Yuki Kajiura
Encyclopedia
, born August 6, 1965 in Tokyo
, Japan
, is a Japanese
composer
and music producer. She has provided the music for several popular anime
series, such as one of the Kimagure Orange Road
movies, Noir
, .hack//SIGN
, Aquarian Age
, Madlax
, My-HiME
, My-Otome
, .hack//Roots
, Pandora Hearts
, Puella Magi Madoka Magica
, Tsubasa Chronicle and the Kara no Kyoukai movies(amongst others). She also assisted Toshihiko Sahashi
with Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny
. Kajiura has also composed for video games, including the cutscene music for Xenosaga II and the entire Xenosaga III game soundtrack. She currently resides in Tokyo.
from 1972 until her middle school
years. Her first music piece, which she had written at the age of 7, was a farewell song for her grandmother. After graduating from college (back in Tokyo), she began working as a systems engineering
programmer, but in 1992, she turned her career around to focus on her activities on music. She admits that it was her father who greatly influenced this decision, for he was a great opera
and classical music admirer.
In July 1992, she made her debut in an all-female trio
See-Saw
, then consisting of Chiaki Ishikawa
(lead vocals), herself (back-up vocals, keyboards), and Yukiko Nishioka. In the following two years, the group released six singles and two albums but in 1995 they temporarily broke up. Nishioka decided to become a writer
while Kajiura carried on with her solo
musician career, composing music for other artists as well as sound producing for TV, commercials, films, anime and games.
In 2001, she and Chiaki Ishikawa reunited as See-Saw. Around the same time she became involved with Koichi Mashimo
's anime studio Bee Train
and their first widely popular project, Noir
. Despite the series' controversial status among the reviewers, all critics generally praised its OST as a breakthrough in the anime music scene for its risky but highly successful mix of synth, opera, and French-flaired sound.
Kajiura greatly enjoyed the degree of artistic freedom
that Mashimo as the series' director offered her while collaborating on Noir, therefore their collaboration extended to many of his later projects, with the latest (as of 2007) being El Cazador de la Bruja
. For example, Mashimo would never set any distinctive limitations or goals before her, allowing her to compose whatever she pleases. Afterwards, he would just take the samples he thought appropriate and insert it to whenever he wanted them to play.
In 2002, See-Saw participated in another Mashimo's project, .hack//SIGN
, which became widely known for its TV and game combined development, and its soundtrack
sold over 300,000 copies. During the production of the series, Kajiura met Emily Bindiger
and impressed by her vocals, offered her to perform over 10 of the series' insert songs. She has also jokingly called Bindiger "her English teacher" on Anime Expo
2003.
One of See-Saw's further major hits was the ending theme song for Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
("Anna ni Issho Datta no ni"), which sold over 200,000 copies causing a sensation in the anime world. Dream Field, See-Saw's first original album release in nine years, became a hit, as well, in 2003, selling over 100,000 copies. In the same year, Kajiura released her first solo album, Fiction, which she performed and promoted at Anime Expo 2003 in Anaheim, California
.
One of Kajiura's solo projects include FictionJunction
, which contrary to common belief is not an alias but the name of the project itself. The project involves collaboration with artists such as Yuuka Nanri
, Asuka Kato, and Kaori Oda. FictionJunction Yuuka
, with Nanri as the vocalist, is the most prolific of these collaborations. In 2004, the duo produced the opening and ending songs for Koichi Mashimo's MADLAX
and in the next year, published their first collaborative album, Destination.
In October 2007, it was announced that Yuki Kajiura would be attending the performances of the Eminence Orchestra's concert, 'A Night In Fantasia 2007 - Symphonic Anime Edition', as a special guest.
Her latest project, Kalafina
is composed of Keiko Kubota (FictionJunction KEIKO), Wakana Ootaki (FictionJunction WAKANA) and two other vocalists named Hikaru and Maya. They performed the ending themes of the Kara no Kyoukai movies.
In 2009, Fiction Junction returned to perform the opening themesong to Pandora Hearts
, Parallel Hearts, with the majority of the show's music composed by Yuki Kajiura.
In 2011, Puella Magi Madoka Magica
was scored by Kajiura, while Kalafina
, a group founded by her, performed the ending theme.
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, is a Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and music producer. She has provided the music for several popular anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series, such as one of the Kimagure Orange Road
Kimagure Orange Road
, usually abbreviated as KOR, is a popular shōnen romantic comedy manga and anime series from the 1980s.Written by Izumi Matsumoto and serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump, it was later adapted into an anime series broadcast on Nippon Television, animated by Studio Pierrot and directed by...
movies, Noir
Noir (anime)
is a 26-episode Japanese anime television series produced in 2001 by the Bee Train animation studio. Kōichi Mashimo directed Noir, it was written by Ryoe Tsukimura, and the soundtrack was composed by Yuki Kajiura...
