is a Japanese

anime composer An anime composer is a composer who mainly composes music for anime productions. There have been many anime composers over the years, and while anime soundtracks are big business in Japan, there have been few notable, long-term composers of anime ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

and

orchestrator Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

. He is best known for composing music to the anime franchises ''

Girls und Panzer , abbreviated as ''GuP'' or ''Garupan'' , is a Japanese anime franchise created by Actas which depicts a competition between girls' high schools practicing tank warfare as a sport. The series was directed by Tsutomu ...

'', ''

One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual chapte ...

'', and ''

Oh My Goddess! , or ''Ah! My Goddess!'' in some releases, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōsuke Fujishima. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Afternoon'' from September 1988 to April 2014, ...

'' and arranging/orchestrating music in the ''

Final Fantasy is a Japanese video game, Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and ...

'' series. He frequently collaborates with fellow composers Kohei Tanaka and

Akifumi Tada is a Japanese anime music composer and video game composer. Discography Video games ;Composition *'' Bomberman 64'' (1997) Anime ;Composition *''Captain Tsubasa Road to 2002'' *''Fight Ippatsu! Jūden-chan!!'' *''Cyborg 009 The Cyborg So ...

on anime scores.

Biography

Early life and career

Born in

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

, Japan, Shiro Hamaguchi graduated with a music degree from

Tokyo University of the Arts or is the most prestigious art school in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained renowned artists in the fields of painting, scul ...

, where he befriended fellow video game musician

Masashi Hamauzu is a Japanese composer, pianist, and lyricist. Hamauzu, who was employed at Square Enix from 1996 to 2010, was best known during that time for his work on the ''Final Fantasy'' and ''SaGa'' video game series. Born into a musical family in German ...

. After graduation, he was hired as a department project manager at

Victor Entertainment , also known as in Japan, is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Ent ...

from 1994 to 1996. In 1996, he joined 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 ...

and

video game music Video game music (or VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to ...

production company Imagine, where he worked alongside famed composers

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 ...

, Kohei Tanaka, and

Kow Otani 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'', and ''Shadow of the Colossus''. Biogra ...

. His debut role was the anime series ''

Violinist of Hameln is a Japanese manga series created by Michiaki Watanabe. The manga centers around a group of adventurers named Hamel, Flute, Raiel, Trom and Sizer. All 5 are attempting to travel North, to the "Continent of Demons" in order to avert a gre ...

'' (1996), where he

arranged In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchest ...

Tanaka's works. His music impressed ''

'' composer

Nobuo Uematsu is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his contributions to the ''Final Fantasy'' video game series by Square Enix. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve, with English singer-songwriter Elton Jo ...

, who chose Hamaguchi as the arranger for the '' Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks'' album. He provided orchestral renditions of "Aeris's Theme", "Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII", and "One-Winged Angel", which have become iconic through their use in various ''Final Fantasy'' concerts. Subsequently, he created music for the anime series ''Ehrgeiz'' (unrelated to the video game) and ''AWOL - Absent WithOut Leave''.

Further career

Hamaguchi scored the pirate-based anime ''

'' in 1999 with Tanaka, later returning to compose four of its movies. He also worked as an arranger for the ''

Sakura Wars is a Japanese steampunk media franchise created by Oji Hiroi and owned by Sega. It is focused around a series of cross-genre video games. The first game in the series was released in 1996, with five sequels and numerous spin-off titles being ...

'' series. The success of his ''

Final Fantasy VII is a 1997 role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation console. It is the seventh main installment in the ''Final Fantasy'' series. Published in Japan by Square, it was released in other regions by Sony Computer Entertai ...

'' arrangements led Uematsu to hire him to orchestrate four pieces for the 1999 title ''

Final Fantasy VIII is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation console. Released in 1999, it is the eighth main installment in the ''Final Fantasy'' series. Set on an unnamed fantasy world with science fiction elements, t ...

