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I think I know why FUNimation doesn't just leave the original
background music as it is. They have a thing against silence. They
have a thing against tension, the idea of building up a scene. This is
not only evident in changing the music but by having the characters
almost ALWAYS talking and by speeding up the episodes by deleting
little snippets of film that are usually long shots leading up to
battle. It's because they take the U.S. audiences for idiots. They
think we are big, dumb baffons who have a attention span of zlich.
They think if they allow one second of "unnesesary" film (in their
eyes) that we will quickly become disinterested and change the channel.
They are changing the essence of DBZ. They've changed DBZ into a
mindless action packed show. It shows in everything to the change in
music to everything. The original music was special in the way how the
battle themes weren't really meant to get the heart pumping into a
rabies inflicted mad terror like how the U.S. music does, but it's
supposed to show the calm before the storm. The original music also
has long moments of silence. Lots of times there is nothing but the
wind blowing as sound as the two fighters look at each other. It's
supposed to show the build up to the actual fight. It's silent for a
couple seconds than BAM, they go at it in a lighting quick fight. Even
then the music doesn't really turn out into a trash a thon with chords
ripping out of their orifices. Instead what the music does is create a
backdrop to the VISUAL flair. That is the genuis of the original
music. It doesn't get your heart pumping because you know by just
looking at it is enough. Instead it kinda creates a backdrop that
doesn't reflect on the obvious which is action. It reflects how the
characters feel. In Movie 8 (with Brolly) the music conveys the
feeling of hopelessness because that's how everyone is pretty much
feeling right then. In a special scene in the Freeza Saga when SSJ
Goku is talking to Freeza and how Freeza could destroy whole worlds but
can't destroy one man, the music there sent a feeling of courage and
rightesness that sent shivers down my spine. In Movie 3 right at the
end when everyone thinks all is lost but Goku comes back to face Turles
one last time you feel a sense of hope in the music, just a tiny voice
of hope that can go a long way. I get none of this from the U.S.
music. All I get are feelings of foreboding and dread. They choose
this kind of music because it is a easy emotion to tap on. But you
know what the sad thing is? With today's big time blockbuster movies,
Gap Ads, MTV and pretty much everything that is pop culture in America,
maybe the average citizen's attention span has been degraded to a point
where if they included the original background music in DBZ, people
would quickly change the channel. I hope that day hasn't come for when
it does, it would be a sad day for the world.
- Seong Whang |
   
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