Satoru Kōsaki
Satoru Kōsaki is a Japanese music composer and arranger. He is best known for his work on anime, including Lucky Star, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Monogatari, and Beastars. He began his career in 1999 at Namco, where he primarily composed soundtracks for video games. Since 2005, he has been affiliated with Keiichi Okabe's music production company Monaca, where he has often collaborated with his colleagues to produce soundtracks for anime and other media.
Biography
Kōsaki was born on September 16, 1974 in Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan. He began playing the piano and Electone when he was about three years old, and played the trumpet in his junior high school's brass band. As an information engineering student at Kyoto University, he developed an interest in composing music as a member of the amateur circle "Yoshida Music Factory".After his graduation in 1999, he was hired at Namco, where he composed tracks for video game series including Tekken and , along with working as an in-house trumpeter for various games. During his time at Namco, he was also a member of Hiroshi Okubo's doujin circle nanosounds, where he contributed original tracks to a number of albums. He would also score the music for the OVA Munto 2: Beyond the Walls of Time using the alias Shinji Ikeda, as he was still employed at Namco at the time. Citing a desire to compose a greater variety of music, he left the company in 2005 to join Monaca, a production group founded the previous year by his former colleague Keiichi Okabe.
Kōsaki's first major project with Monaca was the soundtrack for the 2006 anime television series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Series production director Yutaka Yamamoto recommended Kōsaki as the composer for the anime, who found it difficult to get involved in such a large scale project outside of Namco, serving as another reason for quitting the company to join Monaca. An album containing three of his compositions for the anime sold more than 136,000 copies in Japan and peaked at #5 on the weekly Oricon Singles Chart. "God knows..." in particular has received a lot of acclaim, although Kōsaki found it challenging to compose due to having little experience with band recording and playing guitar.
In 2007, he composed the soundtrack for the anime television series Lucky Star; the series' opening theme "Motekke! Sailor Fuku" peaked at #2 on the chart upon release. It would also go on to win the 2007 Radio Kansai Award, a subset of the Animation Kobe Theme Song Award. He found the workload overwhelming, as prior to joining Monaca he was not used to composing a large amount of tracks under time constraints.
In December 2010, Kōsaki announced an indefinite hiatus from his work due to poor health. He began a second illness-related hiatus in February 2014 and returned to work in January 2015.
In 2019, he worked on the anime Beastars, which features gypsy-inspired music. In 2020, a compilation album titled Satoru Kosaki 20th Anniversary Selected Works "DAWN" was released to commemorate 20 years of being a composer. It includes a selection of his most successful songs, while the limited edition release also includes a selection of anime BGM.
Works
Anime
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2005 | Munto 2: Beyond the Walls of Time | & theme song "Toki no Kabe o Koete", lyrics; as Shinji Ikeda |
| 2006 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya | & insert songs "God knows...", "Lost my music", and "Koi no Mikuru Densetsu" |
