Anime Soundtrack

[Cass]

Hello, everyone! Well, I thought I'd start a topic on the greatness that is the Deltora Quest Anime Soundtrack.

The original Japanese soundtrack was entirely composed by Kow Otani, which is an incredible feat. It's vibrant, emotional, thematic
and overall enjoyable. I find it to be one of the highlights of the anime.

What do you (pl) think? Favourite pieces (since the tracks were never released on disk, referencing them by their location in the anime will be required)? Comparisons between the dub soundtrack and the original?

... Ah, here's me hoping someone will respond. XD; Let's get excited, guys!

[DQA]

Hello, everyone! Well, I thought I'd start a topic on the greatness that is the Deltora Quest Anime Soundtrack.

The original Japanese soundtrack was entirely composed by Kow Otani, which is an incredible feat. It's vibrant, emotional, thematic
and overall enjoyable. I find it to be one of the highlights of the anime.

What do you (pl) think? Favourite pieces (since the tracks were never released on disk, referencing them by their location in the anime will be required)? Comparisons between the dub soundtrack and the original?

... Ah, here's me hoping someone will respond. XD; Let's get excited, guys!

I'm so glad you made a topic about this! The Japanese soundtracks were absolutely amazing (unlike the English dub). I didn't realize Kow Otani composed every track! That's amazing.

Here are some of my favourite songs used in the Japanese anime: (may contain spoilers)

Spoiler for :

For me, I really like the piece played during the final battle in episode 52. It was played in episodes before and after that episode (51 and 64 for example) but the usage of the song fit very well with the mood of the scene.

Episode 20 at the end of the episode also had a nice Shifting Sands feel to it. The melody really gives you a sense of a wide, open space.

The scene before Dain dies in episode 48 also had an action-packed song which was also very well done.

Episode 25 had a very nice upbeat song during the scene where Ailsa has Lief in her pouch. She runs and then takes off into flight. The bottom bass beat really made you think of running.
 

I could honestly pick out any episode and list you the great compositions done by Kow Otoni, but that would take me forever. It is, like you, a huge standout in the Japanese version of the anime.

For me, the Dub really fell short of any musical excellence. Everything about the music was butchered in the Dub (like everything else). If they really wanted to do a half-decent dub, they should've kept the Japanese scores. If my memory serves me right, Ocean Dubs, or something like that, just reused music from an anime they dubbed before that. Their attempt at doing an English dub was pathetic.

But yeah, the Japanese version is just amazing in terms of music. If you're interested, there's some music on the Japanese DVDs that don't have any voice acting or sound effects over the top of it. I could probably rip it and upload it to a site.

Very interesting topic. I might add a few more of my favourite songs used in the anime. Perhaps the opening and ending songs could be another topic to talk about. No point talking about the English dub's opening and ending credit song though, considering it was just a boring instrumental song.

[Cass]

Yes, he did such a splendid job on it. I feel every piece evokes the right amount of emotion and drama.

Spoiler for :

Ah, I think I know which one you refer to in Episode 52. I too really liked that piece - I also like that that and the Shadow Lord's theme were reserved for the finale, which made them even more special to hear.

I'm not sure I know which you refer to in Episode 21 - I just checked and that episode ended with the fight against the Bees. Perhaps
you meant 20?

Ah, yes, the battle music with Dain. It was a nice change - after a time, you get used to the 3-4 other battle themes that are used.

Oh, I hadn't listened to that song in a more 'full' version, as I know it from Episode 50. It too has quite an adventurous quality!


I have a few favourite pieces. The score is just so expanse, it's hard to mention them all!

Episode 25 - during the meeting between Jarred and Fallow, a curious theme plays. I find it very mystifying and filled with wonder.

Episode 22/37 - a somewhat more frazzled rendition of Thaegan's theme plays during her scenes with her children where they argue. It's really quirky, befitting a magician.

Oacus' theme, which plays during most of his appearances. It's a nice contrast to the previous Thaegan's more silly themes, and gives a feeling that the end is near.

I completely agree on the dub. It was completely lacking in any substantial meaning. I seriously don't know WHY they didn't just keep the Japanese score - one may posit they couldn't get the rights to it, but the Latin American dub managed just fine.

The English dub just has no 'magic', and you can TELL they were trying to do a minimum amount of work.

Is there really? 8'D That would be great, if you could! It's a shame the soundtrack was never released on disk. I've searched nearly everywhere. OTL

Thank you very much for your input! It's great to hear from another fan. ;o; So hard to find fans.

[Namine17]

Oh man dont get me started the original soundtrack is so amazing my favorite songs would be the theme song, the part were they climb up the mountain in the shifting sands its so funny its a techno version of the main theme.

Spoiler for :

I also liked the music when dain died.

Grrrr the music they chose for the dub ruined it, it sounded like music you would hear on pbs kids it completly ruined it.

[Cass]

Ah, it is so nice to see another fan! ;o;

I too rather like the theme used described in that spoiler of yours - very fitting. Too bad it got a bit overused, but I suppose that doesn't matter with good music!

A big beef I have with the dub's music is that the anime loses its endearing feel. Besides, why would a medieval-style anime have techno music? Oh well. ;\

[Namine17]

Yes i agree the claranet that they use for most of the music in the dub makes it seem cheesy and kidish it really needed to have its orginal japanese soundtrack
I think it might have been tolerable maybe but the translation was still terible 
But the music gahh i just hate it so much

[Cass]

Furthermore, as has been discussed, I'd really like it if the original dub's ost was released in CD format! It's just such a high quality, and there are actually quite a few pieces - I would say at least more than 40.

The dubbing actors weren't very good quality. Checking the bios of Lief, Barda and Jasmine's English actors reveals that they'd only been in one other dubbing production before this one! I think the dubbing company was just really desperate to get this to western audiences for the profit, and thus decided to choose the least expensive options.

[DQA]

By 'dub's ost' I'm hoping you mean the Japanese version *gulp*

[Cass]

Whoospie, indeed it did. I left out an 'original' there.

I'm not sure where to ask this, but I think it'd be better not to create an entirely new topic for it.

Which languages has Deltora Quest been dubbed into? So far, I've recorded: English, Italian, Croatian, Chinese, Latin Spanish, European Spanish and Portuguese. Of those, I think only the Latin Spanish dub kept the original music, since the others translated from English.

I do indeed love comparing dubs, because usually each dub goes for different quirks in their characterisation of the characters.

[DQA]

Hmm... to be honest, I'm not entirely sure how many languages have been dubbed. Maybe I'll do some research and get back to you. Though, I do believe that would need an entirely new thread.

[Cass]

Oh, it's probably unnecessary to talk about, as it's rather hard to compare unless one speaks several languages. I speak a bit of Italian, though it seems it is directly translated from the English. Somebody who compared the Latin Spanish dub with the Japanese noticed a particular scene had less exposition, but that's all really.

Unless we have some bilingual members about, I suppose it's just fruitless.