What is Dragon Ball's BEST Soundtrack?

[@TotallyNotMark]

Everyone has something to offer, but what is YOUR favourite?

[@hershey9399]

hey i haven't watched the video yet but am really excited to! honestly the CD collections main menu theme with the elec. guitar was so awesome to me as a kid. that and the budokai tenkaichi 2 soundtrack in its entirety was extremely catchy and epico

[@bowserbreaker2515]

To me, the best soundtrack is the Kikuchi score, and the best theme song is the English version of "Dragon Soul" from Dragon Ball Z Kai. Kai's English dub with the Kikuchi score is absolutely incredible. Yamamoto may have stolen his music, but it was still great. Sumitomo also did a great job with the Tournament of Power.

[@julescharm]

I grew up with Kai so for me it's Yamamoto, even with all his... Baggage. I even have a fan made project that someone from kanzenshuu did where they finished the Yamamoto score and everything

[@mitsubishikid1187]

Totally not mark. Not sure if you made a sfx comparison video yet but i think that should also be examined, for me the faulconer score is the best in my opinion.

[@kingace6186]

Definitely Kikuchi for me

[@NBlaze53]

So so so happy to see the uncredited members of Faulconer Productions get the recognition that they deserve.

[@gespenst1329]

First was Geekdom, now this.

[@muhammadHassan-kj1jy]

Yeh

[@JACQUEZJOHNSON23]

Facts

[@SumthomShii]

Fr I remember buying the orange bricks as a kid and mad the emotions and impact the music gave me was next level

[@Xxblade17]

Yeah

[@latimixes]

As a musician myself, I've always been a *strong* defender of Sumitomo's work, always believing that he was held back by circumstance and found geniune value even as his earlier stuff was mocked. To see that not only affirmed, but learning just how harrowing the production was on him as well as the rest of the staff made me geniunely emotional over his journey. To know that the same man that gave us the empowering motifs of Ultra Instinct, Broly, Zamasu and so on went through so much and came out the other side proven himself gives me more respect than I can reasonly describe. He deserves to be recognized as a bonafied legend alongside Kikuchi.

[@eagonten]

Yeah late super score is chefs kiss amazing, that ultra instinct score will always be one of the best.

[@claymontgomery4616]

He's definitely gotten better and better, but to me, my favorite theme of his is the Theme of Vegeta which was in the Final Chapters.

[@BRsPedro]

He's not on Kikuchi's level by any chance, or to me more specific, his contribution to Dragon Ball does not compare to what Kikuchi did, if he was held back by circumstance or not the fact is the OG soundtrack is magical.

[@me67galaxylife]

everyone says it's bad because it's not muh american OST or muh original japanese OST

[@gespenst1329]

It's probably best to look into his non-DB projects, because they aren't cursed franchises like this one is.

[@VidaAnimada]

It is such good timing this video came out! As someone from Brazil who got to experience DBZ with a Brazilian PT dub, the score we got was the original Japanese one, and so that's the one and only I acknowledged as being the "real deal", and whenever somebody even mentioned the american score, I rolled my eyes thinking it was "just another terrible Americanization of something" to the point I didn't even want to give it a try. However, YESTERDAY, I was watching a video about Dragon Ball that had a very cool score playing in the background. It was a score I had heard many times before in Dragon Ball videos, and possibly one of the coolest ones. I then, for the first time, started to wonder where I had heard that score before, because it was familiar, sure, but I didn't know if it sounded familiar because of the many videos I had watched in which this song was played OR because it was a score from the series itself. I vividly remember all scores from the series, but this one I couldn't be sure about, so I figured it mus be the first option, and that I knew it because of the videos with it in them. Then I checked the comments of that video, and somebody had posted "Any video that has the SS3 theme playing in the background will have my attention" That's the information I needed, it was the "SS3 theme". And then I looked for the scene in which Goku turned SS3 for the first time (Japanese), and that score was nowhere to be found. The score played in that scene is cool in Japanese and very familiar, BUT not as good as the one I was looking for. And then it hit me...."could it be....?" And then I looked for the American version of the same scene, and there it was, that INCREDIBLE piece of music being played in one of the most iconic moments in anime history. And at that moment (about 13 hours ago), not only did I accepet the fact I might be wrong about the American score, but I am eager to listen to everything and find out I had had been missing out this whole time!

[@gespenst1329]

…it’s probably best that you don’t try to watch that replacement score as a full episode.

[@legendarymarston9174]

Well I'm glad you're willing to give it a chance

[@dankwaifu2093]

It's definitely a different experience from Kikuchi, both in style and implementation, but I like it, and I'm glad some folks from other countries are willing to give it a try.

[@PedroMatos482]

My only problem with it was always that it absolutely did not fit with the show - not to mention how disrespectful and weird it is to replace the score in the first place. The music itself is pretty good, as its own thing. Even works for the games somewhat.

[@gespenst1329]

@@dankwaifu2093 Same could be said of _most_ other anime of the 80’s-90’s time period (with their original soundtracks and no replacement scores) also being a different experience from Kikuchi, since he was primarily of the 70’s style. Like certain other toonami favorites, Gundam Wing, G Gundam, Outlaw Star, and even other shows before them.

[@Dark_Tale_1985]

So happy to know you will be covering the lost credits of the Bruce Faulconer score. Ever since I watched the Lost Credits video on Scot Morgan's youtube channel, I've wanted much of the fanbase to know more about it. Those artists deserve some serious love for all the incredible scores they made.

[@legendarymarston9174]

I'm thankful that Mark will talk about it

[@mechajay3358]

They recently did performance ON Geekdom101's channel and it was Awesome.

[@legendarymarston9174]

@@mechajay3358 Thank you for informing us!

[@andrewmcbridemusic]

​@@mechajay3358I was part of the crew at that performance. :) They played a great show.

[@michaelpeak2438]

Kikuchi’s score is the most enchanting and fitting collection of sounds in any anime ever. Eternally elite.

[@Gensolink]

Kikuchi's score is really a product of its time in a good way. It's so good, has a nice style and could get serious to happy go lucky very easily. To me Kikuchi's score is the only one worth it imo. I dont like faulconer's and think it just doesnt fit the anime imo. Also GT's score just as good as kikuchi, really love the energy

[@mruchiha0209]

part 1 naruto soundtrack best anime ost

[@aokyoutsuki7744]

I still love the aesthetic it has, anytime i watch the english it really felt like it was made by two different takes, falcouner had that micheal bay high beat rhythm with JP with kikuchi felt so whimsical as if its some play

[@NDPFitness]

You are mistaken, that would be Bruce Falconers score, try watching the ssj3 transformation without it, it doesn’t feel right.

[@lssjgaming1599]

​@NDPFitness scenes like that are honestly very slim where I think it fits better. The original score overall fits the series better as it's more consistent between DB an DBZ, and knows when to stay silent while the US version score is always blasting. I like both scores but the Japanese one is just a bit better due to those factors imo

[@JaxBlade]

I remember the first time I heard Kikuchi's music on a DVD singlet of DBZ during the Cell Game saga when I was like 11 years old & how while it wasnt what I was used to I enjoyed it a lot, like I did the DUB music & honestly these days I genuinely love all the music. I love Kikuchi for the mystical martial arts adventure vibe fitting for the series But I also Love Faulconer Team score for the Action Superhero show vibe it gave off & just how energetic it was. Hell I remember in High School getting a Bench Press PR in the Weight Room cause of the SSJ3 Faulconer Team theme and my friends hyping me up and multiple tracks from that OST became a staple in my Gym playlist to this day & I'm happy to see so many Dragonball Gym enthusiasts feel the same with that Dub Score But Also Kai is phenomenal as well all thru the Saiyan to Cell Saga and Super Dragon Soul is Immaculate though when they did the Buu Saga of Kai def had some issues with the music in tone for certain scenes when I sat down and watched that. For me it all hits & I can vibe with any of the soundtracks any time of day.