, .hack//SIGN
.hack//SIGN
.hack//Sign is an anime television series directed by Kōichi Mashimo and produced by studio Bee Train and Bandai Visual, that makes up one of the four original storylines of the .hack franchise...
, Aquarian Age
Aquarian Age: Sign for Evolution
is a 13-episode television anime series based on the Aquarian Age collectible card game. The show was co-produced by Broccoli and Madhouse and aired in early 2002 on TV Tokyo. VHS and DVD copies of the Japanese editions are currently on sale, and ADV Films has released the show in the United States...
, Madlax
MADLAX
is a 26-episode Japanese anime television series produced in 2004 by the Bee Train animation studio. Kōichi Mashimo directed Madlax and the soundtrack was composed by Yuki Kajiura...
, My-HiME
My-HiME
is an anime series, created by Sunrise. Directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, the series originally premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo from September 2004 to March 2005...
, My-Otome
My-Otome
is an anime series created by Sunrise. Directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, it is a spinoff of My-HiME anime series and as such My-Otome takes place in a new setting with new main characters....
, .hack//Roots
.hack//Roots
is a 26-episode anime series, animated by studio Bee Train, that sets as a prologue for the .hack//G.U. video games. It is the first .hack TV series broadcast in HDTV . It is set seven years after the events of the first two anime series and games...
, Pandora Hearts
Pandora Hearts
is a manga series by Jun Mochizuki. Originally starting serialization in the shōnen magazine GFantasy published by Square Enix in June 2006. Currently fourteen volumes have been released in Japan. The manga series was licensed for an English language release by Broccoli Books but has been dropped;...
, Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
is a Japanese anime television series produced by Shaft and Aniplex. The series is directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and written by Gen Urobuchi with original character designs by Ume Aoki, character design adaptation by Takahiro Kishida and music by Yuki Kajiura...
, Tsubasa Chronicle and the Kara no Kyoukai movies(amongst others). She also assisted Toshihiko Sahashi
Toshihiko Sahashi
is an accomplished Japanese composer. He graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1986. Sahashi has composed music for various anime series , video games, movies, dramas, and musicals...
with Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
is an anime series developed by Sunrise and directed by Mitsuo Fukuda. As with other series from the Gundam franchise, Gundam SEED takes place in a parallel timeline, in this case the Cosmic Era, the first to do so...
and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny
is an anime television series, acting as a sequel of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED by Sunrise. It retains most of the staff from Gundam SEED, including Director Mitsuo Fukuda. Set two years after the original Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, the plot follows the new character Shinn Asuka, a soldier from ZAFT,...
. Kajiura has also composed for video games, including the cutscene music for Xenosaga II and the entire Xenosaga III game soundtrack. She currently resides in Tokyo.
Biography
Due to her father's work, Kajiura lived in West GermanyWest Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
from 1972 until her middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
years. Her first music piece, which she had written at the age of 7, was a farewell song for her grandmother. After graduating from college (back in Tokyo), she began working as a systems engineering
Systems engineering
Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed over the life cycle of the project. Issues such as logistics, the coordination of different teams, and automatic control of machinery become more...
programmer, but in 1992, she turned her career around to focus on her activities on music. She admits that it was her father who greatly influenced this decision, for he was a great opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and classical music admirer.
In July 1992, she made her debut in an all-female trio
All-women band
An all-female band is a musical group composed of female musicians exclusively. A distinction is made here with a girl group, in which the members are solely vocalists, though this terminology is not universally followed.-1920s-1940s:In the Jazz Age and during the 1930s, "all-girl" bands such as...
See-Saw
See-Saw
See-Saw is a Japanese pop duo originally from Tokyo, Japan. Its members include Chiaki Ishikawa and Yuki Kajiura; former member left the group in April 1994 to pursue a writing career...
, then consisting of Chiaki Ishikawa
Chiaki Ishikawa
is a Japanese singer/songwriter. She is also the lead vocalist of Japanese musical duo See-Saw. Many of her songs, both solo and with See-Saw, have been used as theme songs in various anime series. Since 2003, her popularity abroad as part of See-Saw and as a solo artist has risen significantly...
(lead vocals), herself (back-up vocals, keyboards), and Yukiko Nishioka. In the following two years, the group released six singles and two albums but in 1995 they temporarily broke up. Nishioka decided to become a writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
while Kajiura carried on with her solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
musician career, composing music for other artists as well as sound producing for TV, commercials, films, anime and games.
In 2001, she and Chiaki Ishikawa reunited as See-Saw. Around the same time she became involved with Koichi Mashimo
Koichi Mashimo
is a well-known Japanese anime director and the founder of the animation studio Bee Train. Since the creation of the studio, Mashimo directed or otherwise participated in all its works, for example, as a member of art or sound department...
