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, also known by the nickname , is a Japanese
video game composer Video game music (or VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to ...
and musician. He is best known for his work on the ''
Mana According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being a ...
'' and ''
SaGa is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square (video game company), Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, ...
'' series, though he has worked on over 30 video games throughout his career as well as composed or arranged music for over 15 other albums, concerts, and plays. He learned to play several instruments at a young age, and joined
Square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90-degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length adj ...
directly out of college as a composer in 1990 at the advice of a professor. He worked there for over a decade, composing many of his best-known scores. In 2001, he left Square to become a freelance composer, but has since continued to collaborate with the company. 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. 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 Electone is the trademark used for electronic organs produced by Yamaha Corporation, Yamaha. With the exception of the top end performance models, most Electones are based on the design of the Electric organ#Spinet organs (1949–), spinet electro ...
music, but was discouraged from learning it by a piano teacher. 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. 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 ''Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation'', titled ''Dragon Warrior III'' when initially localized to North America, is a 1988 role-playing video game developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix. It is the third installment in the '' Dragon ...
''. During March 1990, after applying to several video game companies including
HAL Laboratory formerly shortened as HALKEN (derived from its native name), is a Japanese video game developer founded on 21 February 1980. While independent, it has been closely tied with Nintendo throughout its history, and is often referred to as a secon ...
, Ito began working at
Square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90-degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length adj ...
.


