Texas AG-Elect Once Made Mp3s for DBZ

Last night’s blue wave was more of a Kamehameha in Texas. The new Texas attorney general–elect, Nathan Johnson, had an interesting gig before entering politics: making the score for Funimation’s dub of Dragon Ball Z — not the butt-rock-adjacent metal but the moodier stuff (the thinking man’s anime soundtrack), which someone helpfully compiled into a playlist on YouTube. “I wrote the musical scores, wall to wall, of 67 episodes of Dragon Ball Z and five of the movies,” Johnson said in a Reel on the campaign trail. “I had a 1-year-old at the time, and I remember him sitting on my knee and stuff blowing up. He’s like, ‘Oh, Daddy Goku!’ He thought it was super cool. It gave me a creative outlet and a cultural connection that very few people have had the opportunity to have.”

Johnson was elected to state senate in 2018. He participated in the impeachment trial of former Texas attorney general (and current gubernatorial loser) Ken Paxton in 2023. Besides the 67 episodes of DBZ, Johnson worked on the scores to Dragon Ball Z: The World’s Strongest, Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might, Dragon Ball Z: Broly — Second Coming, Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn, and Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon. He laid down the tracks that accompanied such moments as the introduction of Frieza, Vegeta killing Nappa, and the reveal of Other World (a.k.a. DBZ heaven). Did this familiarity with struggles of good versus evil and never-ending fights against tremendous odds help Texas Democrats win every statewide office? Sure, let’s go with that.