Vinphonic
10-03-2017, 02:58 PM
The Legacy of Japanese Composers
Michiru Oshima
Michiru Oshima is one of the greatest composers of the 21st century, the inheritor of the Golden Age of American cinema and in my opinion the greatest anime composer of this decade. On the other side of the globe she continues the craftsmanship and musical legacy of the legends of Korngold, Steiner, North and Rozsa.
She was always a special case since early childhood and in hindsight destined for greatness. Having booth a taste for Jazz and Rock since an early age, one could argue that a favor for Jazz has elevated many good composers to greatness. You certainly hear Jazz all over her work as well as some rock influences, particularly in her collaborations with Sahashi.
For me Oshima has two periods, her early period from the 90s to 2003, from 2003 to today. Her early scores were far more in the sound world of American cinema and could sit right alongside the scores from Korngold to Broughton and nobody would raise an eyebrow.
After her big game-changer “Full Metal Alchemist” she launched into amazing new heights with great scores one after the other. We saw more collaboration with European orchestras than before and her skills and tricks grew more refined. She already wrote mini-symphonies and tone poems disguised as film scores but now the line between them began to blur. After 2013 she no longer sits among great film composers but has finally entered the pantheon of the greatest composers of all time. Her skills with an orchestra and her melodic ability are on the level of genius.
She's also a cosmopolitan composer, formed beautiful collaborations with Moscow and Paris and her scores recorded in Russia are among the most punchy yet lush and warm sounding recordings ever.
Unfortunately many Oshima scores are not available both physical and digital, the most tragic being her unreleased scores for Buddha and some Taiga Dramas which were scored in superlative fashion. Mind you this is not everything that’s available, for example I know some of her contributions are missing, but I’m saving those for another collection.
If you have never heard Oshima I urge you to listen to Cinema Music Best for a great overview of the composer. It will blow you away by the first piece alone, I’ll guarantee it.
Russian Bravado
Full Metal Alchemist: Oshima's score for the 2003 TV-Anime "Fullmetal Alchemist" and the 2005 movie "The Conqueror of Shamballa" can only be described in superlatives. The music is pure magic. My first contact with her work. The Alchemist Theme is the highlight of the score. It goes through one hell of a journey, appearing in full front as a heroic march, a dark sinister march, a smashing action piece or a pastoral string piece. But the motif is appearing in numerous tracks as well, played bold or subtle, heroic or tragic. We have of course many secondary themes and motifs, often for individual story arcs. The movie score also has a very sinister villain theme that is played in numerous variations throughout the score. Going a bit more into detail I absolutly love how the Moscow Symphonic orchestra sounds. The first bars for the horn in "The Way Home" instantly put me in the world of alchemists. But what really puts me on the edge of my seat are the strings in "Determination", god that is beautiful. "Reminiscence" is one of my favorite orchestral pieces in all of anime and "Hope for the Future" is the best closing title Oshima has written yet, reprising the lovely "Refreshing Weather" at the beginning.
Zetsuen no Tempest: Her most accomplished work and more of a tone poem than film score. It is absolute romantic beauty mixed with nerve-wrecking dystopian introspection. The action is certainly the best Oshima wrote so far and all hell is cut loose in “Resurrection”. Only Mahler could have conjured a more epic sound that screams “The World is Ending”. I structured it like a three act play to present the music in its best light. Every note is gold and it sounds absolutely terrific. The Russian State Cinema Orchestra elevates this score to monumental heights. I would go so far as to say this is one of the greatest media scores ever written. All the more tragic that no soundtrack release exists. But maybe in time.
Little Witch Academia (1+2): Her most magical score by a mile. Over 40 minutes of pure heroic magic that only Williams can beat. Classical fun from head to toe with some of the most glorious marches and fanfares ever written for media, all made perfect by the sound of the Russian State Orchestra. It all makes me even more excited for the upcoming TV score. Good good I love it so much I could put it on endless repeat. A sweeping glorious work.
Rokka no Yuusha (Braves of the Six Flowers): Speaking of glorious, here’s a Golden Age sword & sandals score par excellence with pure lyrical themes and great heroic and sinister action. Some moments are so great that you would swear Korngold or Rozsa have risen from the grave. Once again the Russian State Orchestra provides stellar sound with punch and clarity. One of the best adventure scores in anime.
