Motoi Sakuraba

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. Thanks to Motoi Sakuraba & the Wolfteam/Telenet Legacy for providing a large proportion of the information given here and to Datschge for aiding the editing of this biography. It was last updated on April 5, 2008.

Motoi Sakuraba, born on August 5, 1965 in Akita, Japan, is a prolific progressive rock musician who specialises in the field of video game music, but has also featured in anime and TV drama soundtracks, live concerts, and independent albums. Initially influenced by British progressive rock artists such as Pink Floyd and his favourite band UK, Japanese developments in the genre during the 1980's provided a further background to the development of his general style; Ryuichi Sakamoto's progressive electronic Yellow Magic Orchestra and the symphonic progressive rock group Outer Limits were especially significant. Though these musicians represent some of the sources of Sakuraba's highly melodic and often grandiose style, stylistic elements of his music show he is fundamentally influenced by many other composers. With his expansive melodic development, intricate harmonies, and often polyphonic textures, Bach and other Baroque composers' music is part of the theoretical basis behind his works. Chick Corea, in particular, is a major influence, particularly exemplified by his intricate and often dissonant keyboard improvisation, his overall need to make each instrument individually pronounced, and his integration of jazz-based structures into progressive rock. Away from direct rock ensembles, Sakuraba often composes mature symphonic compositions, some of which integrate epic choruses and rasping brass cues reminiscent of cinematic composers. However, his orchestral music isn't always full of pomp, with 'new age' vibes being evident in many of his works and others showing influences from romantic composers. His eclectic style is dynamic and expansive, however, as a result of Sakuraba's continual subtle and often successful attempts to introduce new ideas to his music. As Taru Kitahara remarked in 2003, his music has 'given birth to what could be called an original new genre, the Motoi Sakuraba Sound'.

Sakuraba's love for music developed after he received piano lessons from the middle of preschool. Despite quitting for a while, he revived his interest as he entered senior high school by buying a Teisco 110F Synthesizer and joining a local band. As a result, Sakuraba was a talented pianist and keyboardist by the time he entered the University of Meiji in 1983. In 1984, Sakuraba created the progressive rock group Clashed Ice with Genta Kudo; Sakuraba became the composer and keyboardist for the band, while Kudo was the vocalist and drummer. After the duo graduated in 1985, the group became prominent due to Made in Japan Records producer Shingo Ueno masterminding the band. Bassist, guitarist, and vocalist Tetsuya Nagatsuma was introduced, the group changed their name to Deja Vu, and attained commercial successful through frequent live performances across Japan. The band reached their peak of commercial success in September 1988 with the release of their only album, Baroque in the Future, which Sakuraba entirely composed. After Nagatsuma left the band in 1988, their producer introduced two of Outer Limits' former members to Deja Vu to restore activity — Tomoki Ueno on keyboards and vocals and Ken Ishita on bass and electric guitar. Despite participating in several successful 1989 concerts with French band Atoll and beginning work on their second album, the band unexpectedly split as a result of musical differences between the members. Nevertheless, Sakuraba maintained close links to the progressive rock industry, composing the Japanese tribute album to Italian progressive rock, Pazzo Fanfano di Musica, as a pianist and co-composer. At request from Ueno, Sakuraba also composed the solo album Gikyokuonsou for his favoured rock ensemble — keyboards (Sakuraba), bass guitar (Ishita), and drums (Shimoda). With a flexible schedule to work with, the composer was able to focus carefully on each of the album's eight pieces, showing most exuberance on "Motion", which has remained one of his favourite compositions. The album as a whole was marvelled upon for its keyboard use and unusual jagged rhythms.

Following recording Gikyokuonsou but prior to its release, Motoi Sakuraba made the biggest step of his career by joining the game company Wolfteam in 1989. He entered the company due to the inspiration of Isao Tomita, a pioneer of the synthesizer, and his newly acquired enjoyment of the video game sound. During his four years at the company, he worked on over fifty games, sometimes alone, but usually with a collaborator. He initially worked alongside Masaaki Uno (who would found Camelot) and Yasunori Shiono (of Lufia fame), creating Wolfteam's sound team Sergeant Wolf Band while they were independent from Telenet Japan. They principally scored for the PC-8801, PC-9801, and certain other early computers on games such as Zan: Kagerou no Toki, Arcus II -Silent Symphony-, and Maneuver Cepter Granada, all released in soundtrack form along with the Mega Drive's FZ Senki Axis. Though the sound team was short-lived, having disbanded in June 1990 after Wolfteam was folded back into Telenet Japan, these early works established Sakuraba's style firmly in the video game industry and Granada's album even enjoyed a re-release in 2003. Sakuraba continued to work on the PC-9801 with Ryota Furuya, contributing instalments to the Zan, Hiouden, and Arcus series, as well as Crystal Chasers, Niko², and Apros. As a solo composer, he created several high-profile Wolfteam's scores for the Mega Drive and Mega CD, developing his style significantly; among them the largely action-oriented Earnest Evans, El Viento, Sol-Feace, Aisle Lord, and Annet Futatabi scores, as well as Fhey Area ~ Century of the Gods, one of his earliest symphonic RPG efforts. During his final years at Wolfteam, he also worked with Shinji Tamura (a major future collaborator), Michiko Naruke (of Wild Arms fame), and Hiroya Hatsushiba (who would found tri-Crescendo), principally on Super Nintendo scores such as Ace o Nerae!, Hiouden ~Legend of the Scarlet King~, and Tenshi no Uta ~Shiroki Tsubasa no Inori~. None of post-1990 works were released on CD due to Telenet Japan's corporate policy, though many are purchasable in digital form as of 2007.

