Wow, the Japanese soundtrack is horrible!

[Blue]

I have never seen as rude a DBZ community as there is here.

Were you expecting anything BUT arguing when you create a thread titled "Wow, the [insert anything here] is horrible!"?

Seriously, you can't exactly play the victim in this situation.

[TripleRach]

It would've been a problem for American kids at that time because they would've found Kikuchi's score dated and boring.

People keep saying that, but I'd like to see some actual evidence that background music is that influential on kids. Who changes the channel on a cartoon solely because the music is "boring"? I mean, really? A kid is going to change the channel on crazy-haired colorful guys yelling and punching and shooting lasers at each other solely because they hear horns and whistles in the background?

[Puto]

Not to mention, the entirety of the rest of the planet used Kikuchi's score, and DBZ was a hit everywhere. The English dubs were the only ones that actually changed the score. Every other dub on the planet (including all of Europe, South America, and Asia) used the Kikuchi score, and it didn't keep DBZ from being a success there.

[LilKokuLink]

We have to bare in mind FUNimation may not have been able to afford the rights to the original Japanese score, so they had to resort to turn to Faulconer Music Productions instead.
Although it is possible that they just wanted to do it the cheaper way... After all it does sound like a FUNimation thing anyway.

[cRookie_Monster]

We have to bare in mind FUNimation may not have been able to afford the rights to the original Japanese score, so they had to resort to turn to Faulconer Music Productions instead.
Although it is possible that they just wanted to do it the cheaper way... After all it does sound like a FUNimation thing anyway.

No, it was a stylistic choice, I think Barry Watson made the call actually. He was the director.

[LilKokuLink]

No, it was a stylistic choice, I think Barry Watson made the call actually. He was the director.

Oh right. So they just wanted a different feel for the show?

[cRookie_Monster]

yeah

Also:

Given actual resources, time, and freedom the man could wipe the floor with Kukichi easily.

Whatever helps you sleep at night.

Believe me it doesn't help me sleep at night. Given my relationship with Bruce I'd love nothing more than to call the man an incompetent composer who couldn't write his way out of a paper bag....but fact is the man is highly educated and great with a LIVE orchestra. Better than Kikuchi. He just needed proper funding to do it. With small budget and the demand of wall to wall music with a fast turnaround(re TONS of new music)..live orchestra was simply impossible. Plus that's not the style Funi wanted.

I think the closest things you will get from DBZ of Bruce's true abilities are these two tracks:
Ginyu Transoformation (100% Bruce)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0FHHefVgmo

Orchestral piece by Bruce. Not as popular, but was completely arranged and performed by Bruce. Mike helped with FX and compression, that's it:
Cell Jrs Theme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh9j_mm0_XY


I'm not as big of a fan of Bruce's rock style:
(main DBZ theme, 100% Bruce, except for the solo bits which are Bud Guinn (sp?))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHIAYU5mhRM

I think he's better at orchestra.

[LilKokuLink]

I'm glad your personal affairs with others doesn't cloud your judgement. I like people like that.

[Sebastian (SB)]

That's a pretty bold claim considering Kikuchi's got more under his belt than just Dragon Ball when it comes to animated products, but I don't personally know either person to make such claims (nor do I know what Falcouner is up to now). When it comes to Dragon Ball as a whole, I just prefer Kikuchi. I think the last recent scores Kikuchi did was for Tenchi in Tokyo if I'm not mistaken and that was 13 years ago. I don't think he's really up to much up nowadays. He's pretty old.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

It would've been a problem for American kids at that time because they would've found Kikuchi's score dated and boring.

People keep saying that, but I'd like to see some actual evidence that background music is that influential on kids. Who changes the channel on a cartoon solely because the music is "boring"? I mean, really? A kid is going to change the channel on crazy-haired colorful guys yelling and punching and shooting lasers at each other solely because they hear horns and whistles in the background?