'', including the opening theme "Liberi Fatali" and the theme song " Eyes on Me". These pieces and nine new arrangements appeared in the orchestral album '' Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec Final Fantasy VIII''. The following year, he arranged a selection of tracks from the game's soundtrack for the series' first Piano Collections album in five years. The success of "Eyes on Me" prompted

Kenji Ito , also known by the nickname , is a Japanese video game composer and musician. He is best known for his work on the ''Mana'' and '' SaGa'' series, though he has worked on over 30 video games throughout his career as well as composed or arranged ...

to use Hamaguchi as the arranger for his theme song in ''

Chocobo Racing ''Chocobo Racing'', known in Japan as , is a racing game developed by Square Co. for the PlayStation. The game was released in Japan in March 1999, followed by North America and Europe in August and October, respectively. The game's star and nam ...

''. In 2000, Hamaguchi composed the '' Megumi no Daigo'' film and the ''

Dinozaurs (also known as ) is a Japanese toyline created by toy company Bandai in 1998. Alongside the toys, two media adaptations were created by Sunrise: a 5-episode 3D CGI OVA series that ran from November 27, 1998 to January 2000 and a 26-episode a ...

'' anime series, the latter with Imagine colleague Akifumi Tada. He provided orchestrations to ''

Final Fantasy IX is a 2000 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation video game console. It is the ninth game in the main ''Final Fantasy'' series. The plot focuses on a wa ...

''s

full motion video Full-motion video (FMV) is a video game narration technique that relies upon pre-recorded video files (rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models) to display action in the game. While many games feature FMVs as a way to present information duri ...

music, featured in '' Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack PLUS'', and an arrangement of the theme song " Melodies of Life"; he also created another Piano Collections album to the game. Hamaguchi collaborated with Uematsu to create music for the animated film '' Ah! My Goddess: The Movie'' and the 2001 anime series '' Final Fantasy: Unlimited'', which also featured compositions by Tada. For ''

Final Fantasy X is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square as the tenth main entry in the ''Final Fantasy'' series. Originally released in 2001 for PlayStation 2, the game was re-released as ''Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster'' for PlayStat ...

'', he orchestrated the ending theme and the two versions of the theme song " Suteki da ne". He also produced the arrangements for the 2002 concert 20020220 Music from Final Fantasy, the first ''Final Fantasy'' concert since 1989. It mixed his older arrangements with new ones such as "Vamo' Alla Flamenco", "Theme of Love", "Tina", "Dear Friends", "Final Fantasy", and an eight-minute medley of music from '' Final Fantasy I'', '' II'', and '' III''. The concert and its

CD release The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Octo ...

set a precedent for many future concerts. Also in 2002, Hamaguchi scored the anime series ''

Kiddy Grade is a Japanese 24-episode anime series produced in 2002 and created by gímik and Gonzo Digimation and directed by Keiji Gotoh. The series is licensed and distributed in North America by FUNimation Entertainment. In October 2006, ne ...

''. His contribution to ''

Final Fantasy XI also known as ''Final Fantasy XI Online'', is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), originally developed and published by Squaresoft and then published by Square Enix as the eleventh main installment of the ''Final Fantasy ...

'' (2003) was arranging the opening theme. He also orchestrated three themes for ''

Unlimited Saga ''Unlimited Saga'' is a 2002 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (rebranded as Square Enix in 2003) for the PlayStation 2 as the ninth game in the ''SaGa'' series. It was released in 2002 in Japan and 2003 in North America a ...

'' on behalf of his university friend Hamauzu. At the end of 2003, Hamaguchi produced the '' Piano Collections Final Fantasy VII''. He also made new arrangements of "Opening ~ Bombing Mission", "To Zanarkand", "Ronfaure", "You're Not Alone", and "Opera 'Maria and Draco'" for the concert series Tour de Japon: Music from Final Fantasy in 2004. The concert also featured his arrangement of "Cloud Smiles" from the 2005 film ''

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children is a 2005 Japanese computer-animated film directed by Tetsuya Nomura, written by Kazushige Nojima, and produced by Yoshinori Kitase and Shinji Hashimoto. Developed by Visual Works and Square Enix, ''Advent Children'' is part of the ''Compilat ...