| 2007 | Lucky Star | & opening theme "Motteke! Sailor Fuku", various insert songs |
| 2008 | Penguin Musume Heart | opening theme "Ren'ai Jiyū Shoujo" |
| 2008 | Sekirei | opening theme "Sekirei", ending theme "Dear sweet heart" |
| 2008 | Lucky Star OVA | |
| 2008 | Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens | & opening theme "Motto Hade ni ne!", ending themes "Musuhi no Toki" and "Shirigeya no Theme", various insert songs |
| 2009 | Sora o Miageru Shōjo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai | & insert song "Montaro no Uta"; with Keiichi Okabe, Ryuichi Takada, Keigo Hoashi, and Kakeru Ishihama |
| 2009 | The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya | & opening theme "Ima Made no Arasuji", ending theme "Atogaki no Yō na Mono" |
| 2009 | Nyorōn Churuya-san | & opening theme "Ima Made no Arasuji", ending theme "Atogaki no Yō na Mono" |
| 2009 | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya | second season; & opening theme "Super Driver" |
| 2009 | Tenjōbito to Akutobito Saigo no Tatakai | with Keiichi Okabe, Ryuichi Takada, Keigo Hoashi, and Kakeru Ishihama |
| 2009 | Bakemonogatari | & opening themes "staple stable", "Kaerimichi", "ambivalent world", "Ren'ai Circulation", and "sugar sweet nightmare" |
| 2010 | The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya | with Ryuichi Takada, Keigo Hoashi, and Kakeru Ishihama |
| 2010 | Working!! | opening theme "Someone Else", ending theme "Go to Heart Edge" |
| 2010 | ' | ending theme "Onnaji Kimochi" |
| 2010 | Highschool of the Dead | ending theme "Under the Honey Shine" |
| 2010 | Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai | & ending theme "Tadaima.", insert song "Meteor Impact" |
| 2010 | Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto | & various insert songs; with Kakeru Ishihama, Ryuichi Takada, Keigo Hoashi, and Keiichi Okabe |
| 2011 | Fractale | insert song "Hiru no Hoshi" |
| 2011 | Wandering Son | with Keiichi Okabe and Keigo Hoashi |
| 2011 | A Channel | & opening theme "Morning Arch", ending theme "Humming Girl"; with Ryuichi Takada, Keigo Hoashi, and Kakeru Ishihama |
| 2011 | The Idolmaster | opening theme "Ready!!" |
| 2012 | Nisemonogatari | & opening themes "Futakotome", "marshmallow justice", and "Platinum Disco" |
| 2012 | Natsume Yūjin-chō Shi | ending theme "Takaramono" |
| 2012 | A Channel & smile | opening theme "Balloon Theater" |
| 2012 | Joshiraku | opening theme "Oato ga Yoroshikutte... yo!" |
| 2012 | Blast of Tempest | ending theme "Happy Endings" |
| 2012 | Arata-naru Sekai | theme song "Arata-naru Sekai" |
| 2012 | Nekomonogatari | & opening theme "perfect slumbers", ending theme "Kieru Daydream" |
| 2013 | Star Driver The Movie | & insert song "Hikari no Octave"; with Keiichi Okabe, Ryuichi Takada, Keigo Hoashi, and Kakeru Ishihama |
| 2013 | Vividred Operation | ending theme "Vivid Shining Sky" |
| 2013 | Muromi-san | opening theme "Nanatsu no Umi yori Kimi no Umi" |
| 2013 | Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai. | & insert song "Planet Burst" |
| 2013 | Monogatari Series: Second Season | & opening themes "chocolate insomnia", "happy bite", "Mōsō Express", "fast love", and "Kogarashi Sentiment", ending theme "Sono Koe o Oboeteru" |
| 2014 | ' | theme song "Masterpiece" |
| 2014 | Wake Up, Girls! Seven Idols | theme song "Tachiagare!", insert song "Ōzora no Prism" |
| 2014 | Wake Up, Girls! | opening theme "7 Girls War" |
| 2014 | Captain Earth | insert song "Mugen no Hana" |
