What Was Your Introduction to the Japanese Score?

[Gotham22]

Well I justt gave it a chance really.

[ShadowDude112]

Well my first actual introduction and by that I mean actually hearing the music, was the Season Sets and I actually liked the music. But when I didn't hear the music it was on my GT single. My friends and I were listening to the last ending theme of GT and we all laughed at the weird but funny lyrics to the song.

[TheBlackPaladin]

It was in 2007. I was first introduced to them through the Orange Brick sets. I wasn't even aware that the music was changed to begin with, so when I heard that the option would be included to have "The English dub with the original Japanese score," I thought that was pretty cool. I was like, "Oh, cool, now I'll be able to see DBZ as it was meant to be seen!"

While that statement may have been overdoing it a bit considering all the rewrites that were done with the English dub script, I instantly fell in love with the Japanese music score. Even before DBZ, I preferred good old-fashioned orchestras over synthesizers. It's weird, because I love the Japanese music, but never really got into the Japanese voices. I'm probably one of the few people who got the Dragon Boxes with the intent of watching the dub. I absolutely LOVE the English Voices/Japanese Music combo. I was disappointed actually when Daizenshuu EX said in their review, "Nobody cares about that at this point." I for one love that audio track, and I've talked with a reasonably large number of people who feel the same way.

[VenomSymbiote]

My introduction to the Japanese score (coming from a dub fan perspective) was actually when I first started listening to the Daizenshuu EX podcast. However, it wasn't until someone pointed out to me that it was Japanese DBZ music that I truly comprehended what I was listening to.

Because I was a dub fan, I had little to no interest in the music. However, hanging around this forum does things. Eventually, I broke and decided to try listening to the music. After much searching, I managed to acquire the CD sets with the score on it and gave it a full listen.

The only other exposure I've had has been with Kai, and Kenji's score, for me, is much more enjoyable than Kikuchi's.

[Puto]

My first introduction to the japanese score was when I was watching the portuguese dub of Dragon Ball as it aired on TV for the first time. I think I started watching it around the Red Ribbon arc, or possibly the end of the first tournament.

[GreggMays64]

Me, well I was watching the Dragonball Z tagalog dub in the Philipines, and I noticed they had Dragonball music. I was like sweet, they have Dragonball music.

I had no idea that FUNimation had different music for their dub. I thought they kept it. The whole anime dub/sub was new to me. I was just watching One Piece. I had no idea 1-53 (1-67) and 68-291 (along with movies 1-3 and 4-13 +specials 1-2) were different dubs at the time. I had no idea "A Grand Problem" wasn't a real epiosde of Dragonball GT either, but I may get to that in another forum. I thought the DBZ dub had a good dub, and that people hating on the DBZ dub along with people who hate the Naruto dub are just being silly. It wasn't until I saw some points of fans that I learn DBZ didn't have a not so good dub. Thank goodness FUNimation redubbed episodes 1-67 even though it wasn't a good dub. And they're dub of movies 1-3 were not better than their orignal dub of movies 1-3 (with Ocean and Pioneer).

I fell in love with it, when I started watching the orange bricks back in 2007. I thought it suited the series more. Sure it didn't give us that "Goku and Vegeta are fucking Broly up and getting bitches such as Chi Chi and Bulma to fuck them" vive. But it fits the series. The series isn't all that hardcore. It never was. Having a series where having all the characters fly and shoot chi blast does not make it hardcore. I watch the orange bricks like this.

-Switches to Chala Head Chala or We Gotta Power, right away, just so I have English title cards.
-Switches back to English dub with Japanese music.
-Episode ends, and I switch back to Japanese version when ending starts playing, so I can have Chala Head Chala or We Gotta Power in the next episode.
-S

[Shiyonasan]

Like some other people on here, my introduction was the Funi dub of Dragon Ball that aired on Toonami back in 2001. I remember wondering why the music sound so old, yet cool.

I first heard it along with the Japanese voices when I got the Ultimate Uncuts. I was curious to hear what the show sounded like in Japanese, so I watched it in Japanese.

[KaiserNeko]

When I was a wee boy of 11, I was watching the Ocean DragonBall Z dub on UPN on the weekends. I remember NEEDING to see more, after they stopped at Jeice and Burter attacking Goku, so I desperately searched the internet. That's where I found LOADS of the original music, and let me tell you, I loved it. I was listening to image songs, themes, remixes, video game osts. I remember squealing with joy when I bought movie 2 on VHS an it had the original background music!

[Gaffer Tape]

As I'm the one who started this thread, I've already mentioned that my introduction to the original BGM was DBZ Movie 2's dub. But come to think of it, I have an earlier introduction to the Japanese music in general than that.

