Is it possible to score the music for an anime here in Japan?

[TokyoJoeblow]

Ok, so I have a Japanese friend that I have been teaching English to privately for about 3 years. He started out as just a student, but we have become good friends over the years.

He wants to become a manga artist and has recently been sketching various characters and manga drafts like a madman and he is really talented.

I recently told him I compose various styles of music and had him listen to my music. He told me that my music is really good and he wants me to score the soundtrack to his anime (should the manga become an anime in the future).

As I do like some anime so I agreed that it would be a fun project to work on with him. So since then, we have been sharing the new sketches/music we have been working on week to week.

He plans to showcase his manga this month in Tokyo at some huge manga/anime convention.

My question is if a big anime developer (Gonzo, Bones, Madhouse, etc.) shows interest in his manga, would they just pressure him into having a Japanese composer score the soundtrack to his anime?

I ask because I don't know of any foreign composers working in the anime world. I could be wrong, but I thought I would ask.

Of course, when the pressure is on he might cave in and agree to a contract with a big anime developer that involves having a Japanese person score the soundtrack, but he did tell me that he personally wants me to score the soundtrack as he thinks my music would be perfect for his anime. He even listens to it while he sketches up new ideas haha.

I know that there are foreigners that work in anime, but they are mostly voice actors that do the English dubbing.

Here is an interesting article I came across that was written just over a year ago:

https://soranews24.com/2017/06/22/p...gners-with-anime-related-jobs-after-one-year/

So it seems that the Japanese government does look positively at people who are interested in "cool Japan" professions and might even fast track PR (which I already have now). Is this really going to be a thing because the point system mentioned is for highly skilled individuals in general...not specific to "cool Japan" but I guess the system includes these types of professions as well.

I apologize for the winded post. It is just that I'm really curious about this industry and I haven't heard of any foreign composers working in this field.

 

[nedar]

Disclaimer: I have no firsthand knowledge of the industry, just bits and pieces I pick up here and there. So I could be totally wrong of course.

I think the key point is that your friend is a mangaka and not an animator. If he gets picked up, he’ll get credited as the creator, but I doubt he’ll be the one drawing every scene. They have in-house production teams for that.

As a composer, you’d be dealing with that production team and not your friend directly. Depending on how much creative control your friend retains, he might be able to slip your music to the directors, which could lead to an audition of some sort. However, I doubt that he can straight out hire you for the project.

 

[faboo2001]

Disclaimer: I have no firsthand knowledge of the industry, just bits and pieces I pick up here and there. So I could be totally wrong of course.

I think the key point is that your friend is a mangaka and not an animator. If he gets picked up, he’ll get credited as the creator, but I doubt he’ll be the one drawing every scene. They have in-house production teams for that.

As a composer, you’d be dealing with that production team and not your friend directly. Depending on how much creative control your friend retains, he might be able to slip your music to the directors, which could lead to an audition of some sort. However, I doubt that he can straight out hire you for the project.

I was thinking something along that line as well. You do often hear mangakas being asked for their input when adapting their works into anime, but I would think it's very minimal or broad.

 

[TokyoJoeblow]

Disclaimer: I have no firsthand knowledge of the industry, just bits and pieces I pick up here and there. So I could be totally wrong of course.

I think the key point is that your friend is a mangaka and not an animator. If he gets picked up, he’ll get credited as the creator, but I doubt he’ll be the one drawing every scene. They have in-house production teams for that.

As a composer, you’d be dealing with that production team and not your friend directly. Depending on how much creative control your friend retains, he might be able to slip your music to the directors, which could lead to an audition of some sort. However, I doubt that he can straight out hire you for the project.

This is exactly what I told him after he told me he really wants my music for the soundtrack.

I asked him if he is an animator too and he told me he is just a mangaka, so basically it would take a miracle for me to become the composer.

 

[TokyoJoeblow]

I was thinking something along that line as well. You do often hear mangakas being asked for their input when adapting their works into anime, but I would think it's very minimal or broad.

Yes, I wonder if I could compose the soundtrack if he tells the company that he really wants to use my music specifically...then again I don't know how well the mangakas/writers' wishes are treated here in Japan.

