Kow Otani (大谷幸; born May 1, 1957) is a Japanese composer, arranger, and pianist from Tokyo. After graduating from university, he became a founding member of Yuji Saito's music production company IMAGINE in November 1986, and he made his anime debut in 1987 with City Hunter. Beyond composition, he has also served as music director and keyboardist for Dreams Come True.
In anime, Otani composed for Future GPX Cyber Formula, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Outlaw Star, Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, The SoulTaker, Haibane Renmei, Zatch Bell!, Eyeshield 21, Pumpkin Scissors, Deltora Quest, and Over Drive. For Haibane Renmei, he also composed "Free Bird," the OP of Haibane Renmei. His film work includes several entries in the Gamera series and the score for Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack in 2001.
Otani's work in video games began with Philosoma in 1995 and later included Sky Odyssey and Shadow of the Colossus. He also worked on anime adaptations of game properties such as Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge, Popolocrois Monogatari, and Wild Arms: Twilight Venom, the last of which also included his arrangements of Michiko Naruke's music.
