Question to the JPN fans and Pro-JPN fans(regarding opnings)

[EXBadguy]

I'm gonna try to not sound like a antagonistic asshole here, so here goes.

Why is it with all of the Dragon Ball opening theme songs, all or most of them, the tone has to be cheery and the lyrics always has to involve lightheartedness, love, and families instead of the opposite? I like some of them(WGP, CLHCL(both original and FLOW), and Dragon Soul), but in the end, it just doesn't make any sense to me. Frieza killing thousands of Namekians or the androids bring death and destruction to the world and the theme song before the episode starts has a happy tone with cheery lyrics? When those types of episodes are around, I expect the opening songs to match the tone of the sagas and the lyrics to describe the chaos or a "heroic" theme song that has a "save the world" tone and the lyrics involving people to wake the fuck up or remembering the heroes that died.

Here's an example of aopening song that matches a tone of a saga . I have two other examples. One opening song has a "heroic" tone that involves people's lives at stake. The second onehas a somber tone that matches a saga itself.

If you feel like I'm targeting you personally, then I'm sorry you feel that way, but I just wanted to get this off my chest.

[fadeddreams5]

Do Japanese DB openings even make sense? I figured stuff like We Gotta Power inspired this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLZbd0EvCs8

[EXBadguy]

Do Japanese DB openings even make sense? I figured stuff like We Gotta Power inspired this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLZbd0EvCs8

Shit, I remember this!

[Herms]

Why is it with all of the Dragon Ball opening theme songs, all or most of them, the tone has to be cheery and the lyrics always has to involve lightheartedness, love, and families instead of the opposite?

Because Dragon Ball is a cheery and lighthearted show. Bad things happen, but it all turns out OK in the end.

[EXBadguy]

Why is it with all of the Dragon Ball opening theme songs, all or most of them, the tone has to be cheery and the lyrics always has to involve lightheartedness, love, and families instead of the opposite?

Because Dragon Ball is a cheery and lighthearted show. Bad things happen, but it all turns out OK in the hand.

Sure, there's that, but it's still excuses. One Piece has almost the exact same tone as Dragon Ball, yet they don't use opening songs in some serious sagas where Dragon Ball does. All. The. Time!

Heck, what about some folks who haven't watch the series before? I think they would be disgusted when they hear a cheery theme while they see Freeza ripping Namekians apart or Cell "eating" people in the street.

[AM Reflection]

Heck, what about some folks who haven't watch the series before? I think they would be disgusted when they hear a cheery theme while they see Freeza ripping Namekians apart or Cell "eating" people in the street.

Huh? None of that stuff is shown in any of the opening animations and the theme songs are not played in the middle of episodes...certainly not during such scenes.

Both opening songs and the accompanying animation perfectly fit the series at the time they were introduced. Nowadays, these shows like One Piece or Bleach change OP and ED every 13 episodes or whatever so they're able to have specific themes for every little plot development, but that's not how it worked back then.

[Gaffer Tape]

Heck, what about some folks who haven't watch the series before? I think they would be disgusted when they hear a cheery theme while they see Freeza ripping Namekians apart or Cell "eating" people in the street.

Um, literally EVERYONE had to go through a point where they hadn't seen the series before. And yet, the majority of those managed to make it through without being disgusted by cheery themes. And like AM Reflection says, peppy music isn't played during the types of scenes you mention. And scenes like that don't appear in the openings. Plus, I don't see the themes as "cheery" in the way you're referring to them. They're upbeat and action-adventure-oriented. As in, "Hey, we're charged up, ready to fight, and excited to blaze a trail forward!" Which, as has been said, is what Dragon Ball is all about.

[thefalseprophecy]

I don't recall any of the Funimation opening themes to be particularly dark or hardcore either. The only exception that I can think of is the dreadful and inappropriate "gangsta rap" opening for Dragonball GT which was thankfully discarded.

While it may have dark elements at times, Dragonball is not grim or dark at it's heart. It's pure Shonen goodness.

[sayian_nation_]

You know I grew up on "Rock the Dragon" theme, the original Japanese song "Cha La head cha la" I got into last because I had just recently purchased the Dragonboxes. Now I gotta say, I prefer the original song best I don't know what it is but it really fits the series and it didn't take me long to get used to it.

Ranking the theme songs now I put the original first, the movie theme second and surprisingly Rock the Dragon dead last.

While it may have dark elements at times, Dragonball is not grim or dark at it's heart. It's pure Shonen goodness.

Exactly it's feel good music, the song gets me pumped I actually find my self allowing the theme song to play more then just skipping it to watch an episode lol.

[UpFromTheSkies]

It may have a few dark, gory moments scattered throughout the series, but at the end of the day it's a Saturday morning kids show, so IMO the themes fit, and it's unreasonable to expect something like hardcore heavy metal.

[kei17]

Because the series is originally not supposed to be BADASS HARDCORREE DEEBEEZEEE YEAH DEATHS AND DESPAIR EVERYWHERE that FUNi made it out to be.

[fadeddreams5]

Because the series is originally not supposed to be BADASS HARDCORREE DEEBEEZEEE that FUNi made it out to be.