Patema is the greatest short score ever written for an anime, the Main Theme is such a goose bumping, glorious romantic theme that you feel your feet leaving the ground and her “Flying Escape!” is one of the greatest flying themes ever written. Right up there with ET and Escaflowne.
HAL is a change of pace with full on romantic and introspective beauty with the piano in the forefront. It would not feel out of place alongside Goldsmiths or Horners greatest romantic scores.
French Beauty
Shirayuki (Snow White with the Red Hair): Superlatives again. An enormous outburst of lyrical beauty, perhaps her best yet. It’s so sublime and magical. Regal and majestic beauty mixed with perhaps her greatest love theme yet. At the end things heat up with some glorious action pieces and the only action piece so far where I really don’t mind the drum samples. But thankfully, almost the entire album is performed by the Orchestre de Paris and a wonderful intimate sound makes it one of the greatest pastoral scores ever written. Pieces like “The Prince of Clarines” or “The Prince’s Resolution” sends shivers down my spine, god it wrecks me every time. What a masterpiece.
Sora no Woto (Sound of the Sky): The magic happened once before with the same orchestra. Although Snow White hits hard on a much grander scale, this one hits on a more intimate and psychological level. The arrangement of Amazing Grace here is right up there with Horners in Wrath of Khan. And the French song is just gorgeous. “Beauty in decay” sums up this aural painting. You can hear Oshima at her most jolly here as well but its really pieces like “Au coin de feu” that elevate the whole thing. It’s a late-romantic masterpiece that doesn’t need to hide behind the greats like Debussy. It can sit right alongside them.
Xam’d: One of her best. Again with the Paris Orchestra and pretty unique in parts, especially in its use of auxiliary percussion. She takes a shot at outdoing Hisaishi at what he does best in parts and what to you know it certainly accomplishes that for me. The Main Theme, especially in its full glory in “Xam'd ~The Namegiver~” can sit right alongside Hisaishi’s best thematic outburst, it wrecked me. It has some of her most heroic action Oshima has written and “Great Pilgrimage ~Blooming and Scattering Souls~” is one of those larger than life pieces you only hear in Japan anymore. For me it’s yet another masterpiece.
Aura: A great romantic score witch starts as a lighthearted adventure at first, with absolutely beautiful lyrical moments until the second half where it loses some momentum thanks to modern drum parts that feel a little tagged on but all is well with lyrical string pieces right after and the great set piece “Confrontation”, which is one of her most accomplished classical pieces. A stellar score all things considered.
Japanese Pride
Fuse: A unique vibe with traditional Japanse instruments, Flamenco Guitar, Asian melodies and a much more rhythmic Oshima than usual. Some tracks are not everyone’s cup of tea but there’s the usual Golden Age sound and some wonderful concert pieces like “Gou”, once again one of her most accomplished pieces, that elevate he score to greatness. It also has my favorite “The End” moment from Oshima outside of FMA.
Le Chevalier D'Eon: Ironic that this was in fact not recorded in Paris :D Still what we have here is again more Tone Poem than film score, with dark brooding tones and great romantic beauty. The action is certainly taking after FMA. The final pieces are just lyrical poetry.
Nabari no Ou has beautiful lyrical woodwind, piano and violin focused pieces. The action is very frenetic and blood-bumping, in some parts very jazzy. In many regards this can be seen as a precursor to Tempest. Great music.
Tatami Galaxy opens with the most “rose-colored”, bouncy and happy pieces she ever wrote, the rest of the score is again more introspective and psychological than majestic but nonetheless glorious. More jazzy and guitar focused than her usual works. I get the vibe that this is a more personal score for her. Like the show it’s a multilayered clockwork in parts with moments of vigorous adventure and lyrical romantic beauty. One of her best works. Very excited for the movie btw.
Garasu no Utagi and Momoko are beautiful little short stories with the usual grace and romanticism Oshima is a master at.
European Tradition
Arc the Lad is a grand symphonic adventure score, for major set-pieces elevated by the sound of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. Scored like an animated feature from the 80s in parts or a Golden Age epic saga in others. “Battle of Airships” for example sounds like a Best-Of from the Golden Age’s adventure classics like Sindbad, El Cid and many others. A truly glorious score and one that cemented Oshima’s status as the greatest Anime composer of this generation.
Legend of Casshan is what would happen if Oshima had scored a Neverending Story. It really sounds like an epic children’s fantasy story with moments from a time long forgotten in Hollywood. A beautiful and epic score.
