Awesome Music / Hiroyuki Sawano

The maestro performing live at Shanghai 2019.

Hailed worldwide as the Hans Zimmer of anime, Hiroyuki Sawano's scores are consistently cinematic in nature, combined with a love for electronics and foreign vocals that put in as much emotion as humanly possible. Since his ascent in anime music at the beginning of The New '10s, his soundtracks have always delivered.

The following works have their own pages:

• Aldnoah.Zero
• Attack on Titan
• Blue Exorcist
• Guilty Crown
• Kill la Kill
• Promare
• Xenoblade Chronicles X

His work on Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn can be viewed on the franchise's separate Awesome Music Page.

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Team Medical Dragon

• "Dragon Rises". One of the Youtube comments says it best.
  Youtube Comment: "With this kind of Epic music playing every doctor has to at least be going Super Saiyan during every operation."
• "Tears of the Dragon". Don't let the title fool you, it's anything but sad.
• "Building the Church", an Autobots, Rock Out! theme that would be right at home in a Mega Man X title.
• "Blue Dragon" starts out bittersweet, before slowly building to a magnificent Victorious Chorus.

Sengoku Basara

• The Anime of the Game blasts off to a glorious start with "Heaven's Door", Date Masamune aka the One-Eyed Dragon of Oshu's theme. Its movie incarnation adds even more guitars and drums for greater epicness.
  Date Masamune: ARE YOU READY GUYS? PUT YA GUNS ON!
• "BLAZE ~Crimson Lotus~", Sanada Yukimura's theme and a defining battle motif of the anime adaptations graced by Sawano's score. The second season would update and extend the theme through "BLAZE [ZERO-TWO] Ver.", isolating the guitars for better clarity and adding a violin solo before the final refrain. And for The Last Banquet, "OMAKE-SUITE　　BLAZE ᐸFinal Ver.ᐳ" streamlines the second season's rendition with an even higher quality mix.
• "Demon King of the Sixth Heaven", Nobunaga Oda's tailor-made Leitmotif, which includes an ominous German choir on top of the Orchestral Bombing. Quite fittingly, Nobunaga himself is the single most Obviously Evil character in the show, what with the Dramatic Thunder and ominous storm clouds. The Movie's version one-ups it by adding a gothic-sounding intro and even a drum solo. Just because it can.
• The second season introduces us to Toyotomi Hideyoshi's "This is a Fight to Change the World", which continues the German chanting trend, with added One-Woman Wail from singer Mika Kobayashi. There's nothing quite as awesome as this piece playing while Hideyoshi clears the clouds with a single skyward punch or, even better, parts the sea with his fists.
• " Iron Fist (The Tiger of Kai - with love)", Takeda Shingen's own Leitmotif.
  Yukimura: YOUR LORDSHIP!
  Takeda: YUKIMURA!
  '(Repeat ad nauseam)''

The Seven Deadly Sins

• "Dragon's Sin"^note Listed as 銅鑼Gong4N on OST 1. Now you know this soundtrack is gonna be good when the freaking preview song that we hear at the beginning of each episode is this grandiose and epic.
• Unusually, we only got one vocal song on the first soundtrack, but the one we got is called "Perfect Time" (featuring Mika Kobayashi & mpi) and it is amazing. You may remember this sweet little ballad from Meliodas' "fight" against Twigo in Episode 1.
• "The Seven Deadly Sins"^note Listed as 7角:the1 on OST 1. is an awesome battle theme used throughout the series. A prominent example would be King vs. Guila & Jericho in Episode 12.
• Despite its tattered reputation as the series went on, the final season still managed to surprise with its spectacular ending song "time", sung by Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online sensation ReoNa.

Seraph of the End

• The show's opening "X.U." and ending "scaPEGoat" already impress, and feature some Surprisingly Good English from new singers Gemie & Yosh with whom Sawano is collaborating. As a matter of fact, these two songs are apparently so awesome, a lot of the tracks from the first disc of the show's OST are remixes of them. To wit:
  • "X.U." - We have 1hundredknight:Y, OneZeroEight (mostly near the end), [B]pa-t, and "ToBeContinued...". While the trailer version doesn't appear in the official soundtrack by itself, it is part of "1hundredknight:Y" at the 2-minute mark.
  • "scaPEGoat" - We have 1hundredknight:M, 108, [A]pa-t, and "SOTE".
• "Dim Light", the track from the second season mock battle between Guren and Shinoa's squads that had everyone asking what song that was when it debuted.
• "4-a": any similarity to the main theme of Xenoblade Chronicles X just maaay be coincidental considering they were composed around the same time.
• "21科315" almost sounds as if it could fit well in any modern Darker and Edgier Spy Fiction movie.

