was a Japanese

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

who was active from the early 1960s until 2017. He specialized in

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

for media such as

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

and

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

. Kikuchi was regarded as one of Japan's most highly demanded film and TV composers, working principally on ''

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live-action films or television programs that make heavy use of practical special effects. Credited to special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, ''tokusatsu'' mainly refers to science fiction film, science fiction, War fi ...

'' and

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

productions, and also popular action films, ''

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "historical drama, period dramas", it refers to stories that take place before the Meiji Restoration of 1868. ''Jidaigeki'' show the lives of the samurai, farmers, crafts ...

'', and television dramas.

Early life and education

Kikuchi was born on 1 November 1931 in the city of

Hirosaki is a Cities of Japan, city located in western Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 163,639 in 71,044 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Hirosaki developed as a jōkamachi, ca ...

Aomori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori (city), Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is border ...

. He graduated from Aomori Prefectural Hirosaki Technical High School, specializing in mechanics. Kikuchi then attended the Nihon University College of Art.

Career

After graduating from the Nihon University College of Art, he made his debut composing for the 1961 film . ''

The Tō-Ō Nippō Press ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' wrote that the contrast between the heroic opening theme and the melancholic ballad ending theme that Kikuchi composed for the 1969 '' Tiger Mask'' anime, "changed Japanese anime music." Kikuchi composed the song , sung by Meiko Kaji, for the early 1970s '' Female Convict Scorpion'' series, which was included in the American film '' Kill Bill'' and on its soundtrack. ''The Tō-Ō Nippō Press'' also wrote that the success of the TV drama '' Abarenbō Shōgun'', which aired for 800 episodes from 1978 to 2008, had people say; "If Shunsuke Kikuchi is in charge of the music, the show will be a hit." In 1976, Kikuchi composed the music for Divine Demon-Dragon Gaiking (大空魔竜ガイキング, Daikū Maryū Gaikingu); in 1979 composed " Doraemon no Uta", the theme song of the ''

Doraemon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. First serialized in 1969, the manga's chapters were collected in 45 volumes published by Shogakukan from 1974 to 1996. The story revolves around an earless robotic ...

'' anime, which ran on TV for 26 years. Up-

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

works like those in ''

Kamen Rider The , also known as ''Masked Rider Series'' (until ''Kamen Rider Decade, Decade'' and except Thailand), is a Japanese superhero fiction, superhero media franchise consisting of tokusatsu television programs, films, manga, and anime, created by ...

'' and ''Abarenbō Shōgun'' form the majority of Kikuchi's works, while his slow background music from long-running series have become some of his best-known works. Some notable works that he composed for, include anime and ''tokusatsu'' like ''

'', ''Kamen Rider'', '' Dragon Ball'', '' Dragon Ball Z'', ''jidaigeki'' such as ''Abarenbō Shōgun'' and '' Chōshichirō Edo Nikki'', and TBS Saturday-night productions ranging from '' Key Hunter'' to '' G-Men '75'' became long-running hit series.

Retirement and death

Kikuchi ceased composing music in 2017, when he stated that he was taking a break to be treated for an illness. Kikuchi died while being treated for

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

in a hospital in Tokyo on 24 April 2021. His death was announced four days later.

Awards

In 1983 Kikuchi was nominated for the Japan Academy Prize for Music for his work on '' The Gate of Youth: Part 2'' and '' To Trap a Kidnapper''. He received an Award of Merit at the 2013 Tokyo Anime Awards. Kikuchi has won several annual awards from the

Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers The , often referred to as JASRAC, is a Japanese copyright collection society. It was founded in 1939 as a nonprofit organization, and is the largest musical copyright administration society in Japan. Overview JASRAC's main business activity ...

based on the

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...

he earned from his works in the previous year. He won the International Award, which is based on foreign income, in 1983 ('' UFO Robot Grendizer''), 1989 (''UFO Robot Grendizer''), 2008 (''Dragon Ball Z''), 2010 (''Doraemon''), 2012 (''Doraemon''), 2015 (''Dragon Ball Z''), 2016 ('' Kiteretsu Daihyakka''), 2018 (''Dragon Ball Z''), and 2019 (''Dragon Ball Z''). He came in second in overall royalties in 2004 (''Dragon Ball Z''). In 2015, he received a lifetime achievement award at the 57th Japan Record Awards.