Mahou Tsukai Tai! Has one of the most wonderful themes Oshima has written. If you listen to this and then to Little Witch Academia you can hear how much her style has changed over the years. But it makes this one no less beautiful. I prefer the score suites on the second soundtrack and the first 12 pieces play almost like a symphony. It’s music straight from an old animated feature scored by Goodwin or Goldsmith.
Hanaukyo Maids La Verite is again straight from the Golden Years of cinema and I love it for pieces like “Hanaukyoke” or “Okawa ni Imasu”. It’s wonderful music, all in good fun.
Queen Esmeraldas is a symphonic film score that while lacking Oshima’s later refined orchestrations and technical skill, still employs excellent music with much callback to earlier romantic film scores The same can be said for Gall Force. She is not quite reached the legendary heights of today but it’s all excellent music nonetheless.
Jeiku no Okourimono is perfect for the holiday season, absolutely beautiful and lyrical, with sublime Christmas feeling. It’s not Home Alone but wonderful, lovely music with a classical touch.
Hana Yori Dango is a symphonic album that is part film score, part concerto. I especially love her Fantasia Suites here. Wonderful, wonderful music. A strong indicator how great her unreleased symphony might turn out to be.
Cinema (The Golden Age Scores)
Late Cinema Period
Michiru Oshima, the Golden Age composer, shines the brightest in her work for cinema. Not only is “Pride” one of the greatest pieces ever written for the big screen, her Godzilla scores (X Mechagodzilla in particular) and Year One in the North are the greatest successors of the great sweeping Hollywood epic of the 50s and 60s. “Miracles of the Will” is just awe-inspiring, again one of the greatest pieces for cinema ever written.
Godzilla X Mechagodzilla is the pinnacle of her three Godzilla scores and a pure outburst of glorious military bravado and mankind’s heroism. It’s bombastic both in composition and sound (again by the Moscow Symphony). Her other two Godzilla scores are very much in the same sound world but not reaching the same height.
Adiantum blue continues this glory with a truly beautiful romantic and serene love score whose final piece “Lumiere” makes you wander dream-like plains of harmony. Maboroshi no Yamatakoku and Wanko continue this pastoral sound world. Lyrical and romantic from head to toe and with Wanko in a more playful setting.
Umineko is an introspective and beautiful score, dreamlike and in the greatest tradition of romantic composers, with a focus on strings and piano. Debussy would be proud.
Memories of Tomorrow is a companion piece with the same level of beauty but a much more tragic core. “Memories of Tomorrow” being one of her greatest romantic pieces.
Early Cinema Period
Kulta, The Adventure Of a Golden Dog is ABSOLUTELY GORGEUS, music from another era, with this phenomenal callback to the Golden Age, Oshima would not feel out of place writing music alongside Korngold, North, Herrmann or Steiner.
Tomoko no Baai is very much in the same vain, a demonstration of class rarely heard today. A lovely magical adventure with absolutely wonderful music.
Friendship is a more light-hearted romantic poem with “Field Of Flowers” being absolutely sublime. Pure love.
Tenshi no Auron is a very unique Oshima score, very esoteric in parts but still full of Golden Age leisure and style. Intoxicating piano pieces as well.
Televison (80s Bravado & Jazz Scores)
“Simba” is out of this world, truly magical with perhaps her most lyrical theme. It has instant timeless classic written all over it, like most of her work really, but even more so here.
Planet of Life is another masterpiece by Oshima, more a symphony than television score with a glorious theme and some of her best orchestral pieces ever: “The Ancient Oceans ~Land of Promise~” in particular is just out of this world. The work of a genius.
Data Map almost reaches the same heights but has not the same cohesiveness and symphony character. Still a fantastic theme and some stellar pieces throughout. I really love “Amazing Planet”.
Tenchijin: “Bounds ~ Journey of Tenchijin”, “Road” and “To the Future” are three of her most accomplished pieces and the rest of the score is her usual great standard. Beautiful and lyrical themes with strong heroic material and some jazzy intermezzo. An epic journey.
Gokusen: One of her very best themes with more playfulness than usual and some delicious Big Band tunes. Some sublime moments with “Successor“ that channels Shirayuki’s most epic moments.
Asuka is another full-on romantic and introspective score with beautiful wind and piano pieces and with Japanese flavor.
Junjo Kirari is a companion piece to Shirayuki with it’s absolutely lyrical themes and romantic tranquility.
