is a Japanese composer. He is best known for creating the soundtracks for the Heisei ''Gamera'' trilogy, '' Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack'', ''

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing ''Mobile Suit Gundam Wing'', also known in Japan as , is a 1995 Japanese mecha anime series directed by Masashi Ikeda and written by Katsuyuki Sumizawa. It is the sixth installment in the '' Gundam'' franchise, taking place in the "Af ...

'', and ''

Shadow of the Colossus ''Shadow of the Colossus'' is a 2005 action-adventure game developed by Japan Studio and Team Ico, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It takes place in a fantasy setting and follows Wander, a young man who ente ...

''.

Biography

Kow Otani was born in Tokyo, Japan. After graduating from university, he became a founding member of Yuji Saito's music production company Imagine in November 1986. The company has grown to feature musicians like Kohei Tanaka,

Shiro Hamaguchi Shiro, Shirō, Shirow or Shirou may refer to: People * Amakusa Shirō (1621–1638), leader of the Shimabara Rebellion * Ken Shiro (born 1992), Japanese boxer * Shiro Azumi, Japanese football player 1923–1925 * Shiro Ichinoseki (born 1944), J ...

Hayato Matsuo is a Japanese music composer and orchestrator who primarily does work in video games and anime. He has worked on titles such as '' Front Mission 3'', ''Final Fantasy XII'', the ''Shenmue'' series, '' Magic Knight Rayearth'', and ''Hellsing Ultim ...

, and

Shinji Miyazaki is a Japanese composer and arranger. He was born in Kobe, and lived in a variety of areas on the island of Shikoku for much of his childhood. He developed a taste for pop music, which eventually led him to study musical arrangement and piano ins ...

, who have become well known for cinematic scoring and orchestration through Otani. In 1987, he made his debut as an anime composer with the popular manga adaptation ''

City Hunter is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo. It was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1985 to 1991 and collected into 35 ''tankōbon'' volumes by its publisher Shueisha. The manga was adapted int ...

'', which earned him recognition in the industry. He later went on to work on titles such as ''Spy Games'' (1988), ''The Ultimate Teacher'' (1988), ''The Yadamura Waltz'' (1988), and '' You're Under Arrest'' (1994). The anime ''

Future GPX Cyber Formula is a Japanese futuristic motorsports anime television series produced by Asatsu-DK, VAP and Sunrise. The series originally aired between March 15 and December 20, 1991 on Nippon TV and was later followed by four OVA series respectively ...

'' (1991) and ''

'' (1995) and several films in the ''

Gamera is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. Debuting in the 1965 film ''Gamera, the Giant Monster'', the character and the first film were intended to compete with the success of Toho's ''Godzilla'' film ...

'' series are some of his most well-known works. In 2001, he created the score to the film '' Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack''. Other notable scores by Otani include '' Gundam Wing'' (1995), ''

Outlaw Star is a Japanese anime Television show, television series produced by Sunrise (company), Sunrise and Seinen manga, ''seinen'' manga series written and illustrated by Takehiko Itō. The series takes place in the "Toward Stars Era" universe i ...

'' (1998), '' Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz'' (1998), ''Cross Fire'' (2000), ''

The SoulTaker is an anime series that focuses on seventeen-year-old Kyosuke Date who was killed by his mother Mio Date, and afterward gained the ability to turn into an incredibly powerful winged mutant known as "The SoulTaker" and that he has a long-los ...

'' (2001), ''

Haibane Renmei is a Japanese anime television series. It is based on an original ''dōjinshi'' manga series by Yoshitoshi ABe, , which was released from 1998 to 2002 and left unfinished as work on the anime began. The 13-episode series was animated by Radix ...

'' (2002), ''

Zatch Bell! ''Zatch Bell!'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Makoto Raiku. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' between January 2001 and December 2007, wit ...

'' (2003), ''

Eyeshield 21 is a Japanese manga series written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. The series tells the story of Sena Kobayakawa, an introverted boy who joins an American football club as a secretary, but after being coerced by quarte ...

'' (2005), ''

Pumpkin Scissors is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ryotaro Iwanaga. Originally serialized in ''Magazine GREAT'' in 2002 it was later moved to ''Monthly Shonen Magazine'' in October 2006. The manga has been licensed by Del Rey. An anime ad ...

'' (2006), '' Deltora Quest'' (2007), and '' Over Drive'' (2007). He has also been the music director and keyboardist of the band Dreams Come True. He appeared at

Eminence Symphony Orchestra The Eminence Symphony Orchestra founded in Sydney, Australia is an independent symphony orchestra which delves into the classical music featured in video games and anime, as well as film scores. History Eminence was founded in 2003 by a smal ...

