If you were to rank all the scores in Dragon Ball

[MasenkoHA]

7. Kikuchi - Ridiculously boring. I’ve heard people say this before but never really put much thought into it, but after sitting through Broly with his soundtrack in the theater, I now see where they were coming from. .

I haven't watched the Broly movie in yeaaaaars and when it did it was with the dubtrack so I can't say if the Broly movie was a good example of Kikuchi's music but I would probably watch a bit more than just that one movie to base an opinion on his score. I hated the Kikuchi music and thought it was boring too when I first heard it (on Dragon Ball Z Kai circa the Android saga on Nicktoons) because it was so poorly used. I didn't realize how good it was/could be until I watched the Pioneer movie dubs of Dead Zone-Tree of Might. And imo early Dragon Ball Z was peak Kikuchi.

Maybe Broly did use Kikuchi's music well and you just didn't like it. Which is totally okay! But I would still check out a bit more than just that one movie to get a good assessment of his music. And definitely avoid using Kai as a basis.

[DHM211]

7. Kikuchi - Ridiculously boring. I’ve heard people say this before but never really put much thought into it, but after sitting through Broly with his soundtrack in the theater, I now see where they were coming from. .

I haven't watched the Broly movie in yeaaaaars and when it did it was with the dubtrack so I can't say if the Broly movie was a good example of Kikuchi's music but I would probably watch a bit more than just that one movie to base an opinion on his score. I hated the Kikuchi music and thought it was boring too when I first heard it (on Dragon Ball Z Kai circa the Android saga on Nicktoons) because it was so poorly used. I didn't realize how good it was/could be until I watched the Pioneer movie dubs of Dead Zone-Tree of Might. And imo early Dragon Ball Z was peak Kikuchi.

Maybe Broly did use Kikuchi's music well and you just didn't like it. Which is totally okay! But I would still check out a bit more than just that one movie to get a good assessment of his music. And definitely avoid using Kai as a basis.

I watched most of Z and the Android/Cell saga of Kai with Kikuchi as well, Broly is just my most recent example.

[MasenkoHA]

Ah gotcha. Sorry my mistake.

[JohnnyCashKami]

1. Shunsuke Kikuchi
2. Kenji Yamamoto
3. Akihito Tokunaga
4. Ron Wasserman
5. "Westwood Music" (Mega Man Score)
6. Faulconer Products
7. Nathan Johnson
8. Norihito Sumitomo
9. Mark Menza

Dishonorable Mention: TOEI completely ruined Kikuchi's music in Kai by using so very few BGMs and it made the episodes have a very, very, VERY repetitive background music as if there weren't tons and tons of BGMs to use. Apparently, they restricted themselves because they only wanted to use BGMs in stereo but by that logic, there were probably a lot they could have used than just those they picked.

Haven’t seen GT in Japanese so can’t rank or rate Tokunaga’s score

FUNimation did their GT dub with the original GT music than just that shitty ass crap they call their own music. All foreign dubs of GT used the original music, but FUNimation was the exception thinking they were making an improvement with their own score.

The FUNimation GT Rap is unbelievably bad, I guess the dude in the video wishes he hadn't done it.

I’m not going to rank Wasserman because I don’t recall ever hearing him.

He did the Ocean Dub music but he wasn't credited as Ron Wasserman but rather it was Shuky Levi who got all the fame.

[DHM211]

I’m not going to rank Wasserman because I don’t recall ever hearing him.

He did the Ocean Dub music but he wasn't credited as Ron Wasserman but rather it was Shuky Levi who got all the fame.

Fair enough. I've only ever seen the Ocean Dub for Dead Zone, and I'm pretty sure it used the original soundtrack.

[JohnnyCashKami]

Fair enough. I've only ever seen the Ocean Dub for Dead Zone, and I'm pretty sure it used the original soundtrack.

Right on. Z Movies 1-3 used the original score while Z M3 had a TV Edited version with Ocean Dub music.

[Majin Buu]

Maybe Broly did use Kikuchi's music well and you just didn't like it.

No, it did. My go to example for that movie is the scene where Broly murders Paragus. The Kikuchi score uses a very somber piece that underscores the tragic irony of Paragas being murdered by his own son. The dub score completely alters the feel of this scene with a piece that sounds like music from a horror movie, making the scene play more for horror than tragic irony.

