Well, i don’t know how to start this, so i’m kinda doing my best, this a new section on my blog «AnimeStyle», called «Talking With Ron», the concept is easy: I talk about a random theme with a random guest, the one of this week is none but Canipa, of the famous Youtube channel TheCanipaEffect [https://www.youtube.com/user/TheCanipaEffect], check it out, is a amazing channel about chinese cartoons, you can find him on Twitter on https://twitter.com/CanipaShow}
RON: Let’s start
The theme today is Music Composers
Most exactly, on Anime
Well, Canipa, what’s your favorite music composer working actually on Anime? Mine is Taku Iwasaki, he has a special feel, like a bombastic, really adrenaline-driven music, that works well with the type of series that he works on.
Canipa: Taku Iwasaki is brilliant. Although I only really feel like he reaches his true potential when he’s collaborating with Lotus Juice on those neat rap tracks. Like «Overdrive» from Jojo Battle Tendency. I can never quite decide on a favourite composer though. Both Go Shiina and Yuuki Hayashi are people that I get excited about.
RON: Yeah, his Lotus Juice tracks are phenomenal
My favorite of him is «Awaken» from the JoJo OST
though
even if is a meme
It’s still a good ass song
Canipa: That does seem to be the tragedy of good things. They’re all memes in the end.
RON: Yeah, all the good things are destined to be meme
Bah, everything is destined to meme
Seems like all the roads lead to memes
Don’t you think?
About Yuki Hayashi and Go Shiina, i prefer heavily to the first over the later
Yuki Hayashi just does some kickass music that make you feel, like, i don’t know, it makes you want go to a football stadium and start kicking to the porter’s lodge
Like, all sports anime should have music by Yuki Hayashi
Canipa: Oh, absolutely. With Hayashi, you’re constantly referring to the energy of a track and he’s one of the few composers who has first hand experience. As a former gymnast, he knows exactly what sort of music works best to perform to and he’s transferred this skillset over to animation.
RON: Yeah, you can really tell that
Let’s go to address the elephant on the room when someone is talking about Anime music composers
Your opinion on Hiroyuki Sawano?
Canipa: Hmmm… Hiroyuki Sawano’s an odd one because at its core, he is a good composer.
However, I fear that he’s kind of built an image for himself and even though he has a large range, he’s constantly brought onto projects to provide similar tracks to what he’s composed before.
RON: He became kinda stale these last few years
Canipa: The thing most people don’t realise is that he’s a genuinely fantastic pianist, however he rarely gets asked to put that into action. His original soundtrack actually has some good examples of his variety.
RON: Yeah, he’s an awesome pianist
But he’s trusted with shows that basically fall on the same type of bombastic OST
You know, there has to be a lot of insert songs
a few EDM tracks here and there
some Beethoven kinda shit
Kickass rock tracks
Canipa: And a lot of really loud vocals
RON: Yeah, a lot of loud vocals
He has became a victim of overexposition and overwork too
Canipa: It’s hard to track, because from the very start he was brought on for a very specific type of music. So it’s difficult to claim that he should do something entirely different if we haven’t actually heard a full show within that vein.
RON: He has done 63 OSTs on a decade
+ 5 Compilation Albums and shit
+ A lot of Singles
Canipa: I think because of his overwork, things start to blend together. For example, he was doing a lot of Xenoblade Chronicles X work for the past few years whilst he was doing anime OSTs.
RON: And his anime OSTs of that period has similarities with Xenoblade Chronicles X OST?
Really never listened to that
Canipa: I believe he was composing it at the same time as Kill la Kill and there’s certainly similarities there.