's events A Night in Fantasia 2007: Symphonic Games Edition and Unearthing Eden ~The sounds of AINARU~ in 2007. Throughout his career, Otani has also composed music for several video games, making his debut with the 1995

shooter game Shooter video games or shooters are a subgenre of action video games where the focus is almost entirely on the defeat of the character's enemies using the weapons given to the player. Usually these weapons are firearms or some other long-range ...

Philosoma is a video game for the Sony PlayStation, released in 1995 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment America. It was re-released on the PlayStation Network in Japan on April 26, 2007. One of the earliest PlayStation games, it was met with me ...

''. In 2000, he created the soundtrack to the

flight simulator A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...

'' Sky Odyssey''. He scored ''

'' in 2005, his most famous video game work. Otani was responsible for composing the music for '' Wild Arms: Twilight Venom'' (2000), an anime adaptation of the ''

Wild Arms , also written as ''Wild ARMs'', is a media franchise developed by Media.Vision and owned by Sony Computer Entertainment. The franchise consists of several role-playing video game, role-playing video games and related media. Since the launch o ...

'' video game series; he also arranged compositions of

Michiko Naruke (born August 13, 1967) is a Japanese video game music composer, well known for her work in the '' Wild Arms'' series. Composing career She used to work for Telenet Japan and Riot, but many people who worked for these two companies left, and ...

's music from the series. He did two more video game to anime adaptations: '' Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge'' (1997) and '' Popolocrois Monogatari'' (1998). In 2005, he created the track "Madness" alongside Hiroko Shigezumi for the

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...

game '' Heavy Metal Thunder''.

Discography

Anime

*''

'' (1987) *''The Yamadamura Waltz'' (1988) *'' Ultimate Teacher'' (1988) *''Spy Games'' (1988) *''Gokudō Sensō: Butōha'' (1991) *''

'' (1991) *'' Future GPX Cyber Formula 11'' (1992) *''Yonigeya Hompo 2'' (1993) *''Sotsugyō Ryokō: Nihon kara Kimashita'' (1994) *'' You're Under Arrest'' (1994) *''

Future GPX Cyber Formula ZERO is a Japanese Futurism, futuristic motorsports anime television series produced by Asatsu-DK, VAP (company), VAP and Bandai Namco Filmworks, Sunrise. The series originally aired between March 15 and December 20, 1991 on Nippon TV and was l ...

'' (1994) *''

'' (1995) *''School Ghost Story 3'' (1997) *'' Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge'' (1997) *'' Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz'' (1998) *''

'' (1998) *'' Popolocrois Monogatari'' (1998) *'' Wild Arms: Twilight Venom'' (2000) *''Cross Fire'' (2000) *''

'' (2001) *'' Zoids: New Century Zero'' (2001) *''

'' (2002) *''Lucky Ears'' (2003) *''

'' (2003) *''

Daphne in the Brilliant Blue is a Japanese anime television series animated by J.C.Staff and broadcast on TV Kanagawa from January to July 2004. The anime was originally licensed by Geneon USA. It is now licensed by Sentai Filmworks. A manga adaptation, illustrated by ma ...

'' (2004) *''

'' (2005) *''

Shakugan no Shana , also known simply as , is a Japanese light novel series written by Yashichiro Takahashi with illustrations by Noizi Ito. ASCII Media Works published 26 novels from November 2002 to November 2012 under their Dengeki Bunko imprint. The ...

'' series (2005-2012) *''

'' (2006) *''

Ghost Slayers Ayashi is a Japanese anime television series, created and written by Shō Aikawa (screenwriter), Shō Aikawa and produced by Bones (studio), Bones. Directed by Hiroshi Nishikiori, it featured character designs by Toshihiro Kawamoto. It was broadca ...

'' (2006) *''

Yoshinaga-san Chi no Gargoyle is a Japanese light novel series written by Sennendou Taguchi, following Kazumi Yoshinaga and his normal junior high school life with younger sister Futaba Yoshinaga who won a prize from a lottery of a wolf-like gargoyle nicknamed "Gar-ku ...

'' (2006) *'' Over Drive'' (2007) *'' Deltora Quest'' (2007) *'' Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-'' (2008) *''

Blade of the Immortal is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiroaki Samura. The series is set in Japan during the mid- Tokugawa Shogunate period and follows the cursed samurai Manji, who has to kill 1,000 evil men in order to regain his mortal ...