's anime studio Bee Train
Bee Train
, commonly referred simply as Bee Train, is a Japanese animation studio founded by Kōichi Mashimo in 1997. Since their involvement with Noir, .hack//Sign, and Madlax they have a strong following in the yuri fandom for being involved in series portraying strong female leads with speculatively...
and their first widely popular project, Noir
Noir (anime)
is a 26-episode Japanese anime television series produced in 2001 by the Bee Train animation studio. Kōichi Mashimo directed Noir, it was written by Ryoe Tsukimura, and the soundtrack was composed by Yuki Kajiura...
. Despite the series' controversial status among the reviewers, all critics generally praised its OST as a breakthrough in the anime music scene for its risky but highly successful mix of synth, opera, and French-flaired sound.
Kajiura greatly enjoyed the degree of artistic freedom
Artistic freedom
Artistic freedom is the extent of freedom of an artist to produce art to his/her own insight. The extent can deviate to customs in a certain school of art, directives of the assigner, etc....
that Mashimo as the series' director offered her while collaborating on Noir, therefore their collaboration extended to many of his later projects, with the latest (as of 2007) being El Cazador de la Bruja
El Cazador de la Bruja
, is an anime television series directed by Kōichi Mashimo and animated by Bee Train studio. It is a spiritual successor of Noir and Madlax and the final installment of Bee Train's "girls-with-guns" trilogy. The series was aired on TV Tokyo from April to September in 2007...
. For example, Mashimo would never set any distinctive limitations or goals before her, allowing her to compose whatever she pleases. Afterwards, he would just take the samples he thought appropriate and insert it to whenever he wanted them to play.
In 2002, See-Saw participated in another Mashimo's project, .hack//SIGN
.hack//SIGN
.hack//Sign is an anime television series directed by Kōichi Mashimo and produced by studio Bee Train and Bandai Visual, that makes up one of the four original storylines of the .hack franchise...
, which became widely known for its TV and game combined development, and its soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
sold over 300,000 copies. During the production of the series, Kajiura met Emily Bindiger
Emily Bindiger
Emily Bindiger is an American singer, belonging to the award-winning a cappella group The Accidentals....
and impressed by her vocals, offered her to perform over 10 of the series' insert songs. She has also jokingly called Bindiger "her English teacher" on Anime Expo
Anime Expo
Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation . With rare exceptions, the convention is traditionally held on the July 4th weekend and lasts for four days...
2003.
One of See-Saw's further major hits was the ending theme song for Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
is an anime series developed by Sunrise and directed by Mitsuo Fukuda. As with other series from the Gundam franchise, Gundam SEED takes place in a parallel timeline, in this case the Cosmic Era, the first to do so...
("Anna ni Issho Datta no ni"), which sold over 200,000 copies causing a sensation in the anime world. Dream Field, See-Saw's first original album release in nine years, became a hit, as well, in 2003, selling over 100,000 copies. In the same year, Kajiura released her first solo album, Fiction, which she performed and promoted at Anime Expo 2003 in Anaheim, California
Anaheim, California
Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...
.
One of Kajiura's solo projects include FictionJunction
FictionJunction
FictionJunction is Japanese composer Yuki Kajiura’s solo project. To date, all such collaborations have consisted of a vocalist, with Kajiura on the keyboard or the piano. Most FictionJunction songs have been featured in an anime series , most notably Gundam Seed, Tsubasa Chronicle and recently...
, which contrary to common belief is not an alias but the name of the project itself. The project involves collaboration with artists such as Yuuka Nanri
Yuuka Nanri
, commonly referred to as Yuuka, is a seiyū and also a known Japanese pop singer. She is contracted to Space Craft Entertainment of Space Craft Group.-Biography:Yuuka Nanri first debuted on NHK's in 1995, as a child star....
, Asuka Kato, and Kaori Oda. FictionJunction Yuuka
FictionJunction YUUKA
is a pop duo, part of Japanese composer Yuki Kajiura’s solo project FictionJunction, consisting of Yuuka Nanri and Kajiura .-Biography:...
, with Nanri as the vocalist, is the most prolific of these collaborations. In 2004, the duo produced the opening and ending songs for Koichi Mashimo's MADLAX
MADLAX
is a 26-episode Japanese anime television series produced in 2004 by the Bee Train animation studio. Kōichi Mashimo directed Madlax and the soundtrack was composed by Yuki Kajiura...
and in the next year, published their first collaborative album, Destination.
In October 2007, it was announced that Yuki Kajiura would be attending the performances of the Eminence Orchestra's concert, 'A Night In Fantasia 2007 - Symphonic Anime Edition', as a special guest.
