What is Dragon Ball's BEST Soundtrack?

Ойын-сауық

From Kikuchi to Faulconer, from Wasserman to Sumitomo... Dragon Ball has had one of the craziest musical progressions and regressions in recent memory and today we are diving deep into the wild world of almost every Dragon Ball score!
MUSIC USED:
Kikuchi Score from DB and DBZ
Wasserman Score from DBZ
Faulconer Productions Score from DBZ
Tokunaga Score from DBGT
Johnson Score from DBZ
Yamamoto Score from DBZ Kai
Sumitomo Score from DBZ Kai TFC, DBS, and DBS Broly
Covers:
DBZ American Opening - 94Stones
Introduction: 0:00 - 2:34
Kikuchi: 2:35 - 8:07
Wasserman: 8:08 - 10:26
Tokunaga: 10:27 - 13:48
Faulconer: 13:49 - 19:39
Johnson: 19:40 - 23:15
Yamamoto: 23:16 - 27:31
Sumitomo: 27:32 - 33:00
Conclusion: 33:01 - 35:57
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TWITTER: / totallynotmark
PATREON: / totallynotmark

Пікірлер: 2 500

  • @TotallyNotMark
    @TotallyNotMark11 ай бұрын

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

  • @hershey9399

    @hershey9399

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @bowserbreaker2515

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @julescharm

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @mitsubishikid1187

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @kingace6186

    11 ай бұрын

    Definitely Kikuchi for me

  • @NBlaze53
    @NBlaze5311 ай бұрын

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

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    First was Geekdom, now this.

  • @muhammadHassan-kj1jy

    @muhammadHassan-kj1jy

    11 ай бұрын

    Yeh

  • @JACQUEZJOHNSON23

    @JACQUEZJOHNSON23

    11 ай бұрын

    Facts

  • @SumthomShii

    @SumthomShii

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @Xxblade17

    @Xxblade17

    10 ай бұрын

    Yeah

  • @latimixes
    @latimixes11 ай бұрын

    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

    @eagonten

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @claymontgomery4616

    @claymontgomery4616

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @BRsPedro

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @me67galaxylife

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    10 ай бұрын

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

  • @Dark_Tale
    @Dark_Tale11 ай бұрын

    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

    @legendarymarston9174

    11 ай бұрын

    I'm thankful that Mark will talk about it

  • @mechajay3358

    @mechajay3358

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @legendarymarston9174

    @legendarymarston9174

    11 ай бұрын

    @@mechajay3358 Thank you for informing us!

  • @andrewmcbridemusic

    @andrewmcbridemusic

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @jarednunes3263
    @jarednunes326311 ай бұрын

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

  • @nicolasespitia7743

    @nicolasespitia7743

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @Anthonycheesman33

    @Anthonycheesman33

    11 ай бұрын

    @@nicolasespitia7743that’s an L take lol

  • @MARMAR-xw6gj

    @MARMAR-xw6gj

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @nsipep

    @nsipep

    11 ай бұрын

    They reaaally dont, big L

  • @TFormerRock

    @TFormerRock

    11 ай бұрын

    ​@@nicolasespitia7743Autism detected

  • @VidaAnimada
    @VidaAnimada11 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @legendarymarston9174

    @legendarymarston9174

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @dankwaifu2093

    @dankwaifu2093

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @PedroMatos482

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    @@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.

