Yasunori Mitsuda :: Biography

Note: This biography was written exclusively for Square Enix Music Online by Chris. The act of using it without advance written permission is regarded as a copyright infringement. It was last updated on April 23, 2008.

Born on January 21, 1972 in Tokuyama, Japan, Yasunori Mitsuda is the president of video game music production company Procyon Studio and came to fame as a result of his Chrono and Xeno works. Throughout his early childhood in Kumake, he was an enthusiastic and talented outdoorsman, but lacked the dedication to fulfil his dreams to be a professional golfer. While he was given piano lessons during his high school years, he was initially completely unpassionate and never practiced. Nonetheless, he begun to appreciate music during his early teenage years, thanks to enjoying Vangelis' Blade Runner and Henry Mancini's Pink Panther soundtracks. This gave him a new lifelong ambition — to become an internationally acclaimed film music composer. After his father convinced him to buy a computer, a rare item at that time, he became a huge fan of computers and gained technical proficiency through electrical engineering classes at high school and regular experiences creating music and programming games. This put him in good stead for his career, set to be highly reliant on technical expertise. With influence from his engaged sister and bold words from his father, Mitsuda decided to leave home and become independent in Tokyo following graduation from high school. Here, he enrolled in a junior college to study composing and arranging in a move that he realized would either make or break him. As a result of his limited experience and musical knowledge, Mitsuda received some ridicule from his teachers but hardened as a result and gained the dedication he lacked as a childhood. He still learnt a lot from his teachers by seeing them conduct their work outside the college when given tasks such as carrying instruments. While there, he had regular early morning 'jam' sessions and beer-induced escapades with long-term collaborator Yoshitaka Hirota, aiding his musical and social development. These two years, while the hardest he had to experience up to that point, shaped him into a resolute individual and a surprisingly successful musician.

While at college, Mitsuda took six months placement under a teacher working in the sound department of a game software company at the end of 1991. Though he had plenty of ambitions to become a film composer, his teacher realized he had no clear plans and recommended he apply for a job at Square after seeing an advertisement for a composing job. Under the belief that the job would lead on to bigger things, Mitsuda sent several sample pieces to the company and was eventually invited to an interview with Nobuo Uematsu and sound programmer Minoru Akao in March 1992. He admitted that he wanted the job only as a stepping stone and had never played the Final Fantasy series, Square's only major success at that time, to the horror of his interviewers. Nevertheless, the quality of his compositions and extent of technical experience resulted in him being eventually employed. Despite his title, Mitsuda's first projects were actually a series of roles dedicated to sound manipulation and sound effects. Mitsuda was initially asked to program the score to the Super Nintendo's Hanjuku Hero alongside Dragon Quest musician Koichi Sugiyama; his eagerness aside, Mitsuda learnt a lot under this respected composer and demonstrated a meticulous attitude towards programming. Working in sound-related roles for Final Fantasy V, Secret of Mana, and Romancing SaGa 2, he established a reputation of being the most picky person in Square when it came to sound quality and inspired an array of innovative techniques for improving sound effects together with Minoru Akao and Hidenori Suzuki. It nevertheless dawned on him that, if he didn't do something, he would remain a sound programmer for the rest of his career like his aforementioned contemporaries. Audaciously, he gave an ultimatum directly to Square's vice president Hironobu Sakaguchi that, if he weren't given the role he applied for, he would quit the company. After subsequent discussions, Sakaguchi firmly understood the message and looked for a suitable project for him to work on.

