[Project Shelved] Dragon Ball Z Kai: Kikuchi Restored [An Ultimate International Edition Project] [Open Source]

[PeteOfDawn]

Please refer to this post


This project is part of the Dragon Ball Z Kai: Ultimate International Edition community.

I know I'm not the first one attempting to rescoring Kai. But as someone who has a strong preference for the original Kikuchi score I wanted throw my hat in the ring at making one.

I'm also aware of the older Kikuchi Revival project by "IHaveNoUserName" however he has been inactive for years and almost all of the audio files for it are completely gone. It seems like at this point the project is not only dead but dead and buried which is very unfortunate. I like to think of this as me taking the reins from that project, starting from square one.

WAV files available here

Any and all feedback is encouraged to make this project as good as it possibly can be.

For those who are unfamiliar with how this works you will download the audio file and remux them into your own video files using MKVToolNix. It's very simple to do and this tutorial will show you how to use it

Shout out to saiyanprimalforce for providing me with the tools to make these edits possible and the Ultimate International Edition Discord

This project is open source; meaning anyone can contribute to making and editing the project. If you want to help out you can join the discord and download my project files.

[PeteOfDawn]

One issue I've noticed when making these first two episodes is that the score can be a bit repetitive due to the nature of the original show.

For example between the first 2 episodes "Heavy Crisis" was used 4 times, 3 of them coming from episode 2 alone. So I decided I would take an attempt to remedy that by trying to replace one of it's uses with a different track. Personally I didn't think it was all that fitting for this scene where Raditz tells Goku what the Saiyans are so I tried to use a track I thought was a bit more fitting. Here's a comparison between the two

Let me know which track placement you think is better. Also be sure to let me know how you feel about being as faithful to the original shows music vs taking some creative liberties when I feel necessary.

[nward50987]

I feel that being as 100% faithful as possible to the original is much better than taking some creative routes. Even though there might be some repetitive tracks playing, it will still have that original Dragon Ball Z Kikuchi feel in my opinion as I love the Kikuchi score and it's placements in Z.

[Fizzer]

A proper Kikuchi restore of Kai is something that's really needed, I wish you luck with this.

If the cutting of the filler leads to tracks being much more repetitive than in Z in an unnatural way (eg they were more spaced out by filler and nobody would have originally placed them that close together without the filler scenes in between) then making it sound more varied is a good idea - I'd just suggest that replacement tracks come from the same time period, so no introducing a Buu era track for a scene in the Saiyan saga.

Edit: In the comparison you posted, both sound good so I think I'd personally enjoy the less repetitive one more in context. There's merit to both approaches though.

[PeteOfDawn]

I'd just suggest that replacement tracks come from the same time period, so no introducing a Buu era track for a scene in the Saiyan saga.

Right and that's what I tried to do the Raditz scene. I picked something that was from the same BGM disc. While the track I picked was used a lot in the Freeza saga it was also used when Goku was on snake way so I think it still fits being used during this arc.

[Fizzer]

Right yeah exactly, I think it works for that reason.

I understand that in the audio tracks of Kai, aspects of some sounds like echo and reverb are on the music tracks, and are lost when removing the score. Are you using a version that adds those back in as the base? I know people have done such work in the past.

Good luck to you anyway, proper Kikuchi Kai is something that really should exist.

[PeteOfDawn]

I understand that in the audio tracks of Kai, aspects of some sounds like echo and reverb are on the music tracks, and are lost when removing the score. Are you using a version that adds those back in as the base? I know people have done such work in the past.

As I mentioned before this an open source project. Saiyanprimalforce has project files available that do have audio effects already reinstated. For example in episode 1 when Piccolo is thinking in his head the reverb effect was already there.

[PeteOfDawn]

Episode 3 is currently in progress here's a clip that I was really proud of

[PeteOfDawn]

Just uploaded episode 3. I learned while making this episode the biggest obstacle for making this project is the reverb effects. I can add music and mix the audio levels well but that's one area that I need work on. So I figured I would release the episode and see what you guys think and tell me where I can improve.

Once again I want to state this project is open source and you can download the projects files on the community discord sever so you can see what I'm working with.

[PeteOfDawn]

Episode 4 is now uploaded.

Couple of things I want to say with the release of this episode.

School has started up again for me so production on this will be slower as I don't have as much free time. But I will try my best to work on this project as much as I can.

There's something about this project I've been worried about and I found with this episode it was the most prominent so far. A lot of Kikuchis tracks (particularly early on) were not released on BGM Collections so I had to find versions of them on the internet. The issue is that they are in noticeably lower quality than everything else. I want to know what you guys think about this and if I should continue using them or try to find replacements that are on BGMs.

And once again I would like feedback on my editing (audio levels, reverb for action scenes, inner thoughts, King Yemma's Palace etc). It helps me grow and make a better end project. This is open source so if you contribute you can.

[GhostEmperorX]

A lot of Kikuchis tracks (particularly early on) were not released on BGM Collections so I had to find versions of them on the internet. The issue is that they are in noticeably lower quality than everything else.

Funny thing is how even Toei themselves found difficulty with this. It's almost as if they (and Nippon Columbia) should have just recorded everything right the first time in a non-mono standard which was on its way out even back then.

[TheAldella]

this project is gonna get crazy if it gets to boo because that's where the real music placement slaughter happened lmao

[PeteOfDawn]

Hello everybody I know it's been while but I have an unfortunate update to give regarding this project.

First off I should suggest where I've been and what has happened. I had a very trying semester at college this year and I just did not have time to work on this project in tandem with it. I tried my best but I just couldn't manage it.

However now that my semester is over I have been trying to come back this project and I've come to realize the scope of the this project is beyond what I'm compatible of. I have a good ear mixing audio and music synchronicity but I'm not very skilled when it comes the reverb and audio effects and this project is just not possible without those abilities. I'm sorry to anyone who has been waiting for this project to continue but I just don't think I can give it the treatment it deserves.

That all being said this is an open source project and I am more than open to make this project collaborative. If any of you out there would like to help me with the reverb and other audio effects by all means please reach out to me. I would love to get someone who is more familiar with audio effects to help this project reach it's full potential.

If anyone is interested I will be uploading the progress I've made on episode 5. All the music is synced up but I haven't balanced the audio and didn't try adding any kind of reverb outside of one scene.

I don't want to outright cancel this project but for now it is shelved until further notice. I thank everybody who showed their interest and support for this project when it first started and once again I'm sorry for the disappointment. Please take care

[Fizzer]

Sorry you're unable to work on this anymore, I was very impressed with the episodes you completed and it would have been wonderful to see you go on, but it's understandable as it's such a huge project.

A recut version of DBZ with the original score - and the Kai dub no less - is something that does need to happen. Unfortunately I have no idea what I'm doing with any of this or I'd love to take it on.