Her latest project, Kalafina
Kalafina
Kalafina is a Japanese band formed by composer Yuki Kajiura in 2007, mainly to perform theme songs for the anime Kara no Kyōkai. The band debuted in January 2008 with two original members from Yuki Kajiura's FictionJunction project, Wakana Ōtaki and Keiko Kubota...
is composed of Keiko Kubota (FictionJunction KEIKO), Wakana Ootaki (FictionJunction WAKANA) and two other vocalists named Hikaru and Maya. They performed the ending themes of the Kara no Kyoukai movies.
In 2009, Fiction Junction returned to perform the opening themesong to Pandora Hearts
Pandora Hearts
is a manga series by Jun Mochizuki. Originally starting serialization in the shōnen magazine GFantasy published by Square Enix in June 2006. Currently fourteen volumes have been released in Japan. The manga series was licensed for an English language release by Broccoli Books but has been dropped;...
, Parallel Hearts, with the majority of the show's music composed by Yuki Kajiura.
In 2011, Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
is a Japanese anime television series produced by Shaft and Aniplex. The series is directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and written by Gen Urobuchi with original character designs by Ume Aoki, character design adaptation by Takahiro Kishida and music by Yuki Kajiura...
was scored by Kajiura, while Kalafina
Kalafina
Kalafina is a Japanese band formed by composer Yuki Kajiura in 2007, mainly to perform theme songs for the anime Kara no Kyōkai. The band debuted in January 2008 with two original members from Yuki Kajiura's FictionJunction project, Wakana Ōtaki and Keiko Kubota...
, a group founded by her, performed the ending theme.
Anime soundtracks
| Anime Title | Year of Release | Director |
|---|---|---|
| Kimagure Orange Road Kimagure Orange Road , usually abbreviated as KOR, is a popular shōnen romantic comedy manga and anime series from the 1980s.Written by Izumi Matsumoto and serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump, it was later adapted into an anime series broadcast on Nippon Television, animated by Studio Pierrot and directed by... |
1996 | Osamu Kobayashi |
| Eat-Man Eat-Man is a Japanese manga series created by Akihito Yoshitomi in 1996 which was serialized by MediaWorks monthly in 19 volumes until 2002 manga magazine Dengeki Comic Gao!. In 1997 Studio Deen adapted the manga into a 12 episode anime television series which was broadcast in Japan from January 1 to March... |
1997 | Koichi Mashimo Koichi Mashimo is a well-known Japanese anime director and the founder of the animation studio Bee Train. Since the creation of the studio, Mashimo directed or otherwise participated in all its works, for example, as a member of art or sound department... |
| Noir Noir (anime) is a 26-episode Japanese anime television series produced in 2001 by the Bee Train animation studio. Kōichi Mashimo directed Noir, it was written by Ryoe Tsukimura, and the soundtrack was composed by Yuki Kajiura... |
2001 | Koichi Mashimo |
| Aquarian Age Aquarian Age: Sign for Evolution is a 13-episode television anime series based on the Aquarian Age collectible card game. The show was co-produced by Broccoli and Madhouse and aired in early 2002 on TV Tokyo. VHS and DVD copies of the Japanese editions are currently on sale, and ADV Films has released the show in the United States... |
2002 | Yoshimitsu Ohashi |
| .hack//SIGN .hack//SIGN .hack//Sign is an anime television series directed by Kōichi Mashimo and produced by studio Bee Train and Bandai Visual, that makes up one of the four original storylines of the .hack franchise... |
2002 | Koichi Mashimo |
| .hack//Liminality .hack//Liminality .hack//Liminality is the OVA series directly related to the .hack video game series for the PlayStation 2, with the perspective of Liminality focused on the real world as opposed to the games' MMORPG The World. Liminality was separated into four volumes; each volume was released with its... |
2002 | Koichi Mashimo |
| Le Portrait de Petit Cossette Le Portrait de Petit Cossette is an original video animation produced by Aniplex. It spanned 3 episode OVA series and ran in 2004. It was licensed for North American distribution by Geneon and released as Le Portrait de Petite Cossette. Fuse TV has broadcast the anime as part of their Anime Explosion Weekend on December 15, 2007... |
2004 | Akiyuki Shinbo Akiyuki Shinbo , born September 27, 1961 in Fukushima, Japan, is a Japanese animation director. Shinbo started his career as an animator in 1981 at Studio One Pattern. He then made his directorial debut with Metal Fighter Miku in 1994. He is most notable for his involvement in a number of Shaft works since 2004... |
| Madlax MADLAX is a 26-episode Japanese anime television series produced in 2004 by the Bee Train animation studio. Kōichi Mashimo directed Madlax and the soundtrack was composed by Yuki Kajiura... |
2004 | Koichi Mashimo |
| My-HiME My-HiME is an anime series, created by Sunrise. Directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, the series originally premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo from September 2004 to March 2005... |
2004 | Masakazu Obara |
