Why wasn't Tsuneo Imahori brought back?

[rubik's dude]

He was the life of the first two games and the anime, and throughout this entire game, I had hoped to hear the Gungrave theme song play at some point, thinking that maybe they were saving it for the end or something... only for it to never play. Instead, what we got was some generic EDM with not a single memorable song.

I mean, they brought back all of the Japanese VAs, so why not Tsuneo Imahori to score the soundtrack as well? Probably the biggest missed opportunity.

[TeryonTheHuman]

subjective music taste

[rubik's dude]

Originally posted by TeryonTheHuman:

subjective music taste

I would disagree in this case.

Music is typically subjective, however, Tsuneo Imahori has worked on every piece of Gungrave media except this game. To say that this game lacks the soul of Gungrave without his involvement is objective, the same as saying that Star Wars wouldn't be the same without John Williams. Can you imagine Star Wars without any of the iconic music?

He was one of the driving creative forces behind what made Gungrave memorable, as much as Yasuhiro Nightow.

[Billy Blaze]

As much as I loved the first 2 GG games, I hated the music.
Like nearly all the tracks were some Jazz stuff and it was just so hard to listen to.
My gf walked past me as I played the first GG, in the elevator section in Level 5, and we both said at the same time "Jesus... that music..."
The only good tracks were the "Fangoram" boss in "Overdose" and the first phase of the final boss, also in "Overdose", since I'm a sucker for organs, and that theme mixed organs with a nice beat.

In "G.O.R.E", the music might not be as fitting or memorable, but for what happens on screen, it tries much more to get you pumped.

Oh right... the original had also one great track.
"Here Comes The Rain"
The song that plays in the Radio.
Wasn't used for fighting, but it was nice to listen to between missions and when it kicked in at higher volume at the end of the game.
Kinda reminded me of "Prisoner" from "Stumfol"... the song that plays at every checkpoint in "The Surge".

[rubik's dude]

Originally posted by Billy Blaze:

As much as I loved the first 2 GG games, I hated the music.
Like nearly all the tracks were some Jazz stuff and it was just so hard to listen to.
My gf walked past me as I played the first GG, in the elevator section in Level 5, and we both said at the same time "Jesus... that music..."
The only good tracks were the "Fangoram" boss in "Overdose" and the first phase of the final boss, also in "Overdose", since I'm a sucker for organs, and that theme mixed organs with a nice beat.

In "G.O.R.E", the music might not be as fitting or memorable, but for what happens on screen, it tries much more to get you pumped.

Oh right... the original had also one great track.
"Here Comes The Rain"
The song that plays in the Radio.
Wasn't used for fighting, but it was nice to listen to between missions and when it kicked in at higher volume at the end of the game.
Kinda reminded me of "Prisoner" from "Stumfol"... the song that plays at every checkpoint in "The Surge".

That's a totally valid and respectable opinion, Imahori's style isn't for everyone. The thing is though, him and Nightow are two peas in a pod. Imahori's style is very eclectic, hence, how you can have the spastic jazz music and "Here Comes The Rain" from the same person on the same soundtrack.

The Gungrave Archives book from Dark Horse with interviews from Imahori were really interesting on how he went about creating the music for Gungrave. It's very representative of Nightow's visual style, and is the reason why they pair well together, especially on things like Gungrave and Trigun.

And though it might not be a musical style that everyone enjoys, it is a part of what made Gungrave, Gungrave. It's baffling to me personally, that they'd bring back the original Japanese VAs, but not the person who has been scoring Gungrave in every form of media since the beginning.

[Rynnec]

Originally posted by Billy Blaze:

As much as I loved the first 2 GG games, I hated the music.
Like nearly all the tracks were some Jazz stuff and it was just so hard to listen to.
My gf walked past me as I played the first GG, in the elevator section in Level 5, and we both said at the same time "Jesus... that music..."
The only good tracks were the "Fangoram" boss in "Overdose" and the first phase of the final boss, also in "Overdose", since I'm a sucker for organs, and that theme mixed organs with a nice beat.

In "G.O.R.E", the music might not be as fitting or memorable, but for what happens on screen, it tries much more to get you pumped.

Oh right... the original had also one great track.
"Here Comes The Rain"
The song that plays in the Radio.
Wasn't used for fighting, but it was nice to listen to between missions and when it kicked in at higher volume at the end of the game.
Kinda reminded me of "Prisoner" from "Stumfol"... the song that plays at every checkpoint in "The Surge".

No love for the boss theme: "An Ulterior Motive"? That track was stylish as hell even if you don't care for jazz. Bunji's theme was also a banger

The OST for the first two Gungrave games and anime weren't exactly "videogame-y" but rubik's dude is right, they did their job of selling the unique atmosphere the series was known for

[Billy Blaze]

Originally posted by Rynnec:

Originally posted by Billy Blaze:

As much as I loved the first 2 GG games, I hated the music.
Like nearly all the tracks were some Jazz stuff and it was just so hard to listen to.
My gf walked past me as I played the first GG, in the elevator section in Level 5, and we both said at the same time "Jesus... that music..."
The only good tracks were the "Fangoram" boss in "Overdose" and the first phase of the final boss, also in "Overdose", since I'm a sucker for organs, and that theme mixed organs with a nice beat.