The music was used well, he just doesn't like Kikuchi.

[Rafa Fast]

I will list just the ones I know:
1. Shunsuke Kikuchi (DB, Original Z, 2008 OVA, and 1-98 replacement)
2. Norihito Sumitomo (BoG, Kai 99-167, RoF, Super and DBSBroly)
3. Hiroshi Takaki (Ultimate Blast, Gaiden Remake and Ep of Bardock)
4. Kenji Yamamoto (Some games and Kai episodes 1-95 before the replacement)
5. Yuya Moori (Super Dragon Ball Heroes anime)
6. Akihito Tokunaga (GT)
7. Bruce Faulconer (Z)

1.The Master of DB musics, Master Kikuchi always will be my favorite, his soundtracks with a lot of drums bass similar to the classics military armys musics, his trumpets are the main element in his music and is unique! and fits totally with the old style of the series! specially with the martial arts style of DB Classic, he was the first one and probably the one who had composed the biggest number of musics, being them more than 500 musics, I just hate that a big part of the soundtracks are so damn short, but was Toei's fault why everyone prefer Yamamoto or had hated Kikuchi's replacement in Kai, because they've chosed just a few variated tracks and most of them were overused and unfitting! after that I think Kikuchi didn't even wanted to see Toei's face anymore! what a underrated composer!

2.Modern Kikuchi, Sumitomo is pretty of other underrated guy too, everyone says he's mediocre or bad, but for me he's the modern Kikuchi, obviously don't even is near to Kikuchi, but his soundtracks specially in Battle of Gods opened the new generation of musics, the way how today now is everything eletronic, digital and new, I think his soundtrack is a very good example, Kikuchi was perfect for the past when everything was hand-draw and old school feeling, in my opinion Battle of Gods was the best he could do, "Life to Be Protected" is my favorite Sumitomo music, along with "Eternal Universe Brand New Friendship" being my favorite of his sad/melancholic themes, RoF wans't very surprising but was awesome too, the track used for when Goku defeats Freeza is my favorite of his various themes with vocals, in Super, his first works really were pretty mediocre, but was increased at Universe 6 Tournament arc, his classic "The Final Death Match" got famous WorldWide! and "Fierce Battle Against a Mighty Foe" & "The Power to Resist" are my favorite battle themes, now I think his work in Kai 2014 was his worst work, like is prety good some tracks, obviously has some awesome tracks like the for some reason unreleased track "No More" or know as "Vegetto vs Zamasu", and the track used for when all the Universes are restored in Super 131 as well, but a big part are just boring repetitive themes, I don't like this track (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgSgHXmOwNA) in both Kai 2014 and Super this track was overused as hell, just had noticed most of the released musics are bad and the unreleased ones are good. I would prefer if Toei had reused Kikuchi soundtracks in the new Broly movie, but I'm happy that Sumitomo is still there, 3 tracks were already revealed.

3.The Ignored One Hiroshi Takaki is obviously not famous, but he's one of my favorites, I'm not a big fan of his Ultimate Blast musics, since because they all are just rock, but I loved his work in Episode of Bardock the 2010 Remake of Gaiden, so bad none of his soundtracks for the two OVAS were ever released :\

4.Plagiarism but can't be Forgotten The Good Old Yamamoto, I so bad for what was happened with him, I need to admit that I just had heard a small percentage of his soundtracks, but just with this I think he's good even with the plagiarism, I enjoyed his soundtracks for the Budokai series, fits very well with the style of the games, now his work in Kai, well for me is good but I don't think it fits perfectly with Dragon Ball, but it's fun to watch Kai with his score, like, here in Brazil, just the Kikuchi version of Kai 1-98 was dubbed, and even Kikuchi being my favorite, because of Toei's horrendous Kikuchi's BGM edit in Kai, I would prefer to watch the Yamamoto version.

5.Mini fusion of the Three above Yuya Moori, he's definitely new yet, he made the soundtrack for the promotional anime of SDBH, maybe he will do for SDBH World Mission, well in my opinion his tracks are a fusion of Yamamoto, Takaki and Sumitomo, so why I listed him as 5? well because his tracks for me aren't very variated, all of them are just a lot of intense music with bass, the calm tracks are literally the same thing, it's a good compositor too but he should increase his work a bit.