Toei made it into that before FUNi. >.>

[Duo]

Dragon Ball is a often recklessly childish and absurdly optimistic story. It's also very diverse in tone and sprawling in settings/characters, so there are a few small plot moments in there that don't fit well with a song like Head Cha-La. That isn't really a problem. There are a lot of movies/shows with scenes that would clash against the opening theme. That's not really a problem at all.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Interestingly enough, I agree a little bit with EXBadguy, but not with regard to the opening songs. If anything, I think the problem of an inappropriate musical tone is most prevalent with the eyecatch music. At times, seeing all the death, destruction, and blood in certain episodes, only to cut away to this, is unintentionally comical. I felt Kai was a huge improvement in this regard.

With regard to the opening songs though? I feel that they are both completely appropriate. The action of DBZ is not the point of the show, and that's one of the biggest problems with FUNimation's replacement score. It misses the point of the show and emphasizes the wrong feelings. Sure, there's action, but the action is not the point of the show, contrary to what FUNimation tried to reversion it into. The central theme of the show is the cheerful message of never giving up and always striving to be better (like Goku). It's a simple theme, told in a relatively simple story, with relatively simple characters, and opened with a relatively simple, cheerful song.

[Duo]

Interestingly enough, I agree a little bit with EXBadguy, but not with regard to the opening songs. If anything, I think the problem of an inappropriate musical tone is most prevalent with the eyecatch music. At times, seeing all the death, destruction, and blood in certain episodes, only to cut away to this, is unintentionally comical. I felt Kai was a huge improvement in this regard

Even as a fan of the Japanese version primarily, I give you this point. It can be jarring to jump into that during a particularly intense moment. I also never much liked the first closing theme for Z in the Japanese version.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Interestingly enough, I agree a little bit with EXBadguy, but not with regard to the opening songs. If anything, I think the problem of an inappropriate musical tone is most prevalent with the eyecatch music. At times, seeing all the death, destruction, and blood in certain episodes, only to cut away to this, is unintentionally comical. I felt Kai was a huge improvement in this regard

Even as a fan of the Japanese version primarily, I give you this point. It can be jarring to jump into that during a particularly intense moment. I also never much liked the first closing theme for Z in the Japanese version.

Me neither. It's not even the "theme" of the first closing song that I dislike, it just felt a little too weird and silly, even for DBZ. The day they switched to "We Were Angels" was a happy day for me--that is my absolute favorite closing theme of all the Dragon Ball animes.

[kei17]

Interestingly enough, I agree a little bit with EXBadguy, but not with regard to the opening songs. If anything, I think the problem of an inappropriate musical tone is most prevalent with the eyecatch music. At times, seeing all the death, destruction, and blood in certain episodes, only to cut away to this, is unintentionally comical. I felt Kai was a huge improvement in this regard.

I've never been bothered by the eyecatch music. I guess it doesn't feel right to you because you watch the show on DVD. When it's on TV with random commercials inserted between the eyecatches, the comical tone doesn't really clash with the show.

[Attitudefan]

Because the series is originally not supposed to be BADASS HARDCORREE DEEBEEZEEE that FUNi made it out to be.

Toei made it into that before FUNi. >.>

Elaborate. Tell us why you think that. Not to mod or anything, but posts like this are not really accepted in the rules.

Tell us what Toei did to make you feel that way.

[fadeddreams5]

Because the series is originally not supposed to be BADASS HARDCORREE DEEBEEZEEE that FUNi made it out to be.

Toei made it into that before FUNi. >.>

Elaborate. Tell us why you think that. Not to mod or anything, but posts like this are not really accepted in the rules.

Tell us what Toei did to make you feel that way.

Why aren't you telling him to elaborate too? lol.

Anyways, most Toei movies emphasize on action over comedy and lightheartedness. Just look at the Broly movie. It is literally 45 minutes of fighting with a sadistic, BADASS HARDCORREE DEEBEEZEEE villain. Same thing with the Cooler flicks.

[Kakacarrottop]

I don't recall any of the Funimation opening themes to be particularly dark or hardcore either.

This (which is an intro to Rock the Dragon) sounds like horror music, and the Rock the Dragon theme itself had "hardcore xtreme brah" written all over it.

There is also the "ultimate uncut edition" death metal opening which makes Rock the Dragon look like a Pop song.

I'm gonna try to not sound like a antagonistic asshole here, so here goes.

Why is it with all of the Dragon Ball opening theme songs, all or most of them, the tone has to be cheery and the lyrics always has to involve lightheartedness, love, and families instead of the opposite? I like some of them(WGP, CLHCL(both original and FLOW), and Dragon Soul), but in the end, it just doesn't make any sense to me. Freeza killing thousands of Namekians or the androids bring death and destruction to the world and the theme song before the episode starts has a happy tone with cheery lyrics? When those types of episodes are around, I expect the opening songs to match the tone of the sagas and the lyrics to describe the chaos or a "heroic" theme song that has a "save the world" tone and the lyrics involving people to wake the fuck up or remembering the heroes that died.

Here's an example of aopening song that matches a tone of a saga . I have two other examples. One opening song has a "heroic" tone that involves people's lives at stake. The second onehas a somber tone that matches a saga itself.

If you feel like I'm targeting you personally, then I'm sorry you feel that way, but I just wanted to get this off my chest.

You're singling out the Japanese version. EVERY DB theme song (other than Rock the Dragon, the UUE intro and the GT rap) is light hearted and cheesy, examples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWST-t4uKfg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irZpWP2He_w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPDP3S4dYcY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j13lmg4nrM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWm4ksj4n8w

Even that instrumental Faulconer opening didn't feel that "hardcore" or "dark".