Awesome Music / Yuki Kajiura

Composer Yuki Kajiura is responsible for many memorable anime themes and background music. Also, she sometimes collaborates with a singer or a group of singers to form her "solo" project, FictionJunction.

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• Her earliest work on Eat-Man, while rather obscure and different in style from her later works, is awesome in its own right. "Do You Believe In Dreams?" is a fantastic instrumental synthpop tune that's usually played at the end of an episode as Bolt moves on to his next destination, evoking a feeling of And the Adventure Continues.
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica has its own page.
• Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE- has its own page.
• Ditto for Xenosaga, one of her few Video Game soundtracks (to be specific, the cut scene themes for Episode II and the entirety of Episode III. Her work is all kinds of awesome in both).

• Most of Noir's soundtrack is composed by Yuki Kajiura and is absolutely fucking brilliant.
  • "Salva Nos" serves as a kick-ass battle theme, combining driving rock and techno with a full-on Latin choir, and primarily plays when Kirika or one of the other assassins is getting their kill on.
  • "Canta Per Me". You've got a somewhat melancholy romance song, sung by a Japanese woman in Italian, mostly used to score either awesome shootouts or the buildup to awesome shootouts, and somehow it just works.
  • "Salva Nos (Fiction Version)". This version was included in Kajiura's first solo album Fiction and boasts not only a professional soprano but a full choir to boot.
  • "Melody ~ Salva Nos Version" is just... amazing.

• From Madlax, "Hitomi no Kakera", "nowhere", Yanmaani!
  • Madlax's entire soundtrack qualifies. However, "I'm Here" deserves special mention.
  • The live rendition of "nowhere" by the members of Fiction Junction at Animelo 2009 takes the epicness through the roof.
  • There is "Margaret's Theme", which is very good and that you will remember if you watch the show. Then, there is "Madlax's Theme", which is not so much used. And finally "We are one", used when the characters merge and which is a mix-up where the two aforementioned melodies are played, completing each other.

• My-HiME and My-Otome have three ("Mezame", "MATERIALISE", and "Sei Otome no Inori") of these between them, and all the rest of the soundtrack is just as good. And none of them even have any (comprehensible) lyrics.
  • "Kirei na Yume no Sono Hate ni", Natsuki's Image Song, is also pretty amazing, both music and lyrics. Natsuki has another Image Song, "Flower by the Pond", which is actually used during the series. To explain: Hey! You got your Defrosting in my Ice Queen!
  • Then there's "Hinageshi no Hana no You ni", which can bring tears to your eyes even if you've never seen the series and don't understand a word.
  • "Blue and Black Rhapsody" is a beautiful piece that seems to not be used as much later in the series.

• So you're watching The Garden of Sinners. Hear any strings? Is it the main theme? Or an instrumental rendering of any given ending song? Prepare for asskicking of barely comprehensible proportions.

• Fist of the North Star Raoh Den I:
  • For the ultimate Tear Jerker song we have "Where The Lights Are", the song that plays when Shuu dies.
  • You will shed Manly Tears at 1:01 of "Lightseekers" as the thunderous chorus of Kenshiro's theme fills your heart with courage and your soul with hope.

• The .hack//SIGN OST has some particularly awesome pieces.
  • "Open Your Heart". In particular, the Fiction Version, is also a beautiful song.
  • "In the Land of Twilight, Under The Moon" is a wonderfully composed song that fleshes out a very descriptive atmosphere primal, chaotic, and hedonistic urges and celebrations through its lyrics and chaotic use of saxophone and guitar riffs. There is nothing you can't like about this song. The live version sung by FictionJunction manages to blow the original out of the water.
  • "Aura" is an absolutely haunting theme that perfectly portrays Morganna's plotting regarding the birth of Aura, showing both the dark and light sides of "The World".
  • The opening for .hack//ROOTs: "Silly-Go-Round" may be the best opener for a .hack series overall, unfortunate name aside.
  • Three standouts: the OP, "Obsession", "Key of the Twilight", and "Fake Wings".
  • The ending song, "Yasashii Yoake (January Moon/Gentle Dawn)", is a gorgeously haunting melody, particularly the opening strings and the flute line that plays throughout. And a beautiful English translation of it, created many years back by GeekyFanDubs.
  • The second season opening for the .hack//Liminality OVA, "Senyaichiya (1,001 Nights)", is a frankly stunning piece, with a very unusual and striking rhythm right from the opening piano notes that carries through in the driving drums and violin. The vocal work is of course peerless, alternating between plaintive yearning and powerful belting, but the intense ending is what can really blow the listener away.

• The Elemental Gelade soundtrack is also quite enjoyable, especially the haunting "Kasukanari Aogi no Sai".
• Mobile Suit Gundam SEED's "Akatsuki no Kuruma" and "Honoo no Tobira" in the sequel. Incredible stuff, more so when paired with their respective scenes in the anime. Also, as part of See-Saw: "Anna ni Issho Datta no ni" and "Kimi no Boku ni Niteiru" make perfect bookends for the Cosmic Era.
  • "Fields of hope" is simple but heartwrenching.
  • Speaking of "Akatsuki no Kuruma", FictionJunction YUUKA gave us a great live performance of the song during Animelo 2009.
  • Kalafina did a fabulous live rendition of "Anna ni Issho Datta no ni".

