Asei Kobayashi has passed away

Hi all,

The office of Gatchaman and Gatchaman Fighter theme songs composer, Asei Kobayashi, released the news that he died May 30th of heart failure. He had been hospitalized in Tokyo.

Mr. Kobayashi was born on August 11, 1932 in the Suginami area of Tokyo and went to Keio University with the goal of becoming a doctor. After he joined one of the university's music clubs, he gradually shifted the focus of his studies to concentrate solely on music. Upon graduation, he applied to study further under famed composer and mandolin performer, Tadashi Hattori.

Kobayashi spent several years learning more about his craft by writing songs and advertising jingles. By 1962 he had made a name for himself as a commercial song/jingle writer and his work was highly desired. By the end of his career, he had composed thousands of commercial tunes for clients like Toyota, Sega, Suntory and Family Mart.

He accepted an offer in 1963 from Toei Animation to create the opening and closing themes for their first foray into weekly television animation, Wolf Boy Ken. It was one of the first ten animated series ever on Japanese television. That break also allowed him to compose themes for many animation and live-action children's adventure shows. Additional animated series that featured Kobayashi themes included Tekkaman, Voltes V, Combattler V and Golion (Voltron).

It was through his commercial jingle work at advertising company Yomiko, that Kobayashi was offered the chance to compose the theme songs for Gatchaman.

He also wrote for variety and stage productions, TV dramas, motion pictures and also popular music. In 1976, he won the prestigious Japan Records Award - Grand Prix Award for his composition, From a Northern Inn (sung by Harumi Miyako).

In later years, he continued to compose and appeared as a judge on the panels of numerous game show and talent contest shows. He was 88 years old.

The Other Jason
www.battleoftheplanets.info
www.battleoftheplanets.info/cnc