Video game music (VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to the style of music known as chiptune, which became the sound of the first video games.
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth, also romanized in Japan as Evangelion: Death and Evangelion: Rebirth, is a 1997 Japanese science fiction mecha anime. It is the first installment of the Neon Genesis Evangelion feature film project and consists of two parts. The project, whose overarching title translates literally to New Era Evangelion: The Movie, was released in response to the success of the TV series and a strong demand by fans for an alternate ending. Its components have since been re-edited and re-released several times.
"The Cruel Angel's Thesis", also known as "A Cruel Angel's Thesis", is a J-pop song performed by Japanese singer Yoko Takahashi. Toshiyuki Ōmori and Hidetoshi Satō composed the song, while Neko Oikawa wrote the lyrics. It was written for the opening theme of the anime television series Neon Genesis Evangelion, and was released as a double-A-sided single with "Fly Me to the Moon", the show's closing theme, on October 25, 1995. "The Cruel Angel's Thesis" was also included in the series' soundtrack releases and Takahashi's albums.
Yoko Takahashi is a Japanese singer, who is best known for her work throughout the 1990s, most particularly for her singles which were performed for and featured in anime, most notably the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise.
Michiru Oshima is a Japanese composer and arranger. She works on music in wide range of areas, such as anime, films, television series, video games and concerts. She has written scores for over 100 movies, over 200 television titles, video games, various types of events, concerts, theaters, among others. Ōshima is one of the most prolific living composers for film, anime and video game. She has released over 300 CDs including film soundtracks and artist CDs. Her works include composition for Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, and Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. movies and scores for numerous anime television series, including Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa, Nabari no Ou, Queen Emeraldas, Xam'd: Lost Memories, Arc the Lad, and Weathering Continent. In addition to the soundtracks on Kaiju films and anime music, she has composed music for several video games such as Genghis Khan II: Clan of the Gray Wolf for Super NES, Ico for PlayStation 2, Legend of Legaia for PlayStation and its PlayStation 2 sequel Legaia 2: Duel Saga, Arc the Lad III, Deemo, Midnight Play by the company Tivola based on the art illustrations of Květa Pacovská, and an orchestral arrangement of a Zelda medley for the Wii and GameCube game The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. She was also the composer for a Japanese stage musical adaptation of the classic Hollywood film Roman Holiday. Her latest work includes the composition of several music tracks for the highly acclaimed Chinese espionage thriller film The Message and a 2017 Chinese mystery thriller film The Devotion of Suspect X (film).
"Furusato" is the sixth single of the J-pop idol group Morning Musume, released on July 14, 1999 as an 8 cm CD. It has sold over 170,670 copies and reached number five on the Oricon Charts. In 2004 it was re-released as part of the Early Single Box and again in 2005 as a 12 cm CD. The lead vocalist of this single was Natsumi Abe.
"Hikari" is a song recorded by Japanese–American recording artist Hikaru Utada for her fourth studio and third Japanese language album, Deep River (2002). It premiered on March 20, 2002, as the third single from the album in Japan. It was written and composed by Utada, whilst production and arrangement was handled by Utada, her father Teruzane Utada, and long-time collaborator Miyake Akira. The single, and a remix by Russell McNamara, was used as the official Japanese theme song for the 2002 action role-playing video game Kingdom Hearts, and appeared on its original soundtrack respectively. Musically, "Hikari" is a pop folk song. Lyrically, it is about mysteries in life and human activities.
Godzilla is a Japanese monster, or kaiju, franchise centering on the titular character, a prehistoric reptilian monster awakened and empowered by nuclear radiation. The films series are recognized by the Guinness World Records as the "longest continuously running film series", having been in ongoing production since 1954, with several hiatuses of varying lengths. There are 38 Godzilla films: 33 Japanese films produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd., and five American films; one by TriStar Pictures and four films by Legendary Pictures.
The music of the Kingdom Hearts video game series was composed by Yoko Shimomura with orchestral music arranged by Kaoru Wada. The original soundtracks of the games have been released on three albums and a fourth compilation album. The soundtracks to the Kingdom Hearts games feature several musical pieces from both Square Enix and Disney works, including such pieces as "Mickey Mouse Club March" by Jimmie Dodd, "This Is Halloween" by Danny Elfman, and "One-Winged Angel" by Nobuo Uematsu. They also feature several vocal songs, the most notable being the four main theme songs: "Hikari", "Passion", "Chikai", and "Face My Fears." The two themes were written and performed by Japanese American pop star Hikaru Utada; in addition to Japanese, English versions of the first three songs were produced, titled "Simple and Clean", "Sanctuary", and "Don't Think Twice", respectively.
The soundtracks of Neon Genesis Evangelion were produced for the 1995 anime series of the same name and its sequels, remakes and spinoffs. Shiro Sagisu composed the tracks under the direction of Hideaki Anno, director of the series. In addition to Sagisu's compositions, the soundtracks include pieces by Masami Okui, Kotono Mitsuishi and a wide repertoire of classical music, including symphonies by Beethoven, Bach, Giuseppe Verdi and other composers. Under the direction of Toshimichi Ōtsuki, a representative of King Records and one of the producers of the series, "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" was composed as the series' opening theme song. The series used "Fly Me to the Moon", originally written by Bart Howard, as the closing theme song. Different versions of the song were recorded by British singer Claire Littley, Yoko Takahashi and the anime's main female voice actors, Megumi Hayashibara, Kotono Mitsuishi and Yuko Miyamura.
The Cowboy Bebop anime series was accompanied by a number of soundtrack albums composed by Yoko Kanno and Seatbelts, a diverse band Kanno formed to create the music for the series, with a principal focus in jazz. The soundtrack was released in the American market by Victor Entertainment, a subsidiary of JVC Kenwood.
Hyperdimension Neptunia is a series of role-playing video games produced by Compile Heart and Idea Factory, which revolves around and parodies the real-life video gaming industry and other forms of Japanese culture. The series has also branched off into a manga, light novel and anime media franchise series.
The music in the Civilization video game series has been composed by various composers.
Nier is an action role-playing video game developed by Cavia and published by Square Enix in 2010. The music of Nier was composed by Keiichi Okabe with members of his studio, Monaca, Kakeru Ishihama and Keigo Hoashi, and Takafumi Nishimura of Cavia. The soundtrack has inspired the release of four official albums by Square Enix—an official soundtrack album and three albums of arrangements—along with two mini-albums included as pre-order bonuses for the Japanese versions of the game and two licensed EPs of jazz arrangements.
Misato Tanaka is a Japanese actress.
Shin Godzilla is a 2016 Japanese kaiju film directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, with a screenplay by Anno and visual effects by Higuchi. Produced by Toho Pictures and Cine Bazar and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd., it is the 31st film in the Godzilla franchise, the 29th film produced by Toho, Toho's third reboot of the franchise, and the first film in the franchise's Reiwa era. It is the first reboot of a tokusatsu series to be adapted by Anno and Higuchi, followed by Shin Ultraman (2022) and Shin Kamen Rider (2023). The film stars Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, and Satomi Ishihara. In the film, politicians struggle with bureaucratic red tape in order to deal with the sudden appearance of a giant monster, known as Godzilla, that evolves whenever it is attacked.
Shin Godzilla (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2016 kaiju film Shin Godzilla directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi. The score for the film was made by Shiro Sagisu, with recycling some older music from Akira Ifukube. The score also featured various remixes of "Decisive Battle" from Sagisu's Neon Genesis Evangelion. The soundtrack was released on July 30, 2016, and sold 8,427 copies in 2 weeks.