  • @joashnegi1308
    @joashnegi13087 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    7 ай бұрын

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

  • @KZt-Ksh

    @KZt-Ksh

    4 ай бұрын

    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

    @Morganstudios

    4 ай бұрын

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

  • @86Fallowcp

    @86Fallowcp

    3 ай бұрын

    @@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

    @andrewverrett568

    Ай бұрын

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

  • @ArvelleWhitaker
    @ArvelleWhitaker11 ай бұрын

    Glad a lot of people giving Kikuchi his props

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @BioGoji-zm5ph

    @BioGoji-zm5ph

    8 ай бұрын

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

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    8 ай бұрын

    @@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

    @ESJ_DeLeon_21

    3 ай бұрын

    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

    @86Fallowcp

    3 ай бұрын

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

  • @michaelpeak2438
    @michaelpeak243811 ай бұрын

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

  • @Gensolink

    @Gensolink

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @mruchiha0209

    11 ай бұрын

    part 1 naruto soundtrack best anime ost

  • @aokyoutsuki7744

    @aokyoutsuki7744

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @NDPFitness

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @lssjgaming1599

    @lssjgaming1599

    11 ай бұрын

    ​@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
    @JaxBlade11 ай бұрын

    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

    @kazi1

    11 ай бұрын

    Fr

  • @danielsantiagourtado3430

    @danielsantiagourtado3430

    11 ай бұрын

    That's awesome man! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

  • @saint_lol

    @saint_lol

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @russelldrake7553

    11 ай бұрын

    Faulconer still rocks my gym playlist 😤😤

  • @josephrines3175

    @josephrines3175

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @mechajay3358
    @mechajay335811 ай бұрын

    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.

  • @overspec_
    @overspec_10 ай бұрын

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

  • @lifeloverNorris
    @lifeloverNorris11 ай бұрын

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

  • @MADKapo

    @MADKapo

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @jesseslack2089

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @arghyabandyopadhyay1991

    @arghyabandyopadhyay1991

    11 ай бұрын

    ​@@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

    @MADKapo

    11 ай бұрын

    ​@@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

    @arghyabandyopadhyay1991

    11 ай бұрын

    @@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 "

  • @zetandpeligaming
    @zetandpeligaming11 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @marvelsandals4228

    10 ай бұрын

    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

  • @ogto
    @ogto11 ай бұрын

    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

    @Keurgui1

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @christopher_silver

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @Iamthedoctor10

    11 ай бұрын

    @@christopher_silverthat’s mental, wild ass take

  • @dvda9725

    @dvda9725

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @Keurgui1

    11 ай бұрын

    @@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

  • @shiranuiaensland1442
    @shiranuiaensland144211 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @atesz567

    @atesz567

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @gatlindragon88

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @myronn6396

    @myronn6396

    10 ай бұрын

    honestly thats the best thing from z

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    10 ай бұрын

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

  • @TFormerRock
    @TFormerRock11 ай бұрын

    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

    @KZt-Ksh

    4 ай бұрын

    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

    @ginogatash4030

    3 ай бұрын

    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
    @shadowfall527811 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @muslimmetalman

    @muslimmetalman

    9 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    9 ай бұрын

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

  • @SpeedPunch

    @SpeedPunch

    10 күн бұрын

    Got a problem?​@@gespenst1329

  • @Gypsygeekfreak17
    @Gypsygeekfreak1711 ай бұрын

    FINALLY SOMEONE IS ACTUALLY TALKING ABOUT THE MUSIC

  • @aaaaaacx

    @aaaaaacx

    11 ай бұрын

    I feel the same

  • @pvenger6562

    @pvenger6562

    11 ай бұрын

    he did this before as well

  • @ilay_ux

    @ilay_ux

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @alibeknorbekov5963

    11 ай бұрын

    Yea

  • @Ash_Wen-li

    @Ash_Wen-li

    11 ай бұрын

    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

  • @EnoYaka
    @EnoYaka11 ай бұрын

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

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @editgenix4122

    @editgenix4122

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @EnoYaka

    @EnoYaka

    11 ай бұрын

    @@editgenix4122 yeahh wish the others got their credit.

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    @@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

    @gespenst1329

    10 ай бұрын

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

  • @brocklee394
    @brocklee39410 ай бұрын

    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

    @andrewblissett2211

    9 ай бұрын

    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.

