Katsuo Ohno

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Katsuo Ohno

Katsuo Ohno.jpg

Profile
Gender: Male
Date of birth: September 12, 1939
Place of birth: Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan
Position: Music
Years active: 1962-2021
Aliases: おおの かつお
Website: Spotify Profile
Last name can also be Ono.

Katsuo Ohno (大野 克夫 Ōno Katsuo?) is a well-known Japanese music composer born in Kyoto Prefecture. He has been responsible for the background music of Detective Conan anime and movies. This includes all the soundtracks used in TV anime and all soundtracks used in movies 1 to 24. In addition, he was also credited as music in all Magic and Bonus Files, three TV specials, two crossover works with Lupin III, coupled with Drama specials. Ohno has created dozens of graceful melodies that are unintentionally etched within the Detective Conan audience's mind; his 25-year passion for composition has added icing on the cake of Detective Conan. Mingling immaculately the current trend and jazz into his works, is unmitigated a miracle.

Biography

Drawing of Ohno by Gosho Aoyama.

Katsu Ohno was born on September 12, 1939, in a kimono shop in the Shijō-Kawaramachi (四条堀川町) neighborhood of Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto. The youngest of five children, Ohno had a father who played the shakuhachi, while his mother played the koto[1].

Katsuo Ohno began his career as a Hawaiian guitarist, and had taken jazz cafes in Kansai as the main site of his performances. In 1962, he established a music band named "THE SPIDERS", in which he was part of it as keyboardist. After roughly ten years, the band was disbanded; consequently, Ohno started to collaborate with singers Kenji Sawada (沢田 研二) and Kenichi Hagiwara (萩原 健一), whereupon he appeared as a member of "Inoue BOND" on stage. During this period of time, Ohno produced many songs for Kenji Sawada, for example, As Time Goes By (时の过ぎゆくままに).

In 1972, Ohno started to get involved in the music production of TV dramas; in the same year, he was responsible for composing and arranging the soundtracks in the drama Embrace the Sun; Ohno received a fairly high evaluation due to his work. Later, from 1975 to 1977, he had persistently won several awards and recognitions in all aspects among the music industry; this includes the Japan Record Corporation (日本レコード大赏) granted by virtue of his work Do As I Wish in 1977. As a result, he was already considered as the best-selling producer in the industry back then and held a venerable position in Japan.

Starting in 1996, Ohno began to produce music for the series Detective Conan, as well as for the annually-aired movies; when each movie was released, the corresponding soundtrack album was also released. At first, Ohno intended to bring the passion of Taiyō ni Hoero! (太陽にほえろ！) into the composition of Detective Conan; this is also the reason why one can find many similarities between the two works in terms of soundtracks.

Works in Detective Conan

Anime

In 1996, Katsuo Ohno composed the "Detective Conan" Main Theme. This main theme is the version that was widely played on media and recognised by almost everyone. Ohno composed the music based on a work of his, Taiyō ni Hoero! Main Theme. The instruments utilised are mostly analogous; for example, the drum kit was used to keep the rhythm; bass was mainly played continuously in the background, serving as a Basso Continuo; keyboard as harmony accompaniment; and most importantly, the saxophone as the main melody voice. Apparently, Detective Conan Main Theme is a variation of the Taiyō ni Hoero! Main Theme.

The melody line of the main theme.

Later, within the same year, Ohno sequentially released three soundtracks; all of the music collected within was exclusively for the series, even though some of the music found in the 2nd album was left unused. Within these music, many classic-famous soundtracks with great symbolism of Detective Conan are found, such as Ran's Theme (蘭のテーマ Ran no Tēma?), Carefree Feeling (のんびり気分 Nonbiri Kibun?), Depressing Sunset (沈む夕陽 Shizumu Yūhi?), and The Mysterious Bandaged Man 1 (怪人包帯男１ Kaijin Hōtai Otoko 1?), etc.

In 2007, the music production company responsible for the series was changed from Universal Music to Being (now known as B ZONE), thus Ohno released a new CD called Detective Conan TV Original Soundtrack Selection Best. Most likely, because of this, Ohno had to make new arrangements for almost all Detective Conan soundtracks in anime (some were abandoned as a result), and to differentiate the two separate soundtracks, the newly arranged ones will be marked with '07 in the tail end. For example, the melody line of Conan's Victory (コナンの勝利 Konan no Shōri?) is played by brass instruments, while the melody line of Conan's Victory '07 (コナンの勝利'07 Konan no Shōri '07?) is played by percussion instruments. Now, the older versions of the soundtracks are completely deactivated, and the '07 sets are in use.

