is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

musical

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

originally from Hyōgo,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

working for the

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

brand

Key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

under

VisualArt's , formerly and previously spelled in English as VisualArt's, is a Japanese publishing company which specializes in publishing and distributing visual novels for a large list of game developers. Visual Arts has developed game engines their brands ...

. Before forming Key, Orito worked for another software company named

Leaf A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

where he contributed to four games. After leaving Leaf, Orito transferred to another company named

Tactics Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics ** Political tact ...

where he had a hand in the creation of three games for that company: ''

Dōsei is a Japanese adult social simulation game developed by Tactics, a brand of Nexton. It was released on May 23, 1997 for Windows PCs, the same day as ''To Heart'' by Leaf. The gameplay in ''Dōsei'' follows a branching plot line which offers pre-d ...

'', ''

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

'', and '' One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e''. After forming Key, Orito has put much work into such famous titles as '' Kanon'', ''

Air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

'' and ''

Clannad Clannad () is an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal by siblings Ciarán, Pól, and Moya Brennan and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history, including ...

''. Orito has been influenced by the famous Japanese composers

Joe Hisaishi , known professionally as , is a Japanese composer, musical director, conductor and pianist, known for over 100 film scores and solo albums dating back to 1981. He is also known for his piano scores. Hisaishi's music has been known to explore ...

and

Yuzo Koshiro is a Japanese composer and sound programmer. He is often regarded as one of the most influential innovators in chiptune and video game music, producing music in a number of genres including rock, jazz, symphonic, and various electronic genres ...

Career

After graduating from high school, Orito went to work at a bank, but due to a recession in the economy, the bank eventually fell to

restructuring Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs. Other reasons ...

, and Orito quit soon after. Orito originally found new work at the video game developer TGL composing music, but was invited by a friend from high school named Naoya Shimokawa (now the president of

Aquaplus , formally and , is a Japanese company which specializes primarily in the publishing and distribution of visual novels, including both adult games under their brand Leaf and games for all ages under Aquaplus's own brand. Aquaplus has been involv ...

) to come work for the video game developer

, which Orito accepted. Starting in 1995, Orito composed music for three of Leaf's game: ''DR² Night Janki'', ''Filsnown: Hikari to Koku'', and '' Shizuku'' (precursor of ''

To Heart ''To Heart'' is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Leaf and released on May 23, 1997 for Windows. It was later ported to the PlayStation and given voice acting. A second PC version, titled ''To Heart PSE'' was released containin ...

''). While Leaf's next game ''Hatsune no Naisho!!'' was under production, Orito quit Leaf. Orito got a

part-time job A part-time job is a form of employment that carries fewer hours per week than a full-time job. They work in shifts. The shifts are often rotational. Workers are considered to be part-time if they commonly work fewer than 30 hours per week. Accord ...

working for a post office while providing outsourced musical composition for the video game developer

under

Nexton is a Japanese software publishing company specializing in the publishing and distribution of adult visual novels for 23 game development brands that Nexton is partners with. The company is located in Osaka, Japan. The current president, Akihik ...

for the game ''

''; afterwards, Orito was hired into Tactics where he helped compose music for two more games: ''

'', and '' One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e''. In 1999, Orito and much of the staff who made both ''Moon'' and ''One'', including

Jun Maeda is a Japanese writer and co-founder of the visual novel brand Key under Visual Arts. He is considered a pioneer of nakige visual novels, and has mainly contributed as a scenario writer, lyricist, and musical composer for the games the company pr ...

Itaru Hinoue is the pseudonym of a Japanese artist from Osaka, Japan, who is one of the founding members of the visual novel brand Key under VisualArt's. Hinoue's choice of her pseudonym stems from the manga ''C'' by Shō Kitagawa; the protagonist in the man ...

Naoki Hisaya , born , is a Japanese screenwriter who has worked for Tactics, Key and Siesta, but as of 2006, he is a freelance writer. He is well known for being the main writer of the popular visual novel '' Kanon'' while working under Key. Additional works ...