''; the remaining contributions to the film by Hamaguchi were old orchestral and piano arrangements. A handful of Hamaguchi's orchestral arrangements were added to Tour de Japon's American successor Dear Friends - Music from Final Fantasy, which made its debut in May 2004 in Los Angeles. His arrangements have also been performed at the events More Friends: Music from Final Fantasy, Voices - Music from Final Fantasy, and

Play! A Video Game Symphony PLAY! A Video Game Symphony was a concert series that featured music from video games performed by a live orchestra. The concerts from 2006 to 2010 were conducted by Arnie Roth. From 2010, Andy Brick took the position of principal conductor and m ...

. In 2005, Hamaguchi scored the anime series ''

Oh! My Goddess , or ''Ah! My Goddess!'' in some releases, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōsuke Fujishima. It was serialized in Kodansha's Seinen manga, ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Afternoon'' from September 1988 to ...

'' and contributed arrangements to the third

Symphonic Game Music Concert The ''Symphonic Game Music Concerts (''shortened to: ''Game Concerts'') are a series of award-winning orchestral video game music concerts first performed in 2003 at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany, notable for being the longest running and the ...

. The same year, Hamaguchi decided to enroll at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

in a one-year jazz composition course to further his opportunities as an anime composer. He has since scored '' One Piece Movie: The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta'', ''

Big Windup! , often shortened to just , is a Japanese baseball-themed manga series written and illustrated by Asa Higuchi. It has been serialized in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Afternoon'' since September 2003, with its chapters collec ...

'', ''Ah! My Goddess: Fighting Wings'', and ''

Rosario + Vampire is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akihisa Ikeda. The story revolves around Tsukune Aono, a boy who inadvertently enrolls in a boarding school for monsters. He quickly befriends Moka Akashiya, a vampire who soon develop ...

''. He orchestrated the late composer Ingo Nugel and his brother Henning Nugel's arrangements from '' The Settlers II (10th Anniversary)'' for performance at the fifth Symphonic Game Music Concert in August 2007. In September 2010, he arranged a suite containing the music from Starwing and Lylat Wars for the

Symphonic Legends A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

concert in Cologne. Hamaguchi also composed the official music score for the

Sanrio is a Japanese entertainment company. It designs, licenses, and produces products focusing on the ''kawaii'' ("cute") segment of Japanese popular culture. Their products include stationery, school supplies, gifts, and accessories which are sold ...

anime ''

Jewelpet is a Japanese media franchise and toy line created in 2008 as a joint venture between Sanrio and Sega Toys, produced by the third character designer of Hello Kitty, Yuko Yamaguchi and illustrated by the character designer of Cinnamoroll, Miyuki O ...

'' and its sequels, '' Jewelpet Twinkle'' and ''

Jewelpet Sunshine , also called ''Jewel Pets'', is a 2009 Japanese fantasy anime series produced by Studio Comet, based on the Jewelpet franchise jointly created by Sanrio and Sega Sammy Holdings. The series was written by Atsushi Maekawa (''Dig ...

''. He later left the production staff in 2012 to focus on composing music for the film '' One Piece Film: Z'' and the anime film '' Hanasaku Iroha: Home Sweet Home''.

Discography

Anime

;Composition *''Ehrgeiz'' (1997) *''Awol: Absent Without Leave'' (1998) *''

'' (1999–present) – with Kohei Tanaka *''

'' (2000) – with Akifumi Tada *'' Final Fantasy: Unlimited'' (2001) – with Akifumi Tada *''

'' (2002) *''

'' (2005) *''Ah! My Goddess: Fighting Wings'' (2006) *''

'' (2007) *''Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy'' (2007) *''

'' (2008) – with Kohei Tanaka *''Rosario + Vampire Capu2'' (2008) – with Kohei Tanaka *''

'' (2009) *''Ōkiku Furikabutte ~Natsu no Taikai-hen~'' (2010) *'' Jewelpet Twinkle'' (2010) *''

'' (2011) *''

Hanasaku Iroha , or ''Hanairo'' for short, is a Japanese 26-episode anime television series produced by P.A. Works and directed by Masahiro Andō. The screenplay was written by Mari Okada, with original character design by Mel Kishida. P.A. Works produced ...

