Composer of the Month – Taku Iwasaki
Zzeroparticle’s Thoughts:
Even before I appreciated Yoko Kanno, even before I was wowed by Kajiura’s epic choruses, the first composer who captured my attention was Taku Iwasaki. The music for Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen and Seisouhen won me over with their consistency; I loved how the former was draped in an blanket of melancholia and how the latter had an air of finality about it as it closed the book on a warrior’s life. From there, it seemed like Iwasaki could do no wrong as he put forth stellar soundtracks to Witch Hunter Robin and Getbackers, but then Black Cat came along, which effectively puts a black mark on his (at the time) spotless record since it lacked the engrossing qualities characteristic of his previous works. Furthermore, his ceaseless explorations into new genres, while they exposed him to new musical avenues, meant that an Iwasaki soundtrack became more of a dicey proposition and no longer carried the assurance they used to have.
It wouldn’t be until Gurren Lagaan that my faith in Iwasaki’s magic touch was restored somewhat and even then I still thought that some of the tracks, like “Libera Me from Hell” are just a tad overrated. Which isn’t to say it’s bad, but I’ve always been more partial to Iwasaki’s collaborations with Lotus Juice, especially on Katanagatari. Personally, my favorite Iwasaki work still remains the Kenshin Seisouhen soundtrack. Even though the OVA’s execution was a bit iffy, the soundtrack stands out as a lasting tribute to all the accomplishments throughout Kenshin’s life.
Rurouni Kenshin Seisouhen – Heart of the Sunrise
[audio:Rurouni Kenshin Seisouhen – Heart of the Sunrise.mp3]
Yu’s Thoughts:
I first heard Iwasaki in the music for the Rurouni Kenshin OVAs and was promptly impressed. This was sappy and sentimental stuff; not much that I’d heard at that point had the same emotional depth, so I eagerly began keeping an eye out for Iwasaki’s name. The next time I saw it, it was on the Witch Hunter Robin soundtrack. After listening to it, I was greatly surprised at how different it was from the music from RK. Regardless, it was still all kinds of awesome and probably one of the better rock-influenced OST’s I’ve heard to date. Since then, I’ve learned to approach each Iwasaki soundtrack expecting some kind of twist because that’s what he’s good at – offering something fresh and new with consistent quality.
Now that I’ve more or less heard the majority of his work, I have to say that Iwasaki is still going strong and showing no signs of stopping. I’ve found new favorites scattered across all of his work, from the symphonic stuff in Origins to the rap in TTGL (although I have to agree with zzeroparticle – TTGL is definitely overrated). Nevertheless, his earliest ventures still remain the soundtracks I most enjoy, especially Witch Hunter Robin. It might not be his most polished album overall, but I’m a sucker for catchy beats and mysterious chants.
Witch Hunter Robin – Kyrie
[audio:Witch Hunter Robin – Kyrie.mp3]Notes:
We would be remiss if we didn’t point out our research spots. Of course, Wikipedia is one of them, but we’d also like to thank VGMdb for helping us out with some of Iwasaki’s VGM discography. Other links for a different perspective can be found over on Desu ex Machina where kevo’ does a writeup that focuses on the tracks that stood out to him the most. Be warned that there’s an overlap in the track selection (maybe we just share the same tastes).
Iwasaki’s blog where he’s whining about [C] can be found here. He’s also pretty active on Twitter. Those who can decipher moonrunes or are willing to run it through Google Translate and interpret the resulting gibberish can stalk him via those two means.
Finally, we’ve had a lot of fun with these writeups (no, really, we do), but even the most fun projects require a hiatus now and then. Because of this, we’re going to delay our upcoming composer’s profile by an indeterminate amount of time. So sorry, Kenji Kawai fans, but we’ll get his bio done when we get it done. But it shouldn’t be delayed by any longer than mid-July.
