Overview: When Joe Hisaishi’s name is mentioned, the first thing that may come to mind is his work with Studio Ghibli, and, more specifically, with Hayao Miyazaki. Hisaishi’s music has an immersive quality, one that draws the viewer into Ghibli’s gorgeous visuals and Miyazaki’s spellbinding stories, bringing the films to life. While his collaborations with Miyazaki make up the list of his better-known works, it unfortunately ignores a huge chunk of his anime compositions that much of today’s fandom may never encounter. We are, of course, referring to titles like Galactic Whirlwind Sasuraiger and Genesis Climber Mospeada (though they may be familiar to fans who got into anime during the 1980s).

The other dichotomy to consider when dealing with Hisaishi is his stylistic transition from synth, rock, and electronica to scoring anime using an orchestra. We will go a bit into that shift in the main article, but for the purpose of this synopsis, we can say that regardless of the medium in which he chooses to work, Hisaishi has done an excellent job, thereby forging a strong reputation that stretches across the past three decades. And there are still no signs of him slowing down!

In case you’re here to only listen to the soundclips and not read any of the text, below is the master list of all the pieces featured in this profile entry in order. It’ll save time if you don’t want to have to click through each and every track.

Master List

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

[Read more...]

Pages: 1 2