In the US, I know authors are constantly in battles against people who direct and produce movies and TV dramas that don't accurately portray the author's vision in any way.

I also know the system of entertainment in the US is built up in a way where directors and producers that don't give a shit about an author's wishes with his own works can take creative control of the movie or TV drama!

I pray Japan is not the same way, but it probably is...

 

[warubuta]

Congrats on your PR.

 

[BBallingSD]

Hmm... being distantly connected in the industry, I can offer a few thoughts on this.

First off, it is going to depend on how the money fronted for an animation will be divvied up. When you watch an episode of any average anime, do you ever notice in the credits they will mention some sort of committee being involved with the production? That anime committee is basically made up of multiple players who pitch in money to pay for the work to be done. So depending on who's got the bigger share of the pie, they may control things such as selection of VAs or in this case the music direction.

Now let's say hypothetically speaking that your friend's manga blows up big and enough to build up some clout. In that case, he may be able to pull for you but even then it may be tricky if the people throwing around the big bucks... or yen would prefer someone else. Getting connected directly with an animation studio and getting some work credits or knowing the right people to make an introduction also helps.

As for non-Japanese composers working on anime, they are few and far between but they're out there. One individual I know is Kevin Penkin (http://www.kpenkmusic.com/) who's worked on stuff like Under the Dog (an anime that was crowdfunded via Kickstarter) and Made in Abyss.

If this is something you seriously want to consider, I'd say a good way to get noticed is to put out some arrange tracks of popular stuff and hawk your CDs at events like Comic Market or M3 (doujin music event). Better yet, consider making music for your friend's manga as if it were an anime and hawk stuff like that. If you build a connection early on, that's an easy way to get picked up to do it "for real" when that time comes.

Whichever the case, I wish you the best of luck.

 

[TokyoJoeblow]

Hmm... being distantly connected in the industry, I can offer a few thoughts on this.

First off, it is going to depend on how the money fronted for an animation will be divvied up. When you watch an episode of any average anime, do you ever notice in the credits they will mention some sort of committee being involved with the production? That anime committee is basically made up of multiple players who pitch in money to pay for the work to be done. So depending on who's got the bigger share of the pie, they may control things such as selection of VAs or in this case the music direction.

Now let's say hypothetically speaking that your friend's manga blows up big and enough to build up some clout. In that case, he may be able to pull for you but even then it may be tricky if the people throwing around the big bucks... or yen would prefer someone else. Getting connected directly with an animation studio and getting some work credits or knowing the right people to make an introduction also helps.

As for non-Japanese composers working on anime, they are few and far between but they're out there. One individual I know is Kevin Penkin (http://www.kpenkmusic.com/) who's worked on stuff like Under the Dog (an anime that was crowdfunded via Kickstarter) and Made in Abyss.

If this is something you seriously want to consider, I'd say a good way to get noticed is to put out some arrange tracks of popular stuff and hawk your CDs at events like Comic Market or M3 (doujin music event). Better yet, consider making music for your friend's manga as if it were an anime and hawk stuff like that. If you build a connection early on, that's an easy way to get picked up to do it "for real" when that time comes.

Whichever the case, I wish you the best of luck.

Yes, I believe that most if not all the big anime developers would rather just not sign a contract with my friend if he is deadset on me being the composer.

I just think that is how the industry works because their are tons of really talented western artists in the world and yet the only non-Japanese doing anime music needed to go through a Kickstarter project.

I'm not knocking him, I think that it is amazing what he acheived but I can't imagine he made very much money or any money at all. The situation just looks bleak, so I'm composing music that could fit into JRPGs or US based PC RPGs/strategy games.

I'm also working on music for my friend's manga as he creates it, but I'm almost positive I'm going to be pushed out of the picture once the big anime developers approach him with their contracts...

 

[faboo2001]

Yes, I wonder if I could compose the soundtrack if he tells the company that he really wants to use my music specifically...then again I don't know how well the mangakas/writers' wishes are treated here in Japan.

In the US, I know authors are constantly in battles against people who direct and produce movies and TV dramas that don't accurately portray the author's vision in any way.