| My-Otome My-Otome is an anime series created by Sunrise. Directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, it is a spinoff of My-HiME anime series and as such My-Otome takes place in a new setting with new main characters.... |
2005 | Masakazu Obara |
| Tsubasa Chronicle | 2005 | Koichi Mashimo Hiroshi Morioka Hiroshi Morioka is a Japanese anime director and artist. Primarily working alongside director Koichi Mashimo at Bee Train animation studio, he's come on scene in his work with some notable productions by Bee Train including the anime adaption of Clamp's Tsubasa Chronicle and the third segment Field Test in Batman:... |
| Elemental Gelade Elemental Gelade is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mayumi Azuma. The fantasy adventure is a tale of a group of five who are on a journey to Edel Garden, the birthplace of mystical beings called Edel Raids who are described as "living weapons".... |
2005 | Shigeru Ueda |
| My-Otome Zwei My-Otome Zwei is a Japanese OVA anime series, created by Sunrise. Directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, it consists of four episodes, which were released across three-month intervals and is the sequel to the original My-Otome anime series... |
2006 | Masakazu Obara |
| Fist of the North Star True Saviour Legend Fist of the North Star is a Japanese manga series written by Buronson and drawn by Tetsuo Hara that was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1983 to 1988, spanning 245 chapters, which were initially collected in a 27-volume tankōbon edition by Shueisha... |
2007 | Toyoo Ashida |
| El Cazador de la Bruja El Cazador de la Bruja , is an anime television series directed by Kōichi Mashimo and animated by Bee Train studio. It is a spiritual successor of Noir and Madlax and the final installment of Bee Train's "girls-with-guns" trilogy. The series was aired on TV Tokyo from April to September in 2007... |
2007 | Koichi Mashimo |
| Tsubasa TOKYO REVELATIONS | 2007–2008 | Shunsuke Tada |
| Tsubasa Shunraiki | 2009 | Shunsuke Tada |
| Pandora Hearts Pandora Hearts is a manga series by Jun Mochizuki. Originally starting serialization in the shōnen magazine GFantasy published by Square Enix in June 2006. Currently fourteen volumes have been released in Japan. The manga series was licensed for an English language release by Broccoli Books but has been dropped;... |
2009 | Takao Kato |
| Puella Magi Madoka Magica Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a Japanese anime television series produced by Shaft and Aniplex. The series is directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and written by Gen Urobuchi with original character designs by Ume Aoki, character design adaptation by Takahiro Kishida and music by Yuki Kajiura... |
2011 | Akiyuki Shinbo Akiyuki Shinbo , born September 27, 1961 in Fukushima, Japan, is a Japanese animation director. Shinbo started his career as an animator in 1981 at Studio One Pattern. He then made his directorial debut with Metal Fighter Miku in 1994. He is most notable for his involvement in a number of Shaft works since 2004... |
| Fate/Zero Fate/zero is a prequel to Type-Moon's visual novel Fate/stay night. It is a light novel by Gen Urobuchi, illustrated by Takashi Takeuchi. The first volume was released on December 29, 2006, and is a collaboration between Type-Moon and fellow developer Nitroplus. The second volume was released on March 31,... |
2011 | Ei Aoki |
Game soundtracks
| Game Title | Game Platform | Year of Release | Company |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double Cast ダブルキャスト (Daburukyasuto) |
PlayStation PlayStation The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000... |
1998 | Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony... |
| Meguri-aishite めぐり愛して (Meguriaishite) |
PlayStation PlayStation The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000... |
1999 | SME Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation.... |
| Blood: The Last Vampire Blood: The Last Vampire Blood: The Last Vampire is a 2000 anime film produced by Production I.G and SPE Visual Works and directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo. The film premiered in theaters in Japan on November 18, 2000... |
PlayStation 2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... |
2000 | Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony... |
| Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse is an RPG for the PlayStation 2 and the second title in the Xenosaga series. Jenseits von Gut und Böse, literally "Beyond Good and Evil", is taken from a philosophical work by Friedrich Nietzsche of the same name... (Movie scenes) |
PlayStation 2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... |
2004 | Namco Namco is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of... |
| Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra is an RPG for the PlayStation 2, and the third game in the primary Xenosaga trilogy. Also sprach Zarathustra, literally "Thus spoke Zarathustra", is also the title of Friedrich Nietzsche's most famous work, which introduced the concept of the Übermensch... |
PlayStation 2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... |
2006 | Namco Namco is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of... |