Movies

In 1997, the first Detective Conan movie Movie 1: The Time-Bombed Skyscraper was released. Consequently, Ohno had to make peculiar arrangements from the original Detective Conan soundtracks that would be as befit a movie much of the music was retained with its authentic melody line but altered with a different arrangement of the theme of the movie (brand-new soundtracks were also composed; for the first movie, see Detective Conan "The Time-Bombed Skyscraper" Original Soundtrack).

In 2012, starting Movie 16: The Eleventh Striker, Ohno's apprentice, Miyazawa Ken (宮 澤謙), began to be in charge of the main arranging works for the main theme every year; Ohno is still the main composer for new soundtracks within the movies - until 2021, when Ohno proclaimed to retire from the music role in Detective Conan after Movie 24: The Scarlet Bullet (so Ken had to leave the job as well), yet the TV anime is still using the movie soundtracks that Ohno composed before his retirement.

Movie 1 (1997)

The melody of intro.

For the first movie, the main theme is vaguely similar to the original main theme utilised in TV anime: that is, the intro segment also entails the utilisation of brass and stringed instruments; the volume of the bass is exceptionally high and almost covers the saxophone's melody line, which played a significant role in the background, which kept performing an Ostinato (guitar loop) that adds textures to the intro. Unlike other main themes, Ohno had executed a special variation within the main melody played by the saxophone: the most well-known intro is F F F F G Bb F; in this version, Ohno changed it into: F F F Ab Bb C Eb F Ab C. The last segment is as though an Arpeggio, which speeds up gradually (from quavers to semi-quavers).

During the interlude segment, saxophone was removed as the main melody instrument; on the contrary, bass takes over the main voice, where piano does accompaniment by using octaves, usually at the end of the music bars. After that, the saxophone gets its melody back, right in the middle of a verse. Throughout the piece, drum kit and bass are invariably played in the background to offer a beat for the soloist.

Movie 2 (1998)

The missing note marked on the melody line.

For another arrangement of the main theme, the intro segment was again being varied; this version is also exceedingly prominent and popular - though Ohno etched a special detail within, that is, there were some "switcheroos" concealed in bar 3; note the missing section at the end of the measure. This may be seen as a mistake conducted by the arranger Ohno, yet it was intentional: the 14th note of the music (Eb) was silenced. This was probably done to match with the title of the movie: The Fourteenth Target.

Apart from the intro, the arrangement itself is also rather innovative; for example, Ohno chose electric guitar as the instrument to play the melody theme throughout the whole piece (customarily played by the saxophone). Moreover, the arrangement engendered a particularly "Rock 'N' Roll" style, in which the drum kit manifested a much more intense performance. This was possibly influenced by the trend in the late 90s; even B'z (a band from the music company Being) promoted many songs of that style. In the last segment, abruptly, Ohno decided to bring the saxophone back as the main theme instrument. He did this by creating a duet between the electric guitar and the saxophone: the saxophone playing the main melody again with the Guitar Solo in the background. This technique enriches greatly the texture of the piece by making it Polyphonic.

Movie 3 (1999)

The intro segment is mainly the same as the previous arrangement, yet the instruments utilised were altered significantly. The intro started off with a jazz saxophone; later, at the end of bar 2, an alto saxophone kicks in as accompaniment, which can be regarded as an "on-going Call and Response". Overall, this creates a Jazz sensation for the piece.

In the Chorus section, the electric music and trumpet joined the orchestra sequentially, where the synthesised notes were performed in Unison. After that, the saxophone kicks in again. Then the bass solo comes into play: two electric guitars were plucked in piano as background accompaniment, and keyboard as well.

The usual Coda.

Noteworthy, the music did not end with melody Eb E F C Db Bb C G Ab F like the previous two arrangements, but rather a sudden cease with sforzando.