'' (2011) *''

'' (2012) *''

Tari Tari ''Tari Tari'' is a 2012 Japanese anime television series produced by P.A. Works, written, and directed by Masakazu Hashimoto. The series aired in Japan between July 1 and September 23, 2012 on TV Kanagawa, and was also simulcast by Crunchyroll ...

'' (2012) *''

Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren't They? , also known as , is a Japanese light novel series written by Tarō Tatsunoko and illustrated by Yū Amano. An anime adaptation by Diomedéa aired from January 11, 2013, to March 15, 2013. Part 1 of the series ended on April 1, 2015, with ...

'' (2013) *'' Karneval'' (2013) – with

Keiji Inai is a Japanese composer, arranger and orchestrator best known for his work in anime and video games. He is affiliated with the music production company Imagine. Biography Inai was born in Hiroshima, Japan. He studied at the Toho Gakuen School o ...

*''

Galilei Donna is an original anime television series created by Yasuomi Umetsu and produced by Fuji TV, Aniplex, Kyoraku, Dentsu, and A-1 Pictures. It is directed by Umetsu, with Shingo Adachi as a character designer, Niθ as a mechanical designer, and Shir ...

'' (2013) *''

Shirobako ''Shirobako'' is a 24-episode anime television series produced by P.A. Works and directed by Tsutomu Mizushima. It aired in Japan between October 9, 2014 and March 26, 2015. A manga adaptation began serialization in ASCII Media Works's '' ...

'' (2014) *''

Wish Upon the Pleiades is an original net animation series produced by Gainax in collaboration with Japanese automaker Subaru. The series was released on YouTube in four parts on February 1, 2011, with the English-subtitled version appearing six days later. An ani ...

'' (2015) *'' Haruchika'' (2016) *''

The Magnificent Kotobuki is an anime television series produced by GEMBA, which aired from January to March 2019. A smartphone game titled ''Kōya no Kotobuki Hikōtai - Ōzora no Take Off Girls!'' was released in February 2019. A compilation film titled ''The Magni ...

'' (2019) ;Arrangement *''

Violinist of Hamelin is a Japanese manga series created by Michiaki Watanabe. The manga centers around a group of adventurers named Hamel, Flute, Raiel, Trom and Sizer. All 5 are attempting to travel North, to the "Continent of Demons" in order to avert a gr ...

'' (1996) *''Sakura Wars 2'' (1999) – with Akifumi Tada, Masami Kishimura,

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 ...

, and

Takayuki Negishi (born August 6, 1961) is a Japanese composer, music arranger and record producer originating from Tokyo. Negishi began work as a synthesizer operator in 1983. He worked with IMAGIN, so he often arranged songs with Kohei Tanaka. Compositions ...

*''

'' (2000) *''Sakura Taisen: New York NY.99'' (2007) – with Takayuki Kishimoto

Film

;Composition *'' Ah! My Goddess: The Movie'' (2000) – with

*''Megumi no Daigo'' (2000) *'' One Piece the Movie: Deddo Endo no Bōken'' (2003) – with Kohei Tanaka *''Boku no Son Goku'' (2003) *'' One Piece: Norowa re ta Seiken'' (2004) – with Kohei Tanaka *'' One Piece Movie: The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta'' (2007) – with Kazuhiko Sawaguchi, Kōhei Tanaka, Minoru Maruo, and Yasunori Iwasaki *'' Episode of Chopper Plus: Bloom in the Winter, Miracle Sakura'' (2008) – with Kohei Tanaka *''Eiga! Tamagotchi Uchū Ichi Happy na Monogatari!?'' (2008) *'' One Piece Film: Strong World'' (2009) *'' One Piece Film: Z'' (2012) *'' Hanasaku Iroha: Home Sweet Home'' (2013) *''

Girls und Panzer der Film , alternatively ''Girls und Panzer: The Movie'', is a 2015 Japanese animated film and a sequel to the 2012 anime series '' Girls und Panzer''. Produced by Actas and distributed by Showgate, the film is directed by Tsutomu Mizushima from a scri ...

