A great manga, a great anime, and also one of the best soundtracks you'll hear.

One of the few anime soundtracks to be widely available in the UK, Akira is a very Japanese affair.  Filled with atmospheric effects and traditional Japanese musical styles, it is a far cry from what you would expect in a Sci-Fi.  However it works excellently, with the strong and instantly recognisable Japanese drumming mixing with understated but dramatic vocals to create a sound that is just as epic as Katsuhiro Otomo's classic story.  In places grandiose, in others claustrophobic and in some extremely bizarre, Yamashiro Shoji's composition is never less than awesome, and is an excellent way to introduce yourself to a highly original sound.  There is nothing quite like it available here, and it is a superb alternative to the pop laden film soundtracks often released in the West.
 

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A film as startling as End of Evangelion deserves a truly startling soundtrack and Shiro Sagisu doesn't disappoint.

Changing mood and style as often as the film, the End of Evangelion soundtrack manages to perfectly supplement the apocalyptic events on screen, and more importantly is a superb album in its own right.  Leaping seamlessly from classical works by the likes of Johannes Sebastian Bach to the lounge style jazz of urban act Loren & Mash, the End of Evangelion soundtrack brings together an eclectic mix of musical styles without ever sounding derivative or contrived.  From soaring strings to free form jazz, Sagisu brings everything together in a single vision which is crowned by the epic Hideaki Anno penned angst anthem Komm, süsser Tod, a seven minute gospel tinged opus that provides the backdrop to one of the film's most stunning scenes.  If you only buy one Evangelion album, make sure it's this one.

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From two of Japan’s best loved anime composers comes this magnificent soundtrack, which showcases their awesome talent.  An extraordinary collection of styles, this mixes melancholy score pieces with booming operatic vocals and even a j-pop ballad.  Combining the epic and the simple, often in the space of a single track, it cannot be denied that the music of Escaflowne The Movie is usually of a higher standard then what is happening on screen.

Bridging multiple genres with surprising ease, Yoko Kanno and Hajime Mizoguchi manage to create a work that is representative of anime music as a whole.  Appealing to a broad audience, and superbly augmenting the original film, the Escaflowne The Movie soundtrack is one of the best film soundtracks available.  Stylish, epic and impressive, this soundtrack is one of Yoko Kanno's best works, and that is saying a lot.  A great introduction to Japanese music. 

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Joe Hisaishi's Ghibli soundtracks are always excellent, but none more so than this.

Only his second soundtrack for Hayao Miyazaki after his excellent Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind score, the soundtrack to Laputa, Castle in the Sky is awesome.  Combining sweeping orchestral pieces with quiet simplistic tunes and touches of electronica, Hisaishi creates soaring soundscapes that rival the grand scale of the film itself.  From a simple trumpet call to the Miyazaki penned final track, Kimi o Nosete, the soundtrack evokes the feel of the film perfectly, and the film would not be complete without it.  Better than the composer's re-score for the American market because of its mix of the epic and the simplistic, the original Laputa soundtrack is soaring and intimate, melancholy and uplifting, serious and fun, and the choral version of the end theme is one of the most haunting tracks you will hear.  Buy it.