As usual, I learn so much from you guys. Witch Hunter Robin was the first OST that I bought, so I have been familiar with Iwasaki for a while, but having such a complete view of his work is really helpful in understanding him as a composer. Iwasaki’s stylistic variety is impressive, and his music has that quality whereby one’s memories of a show can be tied up with the soundtrack (R.O.D. is a great example of that).
Anyways, another excellent post. If you need to take a break, you deserve it. I would rather have you put out posts of this quality, rather than keep to an arbitrary posting schedule.
Shame, being new to seriously watching anime and all, my first recognition of Taku Iwasaki was from Gurren Lagann. And man, that soundtrack blew my mind. From the full-blown orchestral pieces like “Omae no XXX de Ten wo Tsuke”, that not only set the epic theme of the show, but also gave the tense and the emotions that flow throughout, to the rap pieces such as given piece above, to rock themes like “Nikopol” and “Gattai is So Screwed” that gave the hot-blooded and high-pumping action aspects, as well as other tracks that are above average as well. I was mostly a fan of rock music at first, but listening to TTGL’s soundtrack opened my mind to many other genres that I would never even touch before. I will remember this particular soundtrack as the one that made me a fan of anime music for the first time.
But as I listen to the tracks above, there is only one thing I can say for Iwasaki. His style works best for spectacle, which cannot apply for everything. Sometimes it feels like his music is too much for the show he’s scoring for, which could result in most of his past scores being overlooked for the bad shows he’s doing it for. Seriously… Black Cat? Persona??? BINCHO-TAN?!?
But yeah, I’m happy that people remember his name for the good shows he has done, and not the others. Heck, I even remember that theme from Rurouni Kenshin playing in the show, even back when I was a casual fan and not too much into anime. His firm grasp in orchestra music, the mindset that he conveys in his writing, and just his crazy versatility in genre, can take him to even greater heights as he continue to write music.
P.S. Must be very hard for him to make music for [C]. It shows, since I didn’t find any particular piece interesting as I’m watching. I even think the whole show itself was a product of bad scheduling, just by looking at the half-assed animation and storyline.
*adds all of Iwasaki’s music to Youtube playlist*
You guys always do great work, but this post was really excellent and thought out. It has always amazed me how obscure Iwasaki has remained despite his huge body of great work. He has composed many classic OSTs, as this post describes, but is rarely mentioned or followed like certain other composers. Despite how respectable some of these soundtracks are, I guess people just don’t look at his work on a whole and realize his importance. I would have assumed that the popularity of Gurren Laggan would have sparked more interest in his work.
But, again, I applaud the work done here and have ton of respect for such great contributions to writings on anime music.
@Joojoobees
If one thing’s for sure, he does a really good job putting his stamp upon whatever anime he happens to be scoring. Its presence is fused so closely with the anime’s subject matter that for most of his works, I think you can say that the anime wouldn’t have had as strong an impact without Iwasaki helming the music because his musical choices work so well. It’s as though he can sense these things.
@roy
Gurren Lagaan has such a huge impact that it’s hard to separate the show’s content from the music. I’m sure that a lot of people are in your boat in that TTGL was what really made people more away of Iwasaki since the music for the show (especially the themes you cited) are such a fundamental part of what made the show so engaging.
You do raise a good point in that most of the memorable Iwasaki fare seem to be the bold tracks that bump up your energy levels. Because of that, I do think that some of his more emotional, sentimental fare gets lost in the woodwork. I remember one of the themes from R.O.D. that’s just beautifully mellow, perfect for a slice of life moment and it’s one that’s stuck with me throughout all these years. His versatility is what sets him apart, but no matter which path he treads, there’s always something that makes an Iwasaki an Iwasaki track. Though [C] might not turn out well, I’m still hoping that his next project results in something to be remembered. He did bring us awesomeness in Katanagatari after all!
@Justin
Glad you found this overview/survey to be helpful. I know what I’ll be listening to at work tomorrow!