Movie soundtracks
| Movie Title | Year of Release | Director |
|---|---|---|
| Tokyo-Kyodai | 1995 | Jun Ichikawa |
| Ruby Fruit Ruby Fruit is a 1995 Japanese film based on novel by Ayako Saito.-Cast:*Kaho Minami as Matsunaga Maiko*Tsugumi Arimura as Sirani*Jun Togawa as Yoshimi*Reiko Takashima as Kyoko*Haruko Mabuchi as Sayuri*Jinpachi Nezu as Hisao Kagami... |
1995 | Takumi Kimiduka |
| Rainbow | 1999 | Naoto Kumazawa |
| Boogiepop and others | 2000 | Ryu Kaneda |
| MOON | 2000 | Takumi Kimiduka |
| Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Movie: Princess in Birdcage Kingdom | 2005 | Itsuro Kawasaki |
| Kara no Kyoukai movies | 2007–2009 | Ei Aoki, Takuya Nonaka & Mitsuru Oburai |
| Achilles and the Tortoise Achilles and the Tortoise (film) is a 2008 Japanese film written, directed, edited by Takeshi Kitano. The film is the third and final part of Kitano's surrealist autobiographical trilogy, starting with Takeshis and continuing with Glory to the Filmmaker!.... |
2008 | Takeshi Kitano Takeshi Kitano is a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic... |
Musicals
| Musical Title | Year of Release |
|---|---|
| Sakura-Wars | 1998 |
| Fine | 1998 |
| FUNK-a-STEP | 1998 |
| FUNK-a-STEP II | 1999 |
| Christmas Juliette | 1999–2000 |
| High-School Revolution | 2000 |
| Christmas Juliette | 2000 |
| Shooting-Star Lullaby | 2001 |
| Love's Labour's Lost/SET | 2002 |
| Angel Gate | 2006 |
Solo albums
| Album Title | Year of Release |
|---|---|
| Fiction | 2003 |
| Fiction II Fiction II Fiction II is Yuki Kajiura's second solo album, containing newly recorded versions of her previous anime and video games work as well as original songs.-Track listing:-Performers:... |
2011 |
Produced albums
| Album Title | Artist | Year of Release |
|---|---|---|
| I have a dream | See-Saw | 1993 |
| See-Saw | See-Saw | 1994 |
| Early Best | See-Saw | 2003 |
| Dream Field | See-Saw | 2003 |
| melody | Saeko Chiba | 2003 |
| everything | Saeko Chiba | 2004 |
| Destination | FictionJunction YUUKA | 2004 |
| Circus | FictionJunction YUUKA | 2007 |
| Re/oblivious | Kalafina | 2008 |
| Everlasting Songs | FictionJunction | 2009 |
| Seventh Heaven | Kalafina | 2009 |
| Red Moon | Kalafina | 2010 |
| After Eden | Kalafina | 2011 |
Compilation albums
| Album Title | Year of Release |
|---|---|
| The Works for Soundtrack | 2011 |
Other involvements
| Genre | Project | Involvement | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anime | Jura Tripper Jura Tripper is the title of a 1995 anime series consisting of 39 25-minute episodes. It is a loosely-based literary adaptation on the novel Deux Ans De Vacances by French author Jules Verne.-Plot outline:... |
Ending Theme | 1995 |
| Anime | Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Mobile Suit Gundam SEED is an anime series developed by Sunrise and directed by Mitsuo Fukuda. As with other series from the Gundam franchise, Gundam SEED takes place in a parallel timeline, in this case the Cosmic Era, the first to do so... |
Closing Theme & Insert Songs | 2002 |
| Anime | Chrono Crusade Chrono Crusade , also known as Chrno Crusade due to a typo in the original logo, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Daisuke Moriyama. It was originally published by Kadokawa Shoten in Dragon Magazine which began serialization in November 1998. A 24-episode anime television series based on the... |
Closing Theme Song (Sayonara Solitaire) | 2003 |
| Game | .hack//QUARANTINE | Song Yasashii Yoake(also used in .hack//SIGN) | 2003 |
| Anime | The World of Narue The World of Narue is an anime and manga series about Izuka Kazuto and his half-alien girlfriend Narue Nanase. The title is named after A.E. van Vogt's The World of Null-A .... |
Closing Theme | 2003 |
| Anime | Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny is an anime television series, acting as a sequel of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED by Sunrise. It retains most of the staff from Gundam SEED, including Director Mitsuo Fukuda. Set two years after the original Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, the plot follows the new character Shinn Asuka, a soldier from ZAFT,... |
Closing Theme & Insert Songs | 2004 |
| Anime | .hack//Legend of the Twilight .hack//Legend of the Twilight is a science fiction manga series written by Tatsuya Hamazaki and drawn by Rei Izumi. The twenty-two chapters of .hack//Legend of the Twilight appeared as a serial in the Japanese magazine Comptiq, and published in three tankōbon by Kadokawa Shoten from July 2002 to April 2004... |
Closing Theme | 2004 |
| Anime | Loveless | Theme Song | 2005 |
| Anime | Shōnen Onmyōji Shonen Onmyoji is a light novel authored by Mitsuru Yūki and illustrated by Sakura Asagi. The novel is currently serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's The Beans. The light novel currently has 25 volumes, including three short stories and a side story... |
Opening Theme Song | 2006 |
| Anime | Simoun Simoun (anime) is a Japanese anime television series that was broadcast in Japan in 2006. It ran for 26 weekly episodes from 3 April to 25 September.A manga adaptation was published in three issues of Comic Yuri Hime. The manga shared the same characters and setting as the anime, but presented a different storyline... |