[@kazi1]

Fr

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

That's awesome man! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@saint_lol]

Agreed jax, no matter which one I grew up on I can appreciate all of the different composers and teams, it just goes to show how diverse db is in that it can fit so many different styles

[@russelldrake7553]

Faulconer still rocks my gym playlist 😤😤

[@josephrines3175]

big facts. Nothing beats the time chamber theme, except maybe Cell's theme

[@jarednunes3263]

Most impressive part about the music is the fact that all the different soundtracks still have the same unique vibe to it.

[@nicolasespitia7743]

nah, the ambience in english dub for dbz is pretty ass its like meditative music

[@Anthonycheesman33]

@@nicolasespitia7743that’s an L take lol

[@MARMAR-xw6gj]

​@@Anthonycheesman33what make the American dub soundtrack not that good is the lack of sad ost

[@nsipep]

They reaaally dont, big L

[@TFormerRock]

​@@nicolasespitia7743Autism detected

[@ogto]

yamamoto's music is pretty damn good, despite being plagiarized he would sometimes transform them meaningfully. also really incredible how versatile sumitomo is. some of his tracks just sound like they're composed by totally different people. love a lot of his Kai stuff

[@Keurgui1]

Yamamoto felt like the modern kikuchi. He really knew how to set the mood for whatever was happening on screen while blending different musical styles It's a damn shame he plagiarized, it really is.

[@christopher_silver]

Yamamoto to me was very generic, unoriginal and overused. I wasn't even shocked when I found out it was plagiarised, to me it's the worst score by far, no offense

[@Iamthedoctor10]

@@christopher_silverthat’s mental, wild ass take

[@dvda9725]

His Kai music was pretty lame when you take into account him being the one who made the music for the Budokai games, which was absolutely fantastic. Ignoring the blatant plagiarism, the Budokai series music was *so* good, but his Kai music blows.

[@Keurgui1]

@@dvda9725 Respectfully, I disagree. The budokai games were going for a different feel entirely since they were just video games with story telling taking a backseat to the overall gameplay. DB Kai was a remastered Z anime, with a more modern production style and I believe his score reflects that. It's more orchestral and dynamic like Kikuchi but also has varied musical styles and its own whimsy to it. Imo it very much modernized Kikuchi's style, it's just too bad he plagiarized

[@mechajay3358]

Kikuchi and Facloner Score is my top favorite Dragon Ball music. And after hearing the soundtrack from Super Broly, Sumitomo has risen up there. Also gotten respect Johnson's score for getting better with each movie.

[@zetandpeligaming]

Mark you have absolutely excelled yourself here. This is brilliant. It's also Interesting how the 'Faulconer Team' had the constraints of making sure there was no silence atall. I wonder if this is why this music works so well in the Legacy of Goku games

[@gespenst1329]

Well, games do have just about no silence during levels, and a lot of their score did sound like video game-type music, particularly in a lot of the samples that were used.

[@marvelsandals4228]

Even KaiserNeko of TFS, resident sub purist, has said that he thinks the 8-bit adapted "Falconer" scores are perfect for a video game, they're excellent for just looping as much as needed while being ambient and catchy

[@lifeloverNorris]

Well I for one loved Tokunaga's work in GT. The music that plays as Goku transform to SSJ4 is the GOAT.

[@MADKapo]

I think the best aspect of his soundtrack was all the Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku variants he did, they really got you in the emotional moments.

[@jesseslack2089]

@@MADKapo This that song is just so good in melody form or whatever.

[@arghyabandyopadhyay1991]

​@@MADKapoGT has a wide variety of tracks each one for the mood. Not only Dan Dan Kokoro , Pan's theme , the Piccolo sacrifice theme , Shenron reviving people of Earth one last time , Goku staring at the Earth feeling sad he couldn't save it before Oozaru transformation , The Evil Dragons theme that sounds ominous yet ethereal , I loved them all... Tokunaga knew his job . Unfortunately Mark doesn't when it comes to GT .

[@MADKapo]

​@@arghyabandyopadhyay1991 What do you mean "Mark doesn't know his job"? What do you think his job is? Liking everything? lol I'm sure he heard Tokunaga's score and he just didn't vibe with it, he's entitled to his own opinion, is he not? Also I didn't mean that the Dan Dan Kokoro variants are the ONLY good thing about his soundtrack, but the thing I like the most about it.

[@arghyabandyopadhyay1991]

@@MADKapo Go watch his GT vs Super comparison video and come back here. I love Mark but he literally contradicts his own statement about the music. Also see how he gives a detailed research on all the other music like the tones , themes etc but just sums up the GT part like " This was underwhelming for me and I feel sad that Tokunaga wasn't given much time "

[@Gypsygeekfreak17]

FINALLY SOMEONE IS ACTUALLY TALKING ABOUT THE MUSIC

[@aaaaaacx]

I feel the same

[@pvenger]

he did this before as well

[@ilay_ux]

He's done this before as well but touched on themes more and their respective tracks. I love how he's not afraid to make videos on every topic, even if it's about the music again!

[@alibeknorbekov5963]

Yea

[@Ash_Wen-li]

My Theory is that Mark started his DBZ review but realised covering the music along with everything else would be too much so he made it its own video

[@overspec_]

The Johnson Gogeta theme is something else. How he developed over the years is insane.

[@TFormerRock]

Akahito's music for GT in criminally underrated. I absolutely adore it. It makes GT different. It's kind of dreamy and spacey at times. I just love it.

[@KZt-Ksh]

It's quite impressive that he managed to did it despite the lack of experience at scoring, it's a shame that he left too early I think he has a potential

[@ginogatash4030]

It had its catchy moments but it did feel like a downgrade compared to Kikuchi, the OST of GT kind of sounds like a kinda neat and obscure JRPG game that was alright but didn't really make bank or anything and has a niche fanbase.

[@shadowfall5278]

I have a unique experience of growing up with the Yamamoto’s score because of Kai, Kikuchi’s score because it replaced Yamamoto’s in Kai, and the Faulconer score because of the Orange Bricks. Out of all them I would say Kikuchi is what I associate the franchise with the most. That’s what the rest of the world outside the anglosphere got anyway.

[@gespenst1329]

For sure. His music for the franchise is practically woven into its fabric.

[@muslimmetalman]

Even the idea that dragon ball is inconsistent in its music is a prospect limited almost solely to the English language releases. Other soundtracks were not generally approved for this series. It's Kikuchi and then Yamamoto for awhile

[@gespenst1329]

@@muslimmetalman With Tokunaga in between, but when the Z OVA from 2008 came around they used Kikuchi again.

[@SpeedPunch]

Got a problem?​@@gespenst1329

[@pepeowen]

Not enough videos on youtube about DBZ's OST. Really, what an underrated work of art.

[@bocodamondo]

original japanese ost will always be my favorite

[@brocklee394]

I am one of the few people that is actually a fan of the Nathan Johnson score. His work for Fusion Reborn has been so iconic that it’s forever in my brain. I actually liked his work that he did on DBZ. I really wish the level sets could’ve been completed along with the composition that he had in store for the rest of Dragon Ball but sadly, we’ll never get to see the light of day.

[@andrewblissett2211]

THANK YOU. His Broly, Fusion Reborn, and Wrath of the Dragon soundtracks are legendary and iconic to me. I love how mythical and fairy tale-like his Wrath of the Dragon score is in particular. It just sounds like a fantasy epic with it's use of bold sounding horns and brass, and it's awesome.