Shomui (The Great Woman): This is Oshima reaching into Sahashi territory. No surprise since she worked together with him in the past. Not many of her Sahashi-esque scores grab me but this one does. Great jazzy Big Band action and glorious heroic marches and classical moments. The Main Theme sahashified is a Joy to listen to. Oshima’s love for classic rock clearly shines the brightest here.
Hotelier is in best tradition of her romantic film scores and Oishi Propose is basically a Longue album for a relaxing afternoon. Naguru Onna is a classic noir score with a strong early 90s movie vibe.
Netsuretsu Teki Chuuka Hanten (Chinese Cuisine) is just delightful levity and fun. With the last piece “Chinese Jelly Rainbow” she demonstrates how much power and love you can pour into one minute of music. A great finish.
Concert Works / Commissions
Twilight Princess: Oh what could have been. Imagine the game scored by her genius with a real orchestra. Midna’s Theme could have sounded so great. Instead we have two fantastic heroic orchestral fantasy pieces with rendition of Zelda’s themes.
Nagasaki Green & Blue: A heartfelt love letter to her hometown that feels incredibly personal and lifts your spirit.
53rd National Sports Festival (Symphony Orchestra): A fantastic tour de force of her usual heroic bombast with ocean-textures and cymbals galore.
For the East (String Quartet) is a masterpiece. One of the greatest chamber scores of the 21st century. Very oriental melodies and fantastic string dancing. A very personal and introspective work that cuts right into the mind.
Cell Division (Cello+Piano) gets right under your skin and makes the synapses rotate. A cold brittle November walk into a cave of nightmares.
Le Premier amour destroys you with its absolute lyrical beauty. God I love her so much!
Composer Profile: Michiru Oshima
Trademark: Symphonic Lyricist, Golden Queen, R�zsa of the East
Education: Kunitachi College of Music
Style: Romantic Repertoire, Golden Age Film Score
Special thanks to nikitos, yepsa, lexwalker, Herr Salat, tangotreats, Akashi San, nextday & atsusa. All credit belongs to them. I’m only using their shares this time, saving me much time of ripping cds, so the rep goes to those wonderful individuals.
One final comment: Fascinating that she graduated from the same college as Hisaishi and Amano, I guess one musical institution could not need any more advertisement. I wonder how many composers will leave or have already left this institution to perhaps one day lead the film music world by storm.
LINK IN THE DESCRIPTION (https://mega.nz/#!Fvg0hChB!9o_27aiPIvDozfHGX1uXeprh8F36q4RC8AqLHWjQrJ4)
New releases:
Haikara-san ga Toru
The Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra & The Sofia Session Orchestra
Sample (Part 1) (https://picosong.com/wnMpw/) / Sample (Part 2) (https://picosong.com/wVFUK)
Download (https://mega.nz/#!fipnSQgY!eoyMgJ4bhfZffZ9A3fM_tgw3O2sFTq4o0A3I1uFHctw)
Oshima really shows her mature side for this 70s remake. This is marvelous stuff from start to finish, full-fleshed romantic and delightful film score with a love theme to lift your heart, few militaristic intermezzi and some standout over-three-minute pieces with rousing reprise of the love theme in the second part.
Whether you count Part 1 and Part 2 as one entity or two separate scores is up to you, but I advise it is best to listen back-to-back. You can combine them if you want into one folder.
The only downside is that the Bulgarian Radio Symphony Orchestra is not the Russian State Orchestra, unfortunately, and she doesn't employ a lot of brass. But this is nonetheless a timeless romantic film score like the good-old days.
She continues to be on a roll: New concert works, new upcoming anime, game and tv scores.
Sayonara Ozu Sensei
Moscow International Symphonic Orchestra
Download (https://mega.nz/#!6vJVHKSS!-hndrwKJ83brBRbwzD60HY4oM6aFhk1_O6lwx8ECXwc)
From her transition from Golden Age Cinema to Fullmetal Alchemist a few years later. It's certainly bold. A glorious film score for a TV drama.
In regards to Bloom into You, its definitely shaping up to be in Adiantum Blue territory, its absolutely lovely, and its a full orchestra to my ears this time: pure romanticism (https://picosong.com/wVYUF/)
Let's hope her mysterious game project "Nikki" is surfacing soon.
New symphonic works:
Aerial Legends (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlN9cqgUjV4)
&
To the Sky (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS5g90HnaDs)
Now imagine what her Augustus Symphony sounds like...