Career

His first project was a co-effort that same year between himself and
Nobuo Uematsu is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his contributions to the ''Final Fantasy'' video game series by Square Enix. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve, with English singer-songwriter Elton Jo ...
for the
Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...
title ''
Final Fantasy Legend II ''Final Fantasy Legend II'', known in Japan as ''SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu'', is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Game Boy. The second entry in the ''SaGa'' series, it was released in 1990 in Japan, and in 1991 in No ...
'' (''SaGa 2''). It led the following year to the first album release of his music, '' All Sounds of SaGa'', which was a combination album of ''
The Final Fantasy Legend ''The Final Fantasy Legend'', known in Japan as ''Makai Toushi SaGa'', is a video game released for the Game Boy in December 1989 by Square Co. It is the first game in the ''SaGa'' series and the first role-playing video game for the system. S ...
'', ''Final Fantasy Legend II'', and ''
Final Fantasy Legend III ''Final Fantasy Legend III'', known in Japan as ''SaGa 3: Jikuu no Hasha'', is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Game Boy. The third entry in the ''SaGa'' series, it was released in Japan in 1991 and in North Ame ...
''; all of Ito's work on ''Legend II'' appeared on the album. Shortly after in 1991, he composed his first solo work, the soundtrack for ''
Final Fantasy Adventure ''Final Fantasy Adventure'', known in Japan as or simply and later released in Europe as ''Mystic Quest'', is a ''Final Fantasy'' spinoff and the first game in the ''Mana'' series. Published by Square in 1991 on the Game Boy, it saw a North Am ...
'' (''Seiken Densetsu''), another Game Boy title. He then returned to the ''SaGa'' series for the next few years, composing the soundtracks to the
Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Euro ...
's ''
Romancing SaGa ''Romancing SaGa'' is a 1992 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom. It is the fourth entry in the ''SaGa'' series. It was subsequently released for the WonderSwan Color in 2001 and mobile phones in 2009. ...
'', ''
Romancing SaGa 2 ''Romancing SaGa 2'' is a 1993 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom. It is the fifth entry in the ''SaGa'' series. It received an expanded port for Japanese mobile devices from Square Enix in 2011. This ve ...
'', and ''
Romancing SaGa 3 ''Romancing SaGa 3'' is a 1995 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom. The sixth entry in the ''SaGa'' series, it was also the last developed for the platform. Originally released on the Super Famicom syste ...
''. These soundtracks sparked Ito's first arranged albums; the first game was arranged in a French musical style by Masaaki Mizuguchi, while the other two were arranged by Ryou Fukui and Taro Iwashiro, respectively, into orchestral pieces. Ito was originally scheduled to continue on with the ''Mana'' series and compose the soundtrack to ''Seiken Densetsu 2'' (''
Secret of Mana ''Secret of Mana'', originally released in Japan as is a 1993 action role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the sequel to the 1991 game ''Seiken Densetsu'', relea ...
''), but was forced to hand the project off to
Hiroki Kikuta is a Japanese video game composer and game designer. His major works are ''Secret of Mana'', ''Trials of Mana'', ''Soukaigi'', and ''Koudelka'', for which he also acted as producer and concept designer. He has composed music for seven other game ...
as his first score due to the demand on his time for scoring ''Romancing SaGa''. 1995 marked the first time since he started composing that he worked on a title outside the ''Mana'' or ''SaGa'' series; he composed the music for ''Koi wa Balance'' and was a member of an eight-person team for ''
Tobal No. 1 is a versus fighting game, fighting video game for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation developed by DreamFactory and published by Square (video game company), Square in 1996. The game was DreamFactory's first release, as well as Square's first ...
''. He returned to the ''SaGa'' series in 1997 with ''
SaGa Frontier is a role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation and released in Japan on July 11, 1997. The game was later published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEA) in North America on March 25, 1998. It is the seventh game in the ...
'', and finished out the decade with ''
Chocobo Racing ''Chocobo Racing'', known in Japan as , is a racing game developed by Square Co. for the PlayStation. The game was released in Japan in March 1999, followed by North America and Europe in August and October, respectively. The game's star and nam ...
'' and ''
Chocobo's Dungeon 2 ''Chocobo's Dungeon 2'' is the 1998 PlayStation sequel to 1997's '' Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon''. Gameplay The players play as Chocobo, navigating randomly-generated levels of mysterious dungeons to progress the story. Each time the player ent ...
''; for ''Chocobo Racing'' he only arranged previous works from the ''
Chocobo The is a fictional species created for the ''Final Fantasy'' franchise by Square Enix (originally Square). A galliform bird commonly having yellow feathers, they were first introduced in ''Final Fantasy II'' (1988), and have since featured in ...
'' and ''Final Fantasy'' series, and contributed only a few tracks to ''Chocobo's Dungeon 2''. He left Square in 2001 to become a freelance composer. He has said that this move was in order to give him the flexibility to work on more than just video game music. The first work that Ito composed after leaving Square was the soundtrack to ''
Culdcept II is a turn-based strategy video game for the Dreamcast. It is the sequel to the Sega Saturn, Saturn title ''Culdcept (video game), Culdcept''. An enhanced version of the game, ''Culdcept Second Expansion'', was released for the PlayStation 2 on ...
'', which he regards as his best work. He attributes this feeling both to the fact that it was his first freelance piece and that he handled all aspects of the music production, from composition through arrangement and sound production. From there he returned to working with Square and the ''Mana'' series with the remake of his second soundtrack, ''Final Fantasy Adventure'', into the soundtrack of ''
Sword of Mana ''Sword of Mana'', originally released in Japan as , is a 2003 action role-playing game developed by Square Enix and Brownie Brown and published by Square Enix and Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. It is an enhanced remake of the first game in ...
''. It was an act he would repeat two years later for Square, now Square Enix, with the remake of ''Romancing SaGa'', ''Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song''. He has since returned to the ''Mana'' series twice, with the soundtracks to ''
Children of Mana ''Children of Mana'' is a 2006 action role-playing game for the Nintendo DS handheld console. It was developed by Square Enix and Nex Entertainment, and published by Square Enix and Nintendo. It is the sixth game of the '' Mana'' series—follow ...
'' and ''
Dawn of Mana ''Dawn of Mana'' is a 2006 action-adventure game for the PlayStation 2. It was developed and published by Square Enix. It is the eighth game of the ''Mana'' series and the third entry in the ''World of Mana'' subseries, following the release of ...
''. All of the video game soundtracks that he has composed since the third expansion pack for ''
Cross Gate is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, developed by Dwango and published by Square Enix (formerly Enix). It has been released in Japan, Taiwan, and Chinese Mainland since 2001. On June 27, 2007, Square Enix announced that service ...
'' in 2004 have been with the assistance of other composers except for 2007's '' Hero Must Die'', though during those years he has branched out from video games into composing and producing albums and singles for performers as well as composing music for plays and concerts. He has also released an album of piano pieces that he has composed; only two of the eight tracks are from his video game works.


