B2-B

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Ｂ２ーＢ
Bulma's debut appearance in Dragon Ball, legs first!
Tonality	F Major
Length	0:10
BGM Data
Catalog Number	K-5
Composition	Takeshi Ike
Arrangement	Shunsuke Kikuchi
Theme Groups	Bulma
Variation On	I'll Give You Romance
Debut and Release
Debut Year	1986
First Appears	Dragon Ball Episode 1
Last Appears	Goku's Fire Fighting Regiment
Debut Release	Ongakushū (1986 vinyl) Daizenshuu (1994 CD)

B2-B is the official catalogue number of a piece of background music (BGM) arranged by Shunsuke Kikuchi for the Dragon Ball anime in 1986. The piece debuted in Dragon Ball Episode 1 which was broadcast on 26 February 1986.

Overview

B2-B is arranged as a reference to the chorus of "I'll Give You Romance", the Dragon Ball ending theme (ED) composed by Takeshi Ike. The ED is used as a Bulma leitmotif throughout Dragon Ball. The full composition is part a of the suite entitled "Sexy Gal Bulma", which is track #4 on both the Ongakushū record and disc #2 of the Daizenshuu.

B2-B is given the title "Bulma's First Appearance" on The Suburbs of kenisu's Magicant, the most common source for fan titles of Kikuchi's compositions. The piece was assigned the Kanzenshuu catalogue number of K-5 based on its placement in the series.

Compositional Analysis

B2-B is five bars of cut time in F Major, a two-phrase melody of four bars resolving on the dominant (C⁷) in a half-cadence, giving the piece a sense of open-endedness. The dominant is repeated in a fifth bar, emphasizing that effect.

BGM tracks ending on the dominant can be used as preludes to scenes with no music, as B2-B is in the scene where Bulma is introduced in episode 1, or as preludes to other tracks, as it is in the "Sexy Gal Bulma" suite on the Ongakushū and Daizenshuu albums, preluding B2-A.

While "Romantic Ageru Yo" is written in E♭ Major, Kikuchi arranges B2-B and most other references to the tune in F Major to complement the F Minor setting tied to his arrangements of the opening, "Mystical Adventure!". Since most of this arc's BGM tracks are in either F Minor or F Major, a track ending on C⁷ (the dominant of either) can easily serve as a prelude to most of the score's other tracks.

Kikuchi's twist on the "Romantic Ageru Yo" chorus is simple: he roots the first note of the melody—what would be the "ro" in "romantic"—on the downbeat of the first bar. By contrast, in the song's chorus, the beginning of the melody (over the syllables ro-ma-n-ti-k-ku a-) serves as a pickup to the downbeat of the accompaniment, which falls on the ge in romantikku ageru yo.

Kikuchi modifies the note pattern in a way that does not interfere much with the tune's recognizability, and the rhythmic complications associated with the lyrics are dropped: 5-5-4-3-3-2-1-3 becomes 5-3-4-3-2-1-3. While the second phrase of the song's chorus changes to the relative minor (Dm), B2-B instead moves to the dominant (C⁷).

Kikuchi's modification gives B2-B a simpler character that is complemented by an airy instrumentation including flute, glockenspiel, and harp.

Usage and Variations

For further information, see Dragon Ball Music.

Scene	Length and Variations	Setting
Dragon Ball Episode 1 Bulma gets out of her car to stretch and checks her Dragon Radar.	0:06: After the first two bars, the track cuts to the final bar.
Dragon Ball Episode 4 Bulma falls for Oolong.	0:10: Full track.
Dragon Ball Episode 44 Bulma is annoyed because Yamcha has a fan club and they're making a racket outside Capsule Corp.	0:06: Begins on the third bar.
Dragon Ball Safety Special 1 Dragon Ball Safety Special 2 Toei Animation logo.	0:06: After the first beat of the third bar, skips to the final chord.