Michiru Oshima
Michiru Oshima is one of the greatest composers of the 21st century, the inheritor of the Golden Age of American cinema and in my opinion the greatest anime composer of this decade. On the other side of the globe she continues the craftsmanship and musical legacy of the legends of Korngold, Steiner, North and Rozsa.
She was always a special case since early childhood and in hindsight destined for greatness. Having booth a taste for Jazz and Rock since an early age, one could argue that a favor for Jazz has elevated many good composers to greatness. You certainly hear Jazz all over her work as well as some rock influences, particularly in her collaborations with Sahashi.
For me Oshima has two periods, her early period from the 90s to 2003, from 2003 to today. Her early scores were far more in the sound world of American cinema and could sit right alongside the scores from Korngold to Broughton and nobody would raise an eyebrow.
After her big game-changer “Full Metal Alchemist” she launched into amazing new heights with great scores one after the other. We saw more collaboration with European orchestras than before and her skills and tricks grew more refined. She already wrote mini-symphonies and tone poems disguised as film scores but now the line between them began to blur. After 2013 she no longer sits among great film composers but has finally entered the pantheon of the greatest composers of all time. Her skills with an orchestra and her melodic ability are on the level of genius.
She's also a cosmopolitan composer, formed beautiful collaborations with Moscow and Paris and her scores recorded in Russia are among the most punchy yet lush and warm sounding recordings ever.
Unfortunately many Oshima scores are not available both physical and digital, the most tragic being her unreleased scores for Buddha and some Taiga Dramas which were scored in superlative fashion. Mind you this is not everything that’s available, for example I know some of her contributions are missing, but I’m saving those for another collection.
If you have never heard Oshima I urge you to listen to Cinema Music Best for a great overview of the composer. It will blow you away by the first piece alone, I’ll guarantee it.
Russian Bravado
Full Metal Alchemist: Oshima's score for the 2003 TV-Anime "Fullmetal Alchemist" and the 2005 movie "The Conqueror of Shamballa" can only be described in superlatives. The music is pure magic. My first contact with her work. The Alchemist Theme is the highlight of the score. It goes through one hell of a journey, appearing in full front as a heroic march, a dark sinister march, a smashing action piece or a pastoral string piece. But the motif is appearing in numerous tracks as well, played bold or subtle, heroic or tragic. We have of course many secondary themes and motifs, often for individual story arcs. The movie score also has a very sinister villain theme that is played in numerous variations throughout the score. Going a bit more into detail I absolutly love how the Moscow Symphonic orchestra sounds. The first bars for the horn in "The Way Home" instantly put me in the world of alchemists. But what really puts me on the edge of my seat are the strings in "Determination", god that is beautiful. "Reminiscence" is one of my favorite orchestral pieces in all of anime and "Hope for the Future" is the best closing title Oshima has written yet, reprising the lovely "Refreshing Weather" at the beginning.
Zetsuen no Tempest: Her most accomplished work and more of a tone poem than film score. It is absolute romantic beauty mixed with nerve-wrecking dystopian introspection. The action is certainly the best Oshima wrote so far and all hell is cut loose in “Resurrection”. Only Mahler could have conjured a more epic sound that screams “The World is Ending”. I structured it like a three act play to present the music in its best light. Every note is gold and it sounds absolutely terrific. The Russian State Cinema Orchestra elevates this score to monumental heights. I would go so far as to say this is one of the greatest media scores ever written. All the more tragic that no soundtrack release exists. But maybe in time.
Little Witch Academia (1+2): Her most magical score by a mile. Over 40 minutes of pure heroic magic that only Williams can beat. Classical fun from head to toe with some of the most glorious marches and fanfares ever written for media, all made perfect by the sound of the Russian State Orchestra. It all makes me even more excited for the upcoming TV score. Good good I love it so much I could put it on endless repeat. A sweeping glorious work.
Rokka no Yuusha (Braves of the Six Flowers): Speaking of glorious, here’s a Golden Age sword & sandals score par excellence with pure lyrical themes and great heroic and sinister action. Some moments are so great that you would swear Korngold or Rozsa have risen from the grave. Once again the Russian State Orchestra provides stellar sound with punch and clarity. One of the best adventure scores in anime.
Patema is the greatest short score ever written for an anime, the Main Theme is such a goose bumping, glorious romantic theme that you feel your feet leaving the ground and her “Flying Escape!” is one of the greatest flying themes ever written. Right up there with ET and Escaflowne.