In "G.O.R.E", the music might not be as fitting or memorable, but for what happens on screen, it tries much more to get you pumped.

Oh right... the original had also one great track.
"Here Comes The Rain"
The song that plays in the Radio.
Wasn't used for fighting, but it was nice to listen to between missions and when it kicked in at higher volume at the end of the game.
Kinda reminded me of "Prisoner" from "Stumfol"... the song that plays at every checkpoint in "The Surge".

No love for the boss theme: "An Ulterior Motive"? That track was stylish as hell even if you don't care for jazz. Bunji's theme was also a banger

The OST for the first two Gungrave games and anime weren't exactly "videogame-y" but rubik's dude is right, they did their job of selling the unique atmosphere the series was known for

The boss theme was music that could play in any other level.
Yeah, the Bunji theme stood out to me... as the most boring track in the game.
Sorry, it might be that some (or most) people like these tracks, but I always go for pumping over fitting.
The Bunji theme isn't even fitting... it's what should play before the fight, like these 2 talking before hell breaks lose.
After that, I wanna hear something like "Roller Mobster" from "Carpenter Brut".
Wouldn't be fitting at all but it would make this fight 1000 times more awesome.

[Rynnec]

Originally posted by Billy Blaze:

Originally posted by Rynnec:

No love for the boss theme: "An Ulterior Motive"? That track was stylish as hell even if you don't care for jazz. Bunji's theme was also a banger

The OST for the first two Gungrave games and anime weren't exactly "videogame-y" but rubik's dude is right, they did their job of selling the unique atmosphere the series was known for

The boss theme was music that could play in any other level.
Yeah, the Bunji theme stood out to me... as the most boring track in the game.
Sorry, it might be that some (or most) people like these tracks, but I always go for pumping over fitting.
The Bunji theme isn't even fitting... it's what should play before the fight, like these 2 talking before hell breaks lose.
After that, I wanna hear something like "Roller Mobster" from "Carpenter Brut".
Wouldn't be fitting at all but it would make this fight 1000 times more awesome.

Bunji's theme has two parts, the slow part is what plays in the cutscenes, the part where it picks up and becomes faster paced and hectic is what plays during the actual boss and loops throughout the fight. To be honest, I can't imagine any other song playing during that fight, the frantic harmonica playing combined with the calm acoustic fits the intensity of the boss fight perfectly, especially on Kick-Ass mode where his Graveyard attack one shots you.

[Billy Blaze]

Originally posted by Rynnec:

the frantic harmonica playing combined with the calm acoustic

There lies the problem.

EDIT: The term "frantic harmonica" also makes me chuckle... ^^
Like saying "savage cricket chirping".

[Tarrende]

It's kinda funny that the only piece of existing music that made it into GORE is Wire #9.
GOREs soundtrack is doing a good job and is keeping the musical roots of the series in mind.
Tetsuya Shibata and Aoki Yoshino did a good job at translating the original games music into their own, modern take.
The Hong Kong Battle Music is a nice blend of old and new: The brass and electronic elements really give me a proper gungrave vibe, it's smooth but has just the right kind of chaos to not feel too stale. The Guitar and Bass is a bit lacking in presence and depth though, but that's alright.
Same for the Vietnam Theme, the pace and build up got a more modern flow and that signature Tetsuya sound, but it still got that "gungrave groove" to it, if you want to call it that. Those synths constantly trying to spiral out of control just to catch themself again on the bassline feels very gungrave to me.
The soundtracks weakspot is definitely the boss tracks and the quiet/downtime stage music.
The bosses in general in this game are very forgetable and the music isn't helping with that.
(Only fight I enjoyed and liked was Zell) But then again, it is hard to write solid music for cardboard cutouts, I can cut those two some slack there.
With the downtime music they could've leaned more into those slower, somber jazz elements. There's a very faint hint there, but it is mostly overpowered by sometimes odd synth melodies.

It's for sure not a Tsuneo Imahori soundtrack. It's not as dark and bizarre. You won't smell the gunpowder and cigarettes, mixed with blood and spilled drinks of a night club.
But there is some good stuff here that still manages to tap into the strong vibes of the established music and calls back to it here and there. Could it lean more closer to what came before? Probably. Does it forget about its parents? Not really.
It fits this modern incarnation, though it won't leave a strong, lasting impression as the other soundtracks did, for me atleast.

I'm still feeling sad that we didn't get a full re-arranged version of Gunlock Overdrive (specially for those Boss Executions, what was up with that lame ambient music during those?), the short riff on the result screen does not count. That deep bass and the brass are perfection and is Gungrave in condensed essence.

Fun fact: "Here comes the Rain" is in the game files. My guess is they wanted "The Lab" to be an actual physical place between missions like the first game at some point.
The scraps on the cutting room floor are always a nice place for speculation.