I guess FUNimation thought that kids would be drawn in to the show more if they heard rock and techno music.

[Tsukento]

Suddenly, I'm reminded that FUNi's choice to switch music was the same as 4Kids' choice to switch One Piece's music.

To assume Dragon Ball Z benefits from blaring noises would be no different than your typical regular Joe DBZ music video on YouTube. Didn't help when the movies were dubbed using rock music.

Kikuchi's score was made with the intention of how the series was presented in Japan. It wasn't supposed to be an in-your-face, fight fight fight fight, shout fest as a lot of people seem to see DBZ being. A lot of the overall charm for the series was lost in translation in nearly every aspect, music included.

A good example is this particular scene that has always stood out for me; Goku finally beating Majin Boo.

Japanese
English

Boo's death feels boring and you don't get the sense of "It's finally over!" from the dub's music as you do from the original. Especially when you have the non-stop talking going on in the dub. There's not even a moment of silence within that part of the dub. It's as if the music just keeps going.

[Savage68]

I guess FUNimation thought that kids would be drawn in to the show more if they heard rock and techno music.

This is all that needs to be said, really.

We already know why it's liked and especially why it's disliked, and have been hearing the same tired reasonings from either side for years.

[JulieYBM]

I guess FUNimation thought that kids would be drawn in to the show more if they heard rock and techno music.

This is all that needs to be said, really.

We already know why it's liked and especially why it's disliked, and have been hearing the same tired reasonings from either side for years.

If you're not up to reading the topic, by all means avoid it.

[Savage68]

Will do. I will keep that in mind for the next time I'm not up to reading a topic.

I don't see how that was relevant to this topic, though.

[Cold Skin]

It's only natural to feel that way for anyone discovering the old soundtrack nowadays: it just doesn't fit the standards everyone is used to anymore.

This even happened this week: a friend of mine who was introduced to the anime version of Dragon Ball through a few episodes of Kai got to see movie 9, his first Dragon Ball with the old score.
It was not long before he said "dude, what the hell is that music? They called the composer for Murder, She Wrote for this one?" and I was like "Well, I can't blame you, it's like a guy who can't sing well and cheerfully tries to sing opera, you can try to hold back, you still end up smiling... But that was decent, or even cool music back then!"

I don't think anybody can discover that old music properly nowadays. Those who discovered it FIRST, before other soundtracks, are the only ones to be able to grasp how magnificent it is.
Those who have not discovered the original Japanese score yet should not bother and head directly for Kai and its music much more adapted to nowadays standards, therefore much nicer to hear for newcomers (and for me despite having known the original score way back, but hey, every rule needs an exception)!

[penguintruth]

I don't know. I love the scores for Zeta Gundam, Wings of the Honneamise, Venus Wars, and the like, and they're very 80s. I didn't discover any of those anime until the late nineties.

And really, the dub score for DBZ isn't like any Japanese score for an anime I can think of.

[UristtheGreat]

I know this is semi-offtopic but what if Faulconer "redid" the Kikuchi soundtrack using the instruments and stuff he used in DBZ? I'd honestly be less embarassed by that in the dub.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

I know this is semi-offtopic but what if Faulconer "redid" the Kikuchi soundtrack using the instruments and stuff he used in DBZ? I'd honestly be less embarassed by that in the dub.

You mean like Faulconer trying to emulate the style of Kikuchi's score, but with guitars and keyboards?


No way that would happen, Faulconer hasn't worked for FUNi in years and why the hell would FUNi want to even do that in the first place.

[linkdude20002001]

I think what UristtheGreat meant was "What if he did that instead of what we have now?".

Personally, I think it would sound terrible. I prefer to hear actual intraments rather than a keyboard.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

I think what UristtheGreat meant was "What if he did that instead of what we have now?".

Personally, I think it would sound terrible. I prefer to hear actual intraments rather than a keyboard.

Oh okay.


Still would've been bad and unnecessary.