HAL is a change of pace with full on romantic and introspective beauty with the piano in the forefront. It would not feel out of place alongside Goldsmiths or Horners greatest romantic scores.
French Beauty
Shirayuki (Snow White with the Red Hair): Superlatives again. An enormous outburst of lyrical beauty, perhaps her best yet. It’s so sublime and magical. Regal and majestic beauty mixed with perhaps her greatest love theme yet. At the end things heat up with some glorious action pieces and the only action piece so far where I really don’t mind the drum samples. But thankfully, almost the entire album is performed by the Orchestre de Paris and a wonderful intimate sound makes it one of the greatest pastoral scores ever written. Pieces like “The Prince of Clarines” or “The Prince’s Resolution” sends shivers down my spine, god it wrecks me every time. What a masterpiece.
Sora no Woto (Sound of the Sky): The magic happened once before with the same orchestra. Although Snow White hits hard on a much grander scale, this one hits on a more intimate and psychological level. The arrangement of Amazing Grace here is right up there with Horners in Wrath of Khan. And the French song is just gorgeous. “Beauty in decay” sums up this aural painting. You can hear Oshima at her most jolly here as well but its really pieces like “Au coin de feu” that elevate the whole thing. It’s a late-romantic masterpiece that doesn’t need to hide behind the greats like Debussy. It can sit right alongside them.
Xam’d: One of her best. Again with the Paris Orchestra and pretty unique in parts, especially in its use of auxiliary percussion. She takes a shot at outdoing Hisaishi at what he does best in parts and what to you know it certainly accomplishes that for me. The Main Theme, especially in its full glory in “Xam'd ~The Namegiver~” can sit right alongside Hisaishi’s best thematic outburst, it wrecked me. It has some of her most heroic action Oshima has written and “Great Pilgrimage ~Blooming and Scattering Souls~” is one of those larger than life pieces you only hear in Japan anymore. For me it’s yet another masterpiece.
Aura: A great romantic score witch starts as a lighthearted adventure at first, with absolutely beautiful lyrical moments until the second half where it loses some momentum thanks to modern drum parts that feel a little tagged on but all is well with lyrical string pieces right after and the great set piece “Confrontation”, which is one of her most accomplished classical pieces. A stellar score all things considered.
Japanese Pride
Fuse: A unique vibe with traditional Japanse instruments, Flamenco Guitar, Asian melodies and a much more rhythmic Oshima than usual. Some tracks are not everyone’s cup of tea but there’s the usual Golden Age sound and some wonderful concert pieces like “Gou”, once again one of her most accomplished pieces, that elevate he score to greatness. It also has my favorite “The End” moment from Oshima outside of FMA.
Le Chevalier D'Eon: Ironic that this was in fact not recorded in Paris :D Still what we have here is again more Tone Poem than film score, with dark brooding tones and great romantic beauty. The action is certainly taking after FMA. The final pieces are just lyrical poetry.
Nabari no Ou has beautiful lyrical woodwind, piano and violin focused pieces. The action is very frenetic and blood-bumping, in some parts very jazzy. In many regards this can be seen as a precursor to Tempest. Great music.
Tatami Galaxy opens with the most “rose-colored”, bouncy and happy pieces she ever wrote, the rest of the score is again more introspective and psychological than majestic but nonetheless glorious. More jazzy and guitar focused than her usual works. I get the vibe that this is a more personal score for her. Like the show it’s a multilayered clockwork in parts with moments of vigorous adventure and lyrical romantic beauty. One of her best works. Very excited for the movie btw.
Garasu no Utagi and Momoko are beautiful little short stories with the usual grace and romanticism Oshima is a master at.
European Tradition
Arc the Lad is a grand symphonic adventure score, for major set-pieces elevated by the sound of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. Scored like an animated feature from the 80s in parts or a Golden Age epic saga in others. “Battle of Airships” for example sounds like a Best-Of from the Golden Age’s adventure classics like Sindbad, El Cid and many others. A truly glorious score and one that cemented Oshima’s status as the greatest Anime composer of this generation.
Legend of Casshan is what would happen if Oshima had scored a Neverending Story. It really sounds like an epic children’s fantasy story with moments from a time long forgotten in Hollywood. A beautiful and epic score.