Opening Theme Song | 2006 |
| Anime | .hack//Roots .hack//Roots is a 26-episode anime series, animated by studio Bee Train, that sets as a prologue for the .hack//G.U. video games. It is the first .hack TV series broadcast in HDTV . It is set seven years after the events of the first two anime series and games... |
Opening Theme Song | 2006 |
| Anime | Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto is a Japanese anime series, created by Ryōsuke Takahashi and Sunrise. It was broadcast between October 6, 2006 and April 6, 2007 on the Japanese internet streaming channel, GyaO.-Story:... |
Opening Theme Song | 2006 |
| Anime | My-Otome Zwei My-Otome Zwei is a Japanese OVA anime series, created by Sunrise. Directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, it consists of four episodes, which were released across three-month intervals and is the sequel to the original My-Otome anime series... |
Ending Themes Songs 2-3 | 2007 |
| Anime | Baccano! Baccano! is a Japanese light novel series written by Ryohgo Narita and illustrated by Katsumi Enami. The series, often told from multiple points of view, is mostly set within a fictional United States during various time periods, most notably the Prohibition-era. It focuses on various people, including... |
Ending Theme Song | 2007 |
| Anime | Amatsuki Amatsuki is an ongoing manga series by Shinobu Takayama, serialized in Monthly Comic Zero Sum. A 13 episode anime adaption produced by Studio Deen premiered on April 4, 2008.-Plot:... |
Ending Theme Song | 2008 |
| TV Drama | Negima (Live Action) | Ending Theme Song | 2008 |
| Anime | Kuroshitsuji Kuroshitsuji is a manga written and illustrated by Yana Toboso. Since its debut on September 16, 2006, it has been serialized in Square Enix's shōnen manga magazine Monthly GFantasy.... |
Ending Theme Song | 2008 |
| Documentary | Unknown Episodes of History - Historia | Soundtrack | 2009 |
| Anime | So Ra No Wo To So Ra No Wo To is a Japanese anime television series produced by A-1 Pictures and Aniplex and directed by Mamoru Kanbe. The 12-episode anime aired in Japan on the TV Tokyo television network between January 5 and March 22, 2010. Sound of the Sky is the debut project of Anime no Chikara... |
Opening Theme Song | 2010 |
| Anime | Ōkami Kakushi Ōkami Kakushi is a Japanese visual novel developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation Portable, with Ryukishi07 of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni fame as game director and the manga author duo Peach-Pit as character designers. The game was released on August 20, 2009 in Japan... |
Theme Song | 2010 |
| Anime | Eve no Jikan | Ending Theme Song | 2010 |
| Game | Nobunaga's Ambition Nobunaga's Ambition is a series of turn-based grand strategy role-playing simulation video games, first released in 1983 by the Japanese video game developer Koei.Games in the franchise have been released on a variety of gaming platforms, including the Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo Game Boy, Sega Mega Drive,... |
Theme Song | 2010 |
| Anime | Kuroshitsuji II | Insert Theme Song | 2010 |
| TV Drama | 15 Sai no Shiganhei | Music | 2010 |
| Game | .hack//Link .hack//Link is the final chapter to the .hack series. The story is told in manga with art by Megane Kikuya and original story by CyberConnect2... |
Previously written songs contributed: Edge, (from .hack//Liminality Volume 1: In the Case of Mai Minase .hack//Liminality .hack//Liminality is the OVA series directly related to the .hack video game series for the PlayStation 2, with the perspective of Liminality focused on the real world as opposed to the games' MMORPG The World. Liminality was separated into four volumes; each volume was released with its... ) Obsession from .hack//SIGN .hack//SIGN .hack//Sign is an anime television series directed by Kōichi Mashimo and produced by studio Bee Train and Bandai Visual, that makes up one of the four original storylines of the .hack franchise... and Silly-Go-Round. (from .hack//Roots .hack//Roots is a 26-episode anime series, animated by studio Bee Train, that sets as a prologue for the .hack//G.U. video games. It is the first .hack TV series broadcast in HDTV . It is set seven years after the events of the first two anime series and games... ) |
2010 |
| Documentary | Unknown Episodes of History - Historia 2 | Soundtrack | 2011 |
| Anime | Sacred Seven Sacred Seven , is a 2011 Japanese science fiction anime television series produced by Sunrise under the direction of Yoshimitsu Ohashi. Script supervisor is Shin Yoshida with mechanical designs by Ippei Gyōbu... |
Opening Theme Song | 2011 |
| Game | Senritsu no Stratus | Opening Theme Song | 2011 |
Trademarks
- Genre mixes: It is not uncommon to hear operaOperaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic style with a popPop musicPop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
beat to it. Kajiura's greatest inspiration, her father, was a classical fan; therefore her soundtracks have both pop and classic motifsMotif (music)In music, a motif or motive is a short musical idea, a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition....