Movie 4 (2000)

The movie 4 main theme is the only arrangement that has nearly "no" variations from the TV theme; as such, the intro was kept original (this implies that the up-going scales comprised by semi-quavers in the movie 1 theme would be replaced by triplets). As usual, the saxophone plays the main voice, then a saxophone solo begins, laced with the utilisation of a peculiar instrument - the marimba, which plays the intro. Right after, the melody instrument switches to the bass; likewise, as in the previous arrangement, there are two electric guitars softly plucking strings in the background.

Movie 5 (2001)

As the movie title suggests Countdown to Heaven, Ohno conceived a unique intro for this, where the similar melody of it is also utilised in Movie 6: The Phantom of Baker Street and Movie 9: Strategy Above the Depths. This produces a sense of "spiral descent", in which the arpeggios played in each bar get lowered by a note every time.

Notably, during the 2nd verse, the string family plays the intro again, and the saxophone would perform semi-breves tied in several bars. After that, the electric guitar gets its solo, which precisely befits the Black Organization theme since movie 5 is the first movie that involves the organisation within. Another ingenious segment entailed in this arrangement is the main theme played by the French horn, and the electric music does accompaniment: it manifests "ethereal", as though the core purpose of the movie - heaven. Then, in the middle of the bar, the saxophone takes over the melody line unexpectedly, just like movie 1.

The unique intro used in movies 5, 6, and 9.

What is more, starting this movie, the music was performed by orchestral instruments, hence giving a more classical sounding. This sharply escalates the scale of the music, which is very suitable to be used in the ultimate car action scene featured at the end of the film.

Movie 6 (2002)

As discussed above, the intro of movie 6 is almost the same as the previous one; it is important to notice that Ohno had made some shrewd details to distinguish them: for The Phantom of Baker Street, the noise of the clock hand ticking can be heard in the background during the "spiral descent" performance, which also matches the fact that in the movie, the clock on the Big Ben displays the number of survivors in the game. After the intro, the theme melody is again being played by the saxophone; in the 2nd verse, there is another faint variation on the tied notes played by the saxophone: the first tied segment was played normally and at a high volume of sound, yet in the second tied segment, the note was quietening while simultaneously playing one 8va bassa (lower pitched).

In the electric guitar solo of this arrangement, compared to the previous one, the devise is apparently more courageous and bold, with substantial variations. Moreover, the utilisation of violins (string families) within the piece became even more pervasive and intense in terms of its dynamics. The violin timbre precisely pairs up with the retro-style that the movie theme renders.

Movie 7 (2003)

This year, Ohno brought back the intro he composed for Movie 2: The Fourteenth Target in 1998, yet he appended a "pre-intro" upon that. This segment is composed of two repeated Broken Chords, followed by a scale (ascending by steps). Only then did the actual intro start. Noticeably, in the 2nd bar, an archaic instrument named wooden fish knocks twice. Owing to the fact that this movie takes place in the historically-famous city of Kyoto, the use of this instrument creates the atmosphere of a historical temple, which is exactly the theme of the movie.

The newly-added pre-intro.

Compared to the previous arrangements, the movie 7 one is of less diversified: less improvisation included (more inclined towards the actual melody line); less arpeggios and Glissandos; and lastly, the removal of the bass solo.

Movie 8 (2004)

The movie 8 theme is almost a "copycat" of the previous one, since the arrangements are exactly the same, despite the change in dynamics and some minor use of instruments; even the time duration of the two soundtracks is the same (2:55). Just like the previous arrangement, the intro is also played by the electric guitar. Importantly, the biggest difference between the main themes of movies 7 and 8 is the dynamics within the instruments: the saxophone and the string family in the movie 8 theme are apparently a lot resonant and magnificent, whereas in the former arrangement, the melody line played by the saxophone is rather unclear. Ohno made his best at making appropriate choices when arranging for a piece played by various instruments; he knows how to handle different matters when encountering different occasions: movie 8 is evidently related to Kaito Kid and will assuredly contain many action scenes; this arrangement is precisely rhythmic.