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. 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 The Black Mages were a Japanese instrumental rock band formed in 2002 by Nobuo Uematsu, Kenichiro Fukui and Tsuyoshi Sekito, who were three video game composers for Square and Square Enix. The band arranged Uematsu's ''Final Fantasy'' video game ...
'', a band composed of current or former Square musicians, before they expanded to include a full-time pianist. Music composed by Ito has also been performed at the ''Extra -Hyper Game Music Event 2007'' and ''Christmas Live 2008 "gentleecho -prelude-"'' concerts. 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 is a Japanese video game director and game designer best known as the creator of the ''Kirby'' and '' Super Smash Bros.'' series. Apart from his work on those series, he also led the design of ''Meteos'' in 2005 and directed '' Kid Icarus: Upr ...
. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.


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
sports game A sports video game is a video game that simulates the practice of sports. Most sports have been recreated with a game, including team sports, track and field, extreme sports, and combat sports. Some games emphasize actually playing the sport (s ...
s; he has only seen up to the introductory movie for most of the role-playing games that he has written music for. While many of his pieces are orchestral, he enjoys working in a recording studio and enjoys composing "normal songs" as much as his orchestral works. His favorite video game music from other composers include the music from ''
Star Fox is an arcade style rail shooter and third person action-adventure video game series created by Shigeru Miyamoto, produced and published by Nintendo. The games follow the Star Fox combat team of anthropomorphic animals, led by chief protagoni ...
'', ''
Dragon Quest previously published as ''Dragon Warrior'' in North America until 2005, is a franchise of Japanese role-playing video games created by Armor Project (Yuji Horii), Bird Studio (Akira Toriyama) and Sugiyama Kobo (Koichi Sugiyama) to its publi ...
'', ''
Final Fantasy is a Japanese video game, Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and ...
'', ''
Wizardry ''Wizardry'' is a series of role-playing video games, developed by Sir-Tech, that were highly influential in the evolution of modern role-playing video games. The original ''Wizardry'' was a significant influence on early console role-playing g ...
'' and ''
Nobunaga's Ambition is a series of turn-based grand strategy role-playing simulation video games. The original game was one of the first in its genre, being released in March 1983 by the Japanese video game developer Koei. ''Nobunaga's Ambition'' takes place during ...
''. Non-video game music that has inspired him includes Japanese popular music and soundtracks to
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
works, as well as easy listening music such as
Paul Mauriat Paul Julien André Mauriat ( or ; 4 March 1925 – 3 November 2006) was a French orchestra leader, conductor of Le Grand Orchestre de Paul Mauriat, who specialized in the easy listening genre. He is best known in the United States for his mill ...
or
Richard Clayderman Richard Clayderman (; born Philippe Pagès , 28 December 1953 in Paris) is a French pianist who has released numerous albums including the compositions of Paul de Senneville, Olivier Toussaint and Marc Minier, instrumental renditions of popular ...
, especially string music. These influences have led him to wish to create music "that you can listen to while you relax". He also wishes to expand his compositions outside video game music and into ballads.


