| Yuki Kajiura 梶浦 由記 |
|
|---|---|
| Born | August 6, 1965 |
| Origin | Tokyo, Japan |
| Genres | Pop, Classical, New Age |
| Occupations | Composer, Musician |
| Instruments | Keyboard/Piano |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Labels | Victor Entertainment Space Craft Produce |
| Associated acts | See-Saw FictionJunction Saeko Chiba Kalafina |
| Website | FictionJunction.com |
Yuki Kajiura (梶浦由記 Kajiura Yuki), born August 6, 1965 in Tokyo, Japan, is a Japanese composer and music producer. She has provided the music for several popular anime series, such as one of the Kimagure Orange Road movies, Noir, .hack//SIGN, Aquarian Age, Madlax, My-HiME, My-Otome, .hack//Roots, Pandora Hearts, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Tsubasa Chronicle and the Kara no Kyoukai movies(amongst others). She also assisted Toshihiko Sahashi with Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny. Kajiura has also composed for video games, including the cutscene music for Xenosaga II and the entire Xenosaga III game soundtrack. She currently resides in Tokyo.
Contents |
Due to her father's work, Kajiura lived in West Germany from 1972 until her middle school years. Her first music piece, which she had written at the age of 7, was a farewell song for her grandmother.[1] After graduating from college (back in Tokyo), she began working as a systems engineering programmer, but in 1992, she turned her career around to focus on her activities on music. She admits that it was her father who greatly influenced this decision, for he was a great opera and classical music admirer.
In July 1992, she made her debut in an all-female trio See-Saw, then consisting of Chiaki Ishikawa (lead vocals), herself (back-up vocals, keyboards), and Yukiko Nishioka. In the following two years, the group released six singles and two albums but in 1995 they temporarily broke up. Nishioka decided to become a writer while Kajiura carried on with her solo musician career, composing music for other artists as well as sound producing for TV, commercials, films, anime and games.
In 2001, she and Chiaki Ishikawa reunited as See-Saw. Around the same time she became involved with Koichi Mashimo's anime studio Bee Train and their first widely popular project, Noir. Despite the series' controversial status among the reviewers, all critics generally praised its OST as a breakthrough in the anime music scene for its risky but highly successful mix of synth, opera, and French-flaired sound.
Kajiura greatly enjoyed the degree of artistic freedom that Mashimo as the series' director offered her while collaborating on Noir, therefore their collaboration extended to many of his later projects, with the latest (as of 2007) being El Cazador de la Bruja. For example, Mashimo would never set any distinctive limitations or goals before her, allowing her to compose whatever she pleases. Afterwards, he would just take the samples he thought appropriate and insert it to whenever he wanted them to play.
In 2002, See-Saw participated in another Mashimo's project, .hack//SIGN, which became widely known for its TV and game combined development, and its soundtrack sold over 300,000 copies. During the production of the series, Kajiura met Emily Bindiger and impressed by her vocals, offered her to perform over 10 of the series' insert songs. She has also jokingly called Bindiger "her English teacher" at Anime Expo 2003.[2]
One of See-Saw's further major hits was the ending theme song for Mobile Suit Gundam SEED ("Anna ni Issho Datta no ni"), which sold over 200,000 copies causing a sensation in the anime world. Dream Field, See-Saw's first original album release in nine years, became a hit, as well, in 2003, selling over 100,000 copies. In the same year, Kajiura released her first solo album, Fiction, which she performed and promoted at Anime Expo 2003 in Anaheim, California.
One of Kajiura's solo projects include FictionJunction, which contrary to common belief is not an alias but the name of the project itself. The project involves collaboration with artists such as Yuuka Nanri, Asuka Kato, and Kaori Oda. FictionJunction Yuuka, with Nanri as the vocalist, is the most prolific of these collaborations. In 2004, the duo produced the opening and ending songs for Koichi Mashimo's MADLAX and in the next year, published their first collaborative album, Destination.
In October 2007, it was announced that Yuki Kajiura would be attending the performances of the Eminence Orchestra's concert, 'A Night In Fantasia 2007 - Symphonic Anime Edition', as a special guest.[3]
Her latest project, Kalafina is composed of Keiko Kubota (FictionJunction KEIKO), Wakana Ootaki (FictionJunction WAKANA) and two other vocalists named Hikaru and Maya. They performed the ending themes of the Kara no Kyoukai movies.
In 2009, Fiction Junction returned to perform the opening themesong to Pandora Hearts, Parallel Hearts, with the majority of the show's music composed by Yuki Kajiura.
In 2011, Puella Magi Madoka Magica was scored by Kajiura, while Kalafina, a group founded by her, performed the ending theme.
