Yasunori Mitsuda

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Yasunori Mitsuda
光田 康典
Portrait photo of Yasunori Mitsuda
Mitsuda in 2019
Born (1972-01-21) January 21, 1972 (age 52)
Occupations
  • Composer
  • musician
Years active1992–present
Musical career
Genres
Instrument(s)
LabelsSleigh Bells

Yasunori Mitsuda (光田 康典, Mitsuda Yasunori, born January 21, 1972) is a Japanese

Wolf Team
.

Mitsuda joined Square upon graduation in 1992 and worked there as a sound effects designer for two years before telling Square's vice president Hironobu Sakaguchi he would quit unless he could write music for their games. Shortly after, Sakaguchi assigned him to work on the soundtrack for Chrono Trigger (1995), whose music has since been cited as among the best in video games.

Mitsuda went on to compose for several other games at Square, including Xenogears (1998) and Chrono Cross (1999). He left the company and became independent in 1998. In 2001, he respectively founded his own music production studio and record company, Procyon Studio and Sleigh Bells. Mitsuda has also worked on anime series, films, and television programs.

Biography

Early life

Mitsuda was born in

The Pink Panther film scores.[3] He became interested in PCs after his father bought him one, which was a rare item at the time. He started to program computer games and compose music for them, as well as take more technically oriented classes.[2]

After high school, Mitsuda decided to leave town and become independent. With encouragement from his father and sister, he moved to Tokyo and enrolled in the Junior College of Music. Despite the school's low prestige, Mitsuda received solid instruction from his professors, most of them practicing musicians who would take Mitsuda to gigs with them to help carry and set up equipment. At the cost of being used for free physical labor, Mitsuda got a first-hand view of the Japanese music world and valuable training both in and out of the classroom. As part of his college course, he was granted an intern position at the game development studio Wolf Team studying under composer Motoi Sakuraba.[4][2] With his school term ending, Mitsuda saw an advertisement for sound production at Square in a copy of Famitsu. With no plans as to what he wanted to do after school, he applied for the position and joined the company in April 1992.[2]

Career

Although his official job title was as a composer, Mitsuda found himself working more as a

stomach ulcers and had to be hospitalized, which led Uematsu to finish the remaining tracks for him.[7]

Chrono Trigger proved a great success, and the soundtrack proved popular with fans.

Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Hōseki both in 1996, and Xenogears in 1998, which featured the first ballad in a Square game, the Celtic ending theme "Small Two of Pieces" sung by Joanne Hogg. Mitsuda also during this period produced albums of arranged music of his original scores, creating acid jazz remixes in Chrono Trigger Arranged Version: The Brink of Time and a Celtic arrangement album of Xenogears music, Creid.[2][6] In July 1998, following up on what he had said in his original interview with the company, Mitsuda left Square to work as a freelance composer, the first of several of Square's composers to do so.[5]

Following his leaving, Mitsuda has only worked on one more original game with Square, composing for 1999's

Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht, and major games such as Shadow Hearts and Luminous Arc. In addition to video games, Mitsuda has composed music for the anime Inazuma Eleven and for the independent album Kirite.[10] On November 22, 2001, Mitsuda formed Procyon Studio as a company to produce his music, along with a record label, Sleigh Bells.[11] The company consisted of only Mitsuda as composer along with a few sound producers for several years but has since expanded to include other composers.[12] Mitsuda and Procyon Studio have also produced more arranged albums, such as Sailing to the World and 2009's Colours of Light, a compilation album of vocal pieces Mitsuda had composed.[10] The studio was also involved in co-designing the KORG DS-10 synthesizer program for the Nintendo DS,[8] and its successor for the Nintendo 3DS
, KORG M01D.

By the late 2000s, Mitsuda began working as a producer for a team of artists.

Musical style and influences

Mitsuda claims to compose by "just fool[ing] around on my keyboard" and letting the melodies come to him.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Claude Debussy, Robert Schumann, Antonín Dvořák, and Gustav Holst as his favorite classical composers, claiming that his modern influences are too numerous to name as he listens to so much music.[3]

Mitsuda names his favorite works as the soundtracks to the Chrono series, Xenogears, Xenosaga Episode I, and the original album Kirite, though he also says that all of his soundtracks are "representational works", as they represent who he was as a composer when he made them.

role-playing games, but he likes projects that are different from what he has done before and is interested in working in other genres.[6]

I think [game music] is something that should last with the player. It's interesting because it can't just be some random music, but something that can make its way into the player's heart. In that sense, this not only applies to game music, but I feel very strongly about composing songs that will leave a lasting impression...What I must not forget is that it must be entertaining to those who are listening. I don't think there's much else to it, to be honest. I don't do anything too audacious, so as long as the listeners like it, or feel that it's a really great song, then I've done my job.

