Go Shiina
椎名 豪
Background information
Birth nameMasaru Shiina
Born (1974-05-16) May 16, 1974
Yokohama, Japan
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Composer
  • arranger
Instrument(s)Keyboard
Years active1998–present

Masaru Shiina (椎名 豪, Shiina Masaru, born May 16, 1974), known professionally as Go Shiina, is a Japanese music composer primarily known for his work in video games. He joined Namco in 1997 and was best known during his time with the company for writing music for a number of games in the Tales, Mr. Driller, and God Eater franchises, He gained widespread recognition with his score for Tales of Legendia in 2005. Since then, he has also contributed music for several titles in the Tekken, Ace Combat, and The Idolmaster franchises. In addition to video games, Shiina has also composed soundtracks for various anime series and films, starting with the 2011 film Sakura no Ondo and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, as well as composing and arranging songs for bands and other artists.

Shiina works is known for having strong and heavy, orchestral sounds. He left Bandai Namco Entertainment in 2017, and is currently a freelance composer. Despite being freelance, he has continued to work with the company for various other projects, including the God Eater series, as well as other games such as Code Vein.

Biography

Born in Yokohama, Japan, Shiina was taught how to play the electronic organ from his parents when he was growing up.[1] Although he was not a dedicated musician before becoming a composer, he was at one time a member of a Megadeth cover band who also played J-pop music. Shiina enrolled at Dokkyo Junior High School. After being rejected by 46 companies, including a jewelry company, a finance company, and a fast food company, he was hired by Namco (now Bandai Namco Games); he had little prior experience with video games.[2]

Creating music for old arcade releases using Namco's sound trackers felt more like computer programming than composing for Shiina, but he has said that the experience helped him out when he would have to use MIDI sounds in future games. The songs he composed for the first Mr. Driller were deemed unfitting for a puzzle game by some of the staff and they almost didn't make it into the final product.[2]

Shiina's first solo project was Mr. Driller G. He was given extensive access to live instruments and an incredible amount of creative freedom, setting the stage for his later work. The scores for future games in the Mr. Driller series would also be composed exclusively by Shiina.

When he began writing songs for Tales of Legendia, he originally tried to follow in the footsteps of the lead Tales series composer Motoi Sakuraba, but was later inspired to develop his own style for it.[2]

Bandai Namco gave Shiina freedom to compose for anime projects during his later years with the company. In September 2017, Shiina announced that he had retired from Bandai Namco.[3] He is currently a freelance composer.[4]

Musical style and influences

Go Shiina's music is characterized by dramatic melodies and unusual arrangements. His soundtracks contain a wide range of musical styles, including jazz,[5] orchestral, fusion, and rock, and he often mixes different genres and instruments together for unique sounds. Many of Shiina's songs use live string sections, slap bass, audio filter effects and artificial languages.

He has said that he can write music in any genre, as long as he is motivated, and has also stated that "when I write a song, the time it takes me depends on whether I know the singer's natural voice. The genre doesn't matter..." Shiina feels that there are two types of compositions: "some tracks can stand alone as musical pieces, and some only work when you hear them in the game," and he often alters or leaves out certain songs when putting together albums. When composing vocal or instrumental tracks, he often sings the parts out loud.[2]

For the soundtrack to God Eater, Shiina explained that the creative nature of the story pushed him to be creative with the music as well. He looked around for a variety of instruments from many countries, and some of the styles and instruments featured in the score include Japanese traditional music, African rhythms, and the Indian sitar.[1] He has also done string arrangements for bands.[6]

Awards and honors

On 14 May 2021, asteroid 119846 Goshiina, discovered by American astronomer Roy A. Tucker at the Goodricke-Pigott in 2002, was named in his honor by the Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature.[7]

Shiina was honored in the Sound/Music/Performance category at the 2022 Tokyo Anime Film Festival along with composer, Yuki Kajiura.[8] The two composers were also jointly nominated for Best Score at the 5th Crunchyroll Anime Awards in 2021 and won at the 6th Crunchyroll Anime Awards in 2022 for their work on Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Train Arc.[9] The film version was also honored at the 2021 Japanese Academy Awards for Outstanding Score.[10]