Works


Video games

;Composition *''
Final Fantasy Legend II ''Final Fantasy Legend II'', known in Japan as ''SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu'', is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Game Boy. The second entry in the ''SaGa'' series, it was released in 1990 in Japan, and in 1991 in No ...
'' (1990) – with
Nobuo Uematsu is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his contributions to the ''Final Fantasy'' video game series by Square Enix. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve, with English singer-songwriter Elton Jo ...
*''
Final Fantasy Adventure ''Final Fantasy Adventure'', known in Japan as or simply and later released in Europe as ''Mystic Quest'', is a ''Final Fantasy'' spinoff and the first game in the ''Mana'' series. Published by Square in 1991 on the Game Boy, it saw a North Am ...
'' (1991) *''
Romancing SaGa ''Romancing SaGa'' is a 1992 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom. It is the fourth entry in the ''SaGa'' series. It was subsequently released for the WonderSwan Color in 2001 and mobile phones in 2009. ...
'' (1992) *''
Romancing SaGa 2 ''Romancing SaGa 2'' is a 1993 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom. It is the fifth entry in the ''SaGa'' series. It received an expanded port for Japanese mobile devices from Square Enix in 2011. This ve ...
'' (1993) *''Koi wa Balance: Battle of Lovers'' (1995) *''
Romancing SaGa 3 ''Romancing SaGa 3'' is a 1995 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom. The sixth entry in the ''SaGa'' series, it was also the last developed for the platform. Originally released on the Super Famicom syste ...
'' (1995) *''
Tobal No. 1 is a versus fighting game, fighting video game for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation developed by DreamFactory and published by Square (video game company), Square in 1996. The game was DreamFactory's first release, as well as Square's first ...
'' (1996) – with
Yasunori Mitsuda is a Japanese composer, musician, and sound producer. He is best known for his work in video games, primarily for the ''Chrono (series), Chrono'', ''Xeno (series), Xeno'', ''Shadow Hearts'', and ''Inazuma Eleven (series), Inazuma Eleven'' franch ...
,
Masashi Hamauzu is a Japanese composer, pianist, and lyricist. Hamauzu, who was employed at Square Enix from 1996 to 2010, was best known during that time for his work on the ''Final Fantasy'' and ''SaGa'' video game series. Born into a musical family in German ...
,
Junya Nakano is a Japanese video game composer. After working for Konami in the early 1990s, he was employed by Squaresoft and then Square Enix from 1995 to 2009. He is best known for scoring ''Threads of Fate'' and co-composing ''Final Fantasy X'' for Squa ...
,
Ryuji Sasai is a Japanese video game music, video game composer and bass guitarist. He is best known for his work on ''Xak'', ''Final Fantasy Legend III'' and ''Final Fantasy Mystic Quest''. His musical career came about when he was 15 years old, and he for ...
, Yasuhiro Kawakami,
Yoko Shimomura is a Japanese composer and pianist primarily known for her work in video games. She graduated from the Osaka College of Music in 1988 and began working in the video game industry by joining Capcom the same year. She wrote music for several game ...
, and
Noriko Matsueda is a Japanese former video game composer. She is best known for her work on the '' Front Mission'' series, '' The Bouncer'', and ''Final Fantasy X-2''. Matsueda collaborated with fellow composer Takahito Eguchi on several games. Composing music ...
*''
SaGa Frontier is a role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation and released in Japan on July 11, 1997. The game was later published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEA) in North America on March 25, 1998. It is the seventh game in the ...
'' (1997) *''
Chocobo Racing ''Chocobo Racing'', known in Japan as , is a racing game developed by Square Co. for the PlayStation. The game was released in Japan in March 1999, followed by North America and Europe in August and October, respectively. The game's star and nam ...
'' (1999) *''
Chocobo's Dungeon 2 ''Chocobo's Dungeon 2'' is the 1998 PlayStation sequel to 1997's '' Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon''. Gameplay The players play as Chocobo, navigating randomly-generated levels of mysterious dungeons to progress the story. Each time the player ent ...
'' (1999) – with
Tsuyoshi Sekito is a Japanese video game composer, arranger, and musician who has been employed at Square Enix since 1995. As a composer, he is best known for scoring ''Brave Fencer Musashi'' (1998), '' Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children'' (2005) and '' The Last ...
, Yasuhiro Kawakami, and
Kumi Tanioka is a Japanese composer and pianist. Born in Hiroshima, Japan, she graduated from Kobe University with a degree in musical performance, and began working as a video game composer in 1998. She joined video game developer and publisher Square tha ...
