Cho Kaguya-hime!

Chô Kaguya-hime! (Cosmic Princess Kaguya!, 2026) is a Japanese-animated film based on the folklore of Taketori Monogatari (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter), reimagined for modern audiences. It is best described as a hyperactive science fiction, fantasy, adventure, musical, and comedy film.

The story follows Iroha, whose life is busy and stressful, until she discovers a glowing telephone pole with a baby inside. She brings the child home, and it quickly grows into Kaguya, a girl her age with a playful and self-centred personality. Kaguya convinces Iroha to help her stream in Tsukuyomi, a virtual world where people can explore creativity and try new things. The two team up, with Iroha writing songs and producing while Kaguya sings and entertains online. Their friendship grows, but Kaguya’s mysterious origins bring danger, as forces from the Moon want her back.

Conisch (Hiloaki Conischi) composed, orchestrated, conducted, and arranged the original score while doing the programming, performing the piano/celesta/synthesisers, and lending his voice. The original songs, presented on another release, are produced by several vocaloid producers.

In forming a bridge between ancient Japanese and modern times, the composer uses instruments such as the koto, shakuhachi, hosozao shamisen, and futozao shamisen and specific use of voices that mingle with traditional, more modern orchestral instruments performed by ENSEMBLE Cosmopolitan, voices, chorus, and synthesisers.

Chô Kaguya-hime! is a hyperkinetic (tiresome) experience, perhaps exemplary for a whole breed of series, films, and their scores of Japanese origin aimed at a youthful audience.The music itself goes in all directions, from lush orchestral to quirky music and intimate character-based thematic material, exploring numerous musical genres and emotions throughout. Despite this incoherence, a small majority of cues are still rooted in the more comfortable traditions, including a wonderful much recurring, delightful main theme. Surprisingly, given the deeply rooted conventional Japanese tradition of piano solo-only cues; there are none.

The cue 零ゆる光彩 (cue 26, 2:55) is a notable example of the intimacy and melancholy expressed through orchestral strings, solo cello, piano, and harp. フリーダムかぐや (cue 5, 1:39) is reminiscent of the silly tone and instrumentation of Kazumi Totaka's music for Yoshi's Story, evident in several other cues, and makes use of atypical animated synchronised quirky music, in which the retro 8-bit video game synthesiser also makes its first terrific appearance. MIKADO (cue 18, 2:12) is exemplary of connecting lovely orchestral strengths with electric guitar and bass, chorus, poor synthesisers, short vocal expressions, and ancient Japanese strings into a frenetic anthem.

Konisch's original score is rooted in a space between traditional orchestral music and incoherent, childish, and quirky music. And yet, despite tiresome exemplary portions of the music on both ends - there are a lot of clichés - the sheer excellence in writing, performances, and versatility in the palette, genre, emotions, and approaches provide an outstanding body of work.




Tracklist
01 OPENING ACT@TSUKUYOMI 1:24
02 酒寄彩葉 1:15
03 かぐや爆誕。おい、ちょ、ま！ 1:19
04 ママみとバブみ 0:37
05 フリーダムかぐや 1:39
06 ガールズ☆パーティー 2:24
07 ボナペティ体操 1:07
08 TSUKUYOMI 2:35
09 OnyXXX 1:49
10 ヤチヨ降臨 1:28
11 かぐやの布教 0:18
12 天才彩葉の即興ジングル 0:12
13 私の好きだったもの 0:22
14 たいせつなひと 1:40
15 News Tsukuyomi !! 1:07
16 KASSEN -開幕- 0:58
17 試合開始～！ 1:03
18 MIKADO -孤高の黒鬼- 2:12
19 チームかぐやの反撃 2:21
20 ヤチヨのお導き 0:29
21 IROHA meets KAGUYA 2:46
22 ヤチヨカップ優勝！ 3:28
23 月人ナイト 1:18
24 チルる 1:02
25 かぐやと彩葉 1:16
26 零ゆる光彩 2:55
27 モーメント・月 1:07
28 うつし世の姫 2:13
29 月影 1:21
30 IROHA'S Dancing All Night 1:30
31 ヤチヨのどじょうすくい 0:15
32 FUSHI 1:22
33 ヤチヨ絵巻 1:57
34 満ちる月のセレナーデ ～八千年の旅～ 3:44
35 超かぐや姫！ 2:11

Disc length 54:44



(03-02-2026)