From PlayStation Europe today: Joe Hisaishi, the famous composer of many Ghibli movies, tells us about composing and recording the music of Ni No Kuni II.
Uh....I love Hisaishi, including the original Ni No Kuni. Dunno why you'd think no one else would care./
Speaking in jest, because getting people to acknowledge, talk about or listen to Japanese scores on this board is about the most damn difficult thing there is.
Music: Joe Hisaishi Orchestration: Chad Cannon, Kosuke Yamashita, Joe Hisaishi Performance: Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra Choir: Ritsuyukai Conducted by: Joe Hisaishi
Ending Theme "Happily Ever After" Composer & Arranger: Joe Hisaishi Rhythm Arrangement: Gabriel Prokofiev, Akihisa Matzura, Joe Hisaishi Voice: Mai Chorus: Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus Percussion: Mitsuyo Wada Celtic Tin Whistle: Akio Noguchi Harp: Aya Horigome Piano: Yoshitaka Suzuki Strings: Manabe Strings
Recording & Mixing Engineer: Mikio Obata Sound Manipulator: Yusuke Yamashita (WONDER CITY) Recording Studio: AVACO CREATIVE STUDIO, SOUND INN STUDIO Mixing Studio: SOUND INN STUDIO Production Management: Maki Fujisawa (WONDER CITY), Shinji Kawamoto (WONDER CITY), Akiko Suzawa (WONDER CITY)
Me too! Wow, I don't know how I missed this thread when it was first posted. I check in here multiple times a day. It must have dropped to page 2 while I was sleeping!
The following almost causes me physical pain to write...but this one has turned out to be my least favourite Hisaishi score so far. Other than the first and last score tracks, Ni No Kuni II didn't do very much for me. I don't know where JH went wrong with it, but there's little in terms of what makes me love the man's music.
And the final song track is just atrocious in my ears...even though Sergej Prokofiev's grandson, Gabriel, had a hand in arranging it. How about that piece of film music trivia, eh? A Hisaishi-Prokofiev collab!
The following almost causes me physical pain to write...but this one has turned out to be my least favourite Hisaishi score so far. Other than the first and last score tracks, Ni No Kuni II didn't do very much for me. I don't know where JH went wrong with it, but there's little in terms of what makes me love the man's music.
And the final song track is just atrocious in my ears...even though Sergej Prokofiev's grandson, Gabriel, had a hand in arranging it. How about that piece of film music trivia, eh? A Hisaishi-Prokofiev collab!
A great pity!
Agree. It has a few decent parts but does not have the same quality as the original. I wouldn't buy the CD after finishing the game.
Of all the Japanese composers I really love that are currently working at least semi-regularly (Yoko Kanno, Michiru Oshima, Masamichi Amano by way of Shiro Sagisu, etc.) I'd say Joe Hisaishi is definitely the one for whom the best days of writing music are well behind him at this point.