*''Gekikuukan Pro Baseball: The End of the Century 1999'' (1999) *''Wild Card'' (2001) *''
Culdcept Second is a turn-based strategy video game for the Dreamcast. It is the sequel to the Saturn title ''Culdcept''. An enhanced version of the game, ''Culdcept Second Expansion'', was released for the PlayStation 2 on September 26, 2002. The expansion ...
'' (2001) *''
Sword of Mana ''Sword of Mana'', originally released in Japan as , is a 2003 action role-playing game developed by Square Enix and Brownie Brown and published by Square Enix and Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. It is an enhanced remake of the first game in ...
'' (2003) *'' Cross Gate Power Up Kit 2 Heavenly Eggs'' (2003) *'' Cross Gate Power Up Kit 3 Heavens' Knight and Fortune's Songstress'' (2004) *'' Shadow Hearts: Covenant'' (2004) – with
Yoshitaka Hirota is a Japanese video game composer and bass guitarist. His most notable works include the soundtracks to the ''Shadow Hearts'' series. Hirota was previously a sound effects programmer having worked on various Square titles. His first work as a vi ...
, Yasunori Mitsuda, Tomoko Kobayashi, and Ryo Fukuda *'' Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song'' (2005) – with Tsuyoshi Sekito *'' Hanjuku Hero 4: 7-Jin no Hanjuku Hero'' (2005) – with many others *'' Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner'' (2006) – with many others *''
Children of Mana ''Children of Mana'' is a 2006 action role-playing game for the Nintendo DS handheld console. It was developed by Square Enix and Nex Entertainment, and published by Square Enix and Nintendo. It is the sixth game of the '' Mana'' series—follow ...
'' (2006) – with
Masaharu Iwata is a Japanese video game music, video game composer. After graduating from high school, where his musical projects included composing on a synthesizer and playing in a cover band, he joined Bothtec as a composer. He composed the soundtrack to se ...
and Takayuki Aihara *''
Pop'n Music 13 Carnival , commonly abbreviated as ''Pop'n'', ''PM'' or ''PNM'' and stylized as ''pop'n music'', is a music video game series in the Bemani series made by Konami. The games are known for their bright colors, upbeat songs, and cute cartoon character graphic ...
'' (2006) – with many others *''
Dawn of Mana ''Dawn of Mana'' is a 2006 action-adventure game for the PlayStation 2. It was developed and published by Square Enix. It is the eighth game of the ''Mana'' series and the third entry in the ''World of Mana'' subseries, following the release of ...
'' (2006) – with Tsuyoshi Sekito, Masayoshi Soken, and
Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...
*''
Concerto Gate is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Ponsbic and Square Enix. The game was released in Japan in 2007, and a planned North American release was cancelled after a beta release in July 2008. Gameplay The battle style is a ...
'' (2007) – with
Hiroki Kikuta is a Japanese video game composer and game designer. His major works are ''Secret of Mana'', ''Trials of Mana'', ''Soukaigi'', and ''Koudelka'', for which he also acted as producer and concept designer. He has composed music for seven other game ...
*''Hero Must Die'' (2007) *''
Lux-Pain is a visual novel adventure video game developed by Killaware and published by Marvelous Entertainment for the Nintendo DS video game console. The game was released in Japan on March 27, 2008. It was published in North America by Ignition Enterta ...
'' (2008) – with Yasuyuki Suzuki *'' Pop'n Music 16 Party'' (2008) – with many others *''
Culdcept Saga is a video game in the ''Culdcept'' series developed exclusively for the Xbox 360 video game console. It is the first entry for a Microsoft console in the franchise. A demo of the title was made available to Xbox Live users on December 4, 2007. ...
'' (2008) – with many others *'' GuitarFreaks & DrumMania V6 Blazing'' (2009) – with many others *'' Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2'' (2011) – with
Atlus is a Japanese video game developer, publisher, arcade manufacturer and distribution company based in Tokyo. A subsidiary of Sega, the company is known for video game series such as ''Megami Tensei'', ''Persona'', ''Etrian Odyssey'' and ''Trau ...
sound team *'' Half-Minute Hero: The Second Coming'' (2011) – with many others *''
Puzzle & Dragons is a puzzle video game with role-playing and strategy elements, developed and published by GungHo Online Entertainment for the iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire platforms. ''Puzzle & Dragons'' is a match-three puzzle game, requiring players t ...
'' (2012) – with Yukio Nakajima *''Culdcept'' (3DS) (2012) *''
Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory is an action role-playing game developed and published by Idea Factory with the assistance of Compile Heart. It is the third installment in the ''Hyperdimension Neptunia'' franchise. Set in the year 1989, the story takes place after '' Hyperdim ...
'' (2012) – with Kenji Kaneko and
