H8

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Ｈ８
Setting Score Namu's village has been buried in dust.
Tonality	F Minor
Length	0:32
BGM Data
Catalog Number	K-130
Composition	Shunsuke Kikuchi
Debut and Release
Debut Year	1986
First Appears	Dragon Ball Episode 29
Debut Release	Ongakushū (1986 vinyl) Daizenshuu (1994 CD)
BGM Suite	Son Goku's Counterattack

H8 is the official catalogue number of a piece of background music (BGM) composed by Shunsuke Kikuchi for the Dragon Ball anime in 1986. The piece debuted in Dragon Ball Episode 29 which was broadcast on 10 September 1986.

Overview

H8 was assigned the Kanzenshuu catalogue number of K-130 based on its placement in the series. The full composition is part a of the suite entitled "Son Goku's Counterattack", which is track #8 on both the Ongakushū record and disc #2 of the Daizenshuu.

First of all, as a premonition, H8 starts off from a theme of quiet stillness, giving the idea of a demon lurking somewhere.
— Dragon Ball & Dragon Ball Z Daizenshuu (2:8a)

H8 was given the title "Phantom In The Dark" on The Suburbs of kenisu's Magicant, the most common source for fan titles of Kikuchi's compositions.

Form and Analysis

H8 is a progression of five notes on the violin, each of which is echoed by a vibraphone playing the same note in descending octaves.

The notes are E♭-F-E♭-D♭-C. The first E♭ and F are held in the violin for a full bar before the vibraphone echoes on beats 2 and 3 of the next bar (one bar + one beat after the violin note enters). For the final E♭-D♭-C, the vibraphone echoes on the beat following the violin entry, so this part of the piece is accelerated in its progression.

The notes of H8 are 7-1-7-6-5 in the key of F Minor, but the key is never truly tonicized; there are no chords, and the root is used like a neighbor tone. The final note is the dominant (C).

Usage and Variations

Below is a table of every instance where H8 is used in Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z.

Durations are approximate and do not necessarily include the fade times normally included in the full track's duration.

Scene	Length and Variations	Setting
Dragon Ball Episode 29 Namu's village is covered in dust, just after the water had returned to the river.	0:22: The beginning is obscured by a crossfade with M121. The first audible tone is F in the violin; the vibraphone echoes on F follow, then the piece plays to the end.
Dragon Ball Episode 42 Goku and No. 8 sleep on the couch at Dr. Frappe's house. No. 8 wakes up when Dr. Frappe tries to steal Goku's Dragon Balls.	0:18: Starts with the first vibraphone strike on F. Then it plays to the end.
Dragon Ball Episode 81 An old lady warns Goku about a village of demons that lives at the base of the castle and the Demon World Gate. She tells him that the princess was abducted last night.	0:37: Full track, but the D♭ bar is repeated. It is not a clean cut; a bit of the violin C that follows is heard before the D♭ repeats.
Dragon Ball Episode 127 Goku trains his mind with Mister Popo.	0:32: Full track.
Dragon Ball Episode 131 Tenshinhan hears the sound of drums and voices singing.	0:20: After the two bars on F, skips to the very end (after the last vibraphone strike, where both instruments are merely sustaining the C).