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. Formerly employed by Square Enix, he joined them in 1999 as a

synthesizer programmer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis an ...

on ''

Legend of Mana ''Legend of Mana'' is a 1999 action role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the PlayStation. It is the fourth game in the '' Mana'' series, following 1995's ''Trials of Mana''. Set in a high fantasy universe, t ...

'', and worked for them on several games. In 2002, he was promoted to the role of composer, beginning with ''World Fantasista''. He has since composed for several large-budget games, such as ''

The World Ends with You ''The World Ends with You'' is an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix and Jupiter and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo DS. Set in the modern-day Shibuya shopping district of Tokyo, the game uses urban fantasy elements insp ...

'', '' Dissidia: Final Fantasy'', and ''

Final Fantasy Type-0 is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). Released in Japan on October 27, 2011, ''Type-0'' is part of the ''Fabula Nova Crystallis'' subseries, a set of games sharing a common my ...

''. In addition to his work for Square Enix, he is a composer and guitar player for the bands The Death March and SAWA. He left Square Enix at the end of 2017, becoming a freelancer.

Biography

Ishimoto first got into music as, according to him, he lived in the country and there was nothing else to do. He first worked as a synthesizer programmer before becoming a composer; he began working as such in 1999 with ''

''. Several games later, he began to also work as a composer with the PlayStation 2 soccer game ''World Fantasista''. In 2004 he began to compose for games in the ''

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 ...

'' series, which he had previously worked with as a synthesizer programmer on '' Final Fantasy X''. His last work as a synthesizer programmer was for '' Kingdom Hearts II'' in 2005; since then he has worked exclusively for Square Enix as a composer. Ishimoto was also a member of the Japanese musical group SAWA, with which he performed under the name HIZMI. He formed the band along with Sawa Kato in October 2008. Kato sang some of the songs and wrote the lyrics on Ishimoto's soundtrack for ''

''. The band released an album, ''333'', in 2008. After SAWA disbanded, he formed The Death March in 2012, a band that plays and re-arrange music from soundtracks composed by Ishimoto. In December 2017, Ishimoto announced that he would be leaving Square Enix and becoming a freelancer. Ishimoto stated that the decision to leave was his own, leaving on amicable terms with the company.

Style and legacy

He was named by ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'' as number ten in a top ten JRPG composers list in 2008. Ishimoto composes songs in many different genres, including rock, hip hop, electronica, and pop.

Works

;Synthesizer programmer *''

'' (1999) – with Hidenori Iwasaki, Hirosato Noda, and Ryo Yamazaki *''

Front Mission 3 ''Front Mission 3'', also known in Japan as is a tactical role-playing game for the PlayStation developed by and published by Square Co., Ltd., released in Japan in 1999, and North America and Europe in 2000. ''Front Mission 3'' is the third ma ...

'' (1999) *''

Vagrant Story is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the PlayStation video game console. The game was released in 2000, and has been re-released through the PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3, PlayStatio ...

'' (2000) – with Hidenori Iwasaki and Hirosato Noda *''

All Star Pro-Wrestling All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

'' (2000) *'' Final Fantasy X'' (2001) – with Keiji Kawamori and Ryo Yamazaki *''

All Star Pro-Wrestling II All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

'' (2001) *'' All Star Pro-Wrestling III'' (2003 *'' Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories'' (2004) *'' Kingdom Hearts II'' (2005) ;Composer *''World Fantasista'' (2002) – with Masayoshi Soken *'' Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII'' (2004) *'' Last Order: Final Fantasy VII'' (2005) *''Monotone'' (2007) *''

'' (2007) *'' Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII'' (2007) *'' Dissidia: Final Fantasy'' (2008) *'' Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep'' (2010) – with

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

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 ...

*''

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy ''Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy'' (pronounced as ) is a 2011 fighting game published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable as part of the ''Final Fantasy'' series. It was developed by the company's 1st Production Department and released in Ja ...

'' (2011) *''

'' (2011) *'' Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance'' (2012) – with Yoko Shimomura and Tsuyoshi Sekito *'' Final Fantasy Agito'' (2014) *''

Final Fantasy Type-0 HD is an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix and HexaDrive, and published by Square Enix for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and later for Microsoft Windows via Steam. It was released worldwide in March 2015, while the Steam port w ...

'' (2015) *''Rampage Land Rankers'' (2015) *''

Dissidia Final Fantasy is a fighting game with action RPG elements developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable as part of the campaign for the '' Final Fantasy'' series' 20th anniversary. It was released in Japan on December 18, 2008, in Nor ...

'' (2015) – with Keiji Kawamori and Tsuyoshi Sekito *''

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is a fighting game with action role-playing elements developed by Koei Tecmo's Team Ninja and published by Square Enix for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4. The game is a follow-up to ''Dissidia Final Fantasy'' and ''Dissidia 012 Final Fan ...

'' (2018) *''

Kingdom Hearts III is a 2019 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch. It is the twelfth installment in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series, and serves as a conclusion of the ...

'' (2019) – with Yoko Shimomura and Tsuyoshi Sekito *''

The World Ends with You the Animation is a 2021 Japanese anime television series adaptation of the action role-playing game ''The World Ends with You'' published by Square Enix. The anime was a joint production between Square Enix, DOMERICA, and Shin-Ei Animation. Cast and Char ...

'' (2021) *'' Neo: The World Ends with You'' (2021) * ''Tsurugihime'' (2024) ;Arranger *'' Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion'' (2022)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ishimoto, Takeharu 1970 births Anime composers Japanese composers Japanese male composers Living people Musicians from Miyazaki Prefecture Square Enix people Video game composers