Kai coming to Hulu on July 1, 2023

[sangofe]

I peeped Kai on Hulu. Good god they really selected those Kikuchi tracks by pulling them out of a hat.

No, actually if you listen closely there's little music that'd not cell saga related music..

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

The criticism of the Kikuchi score's placement in Kai is really overblown. You hear the same tracks constantly in original Dragon Ball and Z. I would say considering how little time TOEI had to place the score and the fact they used the tracks that were closest to the corresponding Yamamoto track the final product turned out rather serviceable.

Watching with the Yamamoto score helps because it was custom made for Kai, but the Kikuchi mix is fine for what it is.

[VegettoEX]

The criticism of the Kikuchi score's placement in Kai is really overblown. You hear the same tracks constantly in original Dragon Ball and Z.

I think that's a gross reduction at best, and incredibly inaccurate/misleading at best.

Yes, during the course of the original broadcast you would largely hear the same base group of jingles. However, what's so critical to the score is the fact that entirely new bases of compositions would be introduced as story arcs transitioned, and the scores from the contemporary films would likewise start appearing in the series. It was an ever-growing, ever-evolving suite of music that complemented and adjusted along the way.

This... just isn't the case with the Kikuchi Kai production. It's a set base of limited tracks to start with, and doesn't evolve beyond that for any portion of the three arcs it gets retroactively shoved back into. It's not a fair representation of the score itself, and it's not a fair representation of the original production at all.

[MasenkoHA]

The criticism of the Kikuchi score's placement in Kai is really overblown. You hear the same tracks constantly in original Dragon Ball and Z. I would say considering how little time TOEI had to place the score and the fact they used the tracks that were closest to the corresponding Yamamoto track the final product turned out rather serviceable.

It's not overblown in the slightest. As VegettoEX pointed out while music did get reused a lot in Dragon Ball and Z tracks would get phased out during a new story arc with brand new tracks (mostly recycled from the movies by the time of Z) taking their place and older tracks appearing less frequently

So for example while this played frequently during the Red Ribbon arc

https://youtu.be/qcCwXFuU0Ec?si=QPwGYCf7txTeEEtj

After the Red Ribbon arc was over it appeared way less often . I want to say maybe 4 times total by the end of Z? But with Kai I hoped you like those 20 or so tracks they selected because you'll be hearing them again and again for 98 episodes.

And it's not just the limitation and repetition that's the problem, you can make due with a limited score if you use it right. But Dragon Ball Kai's decision of where to place a Kikuchi track is often so random and out of place. There were a few times in Dragon Ball and Z where I think the editor made an odd decision of what music cue to use but for the most part it was well placed. In Kai though? Some really baffling choices there. During the Dragon Ball recap Dragon Soul instrumental gets replaced with...Apples for Gohan and another track. Piccolo's theme get used occasionally as recap music but never for Piccolo. The music rarely ever feels like it fits the scene its supposed to go in.

"They tried to match what sounded closest to Yamamoto's score" always sounded more like fans trying to justify how badly utilized the Kikuchi score was in Kai than an insight on what actually happened.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I think that's a gross reduction at best, and incredibly inaccurate/misleading at best.

Yes, during the course of the original broadcast you would largely hear the same base group of jingles. However, what's so critical to the score is the fact that entirely new bases of compositions would be introduced as story arcs transitioned, and the scores from the contemporary films would likewise start appearing in the series. It was an ever-growing, ever-evolving suite of music that complemented and adjusted along the way.

This... just isn't the case with the Kikuchi Kai production. It's a set base of limited tracks to start with, and doesn't evolve beyond that for any portion of the three arcs it gets retroactively shoved back into. It's not a fair representation of the score itself, and it's not a fair representation of the original production at all.

That's fair enough. As I said I think given the circumstances how TOEI placed Kikuchi's tracks in Kai it was never going to measure up to the craft of using them to create a score, which had time and planning on its side. The original run will always be untouchable but if I want to watch Kai the Kikuchi mix is a solid, if rushed production that doesn't take away from the experience. I'd recommend if someone wanted to get into the show but didn't like the Yamamoto score.

[GhostEmperorX]

And let's not forget, absolutely none of this would have ever been a conversation if only Toei & Nippon Columbia just treated the whole BGM with the bare minimum standard for everything else out there, even some of their very own productions (i.e. Saint Seiya or Sailor Moon). All the way through, from start to finish. Instead of shafting it and only doing it right for 3 movies with one common thread character.

This whole issue is just abysmal to read about, and surely enough it came back to bite them.

[CyanRonEX]

I'm still kinda bummed Hulu doesn't have the subbed version (since I watch 99.9% of my anime subbed) but I've heard great things about kai's dub so it's not a big deal. I really wish we'd a complete Kai boxset on Blu-Ray or something now that Crunchyroll is starting to reprint old releases