is a Japanese composer. He has composed and synthesized scores for several Japanese television shows and animated series. Masuda is perhaps best known as the composer of the 2002 hit anime series ''

Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...

'' where he combined traditional instruments like the

shamisen The , also known as or (all meaning "three strings"), is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument . It is played with a plectrum called a bachi. The Japanese pronunciation is usually b ...

and

shakuhachi A is a Japanese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the .

together with guitar, drums, bass, piano and other keyboard instruments along with chanting.

Biography

He became interested in music through African ethnic music he heard in his childhood, and later, influenced by his father, who was also a musician, he began listening to a wide range of music genres such as jazz, classical, and pop without limitation. During junior high school, he was strongly drawn to the sound of synthesizers that he heard for the first time, and he began creating self-made tapes through multitrack recording, starting his amateur music activities. He taught himself piano and drums, and began his activities as a keyboard player while attending Nihon University. Immediately after graduating, he joined the backing band of former Candies member Yoshiko Tanaka, marking the beginning of his full-fledged professional career. Since then, he has participated in stage support and recordings for many artists such as Ikki Kajiwara's Sepia, Yasuhiro Suzuki, Akiko Kobayashi, Miho Nakayama, Uta Shimada, etc. Particularly, in Sepia's concert tours, he handled all aspects of stage arrangement from their debut to dissolution, and even played the role of comprehensive music director extending to stage direction. Currently, he is active mainly with his band "Euphoria," supporting and serving as music director for concerts by Toshiro Yanagiba, music director for concerts by Keiko Nagashima, and performing support, arrangement, and music direction for Maomao Ochi's recitals and dinner shows. He is also in charge of the music for Fuji TV's "Downtown's Gotsu Ee Kanji" and "Rasta Tonneruzu." Especially, Downtown's Eccentric Boy has become a big hit with over 500,000 copies sold. He has expanded his activities to include music production for commercials, anime, dramas, etc.

Works

Animation

* '' Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf'' (1992) * '' Flint the Time Detective'' (1998) * ''

Excel Saga is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōshi Rikudō. It was serialized in Shōnen Gahōsha's Seinen manga, manga magazine ''Young King OURs'' from 1996 to 2011, and its individual chapters were collected and published in 27 ...

'' (1999) * '' Jubei-chan'' (1999) * ''

Di Gi Charat is a Japanese manga and anime series created by Koge-Donbo. The series follows a catgirl named Di Gi Charat " Dejiko" who was adopted as the mascot of Broccoli's retail chain store, Gamers. The original anime series and it ...

'' specials (2000) * '' Hand Maid May'' (2000) * '' Daa! Daa! Daa!'' (2000) * ''

Mahoromatic is a Japanese manga series written by Bunjūrō Nakayama and illustrated by Bow Ditama. The series follows Mahoro, a female android former soldier who, driven by guilt from her actions during her combat days, decides to dedicate the rest ...

'' (2001) * '' Puni Puni Poemy'' (2001) * ''

'' (2002) * ''

Ai Yori Aoshi is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kou Fumizuki. The manga was serialized in Hakusensha's manga magazine '' Young Animal'' magazine from 1998 to 2005 and the chapters collected into 17 volumes. It is a love story b ...

'' (2002) * '' Nanaka 6/17'' (2003) * ''

: Leave it to Piyoko!'' (2004) * '' Jubei-chan 2'' (2004) * ''

Di Gi Charat Nyo! is a Japanese anime and an alternate version of ''Di Gi Charat''. The series features Dejiko, and Puchiko, two Catgirl (anime and manga), catgirls who travel to Earth, for princess training, where they are accidentally split up. An anime aire ...

'' (2004) * ''

Mushishi is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuki Urushibara. It was serialized in Kodansha's manga magazine ' from 1999 to 2002, and in ''Monthly Afternoon'' from December 2002 to August 2008. The individual chapters were ...

'' (2005) * '' Ghost Hunt'' (2006) * '' Otogi-Jūshi Akazukin'' (2006) * '' Higepiyo'' (2009) * '' Kamisama Kiss'' (2013) * '' Mushishi -Next Passage-'' (2014) * '' Kamisama Kiss◎'' (2015) * '' Nobunaga no Shinobi'' (2016) * '' Nobunaga no Shinobi: Anegawa Ishiyama-hen'' (2018) * '' My Clueless First Friend'' (2023)

OVA

* '' Animation Runner Kuromi'' (2001) * '' Puni Puni Poemy'' (2001) * '' Animation Runner Kuromi2'' (2003)

Specials

*'' Mushi-Shi Special: The Shadow That Devours the Sun'' (2014) *'' Mushi-Shi -Next Passage- Special: Path of Thorns'' (2014)

Film

*'' Mushi-Shi -Next Passage- Special: Bell Droplets'' (2015)

References

External links

*
last.fm page

Toshio Masuda anime
at Media Arts Database

1959 births Anime composers Composers from Tokyo Japanese film score composers Japanese male film score composers Japanese rock guitarists Living people {{Anime-bio-stub