Who would you want as music composer for DB Daima?

[Neo-Makaiōshin]

We're just 3-4 months away from Daima premiere and we still don't know who will make the music this time, while it's possible we may know them soon, until them a bit of speculation shouldn't be an issue. I personally would like to see Norihito Sumitomo make a return, while his work in Dragon Ball Super wasn't the greatest (in part due to hectic production behind the scene), he did make some memorable pieces during the Tournament of Power arc and showed he can make an incredible OST with Dragon Ball Super: Broly movie.

Do you guys have anyone else in mind?

[MasenkoHA]

I say let Sumitomo have at it. He's basically become the modern Dragon Ball music guy at this point. He created some memorable tracks between Boo Ka, Super, and the movies he worked on. Super Hero's score, the first score he hadn't worked on since 2013, left 0 impression on me.

[TechExpert2021]

Akihito Tokunaga should do the soundtrack for Dragon Ball Daima. His music in Dragon Ball GT is the best non-Kikuchi anime soundtrack heard in a Dragon Ball anime.

[JulieYBM]

My crack pick is Sagisu Shirou. It won't happen, but I would love to see him selected because I feel like as a composer his range really taps into the sort of elevated music composition that Kikuchi Shunsuke contributed to the first two series to really make their respective series feel more emotional.

My 'might actually be plausible' pick is Takanashi Yasuharu. Takanashi was the composed for the Dragon Ball Kai insert song Let It Burn, but you might recognize him better for his work as the composer for NARUTO Shippuuden, BORUTO, Fairy Tail, and Toei Animation's modern Sailor Moon stuff as well as numerous PreCure titles. Of course, Takanashi's compositions for Tiger Mask W might just prove to be what would really nail him a job, because his battle music is fuckin' killer in that series. Like Sagisu, I think Takanashi can also elevate the more dramatic and slice-of-life moments with his music, too. I'd reccomend anyone to check out his various tracks officially available on YouTube and other music services.

My third runner up is let Satou Naoki return, but actually let him inject some of the same oomph into his work that he did on PreCure.

[Rafa Fast]

Akihito Tokunaga should do the soundtrack for Dragon Ball Daima. His music in Dragon Ball GT is the best non-Kikuchi anime soundtrack heard in a Dragon Ball anime.

That is subjective, there a lot of people who prefer his work over Sumitomo and there are as well a lot of people who prefer Sumitomo's, although Sumitomo's became much more popular and appreciated after the Mirai Trunks Saga.
And GT wasn't even Tokunaga's best, Saikyou e no Michi is a much better and consistent presentation of Tokunaga's work than GT with its much stronger variety and thematic continuity than the one in GT, it's pretty sad actually that most fans only know his work from GT and not his best which was the movie, the last two tracks before the credits are insane.

Anyway, my bet is Sumitomo, for me he's modern Kikuchi and what he said in 2023 suggested that he's maybe not retired from the franchise yet.

Edit: don't think Tokunaga is ever going to return, but I would be happy if it happened.

[GhostEmperorX]

Akihito Tokunaga

He's a former BGM composer, he hasn't done anything in that sphere since GT (all one needs is a look at his profile/discography on either JASRAC or any comprehensive database, even JP wiki). He's no less off the table now than he was at any point immediately after 1996.

One has to wonder why his name is thrown around in these discussions as though he's still active in the field (or even doing business with Toei anymore). And no, I don't have anything against him, he was a rookie during that time and has made other cool stuff since like Ultraman Nexus OP's and whatnot.

Then again, there's people out there who at this very moment actually want the replacement score people back, and I wouldn't be surprised if some also want the arranger of Z's first OP/ED set to do it even after what happened in 2011...

Edit: don't think Tokunaga is ever going to return, but I would be happy if it happened.

You'd be correct, the only thing that even got him to publicly say a word about DB in 28 years since GT is, well, the obituary announcement from 4 months ago.

Concerning this topic... don't know, not sure who's even active and free at this juncture. Probably best to wait & see.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Akihito Tokunaga returning would be ideal, but yes, like Crunchyroll redubbing all of Dragon Ball it's a pipe dream at best, it's not going to happen. Best to be grateful for the one-off that Tokunaga's brief time working on the series, or indeed a TV show score in general was, we were probably lucky it happened at all. No one else has been able to emulate Shunsuke Kikuchi so well.

Realistically it's going to be Norihito Sumitomo again or Naoki Satō. I'd be fine with the former, but I can barely remember the latter's Super Hero score, which doesn't inspire confidence.

[JulieYBM]

Akihito Tokunaga returning would be ideal, but yes, like Crunchyroll redubbing all of Dragon Ball it's a pipe dream at best, it's not going to happen. Best to be grateful for the one-off that Tokunaga's brief time working on the series, or indeed a TV show score in general was, we were probably lucky it happened at all. No one else has been able to emulate Shunsuke Kikuchi so well.

Realistically it's going to be Norihito Sumitomo again or Naoki Satō. I'd be fine with the former, but I can barely remember the latter's Super Hero score, which doesn't inspire confidence.