@BakaTanuki
The relative lack of awareness that people like Iwasaki receive does blow my mind sometimes, and I’m not really sure why it is that success and recognition comes so easily to some composers and not others. If anything, TTGL should have put Iwasaki on people’s radars since the music was a huge component of the experience. Well, I guess that’s what this site is all about. Shedding light on a part of the anime fandom that can be just a bit overlooked.
And thanks! We’re glad you enjoyed reading and listening as we gush about and share our favorite tracks!
Taku was one of my chosen ones along with Kajiura and Shimomura in my very beginning as an anime/game bgm fan, i remember i bought WHR OSS1 along with Noir and Parasite Eve OSTs because of the anime & game series, and Taku’s work impressed me a lot back then, so i’ve been listening to his other scores (Gurren Lagann, Black Cat, Persona, Kuroshitsuji) but failed to find something as good as WHR one so i’ve given up on him. The Yuri Kasahara’s tracks from Kuro and Black Cat are good, but i believe Kajiura has made a better use of her extraordinary voice.
Iwasaki Taku’s music just grows and grows on me. His work for Katanagatari is stellar and just made me love him more. Like his compositions for Kuroshitsuji (ya I still love ost 1), I love how he composed and created something that identifies what the series is and made it his own. It’s hard to imagine any one else helming the music once he stamped his signature on it. I’m always looking forward to what he’ll come up with next…like C despite all the complications, I still want to hear how he navigates tough waters.
@Maxwell
Though you may have misgivings about some of his more recent work (and I do agree with you for the most part), I would like to think that Katanagatari turns out really well because of how well his music meshed with the show. So if there’s any of his new stuff I’d recommend, I’d say go for that one. Beyond that, I don’t think we really disagree too much since it’s his early stuff that wins the prize.
@Ayumikat
He does have a tendency to do that, doesn’t he? I mean, when you say Kajiura, the only score that I think she can label as uniquely hers is Kara no Kyoukai and maybe Le Portrait de Petite Cossette. The rest could have anyone scoring them and they’d probably be pretty well off. But not Iwasaki. For his high-profile OSTs like Katanagatari, Gurren Lagaan, and the Kenshin OVAs, I, like you, would have a tough time imagining anyone else taking on that responsibility.
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Hi guys,
that was a very awesome and thorough bio of this great composer, who’s definitely ranked up there with the anime composer greats. First heard him on the Kenshin OVAs, then the ROD OVA, and man, those early soundtracks blew my mind. I followed some anime BECAUSE he was scoring them. He just puts in so much emotion in his pieces.
I stopped for a bit (The Getbacker, Black Cat times), and only got back to him when TTGL came out. Was watching the anime and found the music very familiar. Of course, it was my old friend, there to amaze me again. And I was. TTGL would not have been as epic without his fine guiding hand.
It’s the strings I love most. He has a way with the strings that gets to a person. A melancholic, sorrowful, yet uplifting blend of tunes that brings out the emotion in a scene. You tear and smile at the same time. You remember them forever, at key stages, in life. Geez, I’ll try to sneak in a song of his in my wedding or something in the future.
In short, thanks guys, that was a great tribute/bio to a great artist.
Also, if you’ve not heard already, there’s a song in ‘Now and Then, Here and There’, that’s a 20 min epic. It begins with his trademark lush strings, followed by tension, distress and addresses a whole scope of darkness. Then those brilliant strings come in again in joyous exultation as the listener experiences something utterly different in facing this onset of varying emotions. It then ends on a tone ultimately bittersweet, a lover gone, a lone tear shed. A light smile resting on the lips.
Ahem, sorry about that. Was a bit of a gush. Thanks again!
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Finally found full review about Taku Iwasaki.
Yeah. He’s a great composer.
Glad you enjoyed our thoughts on his works!
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Hi guys, i dont know if Taku Iwasaki has a lot of beauty melodies. I just know it this year lol! Btw in Yakitate Japan ep 55 to 58 opening bgm is it also one of his work? If that is not one of his work, what is title of that melody and its composser? that is my favorite. Thank you!