6.Tried to surpass Kikuchi Tokunaga was hired to take place of Kikuchi after he was retired when Z was ended, working for GT, I believe that me and everyone can enjoy his soundtracks, just as Kikuchi did, creating instrumental variations of Makafushigi Adventure, Chala and Angels, Tokunaga did variations of Dan Dan, the problem is that his variations are the same thing, Kikuchi variations are happy, calm, agitated and intense, Kotunaga Dan Dan variations are just calm and melancholic without much difference, now the rest of his soundtracks aren't memorable and addictable, much of them are the same with that 70's quality, I think the melancholic tracks are the best, now the entire I think fits better with those 70's animes with Giant Robot or about spaces, not with Dragon Ball.

7.Good, but not Dragon Ball The Our Boy Bruce Faulconer,definitely the most famous composer (or composers, idk), Yeah I understand, the musics are awesome, but in opinion don't works with Dragon Ball, just a bunch of rock musics, let's take M1109 and the SSJ3 Theme, the SSJ3 Theme from Faulconer, just gives you the feelings of "wow, so cool and badass!", but I'm really sure that's not the reaction Toei (or Akira, idk) wanted from the people who had watched the scene, SSJ3 theme is just too calm and don't makes it like that is the end of the world, now M1109 from Kikuchi, is perfect, the track begins from a intense bass to a calm part, but the calm part also gives the feelings of "aaaa what is happening, this don't looks good", and later backs to the intense part, and now it gives the feeling of "aaaa is the end of the world!!", gives totally the sentiment of that is the apocalipse, something dangerous, scary, and yeah, legendary! and I really sure that's what they wanted as the reaction of who had watched the scene, I never cared or was a fan of Faulconer, people say it's perfect, but for me it really don't works for dragon ball, try to compare the Gogeta's born scene, the Faulconer music used just makes the fusion look cool or badass, now M2024 from Kikuchi makes the fusion legendary!

I never heard about Johnson, Wasserman or Menza, so I don't even say something about them here, lol I never knew that GT's soundtrack was replaced too in Funi!

[Majin Buu]

2.Modern Kikuchi, Sumitomo is pretty of other underrated guy too, everyone says he's mediocre or bad, but for me he's the modern Kikuchi, obviously don't even is near to Kikuchi, but his soundtracks specially in Battle of Gods opened the new generation of musics, the way how today now is everything eletronic, digital and new, I think his soundtrack is a very good example, Kikuchi was perfect for the past when everything was hand-draw and old school feeling,

I personally think Dragon Ball's sound lost something by moving away from Kikuchi. Modern Dragon Ball scores just sound so bland and generically "epic" to me because Kikuchi had such a unique sound (his style was never really standard orchestral music since it frequently uses instruments that aren't found in traditional orchestral music and sounds kind of "bluesy" at times). To me, calling it "old" always sounds like a retroactive excuse for changing it/moving away from it.

[Rafa Fast]

2.Modern Kikuchi, Sumitomo is pretty of other underrated guy too, everyone says he's mediocre or bad, but for me he's the modern Kikuchi, obviously don't even is near to Kikuchi, but his soundtracks specially in Battle of Gods opened the new generation of musics, the way how today now is everything eletronic, digital and new, I think his soundtrack is a very good example, Kikuchi was perfect for the past when everything was hand-draw and old school feeling,

I personally think Dragon Ball's sound lost something by moving away from Kikuchi. Modern Dragon Ball scores just sound so bland and generically "epic" to me because Kikuchi had such a unique sound (his style was never really standard orchestral music since it frequently uses instruments that aren't found in traditional orchestral music and sounds kind of "bluesy" at times). To me, calling it "old" always sounds like a retroactive excuse for changing it/moving away from it.