Satou being hired and then told to specifically compose in a psuedo-Hollywood style is what led to his work on Super Hero being so bland and forgettable. He needs to be given more wiggle room as a composer for his compositions to actually work, and that typically depends on the sound director and series director's instructions.

[Cure Dragon 255]

My crack pick is Sagisu Shirou. It won't happen, but I would love to see him selected because I feel like as a composer his range really taps into the sort of elevated music composition that Kikuchi Shunsuke contributed to the first two series to really make their respective series feel more emotional.

My 'might actually be plausible' pick is Takanashi Yasuharu. Takanashi was the composed for the Dragon Ball Kai insert song Let It Burn, but you might recognize him better for his work as the composer for NARUTO Shippuuden, BORUTO, Fairy Tail, and Toei Animation's modern Sailor Moon stuff as well as numerous PreCure titles. Of course, Takanashi's compositions for Tiger Mask W might just prove to be what would really nail him a job, because his battle music is fuckin' killer in that series. Like Sagisu, I think Takanashi can also elevate the more dramatic and slice-of-life moments with his music, too. I'd reccomend anyone to check out his various tracks officially available on YouTube and other music services.

My third runner up is let Satou Naoki return, but actually let him inject some of the same oomph into his work that he did on PreCure.

Oh god Naoki Sato and Precure, and that video is so beautiful, that piece of music when Urara decides to abandon the audition is one of the best pieces of music Precure has ever done, I remember it from an extremely dramatic scene from Splash Star, it's just sublime.

I really want Naoki Sato to come back.

[Cure Dragon 255]

My crack pick is Sagisu Shirou. It won't happen, but I would love to see him selected because I feel like as a composer his range really taps into the sort of elevated music composition that Kikuchi Shunsuke contributed to the first two series to really make their respective series feel more emotional.

My 'might actually be plausible' pick is Takanashi Yasuharu. Takanashi was the composed for the Dragon Ball Kai insert song Let It Burn, but you might recognize him better for his work as the composer for NARUTO Shippuuden, BORUTO, Fairy Tail, and Toei Animation's modern Sailor Moon stuff as well as numerous PreCure titles. Of course, Takanashi's compositions for Tiger Mask W might just prove to be what would really nail him a job, because his battle music is fuckin' killer in that series. Like Sagisu, I think Takanashi can also elevate the more dramatic and slice-of-life moments with his music, too. I'd reccomend anyone to check out his various tracks officially available on YouTube and other music services.

My third runner up is let Satou Naoki return, but actually let him inject some of the same oomph into his work that he did on PreCure.

Oh god Naoki Sato and Precure, and that video is so beautiful, that piece of music when Urara decides to abandon the audition is one of the best pieces of music Precure has ever done, I remember it from an extremely dramatic scene from Splash Star, it's just sublime.

I really want Naoki Sato to come back.

[dragonballhero]

Personally, I'd like either Yasuharu Takanashi (I've been a huge fan of his Fairy Tail and PreCure work, ESPECIALLY Smile PreCure) or Naoki Sato (As most others have said here, TOEI should let him do his own thing more).

[JulieYBM]

Re-listening to Takanashi's work on the Smile PreCure transformation theme, and it's honestly kind of insane that a rock artist is selected to write music for magical girl projects so much, but Takanashi really does have an interesting way of taking musical that feels distinctly magical girl-esque and combing it with high energy rock. If Dragon Ball ever brought Ribrianne back for a significant arc of some sort Takanashi would absolutely nail any new music for her.

Also, a project like Dragon Ball would usually mean more work, and I kind of just need more Takanashi pumping out killer tracks like Rebirth, Magic Swordsman and Hell Flame from the Bastard!! (2022) soundtrack.

[Majin Buu]

(This is technically a necropost, but since there's barely anything in this new part of the forum, this thread is still very visible so....)

Akihito Tokunaga returning would be ideal, but yes, like Crunchyroll redubbing all of Dragon Ball it's a pipe dream at best, it's not going to happen. Best to be grateful for the one-off that Tokunaga's brief time working on the series, or indeed a TV show score in general was, we were probably lucky it happened at all. No one else has been able to emulate Shunsuke Kikuchi so well.

That implies that modern Dragon Ball has been trying to emulate Kikuchi, which I haven't heard much of. As far as I know, the closest we've gotten to any modern Dragon Ball music actually trying to sound like Kikuchi is the handful of Kikuchi-like tracks in Fusions (there's also the few Kikuchi-like elements of Sumitomo's work, but that's just one part of Sumitomo's style- I'd love to see what he'd produce if he actually tried to go full Kikuchi).

As for the topic...

My crack pick is Sagisu Shirou. It won't happen, but I would love to see him selected because I feel like as a composer his range really taps into the sort of elevated music composition that Kikuchi Shunsuke contributed to the first two series to really make their respective series feel more emotional.

This. I love Sagisu's Eva music, and you're totally right about his work having the same kind of emotional range Kikuchi's work had.

