The
Composers Summit Concert 2018 brought to the stage of Tokyo International Forum Hall A three of the most important soundtrack composers with a long trajectory in the anime, TV, film and video game industry.
Shiina Go,
Akira Senju and
Yuki Kajiura took the stage one after the other to showcase why they are one of the best.
Shiina Go
© Composers Summit Concert 2018
Accompanied by the
Tokyo New City Orchestra and alternating between songs composed for videogames and for anime,
Shiina Go started his set sitting on his piano alongside vocal
Joelle. His first choice of song was from the game “GOD EATER 2 RAGE BURST”.
Tree of Life was performed fully in English.
Joelle would also perform other songs from the “GOD EATER” series as well as songs from the “Tales of Zestiria” series and “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” alongside
KAORI and
YURIKO KAIDA.
Asami Imai was also a guest vocalist and performed songs such as the dark and fast paced
World-Line from the anime “Steins Gate: Zero” and
Hotarubi from RPG “Tales of Legendia”.
Set list
01. Tree of Life
02. Rebellious Million Arthur - Main Theme -
03. Hotarubi
04. World-Line
05. Journey’s End
06. Kimetsu no Yaiba (Songs from the animation)
07. Natsukashii Machi
08. GOD EATER 3 (Songs from the game)
Akira Senju
© Composers Summit Concert 2018
As the special guest of the evening, composer
Akira Senju walked on stage and went directly to the orchestra’s conductor podium, bringing the spotlights with him to the orchestra area. He asked for claps for the orchestra before starting his set. A more instrumental set than the previous one,
Akira Senju immersed the audience in the world of “GUNDAM” and surprised everyone with a 10-minute medley of “Fullmetal Alchemist” soundtracks.
Only two songs were performed with a singer on stage:
Eternal Light by
Joelle and
BESIDE YOU with a surprise guest singer
Chen Xiangxiang, brought all the way from China for the event! For this song,
Akira Senju also played the piano.
After a 10-minute break, it was time for the last but not least performance of the night.
Set list
01. SUPER KEIBA
02. Victory G
03. Fullmetal Alchemist Medley
04. Eternal Light
05. BESIDE YOU
06. Heisei-Shi (Main Theme)
07. Furin Kazan (Main Theme)
Yuki Kajiura
© Composers Summit Concert 2018
The stage setup was changed a little for
Yuki Kajiura’s performance. Sitting by her piano
Yuki Kajiura started her set with a series of songs from “Sword Art Online”, all performed alongside singers
KAORI,
YURIKO KAIDA and
Joelle. The first song
welcome to this world welcomed everyone into the mesmerizing music of this series, followed by
sword land and
luminous world that awakened in the audience a need for survival and a sense of battling with blue and purple lights enveloping the stage.
With a quick MC
Yuki Kajiura welcomed everyone and let them know the songs she had just performed. After a song from “Princess Principal” and one more “Sword Art Online” song, the set went into the world of “Fate/stay night”, adding the opera singer
Yuri Kasahara on stage to help perform songs from “Fate/Zero” such as
Point Zero and
the battles is to the strong.
The highlight of
Yuki Kajiura’s set was the inclusion of a song not performed in a long time,
salva nos from 2001 anime series “NOIR”, which had everyone rise to their feet for the first time in the evening.
Kasahara’s deep and potent live voice made the dramatic song feel even more striking than in usual recordings and was heightened by an amazing violin solo and red and yellow lights dancing on stage.
Before playing the last song,
Yuki Kajiura talked about her feelings and how she was probably the most excited one to be there and having fun. She also mentioned that this was also the first time they played with a conductor on stage and announced a 2019 national tour with her
FictionJunction project, with more info to be announced later.
The show ended with
maybe tomorrow from the game “Xenosaga III”. As explained by the composer, it’s a song about hope for the day to come and a reminder that nothing is lost or bad forever.
Before finishing the evening, all the composers and band members took the stage and bowed gratefully for one last time.
Set list
01. welcome to this world
02. sword land
03. luminous sword
04. moonlight melody
05. longing
06. Point Zero
07. lancer and assassin
08. the battles is to the strong
09. salva nos
10. maybe tomorrow
