川井 憲次 (Kenji Kawai)

W

wat11

Fluent in Kajiurago
Probably most of you knows him but he deserves a thread of his own.

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From Wikipedia:
"Kenji Kawai (川井 憲次 Kawai Kenji?), born April 23, 1957 in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Tokyo, is a Japanese music composer, for motion pictures, anime movies, video games and televised programs. He has contributed to the musical scores for numerous films from Japan and other countries in Asia, working in film genres as diverse as anime, horror, sci-fi and historical epic. Among his credits are Tsui Hark's Seven Swords and Wilson Yip's Ip Man; Mamoru Oshii's films The Red Spectacles, StrayDog: Kerberos Panzer Cops, Ghost in the Shell, Mobile Police Patlabor and Avalon; the anime adaptations of Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma ½ and Maison Ikkoku; the live-action adaptation of Gantz; and Hideo Nakata's films Ring, Ring 2, Chaos, Dark Water and Kaidan."

Most Kawai songs have interesting emotional ups and downs; it makes you feel energetic at one minute and then after a few strokes of strings, you are sad and then drums come in again. The music often blends orchestral with synth elements. Traditional Japanese elements are also present.

People may list their favorites too, here are some of mine:

Voyage to Avalon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTQfB8W0-EM

Ghost in the Shell https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z64HCi2rQkE

Hyakkin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n8ukyrr8Ss

Battle of Wits https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQmTWCT3Jm8

Death Note movie Last Name https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5GmAoG0FC0

The Trap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-dVx-Jjylo

Kodoku no junrei https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdIDxfF_dz4

Heart Beat of Shinma https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0hZ3vbjFWY
 
Considering how much he's doing (anime/documentaries/live action) he can be rather repetitive but when he does good BOY do I love it.

Fate/shit night A.OST =win,
GITS = flawless,
Higurashi = great horror OST (which fans of the VN soundtrack hated to my great delight),
Moribito = masterpiece;
Ume-chan Sensei = A+++

I don't think he's that big of a CD seller so I wonder how much of his own money he had to put into the rather awesome Original Masters box sets that are currenly getting released.
 
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DAT HAIR :XD: It makes him look like a music hero from the 80s!

He wrote the soundtrack to the Ring as well, didn't he? I don't remember much of the BGM from that movie (too busy being scared out my mind while watching it, probably :hide:) but everything about that film just *worked*. EDIT: just checked. Yep, he worked on Ring and Ring 2. Plus A LOT of other stuff. Wow. Talk about prolific!

The GitS 2: Innocence soundtrack is a standout though. I really like that one.
 
He also did the soundtrack for a game called Folklore. The game was okay but his music was really amazing.
 
I'm trying to get hold of them! (if you know sth *wink*) I listened to the samples, they're really nice and the third is about to be released (Nov12th).

wow first one is on Amazon.co.uk :D
 
Ar no Surge OST - ra-ciel reincarnation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQGeEYqrNFU

This one was composed by Kenji Kawai, the rest of the album was composed by Akiko Shikata more or less. (thanks grunty for sharing the album!)

Also listened to The Next Generation Patlabor ost2 samples, first half is a bit lame. The second half has some interesting tracks.
 
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My rediscovery of Kawai's music continues...

There are some good cues in Tri-Zenon soundtracks.

I just listened to his latest The Perfect Insider すべてがFになる and I must say I enjoyed it very much. The style is the same but the execution is fabulous as usual. Mystery, action and drama, all well told :) You must check it out sooner than later.

There is even a track called "F-hard ver." xD (one of my favs)
 
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I listen to her GIRL FRIEND BETA OST and I should say I was dissappointed, it didnt have any tracks that standed out and sounded like a dating sim game soundtrack in general
 
Works for me. I think someone re-uploaded it on ffshrine forum's Kawai thread, too, so you could get it from there, if you want.
 
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