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress

• The ending theme, "ninelie" as sung by Aimer with chelly, describes the cautious optimism of those on the Koutetsujou for a future where there won't be any more Kabane despite the pain. Eliana, who sings the insert song "KABANERIOFTHEIRONFORTRESS," did an English version of the ending theme, and it's no less haunting.
• "Warcry" steadily builds up momentum thanks to mpi's vocals and the drum beats, becoming the series' go-to motif for asskicking sequences.
• "KABANERIOFTHEIRONFORTRESS", a drum-heavy piece that carries part of the ending theme "ninelie" with a bit of One-Woman Wail.
• "S_TEAM", the opening theme for the Android game Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress - Revolt: Beginning Tracks, with vocals by Eliana and an excellent mix of quick-paced electronic and drum beats. This song is a perfect fit for Studio Wit's equally gorgeous opening animation.

Thunderbolt Fantasy

• For this short 13 episode puppet show, Sawano delivered an astounding soundtrack, the most iconic track being the series' theme that caps off each episode and the climax of each duel, "thunderBOLTfantasy".
• At the series finale, rather than cap off with the high energy variant that had played all series, viewers were treated to "Darkest" a melancholic, but ultimately victorious and hopeful duet between Mika Kobayashi and mpi, belting out the lyrics to "thunderBOLTfantasy" as the final soliloquy is revealed.
• The second season's opening theme is a rocky rendition of "thunderBOLTfantasy" known as "His/Story", sung by none other than T.M.Revolution. It is also used during Episode 5 as Nishikawa's character Rou Fu You challenges a fire-breathing dragon in a shouting contest pitting Rou's music waves against the fire!

Re:CREATORS

• "AL:Lu", which plays during Celesia and MUP's first fight in the real world, is classic Sawano Orchestral Bombing with powerful female vocals by Tielle, reflecting the chorus portion of the second opening song, "Sh0ut" (also performed by Tielle in conjunction with Gemie).
• "Brave The Ocean", a beautiful, energetic song about breaking the chains of hate and revenge, serves as an excellent backdrop to both Celesia and Mamika's fight and Celesia's Emergency Transformation.
• Here I Am" is a sparkling, sunny work of hope that fits Mamika and her Magical Girl principles to a T.
• "Layers", which serves as Military Uniform Princess's Leitmotif, is basically condensed epicness in the form of a song. Whenever MUP makes an appearance, the song helps make her presence known, and it also conveys her feelings regarding Setsuna's death and her resentment against the creators.

Iron Saga – Epic Robot Battler

• The login screen song, "「Sea of Fire」". With fiery vocals from mizuki and all the groovy synths, guitar riffs and drum beats that make Sawano's signature style when it comes to anime opening songs, this theme gets your heart pumping and is evidently used for much of the game's promotional videos. The orchestral version, "「Sea of Fire-Orch」", instead uses Sawano's other signature style and swaps mizuki with Eliana for stronger vocals, with the resulting song being an excellent choice for the game's very first combat gameplay sequence.
• The ending song, "「N01R」", one of the more relaxing songs on this page, with Tielle narrating the emotions of a mecha and its bond with its pilot. Its orchestral version, "「N01R-Orch」", is featured in the mission which introduces you to Nadia, and Laco's vocals immediately blare when you activate Anubis' Wave-Motion Gun, obliterating every single enemy in your way until the song's end.

Fate/strange Fake

• To accompany the novels' animated trailer, Fate/strange Fake received its own original theme song, "BELONG". It's one of the most uplifting vocal songs in the Fate Series with a fist-pumping chorus, intense guitar work, and Yosh's exhilarating vocals. The song really gives off the impression that one of the most epic Holy Grail Wars in Fate history is about to begin.
• With the announcement of Sawano's involvement in the music composition of the Whispers of Dawn anime special, the hard beats of "FAKEit" come forward, with Laco's vocals unraveling the deception found throughout the story.

