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Underrated Japanese Video Game Composers

ULTROS!

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
If we think of Japanese video game composers, we think of Yoko Shimomura (Kingdom Hearts), Yasunori Mitsuda (Xenogears, Chrono Trigger), Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy), Daisuke Ishiwatari (Guilty Gear), Shoji Meguro (Persona), Motoi Sakuraba (Tales, Star Ocean), Masashi Hamauzu (Final Fantasy XIII), and Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill). Who Japanese composers do you think deserve more recognition for their fantastic work?

I nominate Kohei Tanaka. Here are some of his works:

Alundra - Shrine of the Lake
End of Eternity - Ebel City
Sakura Wars V - Theme Song

Seriously, this guy needs to work on more songs for JRPGs.
 
O

orioto

Good Art™
+1
Big big fan of Kohei Tanaka for his Sakura Taisen works. he can add so much to a game!

Also whoever wrote Kikikaikai soundtrack for snes is genius.
 
C

C-Jo

Member
Masafumi Takada and Jun Fukuda are criminally underrated. Killer 7 and God Hand had two of my favorite OSTs of the last generation.

Killer 7 - Rave On
God Hand - Gene's Rock-a-Bye

(These are just the two most obvious tracks.)

Even though Akira Yamaoka's work on Shadows of the Damned was awesome, it still bums me out that Takada isn't working with Grasshopper anymore.
 
ULTROS!

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
P

PigSpeakers

Member
I was gonna say the guy who wrote all the music for the Final Fantasy Legends series, but it turns out it was at least three different dudes, and one of them is Uematsu...
 
B

BlueCrest

Member
His music doesn't seem to have anything special, average I'd say, lacks any special flavor, it isn't horrible by any means, but it just sounds forgettable, music that you would find in any asian mmo.
 
S

SuperAngelo64

Banned
BlueCrest said:
His music doesn't seem to have anything special, average I'd say, lacks any special flavor, it isn't horrible by any means, but it just sounds forgettable, music that you would find in any asian mmo.
Click to expand...

You act like the majority of asian MMOs aren't notorious for having amazing OSTs.
 
L

Luigiv

Member
Not really underrated per se but rather not well known yet. I really think Ace+ (Xenoblade) is set to do great things in the future.
 
E

Etrian Oddity

Member
C-Jo said:
Masafumi Takada and Jun Fukuda are criminally underrated. Killer 7 and God Hand had two of my favorite OSTs of the last generation.

Killer 7 - Rave On
God Hand - Gene's Rock-a-Bye

(These are just the two most obvious tracks.)

Even though Akira Yamaoka's work on Shadows of the Damned was awesome, it still bums me out that Takada isn't working with Grasshopper anymore.
Click to expand...
Hahaha, I was about to post this and then I re-read the thread and saw your post. Takada's soundtracks go hard.

Rave On (K7)
Flat Line (Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked)
Bogey Battle (Vanquish)
Shin Onigashima (SSBB)
PLEATHER FOR BREAKFAST (No More Heroes Game of the Forever)

Seriously. That's just a wee sample of the man's portfolio.
 
C

C-Jo

Member
Etrian Oddity said:
Hahaha, I was about to post this and then I re-read the thread and saw your post. Takada's soundtracks go hard.
Click to expand...
Nice, I'm glad you mentioned Samurai Champloo. That was an under-appreciated game in general.

No More Heroes was pretty excellent all around, but K-ENT was always the track that stood out for me.
 
A

Aeana

Member
I don't think Tanaka is underrated, he just has not done many games. He is much more wellknown for anime. Same for Michiru Oshima, who is also awesome.

I personally nominate Akari Kaida... I am not in a position to link any of her work at the moment, though.
 
ULTROS!

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Aeana said:
I don't think Tanaka is underrated, he just has not done many games. He is much more wellknown for anime. Same for Michiru Oshima, who is also awesome.

I personally nominate Akari Kaida... I am not in a position to link any of her work at the moment, though.
Click to expand...

