Theme of Piccolo

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Theme of Piccolo
Gohan vs Cell is recapped at the start of "The Final Chapters". It is not covered in the Japanese domestic version's recap.
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Tonality	A Minor
Length	1:42
BGM Data
Catalog Number	S-203
Composition	Norihito Sumitomo
Debut and Release
Debut Year	2014
First Appears	Dragon Ball Z Kai Episode 99 Dragon Ball Kai Episode 114
Also Appears	Dragon Ball Super Episode 120
Debut Release	Dragon Ball Z Kai The Final Chapters

"Theme of Piccolo" was composed by Norihito Sumitomo for the Majin Boo arc of Dragon Ball Kai. Its Kanzenshuu catalogue number is S-203, and its track listing is #17 on the Dragon Ball Z Kai The Final Chapters original soundtrack, released digitally on 11 February 2015 in France.

The track's first scene-wise usage is in Dragon Ball Z Kai Episode 99, but it was first heard on the further-condensed Japanese domestic broadcast in Dragon Ball Kai Episode 114, which premiered on 20 July 2014.

Overview

"Theme of Piccolo" is used ten times in Dragon Ball Z Kai (five of which are mirrored in the Japanese domestic version of the arc) and twice in Dragon Ball Super. The track's key is A minor and the melodic instrument is a keyboard synthesizer.

Compositional Analysis

"Theme of Piccolo" is composed in a ternary (ABA') form with a one-bar drum solo introduction and a ending chord that is held for three bars at the established tempo of 90 beats per minute.

Part A is a single melodic statement with an antecedent (1-3-7-5-4-5) and a consequent (1-3-8-9-7-5) phrase over a static A minor tonality.

• Each phrase covers two iterations of a syncopated bassline (1-3-4-5-7-5). The bassline uses the same notes as the antecedent phrase of the melody, but in a slightly different order (A-C-D-E-G-E), with a different rhythm, in a different (lower) octave.
• There is also a synthesized mandolin played percussively on an open 5th throughout (A-E), and a muted keyboard synth accompaniment line (7-1-3-4-3) in 16th notes.
• The bassline, moving synth line, and the antecedent phrase of the melody are consistent with minor pentatonic, but the consequent phrase of the melody is more explicitly Aeolian (the natural minor mode).

Part B is twice as long as Part A, though it still has one main melodic synth statement with an antecedent and a consequent phrase. The phrases are longer, 8 bars instead of 4.

• Part B's tonality is probably best characterized as a modulation to C Major, the relative major of A Minor.
• The bassline is root position in straight eighths throughout Part B.
• The antecedent phrase of the melody occurs over a chord progression of F-C-G-D, where each chord lasts two bars. The consequent phrase occurs over the same progression, but the final D chord only lasts one bar, and the final bar is E, the dominant that leads us back to A minor.
• The moving synth line provides the harmony between the melody and the bassline. The moving line is still pentatonic, but it modulates every two bars according to the harmony given above. The final bar is not pentatonic; it spells the notes of the dominant 7th chord, E7 (G#-B-D-E, with the bass on E below).

Part A' is almost exactly the same as Part A, but the muted synth accompaniment oscillates into a higher octave in the consequent phrase. The synth melody has a half-note pickup to the ending, from the 4th scale degree to the 5th (D-E). There is no 3rd in the ending chord; the bass guitar carries the root (A), while the synth melody carries 5th (E). Both distort on the third held bar, and there is a full bar or more of reverb after the instruments cut off.

Usage and Variations

The table below presents a scene-wise account of this track's usage in Dragon Ball Kai and Dragon Ball Super. Note that some usages in the international version (called "Dragon Ball Z Kai") are not reciprocated in the Japanese domestic version (called "Dragon Ball Kai"), and vice-versa.

The order is scene-wise, regardless of episode debut date, and the terms used to describe the usage variations are contextualized in the Compositional Analysis section above. The officially-released BGM track is 1:42 in length. The usage lengths given under "Length and Variations" in the table are estimates and do not include extended taper times.