| 2016 | Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu | with Ryuichi Takada, Keigo Hoashi, and Ken Namba |
| 2016 | Koyomimonogatari | |
| 2016 | Monster Strike | with Keiichi Hirokawa and Kuniyuki Takahashi |
| 2016 | Anne Happy | with various others |
| 2016 | Kizumonogatari Part 2: Nekketsu | & ending theme "étoile et toi" |
| 2016 | Monster Strike The Movie | with Kuniyuki Takahashi, Ryuichi Takada, and Keiichi Hirokawa |
| 2017 | Kizumonogatari Part 3: Reiketsu | & ending theme "étoile et toi " |
| 2017 | Frame Arms Girl | opening theme "Tiny Tiny" |
| 2017 | Owarimonogatari | & opening themes "terminal terminal" and "dreamy date drive" |
| 2017 | Fireworks | |
| 2017 | Wake Up, Girls! New Chapter | insert song "Kakeru x Kakeru" |
| 2018 | Fate/Extra Last Encore | & opening theme "Bright Burning Shout"; with Kakeru Ishihama, Keigo Hoashi, Ryuichi Takada, and Ken Namba |
| 2019 | Zoku Owarimonogatari | opening theme "07734" |
| 2019 | Beastars | & ending themes "Le Zoo" and "Floating Story on the Moon"; insert songs "Many Stories" and "A Tale of Moon"; with Ryuichi Takada |
| 2020 | Maesetsu! | with Oliver Good and Keita Inoue |
Video games
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1999 | Aqua Rush | with Akitaka Tohyama and Yoshihito Yano |
| 2000 | Tekken Tag Tournament | PS2 version; & trumpet; with various others |
| 2001 | Mr. Driller G | trumpet |
| 2001 | Tekken 4 | arcade version; with Yuu Miyake and Akitaka Tohyama |
| 2001 | ' | & various insert songs, lyrics, vocals |
| 2002 | Tekken 4 | PS2 version; with Yuu Miyake, Akitaka Tohyama, Hiroshi Okubo, and Keiki Kobayashi |
| 2002 | Taiko no Tatsujin 3 | trumpet |
| 2002 | Mr. Driller Drill Land | trumpet |
| 2003 | Yumeria | & trumpet, melodica |
| 2003 | ' | with Yuu Miyake, Hiroshi Okubo, Akitaka Tohyama, and Koji Nakagawa |
| 2004 | Katamari Damacy | trumpet |
| 2004 | Xenosaga Freaks | Xenopittan minigame only; & various insert songs; with Hiroshi Okubo |
| 2004 | Kotoba no Puzzle: Mojipittan Daijiten | & trumpet, various insert songs, lyrics, vocals; with various others |
| 2004 | Tekken 5 | arcade version; with various others |
| 2005 | Tekken 5 | PS2 version; & theme song "Sparking"; with various others |
| 2005 | We Love Katamari | trumpet |
| 2005 | The Idolmaster | arcade version; insert song "Mahou wo Kakete!", lyrics |
| 2005 | Taiko no Tatsujin: Tobikkiri! Anime Special | opening theme "Hibike! Taiko no Tatsujin", trumpet |
| 2005 | ' | with various others |
| 2005 | Taiko no Tatsujin: Wai Wai Happy Rokudaime | trumpet |
| 2005 | Me & My Katamari | trumpet |
| 2006 | Rappelz | with Keiichi Okabe |
| 2007 | Kotoba no Puzzle: Mojipittan DS | |
| 2007 | The Idolmaster | Xbox 360 version; insert song "Go My Way!!", trumpet |
| 2007 | Beautiful Katamari | trumpet |
| 2007 | Tekken 6 | "Artificial Ruins" |
| 2007 | The Promise of Haruhi Suzumiya | with Hiromoto Nakaya |
| 2008 | Lucky Star: Ryōō Gakuen Ōtōsai | opening theme "Hamatte Sabotte Oh My God!" |
| 2008 | The Idolmaster Live For You! | insert song "My Song" |
| 2008 | Kotoba no Puzzle: Mojipittan Wii | |
| 2008 | Secret Game: Killer Queen | opening theme "Secret Game" |
| 2009 | ' | opening theme "The Secret Garden", insert song "Dear Cocoa Girls" |
| 2009 | The Idolmaster Dearly Stars | theme song "Hello!!" |
| 2009 | Sekirei: Gifts from the Future | ending theme "Survive Baby Survive!" |
| 2010 | Tantei Opera Milky Holmes | opening theme "Ameagari no Mirai", ending theme "Kikoenakutemo Arigatо̄" |
| 2018 | Monogatari Series PucPuc | theme song "wicked prince" |
| 2019 | Bai Wen Pai | with Ryuichi Takada |