Mitsuda eventually led the score to the collaborative Square and Enix collaboration Chrono Trigger after Koichi Sugiyama became too busy to work on it. He felt an overwhelming amount of largely self-imposed pressure during this project and even collapsed due to physical illness at the end of it. The final work memorably and fittingly complemented the worlds, characters, and eras of the time-travelling RPG and remains one of the most beloved scores of the Super Nintendo. The perfectionistic Mitsuda nevertheless found the music somewhat immature and unenjoyable on a stand-alone basis, fuelling his resentment towards it being frequently described as his representative album since. Following its completion, he recruited the duo Guido to create experimental jazz arrangements of the score for the controversial Chrono Trigger: The Brink of Time. On the subsequent Front Mission: Gun Hazard, Mitsuda joined Uematsu depicting a grim world victim to an organization's heartless manipulation, demonstrating a capacity for orchestral soundscaping and compelling percussion use. On Radical Dreamers, the Japan-only Chrono Trigger spinoff released for the Super Nintendo's Satellaview module, Mitsuda was entrusted with all aspects of sound production; it features some of the most technologically commanded use of its console's synth and, despite brevity, thematically unites the scores of the Chrono series. Mitsuda was assigned the role of producer on 1996's fighter Tobal No. 1. By creating four compositions of his own, organizing seven other composers, and enlisting the help of arrangers Guido, Mitsuda was able to form an energetic and diverse electronic score that maintained a degree of stylistic continuity. The project was also the first in which Square used the PlayStation console, so Mitsuda exploited its increased memory capacity to implement the score with actual instrumental performances. Also on behalf of the project, he collaborated with Guido to create another 'underground' arranged album, Tobal No. 1 Remixes Electrical Indian. His competence as a leader in this project provided a sound background for the establishment of his own company later in his career.

1998's Xenogears was Mitsuda's final project as a Square employee and his most high-profile aside from Chrono Trigger. Mitsuda created a sentimental and melodic score that proved exceptional for its spiritual undertones and inclusion of two Celtic ballads sung by Joanne Hogg. Its Celtic arranged album Creid differed from its predecessors in that it was catered to be accessible to most fans, not just a cult audience; said to be composed from the heart, the album expressed Mitsuda's individuality and was the full realisation of the musical potential of the Xenogears project. Having retained his intention to use Square to further his career, he decided to become a freelancer following the album's completion in order to move on to bigger and better things. His initial work as a freelancer was Nintendo's Mario Party; though all but 60 of the 200 pieces he created were rejected, its light-hearted soundtrack was mostly enjoyed by those who played the hit title. On 1999's Bomberman 64: The Second Attack, Mitsuda co-composed with friend Yoshitaka Hirota for the first time, resulting in a buoyant jazz-infused score to Bomberman 64: The Second Attack. After Mitsuda created two arrangements for the Street Fighter EX2 Arrange Album, the pair produced the drama albums for Resident Evil 2 and Street Fighter Zero 3, where they preserved the atmosphere of their respective original scores while engraving their individuality in the music. Mitsuda engaged in his final collaboration with Square by scoring 1999's Chrono Cross at request of Masato Kato. Mitsuda's score coloured the game's parallel worlds and served the drama of the story while proving rich melodically and distinctive stylistically due to an acoustic guitar-based sound adopted. The success of its vocal theme "Radical Dreamers" resulted in Mitsuda being asked to arrange a Mega Man ballad, collaborate with Kazumi Mitome on an anime single, and create a track for its vocalist Noriko Mitose on Ten Plants 2 Children Songs. The related Melody of Legend albums also reflected on Mitsuda's accomplishments as a Celtic musician.

On November 22, 2001, Yasunori Mitsuda set up his own music production company, Procyon Studio, to increase his prominence and revenue. The company has remained small since its conception given Mitsuda has remained its sole composer until recently. However, it has developed a reputation for its high quality sound manipulation due to the work of sound programmer Hidenori Suzuki, synthesizer operator Junya Kuroda, and former employees turned Basiscape recruits Miki Ito and Masaaki Kaneko on Mitsuda's projects and external ones. With aid of an individual responsible for sales promotion, website management, and other administrative aspects, Mitsuda has also created the official fan club Hopeful Weeds, which periodically releases exclusive material including some music to its members, and the record label Sleigh Bells, which have developed a reputation for reliable if occasional releases. The company's first project was the unsuccessful RPG Tsugunai: Atonement; Mitsuda offered a thorough and thoughtful exploration of Celtic realms with its remastered album release An Cinniùint while evoking a wide spectrum of emotion and complementing the game. On the score to Legaia 2: Duel Saga, Mitsuda used organic instruments to offer ten compositions that combined a sense of adventure with references to the sinister; representing his first major collaboration with Hitoshi Sakimoto, Mitsuda later directed his company to implement Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter's score after he was unable to compose as originally intended due to time limitations. Mitsuda's relationship with Yoshitaka Hirota also reached its creative apex with the critically acclaimed score to the cult RPG Shadow Hearts, where he contributed a limited number of compositions in a variety of styles, adding diversity, popular appeal, and accessibility to a score principally marked by Hirota's eccentric and experimental compositions. In 2002, Mitsuda created the score for the PC's The Seventh Seal, Sailing to the World, which featured ten well-developed themes that referenced many of his past works, capping off a period that explored his identity as an organic composer. It was later adapted into a piano sheet music book with an accompanying recording by Masashi Hamauzu.