, and

OdiakeS OdiakeS (born March 22) is a Japanese composer from Tokyo, Japan who has worked for a variety of visual novel companies. His first work was on the game '' One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e'' under Tactics. When the staff of ''One'' left Tactics to create th ...

, left Tactics to work under the video game publishing company

where they formed the company

. At Key, Orito has composed music for all of Key's titles, though he only contributed to a single track on the original soundtrack for '' Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet''. Music that Orito composes for Key titles is published on Key's

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

Key Sounds Label Key Sounds Label is a Japanese independent record label formed in 2001 as a brand of the publishing company VisualArt's. Key Sounds Label was formed to catalog and release music related to visual novels produced by the brand Key, also under Visu ...

. The first album on the label, '' Humanity...'', was produced by Orito for his temporary band Work-S. Orito was also the director for the

remix album A remix album is an album consisting of remixes or rerecorded versions of an artist's earlier released material. The first act who employed the format was American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson (''Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'', 1971). As of 2007 ...

''OTSU Club Music Compilation Vol.1'', also on Key Sounds Label, and is a member of OTSU, standing for the Organized Trance Sequential Unit. During his time at Key, Orito has provided outsourced musical composition for three games by three separate companies also under VisualArt's. The first was for the game ''Sense Off'' by Otherwise, followed by the game ''Shoya Kinjō'' by Giant Panda, and finally the game ''Realize'' by Playm. In 2001, Orito composed the opening and ending themes for the

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 ...

series '' Please Teacher!''. In 2006, Orito composed the song "Precious" on

Mami Kawada is a former Japanese pop singer and lyricist who was signed to NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan and also a member of I've Sound, a musical group which produces soundtracks for ''eroge'' (erotic games) and anime. Born and raised in Sapporo, Ja ...

's debut album ''

Seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

''. Between December 2007 and August 2010, Orito was one of three personalities (the others being

and another woman named Chiro working for Pekoe, another visual novel studio under VisualArt's) on an

Internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...

show sponsored by Key in regards to the brand called ''

Key Net Radio was a Japanese Internet radio program produced by VisualArt's and the visual novel studio Key in regard to Key and the games the brand produces. Thirty broadcasts were released online from December 13, 2007, to August 30, 2010. The show was host ...

''. Orito composed the music for Key's game '' Rewrite'' (2011) and its fan disc '' Rewrite Harvest festa!'' (2012). Orito released his album '' Circle of Fifth'' in October 2012. In 2016, Orito composed music for Key's game ''

Harmonia In Greek mythology, Harmonia (; grc, Ἁρμονία /Ancient Greek phonology, harmoˈnia/, "harmony", "agreement") is the immortal goddess of harmony and concord. Her Rome, Roman counterpart is Concordia (mythology), Concordia. Her Greek op ...

''. Shinji Orito's musical roots come from him producing

dōjin In Japan, is a group of people who share an interest, activity, or hobby. The word is sometimes translated into English as "clique", "fandom", "coterie", "society", or "circle" (as in "sewing circle"). Self-published creative works produced b ...

music as a hobby. He used to visit a music

BBS BBS may refer to: Ammunition * BBs, BB gun metal bullets * BBs, airsoft gun plastic pellets Computing and gaming * Bulletin board system, a computer server users dial into via dial-up or telnet; precursor to the Internet * BIOS Boot Specificat ...

named Unison-BBS; Orito named his dōjin circle Unison Label after the website, which has since disappeared from the Internet. Many people were involved with the circle, which focused on a musical style similar to that of featured in

bishōjo game A or , is "a type of Japanese video game centered on interactions with attractive girls". ''Bishōjo'' games are similar to ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' books in the way of narrative, in which the game tells a story but the player may make ...

s. This group was in operation between 1994 and 2000, well into Orito's professional career. During the time he worked with Tactics and later Otherwise, Orito was also a member of a professional group of composers known as the Unison Sound Team; under this group, Orito was known as either or .

References

External links

Key's official website

Key Sounds Label official website

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Orito, Shinji 1973 births Anime composers Japanese composers Japanese film score composers Japanese male composers Japanese male film score composers Japanese techno musicians Key (company) Living people Musicians from Hyōgo Prefecture Video game composers