Movie 9 (2005)

The movie 9 theme is also mostly analogous to the theme of Movie 5: Countdown to Heaven. To differentiate the three pieces, Ohno added some sound effects in the intros of each: for the movie 9 one, it's the sound of ocean waves, whilst the case from the film also takes place on a cruise ship. However, the sound of the clock hand ticking is retained in this arrangement as well (which supposedly should only be present in the movie 6 one). Furthermore, for the drum beat performed in the very top, the strength of the last beat is different in these arrangements: for both the main themes of movies 5 and 9, they are rather soft, yet for movie 6, it is relatively loud. Once again, when arriving at the tied notes for the saxophone, the movie 9 one started off with fairly high dynamics, but executed diminuendo (getting softer) as the note suspended (just like how Aphrodite Cruise Ship sank into the ocean). Then, during the electric guitar solo section, the brass family in the background is played louder than the ones found in the other two; this constructs a sense of mystery and suspense, and the plot of the film just happened to be pure orthodox mystery.

Movie 10 (2006)

Starting with this one, Ohno began to use the intro from movie 2 on a large scale. The pre-chorus this time is extremely short, in which it only contains 1 bar with merely two notes: C Eb. This time, the instruments for the main voice and intro are swapped: the saxophone is responsible for the intro, and two electric guitars play the melody line subsequently. Some fans think that the two guitars playing the main theme symbolise the main detective characters featured in the movie - Shinichi Kudo and Heiji Hattori. After that, in the chorus section, the saxophone plays the main melody and the guitars do the accompaniment, overturning the situation in the verse. Incidentally, this part of the music first featured in the theme of Movie 2: The Fourteenth Target, where the melody goes like A Eb Db C Ab Bb G etc.

Additionally, the structure of the main theme of movie 10 is almost the same as the structure of the '07 new main theme; most likely, at that time, Ohno had already begun arranging for the '07 soundtracks.

Movie 11 (2007)

The melody of intro.

Out of the main themes from the past years, this one can be considered innovative: the pre-chorus was chosen to be played by lightly strumming guitar strings and using a digital keyboard, overall creating the illusion of "unearthly pirates". Only because of this short segment from this arrangement, the sound directors who work for Detective Conan TV anime often use it in episodes where something mysterious is about to be revealed, for example, when the luxury watch owned by Keita Kaneko was about to be introduced in Episode 989: The Case of Ayumi's Illustrated Diary. After the brisk pre-intro, the intro and verse kick in unexpectedly, along with the usual saxophone and electric guitars.

The verse and chorus segment from this arrangement lack highlights and may be regarded as monotonous, yet the bass solo contained a great deal of variations: the melody line is utterly independent from the main theme and includes many use of articulations like Staccato and Accent, which is more jazzy-feeling when referring to its sounding.

Movie 12 (2008)

While retaining the intro from movie 2, this arrangement removed the pre-chorus segment. The music starts directly with the intro C Bb Ab G F; the melody line is played by a bass, and in the background, there is another bass playing repeated bars of background accompaniment, which is exceedingly similar to the theme of Movie 1: The Time-Bombed Skyscraper. After the usual verse played by the saxophone, Ohno inserted a section of bass solo, which is apparently the same one as the previous arrangement in movie 11. Then the guitar solo starts, an improvisation that sounds fairly old-fashioned. Although the theme of the movie is related to classical western music, the instruments utilised within this arrangement are mostly modern jazz instruments; classical instruments such as the organ, the lute, and the harpsichord are not utilised.

Movie 13 (2009)

Similarly to previous instances, the theme of movie 13 is almost the same as the theme of movie 12, that is, the structures are identical but with slight variations. In the beginning, Ohno added a glissando played by the music synthesiser (whereas in the theme of movie 12, the intro starts immediately). Compared to the previous arrangement, the timbre of the bass and saxophone in this one is softer, yet the beat of the drum kit is louder. Based on the drum beat, it can be perceived that the rhythm is rather rapid, which can be up to roughly 140 bpm. After the 1st verse was played, a soft sound of the guitar's Alternate Picking was present. Right after, the music style altered promptly: the instrument was switched to the keyboard, creating a pure minor atmosphere. In fact, it is only a variation of the soundtrack Ohno composed separately for this movie, Opaque Fruit (不透明な果実 Futōmeina Kajitsu?), which is often used for plots concerned with the Black Organization in the main anime. This may seem casual, but this section was composed exclusively for the movie introduction, when Conan explains Shiho Miyano and the Organization members. This segment occupied almost half of the piece (1:30); to return to the main theme, another glissando was performed.

