MEET THE "GODZILLA RESURGENCE" COMPOSER The Prolific Shiro Sagisu Picks Up the Baton!

鷺巣詩郎は『シン・ゴジラ』の音楽を作曲されました！


Recent portrait of GODZILLA RESURGENCE composer, Shiro Sagisu.

The selection of well-known arranger, composer, and music producer, Shiro Sagisu, to create the soundtrack for Toho's upcoming GODZILLA RESURGENCE, written and directed by mavericks Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, may well be the least shocking aspect of this highly-debated film. Because Sagisu has a deep connection with the Big G, which goes back before he was born.


Director Shinji Higuchi (left) with Composer Shiro Sagisu. ©Gainax

Unfortunately, the vast majority of Godzilla fans outside of Japan are either completely unfamiliar with Sagisu, or only know the composer from his scores for Anno's on-going NEON GENESIS EVANGELION series and movies or Shinji Higuchi's recent pair of live action ATTACK ON TITAN films. But, Sagisu's life has been filled with kaiju — more than anyone may have ever guessed.


Sagisu's first single from his debut album, "Eyes", released in 1978.

His father was a close friend and comrade of the master of Japanese visual effects, Eiji Tsuburaya: Tomio Sagisu (who also created manga under the pen-name Shoji Ushio). A member of Tsuburaya's effects crew, the elder Sagisu worked on numerous films at Toho (largely uncredited), until he founded his own company in the early 1960s, known as P-Productions.


"Summer-colored Diary" (1983) arranged by Sagisu for Chiemi Hori.

The elder Sagisu's company produced visual effects and animation for a number of movie studios and television networks, and pioneered their own productions, such as AMBASSADOR MAGMA (shown in the US as THE SPACE GIANTS), SPECTREMAN, LION MARU, DENJIN ZABOGA, to name a few. Today, in addition to being a composer, the young Sagisu is the President of his father's company.


Sagisu has arranged for contemporary artists such as May'n (2011).

Born on August 8, 1957, Sagisu cut his teeth working for his father's company, and was soon put in charge of directing, writing, music and sound effects for live "monster shows" to promote the P-Productions brands in the mid-1970s. He also collaborated with his father in the production of a pilot film, which was never picked up, for a proposed sci-fi film/series entitled SILVER JAGUAR in 1980.


Shiro Sagisu's Original Soundtrack for MEGAZONE 23 (1985).

The young Sagisu broke out on his own varied and wide-ranging music career in 1978, including his own instrumental releases, composing and arranging songs for some of the more successful Idol Singers, starting in the early 1980s, as well as more popular vocalists, with nearly a hundred successful collaborations over the years. Sagisu has also racked up scores of soundtracks for films and television shows.


First Soundtrack to NADIA, THE SECRET OF THE BLUE WATER (1990).

Some of his more notable television themes and scores include GOOD LAUGHS, MY FRIEND (1982-14), SAKICHI, THE FALLING STAR (1984), KIMAGURE ORANGE ROAD (1986-87), NADIA: THE SECRET OF THE BLUE WATER (1990-91), MACROSS II: LOVERS AGAIN (1992), NEON GENESIS EVANGELION (1995-96), HIS AND HER CIRCUMSTANCES (1998), BLEACH (2004-12), and MAGI: THE LABYRINTH OF MAGIC (2012-14).


Third volume in the Original Soundtrack series for BLEACH (2006).

Sagisu's feature credits are Noboru Ishiguro's MEGAZONE 23 (1985-89), Kunihiko Yuyama's LEDA: FANTASTIC ADVENTURE OF YOHKO (1985), Yoshiyuki Tomino's GARZEY'S WING (1996), Kim Sung-su's MUSA (2001), Kazuaki Kiriya's CASSHERN (2004), Jo-Dong Oh's THE RESTLESS (2006), Noriyuki Abe's BLEACH (2006-10), and Toshiyuki Kubooka's BERSERK: THE GOLDEN AGE ARC (2012-14).


Poster for the South Korean fantasy film, THE RESTLESS (2006).

With more than 37 years of experience with mountains of credits to his name — and as a fan of his earlier soundtracks (such as NADIA, EVA and CASSHERN), it will be interesting to see what Sagisu will bring to the kaiju eiga canon with his music for GODZILLA RESURGENCE, which opens nationwide in Japan on July 29, 2016.