[@ianbravogaming]

I grew up with the Funimation Orange Box DVDs, the English music, and guitar intro to DBZ is burned into my brain and I love it dearly

[@HyperGamer14]

When I think about Dragon Ball and its OST, I think about Kikuchi's score. We got his score in our german dub (we even had german versions of the insert songs in OG DB, but sadly not in DBZ) and I still remember a lot of themes he composed to this day, even though it has been 15+ years since I've made a rewatch of DBZ and 10 since I rewatched DB. It's just.... magical and fits DB's tone perfectly.

[@gespenst1329]

The rest of the world aside the Anglosphere (thanks to the US) definitely appreciated it. And also in the proper order.

[@justinarzola4584]

The tenkaichi music is some of my favorite themes of kikuchi's score.

[@FlinnyWinny]

Ein deutscher Dragonball Brudi! 😀 Ja, Kikuchis OST kann man einfach nicht übertreffen.

[@rutgerbauer4345]

There's a German insert song when Future Trunks has his bunker flashback. The lyrics are "Was die Zukunft bringinen wird" oder so etwas. I think there may be more songs, but not sure...

[@gespenst1329]

@@rutgerbauer4345 Was it a dub over of Mind Power Ki?

[@mrcwillis6970]

The music of dragon ball will always live on. So joyful, intense and emotional. 🐉

[@ElJefeRules]

It's refreshing to hear a balanced take on the different soundtracks without bias.

[@gespenst1329]

But as usual, the comment section does otherwise.

[@SpeedPunch]

The funimation dub​@@gespenst1329

[@roxastidus]

I adore the GT score. It’s different from kikuchis in all the right ways. I always thought it had a jrpg sound to it

[@dchan316]

Agreed! Love the GT score. I was gonna make the same comparison to JRPG's.

[@somecallmesean_]

Funny thing is that Toei did the cutscenes for the PS1 version of Chrono Trigger around the time of GT

[@ginogatash4030]

The whole of GT had kind of a dated "of its time" look and feel, like even the art style looked very 90's compared to the rest of DragonBall which looked more unique. That's not to say it's necessarily bad, but Kikuchi had a much stronger outing in both identity and quality, which I can't blame the GT guy too much fir since it was his first time scoring for a series and production of the show in general being weird, but still there's a reason why GT is not everyone's favorite score, or series in general.

[@cobrakai9969]

@@ginogatash4030 I personally adore the way GT looks AND sounds. I agree it is very "of the time", but it has a very Sci-Fi vibe to it. Like an interpretationg of a futuristic world from the viewpoint of the 80s/90s, kinda similar to The Terminator. It fits GT so well.

[@CasualVader]

Something about you talking about Dragon Ball with Kikuchi’s score in the background just warms my heart and brings a smile to my face.

[@ArvelleWhitaker]

Glad a lot of people giving Kikuchi his props

[@gespenst1329]

He deserves them, there's a _lot_ of underrated genius in his material once certain elements are looked past.

[@BioGoji-zm5ph]

He definitely improved as a composer after his awful compositions for the Showa Gamera films.

[@gespenst1329]

@@BioGoji-zm5ph Most of it was in the 60’s apparently, perhaps he hadn’t fully come into his own yet. After all, he did write Kamen Rider 1979.

[@ESJ_DeLeon_21]

I grew up in the Philippines and animes shown there are usually shown the way there are shown in Japan with the only difference of having Tagalog dubbing on them. So music ost, to openings and closings are exactly the same as Japan. Thats why i always prefer the original Japanese scoring by Kikuchi.

[@86Fallowcp]

He always gets props, just not in the english communities, most of those grew up with a different soundtrack after all

[@Bas_Brand]

There's a reason there are DB/DBZ symphony concert tours worldwide and the entire arena is always filled with pure love and excitement

[@DavidRYates-tk2tq]

I love Kikuchi's music but also really love the music of the Faulconer score, but my main gripe with it is the fact that it never shuts up, if it would allow things to be silent every once in awhile, it would be perfect.

[@gespenst1329]

Funimation decision.

[@KZt-Ksh]

Along with the usage of mickey mousing technique which is basically the sudden change pace of the score, threw me off guard every time I heard it when watching the og funi ver of dbz

[@rabronin]

For me, my go-to composer has always been Faulconer and co. But as I'm watching the original Japanese dub these days, I've gradually warmed up to Kikuchi's work.

[@truedarkness4052]

That's how I feel too. Team Faulconer's score will always be my number 1 but I really enjoy Kikuchi for OG DB. Faulconer's score really captured the high-tech/90s vibe of DB super well.

[@gespenst1329]

How would you describe it in general, in that regard?

[@marcoparada6652]

​@@truedarkness4052, it sounded cheap. It was complete shit. So shit, that Falcouner was practically pushed and phased out after DBZ.

[@UltraMarioBros4]

@@marcoparada6652 They weren't even a big studio, stated in the video that they were a cheap studio to be hired because they couldn't afford flights to Canada. So you cannot blame them for that, also some of their tracks aren't even bad, but I understand that the music playing constantly in the background can get annoying, but the tracks separately are good to listen to.

[@skywatcher1082]

For me the Japanese soundtrack is the best, since it’s the one used for the Latin-American dub. 🔥Trunks theme is the most 90’s soundtrack ever😆.

[@Gensolink]

the best way I could describe the jp soundtrack is that it's a product of its time in a good way

[@gespenst1329]

Well yes, it’s only the US that has a stick up their rear ends about changing everything to what they decide everyone should like. (Although that theme for Trunks is very much 80’s tbh)

[@Ramsey276one]

We got lucky, VERDAD?! XD

[@leigh-jeanterblanche5833]

@@gespenst1329 here in South-Africa we had the Wasserman/Bruce score , which imo is superior.

[@gespenst1329]

@@leigh-jeanterblanche5833 Today... isn't the time. I won't get into the argument considering the breaking news.

[@anayloses8097]

0:04 America being described as a close up b roll of fast food is comical and very accurate

[@joashnegi1308]

What I didn't like about the Faulconer score was that there was always music playing in the background the entire time. Sometimes you just have to let a scene breathe on the shoulders of the voice actors.

[@gespenst1329]

As a result of Funimation's directive & NA replacement scoring conventions.

[@KZt-Ksh]

This is true whoever the hell decided to let the music play every time needs to be fired, this is one of my problems with the SSJ(Smith, Scott and Julius I don't like crediting Bruce)Soundtrack, the music while it's good can be distracting plus the suddenly shift of music sometimes (mickey mousing technique) feels a bit confusing and annoying the score feels like a random track jam in one track(ex:the Hyperbole Time Chamber track)

[@Morganstudios]

Most of us that worked on the American score actually agree with you :)

[@86Fallowcp]

@@Morganstudios Wait, "most of us"? Holy shit, you are Scott Morgan, one of the composers! You are awesome for being here! I will have to check your videos later, dude. I didn't grew up with your soundtrack but I totally see the worth of it.

[@andrewverrett568]

Love the vegeta theme on faulconer version when he fights 19. Best version.

[@Morganstudios]

Oh wow I just happened on this! Nice job! I appreciate the shout out for us ghost writers :) It's wonderful that the community really knows the truth about people like us and Wasserman. I do have to say though I was wondering about Mark Menza and at the last second you brought him in =D Anyway, great job. I really enjoyed it.

[@gespenst1329]

7 months… that’s quite a while. Anyways, welcome Mr. Morgan, to the pandemonium that is DBZ soundtrack comment sections :p (Who am I kidding you’re beyond a veteran for this sort of thing)

[@Morganstudios]

@@gespenst1329 Thanks :). Haha yeah I've been around. I think I first talked with people about the soundtrack on IRC back when I was still working on the show!

[@gespenst1329]

@@Morganstudios Too young for IRC... BTW, since I saw some of your assessments on the original score from years back on Kanzenshuu... would you happen to know the names of, say, Nozomi Aoki or Seiji Yokoyama?

