Minority-to-Majority Opinion of Faulconer

[omegacwa]

Well, way back in 97-98, I didn't even know they changed the music until a friend of mine lent me some fansubs. But even then I never really cared about the music. I like certain songs from both the Japanese and Falconer scores, I think in some instances Falconer actually provided better music for certain scenes.

Let's not deny it people, the music when Vegeta goes SSJ in front of the Androids is sweet.

[Vekurotto]

Would certain "dub fans" even be "complaining" about the original Japanese score had they never been given a "choice" in the first place?

You know I think you can see this best with how Funimation treated Dragon Ball, the first 153 episodes. NOBODY ever lists the music as a complaint unlike with how the 'Z' series gets complaints about it up the yinyang by those certain dub fans that you mention even though the music is pretty much the same as it was in Dragon Ball.

[xzero]

Well, way back in 97-98, I didn't even know they changed the music until a friend of mine lent me some fansubs. But even then I never really cared about the music. I like certain songs from both the Japanese and Falconer scores, I think in some instances Falconer actually provided better music for certain scenes.

Story Time: back in 2000 (maybe 1999), one of my friends mentioned to me that I could watch Cell-era episodes of DBZ on the International Channel at 9:00pm on a Sunday. This was really exciting to me because I loved the Freeza episodes so much. That Sunday, I was all primed to watch Japanese DBZ, completely expecting the Faulconer DBZ theme to start up. It didn't. Cha-La-Head-Cha-La played instead. I was a bit disappointed, but that was it. Then, when I was ready for that recap music to come in, the Japanese score played instead. At that point, I was pretty upset. That was about the time I started doing research about DBZ online and learned all about the alternate scores and whatnot.

On another point, one thing I give Faulconer credit for is that he composed a lot of music for the episodes he did, including subtle variations on existing themes. My favorite example of his talent is the Babidi-Kid Buu Theme transition. The themes for Babidi, Majin Buu, Evil Buu, Super Buu, and Kid Buu are all, at their most basic level, the same song, but the variety among the versions heard throughout those episodes makes each theme its own.

[VegettoEX]

On another point, one thing I give Faulconer credit for is that he composed a lot of music for the episodes he did, including subtle variations on existing themes. My favorite example of his talent is the Babidi-Kid Buu Theme transition. The themes for Babidi, Majin Buu, Evil Buu, Super Buu, and Kid Buu are all, at their most basic level, the same song, but the variety among the versions heard throughout those episodes makes each theme its own.

Just for the Hell of comparison's sake, Shunsuke Kikuchi's score for the movies is where this concept gets a chance to shine. Piccolo and Vegeta get their own individual themes that are played upon time and time again (Vegeta's movie 9 version with the violins is great). There are also tons of variations on what I consider the generic-Freeza-saga-battle-music in lots of movies, culminating with the absolutely awesome one in movie 11 with an intentional off-note .

[Tsukento]

Would certain "dub fans" even be "complaining" about the original Japanese score had they never been given a "choice" in the first place?

No one complained about the loss of Shuki Levy's music back when movies 1 - 3 were released.

But even when they have a choice, they still bitch and moan.

It was the main reason I brought up the entire massive splits between the DB-franchise fanbase. I noticed way too many people who grew up on the dub complaining about the original music, saying it "doesn't fit the series" or "this music only works with Dragon Ball."

You can't look at a season set video clip on YouTube without a few people jumping in and shouting to use Bruce Faulconer's music instead of the original music.

[Raki]

Would certain "dub fans" even be "complaining" about the original Japanese score had they never been given a "choice" in the first place?

No one complained about the loss of Shuki Levy's music back when movies 1 - 3 were released.

But even when they have a choice, they still bitch and moan.

It was the main reason I brought up the entire massive splits between the DB-franchise fanbase. I noticed way too many people who grew up on the dub complaining about the original music, saying it "doesn't fit the series" or "this music only works with Dragon Ball."

You can't look at a season set video clip on YouTube without a few people jumping in and shouting to use Bruce Faulconer's music instead of the original music.

It's sad really. You get ripped apart just for saying the music doesn't fit a particular scene. I've even seen a few videos where Dragonball scenes had Falcouner music and the comments say Falcouner's music fits better.

[Kendamu]

This brings the question back, if Falcouner hadn't done the score for DBZ(let's say the Japanese score for DBZ was used) and had done the score for GT, would the dub fans like him? It seems to be more of a "I liked his music because it was the first I heard" kind of thing when discussing Falcouner. Like VegettoEX said earlier, Funimation alone is to blame for this fanbase split concerning the music.

