PAPERBACK ONLY The last few years will be remembered for not having been a particularly happy period. The Grendizer generation has witnessed sad losses among the protagonists of the creation of the historic and most beloved anime series of the 1970s and 1980s. Unfortunately, this is the bitter and inescapable law of life. Many have cried over the passing of important mangaka and animators, but my tears flowed copiously at the death of the two most important musicians and composers in the classic and tokusatsu anime scene: Shunsuke Kikuchi (April 2021) and Michiaki Watanabe, aka “Chumei” (June 2022). Watanabe, born in 1925 and Kikuchi in 1931, both specialized in composing soundtracks and BGM for film and television productions. This peculiarity meant that their professional artistic figures were highly sought after by anime production companies, particularly TOEI and Tatsunoko, but not only. Thus, in the 1970s, they became the composers for Go Nagai's anime. Thanks to the support of the Columbia Orchestra, their fantastic opening and ending themes conveyed an unmistakable sense of heroism, which is why they were sometimes adapted for Italian versions (Jeeg, Cave Ryu, and Mazinger Z for Watanabe, Starzinger for Kikuchi). Some BGMs (musical score) became legendary and are still recognizable to fans today. Shunzuke Kikuchi and Michiaki Watanabe are not just any names for us Italian fans of Japanese animation. We first became familiar with them in the late 1970s with the release of Grendizer. Kikuchi composed the splendid soundtrack, revolutionary for its time in Italy, which served as a soundtrack to the exploits of the first super robot warrior to land on our screens and his fearless hero, the alien Duke Fleed. Just as Watanabe penned Nagai's second mecha hit in Italy, perhaps even more famous today than Grendizer, Steel Jeeg. These weren't their first compositions, of course, but our ears were hearing those symphonies, so charged with pathos, but also with sacrifice and heroism, for the first time. These symphonies emerged from a musical experimentation that sublimely blended orchestras and symphonic sounds with electronic instruments and minimalist melodies, often repeated to the point of frenzy. Their highly personal style, very different between the two, yet capable of stirring the same emotions, thus entered our daily lives and our experiences. We're not afraid to say that Grendizer's successes, like that of Jeeg, in Italy were also due to their music, which, along with the rest, created a perfect picture. Thanks to the arrival of Columbia Japan's CD releases in the early 1990s, fans were able to re-acquaint themselves with this extraordinary musical output. Arigato Gozaimasu, for all the emotions you've given me and that your music will continue to keep alive. Adriano Forgione