Works

Video games

Anime

Other works

  • THE iDOLM@STER RADIO Utahime Rakuen (2006) – "Gekkasai ~la festa sotto la luna~"
  • Egoist (2006) – "ardore"
  • THE iDOLM@STER MASTER ARTIST 07 Azusa Miura (2007) – "Tonari ni..."
  • Echoes of War: The Music of Blizzard Entertainment (2008) – arranged "Eradicate and Evolve"
  • THE iDOLM@STER MASTER ARTIST 2 -FIRST SEASON- 05 Chihaya Kisaragi (2010) – "Nemurihime"
  • THE iDOLM@STER CINDERELLA MASTER 004 Kaede Takagaki (2012)
  • Hasta La Vista / Asami Imai (2012) – "Hasta La Vista"
  • Dear Darling / Asami Imai (2013) – "Tabibito"
  • little legacy / Asami Imai (2014) – "little legacy"
  • Words of GRACE / Asami Imai (2016) – "Aurora no Oto"
  • THE iDOLM@STER CINDERELLA MASTER KOI KAZE -SAI- (2018)
  • THE iDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS MASTER SEASONS SPRING! (2018) – "Mikansei no Reikishi"
  • Flow of time / Asami Imai (2019) – "Kodoku na Ginga"
  • THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA MASTER 055-057 Mirei Hayasaka, Hajime Fujiwara, Riamu Yumemi (2020) – "Arakane no Utsuwa"

References

  1. 1 2 "Interview with Go Shiina (November 2009)". Square Enix Music Online. November 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "The Interview with Mr. Go Shiina (NBGI) Part 1". CocoeBiz. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
  3. ↑ McMillan, Emily (29 September 2017). "Go Shiina retires from Bandai Namco". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  4. ↑ ミュージック フロム ゲームワールド：特別企画 ゲーム音楽コンポーザーが選ぶ2017年この1枚. 4Gamer (in Japanese). Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  5. ↑ Mackey, Bob (2009-12-01). "The Unrecognized Genius of Go Shiina". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-12. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
  6. ↑ "new label esteem!!参加メンバー" (in Japanese). November 11, 2006.
  7. ↑ "WGSBN Bulletin Archive". Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021. (Bulletin #1)
  8. ↑ "Jujutsu Kaisen, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Anime Win TAAF's Top Awards". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2022-02-11.
  9. ↑ Coats, Cayla (February 9, 2022). "Meet the Winners of This Year's Anime Awards". Crunchyroll. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  10. ↑ "44th Japan Academy Film Prize".
  11. 1 2 "God Eater 3 Devs Talk Avatar Customization, New Action, And The More Fearsome Aragami". Siliconera. October 24, 2017. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Square Enix releases 'daily life and adventure RPG' Various Daylife for Apple Arcade". Gematsu. September 20, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  13. ↑ Castillo, Gio (June 28, 2022). "Harvestella is Square Enix's Colorful New Life Sim, Coming November 4th to Switch and Steam". RPGFan. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  14. ↑ @sin_chronicle (March 17, 2023). 🔔ゲストコンポーザー ご紹介🔔 第6界層のゲストコンポーザーのみなさまをご紹介します✨ (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved March 25, 2023 – via Twitter.
  15. ↑ "Jūni Taisen Anime Reveals Teaser Visual, Main Staff". Anime News Network. March 26, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Fate Spinoff Manga Today's Menu for Emiya Family Gets Net Anime". Anime News Network. December 31, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Han-Gyaku-Sei Million Arthur TV Anime Reveals New Visual, Cast, Staff, October Premiere". Anime News Network. July 26, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Anime Reveals Staff, More Cast". Anime News Network. November 25, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Eien no 831 Anime Reveals Composer, Song Artists, January 30 Debut". Anime News Network. November 26, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
  20. ↑ "The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess Light Novels Get TV Anime". Anime News Network. January 5, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
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