Anime music is one of those things you only notice when it absolutely slaps — and if you have ever felt your soul leave your body during a Haikyu!! rally or a My Hero Academia fight scene, Yuki Hayashi is partly to blame.
In a new Anime News Network interview, Hayashi — the composer behind major anime scores including Haikyu!! and My Hero Academia — shared how anime soundtrack work actually happens behind the scenes. And honestly, it is way more strategic than just sitting at a piano and waiting for inspiration to turun from the sky.
According to Hayashi, the timing depends heavily on the production. A normal anime job might reach him around six months before release, but global streaming has changed the rhythm. With platforms like Netflix and simultaneous international launches now part of the ecosystem, some projects begin music planning roughly a year ahead. On the other side, some can still be super tight, with only around three months to work.
That matters for SEA fans too. Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand — we are no longer waiting years for legal anime access like dulu-dulu. Simulcasts and global drops mean everything needs to be ready cleaner, faster, and more internationally polished from day one, including the music.
Hayashi said he usually decides whether to accept a project based on whether it excites him. Schedule is still a factor, of course, but if a team specifically wants him badly enough, he may try to make space. For Haikyu!!, the appeal was personal: he has a sports background, and sports stories were part of what pushed him toward music in the first place. For My Hero Academia, he remembered seeing the manga’s potential as a Shonen Jump hit and feeling that it matched the kind of genre he was good at scoring.
One interesting part of his process is how careful he is with source material. He does not always deep-dive into the manga or original work immediately. Instead, he first asks the director or producer what kind of adaptation they are making. If the anime is meant to move away from the source, he avoids locking himself too strongly into the original version. For original anime, he works from scripts and creative discussions, sometimes pitching his own musical direction too.
Before composing, Hayashi focuses on the bigger concept. A single anime season can need around 40 to 50 music pieces, so if the composer just makes track after track without a plan, the soundtrack can become messy. He thinks first about the story, protagonist, tone, genre, instruments, tempo, and overall identity before building the actual tracks.
His workflow is also a bit unusual. Rather than starting with the main melody or character motif, he often builds the orchestral base first. After listening to that foundation, he then shapes the melody or leitmotif later, almost like pulling the emotional hook out of the music after the mood already exists.
There is also a technical reason for that. Anime music is delivered in stems, meaning separate layers like drums, guitar, vocals, or orchestra can be controlled individually. This lets the sound director adjust a track for a scene — maybe removing drums for a quieter moment, then bringing them in when a character starts running. Hayashi noted that My Hero Academia sound director Masafumi Mima may reuse music written for one character in a totally different situation, so overly specific motifs can become limiting.
The biggest headache? Sequels. Hayashi joked about the problem of musical “inflation”. Season one already asks for a huge climactic battle theme. Then season two comes along with an even stronger enemy. Then season three wants to go even harder. For long-running anime like My Hero Academia, which is heading all the way to a final season, that becomes a real creative challenge.
Hayashi also knows his work has reached fans outside Japan, especially through iconic pieces like You Say Run. He has attended overseas concerts and said international audiences can be much louder and more openly excited than Japanese crowds. Starting in 2026, he hopes to travel overseas more for performances and opportunities to introduce more people to his music and Japanese anime.
For Malaysian anime fans, this is the kind of behind-the-scenes stuff that makes rewatching big moments hit differently. The next time a volleyball spike or hero entrance gives you goosebumps, remember: that hype was designed, layered, and balanced long before the episode reached your screen.
Source: Anime News Network