Sugizo debuts as anime composer with Dark Machine: soundtrack out in December

Sugizo has spent more than three decades treating rock as a sound laboratory, from the visual-kei glory days with Luna Sea to his time in X Japan and the jazz-rock improvisations of his own group, Shag. What he had never done was compose the music for an animated series. Dark Machine: The Animation, Fuji TV's anime about a futuristic Japan dominated by a single competitive game, is his debut in this field.

The soundtrack built around that first work will arrive on CD, vinyl, and streaming platforms on December 9, 2026. The album brings together 40 tracks that blend the instrumental score with the anime's theme songs.

The series is one of two halves of Dark Machine, a project designed to live simultaneously in esports and anime. Its protagonist, Kairi, wants to become the best Dark Machine player, an esport with global popularity within that universe. Kazumi Terada directs at Production +h, with Gorō Taniguchi as creative producer and Kenshō Ono as the voice of Kairi.

The official statement promises a "dark and rich soundscape," a fair description of what a guitarist with Sugizo's temperament can bring to a story about machines and those who pilot them.

An album that spans his entire career

Sugizo did not build this soundtrack alone. The record brings together collaborators from different stages of his career: MaZDA, a core member of his live band Cosmic Dance Quintet; track producer Ubar-Tumar; Vocaloid producer ATLOS; Sena, guitarist of the visual-kei band Jiluka; Shinobu of Creature Creature, the group led by Morrie; komaki on drums and percussion; and members of Shag on keyboards, percussion, drums, and trumpet.

More than a list of session musicians, the lineup reads like a map of the scenes Sugizo moves through.

The album also includes TV-size versions of the opening and ending. The opening theme is "Sonzai Riyu Kai," by BUCK-TICK, and the ending, "Galaxy Mode," by Sandaime J Soul Brothers. Joining them is "Pitch Black," an insert song by Stellatus, the idol group that works as Dark Machine's brand ambassador within the fiction. Taku Inoue composed this fast, danceable track, sung by the characters Aluk, Spica, and Denebola, with the voices of Nao Toyama, Rei Nakashima, and Nonoka Obuchi.

CD, vinyl, and a cover by Hidetaka Tenjin

The physical edition comes in two formats. The 2-CD set collects all 40 tracks with the complete score, the main themes, and the insert song. The 2-LP edition is a selection personally curated by Sugizo, a distilled cut of the series' world rather than its full archive.

The cover is an original illustration by Hidetaka Tenjin, the series' mecha designer, whose work spans the Macross and Gundam franchises.

"Pitch Black" arrives ahead of the main release: it hits streaming platforms on November 11 at midnight, Japan time. The full soundtrack will be available on December 9 on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music Unlimited, YouTube Music, and the iTunes Store, in addition to CD and vinyl. A commemorative talk and signing event is planned for release day.

For a musician whose bands have made spectacle their trademark, the interesting question is what Sugizo does when the image comes first. An esports drama about a game turned into a global obsession is a strangely fitting first commission.

Will you give this soundtrack a chance when it comes out in December? Tell us in the comments if the mix of dark rock and esports appeals to you.