[@shiranuiaensland1442]

Kikuchi's music, as well as the various songs used by the show, are celebrated all over the world by the Dragon Ball Symphonic Adventure concert tour.

[@gespenst1329]

As it deserves, just like Saint Seiya. Meanwhile on the official release side, the JP companies behind that score continue to fall short…

[@atesz567]

i watched a few of these on youtube, wish i could attend 1 of these in person, propaly never happen, cause of budget :s

[@gatlindragon88]

Like it should be, not like that horrible american soudtrack.

[@myronn6396]

honestly thats the best thing from z

[@gespenst1329]

@@gatlindragon88 The story behind it is even more hilarious too.

[@eagonten]

Faulconers score will always have a special place in my heart. The coolest for me was an unreleased track called Evil suspense, it plays at the beginning of the final flash vs cell episode. The suspense goes perfect with vegetas shock and awe.

[@MasterGeek-mk5ne]

I got admire the passion of TotallyNotMark regarding Dragon Ball. He really does a lot of content about the series’s geniuses, and he didn’t even tapped into the Z saga review saga yet.

[@famalam943]

The Levi/Wasserman music from the Ocean days is by far my favourite. Something about it is just so atmospheric

[@Sawngawkuh]

Technically, Kikuchi did make a somewhat substantial use of his leitmotifs (as well as producing a fair amount of them in general). The thing is, that level of detail can mostly only be appreciated when watching the movies due to the majority of the post-OG DB material being originally composed for them (with it all being scored to the specific imagery on-screen like most film scores). The people who do the music placement for the show didn't really take into account his thematic development much, so the various themes for Goku (who alone has multiple motifs across the films), Vegeta, Kuririn, Saiyan transformations, and so on aren't capitalized on well enough. Most of their attempts at staying true to his theming were Gohan's and Piccolo's ones, and reusing movie antagonist motifs for series villains. When you hear all his work in the proper context, you can really hear him play with various reoccurring ideas constantly across all those features.

[@gespenst1329]

And this is what a lot of these discussions are missing or don’t take into account enough. Also, the movies don’t quite have the gravitas of the stories they’re basically retelling from the original, and the placements in the show many times feel random, repetitive or improvised, like the music selector (Shigeru Miyashita) really didn’t have a handle on what sorts of scenes the tracks should be used for.

[@_Teej_264]

Surprised Mark Menza didn't get a section. His super saiyan riff was iconic to me and is part of the brilliance that finally grew in the best moments of GT

[@noelrodriguez6625]

I’m glad someone else said it! I liked his score, I actually thought he did a decent job

[@_Teej_264]

@noelrodriguez6625 absolutely! I think if he had a partner for some of the more actiony parts it'd be perfect. Menza just nails the feel of atmosphere and nostalgia of the series in a way that people can feel even if you didn't grow up with it. The musical motifs are unparalleled

[@christopher_silver]

yea he did Movie 6/7/8/9/11 + GT, I was kinda disappointed that he got left out (+some others as well)

[@Eric_Cartman1]

I wish Mark at least talked about him more instead of a last sec gag at 35:38.

[@_Teej_264]

@@Eric_Cartman1 I agree!

[@blitzcloud]

Kikuchi is the GOAT, because his choice of instruments are so unique for the medium and still work great. Here in this absolute hidden gem he combines piccolo and goku's (makafushigi adventure) theme into one: Dragon Ball Z BGM - United Forces (M814B) And it's absolutely glorious

[@gespenst1329]

He’s also done the same with the MA Motif and Krillin’s theme. M920 however is an even greater master move when viewed with full context.

[@awesomereviews1561]

The Garlic jr fight right?

[@blitzcloud]

indeed @@awesomereviews1561

[@gespenst1329]

@@awesomereviews1561 Yea, none other.

[@pickthestickup]

It's so serendipitous that you posted this because the composers for Funimation's dub of DBZ just performed here at MAGWest

[@megahobbit5972]

When I heard that Kikuchi score i felt the nostalgia drop on me. So beautiful and fitting. The Bruce Faulconer Production (Everyone from that era) ones also arent behind on that but as i grew up i understand the issues they have with his tracks being same-y but still hold a special place in my heart

[@AnthonyRagus]

There's a grain of irony in displaying footage of Hanz Zimmer while talking about scoring to picture. Albeit his creative decisions, Zimmer has teams of orchestrators (who in turn have their respective assistants and interns) that use Zimmer's suite of themes to peform the work of scoring to picture, let alone the orchestrating. It's another situation of credit deficiency, much more dramatic than Faulconer. Also, holy moly, there's a metric tonne of video stabilization on that Zimmer footage.

[@gespenst1329]

Absolutely.

[@Ansemthewise59]

Little more detail on Ron Wasserman: Apparently he was a ghost writer for most of Shuki Levy's material and claimed that he composed most of the music for Dragon Ball Z in his home. It was a bold claim but he backed it up by releasing previously unreleased cues from the show! Good job Mark on giving credit where it was due!👍 Ron Wasserman is awesome!🎸 Edit: Also, according to Ron Wasserman, he was totally in control of the musical direction. Claiming that Saban didn't care about Dragon Ball at all. Which is funny since DBZ is bigger than Power Rangers now!😂

[@jp3813]

I believe that Wasserman also said in his interview w/ The Dutch Gamers that he didn't actually compose "Rock the Dragon".

[@AtoManPL]

Yeah, Wasserman is also famously the composer of X-Men TAS theme, yet it's always credited to Shuki Levy.

[@freezasama5802]

Kikuchi changed my life because of how impactful it was since I grew up watching dragon ball on the orange brick sets and Kikuchi was amazing it really hit hard from Goku and Freeza theme and Cell's theme it really is incredible how amazing the score really was it really also captured the essence of dragon ball for me

[@gespenst1329]

It sounds interesting, although I would specify that "themes" for Freeza and Cell were actually taken from movies (Like movies 2 and 6).

[@freezasama5802]

@@gespenst1329 true but they were also intended to be used in the anime and so were composed to be able to do both

[@gespenst1329]

@@freezasama5802 That's more of an overall consistency thing (which Kikuchi excelled at for sure, even to a fault a times). The music selector however didn't seem to categorize tracks properly though. And Kikuchi scored many of these tracks to scene, so they really depend on the story and context of the movies he composed for to fully get them (and when you do, you'll get a _lot_ more out of them than you would in the show alone).

[@freezasama5802]

@@gespenst1329 that’s why I admire and love the tracks that much

[@gespenst1329]

@@freezasama5802 Sad part is their preservation was garbage at times so not all the tracks are in the best condition that they should have been.

[@EnoYaka]

The faulconer soundtrack also gets more classical as it goes on, the babidi casts a spell song is amazing.

[@gespenst1329]

That as well as Boo’s theme sounds like it could be in some RPG game on DS or Gamecube. Like VGM.

[@editgenix4122]

Hate how it’s called the faulconer score, he barely did anything

[@EnoYaka]

@@editgenix4122 yeahh wish the others got their credit.

[@gespenst1329]

@@editgenix4122 More accurately it should have been Faulconer Productions since they were employed under the company, but yea the guy always shows up acting as if he did it all while he himself can barely remember anything substantial about it besides less than ten tracks here & there.

[@gespenst1329]

The re-arrangements that Julius Dobos did of most material were also standout in that regard.

[@Jayjay_07]

When I think of Dragonball, Kikuchi is the second name that comes to mind. His work is Dragonball for me. I was devastated when I learned of his passing but the fact that so many db fans till this day love and celebrate his score makes me incredibly happy. But I have to say Sumitomo's later work in Super has an iconic status now too.

[@gespenst1329]

He had a remarkable run on the franchise, 10 years. I just wish a lot of the other staff at Toei and Nippon Columbia were as good as he was at doing their jobs.

