Hey guys, RCAnime here.
2015 has recently come to an end and as I said last year, I’ve decided to make this “Top 10 OSTs” list an annual thing. Though, since I’ve unfortunately haven’t had the time to make a video on it, I decided post my list over here.
Now while this year we’ve seen the return of many recognizable names such as Hiroyuki Sawano (Owari no Seraph) and Taku Iwasaki (Noragami Aragoto), this year was also a great showcase of many brand new and unknown composers to look forward to. So starting off this year’s list of the 10 Best Anime OSTs of 2015 is…
I haven’t seen Heavy Object, so I don’t know nor can say much about the show itself, but checking the OST out, I found that it was a much more unique listen than most of what we normally get in anime soundtracks. The airy strings give Heavy Object’s score a massive atmosphere, as if the show took place in a vast snowy mountain range, to which I would later find out that some of it actually does.
The cold and harsh themes of tracks such as Decisive Battle and Things to Come serve as great tension builders and enhance the setting of incoming warfare, at least it’s what I can assume happens in the anime considering the score. Even though the build ups don’t really lead to any big payoff one would be expecting, it’s still certainly something we don’t get to hear everyday in anime.
(Highlights of the score include: Title Back ~ Beginning of the Proxy War, The Decisive Battle, Things to Come and To The War Vortex)
Next up is Rasmus Faber’s The Asterisk War. Now what’s interesting about Asterisk War’s score is that it was composed by a Swedish DJ, and it’s extremely rare to see anime scores having been composed by anyone outside of Japan; to be honest, this is the only case I can think of it happening right now.
There’s definitely a faint modern European sound to plenty of these tracks, something that’s a little reminiscent to C418. Mainly evident in many of the score’s lighter themed tracks than the action-focused ones. And it’s really these softer tracks where the score shines, like in Eventide and Quiet Camp.
(Highlights of the score include: Asterisk War Main Theme, Eventide, Quiet Camp and Hold You in the Wind)
I’ll admit, Gatchaman Crowds: Insight was a big step down from its predecessor in terms of the soundtrack. Overall, Taku Iwasaki doesn’t live up to the amazing soundtrack he created for the show’s first season. There are a few tracks here and there that suffice, like Hopeful Wings and Air. But the real reason why the score made it up on here is the amazing re-cladding of the show’s original theme, GATCHAMAN: Make My Day.
This track alone shows what the whole score could’ve been, amplifying the original Gatchaman Crowds soundtrack to heightened proportions. However, even if that’s not the case, it’s hard to complain much when at least this track exists.
(Highlights of the score include: Hopeful Wings, Air, in exchange for my life.. and GATCHAMAN: Make my day)
This was probably the biggest surprise for me this year; Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry proved to be an overall dumb and fun series that redefined the expectations of the ecchi genre, producing a show that both broke and poked at fun at the cliches and tropes most anime fans have been worn out to. Of course Cavalry’s no Ping Pong the Animation, but for what it was, it certainly was a joyful ride at points (excluding the really tedious sword/dojo arc).
And adding to that surprise, Kotaru Nakagawa developed a stylish score that also kind of plays with the type of score we’d normally get from light novel adapted ecchi series, consisting of loud and chaotic tracks. However Nakagawa adds a quality to it that gives an actual sense of tension and musical storytelling. To get a good idea of what I’m talking about I recommend checking out the tracks Vague Rumor, Tense Feeling, and The Finalists, as they’re probably the best pieces of the whole score.
(Highlights of the score include: worst one, vague rumor, tense feeling, another one and the finalists)
Kekkai Sensen was an extremely visceral and chaotic show, arguably more so than Matsumoto’s previous show Kyousougiga, both to its faults and benefits. And trying to capture that same disorganized tone would be a big challenge for any composer, but luckily newcomer Taisei Iwasaki nailed it, by interestingly taking a Yoko Kanno sort-of approach, creating a score that would be an anthology of different music genres, primarily focusing on jazz to enhance the setting of New York.
From R&B in World Goes Round, to rock in The Land of Nod, there’s at least one or two tracks in this score for everyone to enjoy. However, what really touched me was White Gloves. A soft blues track that, I think, captures the deep lonely feelings of being in the, sometimes disjointed, New York City better than any track I’ve heard to come from anything. Alone, this track is enough to put this entire score on the list.
(Highlights of the score include: Footloose/Run for Cover/Footloose, Catch Me If You Can, World Goes Round, The Land of Nod and White Gloves)
Another composer who hasn’t really made his mark yet, Tetsuya Komoru, finally did with his stellar work in Punchline. The show itself has the same kind of messiness in Kekkai Sensen, that is at times intentional and at others inherent from trying to be such. However, talking about the score alone, it’s easily one of the most fun and elusive anime soundtracks to have come out in 2015.