. An example of this genre mix pop beat is the song Oblivious used in Kara no Kyoukai ending 1. - Piano: Elaborate self-performed pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
solos. - European themes: Some of her music has EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an style. Some of her songs are written in GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
or ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
. - Chants: It is not uncommon for Kajiura's songs to have a choirChoirA choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
performing ominous chantChantChant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes to highly complex musical structures Chant (from French chanter) is the rhythmic speaking or singing...
s (either as a supporting role or as the main driving force of the song) and some have dubbed this style 'Kajiuran'. The Yamanii chants in the song nowhere that is featured in MADLAXMADLAXis a 26-episode Japanese anime television series produced in 2004 by the Bee Train animation studio. Kōichi Mashimo directed Madlax and the soundtrack was composed by Yuki Kajiura...
is a good example of this. Other examples of Kajiuran are from the songs A Song of Storm and Fire (from Tsubasa Chronicle), Main Theme of Petit Cossette (from Le Portrait de Petit CossetteLe Portrait de Petit Cossetteis an original video animation produced by Aniplex. It spanned 3 episode OVA series and ran in 2004. It was licensed for North American distribution by Geneon and released as Le Portrait de Petite Cossette. Fuse TV has broadcast the anime as part of their Anime Explosion Weekend on December 15, 2007...
), MATERIALISE (from My-OtomeMy-Otomeis an anime series created by Sunrise. Directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, it is a spinoff of My-HiME anime series and as such My-Otome takes place in a new setting with new main characters....
) and more recently, Sis Puella Magica! (from Puella Magi Madoka MagicaPuella Magi Madoka Magicais a Japanese anime television series produced by Shaft and Aniplex. The series is directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and written by Gen Urobuchi with original character designs by Ume Aoki, character design adaptation by Takahiro Kishida and music by Yuki Kajiura...
). What makes the 'Kajiuran' style extremely unique in the musical scene, though, is the fact that Kajiura's lyrics are sometimes made up of nothing but random gibberish which, interestingly enough, always have a knack for fitting remarkably well into the track's intended mood in spite of their incomprehensible nature. - Bee TrainBee Train, commonly referred simply as Bee Train, is a Japanese animation studio founded by Kōichi Mashimo in 1997. Since their involvement with Noir, .hack//Sign, and Madlax they have a strong following in the yuri fandom for being involved in series portraying strong female leads with speculatively...
: Frequently composes for Bee Train Productions, and works with Koichi MashimoKoichi Mashimois a well-known Japanese anime director and the founder of the animation studio Bee Train. Since the creation of the studio, Mashimo directed or otherwise participated in all its works, for example, as a member of art or sound department... - ViolinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
Solos: Very elaborate violin solos are heard often in the middle of her songs
Trivia
- Kajiura does not have the pleasure of seeing the rough cut of the show she writes for. She is usually handed sketches of the characters, and what she and Koichi MashimoKoichi Mashimois a well-known Japanese anime director and the founder of the animation studio Bee Train. Since the creation of the studio, Mashimo directed or otherwise participated in all its works, for example, as a member of art or sound department...
have dubbed Music Menues, so she is often confused when she writes. - Kajiura speaks limited English. This fact was demonstrated at the Anime ExpoAnime ExpoAnime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation . With rare exceptions, the convention is traditionally held on the July 4th weekend and lasts for four days...
event when she was invited to perform her music. She was able to address the audience with simple but clear English. However on one occasion she called on her interpreterInterpretingLanguage interpretation is the facilitating of oral or sign-language communication, either simultaneously or consecutively, between users of different languages...
to explain some ideas that she could not express at will. She also briefly addressed the crowd at Anime Boston 2009Anime BostonAnime Boston is an annual three-day anime fan convention held in the spring in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The convention features a number of events which include a masquerade, an anime music video contest, video programming rooms, an artists' alley and art show, karaoke, game shows,...
when introducing Kalafina to their first American audience. - Kajiura is also a huge fan of RadioheadRadioheadRadiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
and BjorkBjörkBjörk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
.