In my opinion if Kikuchi was still composing for the new DB movies and animes (which is a thing I would love to see, but I respect that he"s already very old to do it) he would need to ascend a lot his soundtracks to fit with it, because if you look, in early DB his soundtracks sounds a lot similar to the 30 and 40's cartoons, later he got something more unique, but most of his tracks in that time always sounded like a theme for military marchs (except if you count his soundtrack for the Red Ribbon arc, which was literally meant to looks like something military), later Z came and if you see he changed a lot his tracks, they beginned to be more modern, not sounding like very old as 30 and 40's cartoons and out of sounding similar to musics for something military, focusing more on orchestras and even entering in rock style, if you look that's one of the main reasons for why starting from the Androids arc, they used much less the Classic soundtracks, they stopped to use them frequentely as was in Freeza and Saiyans arc, and started to focus in the ascended new style of soundtrack that Kikuchi made for Z, now some example, if you was going to replace the BoG, RoF and Super Sumitomo soundtracks with Kikuchi, you would see that just his Z soundtracks would work 100% well in these, now Classic soundtracks, is possible to find places in the series for them, but now if you look now they wouldn't fit 100% as it would be if Z soundtracks were used in these three titles, his work in the Buu Arc soundtrack and the last 4 Z movies were somehing totally different from the previous soundtracks, this shows how he has ascended, that's my reason, I don't think Kikuchi's soundtracks sounds something very old, I just think that he would need to ascend the style of soundtracks to fit with the new musical generation in BoG, RoF and Super, but not changing very much, if not, he would not be so unique anymore.

[Majin Buu]

In my opinion if Kikuchi was still composing for the new DB movies and animes (which is a thing I would love to see, but I respect that he"s already very old to do it) he would need to ascend a lot his soundtracks to fit with it, because if you look, in early DB his soundtracks sounds a lot similar to the 30 and 40's cartoons, later he got something more unique, but most of his tracks in that time always sounded like a theme for military marchs (except if you count his soundtrack for the Red Ribbon arc, which was literally meant to looks like something military), later Z came and if you see he changed a lot his tracks, they beginned to be more modern, not sounding like very old as 30 and 40's cartoons and out of sounding similar to musics for something military, focusing more on orchestras and even entering in rock style, if you look that's one of the main reasons for why starting from the Androids arc, they used much less the Classic soundtracks, they stopped to use them frequentely as was in Freeza and Saiyans arc, and started to focus in the ascended new style of soundtrack that Kikuchi made for Z, now some example, if you was going to replace the BoG, RoF and Super Sumitomo soundtracks with Kikuchi, you would see that just his Z soundtracks would work 100% well in these, now Classic soundtracks, is possible to find places in the series for them, but now if you look now they wouldn't fit 100% as it would be if Z soundtracks were used in these three titles, his work in the Buu Arc soundtrack and the last 4 Z movies were somehing totally different from the previous soundtracks, this shows how he has ascended, that's my reason, I don't think Kikuchi's soundtracks sounds something very old, I just think that he would need to ascend the style of soundtracks to fit with the new musical generation in BoG, RoF and Super, but not changing very much, if not, he would not be so unique anymore.

Yes, Kikuchi's score did evolve throughout his run on Dragon Ball, and it probably would have evolved again if he had returned, but the underlying style throughout it all was still his and that foundation never changed. It was more the tone (mostly comedic in early Dragon Ball to mostly dramatic from Piccolo Daimao onward into Z) and surface elements (more use of electric guitar in the Z era) that changed throughout his run.

Also, Kikuchi's music can sound march-like at times, but only at times. Just like how at times his music can sound vaguely blues-like.

[90sDBZ]

For me it goes:

Faulconer Productions > OG DB Kikuchi > Wasserman > Monster Rancher Westwood score from the late Buu saga > Yamamoto > Tokunaga > Z Kikuchi > Sumitomo > Jonson > Megaman Westwood score > Menza

[SpiritBombTriumphant]

First place definitely goes to Tokunaga. He should have taken over as main composer for the series after GT (basically starting with Kai instead of the plagiarizer).

First: Tokunaga
Second: Faulconer
Third: Sumitomo
Fourth: Menza
Fifth: Levy
Sixth: Kikuchi
Seventh: Johnson (never really listened to him)

I refrained from giving Yamamoto a score since he plagiarized "his" music. If I ignored that, he most likely would have taken 2nd place from Faulconer and knocked everyone down by one. But honestly, everyone below Sumitomo (4th-7th) can all be reordered. I don't care for any of them in particular since I haven't listened to much of their music. Kikuchi would go up higher for authenticity to the original Z product, but I excluded that. Hell, I probably should've only done a top three since they're the only ones I know for sure how much I like them.

[Thouser]

My ranking is just for the Z and Kai scores.