  • @pepeowen
    @pepeowen11 ай бұрын

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

  • @HyperGamer14
    @HyperGamer1411 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @justinarzola4584

    @justinarzola4584

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @FlinnyWinny

    @FlinnyWinny

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @rutgerbauer4345

    @rutgerbauer4345

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @roxastidus
    @roxastidus11 ай бұрын

    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

    @dchan316

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @somecallmesean_

    @somecallmesean_

    8 ай бұрын

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

  • @ginogatash4030

    @ginogatash4030

    3 ай бұрын

    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

    @cobrakai9969

    Ай бұрын

    @@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.

  • @DavidRYates-tk2tq
    @DavidRYates-tk2tq8 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    8 ай бұрын

    Funimation decision.

  • @KZt-Ksh

    @KZt-Ksh

    4 ай бұрын

    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

  • @ianbravogaming
    @ianbravogaming11 ай бұрын

    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

  • @MasterGeek-mk5ne
    @MasterGeek-mk5ne11 ай бұрын

    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.

  • @Ansemthewise59
    @Ansemthewise5911 ай бұрын

    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

    @jp3813

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @AtoManPL

    @AtoManPL

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @Sawngawkuh
    @Sawngawkuh11 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    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.

  • @Bas_Brand
    @Bas_Brand11 ай бұрын

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

  • @wolfmerc11
    @wolfmerc1111 ай бұрын

    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

    @truedarkness4052

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    10 ай бұрын

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

  • @marcoparada6652

    @marcoparada6652

    10 ай бұрын

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

  • @UltraMarioBros4

    @UltraMarioBros4

    9 ай бұрын

    @@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.

  • @CasualVader
    @CasualVader11 ай бұрын

    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.

  • @bocodamondo
    @bocodamondo11 ай бұрын

    original japanese ost will always be my favorite

  • @_Teej_264
    @_Teej_26411 ай бұрын

    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

    @noelrodriguez6625

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @_Teej_264

    @_Teej_264

    11 ай бұрын

    @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

    @christopher_silver

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @Eric_Cartman1

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @_Teej_264

    @_Teej_264

    11 ай бұрын

    @@Eric_Cartman1 I agree!

  • @eagonten
    @eagonten11 ай бұрын

    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.

  • @mrcwillis6970
    @mrcwillis697011 ай бұрын

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

  • @famalam943
    @famalam94311 ай бұрын

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

  • @blitzcloud
    @blitzcloud11 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @awesomereviews1561

    10 ай бұрын

    The Garlic jr fight right?

  • @blitzcloud

    @blitzcloud

    10 ай бұрын

    indeed @@awesomereviews1561

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    10 ай бұрын

    @@awesomereviews1561 Yea, none other.

  • @megahobbit5972
    @megahobbit597211 ай бұрын

    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

  • @freezasama5802
    @freezasama580211 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    10 ай бұрын

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

  • @freezasama5802

    @freezasama5802

    10 ай бұрын

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

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    10 ай бұрын

    @@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

    @freezasama5802

    10 ай бұрын

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

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    10 ай бұрын

    @@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.

  • @TBAG
    @TBAG11 ай бұрын

    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

    @TheSepulphagist

    11 ай бұрын

    Agreed

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    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.

  • @Veltior
    @Veltior11 ай бұрын

    This made me look up what exactly Yamamoto plagiarized. And MY GOD. He stole almost every track he made. All of my favorite Budokai tracks are plagiarized. Lmao

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    And for 20 years too.

  • @TheLadyIntegra
    @TheLadyIntegra11 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @gobah

    @gobah

    29 күн бұрын

    Agreed. Nothing sounds quite like Toonami-era DBZ.

