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

[Onikage725]

Wow Chrome, you hit the nail on the head man. You echoed my sentiments on so much of it!!

And "cheap synthesized music" is really part of the whole balancing act between what people want:

Fast Results vs Quality vs Quantity vs Affordability

I think we were pretty delivered supremely on:

Fast Results, Quantity, and Affordability

Does it mean the studio sucked cause we didn't have time or money to get a live orchestra?

Granted there were definitely other problems ^^

I think that many people don't think to separate those things in their head. I'm fairly critical on the dub score, but I don't blame Faulconer or the studio. If anything, I *blame* FUNi for wanting a redone score while being on a budget with such intense demands. At the time they were very overextended, trying to make the best of it. I just think it's a shame that Dragon Ball had to be the fledgling experimental title. Then again, not many other anime would have been able to carry them through those years in spite of those negative circumstances.

[FuniYamcha]

I remember reading a while back a comment that I fully agree with along the lines of "As far as pure background music goes, I prefer the Japanese score, but as far as character themes, it's Faulconer hands down."

After all, I never really enjoyed the fact that for the Faulconer edition has music *constantly* playing in the background. Sometimes silence can help to build the mood. However, someone posted a couple clips on youtube with the Japanese Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 3 transformations, and I feel that more epic music would have been appropriate for the mood. But I just recall how the Japanese score was awesome for Dragon Ball, and I imagine that the score for DBZ was at least decent (since I haven't watched Z with Japanese BGM).

Of course, I think things like the Faulconer Mr. Satan's theme really built that character for me; it really complemented his obnoxiousness (in the dub anyways) and brought him over the top, where I thought he should have been. I also enjoyed the use of Piccolo's and Vegeta's theme, because as the show progressed, they were used more appropriately for the mood of the character and what they were talking about. Oh yeah, and the Gohan vs Frieza theme being used in the few instances where Gohan was owning someone/thing was always a nice touch.

On a more painful note (not literally), there is also the infamous (for me) "Bulma Filler" music from the Namek Saga. Something would be going on, and that bloody Bulma theme would start and I would think "Damn, the next few minutes will suck." So I guess there are positives and negatives with the character theme thing.

[cRookie_Monster]

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[Onikage725]

DBZ was a total *$&# to edit music to sometimes. You'd have this epic stuff happening and then they'd cut to these silly short scenes or reaction shots and things just wouldn't make any sense. It was hard to decide when to actually switch music or when to just keep going with the power music (or vice versa in some cases)

I can appreciate that, but that particular track is just terrible. It's repetitive and grating, and really put a sour taste in my mouth for some episodes back when I was watching on TV.

[cRookie_Monster]

DBZ was a total *$&# to edit music to sometimes. You'd have this epic stuff happening and then they'd cut to these silly short scenes or reaction shots and things just wouldn't make any sense. It was hard to decide when to actually switch music or when to just keep going with the power music (or vice versa in some cases)

I can appreciate that, but that particular track is just terrible. It's repetitive and grating, and really put a sour taste in my mouth for some episodes back when I was watching on TV.

Which track? I wasn't referring to anything specific there.

[ShinRogafuken]

Hey Crookie Monster, being a part of Faulconer Productions, I'm really curious about YOUR opinion on the Japanese DBZ score of Shunsuke Kikuchi. This should be interesting.

[xzero]

DBZ was a total *$&# to edit music to sometimes. You'd have this epic stuff happening and then they'd cut to these silly short scenes or reaction shots and things just wouldn't make any sense. It was hard to decide when to actually switch music or when to just keep going with the power music (or vice versa in some cases)

I can appreciate that, but that particular track is just terrible. It's repetitive and grating, and really put a sour taste in my mouth for some episodes back when I was watching on TV.

Which track? I wasn't referring to anything specific there.

Onikage725 was referring to the Bulma theme played pretty often throughout the Namek episodes (and the series, but more during Season 3).