RON: Yeah
Also, he’s one of the few Anime music composers
that has become so famous
to be the main name on his compositions
Canipa: Absolutely. He’s not so much a staff member as a reason for shows getting greenlit
RON: Lemme explain
He has a supergroup of artists, Aimer, Yosh, Gemie, etc
but he’s still the main name
Isn’t Aimer
Canipa: Sawano’s actually got a vocal project that he calls «nZk»
RON: Yeah
But it’s like Hiroyuki Sawano & nZk
Like Prince & The Revolution
Canipa: Basically, the idea is that he wanted to produce vocal tracks as well, along with artists he’s worked with in the past. So for example, he did Aldnoah’s OP and Unicorn’s ED.
RON: He’s so famous that is the main name on that group
Canipa: Absolutely.
Also interesting because when he went into composing, he explicatly didn’t want to create vocal tracks, but here he is
RON: and he has became like this, huge fountain of money
He keeps churning out 4, 5, 6 projects a year
cause he knows that’s going to maintain him making lots of money
Canipa: There was a quote from a producer a while back about how you need 2 of the 3 core staff positions to be famous people to get an original project greenlit.
RON: Interesting.
Canipa: In the quote, they referred to Director, Series Composition and Character Designer. However, I think Hiroyuki Sawano is a bonus point in that respect.
RON: I’m going to make a original anime.
Shinichiro Watanabe Director, Tetsuya Nishio Character Designer, Hiroyuki Sawano OST
Done
I’m greenlighted
Canipa: Even Masao Maruyama struggled to get Watanabe to direct. Good luck!
RON: Yeah
even if get Shinichiro Watanabe to direct would spend a decade of my life xD
Maruyama achieved it two times
So he’s not that hard Xd
Canipa: Minami did it twice too
RON: Or Maruyama is just a really good bussiness man
Yeah
and Manglobe did it 1 and 1/2 times
Canipa: These are kind of the «Super Producers». And it seems you need a «Super Producer» to bring on a «Super Director».
RON: They get him to Sound Director
on Sayo Yamamoto’s first series
Close?
Canipa: Somewhat. I believe that was Yamamoto’s doing though.
Anyways, anime music.
RON: Let’s go back it
But let’s keep talking about Shinichiro Watanabe
most exactly a close friend of him
That even was the inspiration for a character on Cowboy Bebop…
Canipa: Kanno?
RON: Exactly
Canipa: Which character did she inspire? I didn’t actually know this part.
RON: Her OSTs are so fucking classy
The little one
Canipa: Edward?
RON: Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV
Yeah, that one
Kawamoto based him on Kanno
Actually, Kawamoto kinda likes Kanno….
She makes his heart do doki doki
Canipa: Hahaha, who doesn’t?
Ron: True.
Canipa: That certainly is cool though. It’s often underestimated how much impact a composer has on their productions.
Like how Go Shiina was made into a character in Tales of Legendia because the staff liked him
RON: Yeah, they usually are heavily overlooked
Actually Kanno is one of the major pieces of Watanabe’s style
Canipa: It’s difficult to consider them as separate entities
RON: Him, Kanno and Nakazawa
are inseparable
Canipa: Like Christopher Nolan and Hans Zimmer
RON: Indeed
Canipa: Over the next year, I’m going to be working towards more interviews and I feel that asking about composers is going to be very important.
Because the composer’s relationship with a project and the director can be massively significant.
RON: Yeah
Tetsuro Araki and Hiroyuki Sawano is another really close relationship
Canipa: The nerdy kid and the magician. (Even though Araki is 40 years old, I swear he looks like he’s in his early 20s)
RON: and also, Tomohiko Ito and Yuki Kajiura
They match the other’s style perfectly
Araki looks like he is a nerdy teenager
He probably has more groupies than you
anyways
In love with this look:
or with his credit card
Canipa: «Can I borrow Sawano again, please?»
RON: Also, Ito and Kajiura would make a good couple
Canipa: I believe they may already be accounted for.
RON: Yeah
Btw, Kajiura was a great piece of the style of a entire studio on the 2000s, you know it?
Canipa: Bee Train?