"Theme of Piccolo" Usage and Variations
Dragon Ball Kai
Episodes	Scene	Length and Variations	Setting
Dragon Ball Z Kai Episode 99 (International version only) 🌍	Recap: Gohan vs Cell	1:28: The ending, which is slightly shortened, follows the 2nd bar of the consequent phrase in the recap of Part A.
Dragon Ball Z Kai Episode 104 (International version only) 🌍	Piccolo meditates in advance of the 25th Tenka'ichi Budōkai.	0:49: The consequent phrase of A' follows the fourth bar of Part B. The ending is shortened.
Dragon Ball Z Kai Episode 107 (International version only) 🌍	The crowd goes wild after seeing what Trunks and Goten can do.	0:31: The antecedent phrase of Part A is followed by the consequent phrase of A'. The ending is shortened.
Dragon Ball Z Kai Episode 108 (International version only) 🌍	The fight between Goten and Trunks continues, and Trunks turns up the heat. "Theme of Piccolo" is the first BGM track used in this episode; in the previous episode, it was the last.	1:16: The antecedent phrase of Part B is followed by A'.
Dragon Ball Z Kai Episode 112 (International version only) 🌍	Satan reassures the press about Videl and promises revenge for Spopovitch.	0:28: The second bar of the consequent phrase in Part A is followed by the ending.
Dragon Ball Kai Episode 114 Dragon Ball Z Kai Episode 121 🇯🇵🌍	Goku vs Vegeta begins.	1:08: The antecedent phrase of Part B is followed by A', and the ending, which is slightly shortened, falls after the first two bars of the consequent phrase of A'.
Dragon Ball Kai Episode 117 Dragon Ball Z Kai Episode 124 🇯🇵🌍	Goku tries to convince Vegeta to end their fight to deal with Majin Boo.	1:05: In Part B, the first 4 bars of the antecedent phrase are followed by the final 4 bars of the consequent phrase. In A', the first two bars of the antecedent phrase are followed by the final two bars of the consequent phrase.
Dragon Ball Kai Episode 119 Dragon Ball Z Kai Episode 126 🇯🇵🌍	Vegeta powers up to fight Majin Boo.	1:07: The antecedent phrase of Part B is followed by A', and the ending, which is slightly shortened, falls after the first two bars of the consequent phrase of A'.
Dragon Ball Kai Episode 136 Dragon Ball Z Kai Episode 143 🇯🇵🌍	Piccolo escorts Majin Boo to the Room of Spirit and Time.	0:42: The antecedent phrase in Part A is followed by A'.
Dragon Ball Kai Episode 146 Dragon Ball Z Kai Episode 153 🇯🇵🌍	After Vegetto stops Majin Boo from destroying the Earth, he suggests that Boo use that power against him to show that he is the strongest in the universe, as he said.	0:20: The final bar of A' is subbed in for the final bar of the antecedent phrase in Part A, and then followed by the ending, which is shortened.
Dragon Ball Super
Episodes	Scene	Length and Variations	Setting
Dragon Ball Super Episode 85 🌍🇯🇵	Gohan approaches Piccolo for training while Goku asks Dende for help finding No. 17.	1:08: The antecedent phrase of Part B is omitted. The 4th bar of the consequent phrase of A' is mostly omitted; a tiny bit (about a 16th) of the pickup note in the melody can be heard at the end of the 3rd bar. The ending is slightly shortened.
Dragon Ball Super Episode 91 🌍🇯🇵	Boo has fallen asleep. Goku volunteers to go get him. Beerus wants to go, but Goku leaves while he is distracted. When Beerus realizes this, the music stops for 6 seconds and resumes with the ending narration.	1:19: The antecedent phrase of Part B is omitted. Two bars into A', the music stops. It picks back up again with the beginning of A'. The ending is slightly shortened.

External Links

• Amazon France - Dragonball Z Kai The Final Chapters
• Kanzenshuu: Music Database - Dragon Ball Kai CDs