is a Japanese singer-songwriter and composer, who is known for writing music for games and

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

. She is best known for her contributions to the ''

Ar tonelico is a multimedia project series made in collaboration by Gust Corporation and Banpresto (currently subsidiaries of Tecmo Koei and Namco Bandai Games respectively) consisting of video games, manga, and an OVA. The name of the series is also the name ...

'', ''

Shadow Hearts ''Shadow Hearts'' is a series of role-playing video games, consisting of a trilogy of titles for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) and their predecessor ''Koudelka'' for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation. The entire series was developed by Sacnoth (la ...

'' and ''

Umineko no Naku Koro ni is a Japanese dōjin soft visual novel series produced by 07th Expansion. Its first episode debuted at Comiket 72 for Windows on August 17, 2007. The story focuses on a group of eighteen people on a secluded island for a period of two ...

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

, as well as anime adaptations of ''Umineko no Naku Koro ni'',

Akatsuki no Yona is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mizuho Kusanagi. It has been serialized in Hakusensha's shōjo manga, ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Hana to Yume'' since August 2009, with its chapters collected in thirty-nine ''tankōbon'' ...

and ''

Tales of Symphonia is an action role-playing game released for the Nintendo GameCube on August 29, 2003, in Japan. It was published by Namco and is the fifth core product of the ''Tales'' series. The game was localized and released in North America on July 13, ...

''. Shikata's music is known for its ethnic feel and complex vocal chorus work. In a single Shikata song, there may be as many as 200 separate vocal tracks recorded for it.

Biography

Shikata was born in Tokyo. She first developed an interest in music when she was very little, after constantly singing with her mother. She was first interested in songs from

Minna no Uta , literally ''Everyone's Songs'' (English title: ''Songs for Everyone''), is a five-minute NHK TV and radio program which is broadcast several times daily. The program started on April 3, 1961. It is one of NHK's long-running programs. The pr ...

, and later when she learnt the piano classical music. In 2001, she formed the independent label Vagrancy, associated with the

dōjin music , also called in Japan, is a sub-category of ''doujin'' activity. ''Doujin'' are non-official self-published Japanese works which can be based on official products or completely original creations. Such products are sold online on specialized ...

scene that makes independent music game releases. She originally had no intention of singing, but felt dissatisfied with creating songs just from synthesiser sounds. Later in the year, she released her debut EP, '' Midori no Mori de Nemuru Tori'', through her site. In the next few years, she released many works through her site, mostly instrumental albums performed with a

music box A music box (American English) or musical box (British English) is an automatic musical instrument in a box that produces musical notes by using a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc to pluck the tuned teeth (or ''lamellae'') ...

. Her first full-length album '' Haikyo to Rakuen'' (2003) topped the charts at Japanese independent music download site Muzie for 24 months. In the same year, she worked on the soundtrack for the independent game " Hanakisō," her first major game-related work. In 2004, she held her first ever live tour. In 2005, she debuted as a major label artist under the Hats Unlimited label run by violinist

Taro Hakase is a Japanese musician who specialises as a violinist and composer. Biography Career Hakase was involved in a Japanese band called Kryzler & Kompany which formed while he was in college. He played the violin, while Tsuneyoshi Saito played ke ...

. Her association with the label led to Shikata working on many game soundtracks, such as '' Shadow Hearts: From the New World'' and '' Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia''. Shikata continues to work with the ''Ar tonelico'' franchise today, releasing music for both the

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

and

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

games. Her second major-label album, '' Raka'', was released in 2006. It featured several songs from games (two songs used in '' Hanakisō'', as well as a rearrangement of the opening theme song from ''Ar tonelico'', ). It was her first top 40 album, ranking at #34 on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

albums chart. (subscription only) In 2007, Shikata became associated with the dōjin soft game ''

'', releasing an EP featuring music from the game (including the eponymous theme song). This was her first top 30 release. In 2009, her third album ''

Harmonia In Greek mythology, Harmonia (; grc, Ἁρμονία / harmoˈnia/, "harmony", "agreement") is the immortal goddess of harmony and concord. Her Roman counterpart is Concordia. Her Greek opposite is Eris, whose Roman counterpart is Discord ...