'' (2008) *'' Tokyo Magnitude 8.0'' (2009) *'' Hakuouki'' (2010) *'' .hack//Quantum'' (2010–2011) *''

Hyouge Mono is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by . It was serialized in the Seinen manga, manga magazine ''Weekly Morning'' from 2005 to 2017 and collected into 25 volumes by publisher Kodansha. ''Hyouge Mono'' won an Excellence Prize ...

'' (2011–2012) *''

Hakuoki is a Japanese ''otome'' video game series by Idea Factory, first released for the PlayStation 2 in 18 September 2008 and ported to many other platforms. It has been adapted into an anime series by Studio Deen; the first series was bro ...

'' (2011) *'' Another'' (2012) *''

Humanity Has Declined , or for short, is a Japanese light novel series written by Romeo Tanaka. The novels originally featured illustrations by Tōru Yamasaki for the first six volumes, but Yamasaki was replaced by Sunaho Tobe in 2011. Shogakukan published 11 v ...

'' (2012) *'' Arata: The Legend'' (2013) *''

Wise Man's Grandchild is a Japanese light novel series written by Tsuyoshi Yoshioka and illustrated by Seiji Kikuchi. It began serialization online in January 2015 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. At the beginning of edisode 3 ...

'' (2019) *''

Requiem of the Rose King is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Aya Kanno. Loosely based on the Shakespearean plays ''Henry VI, Part 3'' and ''Richard III'', the series follows an intersex version of Richard III during the tumultuous Wars of the Ros ...

'' (2022)

Films

*''

No Worries on the Recruit Front is a Japanese film directed by Shūsuke Kaneko. The film gives a description of the life of students struggling to find a job at the end of college in Japan at the end of the 1980s, a time when companies would fight to get the best students to j ...

'' (1991) *'' My Soul Is Slashed'' (1991) *'' Graduation Journey: I Came from Japan'' (1993) *''

It's a Summer Vacation Everyday is a Japanese film directed by Shūsuke Kaneko. Actress Hinako Saeki won the Newcomer of the Year award at the Japan Academy Awards and Best New Talent at the Yokohama Film Festival for her role in this film. Cast *Shirō Sano *Hinako Saeki * ...

'' (1994) *'' Gamera: Guardian of the Universe'' (1995) *'' Gamera 2: Attack of Legion'' (1996) *'' Tenchi the Movie 2: The Daughter of Darkness'' (1998) *'' Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris'' (1999) *'' Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack'' (2001) *''

Like Asura is a 2003 Japanese film directed by Yoshimitsu Morita. At the 27th Japan Academy Prize it won three awards and received ten other nominations. The film is a remake of the TV mini series Ashura no Gotoku on NHK. Synopsis The film follows four ...

'' (2003) *''The Boat to Heaven'' (2003) *''

Blade of the Phantom Master /() is a South Korean-Japanese manhwa series created by Youn In-wan and illustrated by Yang Kyung-il. The story takes place in a world reminiscent of ancient Korea, and follows the Korean-folktale-inspired adventures of Munsu, one of the few ...

'' (2004) *'' The iDol'' (2006) *''

'' (2007) *'' Colorful'' (2010) *''Godai - The Wunderkind'' (2020)

Video games

*''

'' (1995) *''Macross Digital Mission VF-X'' (1997) *'' Sky Odyssey'' (2001) *'' Heavy Metal Thunder'' (2005) *''

'' (2005) *''

Sengoku Basara 3 ''Sengoku BASARA Samurai Heroes'', known in Japan as ''Sengoku BASARA 3'', is a 2010 hack and slash, action video game developed and published by Capcom. It is the third major installment in the ''Sengoku BASARA'' game series and the second game ...

'' (2010) *''

Diablo III ''Diablo III'' is a hack-and-slash action role-playing game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment as the third installment in the Diablo (series), ''Diablo'' franchise. It was released for Microsoft Windows and OS X in May 2012, Play ...

(2012) Additional tracks included as part of Echoes of War *''

Shadow of the Colossus (2018 video game) ''Shadow of the Colossus'' is a 2018 action-adventure video game developed by Bluepoint Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. It is a remake of the original game developed by Team Ico and released in 2005 f ...

References

External links

* (version saved by Internet Archive as of April 27, 2013) {{DEFAULTSORT:Otani, Ko 1957 births Anime composers Japanese film score composers Japanese male film score composers Japanese music arrangers Living people Video game composers