Selected works

*'' Abare Hasshū Goyō Tabi'' (1991-1994) *'' Arcadia of My Youth: Endless Orbit SSX'' (1982-1983) *'' The Unfettered Shogun / Abarenbō Shōgun'' (1978) *'' Arabian Nights: Sinbad's Adventures'' (1975-1976) *'' Babel II'' (1973) *'' Casshan'' (1973-1974) *'' Castle of Sand'' (1977) *'' Chōshichirō Edo Nikki'' (1983-1991) *'' Daimos'' (1978-1979) *'' Danguard Ace'' (1977-1978) *'' Denjin Zaborger'' (1974-1975) *''

'' (1979-2005) *'' Dotakon'' (1981) *'' Dr. Slump and Arale-chan'' (1981-1986) *'' Dragon Ball'' (1986-1989) *'' Dragon Ball Z'' (1989-1996) *'' Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!'' (2008) *'' Dragon Ball Z Kai'' (2011, replacing Kenji Yamamoto (composer born 1958); music taken from ''Dragon Ball'' and ''Dragon Ball Z'') *'' Dragon Princess'' (1976) *'' Female Convict 701: Scorpion'' (1972) *'' Gaiking'' (1976-1977) *'' Gamera vs. Guiron'' (1969) *'' Gamera vs. Jiger'' (1970) *'' Gamera vs. Zigra'' (1971) *'' Gamera: Super Monster'' (1980) *'' G-Men '75'' (1975-82) *''

Getter Robo is a Japanese Mecha anime and manga, mecha media franchise created by Ken Ishikawa (manga artist), Ken Ishikawa and Go Nagai. An anime television series produced by Toei Animation was broadcast on Fuji TV from April 4, 1974, to May 8, 197 ...

'' (1974-1975) and '' Getter Robo G'' (1975-1976) *'' Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell'' (1968) *'' High School! Kimengumi'' (1985-1987) *'' Hurricane Polymar'' (1974-1975) *'' Jumborg Ace'' (1973) *''

'' (first series - ZX) (1971-1984) *'' Kamen Rider Black RX'' (1989) 11 Rider Dai-Sanka *'' Kiteretsu Daihyakka'' (1988-1996) *'' Kure Kure Takora'' (1973-1974) *'' La Seine no Hoshi'' (1975-1976) *'' Message from Space: Galactic Wars'' (1978-1979) (with Kenichiro Morioka) *'' Little Ghost Q-Taro'' (1985-1987) *'' Robot Detective / Robot Keiji'' (1973) *'' Ronin of the Wilderness'' (1972-1974) *'' Sakigake!! Otokojuku'' (1988) *'' Sister Street Fighter / Revenge of the Dragon / Onna Hissatsu Ken'' (1974) *'' Starzinger / Spaceketeers / Sci-Bots'' (1978-1979) *'' Tenchi in Tokyo / New Tenchi Muyo'' (1997) *'' Terror Beneath the Sea'' (1966) *'' The Fierce Battles of Edo'' (1979) *'' The Gate of Youth: Part 2'' (1982) *'' Tiger Mask'' (1969-1971) and ''Tiger Mask II'' (1981-1982) *'' Tōyama no Kin-san'' (with Ryōtarō Sugi) *'' Uchu Enban Daisenso'' *'' UFO Robo Grendizer'' (1975-1977) *'' Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs'' (1974)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kikuchi, Shunsuke 1931 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Japanese composers 21st-century Japanese composers Anime composers Deaths from pneumonia in Japan Japanese film score composers Japanese male film score composers Japanese music arrangers Musicians from Hirosaki