  • @skywatcher1082
    @skywatcher108211 ай бұрын

    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

    @Gensolink

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @Ramsey276one

    11 ай бұрын

    We got lucky, VERDAD?! XD

  • @leigh-jeanterblanche5833

    @leigh-jeanterblanche5833

    3 ай бұрын

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

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    3 ай бұрын

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

  • @pickthestickup
    @pickthestickup11 ай бұрын

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

  • @ElJefeRules
    @ElJefeRules10 ай бұрын

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

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    10 ай бұрын

    But as usual, the comment section does otherwise.

  • @SpeedPunch

    @SpeedPunch

    10 күн бұрын

    The funimation dub​@@gespenst1329

  • @Morganstudios
    @Morganstudios4 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    4 ай бұрын

    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

    @Morganstudios

    4 ай бұрын

    @@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

    @gespenst1329

    4 ай бұрын

    @@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?

  • @Truck-kun11
    @Truck-kun1111 ай бұрын

    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

    @despayeeto_5936

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    @@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.

  • @ZeroZero86997
    @ZeroZero8699711 ай бұрын

    “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

    @Drums_of_Liberation

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @MarcosQ24

    11 ай бұрын

    @@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

    @ghoulchan7525

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @thomasbroadbent375
    @thomasbroadbent37511 ай бұрын

    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!

  • @EveOfChaos
    @EveOfChaos11 ай бұрын

    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

  • @SeeleSO02
    @SeeleSO0211 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @ricksanchezdeluniversoc1379

    11 ай бұрын

    And they changed for shittier tracks.

  • @Jayjay_07
    @Jayjay_0711 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    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.

  • @jp3813
    @jp381311 ай бұрын

    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

    @liamconverse8950

    5 ай бұрын

    The X-Men theme is actually pretty iconic

  • @jp3813

    @jp3813

    5 ай бұрын

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

  • @joestar.d.seba27
    @joestar.d.seba2711 ай бұрын

    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.

  • @kakarot6808
    @kakarot680811 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    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.

  • @yokingstream1005
    @yokingstream100511 ай бұрын

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

  • @Raffo2007
    @Raffo200711 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @wiiztec

    11 ай бұрын

    What is an image song?

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    @@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.

  • @dignelberrt
    @dignelberrt11 ай бұрын

    Kikuchi is quintessential dragonball

  • @Corbellations
    @Corbellations11 ай бұрын

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

  • @HellSpartanZ

    @HellSpartanZ

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @blur7491
    @blur749111 ай бұрын

    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

    @Power11112

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @TeeHallumsYT

    11 ай бұрын

    Someone didnt watch to the very end!

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    Everyone hates that soundtrack though, even Faulconer score fans.

  • @Vulpas

    @Vulpas

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @blur7491

    @blur7491

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @SHEEMBA
    @SHEEMBA11 ай бұрын

    Always love it when you put out more Dragon Ball content! Makes my day

  • @shaynelewis1587
    @shaynelewis158711 ай бұрын

    👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 Mark, outstanding work! This kind of documentary and the quality of work youve done before this is a true art form. You and I assume your team are a blessing to the Dragonball community and I can't thank you enough for all of your hard work.

  • @Saxdude26
    @Saxdude2611 ай бұрын

    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.

  • @functional200
    @functional20011 ай бұрын

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

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @functional200

    @functional200

    11 ай бұрын

    ​@@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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    @@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).

  • @anthonypastore8378
    @anthonypastore837811 ай бұрын

    I love the transition with team America lol great job! Great video like always!

  • @YTLaxus
    @YTLaxus11 ай бұрын

    Great video. Loved this look behind the scene of Dragonball music.

  • @jayjasespud
    @jayjasespud11 ай бұрын

    "Kakuchi's tunes are 80's anime vibes" ... That's because he created the vibe...

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    Well… they’re 70’s actually but yes he was one of the first major names in JP media scoring (though most of it was with Toei). From 1961 through all of the 70’s.

  • @kdwil1999
    @kdwil199911 ай бұрын

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

  • @TheGamingSiri

    @TheGamingSiri

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @lineialquantum

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @TheGamingSiri

    @TheGamingSiri

    11 ай бұрын

    ​@@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

    @ShHeMiLeRe

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @TheGamingSiri

    11 ай бұрын

    ​@@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.

