Summary
Anime - as quintessential as the visual elements are - is a medium home to some truly incredible music and some equally incredible artists who have become synonymous with the classics. Yuma Yamaguchi,the composer ofUndead Murder Farce,Link Click, andMetallic Rouge, is one such great artist. Though they’ve only recently worked on anime, their talent could easily see them labeled as one of the new industry greats in the years to come.
Over the past two years, we have covered some of the most iconic composers in the medium, looking back on their careers and trying to articulatewhat makes their work so unforgettable. With Yamaguchi, however, this piece is just as much about looking ahead at what they have the potential to offer next, based on a very impressive catalog over just the past few years.
Who Is Yuma Yamaguchi?
Yuma Yamaguchi was born in 1984, in the Fukui Prefecture. At the age of four, he started playing piano at YAMAHA music school, laying the foundations for a love of music that his parents - both musicians themselves - wished to share with him. He debuted under IRMA Records Japan in 2008 as “yuma” with his first album, “Sound Multiply”, being named the best dance album of the year in Japan by iTunes. In 2016, he signed with YUGE Inc., composing for commercials and soundtracks.
Though he admits that piano is his primary instrument, his use of a synthesizer is equally essential to his style. He hascomposed for movies, TV, and animationsince the early 2010s, but the lion’s share of his award-winning portfolio is in advertising, where he has scored over 300 campaigns. 2021 saw him release a new original album under his full name, titled “NotAnArtist,” where he experimented with ideas he had over two decades worth of work.
By writing music for commercials and soundtracks, I have been getting so many cool ideas that I am not able to fully express through those client works… I really wanted to develop those ideas for myself, and “NotAnArtist” was my first attempt to do so. It was a really emotional and special moment for me.
His Gradual Turn to Anime
“NotAnArtist” is the culmination of years of experience, but listening to it now, it’s almost like the blueprint for the kind of sound he would exhibit as he entered the anime scene. That same year, Yamaguchi was one of three composers on the hit donghua series,Link Click. By 2023,his soundtrack forUndead Murder Farcewould help elevate the series to one of the summer’s best, through the sheer force of its bold composition alone.
How Advertising Helped Yamaguchi Create Stronger Scores
The best way to understand what makes Yamaguchi’s music so captivating is to hear him describe the difference between composing for commercials versus soundtracks. Conversely, the lessons learned through the former helped guide his priorities when tackling the latter. When creating music for a commercial, Yamaguchi stresses the importance of grabbing the audience quickly, as ads are short, and time is money.
In turn, this discipline is reflected in his soundtracks, which can make a bold impression thanks to an inspired blend of modern synthesizers and classical instrumentation.Undead Murder Farceis the epitome of this, especially seeing as how it was a soundtrack where he had complete freedom over the music. There is a romanticism befitting of the era, but with a modern twist that fits the supernatural element of the story like a glove.
Through that unique blend, there are so many different kinds of songs throughout. “Wolfenhele” stands out as a particularly emotional piece, but it relies just as much on the ominous build of its synths as the swells of the orchestra’s strings. Then, a song like “Act of God” explodes onto the scene with an appropriately grand choir, yet strong, bassy percussion that sounds reminiscent ofTravis Scott’s “The Plan”, from Christopher Nolan’sTenet.
Capturing Character Through Music
He is particularly adept at diversifying this blend to fit any character or subject. The three main character themes forUndead Murder Farce- “Immortality”, “ONIGOROSHI”, and “Tachikage” - demonstrate this brilliantly. Additionally, just as the series depicts classic literary icons, the music crafts themes befitting their legacies.
There have beencountless takes on Sherlock Holmesthroughout the ages, but Yamaguchi’s theme is practically a performance in itself. It’s so bold and unforgettable, all while channeling the complexity of the “consulting detective” effortlessly. Even London itself feels alive when listening to “England,” a track whose rich atmosphere paints a picture of the country’s industrialization.
Composing Live-Action vs Anime
In an interview with Crunchyroll, Yamaguchi described the difference between composing for live-action and animation as one of detail. Essentially, live-action has a lot of detail which music might distract from, while animation has comparably less detail in which music is an enhancer. And boy does he know how to fill that space with as much personality as possible. Funnily enough, this might explain what makes so many of the anime composers we’ve written about so iconic.
Why Yamaguchi Has The Chance To Be Huge
A composer’s ability to fill a scene can mean as much as the individual frames.Yamaguchi cites Shiro Sagisu (Evangelion)andYoko Kanno (Cowboy Bebop) as major inspirations; artists whose sound is impossible to divorce from the works to which they’ve contributed. Similarly, the shows that Yamaguchi has composed owe a lot to his music, something especially apparent when it outshines the story itself.
2024’sMetallic Rouge, a sci-fi action series celebrating Studio Bones' 25th anniversary, did not quite live up to the landmark it was commemorating. All the same, the soundtrack by Yamaguchi, Taisei Iwasaki, and TOWA TEI, was by far the best thing to come out of this project. Yamaguchi especially steals the show, whether through softer tracks like “Rural Village on Mars” or the foreboding three-part reprise that is “Ee Clu Mei Chi Ante”.
Projects likeMetallic RougeandLink Clickdemonstrate Yamaguchi’s talent as part of a team, in which he stands out from the pack while also contributing to the arrangements of his fellow artists. Similarly, he is working alongside Tarou Umebayashi, Manami Kiyotake, and Kana Inukai on the score for this year’s ONA,Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction. But looking at his solo work, it’s clear that he can easily carry a soundtrack by himself.
Yuma Yamaguchi’s time in the anime industry might be brief compared to his peers, but he has the experience and the vision to create unforgettable soundtracks that become inexorably tied to a project’s identity. Through a thoughtful blend of the classical and modern, an appreciable range in style, and a drive to make music that stands out, he has the makings of a master. With time, his sound could be sought afterin the same breath as the anime composerswho inspired him.
