Credits:
Composed by Christopher Franke
Performed by Christopher Franke and he Berlin Symphonic Film Orchestra
Conducted by Allan Wagner
Recorded and produced by Edgar Rothermich
Mastered by Rudy Panke
Vocals on "Alchemy of Love"by Nina Hagen & Rick Jude
Executive Producer: Taro Maki
Producer: Hidemi Satani, Akira Kawase
Reviews:
The real surprise in this film is the music. Christopher Franke, who does the soundtrack for the US Science
Fiction series BABYLON 5, does an excellent job producing the music for this movie. The Berlin Symphonic
Film Orchestra, which also does the soundtrack work on BABYLON 5, continues its sterling work. Accenting
the film just right, Sonic Images (the company involved in the production) definitely earns its keep.
--Orin Starchaser, The Online World of Anime @ Manga
The soundtrack by Christopher Franke (Babylon 5, formerly of Tangerine Dream) deserves mention. First
of all, hey, what's Christopher Franke doing here? I actually didn't realise he did the music until I was in the
theatre lobby waiting for the previous show to end, idly looking at the movie poster!
It is tempting to speak of the soundtrack in terms of a really strange episode of Babylon 5, but Franke uses a
broad enough range of expression in this one soundtrack to free himself from that clich*.
It's the kind of soundtrack that doesn't call attention to itself, but rather lurks in the background and
enhances the overall "movie experience". Having bought the CD, I was surprised that this carried over into
the CD-listening experience; this isn't a CD to listen to, as much as it is a CD to have on in the background as
you do something else, but there are some exceptions, including the ending vocal track "Alchemy of Love"
(sounding not unlike Jon Anderson of Yes), which immediately grab your attention. Certainly worth the
purchase price.
--Preston Nevins
The TENCHI MUYO! IN LOVE Soundtrack, done by Christopher Franke, is a wonderful piece of work that I feel
should be on everyone's list.
Released on 24 April 1996, this soundtrack is the second Japanese anime soundtrack done exclusively by an
American composer (the first being PROJECT A-KO), and the only Japanese animated movie soundtrack done
by an American composer. Christopher Franke, as most people already know, does the soundtrack and audio
work for Babylon 5, and his efforts have definitely made this soundtrack very good because of it.
This series of tracks seems to have been specifically set up to the appearance of the characters themselves,
with interweaving themes directly connected to the characters and woven together into the fabric of the
music itself. Sometimes there are completely dark pieces like "Kain Fukatsu" (Kain's revival), at other
times a bright piece like "Tenchi to Achika" (Tenchi and Achika). Other times, you get a mix of the two where
"dark" and "light" parts alternate freely, bringing a sort of struggle to the track that doesn't need the movie
for empathization. The fact that Sonic Images (Mr. Franke's studio) didn't leave anything out in doing the
soundtrack shows as well, as the CD has a wonderful quality and fullness of sound that occasionally seems to
be lacking from lesser soundtracks. This says to me that this disc is definitely worth more than its ยด3000.
The disc comes in a box with a small poster and comments on the movie by Mr. Franke. Careful though, as the
poster has paper cherry blossom petals enclosed in it.
--Orin Starchaser The Online World of Anime @ Manga
Pioneer decided to let Christopher Franke, who currently handles the music duties for the sci-fi series
Babylon 5, compose the score for this film. This is only the second time a non-Japanese composer has done
music for any anime (the first being Project A-Ko). Some of the faster, action-related music pieces sound a
little too "Babylon 5-ish," but I found the slow pieces quite moving. The very touching and almost magical
music used during the epilogue, together with what was happening on screen, made it particularly hard to
want the movie to end at all. The theme song, Alchemy Of Love, is also done in English.
--Ken Lau ANIMECCA
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