I also know the system of entertainment in the US is built up in a way where directors and producers that don't give a shit about an author's wishes with his own works can take creative control of the movie or TV drama!

I pray Japan is not the same way, but it probably is...

I think for the most part mangas are "faithfully adapted" when it comes to anime. There might be changes such as art style (Attack On Titan comes to mind) and some cut or changed content for whatever reason, but for the most part what you read in the manga is what you'll see in the anime. And it makes sense when you consider that a manga is practically a storyboard that animators can use as a reference. Live-action on the other hand can be hit or miss though as there are many things that may not translate when dealing with the limitations of using real people or locations.

And again, creative control is usually pretty limited when authors want their works adapted into a TV show or movie. Most of it obviously has to do with business, and unless your name is J.K. Rowling, having to deal with an author's input during production is something they'd like to avoid. A lot of it can be due to financial reasons, such an author demanding specific talents that the production team isn't willing to invest in. Another aspect that popped into my mind is that there may also be policies and regulations to consider as well, such as working with unions (Writers Guild of America strike comes to mind) and partnerships between studios and production companies (if there is such a thing?) that would restrict who they can hire for a project.

Artistic and creative control is also something to consider when they hire directors and actors. Getting that highly acclaimed director to work on your project may mean letting him/her adapt the source material in their own style, which may not always align with the original author's original artistic vision.

 

[TokyoJoeblow]

I think for the most part mangas are "faithfully adapted" when it comes to anime. There might be changes such as art style (Attack On Titan comes to mind) and some cut or changed content for whatever reason, but for the most part what you read in the manga is what you'll see in the anime. And it makes sense when you consider that a manga is practically a storyboard that animators can use as a reference. Live-action on the other hand can be hit or miss though as there are many things that may not translate when dealing with the limitations of using real people or locations.

And again, creative control is usually pretty limited when authors want their works adapted into a TV show or movie. Most of it obviously has to do with business, and unless your name is J.K. Rowling, having to deal with an author's input during production is something they'd like to avoid. A lot of it can be due to financial reasons, such an author demanding specific talents that the production team isn't willing to invest in. Another aspect that popped into my mind is that there may also be policies and regulations to consider as well, such as working with unions (Writers Guild of America strike comes to mind) and partnerships between studios and production companies (if there is such a thing?) that would restrict who they can hire for a project.

Artistic and creative control is also something to consider when they hire directors and actors. Getting that highly acclaimed director to work on your project may mean letting him/her adapt the source material in their own style, which may not always align with the original author's original artistic vision.

Well, if anime is often "faithfully adapted" from the manga as far as story and dialog go, then shouldn't the music and the composer be included with respect to this process?

I'm not only composing the score to the anime but the score to the manga and story in general.

I'm scoring music that fits each scene of his manga as he creates it, so they shouldn't suddenly be separated because there is a sort of package deal to it.

I agree that battle scenes can be hit or miss but my epic orchestral pieces would fit into his manga perfectly as he claims. That depends on how it is animated but the moods of the compositions fit well with the moods of his manga.

I'm sure these big companies would just throw a ton of money at him as his manga is definitely something original that could blow up big. These companies most likely don't hire freelancers and only do in-house work.

I plan to attend the Tokyo anime convention with him to hawk the music along with him as he presents the manga.

 

[faboo2001]

Well, if anime is often "faithfully adapted" from the manga as far as story and dialog go, then shouldn't the music and the composer be included with respect to this process?

Well, no. It's one thing to try and animating every scene and record every line of dialogue, and they would obviously want to choose music that would be appropriate for the direction the director/studio is taking the show/film. But to produce the show exactly the way the author/creator envisions it in terms of who does what and how things exactly looks and sounds? Very unlikely, and like I said there are various reasons why that would be the case.

I'm sure these big companies would just throw a ton of money at him as his manga is definitely something original that could blow up big. These companies most likely don't hire freelancers and only do in-house work.

Not to put down your friends work, especially when I haven't even seen it yet, I highly doubt this as well. Unless his manga is already super popular or has a huge cult following, there's no way a studio would spend so much money on something that isn't going to be a guaranteed success.

