Yoko Kanno's soundtrack themes include "
Kiseki no Umi" (
Lodoss War), "Voices" (
Macross Plus), "
Tank!" (
Cowboy Bebop), "
Yakusoku wa Iranai" (
Escaflowne), "
Gravity" (''
Wolf's Rain), the whole soundtrack of Turn A Gundam, "Inner Universe" (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) and Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. In regards to making the Stand Alone Complex'' soundtrack, she said: Having composed in various genres, including blues, classical, jazz, techno and J-pop, she was once asked if she favored a particular genre: Since she works in the animation industry, she receives only instructions and storyboards, which help her with composing. However, it is uncertain if all of her works are to be included in the finished project. She once said that this is a way she likes to work, for she does not have to deal with rules during composing. In reference to this, she once stated: She was the lead member of the project band
Seatbelts, which regrouped in 2004 to compose the soundtrack for the
PlayStation 2 Cowboy Bebop video game (released in Japan in 2005). She has composed for
Koei games released during the late 1980s to early 1990s and for
Napple Tale, a
Dreamcast game. Due to her close involvement in the
Cowboy Bebop anime, the game released by
Bandai also features her work. Apart from anime and games, Kanno also composes for live-action films and television
commercials. Some popular brands she has composed for are
Canon,
DoCoMo,
Fuji Xerox,
7-Eleven,
Microsoft,
Nissan,
Toyota,
Shiseido,
Avon and
MasterCard to name a few. Her contributions to films started in the 1990s but since 2002 has there been a trend toward the medium, with some of the latter being shown in international film festivals. She attended
Otakon and
Anime Expo in 1999, as well as
Anime Expo New York in 2002. In 2010, she made a surprise appearance at Anime Expo. Yoko Kanno performed her solo
PianoMe concert at Otakon 2013. She composed a three-movement suite, entitled "Ray of Water," for the ascension of
Emperor Naruhito. It was performed for him and
Empress Masako at the enthronement celebration on 9 November 2019. Yoshikazu Okada wrote the lyrics for the vocal portion, which was performed at the celebration by the idol group,
Arashi.
Gabriela Robin On many of Kanno's tracks, "Gabriela Robin" was credited as a lyricist and vocalist, but whenever these songs were performed in concert, either
Maaya Sakamoto or
Origa would perform them. In a 2009 written interview, Robin said that she would perform live for the first time at Kanno's 2009 Tanabata Sonic concert. However, at the end of the concert—which featured Kanno directing the
Warsaw Philharmonic—Kanno turned to the audience and sang "Moon", a song previously attributed to Robin from the
Turn A Gundam soundtrack, revealing that "Gabriela Robin" was simply a pseudonym Kanno used to write songs mixing English and Japanese freely. In a later interview, Kanno said she picked the name because the first orchestral recording she had heard was the
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and at the time
Yitzhak Rabin served as Israel's Prime Minister. == Personal life ==