We often praise the visuals in anime, and rightly so, since the creators put most of their effort into the animation and direction. However, we should not forget that anime is an audiovisual work, and music plays no less a role in it than images.
We decided to recall the 5 most remarkable anime soundtracks, which successfully complement the visuals.
The key theme in Death Note is the desire of a man to become a god. Light (mistakenly) believes that he can now decide the fate of the world. The show takes on an epic scale at this moment, even the God of Death appears. Obviously, the soundtrack has to match this scale.
Although the main themes are guitar melodies, the composers, Yoshihisa Hirano and Hideki Taniuchi, imitate church music with characteristic orchestral singing in the most significant moments, as if from a mass. Even those who have watched the series for a long time will definitely remember these scenes.
What kind of soundtrack does a dark cyberpunk with depressed characters need? Keishi Urata and Hajime Mizoguchi composed extremely harsh music for the show that is difficult to listen to. This was done on purpose: the series should be unpleasant to watch, and the music, accordingly, to listen to.
The sound in the series is deliberately disturbing. Raw ambient, industrial motifs, and lyrical string themes are all mixed here. Even in the show's brightest moments, it's hard not to deep dive into the melancholy.
We are talking here primarily about the original film by Mamoru Oshii. In Ghost in the Shell (Koukaku Kidoutai) the director shows a world ruled by transnational corporations, so there is a fusion of cultures.
Composer Kenji Kawai's goal was to show cultural eclecticism on a musical level. Therefore, Kenji Kawai uses both traditional Japanese motifs and relaxing ambient music as well as futuristic melodies. The music is tightly woven into the soundscape of the movie.
Even the title itself hints that music is extremely important in the series. Bebop is a highly influential jazz style — it is characterized by increased improvisation, fast tempos, and complex playing.
The show's soundtrack was composed by Yoko Kanno and performed by The Seatbelts band. The goal of Kanno's soundtrack in Cowboy Bebop was to show the most diverse range of jazz techniques. The series is both a melancholic anime about existential crises and a driving action movie in the style of Hong Kong cinema.
Yoko Kanno managed to perfectly convey this uneven mood of the series without losing any of its musical integrity. In a sense, the editing in the series is subordinated to the musical themes.
Honestly, this could be almost any Miyazaki film. For a long time, the director has been working with regular composer Joe Hisaishi. It seems that Hisaishi's music is almost unnoticeable, but try to turn it off while watching and Miyazaki's slender universe will collapse.
Hisaishi's gentle lyrical melodies perfectly convey the dreamy mood of Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi), but at the same time, this is piercing music that can be listened to separately from the movie.
Can you hear the music?
We often praise the visuals in anime, and rightly so, since the creators put most of their effort into the animation and direction. However, we should not forget that anime is an audiovisual work, and music plays no less a role in it than images.
We decided to recall the 5 most remarkable anime soundtracks, which successfully complement the visuals.
The key theme in Death Note is the desire of a man to become a god. Light (mistakenly) believes that he can now decide the fate of the world. The show takes on an epic scale at this moment, even the God of Death appears. Obviously, the soundtrack has to match this scale.
Although the main themes are guitar melodies, the composers, Yoshihisa Hirano and Hideki Taniuchi, imitate church music with characteristic orchestral singing in the most significant moments, as if from a mass. Even those who have watched the series for a long time will definitely remember these scenes.
What kind of soundtrack does a dark cyberpunk with depressed characters need? Keishi Urata and Hajime Mizoguchi composed extremely harsh music for the show that is difficult to listen to. This was done on purpose: the series should be unpleasant to watch, and the music, accordingly, to listen to.
The sound in the series is deliberately disturbing. Raw ambient, industrial motifs, and lyrical string themes are all mixed here. Even in the show's brightest moments, it's hard not to deep dive into the melancholy.
We are talking here primarily about the original film by Mamoru Oshii. In Ghost in the Shell (Koukaku Kidoutai) the director shows a world ruled by transnational corporations, so there is a fusion of cultures.
Composer Kenji Kawai's goal was to show cultural eclecticism on a musical level. Therefore, Kenji Kawai uses both traditional Japanese motifs and relaxing ambient music as well as futuristic melodies. The music is tightly woven into the soundscape of the movie.
Even the title itself hints that music is extremely important in the series. Bebop is a highly influential jazz style — it is characterized by increased improvisation, fast tempos, and complex playing.
The show's soundtrack was composed by Yoko Kanno and performed by The Seatbelts band. The goal of Kanno's soundtrack in Cowboy Bebop was to show the most diverse range of jazz techniques. The series is both a melancholic anime about existential crises and a driving action movie in the style of Hong Kong cinema.
Yoko Kanno managed to perfectly convey this uneven mood of the series without losing any of its musical integrity. In a sense, the editing in the series is subordinated to the musical themes.
Honestly, this could be almost any Miyazaki film. For a long time, the director has been working with regular composer Joe Hisaishi. It seems that Hisaishi's music is almost unnoticeable, but try to turn it off while watching and Miyazaki's slender universe will collapse.
Hisaishi's gentle lyrical melodies perfectly convey the dreamy mood of Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi), but at the same time, this is piercing music that can be listened to separately from the movie.