86 EIGHTY-SIX

• mizuki sings the first ending theme, "Avid". It's a timeless ballad about fighting through the hardest moments so that one may finally see hope at the end of it all, resonating with Spearhead Squadron's struggles throughout the series. "Voices of the Chord" reprises the melody from "Avid" and appears as an insert song in Episode 22 when Shin, at his most vulnerable, recognizes Lena's voice and realizes he's seeing her in the flesh for the first time. The scene's emotional weigh is carried by Gemie's powerful refrain as Shin and Lena talk about their motivation for continuing to fight despite all odds.
• Laco lends her voice to two of Sawano's tracks for the series, to wit:
  • The second ending theme, "Hands Up to the Sky", conveys the feeling of struggling through the pain - of war, of being acknowledged - while still retaining hope for the future.
  • The insert song, "THE ANSWER", is basically the de-facto anthem of the Eighty-Six's processors, as it has been notably played thrice: first, during Spearhead Squadron's first on-screen assault on an invading Legion detachment; second, during the duel between Shin's Juggernaut, and his brother Rei in a Legion Dinosauria; and third, during the latter part of Shin's one-on-one with Kiriei in the Morpho, just as after the remnants of San Magnolia under Lena's command (mostly Eighty-Six processors) managed to provide artillery support against the giant Legion unit. And much like some of Sawano's insert songs in other series, this track is fully sung in English.
• Just when everyone thought Sawano gave everything for the series' two cours with its epic score, he has singer Honoka Takahashi give voice to "LilaS",^*Going by Sawano's Idiosyncratic Episode Naming of tracks he makes for various anime series, the most accepted interpretation on the song's title is actually an Acronym: "Lena is looking at Shin" the track used in the Episode 23 Epilogue, where Lena and Spearhead Squadron are finally reunited. Considering that the entire song is played all throughout the said Epilogue (synched to match the iconic moments therein), it's reason enough for fans to heap praise to it.

Other

• "Feel the moon", the track that began it all. Sawano worked with Chen Min on this song for the MOON album. It features a majestic melody played on an erhu and it's soothing.
• "Ace & Arms", music composed for the NHK documentary series Miracle Body which focuses on the incredibly gifted bodies that Olympic-level athletes like Usain Bolt and Kohei Uchiyama have as well as the Training from Hell they endure.
• His opening theme for the mobile phone game 3594e, an adaptation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms ^note The title is a Goroawase Number that roughly approximates the pronunciation of the original Chinese title of the novel. In Japanese, it would be read as "san go ku shi-i," which is similar to the Chinese title of the novel "Sān Guó Yǎn Yì". by Square Enix. The battle theme "3594ε" is definitely no slouch either.
• The theme song for the mobile game Soul Reverse Zero, "E of S", appropriately used in its reveal trailer to set the mood.
• "Binary Star", the soothing opening theme of Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These. This is one of the few instances where Sawano does not compose the series' soundtrack, but that lone song is cited by many to be worthy of the Space Opera genre.
• "REMEMBER", from the album of the same name and featuring not two, but five of Sawano's collaborators, is a high-energy power ballad that wouldn't be out of place in an anime opening.
• Sawano's fame proves to be enough to compose the song featured in the "Light and Shadow" cinematic trailer for League of Legends. With Gemie on the vocals and a smooth piano piece backed by the ever heroic orchestra, the video is nothing short of a delightful piece of art. In the "Making of" video, Riot Games lead producer Sophie Xiao confesses that the energy Sawano usually puts in his works made him the perfect choice for the Star Guardians animation, especially with the skin line's darker direction.
• "Tranquility", the ending theme for Die Neue These's second season, Stellar War. Here, Sawano's piano skills serve as the impeccable backdrop to Anly's powerful singing, which is about the determination to keep on moving forward even against insurmountable odds.
• "Alive" is another stunning rock ballad with powerful vocals, born out of a collaboration between Sawano and legendary J-pop band Do As Infinity.
• DARK ARIA ＜LV2＞, composed for Solo Leveling, is a soft yet chilling piece that plays when Jinwoo fights a treacherous group of Hunters led by Hwang Dongsuk.

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