Koh Ohtani is one of those composers with a distinctive style and signature, that if you listen something random you immediately point out it's his work. Him doing 1 soundtrack per year is enough for me. And I prefer it. Shakugan no Shana was awesome. You have yet to hear birdy the mighty (
Thread 55173), Outlaw Star, Darkstalkers OVA. Those are my total favorite soundtracks of him.
I got introduced to Kenji Kawai back in the 90ts with Blue Seed, which I still say it is best anime soundtrack ever. If we go to horror movies live action, Ring 2 and dark water.
Kenji Kawai is my top because since kid I identified myself with him. I was always an enthusiastic of horror compositions, and blue seed was the first I heard of him. Again he also have his stylish sound, and I really love it. It's his identity.
Matsuo Hayato, was in Magic Knights Rayerth where I first hear them. He is a BIT like Taku Iwasaki, always trying to experience something, though, sometimes it does not work very good, and then we have bad results. Hellsing Ultimate was the best soundtrack I heard from him. since EVER. I am still waiting a for a full release of the soundtracks of all episodes. :(
I am so glad Sahashi did not follow Kaoru Wada's footsteps. Fatal fury and rayearth ova made me so afraid. the soundtracks are all Sahashi, yeah, but you are getting again shoved in your face Kaoru's typical recycling music. For me Sahashi stood out incredibly with Gundam Seed/Destiny. Those are my favorite work of him so far. And you are right, although little he gets to the point, not like tsuneyoshi saitou in which my biggest issue is that the music ends before starting; the moment you feel the music is going to enter epic climax,... it ends.
Yoko Kanno was so good back in the 90ts, although I know it is not really her fault, but producers find the she sales more when doing vocal based soundtracks like she did in cowboy bebop and ghost in the shell sac. That just bores me because that is not her good self. I missed for so many damn years her actual good symphonic scores. Zankyou no Terror was the gods answering my shouts.
Hitomi Kuroishi I only know of Last Exile, the original LAST exile of 2003. I was just mad that we had unreleased tracks in 2 soundtracks. I like her voice and her music sounding, original in her way. But I have not much to say about her. Just that I like her.
Hiromi Mizutani, Kenji Fujisawa and Yasuharu Takanashi has the same mentor, Daisuke Ishiwatari, known for his heavy metal soundtracks on his own game series Guilty Gear.
the 3 of them were part of Daisuke band, it you easily get the notions of guilty gear heavy riffs in guitar in what they work on.
Yasuharu Takanashi I first heard him Naruto Shippuden, and I was amazed because he did GOOD what Kaoru Wada sucked. Traditional japanese music instruments. Ayakashi, Mononoke and Jigoku Shoujo set him immediately has an interesting composer. Again, it was his horror mood compositions that got my attention. After 2007 I started to follow him religiously, till he made me get in love with Toward The Terra, my favorite soundtrack of him. In heavy guitar he is greatly influenced by Daisuke Ishiwatari, but he manages to give his own "signature" so to say. When new bad composers were emerging, Takanashi left its footprint deep in. He manages to play very emotions in his music, and you feel those emotions, you feel that the music was done with those same emotions. He got himself to precure shit and I lost hope on him. Though Log Horizon was a good comeback.
Kenji Fujisawa is a clone of Takanashi. They sound the same, and even the ideas are the same. His compositions are mostly based in electric and acoustic guitar, and they are good ones. I guess he needs to make a score all by himself so I can say if he really is good or not.
Hiromi Mizutani SUCKS!! Even Daisuke had no high hopes for him. I first heard Mizutani in Guilty Gear 2 Overture, and oh my god, what a damn annoying synth compositions are there. 2 cds of music, but I barely get through the first. Hiromi Mizutani is incredibly bad in composing with synths and damn annoying, but he has budget for things like "Non Non Biyori" then he has potential, though he is mostly rather boring composer. Other that, he follows Takanashi footsteps.
I will use Jigoku Shoujo soundtracks to point them out. Jigoku shoujo was composed by the 3 of them. Kenji Fujisawa is typically composing the guitar base funky style, while Takanashi does the horror mood and violent epic tracks, while the most dull boring tracks are Mizutani, and I mostly feel that Mizutani is trying to emulate Takanashi.
And the "kakugo" theme of the first and second series were totally destroyed in the 2008 version for the worthless third season of jigoku shoujo. This time he tried to emulate Hikaru Nanase.... EPic fail dude.
Kotaro Nakagawa, I know less of him... I know he is good, and the horns are is signature. But he tends to re-do too much of his own stuff.... I don't know. He does have potential, but I feel he has been making music with very less inspiration or motivation to it.
Other composers I absolutely love, but not very known are Tatsumi Yano (which is going to release a soundtrack of Abarenbou Rikishi!! Matsutarou this month. almost 20 years later he is back?), Osamu Tezuka, Osamu totsuka, Osamu Shoji, Hiromoto Tobisawa, Jun'ichi Kanezaki, Kouji Makaino, Kentaroh Haneda, Megumi Ohashi (Kentaroh's pupil) Seiji Yokoyama, Hiroshi Miagawa, Takashi Kudou, Anzai Fumitaka, Kuniaki Haishima, Kohei Tanaka, Yoshihiro Ike, Ichirou Nitta, Hiroya Watanabe, Hiroyuki Namba, Masahiro Kawasaki, Kou Nakagawa, Koji Endou, Toshiyuki Omori, Toshiyuki Kimori, Kei Wakakusa, Ken'ichi Sudou, Hikaru Nanase (aka Masumi Itou), Michiru Oshima, Noriyuki Asakura, Norimasa Yamanaka, Takehito Nakazawa, Ichizo Seo, Michiaki Wtanabe.
I used to like Shiroh Sagisu, but for some years now I am sick of him. Composing the same damn way since evangelion remakes. Flip the disc and you hear the same. I did not hear Black Bullet yet because I don't know if it's even worth downloading it. Last berserk music was boring.
About Joe Hisashi:
I am very much fond of 80ts Joe Hisaishi. I also like his 90ts stuff till 2005. After that... It started to be predictable and uninteresting. :/ for me he lost its spark