Kenji Ito :: Biography

Note: This biography was written exclusively for Square Enix Music Online by Chris and Aevloss. The act of using it without advance written permission is regarded as a copyright infringement. It was last updated on April 5, 2008.

Born in Tokyo on July 5, 1968, Kenji Ito is a freelance video game composer known for his contributions to the SaGa, Mana, Culdcept, and Chocobo series. From the age of four he showed a keen interest in learning to play the piano and was treated to a healthy dose of classical training for his pains, a venture which would form the foundations of his understanding of musical theory. Enthusiastic about his hobby and music in general, it was only a few years before he subsequently decided to learn the alto saxophone and clarinet at his school, helping to further diversify his repertoire as a performer. Given the strong emphasis he placed on music in his early childhood, it was no wonder that at ten years of age he became curious about the possibilities of composition and the synthesizers that would give him the freedom to practise this in a practical manner. Although Ito quickly settled on wanting to break into the composing business following these exploits, it was not until after he graduated university that he made his breakthrough; following some advice given by his tutor on applying for jobs in the field, he found himself offered a place at an eager Square, looking to expand their one-man composer team. Acknowledging the potential in the genre, Ito was only too pleased to get started, his creative juices positively flowing after the encouraging reception to his demos.

Ito's first soundtrack was the score for the SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu, known as Final Fantasy Legend II overseas. The composer largely overcame the limitations of the Game Boy's four superficial sounding channels to create nine memorable and emotional compositions, including the rock-influenced battle themes "Lethal Strike" and "Decisive Battle". He made a close bond with co-composer Nobuo Uematsu and game director Akitoshi Kawazu on this title that proved integral to his later success. The soundtrack featured in 1991's All Sounds of SaGa alongside the two other scores in the SaGa trilogy that Ito had no involvement in. The following year, the composer worked on the initial instalment of Square's flagship Mana franchise, the Game Boy's Seiken Densetsu, aka Final Fantasy Adventure. This was Ito's first solo project and he composed 26 tracks in total, including the enchanting opening theme "Rising Sun", the overworld music "Endless Battlefield", and the quirky "Dwarves' Theme" that remain staple tunes of the franchise to this day. An original score was released for this game, as was an orchestral arranged album by Takayuki Hattori; the two albums were later amalgamated into 1995's Seiken Densetsu Sound Collections. His popularity and dependability established, Ito's career was to be dominated by future SaGa and Mana scores.

Ito's Super Nintendo work was principally dedicated to his solo scores to Kawazu's Japan-only Romancing SaGa trilogy. Each of the three games were complemented by Ito's music and represented a progression in the composer's musicality: 1992's Romancing SaGa allowed Ito to create elaborate harmonies and orchestrations for the first time; 1993's Romancing SaGa 2 had an exceptionally dark soundtrack with an often cinematic feel; and 1995's Romancing SaGa 3 offered a diverse, balanced, and epic score that spanned three discs on its soundtrack release. Each of the series' games also spawned three critically acclaimed arranged albums crafted by external arrangers — the French-themed 'La Romance', the lushly orchestrated 'Eternal Romance', and the soothing classically-styled 'Windy Tale'. During this period, he also produced sound effects for Final Fantasy IV and, with Yasunori Mitsuda, Final Fantasy V and Secret of Mana. Ito's final work for the Super Nintendo, Koi ha Balance: Battle of Lovers, was exclusive to the SatellaView module and never released on CD. Using the game as an opportunity to do something different, Ito created a ten piece score that features plenty of upbeat jazz and the occasional dramatic cue. Ito did not establish popularity in the West like the other main Square musicians during that era — Final Fantasy's Nobuo Uematsu and Mana's Hiroki Kikuta — as a result of his games all being Japan-exclusive. However, his work was popular in Japan and especially acclaimed for its battle themes.

Ito's contributions to the PlayStation era were considerably less significant. His only major solo work during this period was the score to 1997's SaGa Frontier, a commercial and critical failure. His score was praised for its diversity and melodic strength. However, it was criticised for being unadventurous in terms of instrumentation and harmony, affirming Ito's reputation as mostly a functional composer. During its production, he also created his first techno composition "Cloud City" and a fanfare for 1996's multi-composer effort Tobal No. 1. Dismissed in favour of Masashi Hamauzu for SaGa Frontier II and Yoko Shimomura for Legend of Mana, Ito was subsequently left to overexpose himself to the Chocobo theme when assigned to score 1998's spinoff Chocobo's Dungeon 2 (aka Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon 2), where he composed a few cinematic orchestral compositions while his three co-composers covered most of the remaining material. He subsequently single-handedly scored 1999's Chocobo Racing, where he arranged a variety of Final Fantasy themes in an unusual bombastic manner to mixed reception and created his only vocal theme to date, "Treasure Chest in the Heart", which he values as his best contribution to game music. After composing the music to a frustrating pair of commercial flops, Gekikuukan Pro Baseball: The End of the Century 1999 and the WonderSwan Color RPG Wild Card, Ito chose to leave Square in 2001 in order to 'broaden the scope of his music'.

