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(dir.Studio 4°C)

Ken Ishii (Japanese: ケン・イシイ) is a Japanese techno DJ and producer from Sapporo. He graduated from Hitotsubashi University. He has released work under his own name as well as under the pseudonyms: FLR, Flare, UTU, Yoga, and Rising Sun.

Strongly influenced by Detroit techno, Ken Ishii had his first release on Richie Hawtin’s label Plus 8. He composed the music for the opening ceremonies to the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. He provided a track for the 2001 video game Rez by Sega: Creation The State Of Art which is the music used in the third level of the normal game, as well as music for the game LSD. His track “Let It All Ride” has also been used in the PSP video game Lumines II.

He worked as a sound recordist in 1998 Darren Aronofsky’s movie “PI”, and other movies as well.

Studio 4°C is a Japanese animation studio founded by Koji Morimoto, Eiko Tanaka, and Yoshiharu Sato in 1986. The name comes from the temperature at which water is densest. It should not be mistaken with Studio 4C which is a common nickname given to the team of assistants of the manga artist Masakazu Katsura.

They are known for marrying the spirit of independent festival animation with a more mainstream anime aesthetic. In addition much of their output is considered superflat with some artwork from Morimoto being featured at Takashi Murakami’s exhibitions.