To really sum it up:

Would certain "dub fans" even be "complaining" about the original Japanese score had they never been given a "choice" in the first place?

For a partial answer, I suppose you could look at the rest of the world, where nearly everyone else just went ahead and used what was given to them as "the show", rather than creating a new persona for it...

I know one guy who has been buying the Orange Bricks (as he's a casual fan and doesn't give a shit) who just threw them in and hit Play. He didn't even realize that he was listening to a different BGM (the Japanese one) until I pointed out, "The only reasons I'm watching the dub is because its your house and because at least they have the original BGM."

This guy used to be really hardcore into it, too. He has a lot of the dub VHS tapes from back in the day. So I'm surprised that the only thing he ever had to complain about were, "...those stupid parts in the middle of the episode with Goku, Gohan, that white background, and the stupid music. It really breaks the mood."

I wonder how many people like him are out there who are oblivious to the musical differences and just play the Orange Bricks on the default "dub with JPN BGM" setting...

[VegettoEX]

I wonder how many people like him are out there who are oblivious to the musical differences and just play the Orange Bricks on the default "dub with JPN BGM" setting...

Probably a good amount. I wouldn't know if it was the original BGM or not if I popped in a He-Man DVD, but I'd certainly know if even the smallest sound effect was different in the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles season .

It simply depends on how "hard-core" you were when you were younger / earlier in your fandom.

[Chrono Trigger]

I wonder how many people like him are out there who are oblivious to the musical differences and just play the Orange Bricks on the default "dub with JPN BGM" setting...

One of my friends watched the "dub with JPN BGM" and actually thought they went and composed new music for the show. It really blew his mind when I told him the truth about it.

[SSJ2bardock]

I can sense the subtle tension and general, albeit toned down, scoffing at of the fans who enjoy the Faulconer track from the JP fans and it really kind of disappoints me.

Does it really matter that somebody else doesn't enjoy Dragonball the same way you do or that they feel one track sets the mood better than another? Preferring the Faulconer track to the JP track doesn't make a person stupid or ignorant to the way "Dragonball was supposed to be", it's just what they like and that's all that should matter.

I guess I'm just getting a little tired of people passing off "JP > US" as a fact and not an opinion.

[Kendamu]

I can sense the subtle tension and general, albeit toned down, scoffing at of the fans who enjoy the Faulconer track from the JP fans and it really kind of disappoints me.

Does it really matter that somebody else doesn't enjoy Dragonball the same way you do or that they feel one track sets the mood better than another? Preferring the Faulconer track to the JP track doesn't make a person stupid or ignorant to the way "Dragonball was supposed to be", it's just what they like and that's all that should matter.

I guess I'm just getting a little tired of people passing off "JP > US" as a fact and not an opinion.

Good way to bring it to the forefront, man. I mean, disagreeing, but being respectful to each other and on-topic about the issue rather than simply saying, "I like this version better," is totally not how this topic should be going. Instead, we should be fighting.

[NeptuneKai]

I can sense the subtle tension and general, albeit toned down, scoffing at of the fans who enjoy the Faulconer track from the JP fans and it really kind of disappoints me.

Does it really matter that somebody else doesn't enjoy Dragonball the same way you do or that they feel one track sets the mood better than another? Preferring the Faulconer track to the JP track doesn't make a person stupid or ignorant to the way "Dragonball was supposed to be", it's just what they like and that's all that should matter.

I guess I'm just getting a little tired of people passing off "JP > US" as a fact and not an opinion.

Good way to bring it to the forefront, man. I mean, disagreeing, but being respectful to each other and on-topic about the issue rather than simply saying, "I like this version better," is totally not how this topic should be going. Instead, we should be fighting.

Isn't THAT the true meaning of Daizex?

VegerotEX bless us everyone!

[Raki]

I wonder how many people like him are out there who are oblivious to the musical differences and just play the Orange Bricks on the default "dub with JPN BGM" setting...

One of my friends watched the "dub with JPN BGM" and actually thought they went and composed new music for the show. It really blew his mind when I told him the truth about it.

Not suprising. Most DBZ viewers think the Falcouner music is the music for the show.

[Kendamu]

I can sense the subtle tension and general, albeit toned down, scoffing at of the fans who enjoy the Faulconer track from the JP fans and it really kind of disappoints me.

Does it really matter that somebody else doesn't enjoy Dragonball the same way you do or that they feel one track sets the mood better than another? Preferring the Faulconer track to the JP track doesn't make a person stupid or ignorant to the way "Dragonball was supposed to be", it's just what they like and that's all that should matter.