Legacy

A slightly blurry image of an orchestra, with Rony Barrak pictured in the centre playing a goblet drum
Rony Barrak performing Mitsuda's music at a Play! A Video Game Symphony concert in 2006

Mitsuda's music from Chrono Trigger was first performed live by the

Eminence Orchestra.[3][30] Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross music made up one fourth of the music of the Symphonic Fantasies concerts in September 2009 at the Kölner Philharmonie which were produced by Thomas Böcker as a part of the Game Concerts series.[31] "Scars of Time" from Chrono Cross was played at the Fantasy Comes Alive concert in Singapore on April 30, 2010.[32]

Mitsuda's music for Xenogears has also sparked fan-made albums; an officially licensed

Dōjin, and on English remixing websites such as OverClocked Remix.[36] Music from the Chrono Trigger soundtrack has been arranged for the piano and published as sheet music by DOREMI Music Publishing.[37]
Sheet music for Chrono Cross tracks arranged for both solo guitar and guitar duets has been released by Procyon Studio.

For the 20th anniversary of Chrono Trigger in 2015, Mitsuda, along with his performing group Millennial Fair, performed songs from the game at the Tokyo Globe in Tokyo, Japan on July 25 and 26. The event, titled "The Brink of Time", included Mitsuda performing on the piano, guitar, and Irish bouzouki.[38] During the event, Mitsuda also announced that the long requested Chrono series arrangement album, entitled To Far Away Times: Chrono Trigger & Chrono Cross Arrangement Album, would be released by Square Enix Music on October 14, 2015.[39][40][41]

Works

Video games

Video games
Year Title Role(s) Ref.
1992
Hanjuku Hero: Aa, Sekaiyo Hanjukunare...!
Sound effects and programming [5]
Final Fantasy V Sound effects [5]
1993 Secret of Mana Sound effects [5]
Romancing SaGa 2 Sound effects and programming [5]
1995 Chrono Trigger Music with Nobuo Uematsu [5]
1996 Radical Dreamers Music [10]
Front Mission: Gun Hazard Music with Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, and Junya Nakano [10]
Tobal No. 1 Music with several others [10]
1998 Xenogears Music [10]
Mario Party Music [42]
1999 Chrono Cross Music [10]
Bomberman 64: The Second Attack
Music with several others [10]
2000 Mega Man Legends 2 Arrangements[a] [10]
2001 Tsugunai: Atonement Music [10]
Shadow Hearts Music with Yoshitaka Hirota [10]
Legaia 2: Duel Saga Music with
Michiru Oshima
[10]
2002 Xenosaga Episode I Music [10]
The Seventh Seal Music with Chia Ai Kuo and Tsai Chih-Chan [10]
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter Sound director [10]
2004 Shadow Hearts: Covenant Music with Yoshitaka Hirota, Kenji Ito, and Tomoko Kobayashi [10]
Graffiti Kingdom Music [10]
2005 10,000 Bullets Music with Miki Higashino [10]
Tantei Kibukawa Ryosuke Jiken-Tan [ja] Music with Takanari Ishiyama and Kazumi Mitome [10]
2006 Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner Music with several others [10]
Deep Labyrinth Music [10]
2007 Luminous Arc Music with Kazumi Mitome, Akari Kaida, and Shota Kageyama [10]
Kikou Souhei Armodyne [ja] Music [10]
2008 Super Smash Bros. Brawl Arrangements[b] [10]
Soma Bringer Music [10]
Magnetica Twist
Sound director [10]
Luminous Arc 2 Sound producer [10]
Inazuma Eleven Music [10]
Sands of Destruction Music with Shunsuke Tsuchiya and Kazumi Mitome [10]
2009 Arc Rise Fantasia Music with Shunsuke Tsuchiya and Yuki Harada [10]
Lime Odyssey
Music with Dong-Hyuc Shin, Jun-Su Park, and Sa-Yin Jeong [43]
bQLSI Star Laser Music [8]
Inazuma Eleven 2 Music [10]
Thexder Neo
Sound director [10]
Luminous Arc 3 Sound producer and coordinator [10]
2010 Xenoblade Chronicles Ending theme "Beyond the Sky" [10]
Inazuma Eleven 3 Music with Natsumi Kameoka [10]
2011 Inazuma Eleven Strikers Music with Natsumi Kameoka [10]
Half-Minute Hero: The Second Coming "Battle of the 4 Deadly Sins" [10]
Wizardry Online Sound producer [10]
Pop'n Music 20 Fantasia
"Tradria" [10]
Inazuma Eleven Strikers 2012 Xtreme
Music with Natsumi Kameoka [10]
Tokyo Yamanote Boys Opening theme "Overture" [10]
2012 Kid Icarus: Uprising "Opening", "Boss Battle 1" [10]
Black Wolves Saga: Bloody Nightmare Main theme "Dear Despair" [10]
Inazuma Eleven GO 2: Chrono Stone Music with Natsumi Kameoka [10]
Inazuma Eleven GO Strikers 2013
Music with Natsumi Kameoka [10]
2013 Soul Sacrifice Music with Wataru Hokoyama [10]
Soukyuu no Sky Galleon Main theme [10]
DoDoDo! Dragon Music with Shunsuke Tsuchiya and Maki Kirioka [10]
Ken ga Kimi [ja] Ending theme "Forever, and One" [44]
Inazuma Eleven GO 3: Galaxy
Music [10]
Hundred Years' War: Euro Historia [ja] Arrangements with Shunsuke Tsuchiya, Maki Kirioka and Natsumi Kameoka [45]
2014
Soul Sacrifice Delta
Music with Wataru Hokoyama [10]
Terra Battle "Beyond the Light" [46]
Ten to Daichi Megami no Mahou Main theme [10]
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Arrangements[c] [10]
2015 Chunithm: Seelisch Tact "Alma" [10]
Stella Glow Music with Shunsuke Tsuchiya [47]
2016 Seventh Rebirth Music [48]
2017 Valkyria Revolution Music [49]
Another Eden Music with Shunsuke Tsuchiya and Mariam Abounnasr [50]
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Music with ACE, Kenji Hiramatsu, and Manami Kiyota [51]
Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ignis
Music with Tadayoshi Makino and Yoko Shimomura [52]
Winning Hand Music with Shunsuke Tsuchiya and Mariam Abounnasr [53]
2018 Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country Music with ACE, Kenji Hiramatsu, and Manami Kiyota [22]
Revolve8
Music with Shunsuke Tsuchiya and Mariam Abounnasr [54]
2019
Wonder Gravity: Pino and the Gravity Users
Sound producer [10]
Renshin Astral Tokyo battle themes [55]
2021 Edge of Eternity Music with Cedric Menendez [56]
2022
Sin Chronicle
"HI・KA・RI" [57]
Even if Tempest
Mastering [10]
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Music with ACE, Kenji Hiramatsu, Manami Kiyota, and Mariam Abounnasr [58]
2023 Sea of Stars Music with Eric W. Brown [59]
2024 Soul Covenant Music [60]

