Kenji Ito
Kenji Ito | |
---|---|
伊藤 賢治 | |
Born | Tokyo, Japan | July 5, 1968
Other names | Itoken |
Occupation(s) | Composer, musician |
Years active | 1990–present |
Employer | Square (1990–2001) |
Musical career | |
Instrument(s) | Piano, clarinet, alto saxophone |
Kenji Ito (伊藤 賢治, Itō Kenji, born July 5, 1968), also known by the nickname Itoken (イトケン),
Since leaving Square, Ito has composed soundtracks to over a dozen games, and has branched out into composition and production of music for plays and albums for other performers. Ito's work has been performed in a concert dedicated to his pieces as well as general video game music events, and he has played the piano in additional concerts. Pieces of his from the SaGa and Mana series have been arranged as piano solos and published in sheet music books.
Biography
Early life
Born in Tokyo, Japan, on July 5, 1968, Ito became interested in music at the age of four.[1] He began to learn to play the piano, becoming interested in it after hearing piano music coming from a classroom he passed by daily with his mother. He was also interested in Electone music, but was discouraged from learning it by a piano teacher.[3] By the time he began composing at the age of ten, he had learned to play alto saxophone, clarinet, and piano, and was interested in becoming a singer/songwriter.[1] When he was close to graduating from college, he decided to pursue a career in composing music; when he asked a professor for advice, the professor recommended becoming a video game music composer, given the recent success in Japan of Dragon Quest III. During March 1990, after applying to several video game companies including HAL Laboratory, Ito began working at Square.[4][5]
Career
His first project was a co-effort that same year between himself and
1995 marked the first time since he started composing that he worked on a title outside the Mana or
The first work that Ito composed after leaving Square was the soundtrack to
Legacy
Ito performed piano live during September 22, 2006 Press Start 2006 -Symphony of Games- live concert, at which several of his pieces were performed by an orchestra.[5] This concert followed an concert of August 26, 2006 Manami Kiyota x Kenji Ito Collaboration Live in which he played the piano for songs composed by him for the event and sung by Manami Kiyota; he has also played the piano at concerts given by The Black Mages, a band composed of current or former Square musicians, before they expanded to include a full-time pianist.[13] Music composed by Ito has also been performed at the Extra -Hyper Game Music Event 2007 and Christmas Live 2008 "gentleecho -prelude-" concerts.[12]
Music composed by Ito was performed at a concert devoted to his music on February 21, 2009 titled "gentle echo meeting" at the Uchisaiwaicho Hall in Chiyoda, Tokyo. A group of five musicians performed eight of his songs, interspersed with performances by Ito and discussions about his music between himself and Masahiro Sakurai. The event began as a concert due to Ito's wish to host one based on his music, but after the space the organizing company, Harmonics International, rented turned out to be run by a high school classmate of Ito, at the classmate's insistence the discussions of Ito's music were added to the program.[5]
Music from the original soundtracks of Dawn of Mana and Sword of Mana has been arranged for the piano and published by DOREMI Music Publishing.[14] Two compilation books of music from the series as a whole have also been published as Seiken Densetsu Best Collection Piano Solo Sheet Music first and second editions, with the first edition including tracks by Ito from Final Fantasy Adventure while the second added tracks he composed from Dawn of Mana. All songs in each book have been rewritten by Asako Niwa as beginning to intermediate level piano solos, though they are meant to sound as much like the originals as possible.[15] Additionally, KMP Music Publishing has published a book of the piano music included in the Sword of Mana soundtrack album, which Ito arranged from his original compositions.[16] DOREMI Music Publishing also published music from the original soundtracks of some of the SaGa games that Ito composed as piano sheet music book; music from Romancing SaGa 3, Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song, and SaGa Frontier were written by Asako Niwa for piano solos of beginning to intermediate difficulty.[14][17]
Musical style and influences
Ito's music is mainly inspired by images from the game rather than outside influences; however, he never played the games themselves. The only video games that he plays are
Works
Video games
Year | Game | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
1990 | Final Fantasy Legend II | Music with Nobuo Uematsu | [6] |
1991 | Final Fantasy Adventure | Music | [4] |
Final Fantasy IV | Sound effects | ||
1992 | Romancing SaGa | Music | [4] |
Final Fantasy V | Sound effects | ||
1993 | Secret of Mana | Sound effects | |