I just want to point out, and I know you said that you weren't there at this point yet, Scott, but I actually really enjoy basically all of the music for the first episode Funi dubbed when they took over. I suspect I'm totally a minority on this one, but I always love watching that badly dubbed half-hour episode on the first Ginyu DVD specifically because of the music. Gotta love that unreleased Ginyu Scouter theme.

[MCDaveG]

Shunsuke Kikuchi for sure. That's the Dragon Ball's real atmosphere. Faulconer's music isn't that bad, I like make-over of it in Legacy Of Goku series, but I don't like in TV show. The atmosphere I love is gone. No silent spaces in show and in my opinion Faulconer's music is really horribly edited in it. It's track by track, sticked together. By that, I can't remember a single track, which I will like, because it is one huge electronic/techno/rock collage in final. After 5 minutes I'm bored and annoyed to death with American score in TV show. Funimation team which worked on Dragon Ball is some band of drunken teenagers or what??? I haven't problem with US makeovers with general, for example I like how the music in Yu-Gi-Oh! is edited and I like the opening much more then the original one (but we can't speak about hardcore censorship in YGO!).

[Chrome]

hehe do note though there is a real classical guitar in that track, it sounds kinda like a harp though cause I played it up high. Mike used Synths for the rest of it (including the lower pitched acoustic guitar)

Don't get me wrong, it's an excellent piece. I presume the instrument is some kind of Spanish guitar. That's actually my favorite part of the song funnily enough.

I was referring more to the violin synths and whatever kind of brass instrument synth was used (not quite sure if it was brass my memory may be serving me badly here lol).

Oh and haha sorry about the Circus Music....that was actually a request from Funi. The notes said "Macabre Circus Music" for when Salt was pounding Gohan XD

Oh I know. I don't blame you, you only produced what you were told to. I presume it was some kind of effort to cover up the violence, a shame, because it's a pretty intense scene and it's so annoying that it was ruined. Although, in your credit, I did watch the scene, and the music is choreographed well.

I can appreciate that, but that particular track is just terrible. It's repetitive and grating, and really put a sour taste in my mouth for some episodes back when I was watching on TV.

I have to agree. I dislike that piece very much. Although, to be fair, her scenes didn't exactly warrant anything amazing in terms of music.

I just want to point out, and I know you said that you weren't there at this point yet, Scott, but I actually really enjoy basically all of the music for the first episode Funi dubbed when they took over. I suspect I'm totally a minority on this one, but I always love watching that badly dubbed half-hour episode on the first Ginyu DVD specifically because of the music. Gotta love that unreleased Ginyu Scouter theme.

I suspect you are a minority I'm afraid (at least on these forums lol).

Though in retrospect, that episode gives me a few cheap laughs (Vegeta: Don't be a fool Kakarot! He's killed more people than you KNOOOOWWWWW!!!). I always crack up at that.

Anyway, back on topic, that episode's music really didn't work for me. Every second song seemed to be a variation on the Ginyu theme, and there was some awful music mixing in it.

Listen to the middle of the episode where the "End Narration" music is used. I just, eugh... it skips and jumps all over the place and sounds terrible. The next episode was a slight improvement, introducing the Vegeta Theme and an epic guitar track I can't quite remember.

[omegacwa]

I like both scores. Some of the Falcouner stuff is really great in my opinion, and some of the Japanese score is really great too. It really just depends on my mood I guess. Although I prefer the Japanese GT score 100 times over the English GT score.

[MCDaveG]

PS: I don't like US music in show, but I like it listening on CD. By a musical point of view, it's really nice and catchy work and gives me lot of space to my imagination))))

[Oolong215]

There is one scene that I think the Faulconer music was better then Kikuchi's, and that's Goku going SS3 for Bobbidi and Boo. It's the single best Faulconer track in my opinion, and it made the scene so much more epic. But for everything else, I prefer Shunsuke.