Anime

Anime and film
Year Title Role(s) Ref.
2004 Pugyuru Music [10]
2008 Inazuma Eleven Music [10]
2010
Inazuma Eleven: Saikyō Gundan Ōga Shūrai
Music [10]
2012 Inazuma Eleven GO: Chrono Stone Music with Shiho Terada and Natsumi Kameoka [10]
Chōyaku Hyakunin isshu: Uta Koi Music with Maki Kirioka [10]
Inazuma Eleven GO vs. Danbōru Senki W Music with Natsumi Kameoka and Rei Kondoh [10]
2013 Inazuma Eleven GO: Galaxy Music with Natsumi Kameoka [10]
2014 Inazuma Eleven: Chou Jigen Dream Match Music [10]
Black Butler: Book of Circus
Music [17]
Black Butler: Book of Murder
Music [18]
2017 Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic Music [10]
2018 Inazuma Eleven: Ares Music [10]
Inazuma Eleven: Orion no Kokuin Music [61]
Yo-kai Watch: Forever Friends Orchestrations with Mariam Abounnasr [10]
2021 Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut Music [62]
2024 Delicious in Dungeon Music with Shunsuke Tsuchiya [63][64]

Other notable projects

Other projects
Year Title Role(s) Ref.
1995
Chrono Trigger Arranged Version: The Brink of Time
Producer [10]
1998 Creid Arrangements from Xenogears [10]
2005 Kirite Solo album [10]
Specter Film; music with Kazumi Mitome [10]
2009 Colours of Light Solo album [10]
2011 Myth: The Xenogears Orchestral Album Producer, arrangements [10]
Play for Japan: The Album "Dimension Break" [10]

Footnotes

  1. ^ "It's OK to Cry" and "The Place Where Wishes Come True"
  2. ^ "Vs. Marx" and "World Map (Pikmin 2)"
  3. ^ "Forest/Nature Area" and "Mii Channel"

References

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  2. ^ a b c d e "Yasunori Mitsuda Profile" (in Japanese). Our Millennial Fair. 1999. Archived from the original on July 23, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Peter, James; Mitsuda, Yasunori (October 13, 2006). "Yasunori Mitsuda Interview". PALGN. Archived from the original on June 11, 2011. Retrieved November 3, 2009.
  4. ^ "Yasunori Mitsuda 20th anniversary interview" (in Japanese). 2083.jp. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mitsuda, Yasunori (October 2005). "Yasunori Mitsuda Interview: His Life and Works (October 2005)". Game Music Online. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  6. ^
    1UP.com. Archived from the original
    on February 27, 2009. Retrieved November 2, 2009.
  7. ^ .
  8. ^ a b c d Mitsuda, Yasunori (October 30, 2009). "Yasunori Mitsuda Interview: Since We Last Spoke… (October 2009)". Game Music Online. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  9. ^ Mitsuda, Yasunori; Uematsu, Nobuo (December 12, 1995). Gun Hazard Original Sound Track -Front Mission Series- Liner Notes. NTT Publishing. PSCN-5044~5.
  10. ^ 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 ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw "Yasunori Mitsuda worklist" (in Japanese). Procyon Studio. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
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External links