[@TheEpicChris50]

Rest in paradise to both Kikuchi and Akita ❤️ takes me back to my childhood with the big orange boxes. Blessed to have had such a wonderful childhood and now, wonderful memories. Love you ma and pops ❤️❤️

[@renatoparedesroca651]

Thank you very much for this kind of videos. Not only I can practice my listening skills in English, but also do I learn much about DB. Greetings from Lima 🇵🇪

[@Raffo2007]

Too bad that when we talk about listen all the soundtracks through official releases... this turns into a tragedy: - Kikuchi has a lot of his music (DB-DBZ) scattered through the many albums with the songs from Z, movies; and in a single track there could be 2 or 3 themes mixed in it, plus a lot of his scored was never released, Like the music from the movie 3. - Tokunaga music is almost completely unreleased, a few tracks (also used in the movie: The Path to Power) were released on the same CDs with Kikuchi. - Ocean Score is completely unreleased . - Faulconer came to release 10 CDs... but even so, almost half of the total score remains unreleased (and unfortunately those are their best tracks). For some reason, they repeated some tracks in other CDs, many tracks were taken from the episodes (some transitioning from other track) instead of using the immaculate composition, and a lot of content from the early Buu saga was released compared to the other sagas (maybe because that saga was on air on par with these releases). Sadly, they left out almost all the material composed in the Freezer saga (where their score was at its peak imo). - Menza is completely unreleased. - Johnson too. - Yamamoto's score is ironically the best treated one, only 2 of his tracks remain unreleased, "Gohan Awakening" and "Creature of Marvel-Slow". The sad thing is that he was caught 3 weeks before his last album was released with these 2 tracks and 6 unknown tracks that were possibly variations on already released tracks. - Sunitomo' score for Kai 2014 is half unreleased, just like Faulconer, these are even better than the released ones, just compare "Effective Attack" with "A hearbreaking farrewell".

[@gespenst1329]

Not to mention Kikuchi's stuff partially being recorded in mono of all things, which is inexcusable in the late 80's-early 90's period (to put it into perspective, Seiji Yokoyama's work on Saint Seiya gets _much_ better treatment by far). The only good releases in full stereo were the ones from Movies 8, 10, and 11 (the last two being by Forte Music which went bankrupt sadly). Meanwhile there were _15_ "Hit Song Collections", mostly consisting of image songs never even used in the show, and all recorded better than a lot of the BGM of the show itself. And yea, Yamamoto's stuff has always gotten better treatment (along with _way_ more comprehensive crediting of session musicians and engineers especially compared to the Kikuchi albums including the 5 CD 1994 and 3 CD 2006 releases). From the Hit Song Collections he was involved in to the games he worked on (the only DB games to ever get commercial soundtrack releases BTW, which, as you said, is ironic knowing what we know about his stuff). All before Kai. The guy really had a handle on production, and was connected to people who do.

[@wiiztec]

What is an image song?

[@gespenst1329]

@@wiiztec A song that’s inspired by a media property but never actually shows up in it, produced in an official capacity by related and authorized personnel.

[@deemster4249]

Saban Ocean dub did get a soundtrack album

[@Saxdude26]

Mark, your deep dives remain enthralling and nostalgic, as well as objective. That always makes your analysis fascinating to watch and hear. Just today, my copy of the Rock the Dragon Edition of DBZ arrived in the mail, a piece of my childhood I would constantly lament whenever I watched reruns or BluRays of early DBZ, and while it wasn't the core of why, Ron Wasserman's arrangements were part of what I missed STRONGLY from those rewatches. The Ocean Dub has always been a huge part of my childhood, and as much as Smith, Morgan and Fobos' work on the Funi dub still gives me chills, from SSJ through to SSJ3, it was as early as that first Piccolo theme being interrupted by the impending sting of Raditz that captured why this show's soundtrack is such a vital part of the story telling. This was a blast to watch, and immediately afterwards I rewatched the Raditz arc to confirm if the music does indeed make the moment. IT DOES, and those iconic Ocean Dub scores still hit beautifully. Thankyou for the detailed history lesson, really looking forward to seeing what the future of DragonBall music holds.

[@Truck-kun11]

Here in Brazil it became a tradition that both Dragon Ball and Pokemon always have a localized version of the opening, and they are always bangers.

[@despayeeto_5936]

I don't know if "localized" is the right word to use here. When I think of localized, I think of Rock The Dragon, or the Faulconer Productions score that they had in America. We still got the same openings in Brazil for Dragon Ball, just with translated lyrics, I think.

[@gespenst1329]

@@despayeeto_5936Dubbed over for sure. Ironically, Harmony Gold of all companies at least dubbed over the original Dragon Ball OP when they were the ones with the license.

[@dignelberrt]

Kikuchi is quintessential dragonball

[@pinoynobody211]

Shunsuke Kikuchi's composition puts a smile to my face like seeing a dear old friend.

[@kdwil1999]

Even though the music is plagiarized, the yamamoto score will always be my favorite score in dragon ball z

[@TheGamingSiri]

The plagiarism case regarding Yamamoto's music, especially for kai, really isn't that strong anyway. He changed the instrumentation and melodic cadences for those tracks, making them something distinct. Were his pieces (at least from Kai) to go to court in any other 1st world nation, he very well might've been exonerated.

[@lineialquantum]

If he would have cleared the samples/interpolations beforehand this would be a non story

[@TheGamingSiri]

​@@lineialquantum You don't really need to clear interpolations or homages though. Had he done direct sampling, which as far as I'm aware he didn't, those would need to be cleared, at least in Japan.

[@ShHeMiLeRe]

I'd love some musicologist to explain it because even if I know that he took parts of other scores I don't understand why Yamamoto was disgraced as a plagiarist while Shiro Sagisu who ripped off John Barry's Bond music (and apparently many more) is not controversial at all? I get it, he came up with his own version of that music but it's easilly recognizable. In any other circumstance something this similar would've been considered plagiarism so where's the line?

[@TheGamingSiri]

​@@ShHeMiLeRe Musicology isn't really meant for that (it's more of a musical anthropology study), and as a result, the cases that rely on them, or really anything in the world of copyright for that matter, are just a matter of opinion above all else. From a music theory perspective though, (which I'm admittedly no more of an authority on than any other freelance composer), the bar pretty much comes down to whether you changed anything at all from the original piece in terms of how it's performed and how it's structured, whether that's changes in instrumentation or changes to melodic cadence or chord structure changes or even lyrical changes. In music theory, all of those things are grounds for a piece being considered separate from whatever origins it may have. In the case of Yamamoto, Toei just didn't want to deal with the hassle and fired him before a case could even be made. Whether or not the same will happen to Yoko Kanno or Shiro Sagisu, only time can tell.

[@EveOfChaos]

thank you so much for covering the faulconer shit. as a musician one of my greatest fears is having that done to me. That and what happened with marty o'donnell give me all sorts of anxiety lol

[@joestar.d.seba27]

The original score of DB is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of the anime adaptation. What Kikuchi brought to the franchise is beyond iconic. And I can say that Sumimoto's score in ToP arc is also sublime, it was great to know how he went through the first problems in early Super.

[@victorbarron-zuniga4564]

Finally, a video essay about the history of Dragon Ball music/score. This video will be legendary!

[@gespenst1329]

But the comment section is predictable as usual.

[@thomasbroadbent375]

I started watching your videos only this month, Mark, and I'm honestly hooked. I love how deep you get into the making of Dragon Ball and break down what can be learnt as an artist. Keep it up!