Mahou Tsukai Tai! Has one of the most wonderful themes Oshima has written. If you listen to this and then to Little Witch Academia you can hear how much her style has changed over the years. But it makes this one no less beautiful. I prefer the score suites on the second soundtrack and the first 12 pieces play almost like a symphony. It’s music straight from an old animated feature scored by Goodwin or Goldsmith.
Hanaukyo Maids La Verite is again straight from the Golden Years of cinema and I love it for pieces like “Hanaukyoke” or “Okawa ni Imasu”. It’s wonderful music, all in good fun.
Queen Esmeraldas is a symphonic film score that while lacking Oshima’s later refined orchestrations and technical skill, still employs excellent music with much callback to earlier romantic film scores The same can be said for Gall Force. She is not quite reached the legendary heights of today but it’s all excellent music nonetheless.
Jeiku no Okourimono is perfect for the holiday season, absolutely beautiful and lyrical, with sublime Christmas feeling. It’s not Home Alone but wonderful, lovely music with a classical touch.
Hana Yori Dango is a symphonic album that is part film score, part concerto. I especially love her Fantasia Suites here. Wonderful, wonderful music. A strong indicator how great her unreleased symphony might turn out to be.
Cinema (The Golden Age Scores)
Late Cinema Period
Michiru Oshima, the Golden Age composer, shines the brightest in her work for cinema. Not only is “Pride” one of the greatest pieces ever written for the big screen, her Godzilla scores (X Mechagodzilla in particular) and Year One in the North are the greatest successors of the great sweeping Hollywood epic of the 50s and 60s. “Miracles of the Will” is just awe-inspiring, again one of the greatest pieces for cinema ever written.
Godzilla X Mechagodzilla is the pinnacle of her three Godzilla scores and a pure outburst of glorious military bravado and mankind’s heroism. It’s bombastic both in composition and sound (again by the Moscow Symphony). Her other two Godzilla scores are very much in the same sound world but not reaching the same height.
Adiantum blue continues this glory with a truly beautiful romantic and serene love score whose final piece “Lumiere” makes you wander dream-like plains of harmony. Maboroshi no Yamatakoku and Wanko continue this pastoral sound world. Lyrical and romantic from head to toe and with Wanko in a more playful setting.
Umineko is an introspective and beautiful score, dreamlike and in the greatest tradition of romantic composers, with a focus on strings and piano. Debussy would be proud.
Memories of Tomorrow is a companion piece with the same level of beauty but a much more tragic core. “Memories of Tomorrow” being one of her greatest romantic pieces.
Early Cinema Period
Kulta, The Adventure Of a Golden Dog is ABSOLUTELY GORGEUS, music from another era, with this phenomenal callback to the Golden Age, Oshima would not feel out of place writing music alongside Korngold, North, Herrmann or Steiner.
Tomoko no Baai is very much in the same vain, a demonstration of class rarely heard today. A lovely magical adventure with absolutely wonderful music.
Friendship is a more light-hearted romantic poem with “Field Of Flowers” being absolutely sublime. Pure love.
Tenshi no Auron is a very unique Oshima score, very esoteric in parts but still full of Golden Age leisure and style. Intoxicating piano pieces as well.
Televison (80s Bravado & Jazz Scores)
“Simba” is out of this world, truly magical with perhaps her most lyrical theme. It has instant timeless classic written all over it, like most of her work really, but even more so here.
Planet of Life is another masterpiece by Oshima, more a symphony than television score with a glorious theme and some of her best orchestral pieces ever: “The Ancient Oceans ~Land of Promise~” in particular is just out of this world. The work of a genius.
Data Map almost reaches the same heights but has not the same cohesiveness and symphony character. Still a fantastic theme and some stellar pieces throughout. I really love “Amazing Planet”.
Tenchijin: “Bounds ~ Journey of Tenchijin”, “Road” and “To the Future” are three of her most accomplished pieces and the rest of the score is her usual great standard. Beautiful and lyrical themes with strong heroic material and some jazzy intermezzo. An epic journey.
Gokusen: One of her very best themes with more playfulness than usual and some delicious Big Band tunes. Some sublime moments with “Successor“ that channels Shirayuki’s most epic moments.
Asuka is another full-on romantic and introspective score with beautiful wind and piano pieces and with Japanese flavor.
Junjo Kirari is a companion piece to Shirayuki with it’s absolutely lyrical themes and romantic tranquility.