Romancing SaGa 2 | Music | [4] | |
1995 | Romancing SaGa 3 | Music | [4] |
1996 | Koi wa Balance: Battle of Lovers | Music | [6] |
Tobal No. 1 | Music with various others | [18] | |
1997 | SaGa Frontier | Music | [4] |
1998 | Chocobo's Dungeon 2 | Music with Tsuyoshi Sekito, Yasuhiro Kawakami, and Kumi Tanioka | [4] |
1999 | Chocobo Racing | Music | [4] |
2000 | Gekikuukan Pro Baseball: The End of the Century 1999 | Music | [6] |
2001 | Wild Card | Music | [6] |
Culdcept Second | Music | [6] | |
Cross Gate | Music | [6] | |
2003 | Sword of Mana | Music | [4] |
2004 | Shadow Hearts: Covenant | Music with Yoshitaka Hirota, Yasunori Mitsuda, and Tomoko Kobayashi | [6] |
2005 | Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song | Music with Tsuyoshi Sekito | [4] |
Hanjuku Hero 4: 7-Jin no Hanjuku Hero | Music with many others | [4] | |
2006 | Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner | Music with many others | [6] |
Children of Mana | Music with Masaharu Iwata and Takayuki Aihara | [6] | |
Pop'n Music 13 Carnival | "Battle XIII" | [6] | |
Dawn of Mana | Music with Tsuyoshi Sekito, Masayoshi Soken, and Ryuichi Sakamoto | [6] | |
2007 | Concerto Gate | Music with Hiroki Kikuta | [6] |
Hero Must Die | Music | ||
2008 | Mabinogi | Arrangements | [6] |
Super Smash Bros. Brawl | Arrangements[a] | ||
Lux-Pain | Music with Yasuyuki Suzuki | [19] | |
Pop'n Music 16 Party | "Dance to Blue" | [19] | |
Culdcept Saga | Music | [20] | |
2009 | Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Adventure Team | Music with several others | |
SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu | Arrangements | [19] | |
GuitarFreaks & DrumMania V6 Blazing
|
Music with many others | [19] | |
2011 | Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 | Music with Atlus sound team | [19] |
Half-Minute Hero: The Second Coming | "One Winged Hero ~ Theme of Yusha" | [19] | |
2012 | Puzzle & Dragons | Music with Yukio Nakajima | [21] |
Culdcept (3DS) | Music | ||
Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory | Music with Kenji Kaneko and Nobuo Uematsu | [22] | |
Demons' Score | "Requiem from Lilith" | ||
2013 | Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas | Music with Kalle Ylitalo and Nobuo Uematsu | |
Getsuei Gakuen | Music with Daisuke Ishiwatari | [19] | |
Puzzle & Dragons Z
|
Music with Yukio Nakajima | [23] | |
2014 | Rise of Mana | "Fear the Messenger" | |
Puzzle & Dragons Battle Tournament
|
Music | [19] | |
Terra Battle | Music with several others | ||
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U | Arrangements[b] | ||
2015 | Chronos Ring | Music with Yoko Shimomura and Evan Call | [24] |
Chunithm: Seelisch Tact | "Gustav Battle" | [25] | |
Shinyaku Arcana Slayer | Music | [26] | |
2016 | Hero Must Die. Again
|
Music | [27] |
Culdcept Revolt | Music | [19] | |
Puzzle & Dragons X | Music with Yuzo Koshiro, Akira Yamaoka, and Keigo Ozaki | [19] | |
SaGa: Scarlet Grace | Music | [28] | |
Adventures of Mana | Music | [29] | |
2018 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | Arrangements[c] | |
Romancing SaGa Re;univerSe | Music | ||
2019 | Rakugaki Kingdom | "Indomitable Soul" | [30] |
2022 | Sin Chronicle
|
"Last Determination" | [31] |
2024 | SaGa: Emerald Beyond | Music | [32] |
Other
- Composition
- Kokoro no Takarabako (1999) – single by Hiromi Ōta[6]
- Seishun no Fu / Midarete Atsuki Wagami niwa (2002) – concert[6]
- ~Canaria~ (2002) – single by Muneyuki Satoh[6]
- Touson Dairoku Shishu (2002) – album by Ikuyo Ueda[6]
- Muneyuki Sato All Songs Collection (2003) – album by Muneyuki Satoh[6]
- Hajimari no Daichi (2006) – album by Manami Kiyota[6]
- Our Endless Night -The spring time of life (2006) – concert by Manami Kiyota; with many others[6]
- Manami Kiyota x Kenji Ito Collaboration Live (2006) – concert by Manami Kiyota[6]
- Maou Kourin 'Live SIDE & Evil SIDE' (2006) – play with many others[6]
- Kenji Ito Piano Works Collection ~Everlasting Melodies~ (2006) – includes one piece from Romancing SaGa 2, and one from Chocobo Racing[19]
- Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku o (2007) – anime[19]
- Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (2011) – anime ep 5[19]
- The Girl in Twilight (2018) – anime; main theme[33]
- Braverthday (2018) – album by Nobuhiko Okamoto; "Tsugi wa Kimi ga Shuyaku no Ban da"[34]
- Arad Senki: The Wheel of Reversal (2020) – anime
- Arrangement
- "Ai no Sumika"~"Hyouhaku no Toki /Komoro Nikki -Touson no Fuyuko" Stage Music Collection~ (1999) – album by Kyoko Fujimoto
- Hyouhaku no Toki/ Touson to Fuyuko (2001) – concert
- Katakoi (2002) – single by Muneyuki Satoh
- Soredemo Kisetsu wa (2002) – single by Muneyuki Satoh[6]
- Tougenkyo -Masashi Sada Chromatic Harmonica Music Collection- (2002) – album by Etsuko Kitani
- Mirai (2003) – album by Yusuke Matsumoto
See also
Notes
References
- ^ a b c "Kenji Ito's Official English Website". Cocoebiz.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2008.