Mitsuda spent much of the subsequent few years expanding his horizons. On 2002's Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht, he overcame many challenges while orchestrating ten epic pieces for performance by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The score fluidly combined instrumental and vocal recordings with sequenced music and, despite a lack of gameplay compositions, was universally praised for the way it fitted the game's cinematic sequences. Despite its tone and magnitude differing from Xenogears, elements of consistency such as the inclusion of two ballads remained. In addition to appearances on Shadow Hearts II and the Street Fighter Tribute Album, Mitsuda dedicated much of 2003 to composing the anime series Bandai Channel; he enjoyed challenging himself by composing for an alternative medium to video games and returned to the field of anime just a year later with Pugyuru. In 2004, Mitsuda created an a capella arrangement for the Dark Chronicle Premium Arrange and, desiring to explore new technology, a familiarly styled score for the mobile phone's Deep Labyrinth. Mitsuda's playful and percussive soundtrack to Rakugaki Kingdom 2, Hako no Niwa, was another remarkable experiment; intended to resemble a child's scribblings, it reverberated with a cascade of delightful, nostalgic, mysterious, and meaningless sounds. The following year, Mitsuda and collaborator Miki Higashino convincingly worked with a big band to create an unprecedented mix of hard jazz and hip-hop on Tsukiyo ni Saraba's soundtrack Moonlit Shadow. Mitsuda collaborated with Kazumi Mitome to fulfil his ambition to score movies at last with Konami's science-fiction film Specter and created some music to accompany the television advertisements for two BOSE DVD players. In a more well-known project, Mitsuda created the concept album KiRite to accompany a book by Masato Kato. Employing use of live instruments, the voice of Eri Kawai, and a wide variety of styles, new and old, Mitsuda painted a luscious picture of a fantasy world reflected in The Five Seasons of KiRite. The story and Mitsuda's score were interpreted as a play, And Endless, performed through Japan in 2006.

In recent years, Mitsuda has restructured Procyon Studio to make it a leading company for implementing DS scores. Using advanced technology and novel sound drivers, Hidenori Suzuki, Junya Kuroda, and Etsuko Shimada have produced some of the most accomplished sound programming, synthesizer operation, voice editing, and sound effects creation for the console. Their accomplishments can be heard in diverse series such as the Professor Layton, Pokémon Mysterious Dungeon, and Luminous Arc. In addition, Mitsuda himself has contributed to several DS scores in recent years. After producing three tracks for the detective spoof The Masquerade Lullaby, he mixed original compositions and mobile phone arrangements for Deep Labyrinth. On Soma Bringer, he created his first three disc score since Chrono Cross, taking listeners on a wonderful journey with poignant melodies, gripping action themes, and worldly music. The DS aside, another major recent project was the PlayStation 2's Armodyne; here he reflected the strategic nature of the game with militaristic tracks while offering an impressive variety of other creations and an exotic main theme for stand-alone enjoyment. In terms of collaborative projects, Mitsuda created one or two pieces each for the Rogue Galaxy Premium Arrange, Shadow Hearts arranged album, Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner, and Luminous Arc, while also appearing at concerts by PLAY! A Video Game Symphony and the Eminence Symphony Orchestra. His major upcoming works are both for the DS — he will create a humorous frivolous score to the soccer RPG Inazuma Eleven and a personal but epic score to World Destruction He is also at work on more book projects and, though very hesistant to rush it, the Chrono Cross arranged album. Mitsuda's life story is indeed a poignant one. His initial lack of dedication could have been the bane of him, yet he made himself a success with maturity, ambition, and dedication. After achieving so much since his junior college years, his story looks set to continue for a long time to come. He remains chiefly a game composer, but his exuberant works creating anime, film, and book soundtracks demonstrate he has a flair for accompanying all types of visual media.