1. Kikuchi
2. Faulconer Productions
3. Wasserman
4. The AB Ocean dub library music from Mega Man and Monster Rancher. It’s weird watching Z with the Ruby Spears Mega Man theme playing, and I like it.
5. Sumitomo
6. Yamamoto. I never really liked his score and found it too generic sounding. I didn’t know it was plagiarized from mid-‘00s Hollywood soundtracks until later, but that probably contributed to it sounding that way.
7. Johnson was very forgettable.

[lunaticthegame]

Okay I know nobody has posted here in months but I kinda wanted to get my thoughts out here.

1. Kenji Yamamoto (Dragon Ball Kai Episodes 1-95 % Various video games)

I don't really know whether to say it's bias or not since I did grow up with this score (Through Kai) but looking over each composer for the series I have to say if it wasn't for the fact that Yamamoto was a large ass plagiarist I'd actually have been impressed with the variety we see with his scores. His Dragon Ball Kai score in particular has so many different styles in itself it's disappointing we here mostly the same songs (Then again I can see why). Personally, I think his style was the perfect fit for modern Dragon Ball. Really there wasn't a single style I thought he was really weak in and most of the "Meh" tracks I'd hear I'd respond with apathy to. Of course, this is ignoring his blatant plagiarism as that really does ruin the score but I'll still say it's probably my favorite of the bunch.

2. Hiroshi Takaki (Ultimate Tenkaichi, Plan To Eradicate Saiyans 2011 & Episode of Bardock)

He composed very little for Dragon Ball but his work on Ultimate Tenkaichi is absolutely outstanding. Of course, the music isn't made the same way it would be for the anime since it's for a video game but all of the songs generally sound great. All of his songs with a guitar in them especially. It's really hard for me to describe his style but I overall really like it and I wish he'd compose more for Dragon Ball. Though if I'm gonna be honest his other stuff with Dragon Ball (PTES2011 and Episdode of Bardock) were simply okay and not outstanding. I wish he'd come back and compose a few songs in the style of his Ultimate Tenkaichi soundtrack for Super with Sumitomo

3. Shunsuke Kikuchi (Dragon Ball & Dragon Ball Z)

Kikuchi is also one of my favorites. His style is definitely different from all of the others but I think it holds up quite well. It's really hard to go over what makes the music so enjoyable but one thing I've always appreciated is how the soundtrack evolves. His battle themes all from the series are good. The ones from Cooler 2, Super Android 13 and Wrath of the Dragon are especially amazing. If you aren't a fan of him, I'd especially recommend you listen to his music on Wrath of the Dragon because I believe that is where some of his best work lies (Since movie 16 came out so late into the Dragon Balls run there isn't much or its soundtrack in Z). He's also the only other Dragon Ball composer (Next to Faulconers team) to use leitmotifs (Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo and Frieza in particular). I haven't watched the entire series with his soundtrack but from what I've seen I really enjoy his work. Really underappreciated.

4. Faulconer Team (Funimation Dragon Ball Z Frieza Arc - Buu Arc)
Honestly I never had any experiance with the Faulconer ost but personally watching the show with his soundtrack is... Eh...
Like, his soundtrack isn't terribly placed but the fact that the music plays all the time ruins the impact each individual track has. Listening to each piece individually though... Like damn. Easily the best replacement soundtrack for anything I've ever heard. You could say it doesn't fit the series but that never really took away the intriguing nature each song has. Each arc has a different feel to it, like the Frieza arc having more of a rockish outer space style while the Buu saga is far more playful and mystical. I doubt that's intentional but it really shows the group evolving the style. My biggest issue is that really overall the soundtrack is best with suspense (Dragon theme, spirit bomb theme) and battle music (Literally every battle theme they did), otherwise everything is alright (Aside from Android 16s theme that's actual perfection) but nothing on par with the above 3. I'll admit, Faulconers score is one of the saving graces for Funimations abysmal late 90s dub of Dragon Ball and I just wish it was utilized better.