When I first got the wonders of the internet in 1998 or 1999, one of the first things I did was look up DB information, as it was my newest obsession. And it didn't take long to find a fansite. And what did the main page have playing in the background? A MIDI version of "We Were Angels." On other pages, I heard MIDI versions of "Cha-La-Head-Cha-La," "Blue Velvet," "Hitorijanai," and, on another website, "DAN DAN Kokoro." I loved them so much I would go to those pages just to listen to the music, even though I'd long since read all the information several times. I can't remember exactly when I realized that these were pieces of music from the Japanese version, but I did at some point, and that was the first time I remember uttering to someone that the American music was crap in comparison. And I have no idea how much time passed before I knew they were vocal themes.

Interestingly, I was so used to the MIDI versions that when I finally heard the actual songs, they sounded a bit weird to me.

[Raki]

Watching Dragonball.

[linkdude20002001]

My introduction to Kikuchi's score was Geneon's censored dub of DBZ movies one and two. This was February of 1999 after I got back to Washington from a trip to Disney World and Universal Studios. Being in Florida, I missed the Toonami airing of the three DBZ movies, but luckily, my mom's friend's son gave me a recording. Since then, I've lost it somehow...

The movies aired out of order; One, three, then two, I believe (EDIT: 3, 2, 1). Power Puff Girls and another good show (Dexter's Lab?) was aired in between each movie. I used to watch these movies all the time. Well, movies one and two anyways. Movie three wasn't as good. I later realized why it wasn't as good. It turns out I didn't like it because of the music. The dubs for movies one and two were produced by Geneon and had the Japanese music, but the dub for movie three was produced by FUNimation and had the Shuki Levy and Kussa Mahehi.

[Gaffer Tape]

Just some nitpicking of corrections, if you don't mind, assuming we're talking about the same showing. Toonami first ran the DBZ movies in February of 1999, and the order was reversed: 3, 2, and then 1.

[Metalwario64]

Movie two wasn't as good. I later realized why it wasn't as good. It turns out I didn't like it because of the music. The dubs for movies one and two were produced by Geneon and had the Japanese music, but the dub for movie three was produced by FUNimation and had the Shuki Levy & That-other-guy's score.

Uh... Movie 2 had the Japanese music. It was Movie 3 (Tree of Might) that used the Shuky Levy score.

[piccolo-san785]

My introduction to the Japanese scores was through the vhs fan subs.

[Blue]

My ex used to put the Japanese score on his iTunes every time we made out.

He was...eccentric.

[linkdude20002001]

Just some nitpicking of corrections, if you don't mind, assuming we're talking about the same showing. Toonami first ran the DBZ movies in February of 1999, and the order was reversed: 3, 2, and then 1.

Was it? Alright, thank you. Now that I think about it, it must've been 1999. I didn't move to Lake Stevens till April of 1998, so.. I was in the fourth grade when I saw it. And Three, Two, One? Sounds right. I was kind of guessing at the order. It's been far too long since I lost the VHS tape.

Uh... Movie 2 had the Japanese music. It was Movie 3 (Tree of Might) that used the Shuky Levy score.

Oops. I meant three. Thanks for noticing that. I'm just failing left and right today.

[Gaffer Tape]

Hehe, it also must have been '99 due to the fact that Toonami didn't even start airing DBZ at all until the fall of '98!

[linkdude20002001]

That's true!
Now that I think about it, I didn't even see DBZ till after I moved to Lake Stevens in April 1998...! Thanks, Gaffer Tape, for setting me straight. I should make sure to remember when I first saw DBZ. That way, I can answer without having to be corrected. Lol.

[Sprite Satan]

My ex used to put the Japanese score on his iTunes every time we made out.

He was...eccentric.

You swore you'd never tell! ;_____________;

Anyway, my first introduction to the Japanese score was with two bootlegged VHS's I got back in the mid-90's. I got movies 5 and 7, badly subbed, as well as FUNimation's movie 5 release and was amazed at the difference in score. I never particularly enjoyed the dub score, it was always just there, but I really dug the music on my crappy quality VHSs. In fact, I think that, more than most things, started me on the road to becoming the emotionally-arrested elitist man-child I am today.

[Majin Buu]

Like most of the people in this thread, I was introduced to the Japanese music through Toonami's airing of Pioneer's (that's what they were at the time) dub of movie 2. I noticed that the music was different, but liked it a lot. Then I found out through DBZ Uncensored that this is the music that's actually supposed to be in the TV series and sought out some internet clips to see what I was missing. I fell in love, but unfortunately I had no money to afford VHS fansubs so I still had to tolerate the Levi/Falconer crap for a while, but I knew what I was missing now and would always think to myself when watching a scene from the dub that I saw in Japanese on the internet: "the music in this scene was much better in the Japanese version". I had to remain in a passionless marriage with the dub music while the Japanese music was my secret lover . It wasn't until I could afford the DVDs that I finally divorced myself from everything involving the dub, music included.