  • @pinoynobody2329
    @pinoynobody232916 күн бұрын

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

  • @Ozzy_Helix_
    @Ozzy_Helix_6 ай бұрын

    thank you for the nostalgia trip I needed that today

  • @batmankills100
    @batmankills10011 ай бұрын

    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.

  • @rideflyer
    @rideflyer11 ай бұрын

    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

    @jacklomas4218

    11 ай бұрын

    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.

  • @M.A.Sketchbook
    @M.A.SketchbookАй бұрын

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

  • @Metalltool
    @Metalltool8 күн бұрын

    Great video!

  • @gavinlucas9761
    @gavinlucas976111 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    10 ай бұрын

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

  • @OmegaFalcon
    @OmegaFalcon11 ай бұрын

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

  • @CanadianBaconPwnage

    @CanadianBaconPwnage

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @outphase78

    @outphase78

    11 ай бұрын

    ​@@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

    @mrcaboosevg6089

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @Ben-my5cl

    @Ben-my5cl

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @kingace6186

    @kingace6186

    11 ай бұрын

    @@CanadianBaconPwnage Yamamoto was a great DJ at least.

  • @afonsomartins4724
    @afonsomartins472411 ай бұрын

    Oh, how i've waited for someone to cover this! I absolutely love the kikunchi score. It is dragon ball for me at it's purest. I keep a playlist on my soundcloud with most of the score at all times. I simply am in love with his work. I really liked GT too tho, don't know what was wrong with it, it was really cool. I was never a fan of the Faulconer score but I respect the work and there are some great exceptions. Amazing video. Really fun knowing all the composers for my favourite anime and their crazy stories. Loved it! I am so looking forward to your dbz review. I've been loving your style of editing for the past few months and I genuinely can't wait for this series. Keep up the beautiful work!

  • @pr0z00m6
    @pr0z00m611 ай бұрын

    Cant wait to see the dbz reveiws your channel is part of the reason i got into dragon ball in the first place. So glad that your team has made fan❤

  • @schrimply5980
    @schrimply598011 ай бұрын

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

  • @bargun5889

    @bargun5889

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @diegopinon5275

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @flaminginferno6641

    @flaminginferno6641

    10 ай бұрын

    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.

  • @mrk1190
    @mrk119011 ай бұрын

    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.

  • @victorbarron-zuniga4564
    @victorbarron-zuniga456411 ай бұрын

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

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    But the comment section is predictable as usual.

  • @WitlessMass
    @WitlessMass11 ай бұрын

    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.

  • @beef2cho
    @beef2cho11 ай бұрын

    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!

  • @Sokka2Me
    @Sokka2Me11 ай бұрын

    Hot take: I’m more upset that Yamamoto got caught…over what he did…-runs away and hides-

  • @TheGamingSiri

    @TheGamingSiri

    11 ай бұрын

    I mean, he didn't really do anything wrong (and this is coming from someone who's studied music theory), it's just that Japan's legal system would have screwed him over and toei knew it, so they axed him. Were his pieces (at least from Kai) to go to court in any other 1st world nation, he very well might've been exonerated.

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    @@TheGamingSiriBut for 20 years just about all his notable stuff across all his projects could be traced back to somewhere else, whether that’s material at home or abroad.

  • @TheGamingSiri

    @TheGamingSiri

    11 ай бұрын

    ​@@gespenst1329 1. This can be said for virtually all musicians on some level, especially for those who've been in the industry for decades and have written hundreds of pieces. 2. Even if a case can be made for his work on the games, that doesn't automatically invalidate Kai's OST.

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    @@TheGamingSiri But it’s that very one that broke the camel’s back.

