" is the best defense.

Innagadadavida · Post by **Innagadadavida** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 8:14 pm

NeptuneKai wrote:I don't know if "well it's shorter and is droned out by loud noises in the actual show" is the best defense.

I meant it fits in that situation.

Heavy guitar and destruction, with people yelling. It's all fine as long as it doesn't take up the whole show.

NeptuneKai · Post by **NeptuneKai** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 8:18 pm

Innagadadavida wrote:
NeptuneKai wrote:I don't know if "well it's shorter and is droned out by loud noises in the actual show" is the best defense.
I meant it fits in that situation.

Heavy guitar and destruction, with people yelling. It's all fine as long as it doesn't take up the whole show.

I wouldn't even call that "heavy guitar". It doesn't even sound like music to me. It literally just sounds like a loud mess of noise. I guess this is another strictly subjective argument but Jesus I'm surprised even the fans like this one.

cRookie_Monster · Post by **cRookie_Monster** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 8:20 pm

It was a fight\power theme for sure...and it was the only way to make Funimation happy...

Some people love that track and actually prefer it btw. I love metal and actually enjoy the track, but I didn't think it fit Trunks.

Did anyone listen to the ealier Trunks track?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M56bt_cFmk&fmt=18

NeptuneKai · Post by **NeptuneKai** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 8:32 pm

cRookie_Monster wrote:
Some people love that track and actually prefer it btw. I love metal and actually enjoy the track, but I didn't think it fit Trunks.

Trust me I like metal too and this really doesn't sound like it to me. Maybe metal played by a highschool band. I'm not insulting you or anything and I hope this isn't taken personally. I dig people can enjoy it I'm just tossing in my own two cents. I'm not even saying it's bad in terms of music I'm actually comparing it to other dub tracks and it doesn't seem completely up to scratch.

DBHighDefinition · Post by **DBHighDefinition** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 8:33 pm

NeptuneKai wrote:
cRookie_Monster wrote:
Some people love that track and actually prefer it btw. I love metal and actually enjoy the track, but I didn't think it fit Trunks.
Trust me I like metal too and this really doesn't sound like it to me. Maybe metal played by a highschool band. I'm not insulting you or anything and I hope this isn't taken personally. I dig people can enjoy it I'm just tossing in my own two cents. I'm not even saying it's bad in terms of music I'm actually comparing it to other dub tracks and it doesn't seem completely up to scratch.

*Cough*...the one that was scrapped for "Destruction"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M56bt_cFmk&fmt=18

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Shunsuke Kikuchi (Japanese Music) or Bruce Faulconer (USA)?

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