As a result, the main theme of movie 13 has two versions: a full version ("Raven Full Version") and an original version ("Raven Medley Version"). The "Raven Medley Version" is the one used in the movie, with the annexation of the Black Organization section. The "Raven Full Version" is just like a "remastered" version with a thorough Detective Conan conventional melody line.

Movie 14 (2010)

Just like the movie 13 main theme, there are two versions for this arrangement; the "Sky Musical Suite Version" had the interlude segment removed and was replaced with Kaitou Kid Appears '07 (怪盗キッド出現'07 Kaitō Kiddo Shutsugen '07?) followed by Siamese Cat (シャムネコ Shamu Neko?). This alteration was made to collocate with the introduction of Jirokichi Suzuki and Kaito Kid, where Jirokichi appeared while he was doing his morning exercises. In the other version, namely, "Sky Version", that abrupt segment was replaced with the melody of another song Ohno composed for this movie, called Lonely Sky (ロンリースカイ Ronrii Sukai?). Note that this segment can be considered a variation but not equivalent to the chorus first featured in the movie 2's theme. Obviously, several electronic synthesisers play in a Homophonic fashion, with faint application of Fermata (sustained notes). The electric guitar plays as accompaniment occasionally, and the percussion instrument triangolo keeps the beat, giving it a light feel, as though on top of the airship and in the clouds.

The melody of intro.

The intro of this arrangement is exceedingly innovative and special, as by far, this melody line has only appeared once among ALL Detective Conan main themes. The variation is fairly exhaustive; it may not even sound like an intro from Detective Conan. Apart from the intro and interlude, the solo part is usually done by the bass, yet this time, it is performed by the keyboard. However,  playing the low voice keys - at times, ornaments can be heard, such as the Mordent (short trill), which is a quintessential element found in Baroque music. At the same time, the synthesiser and the electric guitar play harmony in the background, adding amusement to the variation. Most importantly, the piece ends with an interesting glissando played by the synthesiser as well as the rapid rhythm played by the snare drums.

Movie 15 (2011)

Even though this time Ohno did not use the usual intro from the movie 2 theme, he regurgitates the intro of his early work: Taiyō ni Hoero!. Because of this, the intro assigns the listener a sensation of whooping, which is exactly what the saxophone is playing in the beginning. This time, there is only one version for this main theme, but the interlude section midst the piece is also unexpected; right after the electric guitar solo, the tempo had apparently diminished, and There is One Destination (行き先はひとつ Ikisaki wa Hitotsu?) was played instead. Most likely, this melody was added, owing to the fact that the most renowned quote originated from this movie was uttered when this background music was played.

Words are like swords. If you use them the wrong way, they'll turn into ugly weapons. Once those words leave your mouth, you'll never be able to take them back.

—Conan Edogawa

Owing to this incoordination with the main theme, it was not utilised during the introduction section of the movie (and the insertion of movie-based BGMs' technique was never brought up by Ohno ever again). When the interlude ended, the Da Capo was being executed, and the piece ended fiercely with the usual coda.

Movie 16 (2012)

Starting with this movie, the main theme began to sound unconventional. This is because - Ohno's apprentice, Ken Miyazawa, undertakes the majority of the arranging work of the Detective Conan main theme every year. The music style had altered drastically from this movie onwards, as can be seen in all aspects:

The melody of intro.
  • The tempo of the melody line became slower, at around 125 bpm.
  • The melody line was different from the previous arrangements, signifying early Detective Conan movie themes; notably, at the end of the melody line: Bb F Eb Db C Bb C. Usually, Ohno likes to assign the notes C Bb with either Appogiatura or semi-quavers, sometimes even removing them and going straight to the final C note. On the other hand, Ken always assigns them as a valid note (usually quavers), sharing similarities with the melody line of the famed song Kimi ga Ireba.
  • Ken's peculiar variation is usually conducted by changing the note values of a set of notes: when there is a scale comprised of quavers, he changes it into consecutive crochets. For example, if a scale from the intro reads G Ab Bb C, normally Ohno would make them as quavers, leaving some rests at the end of the bar, yet Ken made it into four crochets in this arrangement.

This time, the interlude is performed by the piano; it surprisingly ends with a Chromatic Scale played by the electric guitar, which is very rare to be heard in all of the movie's main themes. This also manifests Miyazawa Ken's diversified personal styles.