Shomui (The Great Woman): This is Oshima reaching into Sahashi territory. No surprise since she worked together with him in the past. Not many of her Sahashi-esque scores grab me but this one does. Great jazzy Big Band action and glorious heroic marches and classical moments. The Main Theme sahashified is a Joy to listen to. Oshima’s love for classic rock clearly shines the brightest here.
Hotelier is in best tradition of her romantic film scores and Oishi Propose is basically a Longue album for a relaxing afternoon. Naguru Onna is a classic noir score with a strong early 90s movie vibe.
Netsuretsu Teki Chuuka Hanten (Chinese Cuisine) is just delightful levity and fun. With the last piece “Chinese Jelly Rainbow” she demonstrates how much power and love you can pour into one minute of music. A great finish.
Concert Works / Commissions
Twilight Princess: Oh what could have been. Imagine the game scored by her genius with a real orchestra. Midna’s Theme could have sounded so great. Instead we have two fantastic heroic orchestral fantasy pieces with rendition of Zelda’s themes.
Nagasaki Green & Blue: A heartfelt love letter to her hometown that feels incredibly personal and lifts your spirit.
53rd National Sports Festival (Symphony Orchestra): A fantastic tour de force of her usual heroic bombast with ocean-textures and cymbals galore.
For the East (String Quartet) is a masterpiece. One of the greatest chamber scores of the 21st century. Very oriental melodies and fantastic string dancing. A very personal and introspective work that cuts right into the mind.
Cell Division (Cello+Piano) gets right under your skin and makes the synapses rotate. A cold brittle November walk into a cave of nightmares.
Le Premier amour destroys you with its absolute lyrical beauty. God I love her so much!
Composer Profile: Michiru Oshima
Trademark: Symphonic Lyricist, Golden Queen, R�zsa of the East
Education: Kunitachi College of Music
Style: Romantic Repertoire, Golden Age Film Score
Special thanks to nikitos, yepsa, lexwalker, Herr Salat, tangotreats, Akashi San, nextday & atsusa. All credit belongs to them. I’m only using their shares this time, saving me much time of ripping cds, so the rep goes to those wonderful individuals.
One final comment: Fascinating that she graduated from the same college as Hisaishi and Amano, I guess one musical institution could not need any more advertisement. I wonder how many composers will leave or have already left this institution to perhaps one day lead the film music world by storm.
LINK IN THE DESCRIPTION (https://mega.nz/#!Fvg0hChB!9o_27aiPIvDozfHGX1uXeprh8F36q4RC8AqLHWjQrJ4)
New releases:
Haikara-san ga Toru
The Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra & The Sofia Session Orchestra
Sample (Part 1) (https://picosong.com/wnMpw/) / Sample (Part 2) (https://picosong.com/wVFUK)
Download (https://mega.nz/#!fipnSQgY!eoyMgJ4bhfZffZ9A3fM_tgw3O2sFTq4o0A3I1uFHctw)
Oshima really shows her mature side for this 70s remake. This is marvelous stuff from start to finish, full-fleshed romantic and delightful film score with a love theme to lift your heart, few militaristic intermezzi and some standout over-three-minute pieces with rousing reprise of the love theme in the second part.
Whether you count Part 1 and Part 2 as one entity or two separate scores is up to you, but I advise it is best to listen back-to-back. You can combine them if you want into one folder.
The only downside is that the Bulgarian Radio Symphony Orchestra is not the Russian State Orchestra, unfortunately, and she doesn't employ a lot of brass. But this is nonetheless a timeless romantic film score like the good-old days.
She continues to be on a roll: New concert works, new upcoming anime, game and tv scores.
Sayonara Ozu Sensei
Moscow International Symphonic Orchestra
Download (https://mega.nz/#!6vJVHKSS!-hndrwKJ83brBRbwzD60HY4oM6aFhk1_O6lwx8ECXwc)
From her transition from Golden Age Cinema to Fullmetal Alchemist a few years later. It's certainly bold. A glorious film score for a TV drama.
In regards to Bloom into You, its definitely shaping up to be in Adiantum Blue territory, its absolutely lovely, and its a full orchestra to my ears this time: pure romanticism (https://picosong.com/wVYUF/)
Let's hope her mysterious game project "Nikki" is surfacing soon.
New symphonic works:
Aerial Legends (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlN9cqgUjV4)
&
To the Sky (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS5g90HnaDs)
Now imagine what her Augustus Symphony sounds like...