Takanori Arisawa facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Takanori Arisawa
Born	(1951-04-02)April 2, 1951 Tokyo, Japan
Died	November 26, 2005(2005-11-26) (aged 54) Ōta, Tokyo, Japan
Education	Senzoku Gakuen
Occupation	Composer and arranger
Years active	1980–2005
Known for	Composing Sailor Moon series and Digimon series (Seasons 1-4)
Spouse(s)	Keiko Arisawa (m. ?–2005)

Takanori Arisawa (有澤 孝紀, Arisawa Takanori, April 2, 1951 – November 26, 2005) was a Japanese composer and arranger. He is best known for creating the music for popular anime series like Sailor Moon and Digimon (Seasons 1-4). He also wrote music for video games related to these shows.

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Arisawa started learning piano when he was 20 years old. After finishing his studies at Senzoku Gakuen College, he began his music career in 1980. He first worked on TV dramas for Tokyo Broadcasting System. From the 1990s until his death, Arisawa focused mainly on composing for anime. His music for Sailor Moon started with a pop music style. Over time, it changed to sound more like classical music. Sailor Moon became very popular, and Arisawa won several awards for his work. After Sailor Moon, he composed music for other shows, including the Digimon series, until he passed away in 2005.

About Takanori Arisawa

Arisawa was very interested in music from a young age. He mostly taught himself. He began learning piano when he was 20. At 22, he went to Senzoku Gakuen College. There, he earned degrees in Composing and Orchestral Music. He also studied jazz and pop music with a famous arranger named Norio Maeda.

In 1980, Arisawa's song "Shinjuku Transfer" was recorded. It was sung by a chorus group called SOAP. The group released a full album the next year. It was called "Harmotopia." They won an award for new composers in 1981. The group later broke up, but their album was re-released in 1993.

During the 1980s, Arisawa worked for Tokyo Broadcasting System. He wrote music for television commercials, including ads for Coca-Cola. He also composed for many TV dramas. He even released a song called "Takeoff of Love" for Japan Airlines' 30th anniversary. Later, he was the Music Director for the NHK show Let's Learn English!.

Music for Sailor Moon

As the Music Director for Sailor Moon, Arisawa won his first award in 1993. It was the Golden Disk Grand Prize from Columbia Records. He continued to compose music for the entire anime series. He also wrote music for several Sailor Moon video games and some of the stage musicals.

His music for Sailor Moon was very popular around the world. Because of this, he won the JASRAC International Award three times. He won in 1998, 2000, and 2001. This award is for the most international royalties, meaning his music was played a lot in other countries.

Arisawa really liked Hollywood-style music. He said his first ideas for the Sailor Moon soundtrack came from the Charlie's Angels TV series. He often used special symbols in his music for characters. He took ideas from many different genres and countries. As the Sailor Moon series went on, his music changed. It moved from a pop sound to more classical arrangements. This change showed how the main character grew stronger after difficult experiences.

In 2005, a piece of his music from Sailor Moon was used in Steven Spielberg's movie War of the Worlds. This happened before Arisawa passed away on November 26, 2005.

Works

Anime Series Music