Yeah, most of his work is dedicated to anime/OVA/movies (notably One Piece). Most of his video game work can be found in the Sakura Taisen series though.
 
C

Callo Merlose

Banned
Harry Gregson-Williams gets name-dropped so often when talking about MGS music, but it's Norihiko Hibino who's done the guts of the series since MGS2.
 
S

speedpop

Has problems recognising girls
Quite famous in Japan but practically ignored everywhere else by the gaming public, Koichi Sugiyama is probably the most underrated when it concerns Western audiences. Boggles my mind how we can continue to have "best music from an RPG" threads every year and Sugiyama is offered a mute fart in each one.


A slow burning personal favourite is Kumi Tanioka. Fell in love the first time I heard Gustaberg. I haven't even played FF11. Not only that but her Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles efforts are unquestionably great.
 
D

dragonlife

Member
image.php


Anyway, I agree with Kenji Ito. His stuff is awesome.
 
B

batbeg

Member
speedpop said:
A slow burning personal favourite is Kumi Tanioka. Fell in love the first time I heard Gustaberg. I haven't even played FF11. Not only that but her Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles efforts are unquestionably great.
Click to expand...

That was awesome. I haven't played FFXI nor listened to its soundtrack, but I do absolutely love FFCCs soundtrack. Absolutely beautiful.
 
GhaleonQ

GhaleonQ

Member
Aku-Audi said:
Kunimoto Takeaki
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3ok24j1B3o

http://vgmdb.net/artist/1723
Click to expand...

Yes. Brilliant choice.

speedpop said:
A slow burning personal favourite is Kumi Tanioka. Fell in love the first time I heard Gustaberg. I haven't even played FF11. Not only that but her Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles efforts are unquestionably great.
Click to expand...
batbeg said:
That was awesome. I haven't played FFXI nor listened to its soundtrack, but I do absolutely love FFCCs soundtrack. Absolutely beautiful.
Click to expand...

Ragnarok Odyssey, despite being a Ragnarok game, is being developed by Game Arts with a Kumi Tanioka soundtrack. It's absurd that it's in my 10 most anticipated in a year where the 3DS and Vita will come into their own.

SuperAngelo64 said:
Yousuke Yasui (Eschatos, enough said)
Click to expand...

When Nert and my soundtracks of the year topic pops up, can you come and defend it? I missed something, apparently.
 
V

viewtifulsub

Member
C-Jo said:
Masafumi Takada and Jun Fukuda are criminally underrated. Killer 7 and God Hand had two of my favorite OSTs of the last generation.

Killer 7 - Rave On
God Hand - Gene's Rock-a-Bye

(These are just the two most obvious tracks.)

Even though Akira Yamaoka's work on Shadows of the Damned was awesome, it still bums me out that Takada isn't working with Grasshopper anymore.
Click to expand...

Etrian Oddity said:
Hahaha, I was about to post this and then I re-read the thread and saw your post. Takada's soundtracks go hard.

Rave On (K7)
Flat Line (Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked)
Bogey Battle (Vanquish)
Shin Onigashima (SSBB)
PLEATHER FOR BREAKFAST (No More Heroes Game of the Forever)

Seriously. That's just a wee sample of the man's portfolio.
Click to expand...

C-Jo said:
Nice, I'm glad you mentioned Samurai Champloo. That was an under-appreciated game in general.

No More Heroes was pretty excellent all around, but K-ENT was always the track that stood out for me.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't necessarily call Masafumi Takada underrated thanks to the success of NMH. And Jun Fukuda was mainly a sound design/effects guy.
Also this remains to this day the best track that Takada ever composed
 
K

Kenka

Member
Masafumi Takada and Jun Fukuda come to mind, they are brilliant.
I dream of a movie with a score signed by Takada, Yamaoka and Meguro.




How awesome would that be ?
 
M

Maffis

Member
When I think of Motoi Sakuraba I don't think of the Tales games nor the Star Ocean ones. I think of fucking Dark Souls.

Man, amazing soundtrack in that game.
 
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