[@ZeroZero86997]

“From episode 1 of dragon ball right through till Goku forgot he had a family and left to train uub” Truly a masterpiece WTF sentence

[@Drums_of_Liberation]

Come on now lol Gohan was a grown ass man with his own family and Goten was pretty much about to leave the nest. And Chi Chi is probably so used to being abandoned that she likely wouldn't notice if Goku was gone for a long time 😂

[@MarcosQ24]

@@Drums_of_LiberationGoten was a teenager lmao some would say that’s the most important time to have your parent’s guidance. Also leaving chi chi alone for so long for so many times is messed up. That was a straight up selfish move

[@ghoulchan7525]

@@Drums_of_Liberation ya'll forgetting the man can teleport. he's actually never far away.

[@TBAG]

The Faulconer score (actually the Mike, Scott and Julius score) will always be my fav because not only is it nostalgic, but from an objective point of view its just so bad ass and perfectly fits DBZ in my eyes (ears). it just sounds amazing and it always fits the themes of the scenes perfectly

[@TheSepulphagist]

Agreed

[@gespenst1329]

Objective... Well you can back it up with objective points but it's more subjective, and that's fine really. And yea, I understand 100% why you and others like it, the big moments with lines everyone remembers "Does a machine like yourself ever experience fear?" plus the tracks that play right after and stuff like that. There's more than one instance of it throughout.

[@beef2cho]

dude mark ive been following your videos for like 5 or 6 years, and seeing your videos mature from alright top ten videos to genuinly thought provoking spectaculars was incredible I am so excited for this Z review, and i know it will not dissapoint!

[@batmankills100]

For me, Yamamoto got me into the franchise so that’s my score to start. I got a lot of love for Kikuchi’s score , it grew on me over the years. As for the American score, I is the Cartoon Network era vibes of Faulconer. All in all, each composer did a great job.

[@M.A.Sketchbook]

Your channel is amazing! I absolutely love the attention of detail you bring, especially to your Dragonball content!

[@blur7491]

35 minutes and it didnt even begin to mention the absolute mess that was the GT replacement music story with Mark Menza. Mark's saga and the fight over Falconers' signature inside of Funi is a whole other video in of itself lmao. His style of music is what defines GT for so many people in the modern era and it's odd not to see him mentioned considering the impact he had.

[@Power11112]

Yeah I noticed that too like memes did all of Gt and a good chunk of scores in the movies (that honestly wasn’t all that bad even if it was a bit screechy)

[@TeeHallumsYT]

Someone didnt watch to the very end!

[@gespenst1329]

Everyone hates that soundtrack though, even Faulconer score fans.

[@Vulpas]

The GT replacement score is underrated, but a big mess sometimes, very hit and miss. The opening theme in particular is...yeahhh...

[@blur7491]

​@@TeeHallumsYTHey, I missed that lmao. Still weird but I am glad he was included

[@kakarot6808]

i really like hiroshi takaki's (episode of bardock and 2010 plan to eradicate the saiyans ova) music. it's a shame nobody ever talks about him. still praying for an official release for his score.

[@gespenst1329]

I mainly know him from Super Sentai (Lupin vs Pat from 2018) and apparently he’s active in PreCure series. I don’t quite remember his works in DB tho but I know that he’s really good as a composer.

[@TheLadyIntegra]

The Faulconer score is the SHIT for me. Man I love it so freaking much. That music is so nostalgic and badass, and I know some folks hate that its constantly playing, but as someone who loves amvs and music... I LOVE it when the music just suddenly HITS during a fight scene. The guitar, the bass... ah, so many freaking awesome theme songs! The Faulconer score is so special to me I literally feel like scenes are MISSING something without it. It's like tryna eat a delicious steak without chilli! Frustrating! That soundtrack gives me freaking goosebumps. But I like the Kikuchi score for the original Dragon Ball series. Its more magical and upbeat, less hardcore, which fits the tone of kid Goku's adventures.

[@gespenst1329]

Hey, as long as you're nice and respectful about it.

[@gobah]

Agreed. Nothing sounds quite like Toonami-era DBZ.

[@WitlessMass]

A truly well made video. While I prefer Kikuchi and Yamamoto over anything and everything, (loved some of the Falcouner era tracks), I was always a huge fan of Nathan Johnson's work. Not only did you include him into your piece but also ended the video with his quote, that made me really happy.

[@Serpent947]

The dramatic orchestra playing during fights in the original score has been engraved into my psyche.

[@gespenst1329]

Original DB was the best of it for sure.

[@gavinlucas9761]

As an english speaker who grew up watching the dub of Dragon Ball through the orange bricks I absoletely love Kikuchi's score and I still listen to many of his tracks of dragon ball when ever I'm driving to work, and I unironically really love Tokunaga's music of GT as it's style reminded me of a lot of video game music from the 1990's. I even recently have decided to finally watch the original english broadcast dub out of curiosity, and while none of Wasserman's music really stood out to me as I honestly found the instrumentations to be kind off boring I actually did found my self likening the Faulconer era music quite a bit as it has a lot of 90's style instrumentation and I like how the music is synced to the action on screen . Though even with all of the different composers I would still say Kikuchi's is the absolute best as I love it's timeless score and it perfectly fits the story Dragon Ball.

[@gespenst1329]

Are those the stereo or mono tracks that you'd mostly listen to?

[@mrk1190]

Kinda disappointed that Mark Menza's score wasn't a part of this conversation. Considering he scored a lot of the DBZ films and DBGT.

[@GrandAdmiralFart]

In Latin Spanish, there was no such thing as the falconer score or whatever the other stuff is... We only had the orchestral music from Kikuchi and what Tokunaga did in GT. There were a few changes in some key scenes, like Gohan's SSJ2 transformation... IT HAD NO MUSIC! Only sound effects and voice over and it hits extremely different. A series that is characterized by its over blown music when something epic is happening and suddenly in arguably the most epic moment of the series... Silence... If you're interested, type "Gohan SSJ2 sin música"

[@gespenst1329]

They probably didn’t get the rights for the song?

[@GrandAdmiralFart]

@@gespenst1329 I did some voice acting in Latin Spanish and in 2007 got to work (and talk) with Mario Castañeda who played Goku. I asked him specifically about this and he said it was a bit hazy as it was a long time ago, but he said that it was a direction thing in which they decided to take it out. Another good example would be Goku and Roshi (Jackie Chun) singing in the martial arts tournament final... In Japanese it was a song with lyrics and kinda like a musical number in a theater play, and in Spanish it was just dub dub dub da bee doo ba because of censorship and lack of time to come up with something original (that was told to me by the director of the DB dub version), but then you get the Yamcha wolf's song and in Spanish it was broadcasted in Japanese (I remember it). The DVD version of the Gohan's SSJ2 transformation has the song, that's why you have to be specific with typing the "...sin música" part (no music)

[@gespenst1329]

@@GrandAdmiralFart Interesting to hear, I see. Also cool that someone so high up would be here in this comment section

[@GrandAdmiralFart]

@@gespenst1329 thank you. I wasn't that high in that world. I got two starting roles and had a couple of characters in well known series that were mine, but I don't feel like revealing much more since I left that in 2011 and I've moved on. The reason I became a voice actor was because of DB and Z. The voice acting in Spanish is beyond high quality and it is regarded as the top 3 best Latin Spanish versions of anything ever (the other two being the old Zorro series and Disney's the sleeping beauty movie). If you feel curious about what makes voice acting stand out and become top tier, just let me know and I'll show you some examples with links using mostly dragon ball in Latin Spanish

[@robinsonsonic]

Incredible work as always, TNM! These videos are tremendous, and I can't fathom the amount of work that goes into them. Loved your individual take on each score that makes up DB as a franchise, and while I respect those that love Kikuchi, I can't watch DBZ without Faulconer's crew. Frieza vs. Piccolo, Goku's SSJ theme, Vegeta's theme and SSJ theme, Trunks' first appearance, Cell's theme, Super Buu's theme, and so many, many others that make up that soundtrack define my experience with DBZ and are just as responsible as DB the anime itself as to why I love anime as a genre to begin with. For me, Faulconer Production is DBZ as much as I think of Kikuchi specifically being tied to DB.