1995's Tales of Phantasia, developed by Wolfteam and published by Namco, was Sakuraba's breakthrough achievement at Telenet Japan. Its enchanting melodic score featured Shinji Tamura and Motoi Sakuraba collaborating together on most tracks, leading to some misattributing their respective styles. Regarded as the definitive score in the series, it was a traditional and light-hearted RPG score that boasted a pleasant variety of tracks while featuring less progressive rock than Sakuraba's other scores. The game itself was the start of the third most successful RPG series in Japan, though its delay for a year largely brought about Wolfteam's demise. The company lost many of its employees after Telenet Japan switched their focus to releasing Parlor games, but continued to exist in diminished form as an internal development team. Sakuraba and Tamura initially focused on scoring Telenet Japan's thirteen instalments of Parlor Pachinko simulations for the Super Nintendo. However, Sakuraba soon balanced this work with contributing to three other companies formed due to the Phantasia fallout resulting in an exploration period that led to heavy mainstream exposure. One was Camelot Software Planning, a former subdivision of Sega responsible for Shining series development that became independent after Masaaki Uno joined the company as coordinator and sound director in 1994. Uno employed Sakuraba to create the scores for the majority of the company's subsequent works, including games in the Mario Sports, Golden Sun, and Shining series. Sakuraba and Tamura still remained consistent contributors to the Tales series along with Eiji Kikuchi; the series remained developed by Wolfteam as a joint Namco and Telenet Japan franchise until 2003 resulting in numerous new games. Sakuraba's popularity was principally enhanced by his contributions to tri-Ace's Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile series, however. The company was created by former Wolfteam members Yoshiharu Gotanda, Masaki Norimoto, and Joe Asanuma in protest to Namco's handling of Tales of Phantasia. tri-Ace were originally funded by Enix, who published their works, though remained independent from the corporate giant's control. Sakuraba's involvement with tri-Ace also established his links to record label Team Entertainment and the spinoff company tri-Crescendo.

Sakuraba's first freelance work was Camelot's PlayStation RPG Beyond the Beyond. While the 1995 game was critically unsuccessful, its MIDI-based soundtrack was especially melodious and atmospheric. It inspired an arranged album, misleadingly titled the Beyond the Beyond Original Game Soundtrack, where tracks were ambitiously arranged into ten minute progressive rock medleys. Sakuraba subsequently worked on 1996's sci-fi RPG Star Ocean establishing his relationship with tri-Ace. While the game sold relatively few copies as one of the final Super Nintendo titles, the emotionally engaging and sensitively refined score was subject to much praise. The score was eventually released in 2004 in the form of a remastered soundtrack, though was also the subject of the arranged album and drama CD Star Ocean Perfect Sound Collection at the end of the 1996. Later in the year, he scored Camelot's Shining the Holy Ark as Motoaki Takenouchi's successor of the Shining series. Its rich arranged album combined progressive rock and symphonic rock synthesized with the same equipment as Gikyokuonsou, and also included the passionate nine minute improvised piano track "Elegy of the Bewildered". Sakuraba also scored the three scenarios of Shining Force III in 1997 and 1998, once again crafting the music into an arranged album. Most of the album's tracks were incorporated into its dubbed domestic release Force of Light, promoted by record label Musea as Sakuraba's second solo album, who reprinted Baroque in the Future and Gikyokuonsou around the same time. In all three of his highly regarded Camelot arranged albums, Sakuraba was able to express himself more freely than most of his other works, unimposed by many demands from producers. Also with Camelot, he scored the PlayStation's Hot Shot Golf (aka Minna no Golf in Japan, Everybody's Golf in Europe) in 1997; while he didn't return to subsequent editions of the series, his relaxing score enhanced the praised game and established a style he later fleshed out in the Mario Golf series. He concluded 1997 by scoring the PlayStation's Tales of Destiny with Shinji Tamura. Thanks to Namco's marketing, the game was a mainstream success, though its elements, including its musical style, largely refined what was achieved in Tales of Phantasia. At popular demand, Tales of Phantasia was remade for the PlayStation the following year, complete with a remastered score released in soundtrack form unlike its Super Nintendo predecessor.