'' (2015) *'' The Magnificent Kotobuki Complete Edition'' (2020) *''

Girls und Panzer das Finale , alternatively ''Girls und Panzer: The Final Chapter'', is a six-part Japanese animated film series and a sequel to ''Girls und Panzer'' (2012) and ''Girls und Panzer der Film'' (2015). Produced by Actas and distributed by Showgate, the film s ...

'' (2017–present) ;Arrangement *''

'' (2005) – with

Keiji Kawamori Keiji (けいじ, ケイジ) is a Japanese given name usually used for males. Meaning varies depending on the kanji characters used. Possible writings Common kanji used include: * 啓司 * 啓治 * 圭二 * 圭司 * 慶次 * 慶治 * 敬二 * ...

Kenichiro Fukui is a Japanese video game composer and electronic musician. Before working at Square Enix, he was employed at Konami. He was also an arranger and a keyboardist in the band The Black Mages. Additionally, Fukui arranged Angela Aki's " Kiss Me Good- ...

, and

Tsuyoshi Sekito is a Japanese video game composer, arranger, and musician who has been employed at Square Enix since 1995. As a composer, he is best known for scoring ''Brave Fencer Musashi'' (1998), '' Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children'' (2005) and '' The Last ...

Video games

;Arrangement *''

'' (1997) *''

'' (1999) *''

'' (1999) – with

*''

'' (2000) – with Kunihiko Kurosawa *''

'' (2001) – with

Junya Nakano is a Japanese video game composer. After working for Konami in the early 1990s, he was employed by Squaresoft and then Square Enix from 1995 to 2009. He is best known for scoring ''Threads of Fate'' and co-composing ''Final Fantasy X'' for Squa ...

, and Hirosato Noda *''

'' (2002) – with Hidenori Iwasaki and Hirosato Noda *''

'' (2002) *''

Monster Hunter is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fantasy-themed action role-playing video games that started with the game ''Monster Hunter'' for the PlayStation 2, released in 2004. Titles have been released across a variety of platforms, ...

'' (2004) *'' Monster Hunter Tri'' (2009)

Other works

;Arrangement *'' Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks'' (1997) *'' Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec Final Fantasy VIII'' (1999) *'' Piano Collections Final Fantasy VIII'' (2000) *'' Final Fantasy IX: Melodies of Life - Emiko Shiratori'' (2000) *'' Piano Collections Final Fantasy IX'' (2001) *'' 20020220 Music from Final Fantasy'' (2002) – with Masashi Hamauzu *'' Piano Collections Final Fantasy VII'' (2003) *'' More Friends: Music from Final Fantasy'' (2006) – with

Arnie Roth Arnold Roth (born April 28, 1953) is an American conductor, composer, and record producer. His work includes conducting concerts for video game music. He is also a classically trained violinist and a member of the Grammy Award-winning music gr ...

, Tsuyoshi Sekito, Michio Okamiya, and Kenichiro Fukui *'' Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy'' (2007) – with

Naoshi Mizuta is a Japanese video game composer and musician. He is best known for his work on '' Final Fantasy XI'' (with Nobuo Uematsu and Kumi Tanioka), but has also composed music for ''Mega Man & Bass'', '' Street Fighter Alpha'', and '' Parasite Eve II ...

, Sachiko Miyano, and Arnie Roth *''Soul Calibur Suite - The Resonance of Souls and Swords'' (2009) *'' Symphonic Legends - Music from Nintendo'' (2010) – with

Jonne Valtonen Jonne Valtonen is a Finnish composer, arranger and orchestrator. He is renowned for his contributions in the field of demoscene and tracker music, under the name Purple Motion, and with Future Crew. Life and early career Jonne Valtonen was b ...

, Roger Wanamo,

and

Torsten Rasch Torsten Rasch (born 1965 in Dresden) is a German composer of contemporary classical music. He lives in Berlin, but has found moderate success in the UK. Biography Torsten Rasch was born in Dresden in 1965 and began piano lessons at the age of s ...

References

External links

Profile at Imagine's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamaguchi, Shiro 1969 births Anime composers Japanese composers Japanese film score composers Japanese male composers Japanese male film score composers Japanese music arrangers Living people Video game musicians