| Anime Title | Year of Release | Director |
|---|---|---|
| Kimagure Orange Road | 1996 | Osamu Kobayashi |
| Eat-Man | 1997 | Koichi Mashimo |
| Noir | 2001 | Koichi Mashimo |
| Aquarian Age | 2002 | Yoshimitsu Ohashi |
| .hack//SIGN | 2002 | Koichi Mashimo |
| .hack//Liminality | 2002 | Koichi Mashimo |
| Le Portrait de Petit Cossette | 2004 | Akiyuki Shinbo |
| Madlax | 2004 | Koichi Mashimo |
| My-HiME | 2004 | Masakazu Obara |
| My-Otome | 2005 | Masakazu Obara |
| Tsubasa Chronicle | 2005 | Koichi Mashimo Hiroshi Morioka |
| Elemental Gelade | 2005 | Shigeru Ueda |
| My-Otome Zwei | 2006 | Masakazu Obara |
| Fist of the North Star True Saviour Legend | 2007 | Toyoo Ashida |
| El Cazador de la Bruja | 2007 | Koichi Mashimo |
| Tsubasa TOKYO REVELATIONS | 2007–2008 | Shunsuke Tada |
| Tsubasa Shunraiki | 2009 | Shunsuke Tada |
| Pandora Hearts | 2009 | Takao Kato |
| Puella Magi Madoka Magica | 2011 | Akiyuki Shinbo |
| Fate/Zero | 2011 | Ei Aoki |
| Game Title | Game Platform | Year of Release | Company |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double Cast ダブルキャスト (Daburukyasuto) |
PlayStation | 1998 | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| Meguri-aishite めぐり愛して (Meguriaishite) |
PlayStation | 1999 | SME |
| Blood: The Last Vampire | PlayStation 2 | 2000 | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse (Movie scenes) | PlayStation 2 | 2004 | Namco |
| Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra | PlayStation 2 | 2006 | Namco |
| Movie Title | Year of Release | Director |
|---|---|---|
| Tokyo-Kyodai | 1995 | Jun Ichikawa |
| Ruby Fruit | 1995 | Takumi Kimiduka |
| Rainbow | 1999 | Naoto Kumazawa |
| Boogiepop and others | 2000 | Ryu Kaneda |
| MOON | 2000 | Takumi Kimiduka |
| Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Movie: Princess in Birdcage Kingdom | 2005 | Itsuro Kawasaki |
| Kara no Kyoukai movies | 2007–2009 | Ei Aoki, Takuya Nonaka & Mitsuru Oburai |
| Achilles and the Tortoise | 2008 | Takeshi Kitano |
| Musical Title | Year of Release |
|---|---|
| Sakura-Wars | 1998 |
| Fine | 1998 |
| FUNK-a-STEP | 1998 |
| FUNK-a-STEP II | 1999 |
| Christmas Juliette | 1999–2000 |
| High-School Revolution | 2000 |
| Christmas Juliette | 2000 |
| Shooting-Star Lullaby | 2001 |
| Love's Labour's Lost/SET | 2002 |
| Angel Gate | 2006 |
| Album Title | Year of Release |
|---|---|
| Fiction | 2003 |
| Fiction II | 2011 |
| Album Title | Artist | Year of Release |
|---|---|---|
| I have a dream | See-Saw | 1993 |
| See-Saw | See-Saw | 1994 |
| Early Best | See-Saw | 2003 |
| Dream Field | See-Saw | 2003 |
| melody | Saeko Chiba | 2003 |
| everything | Saeko Chiba | 2004 |
| Destination | FictionJunction YUUKA | 2004 |
| Circus | FictionJunction YUUKA | 2007 |
| Re/oblivious | Kalafina | 2008 |
| Everlasting Songs | FictionJunction | 2009 |
| Seventh Heaven | Kalafina | 2009 |
| Red Moon | Kalafina | 2010 |
| After Eden | Kalafina | 2011 |
| Album Title | Year of Release |
|---|---|
| The Works for Soundtrack | 2011 |
| Genre | Project | Involvement | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anime | Jura Tripper | Ending Theme | 1995 |
| Anime | Mobile Suit Gundam Seed | Closing Theme & Insert Songs | 2002 |
| Anime | Chrono Crusade | Closing Theme Song (Sayonara Solitaire) | 2003 |
| Game | .hack//QUARANTINE | Song Yasashii Yoake(also used in .hack//SIGN) | 2003 |
| Anime | The World of Narue | Closing Theme | 2003 |
| Anime | Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny | Closing Theme & Insert Songs | 2004 |
| Anime | .hack//Legend of the Twilight | Closing Theme | 2004 |
| Anime | Loveless | Theme Song | 2005 |
| Anime | Shōnen Onmyōji | Opening Theme Song | 2006 |
| Anime | Simoun | Opening Theme Song | 2006 |
| Anime | .hack//Roots | Opening Theme Song | 2006 |
| Anime | Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto | Opening Theme Song | 2006 |
| Anime | My-Otome Zwei | Ending Themes Songs 2-3 | 2007 |
| Anime | Baccano! | Ending Theme Song | 2007 |
| Anime | Amatsuki | Ending Theme Song | 2008 |
| TV Drama | Negima (Live Action) | Ending Theme Song | 2008 |
| Anime | Kuroshitsuji | Ending Theme Song | 2008 |
| Documentary | Unknown Episodes of History - Historia | Soundtrack[4] | 2009 |
| Anime | So Ra No Wo To | Opening Theme Song | 2010 |
| Anime | Ōkami Kakushi | Theme Song | 2010 |
| Anime | Eve no Jikan | Ending Theme Song | 2010 |
| Game | Nobunaga's Ambition | Theme Song | 2010 |
| Anime | Kuroshitsuji II | Insert Theme Song | 2010 |
| TV Drama | 15 Sai no Shiganhei | Music | 2010 |
| Game | .hack//Link | Previously written songs contributed: Edge, (from .hack//Liminality Volume 1: In the Case of Mai Minase) Obsession from .hack//SIGN and Silly-Go-Round. (from .hack//Roots) | 2010 |
| Documentary | Unknown Episodes of History - Historia 2 | Soundtrack | 2011 |
| Anime | Sacred Seven | Opening Theme Song | 2011 |
| Game | Senritsu no Stratus | Opening Theme Song | 2011 |
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||