Legendary Studio Ghibli composer passes away at 95

Annie Awards honoured the legacy of Michio Mamiya, who passed away last year. He is best known for his contributions to the Grave of the Fireflies soundtrack.

In a disheartening development tied to one of Studio Ghibli's possibly saddest movies, Grave of the Fireflies, composer Michio Mamiya's death is only now being reported worldwide. The Japanese maestro sadly passed away last year on December 11, 2024, due to pneumonia. He was 95 years old.

Studio Ghibli's war film Grave of the Fireflies composer Michio Mamiya passed away last year. He was remembered at the 52nd Annie Awards on February 8, 2025.

His family organised a vigil on December 17, and a funeral on December 18, as per Anime News Network.

The 2025 Annie Awards remember the Grave of the Fireflies composer

Although the Japanese daily, The Asahi Shimbun, broke the news back in December 2024, the global audience stumbled across the heartbreaking headline only after the 2025 Annie Awards held on Saturday, February 8, 2025. The musician was among the several other Japanese anime industry legends to be honoured during the annual award ceremony's In Memoriam segment.

Other anime professionals remembered on Saturday for their enduring impact after their demise last year were director and manga creator Yoji Kuri, voice actors Taiki Matsuno (One Piece, Inuyasha, Spongebob Squarepants), Toshiyuki Nishida (A Letter to Momo, Ganbare), Noriko Ohara (Doraemon) and Emi Shinohara (Sailor Moon), illustrator Mutsumi Inomata, artist Keiichi Tanaami and Dragon Ball's manga artist Akira Toriyama.

Who was Michio Mamiya?

In the anime circle, though most famously associated with the composition of the World War II film Grave of the Fireflies, Michio Mamiya was best known for his collaborations with Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata. He was also behind the OSTs for Gauche the Cellist, Horus—Prince of the Sun, and Tenguri, the Boy of the Plains.

The prolific composer was born in Hokkaido and pursued his musical passions at the Tokyo Music School (present-day Tokyo University of the Arts), where he was mentored by classical music composer Tomojiro Ikenouchi.

The late classical musician's achievements include forming the composer group Yagi no Kai alongside Yuzo Toyama and Hikaru Hayashi. Their “Composition for Chorus No 1” clinched the Mainichi Music Award in 1958. Meanwhile, Mamiya's 1974 opera also won a grand prize in the Salzburg Opera Festival.