[@Arteaga4K]

Thank you for being the only youtuber to use the RIGHT Gogeta theme.

[@MultiKool13]

Kikuchi's score in OG DB always makes me feel so... cozy when I watch it, if that makes any sense

[@jp3813]

8:39 The Dutch Gamers interview w/ Ron Wasserman: Your rocky sound is pretty clear in Dragon Ball Z, X-Men animated series and of course Power Rangers. They sound the same but yet so different… How do you give a theme song its own vibe? First of all in Dragon Ball Z with “Rock the Dragon” that isn’t me, I know a lot of people think it is. What I did is the score for the first couple years and at least 3 seasons and that was handed to me after I left Saban by Saban because they said; “Look here is a show we don’t really care about, so If you just want to score it at home.. score it."

[@liamconverse8950]

The X-Men theme is actually pretty iconic

[@jp3813]

@@liamconverse8950 Of course it is. Just like "Cha-La Head Cha-La".

[@functional200]

I love this topic because the Falconer and kikuchi scores each give the series different vibes.

[@gespenst1329]

Would you say that the latter never really attempts to match the scale or spectacle of the Z series?

[@functional200]

​@@gespenst1329it does feel less grandiose compared to the Falconer score but in a weird way I've come to appreciate it more in the past couple of years. Moments like Goku's first time going Super Saiyan take on a new meaning when you take a moment to listen with the Kikuchi score. (For me it went from Falconers pissed off good guy finally snaps and is ready to kick ass to Kikuchi showing Friezas worst nightmare finally awakening, ready to end his tyranny)

[@gespenst1329]

@@functional200 Well, that's for sure, his studio orchestra is even downsized from the original DB series (no French Horns for one). Although ironically the Faulconer Team also didn't really have the budget for live performers in contrast, so they went big in just about the only way they could. So, my idea of grandiose for the period DB came out in would be something like, say, Saint Seiya. And I don't think Kikuchi really gets to those levels either (especially with certain tracks being in mono for whatever reason). But with the scene you mentioned, it represents one of my gripes with Z's soundtrack selection convention in that what the music selector chose to use was a track that had been heard _more than once_ in preceding episodes (when 1st form Freeza came out), rather than a new track that had never been heard prior to that point, just for that moment (as was done with Future Trunks revealing that he's also a Super Saiyan, and Gohan snapping into SSJ2, both with insert songs).

[@HYRVLR_Raouf]

Shunsuke Kikuchi and Norihito Sumitomo, the best ever! Both got me emotional in so many ways, sadness, joy, rage, you name it! I always get goosebumps whenever I think of scenes with their music on. After the late legendary Kikuchi, to me the ultimate successor is Sumitomo, keep him forever, it gives me joy whenever I see his name on Dragon Ball projects!

[@creategreatness8823]

For me, these choices are perfect: Dragon Ball - Kikuchi - Obviously Dragon Ball Z - Faulconer - Hot take explained below Dragon Ball Super - Sumitomo - Obviously Dragon Ball is the most vintage property, and has a very "Earthly, fantasy adventure comedy" vibe to it, something whimsical and magical. Kikuchi's music is perfect for that. Dragon Ball Z completely flips things on its head. This isn't fantasy adventure any more, it's an epic sci-fi space opera. Aliens, androids, space travel, time travel, transformations. It is a series with a LOT of "dead air" in the action so to speak. A lot of staring, charging, traveling, training, and monologues. The music CONSTANTLY present creates a constant state of energy even when things are fairly passive. The entire thing is almost like a music video, a visual rock opera, an audio-visual narrative. Dragon Ball Super is yet another evolution into the realm of what you might call a "Cosmic adventure" and despite a bit of a rocky beginning, I think it evolves into something absolutely iconic...into some of the best tracks we've ever heard for this series.

[@gespenst1329]

Z also switched to mainly scoring the movies and not doing much for the show, which led to some late arrivals and an overall improvised usage convention.

[@rideflyer]

Honestly, I love all the eras of dragon ball music. It is one of the aspects of dragon ball that has remained broadly consistent in terms of its quality whether its Kakuchi, Faulconer, Wasserman, Sumitomo, or any other composer who has worked on the show each score has its own identity and meaning that has formed wonderful memories for millions around the world and millions more to come.

[@jacklomas4218]

The one I listened to was z was faulconer I believe. Enjoyed the soundtrack overall the thing that did put me off a bit was the fact there was music constantly. Like non stop. Besides that annoyance the soundtrack was good though.

[@SeeleSO02]

Can you imagine what it must have felt like for Kikuchi when they changed the soundtrack to Dragon Ball in America? You spend a decade making music for a series, only for that work to go overseas, and some higher up listens to your score and goes "lol nah."

[@gespenst1329]

He’d already retired by that point (1999 but by 1996 he had left DB and took on a few other projects) and likely wasn’t at all aware of what happened on the US side of things (although his royalty awards from JASRAC for highest royalties from foreign airings of the show might probably bring to mind why not much came from the US). Sadly the only reaction we got from any high ranking JP figure in DB/Z to any US tampering was from Toriyama himself towards DBE. He also commented on Toei turning Goku into some kind of hero, but would most likely have said the same about the US dub x10. Wish he’d looked at it and given his outright disapproval like CLAMP did so it never has to be released again. As for Kikuchi, even in the 2006 BGM collection liner notes he left behind, he never once mentioned the US version. Also, with 40 years of work on mostly Toei properties, who even knows what other projects he’s worked on that got their soundtracks replaced in the US? Guessing they may have tried with Doraemon at some point, but idk.

[@ricksanchezdeluniversoc1379]

And they changed for shittier tracks.

[@yokingstream1005]

9:06 - 9:11 It’s funny how this statement could apply to both Faulconer and Yamamoto in different ways

[@SergioR00]

Kikuchi score is my favorite by far. It just fits the show so perfectly not to mention brings consistency when viewing DB to DBZ

[@awesomereviews1561]

Kikuchi’s score is head and shoulders above everyone else. Bruce Falconer’s team had some good songs ( the different transformations) but it’s very dated a quite generic.

[@gespenst1329]

He was at it for 10 years and re-invented character themes as the franchise grew (even with the arrangement of scoring mainly the movies rather than the series proper). Just about the most consistent key staff member of the series. But the releases… barring 4 of them, the sad reality is that none are as good as they should have been, and mono mixes exist where they shouldn’t (not his fault).

[@BlackOpMercyGaming]

As a Dragon Ball fan who lives in the Dallas-Ft. worth Tx area. And extremely politically active, I must say, Nathan is an extremely awesome and kind dude who cares about people and wants to protect those whom can not protect themselves

[@deiansalazar140]

It's incredible that he is so multitalented.

[@Corbellations]

The opening rift to Rock The Dragon still gets me hyped to this day

[@HellSpartanZ]

Growing up as a kid hearing it in the morning got you pumped

[@turbochomp]

I don't have a lot if nostalgia for dragon ball, but, in large part probably causex by DBZA, Kikuchi's score is very nostalgic to me. Also the Faulconer score in the buu arc was very memorable to me as well

[@hitgamer4406]

RIP AKIRA TORIYAMA SENSEI 🕊️🙏 THANK YOU MORE MAKING OUR CHILDHOOD GREAT WITH YOUR MASTERPIECE. MY FAVOURITE ANIME DRAGON BALL THANKS FOR YOUR MANGAS AND ANIME. YOU WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.