RON: Yeah
Canipa: .hack is probably the reason she was brought onto Sword Art Online.
I am saying this completely unresearched though. Haven’t started work on that part of the video series yet.
RON: Yeah, very probably
Look like Ito liked her tho
Since she was also present on ERASED
She on her Bee Train times also supported one of the most awful musical projects that i’ve seen IMO
ALI PROJECT
Canipa: What on earth is that?
RON:
A example of them
They are consistently hated
Canipa: This is amazing.
RON: The exact opposite of Kajiura’s other project, Kalafina
That is consistently acclaimed
Canipa: Speaking of vocal projects, one of the most interesting ones right now is «[K]NoW_NAME»
RON: Is of Sawano, don’t?
Oh, no, is of R.O.N
Canipa: Instead of it being just a composer with a team of vocalists, it’s a group of upcoming composers teaming up with upcoming lyricists and vocalists.
It’s R.O.N, Makoto Miyazaki (of One Punch Man fame) and Shuhei Mutsuki.
RON: and NIKIIE
Is kinda the singer?
Canipa: One of them
RON: Very similar to Sawano’s one
but instead of being one composer are various
Canipa: And various composers.
They’ve only done Grimgar so far, but the group is a part of Toho Records, so I hope we see them again
RON: How many things has R.O.N?
-He’s ex-member of OLDCODEX
-He’s member of STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION
-He’s a anime composer
-He’s part of [K]NoW_NAME
Canipa: Yup.
He’s mostly done theme song arrangements and composition, but he did the OST to Aquarian Logos and Unlimited Fafnir.
Very electronic tracks, almost like dance music.
RON: Yeah
i know
He’s kinda a EDM composer
like the guy that did Parasyte’s OST
Ken Arai
Canipa: That guy is a DJ
Yeah, that’s him
RON: that also, Parasyte has some horrible Sound Direction
Like, really
There’s a sad scene with DUBSTEP
Canipa: I will never understand brining on Ken Arai. Like, he’s a techno composer who makes house music.
RON: He do some good music
There’s a track on the Parasyte OST that I LOVE
Canipa: I’d go to a club where he’s DJing. I wouldn’t necessarily watch a show that he composes.
RON:
the problem is that isn’t for Parasyte
Canipa:Oh yeah, this was really good.
RON: his second work, STARMYU, feel less out-of-place
Canipa: Yeah, that’s just what he needed
RON: Kinda of an odd choice by the director Kenichi Shimizu on that series
like, i understand the designs of Tadashi Hiramatsu, he’s a friend of him
But Ken Arai on music?
Canipa: An interesting choice though. Maybe he met him at a club.
RON: Just one season after it Yuzuru Tachikawa made the opening of a series called DEATH PARADE a disco theme
I guess that it was Opposite Day on Madhouse
Death Parade’s OP is awesome, btw
Canipa: BRADIO is fantastic.
Their Peeping Life OP is also really good. They even animated the band into it.
RON: A awesome band, indeed
I also really liked the ED
Canipa:
RON: Yeah, i’m aware of it
Canipa: But are you aware of this?
RON: You know NoisyCell?
I’m aware
Canipa: NoisyCell did Barakamon as well, didn’t they?
RON: Yeah
They are a pretty interesting project
And also thanks to they, Death Parade has one the best scenes that i’ve watched on anime on the last 5 or so years:
I ended up that episode crying
Just awesome music placement
Canipa:
I actually didn’t like that track that much. It kind of felt too mid 2000s American rock to me that I just got distracted.
RON: Yeah, it feels very post-grunge
but still is a awesome track
and a sample of what’s a good music placement on Anime
btw, you know that Death Parade’s ED was made by Shinichiro Watanabe?
Canipa: Yeah, it’s very cool to see. Especially since Tachikawa is such a new director.
