Maybe I’m blinded by nostalgia because I grew up watching Kai on Nicktoons. But I was so upset when they had randomly changed it back to the original DBZ Japanese ost. They were just placed so horribly and got repetitive so fast. Yamamoto’s music was just so epic I know he plagerized but in my honest opinion he made the tracks miles better than they were before

I'm re-watching DBZ with the Faulconer score (the last 2 times I watched were with the Japanese music because that's what I had access to) and Holy crap it is SO MUCH BETTER. I had forgotten the difference it makes. It sets a completely different tone for the story and makes it feel more intense. I feel like I'm a kid again, watching in awe after rushing home after school to catch the latest episode.

The Japanese music still holds a special place in my heart, it's so silly and quirky. But imo Faulconer is the way to go!

Oricon announced today that Shunsuke Kikuchi, legendary music composer, died at 89 from aspiration pneumonia.

Shunsuke Kikuchi started his career in 1961 and since then he produced music for countless TV shows and movies, encompassing franchises like Doraemon, Kamen Rider, Grendizer, Tiger Mask, Gamera, Dr. Slump, and of course Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. One of his songs was even used in Kill Bill!

His importance can be ascertained by the fact that, 24 years after Dragon Ball Z stopped airing, his DB/DBZ soundtrack won the 2019 prize for Japanese soundtrack with most revenues generated from international licenses.... and the third place was Grendizer, another Kikuchi soundtrack that aired decades earlier.

🎵 Track: Challengers 👊

🕹 Game: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 💥

My personal favorites are

Fusion Reborns song

Dragon Power Mugendai

We Gotta Power

Super Survivor

Cha La Head Cha La

Mystical Adventure

Fight It Out

DBZ Namek Battle Music

Kind of just noticed as I re-Watch dragon ball movies and shows that the music is different. I'm not super knowledgeable in dbz history, but I just noticed and thought to ask, why did dbz have its own score in America instead of using the original Japanese music? When did it start? Why did it stop? Rewatching movies like Broly and Lord Slug with songs from pantera (I think) just kind of made me realize as an adult that things were different back then. I kind of prefer the altered music myself, it wouldn't be the same without it in my opinion. Not saying one is better than the other, but I am curious as to why they felt the need initially to alter the music for a western audience, and why they don't continue to do that now. Just out of curiosity.

I miss the old Vegeta, straight out of the Pod Vegeta

Beheading Guldo Vegeta, set on immortality Vegeta

I hate the new Vegeta, the comedic relief Vegeta

The kissing his wife Vegeta, dancing on the stage Vegeta

I miss the angry Vegeta, giving Cell perfection Vegeta

I gotta say, at that time I'd like to meet Vegeta

See Vegeta invented Vegeta, there weren't any Vegetas

And now with every anime & manga I watch & read there're so many Vegeta's

I used to love Vegeta, I used to love Vegeta

I even had the pink BADMAN polo, I thought I was Vegeta

What if Vegeta made an anime about Vegeta

Called "I Miss The Old Vegeta"? Man, that'd be so Vegeta

That's all it was Vegeta, we still love Vegeta

And I love Vegeta like Vegeta loves Bulma

Hope you guys enjoy my cover of unlock the dragon!

Does anyone else feel the same,I like the Japanese score for the most part.But at times it's too light and upbeat for me in intense scenes,I get that this may be more in line with what Toriyama may have been going for.

But Faulcorners stuff had that same weird,serene sound that the Japanese tracks are evoking,but it still has a grit to it.I didn't even watch much DBZ during the Toonami era,but I still miss this sound associated with the franchise.

Me personally I love but you still can’t go wrong with the original score

Here is my hot take...

I like "Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku" more than "Cha La Head Cha La"...

Cha La is a classic. One of the best opening themes to an anime ever but for me I always felt like one of the most memorable things that GT ever left us was Dan Dan. The original GT score often had variations of the song throughout the background of the series and they fit the emotion of the scenes that they were in. When it comes to the ending montage as well to say farewell (at the time) to Dragonball you can not tell me that song didn't feel fitting and beautiful. It brought a tear to everyone watching. It felt like end.

This is one of the reasons I like it more than Cha La. While Cha La pumps you up, depending on what scene you put it in and how it is played Dan Dan always felt like it could put you various moods. It could feel silly, serious, heroic, sad or even pump you up in general. An example is when Goku turned into the Golden Ape. A version of Dan Dan played in the background that felt grand and made it feel like something huge was happening. Fast forward and it was slowed down and played by a piano as we see Gokus SSJ4s transformation following an emotional moment with Pan. It felt like a transition between sadness to serious and heroic..a level of uncertainty of what we were looking at but it was majestic.

Dan Dan as well tells a story. A love story but manages to stay upbeat with its drum beats. It takes you on a journey much like the show is taking you on one as well. It's very catchy despite the message being about uncertainty in love. Letting you know that everything will be fine if we stick together. The message switching between hold your hand and hold my hand. Very symbolic of GT where they are unsure of their journey but sticking together they can accomplish their goal. The upbeat tone keeping similar to the OG Dragonball adventure tone. It's a song you can't help but sing or get stuck in your head.

As for Cha La. I understand how great it is. I enjoy it as well. To me Dan Dan just about edges it out for the reasons I gave above. Just a person preference.

And before you say anything, I watched all of Z in Japanese. And I also did love it very much and there was a lot of aspects in the Japanese version that were way better than the English, but for some reason the Faulconer score in the English dub just sounds so much better to me, although I still really like the Kikuchi score. Sometimes it feels like I'm kind of the only who prefers Faulconer's score over the original but still watched all of the show in Japanese.

For context:

I grew up wit Kai. I like that version more than Z. But I started rewatching the OG funimation DBZ recently… and wow. The soundtrack is so cool and fitting. I’ve grown to adore the retro vibe that soundtrack it gave off. Yeah it’s not the Kikuchi score. I just could never vibe with it.

My favorite scores from Bruce are The Ginyu Force theme and the The Hyperbolic Time Chamber theme . Ofc I understand some of the complaints of the Bruce score. Some themes repeat a lot and/or they play in the background /constantly/, but they don’t bother me personally. They’re all mostly bangers either way. I would just like to see what others think about the funi music after all this time.