Recognizing the Underrated Genius of Shunsuke Kikuchi

[GhostEmperorX]

Alright, so, in the past (and particularly when I came to this site), for a rather long time, I was for one reason or the other dismissive of the JP version and of the late Shunsuke Kikuchi's original score for the series (whether because it was F minor, sounded too much like his works in the 70's, etc), although it's really strange as I recall actually liking some of what I heard from the JP score (like the eyecatches) when I was younger and looking up clips of the show on YT.

But an explanation behind how I first encountered everything and what my perspective (or lack thereof) was will have to be another topic or post. We're here to find out exactly how wrong I was with a lot of things I said about Kikuchi's work for DB/Z.

A short while after I came here, I learned of the BA situation. So when viewing the series again properly, I came to pick up on themes like those of Gohan and Piccolo and then came to appreciate them. I also then saw a collection of Piccolo's themes uploaded to YT by a certain user on here, and despite it mostly being on one key, he re-invented that theme for years in many interesting ways, even taking out all the chromatic accidentals in one variation of it (M712).
The Saiyan Theme in particular has quite a lot to break down, it's chaotic in that it doesn't seem to stick to one particular key and seems to go between them every other note. Making something like that is a great feat, although a theoretical analysis of it may probably go over most (except maybe Terez or so).

But other than these common examples, there have been some other striking instances of thematic tapestry and mastery from him that I would like to cite from certain movies (although this is just by listening to them as tracks).
Now, without further ado, let's begin:

Movie 5: Cooler's theme
M1201, M1213, M1217, M1218

With this one, the first establishes the motif, and then the second changes up the rhythm as well as using a rather strange instrument sound (synth or something?). The third one uses that sound again, but then it goes into strings playing the same notes but in 3/4 and with some repetition of every 2nd note (about 5 times). And the fourth, such an impressive job of re-inventing it for action, having a space between every two notes.

It also gets reprised in Movie 6 (M1312).

Movie 12: Janenba's theme
M2004, M2005, M2007, M2013

Just before the theme in the first one is a section in 9/8, then the second one uses a synth to play a changed version. The third is comically moved to F Major rather than F minor because of how silly Janenba is at the time.
The fourth goes back to F minor and is hard on Electric Guitar and a drum kit along with strings and a flute before an ending brought about by the fact of scoring to picture.

M2019 is Goku's new theme accompanied by some phrasing of Janenba's theme in the background.

Movie 3: The Tree of Might theme
M1004, M1007, M1023 (Honorable mentions: M1008A and B)

For this movie in general, Kikuchi settled on alternating between C Major and C minor for certain tracks, as opposed to the usual F Major-F minor choices.
And the theme is excellent. There's a lot of accidental notes in this, breaking it down on a keyboard was no easy task, even with perfect/absolute pitch. The first track sets the tone with a strange sounding instrument as well as some contrabass (he sure used it quite a bit in this movie, specifically in M1019 and M1020). Then the second one is a good example of how he mainly depicts scale when it comes to the environment, while it may change a bit due to being scored to picture to reference the running animals, it's still really good at what it does.
Now the third... one of his best works in the series bar none. A short version played a track or so before, but this one is an excellent variation. In its context it's used for the Earth healing after the Tree of Might has all its power absorbed from it, but in its use where Planet Vegeta is destroyed (Bardock Special), it is more than a convincing requiem piece. Nothing short of a masterpiece composition. Absolutely stellar, nothing else like it.
(I also like the part at the end where a glockenspiel or something plays the melody but down by a 4th on F minor.)

Movie 2: Dr. Willow's theme
M912 - This theme in particular is quite sci-fi, especially fitting given who Dr. Willow is and what his lair looks like. It also works with Freeza quite well as it sets the mood for whenever he's around.
M922 - In this variation, the notes are sort of twisted after that first minute or so (As in, it goes from 1-2-3 to 1-3-2).

There's other variations, but the most striking bit of genius that motivated me to make this thread is M920, the Piccolo theme variation of the movie.
Starts off with yet another great re-invention of the theme, but 20 seconds in (and a few other portions later) is where the excellence lies; It plays the most recognizable initial notes of Dr. Willow's theme complete with a tuba and the deep synth in the background for a bit before reverting back to the normal instruments. This means that Piccolo has been hijacked not only mentally, but musically as well. True greatness.

There's clearly numerous other examples of awesome but understated thematic development throughout both DB and Z (like Movies 1, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11) but these should at least suffice for now. I may discuss the others after I'm done viewing them again at another time though.

In some other instances, he even uses odd time signatures like 5/4 (M111), 7/4 (M1416), 9/8 (H19), etc
The James Bond references were also cool, with French Horns & all. If people think his music isn't that good, chances are high that they haven't seen the original Dragon Ball series.

The man had absolute control over every note he wrote, and his re-arrangements really show it. The fact that he may not have employed certain techniques was also 100% intentional, as consistency was the name of the game for him.
For example, Cha-La-HEAD-Cha-La has two modulations (key changes), within the verse it goes from E Major to E minor, and when going to the Chorus it goes to D Major. Kikuchi literally sidestepped having to do the inevitable second modulation (to Eb Major) when re-arranging it by only doing either the verse or the chorus in any given re-arrangement of it.
The way he did things, especially by choosing one main key to write on depending on what it is he was scoring, served as something of a mask for his actual mastery. He basically said with his work that he doesn't need too many fancy techniques like modulation to re-invent things.