5. Norihito Sumitomo (Battle of Gods, RF, Kai2014 and Super)
He's REALLY good in my opinion. Not the best but I'd say for what he sets out to do he does it well a lot of the time. Even his Kai soundtrack which is generally considered awful... actually isn't too bad. Definitely misplaced (terribly placed actually) but lots of the individual tracks (Aka the majority of the unreleased music) are just great. He's really good at sad music. Every single one of the soundtracks he's done has had at least a few. "Trapped Between the Past and the Present" especially being the best of his work in general. He's also really good at battle music and personally he's tied with Faulconer on that. I also think he's the best out of everyone at chill music (Right next to Kikuchi).
Some of my biggest issues with his work though include how overly simple a lot of his tracks feel (Kind of like Naruto 02's soundtrack which also borrowed certain assets to make music) and how heavily he seems to use music assets. Idk what they're actually called but a lot of times his music has similarities to them.
For an example: "Impatience" and "Supreme Kai" have a similiar background noise to it and the same with "Knockout Blow" and "Where's Goku". It's kind of a nitpick but I feel it holds his soundtrack back from being too interesting and it seems like he's playing it too safe which is odd. His other works on other movies and anime are simply outstanding in comparison.

5. Akihito Tokunaga (Dragon Ball GT & Path to Power)
I don't... Hate his soundtrack per say... It's just not all that interesting imo. All of his best works are just remixes of the opening and various endings (And not gonna lie these are AMAZING remixes) but if that's all you can do that's quite disappointing. I do think he's actually the best at chill music now that I think about it (next to Sumitomo). He's also good at sad music but the majority of these are (again) remixes of the opening and endings. He only really has one outstanding battle theme to his name. His Path to Power soundtrack is DEFINITELY an improvement over the GT soundtrack (The soundtracks involving the ending between Goku and Android 8 especially being his best work on the series period) and there's a lot more going for it but still I can't say he's as good as every other major composer I've seen on the series.

6. Nathan Johnson (Remastered Dragon Ball Z English dub (EP1 - Mid Namek Arc), a few movies)
Honestly I never actually watched the movies with his soundtrack but I've listened to a little of what he has to offer. His music on the remastered dub feels too... generic for my tastes. Atmospheric like the Ocean dub and a little better but I don't really care much for it. His outstanding works have to be "Goku vs Vegeta" and "Theme of Gogeta" the latter being actually fantastic and personally better than Kikuchi's theme. Overall quite "meh". Nothing special imo.

7. Ron Wasserman (Dragon Ball Z Ocean Studios dub episodes 1-53)
He's... Meh. Again, atmosphere was the approach being made and I guess it just isn't my thing. Though the one stand out personally is "Goku vs Vegeta" as it really does work as a battle theme for a 90s Saturday morning cartoon.

8. Mark Menza (Dragon Ball GT Funimation dub)
Not even gonna bother (I did actually grow up with this version though alongside Yamamoto so...)

[Captain-Sora]

2. Hiroshi Takaki (Ultimate Tenkaichi, Plan To Eradicate Saiyans 2011 & Episode of Bardock)

He composed very little for Dragon Ball but his work on Ultimate Tenkaichi is absolutely outstanding. Of course, the music isn't made the same way it would be for the anime since it's for a video game but all of the songs generally sound great. All of his songs with a guitar in them especially. It's really hard for me to describe his style but I overall really like it and I wish he'd compose more for Dragon Ball.

Actually, his contributions to UT are like scoring an anime as I believe Takaki just composed for the 2D/anime cutscenes, not the whole OST. In the ending staff roll, he's only listed under the Toei Animation credits, and his musical style doesn't really match the in-game tunes.

I'm going to hazard a guess and say the composers for the rest of the score were Hisao Sasaki and/or Takao Nagatani, as Battle of Z reused a handful of UT tracks for its music and they're two of the three composers credited. Toshiyuki Kishi, the third composer listed, may have also been involved, but since BoZ also reuses his Raging Blast music, it's uncertain if some of the UT tracks can be attributed to him or if that credit is just for the RB tracks.

He's also the only other Dragon Ball composer (Next to Faulconers team) to use leitmotifs (Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo and Frieza in particular). I haven't watched the entire series with his soundtrack but from what I've seen I really enjoy his work. Really underappreciated.

Most of the composers utilize leitmotifs here and there (such as Sumitomo's Goku theme throughout some Kai pieces or Tokunaga's Pan theme in GT), just not as extensively as Kikuchi and the Faulconer group.