Movie 17 (2013)

After taking over responsibility for the arrangement of the Detective Conan main theme, Ken has started to experiment with even more gutsy ideas within his works. The intro for this movie is again newly conceived, with a simulation sound of a radar in the background, matching the theme of the movie itself. Rather than the keyboard for harmony performance, Ken brought up the utilisation of an electric synthesiser, deviating from the rock style constructed by his teacher Ohno and making the main theme sound more modern. The bass solo returned for this arrangement as well, giving a rather clear and crisp effect to the overall music.

The most ear-catching part of this arrangement is the interlude segment, which is composed of two instruments - saxophone and bass. When the saxophone plays a high note, the bass responds with a low note; this is another "Call and Response" compositional device entailed within. Incidentally, the note played by the saxophone is sharp and loud, presumably accented and marked with staccato notation. This can be considered a "kick", which is when the band stops playing and halts for a certain amount of time, creating a contrast sensation with the proceeding bars.

Movie 18 (2014)

Altering the melody line into "staccato".

After Ken had collaborated with the composer for Lupin III, Yuji Ohno, in Lupin III vs. Detective Conan: The Movie Original Soundtrack; he was influenced by Yuji Ohno's peculiar jazz style, which resulted the fact that he began to utilise staccato techniques within the melody line of the Detective Conan movie main theme greatly. Before, Ohno used to only use simple note values, say, regular notes like minims, crochets, quavers etc.; now, Ken uses irregular notes such as semi-quavers and "dotted crochets". This is a phenomenon that often appears in Jazz and Blues music, called Syncopation, meaning "off-beat"; listeners may invariably think that the beat is incorrect as the notes are "not correctly" played.

In addition, the interlude this time is rather short: under the percussion assigning the rhythm, the bass gets its solo and improvises a bit; the timber of the bass precisely matches the core theme of the movie, as well as the title - Dimensional Sniper. Despite the innovative syncopation utilised, the entire song is yet a duplicate (nearly) of the previous arrangement that Ken did under the supervision of Yuji Ohno, "Detective Conan Main Theme (Lupin III VS Detective Conan Version)".

Movie 19 (2015)

Similarly to the previous arrangement, the intro of this movie theme also starts with C Db, then there is an up-going leap: C F E Ab G Db C, going from low voice to high voice. While the saxophone was playing the main melody, there were a great deal of accompanying instruments performing, mostly low-voice instruments: electric synthesiser playing harmony, electric guitar pulling strings, and drum kit knocking the beat. During the interlude section, the keyboard playing electric timbre plays a solo. This greatly resembles the well-known BGM Ohno composed from the outset for Kaito Kid, named Kaitou Kid's Manifesto (怪盗キッドの予告状 Kaitō Kiddo no Yokokujō?); owing to the fact that this movie is related to Kid, this can be seen as a tribute done by Ken to his teacher Ohno.

Movie 20 (2016)

In terms of the melody line, the situation of the movie 20 main theme is the same as the one for movie 19, since both of them did not include any kinds of "staccato" or syncopation. However, amazingly, the electric guitar dominates the entire piece, serving as the main voice; the brass family instruments only act as an accompaniment in this piece. During the guitar solo segment, the improvisation of the electric guitar is extremely audacious and ingenious, and laced with Conan's introduction of the members of the organization, it adds a sense of mystical to the movie. What is more, the electric guitar in this arrangement is played by Tak Matsumoto, a guitarist from the band B'z.

Movie 21 (2017)

The melody of intro.

This movie's main theme is considered to be one of the superb arrangements of Detective Conan by many fans; that is, Ken has incorporated many effective compositional techniques into the piece. Ken had completely familiarised Katsuo Ohno's personal styles and works, say, the pre-chorus section from this arrangement is a rip-off of the intro of the Taiyō ni Hoero! Main Theme by Ohno, then, for the actual intro, he uses the melody in Movie 2:  The Fourteenth Target; the bass plays repeated Riff in the background, sharing similar sounding with the renowned Alberti Bass from the Classical era. After that, there is an arpeggio inserted to guide the entire piece into the saxophone verse; this is apparently paying homage to Ohno's movie 1 main theme.

The melody of interlude.