[JulieYBM]

My crack pick is Sagisu Shirou. It won't happen, but I would love to see him selected because I feel like as a composer his range really taps into the sort of elevated music composition that Kikuchi Shunsuke contributed to the first two series to really make their respective series feel more emotional.

This. I love Sagisu's Eva music, and you're totally right about his work having the same kind of emotional range Kikuchi's work had.

Ooh, yeah! Something I loved about Kikuchi's music was that it could add emotional depth that Toriyama would never really want to do via his dialogue and themes and such. But Kikuchi? Kikuchi gave us pieces that added emotional resonance and wistfulness that truly changed Dragon Ball into something different. Dragon Ball almost feels too crude on paper to have pieces like the Movie #10 Genki-dama piece or the sadder and slower renditions of Gohan's theme used during the Saiyan arc. A composer like Sagisu could do something just as meaningful if given the opportunity to.

Also, the man just composes the most badass fight music ever lol.

[Hellspawn28]

I would love to see Hayato Matsuo take a shot at it.

[Majin Buu]

Ooh, yeah! Something I loved about Kikuchi's music was that it could add emotional depth that Toriyama would never really want to do via his dialogue and themes and such. But Kikuchi? Kikuchi gave us pieces that added emotional resonance and wistfulness that truly changed Dragon Ball into something different. Dragon Ball almost feels too crude on paper to have pieces like the Movie #10 Genki-dama piece or the sadder and slower renditions of Gohan's theme used during the Saiyan arc. A composer like Sagisu could do something just as meaningful if given the opportunity to.

Also, the man just composes the most badass fight music ever lol.

Indeed. "Stand Up, Be Strong" is another one (and I don't even watch Bleach, I checked out the score for Sagisu alone).

[JulieYBM]

Ooh, yeah! Something I loved about Kikuchi's music was that it could add emotional depth that Toriyama would never really want to do via his dialogue and themes and such. But Kikuchi? Kikuchi gave us pieces that added emotional resonance and wistfulness that truly changed Dragon Ball into something different. Dragon Ball almost feels too crude on paper to have pieces like the Movie #10 Genki-dama piece or the sadder and slower renditions of Gohan's theme used during the Saiyan arc. A composer like Sagisu could do something just as meaningful if given the opportunity to.

Also, the man just composes the most badass fight music ever lol.

Indeed. "Stand Up, Be Strong" is another one (and I don't even watch Bleach, I checked out the score for Sagisu alone).

Ooh, for sure! I am such a big fan of all of of Sagisu Shirou's big orchestral pieces. I find it so cool how he combines orchestras, choirs and electric guitars. Stand Up, Be Strong. I think it's really cool how Sagisu can command the money to work with so many foreign artists, too. He records throughout Europe and also works with artists from America, too. The sound direction from BLEACH is also really sharp in how a lot of the major music pieces are reused from the films for—and I always hate this word—iconic moments from the episodes that adapt chapters of the comic. I still hear What Can You See In Their Eyes everytime I think of the scene where Vasto Lord Ichigo awakens in BLEACH Episode #271, despite it being a piece originally composed for Movie #3: Fade to Black. It's very similar to how that Genki-dama piece from Dragon Ball Movie #10 becomes so memorably associated with scenes from Dragon Ball Z, like Cell powering up to his full power in Dragon Ball Z Episode #196. Film and television—especially these long-running series like Dragon Ball—need that sort of recognizable music, I think. Something that I feel Shin Seiki Evangelion made really clear to me was how its use of repetion solidified how anything could become short-hand. When one hears Decisive Battle one thinks, "the whole crew is coming together to solve the crisis!" And that sort of thing has meaning! After all, it's why we heard the several different versions of Decisive Battle used in Shin Gojira, which was a film that so lovingly called back to Anno Hideaki's Evangelion to depict the feel of solving an Angel-esque crisis.

[Mr Baggins]

Seldomly did I enjoy or like anything about GT, but Tokunaga's work was one of those things. I'd love him to return, however unlikely that is.

If not him, then someone vaguely similar to his JRPG-like style since that's pretty much Daima's whole vibe.

[Neo-Makaiōshin]

Episode 1 of Daima just released in Japan and we have a name for our composer, Kousuke Yamashita!

His works: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encycl ... ?id=120091

[GhostEmperorX]

Episode 1 of Daima just released in Japan and we have a name for our composer, Kousuke Yamashita!

His works: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encycl ... ?id=120091

Lol, so this is the name they were hiding all this time...
Mainly know him from Tokusatsu though, Super Sentai in particular (Magiranger, Kyuranger, DonBrothers, and he's also done Kamen Rider Saber). Not quite as much from anime (and I haven't heard much of "Chihayafuru" either).

He was also part of the late Kentaro Haneda's "Healthy Wings" group with Hiroshi Takaki, Megumi Ohashi, and CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA's arranger.

A good choice though, let's see how well he delivers here.
I knew it all along, Sato and Takanashi were unquestionably off the table.