- ^ Itoken. "itoken_web". Itoken. Archived from the original on April 5, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ a b c Ezaki, Kahori; McCawley, James (December 2004). "Interview with CocoeBiz in December 2004". CocoeBiz. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Winkler, Chris (2005). "RPGFan Exclusive Interview #5: Kenji Itou, composer". RPGFan. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved December 13, 2008.
- ^ Gamasutra. Archivedfrom the original on September 15, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa "Kenji Ito's Official English Website – Discography". Cocoebiz.com. Archived from the original on February 26, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2009.
- ^ Gann, Patrick (March 23, 2001). "All Sounds of SaGa". RPGFan. Archived from the original on August 9, 2011. Retrieved May 18, 2009.
- ^ Gann, Patrick; C., Eve (February 9, 2002). "Romancing SaGa: La Romance". RPGFan. Archived from the original on September 23, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2009.
- ^ Gann, Patrick (August 6, 2000). "Romancing SaGa 2: Eternal Romance". RPGFan. Archived from the original on May 13, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
- ^ Farand, Eric (October 15, 2000). "Romancing SaGa 3 OSV". RPGFan. Archived from the original on May 13, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
- ^ Jeriaska; Kikuta, Hiroki (June 16, 2007). "Hiroki Kikuta: Lost Files Regained". Square Haven. Archived from the original on January 17, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
- ^ a b Ito, Kenji. "Gentle Echo – Works" (in Japanese). Gentle Echo. Archived from the original on August 29, 2012. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
- ^ "Kenji Ito's Official English Website – News". CocoeBiz. Archived from the original on May 16, 2007. Retrieved November 12, 2009.
- ^ a b "Doremi Music Web Site" (in Japanese). DOREMI Music Publishing. Archived from the original on August 15, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
- ^ "Mana Series :: Sheet Music Books". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on May 15, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2009.
- ^ "Sword of Mana Piano Sound Version Sheet Music". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on February 4, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2009.
- ^ "SaGa Series :: Sheet Music Books". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
- ^ Greening, Chris (December 30, 2012). "Kenji Ito Profile". Video Game Music Online. Archived from the original on August 8, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Kenji Ito". Video Game Music Database. January 1, 2020. Archived from the original on June 22, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
- ^ Jeriaska (April 15, 2009). "Interview: Smash Bros' Sakurai, Kenji Ito Talk RPG Musical Repertoire". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on July 16, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
- ^ Williams, Mike (February 26, 2016). "Nintendo and the Console Depreciation of Japan". US Gamer. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
- ^ "Hyperdimension Neptunia V (神次元ゲイムネプテューヌV) Credits - YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
- ^ Romano, Sal (September 21, 2013). "Tokyo Game Show 2013 live stream schedule". Gematsu. Archived from the original on June 30, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- ^ Greening, Chris (September 27, 2014). "Hamauzu, Shimomura, Ito, and Sakimoto attached to new RPG projects". Game Music Online. Archived from the original on October 2, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
- ^ Greening, Chris (June 22, 2016). "CHUNITHM Original Soundtrack -Seelisch Tact-". Video Game Music Online. Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
- ^ "Shinyaku Arcana Slayer". tactics SRPG Database. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
- ^ Fuller, Alex (February 26, 2020). "Hero Must Die. Again Review". RPGamer. Archived from the original on July 20, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
- ^ Greening, Chris (September 16, 2015). "Kenji Ito and Hidenori Iwasaki for SaGa Scarlet Grace". Video Game Music Online. Archived from the original on September 18, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
- ^ Osborn, Alex (June 28, 2016). "Final Fantasy Adventure Remake Adventures of Mana Now on PS Vita". IGN. Archived from the original on July 15, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
- ^ ""ラクガキ"がコンセプトのRPG『ラクガキ キングダム』正式発表。自分の描いた絵が立体化して動き出す『ラクガキ王国』を進化させた新機軸【先出し週刊ファミ通】". Famitsu (in Japanese). July 11, 2019. Archived from the original on March 23, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
- ^ Romano, Sal (October 1, 2021). "Sega announces 'choose your own ending RPG' Sin Chronicle for iOS, Android". Gematsu. Archived from the original on October 3, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
- ^ Torres, Jason (September 15, 2023). "Square Enix reveals SaGa Emerald Beyond for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Mobile". RPG Site. Archived from the original on September 16, 2023. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
- ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (March 21, 2018). "Animax Reveals 20th Anniversary TV Anime/Game App Akanesasu Shōjo". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on March 22, 2018. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
- ^ "Braverthday【豪華盤】" (in Japanese). Lantis. Archived from the original on July 18, 2020. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
External links
- Official website (in Japanese)
- Kenji Ito on Twitter