Nobuo Uematsu is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his contributions to the ''Final Fantasy'' video game series by Square Enix. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve, with English singer-songwriter Elton Jo ...
*''
Demons' Score ''Demons' Score'' is a rhythm mobile game developed by iNiS and published by Square Enix. The gameplay is similar to another iNiS-developed game, ''Elite Beat Agents''. The game was released for iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile oper ...
'' (2012) – with various others *'' Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas'' (2013) – with Kalle Ylitalo and Nobuo Uematsu *''Getsuei Gakuen'' (2013) – with
Daisuke Ishiwatari is a Japanese video game developer, illustrator, musician, composer and voice actor. He is best known for creating the 2D fighting game series ''Guilty Gear''. He designed the characters and storyline, and wrote the music. He also provides the ...
*''
Puzzle & Dragons Z ''Puzzle & Dragons Z + Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition'' is a 2015 role-playing puzzle video game for Nintendo 3DS developed by GungHo Online Entertainment. It is a compilation of ''Puzzle & Dragons Z'' (2013) and ''Puzzle & Dragons ...
'' (2013) – with Yukio Nakajima *'' Rise of Mana'' (2014) – with
Hiroki Kikuta is a Japanese video game composer and game designer. His major works are ''Secret of Mana'', ''Trials of Mana'', ''Soukaigi'', and ''Koudelka'', for which he also acted as producer and concept designer. He has composed music for seven other game ...
, Yoko Shimomura, and
Tsuyoshi Sekito is a Japanese video game composer, arranger, and musician who has been employed at Square Enix since 1995. As a composer, he is best known for scoring ''Brave Fencer Musashi'' (1998), '' Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children'' (2005) and '' The Last ...
*'' Puzzle & Dragons Battle Tournament'' (2014) *''
Terra Battle ''Terra Battle'' was a role-playing video game developed by Mistwalker. It was released for iOS and Android devices on October 9, 2014. It was produced by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the ''Final Fantasy'' series, with music by Nobuo Uema ...
'' (2014) – with Nobuo Uematsu, Yoko Shimomura, Yasunori Mitsuda, and
Hitoshi Sakimoto is a Japanese video game music composer and arranger. He is best known for scoring ''Final Fantasy Tactics'' and ''Final Fantasy XII'', though he has composed soundtracks for over 80 other games. He began playing music and video games in elementa ...
*''Chronos Ring'' (2015) – with Yoko Shimomura and
Evan Call Evan Call (born June 29, 1988) is an American composer and arranger working in Japan. He has composed music for multiple anime series such as ''Tokyo ESP'', ''Violet Evergarden'', and ''Appare-Ranman!''. Call is affiliated with the Japanese agen ...
*''Chunithm: Seelisch Tact'' (2015) – "Gustav Battle" *''Shinyaku Arcana Slayer'' (2015) *'' Hero Must Die'' (2016) *''Culdcept Revolt'' (2016) *'' Puzzle & Dragons X'' (2016) – with
Yuzo Koshiro is a Japanese composer and sound programmer. He is often regarded as one of the most influential innovators in chiptune and video game music, producing music in a number of genres including rock, jazz, symphonic, and various electronic genres ...
,
Akira Yamaoka is a Japanese composer and music producer. He is best known for composing music for several video games in the ''Silent Hill'' series by Konami, among other games. Yamaoka also worked as a producer on the series, as well as composing for the '' ...
, and Keigo Ozaki *'' SaGa: Scarlet Grace'' (2016) *''
Adventures of Mana ''Adventures of Mana'' is an action role-playing video game developed by MCF and Square Enix, and published by Square Enix. It is a 3D remake of the 1991 Game Boy game ''Final Fantasy Adventure'', the first game in the ''Mana'' series. It was re ...
'' (2016) *''Rakugaki Kingdom'' (2019) – with many others * ''Sin Chronicle'' (2022) – with many others ;Arrangement *''
Mabinogi The ''Mabinogion'' () are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, create ...
'' (2008) *''
Super Smash Bros. Brawl ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' is a 2008 List of crossovers in video games, crossover fighting game, fighting video game developed by Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The third installment in the Super Smash Bros., ''Super Smash ...
'' (2008) – with many others *'' SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu'' (2009) *'' Ar tonelico 3 Hymmnos Concert'' album (2010) – with many others *''
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'' Arranged Album (2010) – with many others *''
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and (colloquially and collectively referred to as ''Super Smash Bros. 4'' or ''Smash 4'') is a group of two 2014 crossover fighting video games developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS ...
'' (2014) – with many others *''
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'' (2018) – with many others