  • @FrancisL4D
    @FrancisL4D10 ай бұрын

    Mark saying "Getter Robo" is something i never thought id hear

  • @AnthonyRagus
    @AnthonyRagus11 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    Absolutely.

  • @ak01101
    @ak0110111 ай бұрын

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

  • @turbochomp
    @turbochomp11 ай бұрын

    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

  • @EnoYaka
    @EnoYaka11 ай бұрын

    Thank you for not crapping on our favorite versions, great video thanks

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    Yea, the comment section is doing plenty of that already.

  • @theultimatetrashman887
    @theultimatetrashman8877 ай бұрын

    23:02 Imagine if your state senator suddenly pulled out his keyboard and played Gogeta's Theme.

  • @trashboat5388
    @trashboat538811 ай бұрын

    Kikuchi’s score always gives me the super energetic Wild West vibe. I never actually knew that was his influence but you can just tell from the way it sounds. It fits so well with the moments of characters having these long stand offs in silence with wind blowing in the air. Then once they start moving it’s like a fucking rollercoaster from beginning to end. I’ve always considered Dragon Ball to be the modern Japanese equivalent to the American Western movies.

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    I should watch some of those, really. Never seen one before.

  • @PoppySquidJr

    @PoppySquidJr

    10 ай бұрын

    The real japanese equivalent is the old samurai movies, especially Kurosawa films. Highly recommend if you enjoy the vibe, the wandering gunslinger stranger and the wandering ronin swordsman are both sides of one coin

  • @thiccjerry5232
    @thiccjerry523211 ай бұрын

    Kikuchi's score (RIP) made Dragon ball and Dragon ball Z iconic, there's nothing else quite like it and it can never be replicated, his music fits the whole dragon ball story perfectly. He's the one who made Dragon ball world sound colorful and full of adventure, but his battle themes also hit hard, he also provided tons of atmospheric and heartfelt tracks too, ones that touched your soul. His soundtrack only gets better with time, absolutely legendary. I also respect all of the other composers that did Dragon ball too, their work won't be forgotten.

  • @gespenst1329

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    Unfortunately, surrounding aspects that he wasn’t responsible for (no consistent mastering, iffy music placement, few soundtrack releases) sort of sour things.

  • @robinsonsonic
    @robinsonsonic11 ай бұрын

    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
    @Arteaga4K10 ай бұрын

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

  • @Cranson92
    @Cranson9211 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

    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

    @SpeedPunch

    10 күн бұрын

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

  • @aformerchannelwhomoved
    @aformerchannelwhomoved11 ай бұрын

    Hang on, ZARD? As in, THAT ZARD? I guess why they chose the bassist from ZARD is that, back in the 90’s, ZARD was essentially the equivalent of FLOW or Kana-Boon when it came to anime songs. Noteably, Unmei no Roulette, the fourth opening of Detective Conan.

  • @Mugen026

    @Mugen026

    11 ай бұрын

    Yep, ZARD even provided music for GT's 2nd Ending and the lead singer of Zard wrote the lyrics for GT's Opening. They where pretty involved with GT in Japan.

  • @kuro515

    @kuro515

    11 ай бұрын

    That's why I was taken back that Mark referred to him as "just a bassist in SOME band" Like anime isn't the end all be all for entertainment in Japan

  • @ToonGohan
    @ToonGohan11 ай бұрын

    Great video! I’m a huge dragon ball fan that loves all the music despite the inconsistency/controversy so I really appreciate this deeper insight.

  • @DecepticonSwag
    @DecepticonSwag11 ай бұрын

    Damn good video, good shit man

  • @GrandAdmiralFart
    @GrandAdmiralFart11 ай бұрын

    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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @GrandAdmiralFart

    @GrandAdmiralFart

    11 ай бұрын

    @@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

    @gespenst1329

    11 ай бұрын

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

  • @GrandAdmiralFart

    @GrandAdmiralFart

    11 ай бұрын

    @@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

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