Kenji Kawai
Template:Short description Template:BLP sources Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox musical artist
Template:Nihongo is a Japanese music composer and arranger. Known as one of the biggest names in the soundtrack world, he has worked on a wide range of mixed media productions, including anime, TV shows, films, video games and ice shows.<ref name="MPC-object" /> Among his credits are Toei's Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Forever, Tsui Hark's Seven Swords and Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon; Wilson Yip's Ip Man; Mamoru Oshii's films The Red Spectacles, StrayDog: Kerberos Panzer Cops, Ghost in the Shell, Mobile Police Patlabor, and Assault Girls. He also worked on the OVA and TV anime adaptations of Vampire Princess Miyu, The Sky Crawlers and Avalon; the anime adaptations of Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma ½ and Maison Ikkoku; the live-action adaptation of Gantz and Hideo Nakata's films Ring, Ring 2, Chaos, Dark Water and Kaidan.
His nephew, Hidehiro Kawai, is a bassist in Fox Capture Plan, an instrumental band.
Career
After dropping out of a nuclear engineering program at Tokai University, Kawai began studying music at Shobi Music Academy. However, he dropped out after half a year. With a few friends, he created the band Muse, playing fusion rock and participating in music competitions. Through competing in such contests, the band members became technically competent to enter the music industry and decided to part ways.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
After leaving Muse, Kawai began composing music for commercials in his home studio. While recording music for radio actor and voice actor Yūji Mitsuya, he met music director Naoko Asari, who advised him to compose anime soundtracks. Some of his work for anime soundtracks can be found in Ranma ½ and Ghost in the Shell. According to Kawai, he is not good at creating music from nothing, as he draws sounds from the visuals of the works. In the majority of cases, the images of the anime are not yet created, so he creates music when referencing storyboard visuals.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Following his success as an anime movies music composer, he became involved in live action movies. He contributed music to horror films: Ring, Ring 2, Dark Water, Japanese-Polish science-fiction film Avalon, the Hong Kong film Seven Swords and in the 2006 live action film Death Note.
Kawai has worked on several projects with director Mamoru Oshii (both Headgear members) and has written scores for all of Hideo Nakata's films. Kawai's music has received the Annie Award and Hong Kong Film Award. In 2005, Ghost in The Shell 2: Innocence he was nominated for an Annie Award.
For the music found in Seven Swords and A Battle of Wits he was nominated for Best Original Film Score Awards at both the 25th and 26th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2006 and 2007.
In 2019 he composed the music for the storytelling ice show Hyoen – Like the moonlight,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which was based on the novel The Tale of Genji, starring Japanese figure skater, Olympic bronze medallist and former world champion Daisuke Takahashi in the title role.
Works
Anime/television
Film
Video games
| Year | Title | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Sansara Naga | Famicom |
| 1990 | Bloody Warriors: Shangō no Gyakushū | Famicom |
| 1992 | Sorcerian | PC Engine |
| 1994 | Team Innocent: The Point of No Return | PC-FX |
| 1994 | Sansara Naga 2 | Super Famicom |
| 1998 | Deep Fear | Sega Saturn |
| 2003 | Nobunaga's Ambition Online (Chapter of Hiryu) | PlayStation 2 |
| 2007 | FolksSoul | PlayStation 3 |
| 2007–2010 | Sangokushi Online | Windows |
Documentary
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2009 | Apocalypse: The Second World War |
Ice shows
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2019 | Hyoen – Like the moonlight<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 2024 | Hyoen – Miracle of the Cross<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
Others
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2015 | GAMERA<ref name=CGWORLD>Template:Cite web</ref> |
Awards and honors
- Asteroid 117582 Kenjikawai, discovered by Roy A. Tucker in 2005, was named in his honor.<ref name="MPC-object" /> The official Template:MoMP was published by the Minor Planet Center on January 9, 2020 (Template:Small).<ref name="MPC-Circulars-Archive" />
See also
References
External links
- 1957 births
- 20th-century Japanese conductors (music)
- 20th-century Japanese male musicians
- 21st-century Japanese conductors (music)
- 21st-century Japanese male musicians
- Anime composers
- Japanese male conductors (music)
- Japanese film score composers
- Japanese guitarists
- Japanese male film score composers
- Japanese video game composers
- Living people
- New-age composers
- People from Shinagawa