Other

;Composition *''Kokoro no Takarabako'' (1999) – single by
Hiromi Ōta Hiromi Ōta (太田 裕美 '' Ōta Hiromi'', born on January 20, 1955, in Kasukabe, Saitama Saitama Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese female singer. She is a popular singer who is considered an idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and ...
*''Seishun no Fu / Midarete Atsuki Wagami niwa'' (2002) – concert *''~Canaria~'' (2002) – single by Muneyuki Satoh *''Touson Dairoku Shishu'' (2002) – album by Ikuyo Ueda *''Muneyuki Sato All Songs Collection'' (2003) – album by Muneyuki Satoh *''Hajimari no Daichi'' (2006) – album by Manami Kiyota *''Our Endless Night -The spring time of life'' (2006) – concert by Manami Kiyota; with many others *''Manami Kiyota x Kenji Ito Collaboration Live'' (2006) – concert by Manami Kiyota *''Maou Kourin Live SIDE & Evil SIDE'' (2006) – play with many others *''Kenji Ito Piano Works Collection ~Everlasting Melodies~'' (2006) – includes one piece from ''Romancing SaGa 2'', and one from ''Chocobo Racing'' *''
Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku o is a Japanese adult visual novel produced by Giga, originally released on March 31, 2006. The game was ported to the PlayStation 2 in 2007, the PlayStation Portable in 2009, and the PlayStation Vita in 2015 came with additional content altho ...
'' (2007) – anime *'' Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai'' (2011) – anime ep 5 *''
The Girl in Twilight , is a multimedia franchise celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Animax channel. An anime television series ran from October 1 to December 17, 2018. The project also includes a free-to-play mobile game that was launched on October 15, 2018 ...
'' (2018) – anime; main theme *''Braverthday'' (2018) – album by
Nobuhiko Okamoto is a Japanese Voice acting in Japan, voice actor and singer affiliated with Raccoon Dog. He won the Best New Actor Award at the 3rd Seiyu Awards and Best Supporting Actor Award at the 5th Seiyu Awards. Voice acting career In an interview held ...
; "Tsugi wa Kimi ga Shuyaku no Ban da" *'' 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 *''Tougenkyo -Masashi Sada Chromatic Harmonica Music Collection-'' (2002) – album by Etsuko Kitani *''Mirai'' (2003) – album by Yusuke Matsumoto


See also

* Music of the ''Mana'' series * Music of the ''SaGa'' series * Music of the ''Chocobo'' series


Notes


References


External links

*
Kenji Ito's official English website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ito, Kenji 1968 births Freelance musicians Japanese composers Japanese male composers Japanese male musicians Living people Musicians from Tokyo Square Enix people Video game composers