Not long after leaving, Ito took full responsibility for the creation and implementation of music to accompany the Dreamcast's magic-meets-monopoly game Culdcept Second, later ported to the PlayStation 2. In order portray the game's various worlds, Ito created two stage themes and a battle theme for each of them, which were grouped together into single tracks with breaks on the actual soundtrack. The low-key soundtrack complemented the game well, impressed in the programming department, and featured some of Ito's strongest whimsical pieces and Spanish-influenced creations. The composer subsequently composed two of the extension packs to the Enix-developed Square Enix MMORPG Cross Gate and offered two small ensemble arrangements to the Dark Chronicle Premium Arrange. At request of his friend Yoshitaka Hirota, he also worked on nine tracks on the cult RPG Shadow Hearts Covenant, including the epic three composer final battle theme "The 3 Karma". Nevertheless, the majority of Ito's freelance projects have ironically been with Square Enix after he and the company re-initiated their relationship with the Seiken Densetsu Game Boy Advance remake Sword of Mana. Ito completely rearranged his score for the original game usually in a classically-oriented manner and added a few new compositions. Its soundtrack release included a piano arrangement disc featuring Ito perform ethereal arrangements of seven of the game's composition and, in its first print, a bonus disc with an orchestral arrangement of "Rising Sun".

2005's PlayStation 2 remake to Romancing SaGa, known as Romancing Saga Minstrel Song in Japan, marked a turning point in terms of his Western popularity. During a two year project, Kenji Ito, arranger Tsuyoshi Sekito, and synthesizer operator Hirosato Noda completely revamped and extended the score for the original game. Ito offered orchestral overtures, bubbly character themes, infectious flamenco compositions, serene setting themes, the odd jazz and techno creation, and much more, while he directed Sekito to offer a hard rock style to the game's battle themes. The result was a diverse score full of highlights that many regard to be the composer's best. He subsequently worked on the 2006 spinoff Children of Mana, developed by Brownie Brown. Joined by Masaharu Iwata and Takayuki Aihara, his 14 consistent contributions were stylistically and often melodically familiar. The score was only released in digital form as part of Square Enix's iTunes service. The team of Minstrel Song reunited with a few others for the 2007 flop Dawn of Mana (aka Seiken Densetsu 4), but its score received both praise and criticism. Ito didn't attempt much new in his 45 tracks, relying mostly on his signature piano and orchestral themes as well as a few Spanish and techno themes. However, he nevertheless helped to characterise the dark and spiritual nature of the game, resulting in his soundtrack being favourably received among gamers for its functionality. Subsequently, he co-composed the MMORPG Concerto Gate with Hiroki Kikuta, where he effectively balanced creativity and consistency once again.

Outside Square Enix, Ito's biggest contribution has been to Culdcept Saga, the third game in the series. Described by him as his best work to date, he created an exceptionally diverse four disc score with Joe Down Studio dominated by stage and battle themes for each of the game's worlds. In addition to his expected orchestral compositions, he dabbed in the fields of electronic, rock, new age, oriental, Baroque, and Spanish music. More recently, he has produced characteristically styled works on the DS adventure game Lux-Pain with Yasuyuki Suzuki and the i-mode project Having Hero Must Die. Having recently joined Harmonics International as a studio musician, he has participated in several projects outside game music. These include his solo album Everlasting Melodies, which featured five simple but enhanting piano pieces and two Square arrangements, and the Istoria ~Musa~ image project. He has also worked on anime for the first time with Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku Wo, commemorated with a piano arranged album, and contributed to several plays on behalf of the Square Enix-related dramatic company Pures. As a pianist, he appeared as a special guest in The Black Mages' second concert and performed with a Spanish band for Extra - Hyper Game Music Event. The other multi-artist projects he has contributed to are Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner, Hanjuku Hero 4 ~The 7 Heroes~, pop'n music 13, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and the Phantasy Star Online and Rogue Galaxy arranged albums. Ito has established himself as a successful freelancer, a dependable composer, and a sensitive pianist and will continue to have an integral place in the gameing industry.