As discussed prior, Ken was deeply inspired by composer Yuji Ohno; as such, he started to add syncopation melody lines into the main themes - this one is no exception. For certain reasons, the beat played by the drum kit is rather fast and enthusiastic. The main voice is constituted of two saxophones playing in unison; after the saxophones play the verse twice, the bass takes over the melody line, and then the saxophone plays the next verse. Then, Ken added a segment to lead to the interlude - a copy of the "spiral descent" melody featured in Movie 5: Countdown to Heaven. Later on, the highlight of the piece comes: a violin solo, emphasising the fact that the movie pertains to traditional Japanese culture. Right after the solo, there is a variation melody played by the bass and string family, where Ken references the melody from a section in the Taiyō ni Hoero! Main Theme as well.

Movie 22 (2018)

In this arrangement, the use of digital synthesisers increased by a large margin (possibly owing to the addition of high tech within the movie from screenplay writer Takeharu Sakurai). The saxophone main melody line had been modified a little: the C Bb C quavers discussed in the main theme of Movie 16: The Eleventh Striker are now removed and replaced with only one note of C in semibreve. Another breakthrough in this main theme is the utilisation of cymbals along with the drums - not only does it resembles the mobilisation of the Tokyo Police, but it is also a representation of the Hi-hat, an element mainly found in R&B Music. In addition, the interlude this time is played by the viola, referencing the melody from the movie The Bourne Identity. 

Movie 23 (2019)

The melody of intro.

Ken again applied the arpeggio that Ohno used in the main theme of Movie 1: The Time-Bombed Skyscraper, where the intro starts with flattened notes and the bass plays repeated Riffs in the background as usual. The melody of the main theme is played by various instruments from the brass family, and every time a section ends, the respective instruments are switched:

  • French Horn → Trombone → Saxophone → Trumpet → Electric Guitar

Then, the piece goes into its interlude - a segment where the saxophone and electric synthesiser play a solo. There is a minuscule climax after that, where the violin and electric guitar play together, serving as a bridge between the interlude and the return of the melody. The movie setting is apparently Singapore; hence, this arrangement manifests precisely exotic charm, along with the confrontation between Kid and Makoto Kyogoku, giving a mighty sense. Another thing that is astonishing for this main theme is that Ken has brought back the long-lost classic chorus for the movie main themes (the melody of A Eb Db C Ab Bb G). In the end, Ken also rendered his ability of making variations from the original melody; boldly, he altered the melody line of the closing segment, in which a heavy and catchy Drum roll glissando was inserted at last; the piece ended forcefully with a powerful Perfect Cadence (tonic).

It is worth mentioning that, for this movie, Ken brought back the song that Ohno ceased making arrangements for since movie 10 - Kimi ga Ireba. The soundtrack is called The Prince's Fist (貴公子の拳 Kikoshi no ken?). This version was adapted based on Kimi ga Ireba, although it does not include vocals and lyrics.

Movie 24 (2021)

In this ultimate arrangement credited under the name of Katsuo Ohno, the main theme kept its complexity with ubiquitous variations. The intro part is a homage to the "spiral descent" first featured in the main theme of Movie 5: Countdown to Heaven (evidently Ken has been persistently studying his teacher Ohno's styles by making variations upon older melodies), even though this time the descending arpeggios are played in its minor tonality with the addition of glissando at the end. Then the customary C Bb Ab G F melody is again altered with some degree of syncopation, perpetuating the previous "off-beat" style which Ken fancies. In the main melody, the trumpet overtakes the saxophone after the first verse is played; the violin does harmony accompaniment in the background. The interlude of this arrangement maintained again the high-quality from Ken, exposing some British-style in the work, which is fairly similar to the main theme of Movie 6: The Phantom of Baker Street.

Other notable works

Anime

Non-anime

  • A Pool Without Water: Music
  • Haguregumo: Music
  • No More Comics!: Music
  • Our Wedding: Music
  • Statue in Fire: Music
  • Taiyō ni Hoero!: Music
  • The Sorrow of Paris: Music

See also

References

  1. 大野克夫 - Wikipedia
  2. 大野克夫 - Baidu Wiki
    1. ^ "作家インタビュー 第05回 大野克夫先生". 2024/05/21. https://ntvm.co.jp/interview-archives/000196/. .
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