'' broke the top 20. In 2009, Shikata made her first moves into singing for

, with her first single " Katayoku no Tori" being used as the opening theme song for the anime adaptation of ''Umineko no Naku Koro ni''. In 2010, her second single, " Inori no Kanata", was used as the ending theme song for '' Tales of Symphonia (Tethe'alla Version)''. In 2014, she composed the soundtrack for the anime television series ''

Cross Ange , also known as simply ''Cross Ange'', is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Sunrise that aired from October 2014 to March 2015. A manga adaptation began publication in August 2014. Plot Through the development of groundb ...

''.

Discography

Studio albums

* 2001: '' Midori no Mori de Nemuru Tori'' ( EP) * 2003: '' Haikyo to Rakuen'' * 2005: '' Navigatoria'' * 2006: '' Raka'' * 2009: ''

'' * 2013: ''

Turaida Turaida () is a part of Sigulda in the Vidzeme Region of Latvia. Its most famous site is the Brick Gothic Turaida Castle. In 1212, a peace treaty was signed in Turaida between the Estonian tribes and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, the ...

'' * 2015: '' Wokashi'' * 2018: '' Ayashi'' * 2019: '' noAno''

Soundtrack albums

* 2003: '' Hanakisō Sound Tracks'' * 2008: ''

'' ( EP) * 2013: '' Ciel Nosurge Original Soundtracks Vol.1'' ( OST)

Compilation albums

* 2007: '' Istoria: Musa'' * 2008: '' Kara*Cola: Hymmnos Orgel Collection'' * 2010: '' Utau Oka: Ar=ciel Ar=dor'' * 2011: '' Byakumu no Mayu ~Ricordando il Passato~'' * 2011: '' Istoria ~Kalliope~'' * 2012: '' Laylania''

Instrumental albums

* 2002: ''

Petit Fours A petit four (plural: petits fours, also known as mignardises) is a small bite-sized confectionery or savory appetizer. The name is French, ''petit four'' (), meaning "small oven". History and etymology In 18th and 19th century France, g ...

'' (music box) * 2003: ''

Horizon Blue Horizon blue is a colour name which is well remembered because it was used for the blue-grey uniforms of French metropolitan troops from 1915 through 1921. This name for a shade of blue which refers to the indefinable colour which separates th ...

'' (music box) * 2003: '' Kurenawi'' (instrumental) * 2004: ''

Viridian Viridian is a blue-green pigment, a hydrated chromium(III) oxide, of medium saturation and relatively dark in value. It is composed of a majority of green, followed by blue. Specifically, it is a shade of spring green, which places the color b ...

'' (music box) * 2005: ''

Wisteria ''Wisteria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae (Leguminosae), that includes ten species of woody twining vines that are native to China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Southern Canada, the Eastern United States, and north o ...

'' (music box) * 2007: '' Kalliope: Piano Concert'' (piano) * 2007: '' Hanakisō Koukyoukyoku'' (orchestra) * 2009: '' Fluff: Orgel Arrange Mini Album'' ( EP) (music box) * 2010: '' Nijiiro Crayon: Orgel Arrange Mini Album'' ( EP) (music box) * 2011: '' lirica: Orgel Arrange Mini Album'' ( EP) (music box) * 2012: '' Istoria ~Kalliope~ Orgel Collection'' (music box) * 2013: '' Hagurumakan no Elde'' (music box) * 2018: '' Yoimatsuri'' (music box)

Singles

* 2009: '' Katayoku no Tori'' * 2010: '' Inori no Kanata'' * 2011: ''

Utsusemi The characters of '' The Tale of Genji'' do not possess birth names. Instead they are assigned sobriquets derived from poetic exchanges (e.g. Murasaki takes her name from a poem by Genji), from the particular court positions they occupy (in the ...

References

External links

Akiko Shikata official site

Akiko Shikata's Vagrancy site

Hats Official label site

Akiko Shikata's official blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shikata, Akiko Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Anime composers Japanese women musicians Japanese women singers Japanese songwriters Italian-language singers Singers from Tokyo Doujin music Avex Group artists Japanese women composers Japanese composers Video game composers Japanese pianists Japanese harpists Japanese lutenists Musicians from Miyagi Prefecture Video game musicians Anime musicians Japanese women pianists 21st-century Japanese pianists 21st-century women composers 21st-century Japanese women musicians 21st-century women pianists