RON: Tachikawa gained a lot of buzz after Death Billiards
And he meet a lot of industry’s bigger names
Death Parade has a awesome OST by Yuuki Hayashi
btw
Just a very powerful OST
Canipa: Stuff like this really shows his range over the past few years:
RON: Yuzuru Tachikawa has been blessed with awesome compositors
Canipa: Kenji Kawai on Mob Psycho. Absolutely fantastic.
RON: That sooong, my feeeels
Yeah, awesome OST
Kenji Kawai is a very cool old man
Canipa: Kawai’s tracks seem to always do more than just develop a scene, instead extending to creating a world. I can’t listen to his tracks independently without it evoking images of those worlds.
RON: Indeed
He has that power
Tell a story with music
That’s the major goal that a multimedia music composer would have
being able to tell a story with their music
creating an entire universe with only the music
But a lot of them get stuck on just being a complement to the scene
i don’t know if you understand
Canipa: Oh, totally. And in some cases, it can kill a scene.
It’s hard to notice without comparison, but for example, if you compare the English and Japanese versions of Pokemon, there’s an entirely different impact.
RON: Yeah
i understand
the english version is a classic
the japanese version has been forgotten
the exact opposite case is with Digimon
the Japanese and Lationamerican versions are classics
English version….
Like, really
they kinda killed Kouji Wada’s magnifique effort
with that shitty rap thing
Canipa: That was a very particular era where rap themes were a must. Same happened to One Piece.
RON: Where rap themes were #Trending
Good that it don’t lasted
Canipa: And the appreciation of Japanese music has meant that localisers don’t even bother to make new themes.
Or even provide English covers in most cases.
RON: Yeah
On that times
They tried to remove all Japanese stuff of the series
by changing the OST, Openings, Characters, etc
Btw, have you listened to Kekkai Sensen’s OST?
Is objetively better than Kyousuougiga’s OST
Canipa: Absolutely not.
Kekkai Sensen’s OST is great, but Kyousougiga is absolutely magical.
RON: Kyousougiga OST is bad
Canipa: Not even close!
RON: Kekkai Sensen OST is glorious
I have very random opinions about OSTs
Canipa: I mean, I’m not going to deny Iwasaki’s Kekkai Sensen work, but Go Shiina’s Kyousougiga is fantastic. Like I was saying before about creating a world, Kyosougiga’s OST defines its fantasy.
RON: For me Rainbow [2010] has some of the best OSTs of all time
Canipa: Spontaneous, yet spiritual. That’s something that both the visuals and the soundtrack define about Kyosougiga.
RON: Kekkai Sensen OST has a very cool and funky feel
that also fits perfectly with Kekkai Sensen
Canipa: Yeah, Kekkai Sensen’s OST is entirely New York
Or at least, the 1950s New York that Kekkai Sensen explores.
RON: We can say that Matsumoto has a good ear for OSTs
Today’s New York
would be a lot of Gangsta Rap Xd
Canipa: Somewhat. I think that might be a bit more LA.
RON: Yeah
Also, listening to random anime OSTs here and there
Rainbow [2010] has a very understimated OST
Is just very human and warm
Not by a known Music Composer
but instead by a guy called Yuu Takami
Canipa: Has he done drama work before?
RON: I think so
Yeah, he did
Also, he did one with Taisei Iwasaki
called….
You won’t believe this…
SUMMER NUDE
and another one called SLEEPING MILF
U have some OST that you think that is underestimated?
Canipa: Yatterman Night by Tatsuya Kato is secretely brilliant and one of his best works.
RON: It was a very good OST yeah
Yoru no Yatterman in general is a very understimated series
that was obscured by its own production issues
Well, i think that we can close it here?
What you think?
Canipa: Sure, it’s been good to chat.
RonSnow: This is going to be a hell to edit
It was a funny talk
Canipa: Yeah lol
RON: And i learned some things for the next talks
I’m going to do these things once a week during 12 weeks
Well, Goodbye
Canipa: Seeya
AnimeStyle 