I guess I'm just getting a little tired of people passing off "JP > US" as a fact and not an opinion.

Good way to bring it to the forefront, man. I mean, disagreeing, but being respectful to each other and on-topic about the issue rather than simply saying, "I like this version better," is totally not how this topic should be going. Instead, we should be fighting.

Isn't THAT the true meaning of Daizex?

VegerotEX bless us everyone!

Oh, yeah! You're right! Carry on.

[VegettoEX]

I can sense the subtle tension and general, albeit toned down, scoffing at of the fans who enjoy the Faulconer track from the JP fans and it really kind of disappoints me.

Does it really matter that somebody else doesn't enjoy Dragonball the same way you do or that they feel one track sets the mood better than another? Preferring the Faulconer track to the JP track doesn't make a person stupid or ignorant to the way "Dragonball was supposed to be", it's just what they like and that's all that should matter.

I guess I'm just getting a little tired of people passing off "JP > US" as a fact and not an opinion.

I think you're the only one sensing that. There have been almost zero opinions on actual quality of music being stated, and whether or not someone actually "likes" one version or the other is neither the question nor subject at hand.

[SSJ2bardock]

I must be, it's probably because I prefer the dub music.

I didn't see any flame bait in that post I made and I didn't say anything bad about the JP track, so I don't know why people are jumping all over me with stuff like "yeah let's fight about it instead of doing what we were".

[Super 17]

I can sense the subtle tension and general, albeit toned down, scoffing at of the fans who enjoy the Faulconer track from the JP fans and it really kind of disappoints me.

Does it really matter that somebody else doesn't enjoy Dragonball the same way you do or that they feel one track sets the mood better than another? Preferring the Faulconer track to the JP track doesn't make a person stupid or ignorant to the way "Dragonball was supposed to be", it's just what they like and that's all that should matter.

I guess I'm just getting a little tired of people passing off "JP > US" as a fact and not an opinion.

I think you're the only one sensing that. There have been almost zero opinions on actual quality of music being stated, and whether or not someone actually "likes" one version or the other is neither the question nor subject at hand.

Also we want to remember that fans are not only Americans, but everywhere else in the world. If you really want to get down to the facts, it's pretty proven that the majority of the world likes Shunsuke Kikuchi's music better, since they got it in the dubs. I have tons and tons of friends from different countries, mostly Europe, who tried watching DBZ in English and hated it not because its in another languague or because of the acting, but because of the music. Maybe faulconer's track is a little more popular than the Japanese version in the US, but not in the world.

[SSJ2bardock]

I didn't say it was more popular, I just said I've been getting the general feeling that if you prefer the Faulconer track over the JP track then people tend to think of you negatively.

But I'm going to stop here because people are taking what I said out of context and I'd really like to avoid an unnecessary argument.

As you were gentlemen.

[Tsukento]

Also we want to remember that fans are not only Americans, but everywhere else in the world. If you really want to get down to the facts, it's pretty proven that the majority of the world likes Shunsuke Kikuchi's music better, since they got it in the dubs. I have tons and tons of friends from different countries, mostly Europe, who tried watching DBZ in English and hated it not because its in another languague or because of the acting, but because of the music. Maybe faulconer's track is a little more popular than the Japanese version in the US, but not in the world.

One thing's for sure; I see a lot of nostalgia driven fans who go with the Ocean Group dub of the later half of the series (I say nostalgia driven because they're in the mindset of "Nothing is better than the old cast from 1996") as well as just regular European viewers who makes claims that the FUNi dub is lazy and what not...when the Ocean Group dub simply recycles music from the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon and the Monster Rancher dub.

[Raki]

Also we want to remember that fans are not only Americans, but everywhere else in the world. If you really want to get down to the facts, it's pretty proven that the majority of the world likes Shunsuke Kikuchi's music better, since they got it in the dubs. I have tons and tons of friends from different countries, mostly Europe, who tried watching DBZ in English and hated it not because its in another languague or because of the acting, but because of the music. Maybe faulconer's track is a little more popular than the Japanese version in the US, but not in the world.

One thing's for sure; I see a lot of nostalgia driven fans who go with the Ocean Group dub of the later half of the series (I say nostalgia driven because they're in the mindset of "Nothing is better than the old cast from 1996") as well as just regular European viewers who makes claims that the FUNi dub is lazy and what not...when the Ocean Group dub simply recycles music from the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon and the Monster Rancher dub.

Did the Ocean dub use the same scripts as Funimation did?