No need for reminiscing.

Today is Seikou Nagaoka's birthday (as well as John Addison's birthday, but that fact isn't terribly relevant to this post). As I do on every composer's birthday, that I know of, I play their music. The only music I have of Nagaoka's are the original Japanese soundtracks to "Tenchi Muyo!" and "Tenchi Universe".

Playing these CDs reminds me of how I picked them up over a decade ago in ebay auctions (each of them was $9.99) and how I'm transported back to the days of college when I'd watch "Tenchi" on Cartoon Network back when they had Toonami.

I haven't played these CDs in a long time, and I'm struck by how evocative this music is (not just in general, but evocative of the show and specific moments). Nagaoka's music is electronic (like a lot of anime soundtracks), but augmented by piano and sound design to create something magical.

I searched online this morning for information about track listings for the CDs, since all the type is in Japanese. What did I come up with? Bupkis. Thankfully, I remembered that I printed out track listings back when I first got the CDs. Thanks to a streaming site and a number of (surely now-defunct) fansites, I was able to follow the music and recall the moments they underscored.

As with the music, I haven't seen the shows in a long time. I think that would be the main hurdle in writing a review of this music, which I would really like to do someday.

I've encountered a number of anime since then, but (with the noted exception of the work of Yoko Kanno - "Cowboy Bebop") none of their soundtracks have made as strong an impression as Seikou Nagaoka's work on "Tenchi."