Here are my previous reports on GODZILLA RESURGENCE:
December 10, 2015: The "Godzilla Resurgence" English Poster!
December 9, 2015: Japanese Press Reveals Shin Godzilla's Size
December 9, 2015: Scoop! Teaser for "Godzilla Resurgence"
December 9, 2015: Here's Your Big G in "Godzilla Resurgence"!
November 12, 2015: "Shin Godzilla" Promo Reel Screens at AFM!"
September 22, 2015: Toho Announces Three Principal Cast Members!
September 6, 2015: Shooting Begins on Toho's "Godzilla 2016"!
August 1, 2015: Did These Men Design Toho's New Big G?
April 1, 2015: The Directors of "Godzilla 2016" Speak!
March 31, 2015: "Evangelion" Creator Helms New "Godzilla"!
December 7, 2014: The "Japanese Godzilla" Will Rise Again!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TETSUO NARIKAWA! April 15, 1944 - January 1, 2010

お誕生日おめでとう、成川 哲夫先生!



The internationally-beloved star of P-Productions' SPECTREMAN (1971-72), began his career by joining the Actor's School at Toei Studios while he was still a student at Hosei University, and made his first screen appearance in Episode 23 of LIL' DEVIL in 1967. The same year, he entered and passed as one of Toho Stuido's "8th New Faces Competition", and was given the role of "Detective Namiki" in the police series TOKYO BYPASS COMMAND (1968-70). He left Toho and joined Sachiko Productions in 1969, and landed a succession of guest starring roles on television, and the role of "Shunsuke Tanami" in the feature film, THE STAR OF JUDO (1970). After appearing in two episodes of Toei's STRAIGHT PATH OF JUDO (1967-71), he was cast as "Joji Gamou" by Fuji Television for SPACE SIMIAN GORI in 1971 (later becoming SPECTREMAN). In May of that same year, he married his "New Faces" alumni, Akiko Sekiguchi.

After SPECTREMAN wrapped production in 1972, Narikawa appeared in guest starring roles in a number of television shows, including some popular tokusatsu series, including KAMEN RIDER (1971-73), THE VIGILANT LION KNIGHT (1972-73), ROBOT DETECTIVE (1973), ULTRAMAN LEO (1974-75), and was a regular on the popular cop show, TOMMY & MATSU (1979-82). He retired from acting to focus on his martial arts career in 1983, and became founder and president of the Gensei-Ryu Seidokai International Karate Federation, based in Tokyo. Grand Master Narikawa also took time out to travel to conventions in France and Brazil, where SPECTREMAN still has a legion of fans, and appeared with notable tokusatsu stars such as Kenji Ohba (SPACE SHERIFF GAVAN) and Hiroshi Watari (SPACE SHERIFF SHARIVAN). He also authored a book about SPECTREMAN, published by Sony Magazines in 2000.

Grand Master Narikawa succumbed to lung cancer on January 1, 2010.

Monster of the Month Giant Fire Monster: ARON

大怪獣アロン 「マグマ大使」より


©P-Productions

Height: 50 meters • Weight: 320 metric tonnes • Origin: Planet Pal • Original Appearance: Episode 13-16 of THE SPACE GIANTS (1966-67) • Design & Fabrication: Fuminori Ohashi

A shapeshifting monster (with a bizarre humanoid form) that can generate internal temperatures so high, they cause the conflagration of entire worlds. After laying waste to the pacifist planet Pal, which refused to surrender, the evil intergalactic conqueror, Rodak, sent Aron to the Earth. Moving at 250 km/hour, Aron was able to quickly cause widespread destruction in its wake. Fortunately for mankind, Goldar was ready to defend us—although the intense heat issued by the monster, drawn from solar energy, made effective retaliation against him seemingly impossible.

Created by artist and sculptor, Fuminori Ohashi, the monster suit for Aaron was originally built for the Japan Radio Pictures production of AGON: THE ATOMIC DRAGON (1964), a four-part mini-series held from broadcast until 1968. Ohashi, who worked under Eiji Tsuburaya at Toho during the 1950s (and later under John Chambers on PLANET OF THE APES), modified Agon for THE SPACE GIANTS, and added the sabertooth fangs. The new suit made a brief appearance in the first episode as "dinosaur," and then became the better-known "Aron" for Episodes 13-16 of the series.