News

Anime Music Composer Yuki Kajiura Leaves Agency After 25 Years

Musician and composer Yuki Kajiura confirmed on Wednesday that she has left the Space Craft Produce talent agency.

She announced the resulting closure of her fan club FictionJunction Club. She also announced the "Yuki Kajiura Live vol#14" concerts which will take place at the Maihama Ampitheater in Chiba on June 30, July 1, and July 15, as well as at the NHK Hall in Osaka on July 12.

In subsequent posts, she thanked her agency for its support during her career, and noted that she will continue to work in music. She also thanked the various singers with whom she was able to work during her time in the agency. Regarding her music group Kalafina, she noted that their status will end up changing, so she cannot truly say that it will be the same as before. However, she said that she respects the group members and still wants to cheer them on.

Kajiura has been performing music from an early age, and began her professional involvement in the music industry in 1992 as keyboardist of the band See-Saw. The band broke up in 1995. Kajiura went solo and composed soundtracks for the Kimagure Orange Road: Summer's Beginning, Eat-Man, and Noir anime. Kōichi Mashimo, the director of Noir, would go on to collaborate with Kajiura again when See-Saw reunited in 2001, and Kajiura collaborated with Mashimo on the .hack project.

Kajiura later started the FictionJunction project, a collaboration project with various singers, and then started the Kalafina music group to perform the theme songs for The Garden of Sinners anime films. (Kajiura also composed the films' soundtracks.) Kajiura has composed music and songs for Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Sword Art Online, Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel, Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE, Le Portrait de Petite Cossette, My-HiME, Princess Principal, and many other anime.

According to Sponichi Annex's report, Kajiura will work as a freelancer for now. The report noted that the Kalafina music group also has no currently scheduled plans. Sponichi Annex's source claimed that the group's members are "currently in discussion but are having difficulty." Sponichi Annex added that Kajiura's departure has "considerably impacted the group," further noting that Kajiura has "always guided the group's activities." The group recently performed their 10th anniversary concert at the Budokan on January 23, and has a 10th anniversary film that will screen in select theaters in Japan from March 30 to April 12. While the group was originally founded for The Garden of Sinners anime films, the group has also performed theme songs for such anime as Sound of the Sky, Aldnoah.Zero, Black Butler, Time of Eve, and more.

According to Sponichi Annex's previous report in December, Kajiura left Space Craft Produce due to a disagreement with a new manager, and that Kajiura was negotiating the rights to her music with the agency at the time. The report claimed that Kajiura was supervised by a certain manager in Space Craft Produce for a long time, but the manager was allegedly replaced by a new female manager after Kalafina's Budokan concert in September 2016. The report claimed that Kajiura had differences with her new manager regarding the direction of her music. After her previous manager supposedly left the company last June, and with continued disagreements with her new manager, Kajiura allegedly decided to leave the agency.

Source: Sponichi Annex (link 2)

Update: Typo fixed. Thanks omiya