 

[TokyoJoeblow]

Well, no. It's one thing to try and animating every scene and record every line of dialogue, and they would obviously want to choose music that would be appropriate for the direction the director/studio is taking the show/film. But to produce the show exactly the way the author/creator envisions it in terms of who does what and how things exactly looks and sounds? Very unlikely, and like I said there are various reasons why that would be the case.


Not to put down your friends work, especially when I haven't even seen it yet, I highly doubt this as well. Unless his manga is already super popular or has a huge cult following, there's no way a studio would spend so much money on something that isn't going to be a guaranteed success.

I didn't mean to sound as if I'm jumping the gun.

I meant to say that his manga is really unique and that I believe it could become popular, but he will see how that develops before it is even considered for the anime world.

The director will always of course create something that isn't exactly like what the manga artist envisions but if he wants a certain composer's music used in his anime...I don't see how that is asking too much.

I have different styles of music that could fit short, mid-length, long battle scenes, dark scenes, sad scenes, bright scenes and death scenes even. The director would have to really bs me and my friend to say that the music "won't fit" the animation because my compositions can be edited to fit really easily.

Besides, the music is an important aspect. As an example, imagine someone besides Nobuo Uematsu did the soundtracks for all the early Final Fantasy games?

The games would be completely different and maybe wouldn't have had the popularity or nostalgia factor they have if not for Nobuo Uematsu's music style specifically.

This is just an example. Nobuo Uematsu is great but not even my favorite videogame composer, though he is up there.

I don't mean to argue as you gave good points. I just find it annoying when a director so easily brushes aside music as not that important when it could very well be the most important aspect of the entire project. There are countless anime or games where I forgot the storyline but I remember the music as if I just heard it yesterday.

 

[faboo2001]

I didn't mean to sound as if I'm jumping the gun.

I meant to say that his manga is really unique and that I believe it could become popular, but he will see how that develops before it is even considered for the anime world.

The director will always of course create something that isn't exactly like what the manga artist envisions but if he wants a certain composer's music used in his anime...I don't see how that is asking too much.

I have different styles of music that could fit short, mid-length, long battle scenes, dark scenes, sad scenes, bright scenes and death scenes even. The director would have to really bs me and my friend to say that the music "won't fit" the animation because my compositions can be edited to fit really easily.

Besides, the music is an important aspect. As an example, imagine someone besides Nobuo Uematsu did the soundtracks for all the early Final Fantasy games?

The games would be completely different and maybe wouldn't have had the popularity or nostalgia factor they have if not for Nobuo Uematsu's music style specifically.

This is just an example. Nobuo Uematsu is great but not even my favorite videogame composer, though he is up there.

I don't mean to argue as you gave good points. I just find it annoying when a director so easily brushes aside music as not that important when it could very well be the most important aspect of the entire project. There are countless anime or games where I forgot the storyline but I remember the music as if I just heard it yesterday.

Oh, totally agree with the importance of music in anime or videogames. Heck, there are probably some shows or games I would totally ignore or forget if it weren't for their soundtracks.

And no worries, I don't see this as an argument at all! And I can see you're really passionate for this manga and hopefully it does become a big hit and eventually gets an adaptation of some kind, but at the same time I think what you're hoping for just isn't feasible. Not impossible mind you, I just wouldn't get my hopes up.

 

[TokyoJoeblow]

Oh, totally agree with the importance of music in anime or videogames. Heck, there are probably some shows or games I would totally ignore or forget if it weren't for their soundtracks.

And no worries, I don't see this as an argument at all! And I can see you're really passionate for this manga and hopefully it does become a big hit and eventually gets an adaptation of some kind, but at the same time I think what you're hoping for just isn't feasible. Not impossible mind you, I just wouldn't get my hopes up.

Oh, I don't get my hopes up about anything in life and I have been this way for a long time now.

I do however have a healthy appreciation for quality art and I'm not afraid to recognize or stand by it even if most people don't.

If his manga or my music never become famous or even develop a following that is alright. It is still a fun project to work on with him. It also makes life more interesting.

There are other non-music related projects I'm working on with other friends as well.