As an electronical score, it’s able to take up plenty of different emotions. From the high octane pop tunes of Strange Juice (Dispatch), to the more serious synths of Suspense and Destruction. Being completely electronic, Komoru offered a high versatility of different moods, while staying in the same overall character.
(Highlights of the score include: Strange Juice (Dispatch), Crisi, Suspense, Destruction, Agility, State of Tension, Sacred Thing and MOD)
Kei Haneoka’s Tsukimonogatari is a breath of fresh air for the Monogatari Series, by giving its main tunes a more melodic touch. Whereas most other Monogatari scores are extremely atmospheric, and sometimes experimental, Tsukimonogatari has a number of tracks that offer a more traditional soothing and somewhat desperate musical theme.
The classic use of string instruments create a fantasy and supernatural element that I find has been lacking in the whole franchise. Tracks like Shutsuji, Owari no Hajimari, and Sou Iu Yatsu are something you wouldn’t find in any other Monogatari score, or any other score in 2015 for that matter.
(Highlights of the score include: Owari no Hajimari (Vol.1), Me wo Samasu beki Koro (Vol.1), Choushizen (Vol.1), Shiage no Soushiage (Vol.2), Sou Iu Yatsu (Vol.2) and Shutsuji (Vol.2))
Hideyuki Fukasawa is my favorite up and coming new composer. His Aku no Hana soundtrack matched and reminded me of the gritty feel of Trent Reznor’s work in Gone Girl and The Social Network, bringing a theatrical sound to the dubstep-themed score. In 2015 he returned with that same layer of theatrics, only this time focusing on a completely new musical genre. His work for the new Fate/Stay Night series is much more heavily packed with action cues and supernatural elements.
And that alone I find really amazing. Despite taking very different approaches to each one, his sound is evident in both Aku no Hana and Fate/Stay Night, due to his use of cinematic accents, which can be clearly heard in tracks such as Rin: Remembrance, Two Hearts, and Far Away From You. If Hiroyuki Sawano carried the bombast of Hollywood, than Fukasawa represented the subtlety of it. Also anyone who gives Rin Tohsaka a great tune gets extra points from me.
(Highlights of the score include: Unlimited Blade Works, Rin: Remembrance, Rin: my wish, Two Hearts, Unacceptable, Rule Breaker, Shirou:Nowhere to go and Far Away From You)
Okay, I’m not even gonna try to sugarcoat this. If you’ve watched my channel for long enough, you definitely saw this one coming. Yes, once again I’m talking about a Kunihiko Ikuhara show. I just couldn’t help it. Now the score isn’t anything revolutionary like Utena, or rotating like Penguindrum. But the soundtrack has a nice twist of mystery and fantasy, tagged along with some electronic themes and jazzy ones. There’s also a lot of similarities between Yuri Kuma’s score and Suspiria’s, which is probably intentional, since the anime takes a lot of visual influence from Dario Argento’s Italian horror film.
Having previously also worked on the Penguindrum soundtrack, Hashimoto has proven to be the perfect musical partner for Ikuhara. I mean this score even has a dubstep remix of Ave Maria, and I expect no less from an Ikuhara/Hashimoto collaboration. And since pretty much almost the entire soundtrack is great, I’ll just say listen to the whole damn thing.
(Highlights of the score include: Danzetsu no Kabe, Decide Evil, Taiketsu no Progressive, Yuri, Shounin!, Shounin Field — Kureha, Mysterious Twilight, Yuri Labyrinth, Yuri Elegy, Toumei na Arashi and Suki no Kioku)
Koufuku Graffiti is a special gem among anime scores, there’s really nothing else quite like it. Composed by kotringo, the soundtrack did both a great job in backing up and enhancing most of Graffiti’s best moments, while also being a great standalone listen. With a prime focus on atmospheric peaceful tracks, the wide interesting usage of different approaches to instrumentation allows the anime’s score to stay away from being boringly monotonic.
Some tracks have soft-spoken vocals such as in Hai An and fufufu, while other tracks are purely electronic, like Shiina-san’s Theme. There’s also a mixture of French and Japanese sounds, kind of like the work of Yian Tierson, and I suppose French because of their famous culinary culture. There’s even a small bit of a Wes Anderson sound in it at points. Graffiti’s OST is certainly not the best thing to listen to if you want to be pumped up or entertained with excitement, per se. It’s more of a laid back experience, one that asks for quite some patience. And that’s a quality I feel that’s been lacking in anime soundtracks recently, which is why I treasure this score even more.
(Highlights of the score include: Koufuku Graffiti Theme, Hai An!, Tamago Samba, fufufu, Shiina-san no Ringoame, Atatakai Onabe, Skinship Sakuramochi and Shiina-san’s Theme)
