Full Metal Alchemist and Godzilla Composer Interview with Michiru Oshima

Full Metal Alchemist and Godzilla Composer Interview with Michiru Oshima

Super Geek DJ, JP hardboiled
128 Comments

Share

Michiru Oshima is a top composer for anime, films, and kaiju movies.  She has been awarded many top honors for composing in Japan, and with the help of translator Hiroko Saito I interviewed her at G-Fest, an annual Godzilla convention. Michiru Oshima has composed for Full Metal Alchemist, Little Witch Academia, and several Godzilla movies like my favorite, Godzilla Against Mechagodzillla.  She’s also done other movies and video games as well.  Being nominated ten times in the equivalent Japanese Academy Awards was an honor for her especially when she won once!  Her favorite work was a film with Ken Watanabe called, “Memories of Tommorow.”  You might wonder if she’s a fan of kaiju films or anime since she composes for them.

Michiru Oshima does around 1,500 compositions per year, which is ridiculous!  She is so busy she doesn’t have time to watch the films or anime she composes for.  Most real artists will understand that having a multitude of pieces you’re working on leads into more work.  You just get things done and sometimes move on without time to reflect on your work.  Concentrating on the music to complement the film or show is essential, and having her skills up to par in orchestration is vital.  Oshima composes by doing both melody and orchestration simultaneously first as a digital rough draft then moving on from there.  You might ask what influences her work since there’s such a diversity she works on.

 

Oshima was influenced by rock bands like Chicago who started and innovated brass rock.  She was also into Chick Corea, which I love for drumming.  Musicians like Emerson, Lake, and Palmer as well as Herbie Hancock were great influences on her.  She’s lived in an era where jazz was appreciated, and jazz requires ability to improvise and adapt.  This is obviously a part of her ability, and getting to a high level of musicianship takes dedication.  To get to a high level of musicianship she went to the prestigious Kunitachi School of Music where she honed her music craft. 

 

The advice she gives to artists like musicians is to just believe in your music.  Make it about music first.  She said many musicians go to dinners with producers, but a senior composer she asked for advise from on improving employability told her to focus on the music.  Very soon with her quality music she got jobs or commercials then better jobs composing for TV dramas.  That work wasn’t done in vain as she got works in film and animation because of it.

 

It was a great honor to speak with an accomplished composer like Michaud Oshima with translation by Hiroko Saito.  It was thought provoking and insightful to learn from someone whose music we have heard and been influenced by.   Focusing on your art can pay off as shown in Michiru Oshima’s story. 

 

128 thoughts on “Full Metal Alchemist and Godzilla Composer Interview with Michiru Oshima”

  1. Hi there, I found your website by means of Google at the same time as looking for a related subject, your web site got here up, it seems to be great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.

    Reply

  2. With havin so much content do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright infringement?
    My blog has a lot of completely unique content I’ve either
    written myself or outsourced but it appears a lot of it is popping it up
    all over the internet without my permission. Do you know any
    ways to help stop content from being stolen?
    I’d definitely appreciate it.

    Reply

  5. hey there and thank you for your info – I have definitely picked up
    something new from right here. I did however expertise a few technical points using this website, since I experienced to reload the website a lot of times previous to I could get it to load properly.
    I had been wondering if your web hosting is OK? Not that I’m complaining, but slow loading instances times will
    sometimes affect your placement in google and can damage your high
    quality score if ads and marketing with Adwords. Anyway
    I’m adding this RSS to my e-mail and can look out for a lot more of
    your respective exciting content. Make sure you update this again very soon.

    Reply

  6. I seriously love your site.. Excellent colors & theme.
    Did you develop this site yourself? Please reply
    back as I’m trying to create my own site and want to find out
    where you got this from or exactly what the theme is called.

    Thanks!

    Reply

  7. Hello! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog.
    Is it hard to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick.
    I’m thinking about creating my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have
    any tips or suggestions? Appreciate it

    Reply

  14. Greetings! I know this is kinda off topic however I’d figured I’d ask.

    Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest writing a blog post or
    vice-versa? My website goes over a lot of the same topics as yours and I believe we could
    greatly benefit from each other. If you might be interested feel free to shoot
    me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you!
    Awesome blog by the way!

    Reply

  17. I am now not certain the place you are getting your information, but good topic.

    I must spend a while learning more or understanding more.
    Thanks for fantastic info I used to be looking for this info for my
    mission.

