Metalwario64 wrote:Storm wrote:that song brings out the terror.
Yep, that's why it's my favorite piece for that scene.
The Kikuchi Z and Yamamoto pieces make it a bit too cheesy for my liking, whereas the Kikuchi Kai piece brings out Goku's rage, which is the main point of that scene.
Well, I think it works either way, because it really comes down to a question of which emotional aspect of the scene is best served through being highlighted by music. It depends on what one thinks the main point of that scene is.
With the Kikuchi-Z and the Yamamoto score selections, it emphasizes the hope and triumph of knowing that Freeza has, after all the merciless killing he has done, finally met his match. All of the innocents he killed are now going to be avenged--and, to add some irony-flavored salt to the wound, by a Super Saiyan. In Kai, the episode kept going after Goku's "I Am" speech, but in DBZ, this emotional aspect is further emphasized because--talking about the original Japanese version, of course--promptly after Goku's speech, the episode ends, with the narrator saying, "Goku, now is the time to avenge everyone!" I suppose it depends on your perspective, but from a certain perspective, that's worth feeling happy and triumphant. Freeza's finally going to get what he deserves, after all this time!
It's true that the Kikuchi-Kai score selection for that scene emphasizes Goku's rage. So it's not inappropriate per say. However, I feel like that point was already made musically when he first transformed into a Super Saiyan. All three scores for that scene (Kikuchi-Z, Yamamoto, and Kikuchi-Kai) emphasized Goku's rage just fine in that moment. So for us to get another musical selection that emphasizes his rage again......not inappropriate, no, but I would argue that by that point we've been beaten over the head with that point through the music. Sort of like, "OK, we get it, he's angry." By the time he gets to his "I Am" speech, I think it's about time the music acknowledged that there's more to it than Goku's rage. I think it needs to acknowledge now that, yeah, in spite of his rage, there's actually something to be excited about here.
And......I'll be the first to admit, this is probably not an appropriate reason for preferring the Yamamoto score, but....in addition to the reasons I just mentioned, the Yamamoto score mirrored my own feelings when I was watching the English dub of that scene for the first time. I feel, as I'm sure others do, that the "I Am" speech was arguably one of the worst scenes in the DBZ dub. For that reason, I was extremely curious as to how FUNimation would handle it in the Kai dub. Looking back on it, it was my favorite moment in the Kai dub, and the Yamamoto score mirrored my own feelings of triumph when I heard the acting, the writing, and Sean Schemmel's Goku referring to himself as "Son Goku"......man, that was a cool moment for me. It was a soaring, triumphant sense of, "YES, they did it!" Honestly, I think the "I Am" speech scene is the most iconic scene in the history of FUNimation's English dubs for "Dragon Ball"-related material, because the DBZ dub of that scene encapsulates everything they did horribly wrong, and the Kai dub of that scene encapsulates everything they did beautifully right.