I hope that I've been able to present him in a good way, particularly one in which a viewer of this thread might take something new away from reading this, and once again I would like to apologize for all the slanderous drivel I spewed about this great master over so long concerning this series. Dragon Ball/Z is certainly one of his best works, his 10 years with the series from start to finish really can't be topped.
(Also, any gripes I may have with aspects of it in the Z show aren't his fault at all. In the movies, with all the context there, he excelled with aplomb.)
His greatness was of a different kind to most out there, something all his own.

EDIT: There's also a special and an exhibit dedicated to him in his hometown of Hirosaki with some details on his early life and history with composing, if you can read Japanese or get a decent translation somehow it's worth checking out, but even the photos themselves are fascinating.

[DB1984]

It's pretty sad his entire catalog of DB/DBZ has not been released. It deserves all of that and then some.

[GhostEmperorX]

It's pretty sad his entire catalog of DB/DBZ has not been released. It deserves all of that and then some.

Absolutely, I forgot to mention this in my OP, but he definitely deserved better, and like Seiji Yokoyama got with Saint Seiya, not some partially mono releases (why exactly this is even a thing in the 80's-90's period when even slightly older series just don't have this problem at all is beyond me) that don't have anywhere near everything he did.
And the only proper & complete movie score releases that are in full stereo were all 3 Broly films (Movies 8, 10, and 11)... and they don't even fill up over half the length of a CD, which begs the question of why they couldn't add more.
It's also quite confusing how they had not one, but two names that would sell massively once slapped on a CD pack (Dragon Ball, Shunsuke Kikuchi). The treatment of his scores could not be any more unfitting for his reputation.

I mean, over half of DB's discography basically doesn't even have anything to do with him. And another thing is that of the material that does, we have absolutely zero credits for any of the session musicians or recording/mixing/mastering engineers and studios that brought his work to life throughout the 10 years he worked on the series.
This amid booklets going on for lots of pages, even the one with 100.
(For perspective, even Yamamoto of all people gets better treatment on these fronts for projects he was involved in, from the Hit Song Collections to the games.)

[furious445]

First thank you for this amazing knoweldge you gave us about these musical notions, i was striked by the part about M920 because it really shows how smart kikuchi is, i hope you do more in the future so non-musicians like me can get a better view.
Also i'd to mention i completly agree with the fact it REALLY SUCKS that NONE of the musicians were credited like yeah kikuchi is a great composer but the musicians/small orchestra he used, they all did a wonderful job in playing those instruments and today they have almost no recognization.

[GhostEmperorX]

First thank you for this amazing knoweldge you gave us about these musical notions, i was striked by the part about M920 because it really shows how smart kikuchi is, i hope you do more in the future so non-musicians like me can get a better view.

You're most welcome, I had thought to maybe make another thread as a continuation of this one or perhaps post another such outline within this one. I'm glad I was able to do that for you though, it makes the thread worth it for me.

Also i'd to mention i completly agree with the fact it REALLY SUCKS that NONE of the musicians were credited like yeah kikuchi is a great composer but the musicians/small orchestra he used, they all did a wonderful job in playing those instruments and today they have almost no recognization.

Along with the masters/tapes for their work suffering from one thing or the other and a lot of BGM collections being mono or just unreleased.
It's really strange, wonder why Nippon Columbia didn't do this for him even as they did it for certain others. Could it be because he wasn't also a conductor or something like that? Not really sure.

[DB1984]

Nippon Columbia knew damn well that collection that they released with the words "Great" and "Complete" in the title wasn't really quite "Complete", yet the released it as that anyways.

[GhostEmperorX]

Nippon Columbia knew damn well that collection that they released with the words "Great" and "Complete" in the title wasn't really quite "Complete", yet the released it as that anyways.

And as mentioned before, being partially mono as well as cramming movie tracks into suites was just about the worst thing to do.
Honestly, when you look at DB/Z's status, who the composer was, and the time it came out in, the treatment of the official soundtrack releases barring the aforementioned three movies has unquestionably been cringeworthy and inexcusable. The standard treatment during that time for most other anime series soundtracks has been far superior, even when the budget wasn't particularly high or the audio mixing was more on the quiet side.
I've seen stuff from 1983-85 that were originally Vinyl, got CD reprints later (as much as 10 or more years later), and were still all in full stereo.

[Rafa Fast]

The part at 0:19, 0:55 and 2:08 from M920 is Wheelo's theme? Hmmmm I'm not sure about it, I personally always hear a variation of Goku's 1st theme (Makafushigi Adventure) in that fragment, what convinces me most of this is that the exactly same melody can be heard at 0:24 in this track, and it makes sense for me because he's fighting Goku

[GhostEmperorX]

the exactly same melody can be heard at 0:24 in this track

Sorry to say this, but it's not at all the "exact same melody". They don't even begin with the same note.
Only the counting/progression rhythm is the same/similar.
While both are in F minor, the one that you posted is F<Eb<Db.
Whereas the one referenced in M-920 is Db<C<A Natural (accidental note), which would happen to be the most recognizable notes of Dr. Willow's theme.
Another thing to pay close attention to is the more synth-like instrument layer that comes in the background when that melody pops up in M-920. It only gets used for the portions that the melody shows up in the track.

(Thanks for the reply to the thread, regardless )