Dragon Ball Kai � The Kenji Yamamoto Score (2009-2011)

Meet Kenji Yamamoto (https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/dragonball/images/d/db/KenjiYamamato.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120226223946), he was the composer behind the Dragon Ball Kai (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dragon_Ball_Z_Kai_episodes) series for episodes 1-95 () but once Toei Animation got ahold that he had been plagiarizing other musicians (http://www.kanzenshuu.com/features/kenji-yamamoto-retrospective/), they completely removed his score from episodes 96-98 (), Original Soundtrack IV (https://www.play-asia.com/dragon-ball-kai-original-soundtrack-iv/13/7045n9) never saw the light of day and international releases (http://www.kanzenshuu.com/2012/04/27/funimation-kai-set-re-release-contains-kikuchi-score/) were published and republished with the replacement score containing the Dragon Ball Z BGM score albeit extremely repetitive (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeLEgS1rsMg). Despite all that, I love Yamamoto’s Kai music and it’s why I created this thread dedicated to his Kai music. 🙂

Full Scores

• Dragon Ball Kai – Original Soundtrack (COCX-35744) (2009) ~ MEGA (http://corneey.com/wXl3aD)
• Dragon Ball Kai – Original Soundtrack II (COCX-35922) (2009) ~ MEGA (http://corneey.com/wXl3sA)
• Dragon Ball Kai – Original Soundtrack III (COCX-36424) (2010) ~ MEGA (http://corneey.com/wXl3gG)
• Dragon Ball Kai – Original Soundtrack IV (COCX-36649) (2011) ~ Never Released / Cancelled
• Dragon Ball Kai – Complete Song Collection (COCX-36648) (2011) ~ MEGA (http://corneey.com/wXl3jA)

Singles

• Dragon Ball Kai – OP Single – Dragon Soul (COCC-16273) (2009) ~ MEGA (http://corneey.com/wXl3l1)
• Dragon Ball Kai – ED1 Single – Yeah! Break! Care! Brake! (COCC-16283) (2009) ~ MEGA (http://corneey.com/wXl3xE)
• Dragon Ball Kai – ED2 Single – Kokoro no Hane (COCA-16398) (2010) ~ MEGA (http://corneey.com/wXl3cM)

Thanks for doing this! I really love this music.

^ You’re welcome.

I’ve uploaded a lossless copy of ED2, and added it to the main post.

Got the Lossless ED2. Thanks again.

Thank you very much for this. Kenji’s work may be a bit controversial but I still love ’em XD

This guy does not deserve this kind of praise or even a thread for himself.
not saying what you have to do "3000fan", not that. Good for you for making a thread collection. I just have to talk…. a bit…

But i truly hate the fact that this guy was not "put down" since his musical starting for plagiarizing even artists of his country, and constantly lying saying that he composed all music in said game and such. I am amazed that it took tooooooo damn long for someone to bring him down.

I concur with Orie – my comments here are in no way intended to disrespect the poster.

All the above said and done, Kenji Yamamoto’s plagiarism is absolutely no different to the plagiarism of many Japanese composers; Masamichi Amano, Yoko Kanno, Naoki Sato, Toshihiko Sahashi, all spring instantly to mind as some of the worst offenders and there are probably a dozen more I’ve forgotten. The only difference is that Yamamoto got caught – or, more to the point, the popularity of the show outside of Japan made his plagiarism "more public" and Toei more-or-less had to disown him to save face.

Yamamoto’s music is good. A dozen cues have plagiarism to one extent or another, and a handful of them are plagiarised almost note-for-note from existing cues.

Big deal.

Both main themes in Amano’s famous Giant Robo series were direct plagiarisms from Western composers – theme A from Maurice Jarre’s "Is Paris Burning?" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5dxoIXj9LI) and Theme B from Bill Conti’s "North And South" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL8oMlRBOtU) and the rest of the score is littered with thefts from sources as diverse as Jerry Goldsmith (Masada), David Arnold (Stargate), himself (various scores), Hans Zimmer (backdraft), and many more. Amano quoted previous scores all the time, and even completely recycled a cue originally written for a sex scene in a gay hentai movie (Boy’s Legend) as the finale for Battle Royale II. Barely a Yoko Kanno cues exists which isn’t influenced by, or outright plagiarised from, herself, another Japanese composer, a Hollywood composer, or classical composer – and frequently all at the same time.

I’ve learned to be comfortable with it. If I couldn’t be comfortable with it, I would have to more-or-less abandon my interest in Japanese film, television, and game music.

Yamamoto pushed his luck a little too far and it ended his career… but he’s not the only one, and he’s not the worst offender. The only thing he did that was different is that he didn’t make his plagiarism choices very well. He ripped off a popular American film score by a top-tier blockbuster composer from 2009, and recycled a whole cue, almost wholesale, just a year later in a TV anime that he KNEW would be scrutinised in the West and specifically in America. I mean, how bloody stupid can you get? If you’re going to steal something, you don’t parade it in front of the original owner less than a year later.

it was such a blatant plagiarism he did with japanese composers… for his games that I dont understand. he ripped of… i am going to say he ripped of Zetsuai/bronze vocal songs for "his" game soundtracks. heck… american rip of? Theme of perfect Cell in one of super butoden games is Jerry Goldsmith’s Total Recall theme (was it Jerry or Joel goldsmith???)
And what actually made me more angry with this …Person, is the fact that never it was said not even in bookelt so soundtracks "music inspired" "or "original music from"… no. it was instead "all composed and arranged by"… bullshit!

Thanks for this! Kind of the forgotten score it seems like but always good in my mind.

Thanks!