[@kevin71794]

HA never in my life would I have thought to associate Never Meant and DB, my two favorite pieces of media. That was amazing

[@schrimply5980]

I'm feel bad I absolutely love the Yamamoto score, it fits so well for the series

[@bargun5889]

Most of its not that plagiarized, some of the examples are really weak. It's hard to be unique when you do a simple 5 note melody

[@diegopinon5275]

@@bargun5889 lot of his plagiarized songs were in dbz games. There’s an entire video compilation of all the possible plagiarized songs.

[@flaminginferno6641]

He genuinely can make good original music like Win Tough Fight, Seems like he took parts from other songs that just fit and Let's all admit a lot of his soundtrack did fit and fit well, I personally love his tracks despite his plagiarism.

[@Cranson92]

I never realized the Faulconer score had the credit scandal, so thank you for bringing that up. But I also never knew it was composed to scene while the other scores aren't. I think that's a huge part of why I prefer it so much. Vegeta's first super saiyan transformation always immediately comes to mind. It's a HUGE narrative moment, a massive reveal and the majority of the scene is literal silence in the JP score. He asks "does an android experience true fear?" And just...silence. And when the music does come in during the transformation itself, it's just very ambient. But this is not an ambient moment, so it never felt appropriate to me. He's literally achieving his entire life's goal up to that point by becoming a warrior of legend. It's a big deal! Definitely not gonna say the JP score is bad (because its not), but it just feels like the lack of being written to scene causes a bunch of misses when compared directly to a score that was. Like, if I hadn't heard the Faulconer score and watched the JP score in that scene first, it would've been fine, but I think it would've felt like a moment I kind of remember for a couple cool lines and being a big moment in the story, but that's it. Instead I still get goosebumps watching it decades later because of how much Vegeta's theme enhances the moment. I'm planning to rewatch dbz with the faulconer score again soon with one of those fan projects with Kai+Faulconer score, so maybe the complaints about the lack of silence will stick out to me more, but I dunno. I also will say I think that Kikuchi's OG dragonball score is basically perfect, and I wouldn't change a thing about it.

[@gespenst1329]

Congrats, this is a reasonable opinion and you stated it well, something sorely lacking in most of this fanbase. I can agree for sure about the lack of composing for the series proper being a problem, because the tracks were reused from the movies it feels like the Music selector and director really didn’t have a handle on when exactly certain tracks should be used most of the time. With Goku’s first SSJ transformation, the track used there (Dead Zone theme from Movie 1) was already overused in preceding episodes since the Ginyu Force was active and also when First Form Freeza came out to confront the Z Warriors. M-814, Garlic Jr’s theme, was also overused for battle scenes from episode to episode. They had some good general selection choices (like Dr. Willow’s theme for Freeza and Metal Cooler for Cell), but individual placements usually left quite a lot to be desired. They did however correct the aforementioned mistake with scenes like Future Trunks revealing himself as a Super Saiyan and Gohan awakening Super Saiyan 2, although they used insert themes and not regular BGM tracks to do it. (Same can’t be said for SSJ3 Goku though…) And yea, OG DB was great and didn’t need any changes or replacements.

[@SpeedPunch]

​@gespenst1329 and the trunks music was plagiarized by 5 songs by Propaganda like the murder of love and even Beverly hills cop.

[@MrFatLipx]

Thank you for not just bashing the Faulconer score, and actually giving it it's due. Too often, this score is written off by the hardcore fandom as dumb, loud noise that we should look at as some sort of embarrassment, completely disrespecting the clear care and craft that went into creating it. Say what you will about how "ethical" it was to change the music, or whether or not it truly "fits" the show, it can't be denied that there's a REASON it left such an impact on literally millions of people.

[@gespenst1329]

I can absolutely understand that, it could legitimately strike (and actually struck) a chord with people more than once (and they could even filter out everything else). I don’t handwave their legitimate enjoyment as simply nostalgia because I see that there’s more to it than that. You see it in the people making well done re-arrangements of the material and stuff like that. However, there is a section of its own fans who are _every bit as_ intolerant as you described the sub/hardcore fandom as being, and want no kind of conversation or dialogue whatsoever, nor do they seek to educate themselves properly about anything. But this is sadly par for the course when you’re dealing with the fanbase of anything Dragon Ball.

[@Morganstudios]

One comment about Julius. He actually did a lot of live orchestra music in Europe before coming over to work on DBZ, so some of your observations about his style actually make a lot of sense.

[@gespenst1329]

The scriptwriter for the video being TeeHallums, he actually mentioned that same point once (in the Destructo Discord).

[@austinseaman1913]

I will always love the Bruce falconer version so much nostalgia

[@OmegaFalcon]

I love Yamamoto's score so much, sucks that it's plagiarized 😭

[@CanadianBaconPwnage]

That's probably why you liked it so much: it was all taken from better composers. 😂

[@outphase78]

​@@CanadianBaconPwnageDoesn't take away from the fact that it sounded good. It's just the fact that we live in a capitalist world where everything is copyrighted and if all he could do was give credits to his interpolated tracks, we may still enjoy his music today.

[@mrcaboosevg6089]

Budokai 2 the game had great music, that was all plagiarised too. Might be a common theme in Dragonball

[@Ben-my5cl]

@@mrcaboosevg6089budokai 2 was actually the game with the least plagiarism☠️

[@kingace6186]

@@CanadianBaconPwnage Yamamoto was a great DJ at least.

[@ak01101]

Music is one of the reasons I love Dragon Ball franchise.

[@ilikepiedontu]

Bruce Falconers score absolutely transformed the Dragonball world in so many ways. The team behind the music made that show their own. It stands as one of the best sets of music in anime history, it fit the show so well it’s incredible to think that people dislike it for the sake of it not being in the Japanese originals. This isn’t even a debate, the Falconer team achieved a fantastic performance with magnificent flying colors.

[@gespenst1329]

Honestly speaking, it sounds more like video game music than an anime score.

[@Thorvald9666]

Falconer scores added a lot of life to scenes. The multiple tempo and theme changes throughout the action in each episode set it apart from the others.

[@Thorvald9666]

@@gespenst1329 Wasserman scores straight up sound like Starcraft music

[@gespenst1329]

@@Thorvald9666 The changes to those elements were apparently a result of mickey mousing to meet the demands of Funimation for non-stop background music. The 3rd ghostwriter mentioned this when he came in apparently. As for Starcraft music… well, tbh I’ve never heard the Wasserman score in its entirety or its context, and I’ve also never heard anything from Starcraft either. But closely listening to the Faulconer score again, a lot of it sounded a lot like things I’d hear in Nintendo DS games I used to play as a kid.

[@SHINKU93]

And the japanese dub sounds like 80's porno music tbh@@gespenst1329

[@magnum1165]

Someone online said it perfectly about the soundtracks, the original OST made DBZ feel like a old marital arts film while the Faulconer OST made DBZ feel like a sci-fi adventure film

[@gespenst1329]

True. In retrospect though, the latter may have overdone it in places.

[@KZt-Ksh]

So glad that I appreciate every composers work along with knowing their strength and weaknesses, unlike the majority here that seems to be stuck in the past to the point that some try to edit the modern interpretation with the outdated cheap synthesize

[@7evenseas975]

My top 11 from both US & Japanese 11- Perfect cell theme 10- vegeta knows his son 9- Orange piccolo theme 8- Japanese piccolo theme 7- Genkidama theme(Super version ( 6- The ToP intro 5- final flash 4- UI theme 3- Day of fate 2- Super sayain theme 1- genkidama theme(Both the build up and the choir version) Honorable mentions 1- Vegeta knows his son 2- Full force kamehameha 3- Goegeta vs broly & Kakarot vs broly These are here only because i couldn't fit them into my top 11. Every single one is amazing

[@BadTakeRisan]

The story of the Bruce Falconer music is one of the craziest in all anime OSTs.