• The entire soundtrack of Le Portrait de Petite Cossette amounts to this, but the "Main Theme" is probably the best example, if only for its use at the end of the series when Eiri uses his own blood to paint a portrait of Cossette in order to defeat the spirit of the grudge contained in the portrait that Cossette's murderer painted of her, which was why he killed her.
• PandoraHearts:
  • "Every time you kissed me" sung by Emily Bindiger in the last episode is the most fantastic rendition of a Yuki Kajiura song you could ask for.
  • "Limit", "Pandora Hearts (Expanded)", "Will", "Contractor", and "Lacie". That last video is awesome since it's a fan-made music box.
  • And "Ghost Blood", "Cradle", "Another Dimension", "Revolve", and "Misgiving".
  • "Bloody Rabbit", the battle theme to end all battle themes.
  • The crazed guitar solos of "Dash".
  • The music played during the previews sound fantastic.

• "Calling" from Baccano!. Part Yuki Kajiura, part Kaori Oda, 100% Amazing.
• El Cazador de la Bruja:
  • Special mention must go to her splendid arrangement of the savage genius song "Hikari no Yukue" in which she adds many of her stylistic flavors to it.
  • There's also "The Ballad of a Bounty Hunter", featuring Kajiura's bassist on both bass and harmonica.

• The collaboration between Yuki Kajiura and Revo of Sound Horizon, "Sajin no Kanata e...", is a must listen. It's that epic.
  • Kajiura's personal rearrangement of the piece, "sand dream", manages to capture a completely different mood while still utilizing the original melodies.
  • The live performance of "Sajin no Kanata e..." is also very noteworthy.
• The entirety of her Fiction II album is this but some of the highlights are: "heigen", "lotus", and "E.G.O.".
• Kajiura is the composer for the music of Fate/Zero. Just the first PV alone is enough to give you an eargasm.
  • From the first OST, we have "the battle is to the strong", otherwise known as Gilgamesh vs. Berserker.
  • Also "let the stars fall down", from when Iri finally shows us her stuff against Kirei.
    • Kalafina sampled this song and gave us the gorgeous "Manten", the ending song to Episodes 18 & 19. It's worth noting that the song is very fitting for the episodes it was used in, especially since the lyrics are possibly hinting at Kiritsugu's Dark and Troubled Past.
    • FictionJunction graces us with their epic live rendition of "let the stars fall down".
    • In Episode 23, "The Ocean at the End of the World", there is a slow, grand version of the song that never received an official release, making it something of a lost track.
  • "Point Zero", the epic song that is used when Kiritsugu, Kariya, Tokiomi, and Waver are summoning their servants.
  • There's "tragedy and fate" and "if you leave" for some those emotional moments in the series.
  • Also from the first OST, we've got two really epic songs, "rule the battlefield" and "the beginning of the end".
  • In the second OST, we get "painful #2", which is also known as Rin's fight song.

• Say what you will about Sword Art Online, but the battle theme, "swordland", is nothing short of an epic and brilliant track to listen to.
  • "Swordland" is Kirito's battle theme, and plays when he's going to attack with his full might. You may remember it from when he goes up against Gleam Eyes using his Dual Wield Skill.
    • "Starburst Stream!!!"
    • A short version of this song also played during the introduction in the first episode.
    • And with the first OST for S2 out, it has an awesome remix too, named "gunland". It looks like they really liked the flute when it comes to SAO2's OST.
  • Another awesome song, "he rules us", is playing in the background during the introduction of the Game Master Akihiko Kayaba, and the reveal about their doom in the killer VRMMORPG.
  • Whenever Kirito and Asuna fight a particularly strong monster, "we have to defeat it" will play.
  • "she is still sleeping", a peaceful, soothing song that is the new theme for Asuna in the Fairy Dance arc and used to represent how she is still comatose.
  • With the release of the second season OST, we can also listen to gems like "light your sword", luminous sword's remix that was used, among other things, for the fight against Zekken. Or "heartbreaking reality", which may very well be Yuuki's theme given its name and how much we hear it during her arc, or its variations, such as "you are not alone".

• Yes, that's right; Yuki Kajiura and FictionJunction did a cover of a song from the Brave Series for the "Brave Series 20th Anniversary Project Harvest." And their rendition of "Gatherway", the opening of Brave Exkaiser, is possibly the best on the album, which is really saying something.
• From Princess Principal, "Shadows and Fog" It starts off with a mysterious chime that transitions into a gorgeous ethereal choir. However, it spontaneously switches to a swinging jazz piece that sounds like it came from a classic spy movie (with more choir to back it up). It is heavenly.