    Reply

  19. Hey there! This post could not be written any better! Reading through
    this post reminds me of my previous room mate!
    He always kept talking about this. I will forward this page to
    him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply

  40. I am extremely impressed with your writing skills as well as with
    the layout on your blog. Is this a paid
    theme or did you modify it yourself? Anyway keep
    up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog
    like this one nowadays.

    Reply

  47. hey there and thank you for your information ?
    I have definitely picked up anything new from right here.
    I did however expertise some technical points using this web site, as I experienced to reload the
    website lots of times previous to I could get it to load correctly.
    I had been wondering if your web host is OK?
    Not that I am complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will sometimes affect your placement in google and can damage your quality
    score if advertising and marketing with Adwords. Anyway I am adding this RSS to
    my e-mail and could look out for much more of your respective exciting content.
    Make sure you update this again very soon..

    Here is my web page … Einkin Air Cooler

    Reply

  56. Exccellent goods from you, man. I’ve understand your stuff previous to and youu are
    just too magnificent. I reallky like what you have acquired here, certainly lkke what you are staing and the
    way in which you say it. You make it entertaining and you still cre for to keep
    it sensible. I can not wait to read far more from you.
    This is really a terrific site.
    https://writingmypaper.com/
    top rated essay writing service
    top rated essay writing service
    https://writingmypaper.com/ https://writingmypaper.com/

    Reply

  57. Wonderful site you have here but I was wondering if you
    knew of any forums that cover the same topics discussed in this article?
    I’d really love to be a part of online community where I can get feedback from other experienced people that share
    the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please
    let me know. Thank you!

    Also visit my blog post … Keto XR

    Reply

  62. After I originally commented I appear to have clicked on the -Notify me when new
    comments are added- checkbox and now every time a comment is added I recieve four emails
    with the exact same comment. Perhaps there is a means you are able to remove me from
    that service? Appreciate it!

    Reply

  77. With havin so much content do you ever run into any issues of plagorism or copyright violation? My site has a lot of unique
    content I’ve either authored myself or outsourced but it looks
    like a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my
    agreement. Do you know any ways to help prevent content
    from being ripped off? I’d certainly appreciate it.

    Reply

  94. Woah! I’m really loving the template/theme of this site.
    It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s tough to get that “perfect balance” between usability and visual appeal.
    I must say you’ve done a great job with this.
    Additionally, the blog loads super fast for me on Opera.
    Exceptional Blog!

    Reply

  99. Do you have a spam problem on this site; I also am a blogger, and I
    was curious about your situation; many of us have created some nice procedures and we are looking to exchange techniques with others, be sure to shoot me an e-mail if
    interested.

    Reply

  103. I truly love your website.. Great colors & theme. Did you develop this website yourself?
    Please reply back as I’m looking to create my own personal website
    and would like to find out where you got this from or exactly
    what the theme is called. Appreciate it!

    Reply

  105. With havin sso much ckntent do you ever run into
    aany issues of plagorism or copyright infringement? My site has a
    lot of exclusive content I’ve either written myself or outsourced but it seems
    a lot of it is popping it upp all over the web without my permission. Do you know anny solutions to help redue content
    from being stolen? I’d certainly appreciate it.
    https://truthmediaonline.blogspot.com
    mba essay writing service
    mba essay writing service
    https://archive.thomrainer.com http://orbisresearchreports.blogspot.com/2017/06/new-study-2017-united-states-clinical.html

    Reply

  111. Today, I went tto the beachfront withh my children. I found
    a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year olld daughter and
    said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the shell
    too her eaar annd screamed. There was a hermit crab inside
    and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back!
    LoL I know this is completely off topic but I had to
    tell someone!
    https://lilianbozaq7r.medium.com/edubirdie-45121746724b
    best essay writing website
    best essay writing website https://spark.adobe.com

    Reply

  113. I am curious to find out what blog system you’re utilizing?

    I’m having some small security problems with my latest site and I’d like to find
    something more safeguarded. Do you have any recommendations?

    Reply

  117. Hello, I think your website might be having browser compatibility issues.
    When I look at your blog site in Chrome, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer,
    it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads
    up! Other then that, wonderful blog!

    Reply

  120. whoah this blog is excellent i love studying your posts. Stay up the good work!
    You know, many people are looking round for this information, you can help
    them greatly.

    Reply

  124. Уou’re so cool! I Ԁo not suppose I can learn something like tһis befoге.
    Ѕo good to find someone with some creative ideas about this subject.
    rｅally thankѕ fοr bringing this uρ. this website is something that is needeⅾ on the net,
    someƅody with somеwhat originality. ɡreat job for bringing something
    new online!

    Also visit my web site; qrs Therapy Mat

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.