[Onikage725]

There is one scene that I think the Faulconer music was better then Kikuchi's, and that's Goku going SS3 for Bobbidi and Boo. It's the single best Faulconer track in my opinion, and it made the scene so much more epic. But for everything else, I prefer Shunsuke.

Agreed, and there was one other for me. The Final Flash on Cell. I kinda like the theme, but moreover I think that was a poor choice of a scene to go modest on the music in the original.

[cRookie_Monster]

Hey Crookie Monster, being a part of Faulconer Productions, I'm really curious about YOUR opinion on the Japanese DBZ score of Shunsuke Kikuchi. This should be interesting.

Hey here's a link to a thread where I pointed out some of my views.

http://community.funimation.com/m.aspx? ... age=1&key=

Though I should probably watch ALL of the shows I've seen with the Faulconer score with the opposing Japanese score. There's things that have taken me by surprise like the Trunks vs Frieza music I heard earlier (which is better than what we released IMO but not more fitting than our original idea)

[MCDaveG]

Sorry if there's already a thread like this, in that case you can delete this.


I was wondering which background music score (BGM) is more popular, Shunsuke Kikuchi or Bruce Faulconer's. Also, we can add Mark Menza's DBZ Uncut/Remastered's Season 1/2 USA Score, Nathan Johnson's DBZ Movies 1-3 score, and Shuki Levy's Ocean Dub score.

To find out this information, please leave a post telling me which BGM score you prefer. Thanks.

It's true, that Faulconer's score is well popular in USA, but here in Europe and Asia, we watching Dragon Ball series in original, so I can say that 85% of people don't much understand US score and are unfamiliar with. You can see on forums and websites what opinions we have here in Europe on it. Next thing is, that it matters a habit in it. We grew up on Kikuchi's score, in US people grew up on Faulconer's. You can't say which is better, each is different cup of tea, but it's true that original is original.

Never felt simmilar atmosphere and power in different TV show, when you turn on TV and it starts Cha-La Head Cha-La. But it's true that first opening I watched was French opening because I was watching to French Dub first and then on German.

What I'm really angry for is that when I wanna get European version of PS2 or Wii DBZ game, It's fucked up with awful US opening instead of Kageyama (Thank god that Infinite World and Budokai Tenkaichi 3 wasn't) and BT is in Yamamoto's rock score for US instead of Kikuchi. What the hell is going on..........

[Vekurotto]

As always I like Kikuchi's music for Dragon Ball related things. I've got one real gripe though, Kikuchi's music was awesome throughout all 153 episodes of Dragon Ball, in the "Z" arcs it was awesome up til when Trunks came around. It wasn't as good outside of a few tracks, then in the Buu saga it was epic. I think his best works are the Buu saga's anime BGM which is mostly from movies 7-12 and the OP/ED BGM variations. Too bad Movie 13's BGM was only used on the last 2 episodes because those pieces were very well done. But yeah the Buu saga's anime's music was quality.

[Budokai23]

I loved Faulconer's and Kikuchi's music. I can't stand to watch the FUNI dub with the Japanese music though. It's just so wierd to me. I either watch the FUNI dub or the original Japanese version.

[cRookie_Monster]

I loved Faulconer's and Kikuchi's music. I can't stand to watch the FUNI dub with the Japanese music though. It's just so wierd to me. I either watch the FUNI dub or the original Japanese version.

That makes some sense to me, the voices, script, and acting definitely affect the way the scenes are scored\edited.

[Chrono Trigger]

I loved Faulconer's and Kikuchi's music. I can't stand to watch the FUNI dub with the Japanese music though. It's just so wierd to me. I either watch the FUNI dub or the original Japanese version.

I'm the exact opposite. I love the dub with original score. Besides a few choice scenes that shit just clicks for me.

[Kendamu]

As I just said in another thread...

I like the Japanese music the best for two simple reasons:

- Reason #1
- Reason #2