Biography
Renowned chiefly through his productions for the animation studio Gainax, famed for the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime series, the decorated Japanese composer and producer Shiro Sagisu unites the realms of imagery and music. Beyond his widely admired Evangelion scores, he has supplied music for prominent television and film properties including Bleach, Berserk, Ultraman/Gridman, and Godzilla. He also issues independent recordings, chiefly through the Shiro's Songbook series.
Born in Tokyo’s Setagaya special ward, Sagisu was immersed in music and cinema from childhood. Catholic nuns instructed him on piano and violin while his father, a celebrated manga artist and animator whose studio stood adjacent to the family home, introduced him to film. These dual influences prompted Sagisu to commit to a musical career. Early credits encompass keyboard arrangements for the jazz-fusion band Square on its 1978 release Lucky Summer Lady and his 1979 debut album EYES with the group Somethin' Special. He later produced tracks for Japanese pop vocalist Misia, R&B singer Ken Hirai, and electronic house artist Satoshi Tomiie, yet anime ultimately yielded his greatest achievements.
From the mid-1980s onward, Sagisu refined his approach through initial contributions to the Attacker You! television series and the theatrical adaptation of the Ai City manga. His arrangements for Ranma ½ carried him into the 1990s, a period that also encompassed work on Final Fantasy VI, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. His enduring ties to the latter property eventually secured the Tokyo Anime Award for Best Music in 2010. Further landmark projects of the 2000s featured scores for the Berserk and Bleach franchises. In 2015 Sagisu composed the metal-opera soundtrack for the two-part Attack on Titan film; recorded with the London Studio Orchestra, the score fused distorted metal guitars, industrial synths, and drumbeats into his characteristically expansive palette. The following year he extended his résumé by another emblem of Japanese popular culture, Godzilla. For 2016’s Shin Godzilla, also known as Godzilla Resurgence, Sagisu merged original composer Akira Ifukube’s themes with his own, forging a contemporary portrait of the iconic creature. He closed the decade by issuing the solo collections Shiro's Songbook: The Hidden Wonder of Music and Shiro's Ani-Songbook.
Sagisu opened the 2020s with further Songbook installments—2022’s 11 and Bleach Bankai!—alongside continued contributions to the Gridman, Berserk, Evangelion, Ultraman, and Bleach properties.
Born in Tokyo’s Setagaya special ward, Sagisu was immersed in music and cinema from childhood. Catholic nuns instructed him on piano and violin while his father, a celebrated manga artist and animator whose studio stood adjacent to the family home, introduced him to film. These dual influences prompted Sagisu to commit to a musical career. Early credits encompass keyboard arrangements for the jazz-fusion band Square on its 1978 release Lucky Summer Lady and his 1979 debut album EYES with the group Somethin' Special. He later produced tracks for Japanese pop vocalist Misia, R&B singer Ken Hirai, and electronic house artist Satoshi Tomiie, yet anime ultimately yielded his greatest achievements.
From the mid-1980s onward, Sagisu refined his approach through initial contributions to the Attacker You! television series and the theatrical adaptation of the Ai City manga. His arrangements for Ranma ½ carried him into the 1990s, a period that also encompassed work on Final Fantasy VI, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. His enduring ties to the latter property eventually secured the Tokyo Anime Award for Best Music in 2010. Further landmark projects of the 2000s featured scores for the Berserk and Bleach franchises. In 2015 Sagisu composed the metal-opera soundtrack for the two-part Attack on Titan film; recorded with the London Studio Orchestra, the score fused distorted metal guitars, industrial synths, and drumbeats into his characteristically expansive palette. The following year he extended his résumé by another emblem of Japanese popular culture, Godzilla. For 2016’s Shin Godzilla, also known as Godzilla Resurgence, Sagisu merged original composer Akira Ifukube’s themes with his own, forging a contemporary portrait of the iconic creature. He closed the decade by issuing the solo collections Shiro's Songbook: The Hidden Wonder of Music and Shiro's Ani-Songbook.
Sagisu opened the 2020s with further Songbook installments—2022’s 11 and Bleach Bankai!—alongside continued contributions to the Gridman, Berserk, Evangelion, Ultraman, and Bleach properties.
Albums

Carnival of Hollow Masks
2026

TV Animation BLEACH THE BLOOD WARFARE Original Soundtrack 2
2025

TV Animation BLEACH THE BLOOD WARFARE Original Soundtrack 1
2023

Una Sterminata Domenica (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
2023

Black Snow
2023

BERSERK The Golden Age Arc MEMORIAL EDITION ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK Disc 3
2023

BERSERK The Golden Age Arc MEMORIAL EDITION ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK Disc 2
2023

BERSERK The Golden Age Arc MEMORIAL EDITION ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK Disc 1
2023

EVANGELION: DEATH (Original Soundtrack)
2023

THE END OF EVANGELION (Original Soundtrack)
2023

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION III (Original Soundtrack)
2023

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION II (Original Soundtrack)
2023

SHIRO'S SONGBOOK BLEACH Bankai!
2022

EVANGELION INFINITY
2022

Shiro's Songbook 11
2022

Shiro SAGISU Music from "SHIN EVANGELION" EVANGELION: 3.0+1.0.
2021

Shin Godzilla (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
2020

Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (Original Soundtrack Album)
2016

Attack on Titan (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
2015

MAGI SOUNDTRACK ~To the kingdom of magic~
2014

MAGI SOUNDTRACK ~Up to the volume on Balbad~
2013

BLEACH the Movie: The Hell Verse Original Soundtrack
2010

TV Animation BLEACH Original Soundtrack 4
2009

BLEACH the Movie: Fade to Black Original Soundtrack
2008

TV Animation BLEACH Original Soundtrack 3
2008

BLEACH the Movie: The DiamondDust Rebellion Original Soundtrack
2007

BLEACH the Movie: Memories of Nobody Original Soundtrack
2006

TV Animation BLEACH Original Soundtrack 2
2006

TV Animation BLEACH Original Soundtrack 1
2005

Casshern (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack / Complete Edition)
2004

Tribute To Cool !! Shiro's Songbook 2.5
2001

Shiro's Songbook 2
2000

Shiro's Songbook "Remixes And More"
2000
Singles