[Sani007]

1. Kikuchi
2. Tokunaga
3. Sumitomo
4. Yamamoto

Rectification

1. Kikuchi - He is the God of Dragon Ball BGM. His score is perfect.
2. Sumitomo - He's not nearly as good as Kikuchi, but DB fans can be proud of his score. Although there are a few tracks (from hundreds) that I don't like.
3. Tokunaga - Correct, I have no problem with it.
4. Yamamoto - Not so bad, but his plagiarism is a shame.

[Lord Beerus]

1. Kikuchi - His score provides that grand and epic wuxia nature that Dragon Ball encompasses as a whole. It's rich, diverse and even if you're not into Dragon Ball, it's just great music to listen to on its own. The only real fault I have with Kikuchi is that his track get a bit repetitive in the Majin Boo arc. His musical contributions to Dragon Ball were immense and what made Dragon Ball such a interactive experience. It goes without saying he is a fantastic composer, that captures the true essence of Dragon Ball through every track he has composed. From the comedic moments, to the heartwarming moments, to the sad moments and the intense/awesome moments. For me, Kikuchi's score is Dragon Ball.

2. Tokunaga - He really took great strides from Kikuchi and provided a stellar soundtrack for GT and Path To Power that, much like Kikuchi's score, just really nailed the tone of Dragon Ball. The only weakness for this guy is that he never provided more music. I really wish Tokunaga had come back for Kai and Super too. His scores for GT and Path To Power were fantastic and really captured the essence of Dragon Ball.

3. Sumitomo - His score for Battle Of Gods was fantastic, his score for Resurrection F was very good, Kai sounded very cheap, and his score for for Super (TV series) started out a big rough, but got much better once the Future Trunks arc began. But his score for DBS Broly was where we saw the best of him. The range of that score was sensational, and provided some of the best music I've heard that is associated with Dragon Ball.

4. Faulconer - Faulconer's score constantly goes for the big and bombastic direction with every track, and as such, any sort of proper harmony with the tone of the scene is lost and background music consequently also just feels like noise that just happens to playing while there is a scene going on. This is especially jarring, and personally quite grating, for moments where there doesn't need to be any music.

Faulconer's score, and it's implementation of it, single handedly ruins one of the most powerful moments in the show with Gohan becoming a SSJ2. It's blaring and droning music destroys the ambiance of the scene. Making it less of a calm-before-the-storm moment that suddenly erupts into something powerful and triumphant, but instead feels like "screaming/action scene #52" with generic the music infused into it.

While the team produced a few decent tracks such as SSJ Theme, Vegeta's SSJ Theme, Gohan Power's Up and the SSJ3 Ascension Theme, it's overall quality is greatly marred by a plateau of awful, droning, unfitting music that never knew when to shut the fuck up. The score honestly would fit more with a Transformers cartoon from the 80s than Dragon Ball. The Faulconer score doesn't do anything to elevate any moment in the show and make it stand out.

Yamamoto - I'll certainly give credit where it's due and say that his soundtracks for the videos games and Kai had some bombastically brilliant and powerfully poignant music... BUT... his best work, in my opinion, in both regards, is plagiarized. I'm sorry, I just can't look past that.

5/6/7 (interchangeable) Menza, Johnson and Wasserman - Not positive about any of those guys. Literally nothing redeemable about any kind of music they've produced for Dragon Ball

[Desassina]

1. Sumitomo: his soundtrack has been growing immensily on me and I think that it can only be blamed for the anime where it's featured. Its comedic and slice of life music sticks out from what he can do so well, which is to give hope when it matters and to make us feel despair in battle, but let's not confuse the light hearted with when it's supposed to be calm and peaceful. There's a clear difference between a sunny day and the light piercing through darkness. I think that he's got both of them covered. And then there is Broly's movie with upbeat fighting music and dramatic pieces to close the deal.

2. Kikuchi: the old one from the list and still quite relevant, but the use of his soundtrack in more recent releases has left some to be desired, because it had many character themes that were unfortunately misplaced. While Sumitomo's was designed for any moment interchangeably in a less than stellar production, Kikuchi's found its place in prime time anime that got severely cut for current views, since Dragon Ball Kai proved that it's not the same. He didn't stand out nearly as much when production changed its scope for the movies too. He's consistent with the franchise's theme and evolving with it though.