There have been MANY instances of certain songs sounding similar to the originals. Did anyone complain when it was revealed that Manami Matsumae more or less copied Journey's Faithfully for Elecman's theme in Mega Man 1 for the NES?
No. So again, why was Yamamoto singled out?
Kenji Yamamoto has plagiarized more than one song over the course of his career. I like his music used for Kai, but stolen music is stolen music. Had he not recomposed a theme from a big name movie Avatar, and one from Terminator Salvation, his music would have likely remained in DBZKai. But those two themes are what brought people into suspicion about Yamamoto's music in the first place. Not to mention the most common theme that played in nearly every episode, a theme that was from Mortal Kombat was used in Kai as a battle/fighting theme.
shareSo to put it quite simply, Toei didn't seem to care about similarities in Yamamoto's music, until those two big movies you mentioned came into light. Is that what it is basically?
Also, did any of Yamamoto's contributions for the "Z" series get replaced on recent DVDs and Blu-Rays here in America? He composed and/or arranged some songs for it.
http://www.kanzenshuu.com/theme/opening/
http://www.kanzenshuu.com/theme/ending/
http://www.kanzenshuu.com/theme/insert-songs/
To be perfectly honest, no one knows where or when toei came into suspicion about the issue. But it is likely after those two themes were played during the android arc of the series is when they began to investigate to avoid any potential lawsuit of copyright infringement. And believe me, there are MANY that Yamamoto had used, including video games that he worked on. Also, not to be confused with another Kenji Yamamoto who works with Nintendo.
To answer your other question. Surprisingly, neither toei or funimation replaced or removed the theme called "Battle Point Unlimited" from funimations most recent blu-ray releases. The theme used in the episode where future trunks confronts and defeats mecha frieza. I used to own season 4 of DBZ on blu-ray so this is how I know.
Thank you for answering.
What a miserable time March 2011 was for Japan. Not only was Kenji Yamamoto fired, but just days after that, the terrible disaster of tsunamis and earthquakes happened.
One other thing: Would you say he was a stupid moron who knew he was infringing copyright, but chose not to give a damn?
I don't think he was a stupid moron. I will say that he is indeed a good music remix composer. His remix of the Avatar theme "War" that was used in Dragon Ball Kai was quite possibly my favorite of his. Not that I am advocating that his intentions of using other artists music was good, it was definitely wrong. But you can't deny that some his tracks sound better than their originals.
Surprisingly, neither toei or funimation replaced or removed the theme called "Battle Point Unlimited" from funimations most recent blu-ray releases.