With Sakuraba's prolificacy as a freelance composer established, he captivated millions with 1998's best-seller Star Ocean The Second Story. Few people were left untouched by the gorgeous "Theme of RENA" or the exhilarating rock organ melodies of the battle theme "Stab the Sword of Justice." Its arranged album served to magnify this effect, emphasising the huge inspiration behind the original score and also reflecting the musical sensitivity of its creator aptly. The following year, Sakuraba was responsible for scoring tri-Ace's second major success, 1999's Valkyrie Profile. Its soundtrack was more spiritual, ambient, and emotional than The Second Story, but included many rock battle themes and dungeon tracks as well. Its release was accompanied by a particularly inspiring arranged album and a Voice Mix album; for the latter, Sakuraba indulged in controversial epoch-making by combining arranged music from the soundtrack with voices of characters from the game. He united arrangements of Koji Kondo's music with the style he established in Hot Shots Golf to compose the first game in Camelot's Mario Golf series for the Nintendo 64. Its success inspired 2000's Mario Tennis for the same console, which prided its success on light rock tournament themes and further Nintendo arrangements; as a result of Nintendo's brief relationship with the record label Enterbrain, the soundtrack was released on CD unlike all other Mario Sports scores. Also around 2000, Sakuraba scored the Game Boy Color's Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon, Mobile Golf, and the spinoff Star Ocean Blue Sphere; for the lattermost project, the album release Star Ocean Blue Sphere Arrange & Sound Trax was made. Sakuraba also scored Wolfteam's final non-Tales project Cybernetic Empire for the PlayStation and, with Tamura, Tales of Eternia (incorrectly renamed Tales of Destiny II in North America, even though it was not a direct sequel), a title associated with Tales music often being dubbed mediocre. Between 1999 and 2001, Sakuraba also contributed to several cinematic projects, namely the anime series Star Ocean EX, Vanny Knights, and Saiyuki, as well as the CG movies Blue Remains and Gensomaden Saiyuki: Requiem; together with TV Asahi's Weekend End Drama Series, Knight Hunters Eternity, Atashin'chi, and Bouken Yuuki Pluster World, these are Sakuraba's anime projects.

For Camelot, Sakuraba scored the Game Boy Advance's Golden Sun in 2001 and its sequel Golden Sun: The Lost Age in 2002. Though no soundtracks were released, their diverse melodic scores became fan favourites. In 2001, Sakuraba's principle record label and promoter Team Entertainment organised his involvement in the Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children Game Music Arrange Tracks with T's music's Tomoyuki Hamada. In 2002, Sakuraba and Tamura scored the true Tales of Destiny 2 for the PlayStation 2, its soundtrack benefiting from a four disc set; their work was also reprised in Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2, the first of three games in a mini-series where his work was arranged by Takuya Yasuda, and the fan disc Tales of Fandom Vol. 1. Sakuraba's next project, 2003's Star Ocean Till the End of Time, was massively hyped due to the Enix's marketing strategies on behalf of tri-Ace. The musical score was officially released in two volumes in spring 2003 to commemorate the Japanese release, the first half performed by a full orchestra, the second half featuring a progressive rock band, with Sakuraba as keyboardist. Also indited by Sakuraba and released around this time were the game's arranged album, which had a more considerable symphonic emphasis that his previous arranged albums, and a Voice Mix album, inspired by the success of the Valkyrie Profile voice album. A Director's Cut edition was issued by Square Enix to fix problems with the original edition of the game and Sakuraba was hired once again to compose the music for the new areas and FMV sequences offered resulting in the release of a third soundtrack. The game also brought a two hour concert at Zepp Tokyo on July 19, 2003 dedicated to his works on Star Ocean The Second Story, Valkyrie Profile, Star Ocean Blue Sphere, and Star Ocean Till the End of Time. A DVD was released, featuring an official live video of the concert, as was a full audio recording. The Motoi Sakuraba Live Concert Star Ocean & Valkyrie Profile was musical bliss for fans of Sakuraba's progressive rock, with the composer's supreme arrangements and keyboard performances being complemented by the performances of drummer Toshihiko Nakamura and bassist Atsushi Hasegawa, both of whom had solos on the extended "Theme of RENA" arrangement.

After these projects, Sakuraba contributed significantly to the GameCube. He scored Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour and Mario Power Tennis, altogether more ambitious and expansive game- and score-wise than their predecessors; to commemorate their releases, the Nintendo Dream magazine released Mario Sports CD The Best featuring arrangements of themes from the two scores. Sakuraba and Tamura's soundtrack to 2003's Tales of Symphonia, while similar to predecessors musically, represented a change in circumstances. It was produced by the second development team of Namco Tales Studio, a dedicated joint company that formed in March 2003 leading to the ultimate termination of Wolfteam. It also represented a seemingly unprovoked foray back into the world of Nintendo, though a Japan-only PlayStation 2 version was made the following year. At the end of the year, Sakuraba scored Baten Kaitos ~Eternal Wings and The Lost Ocean~. The game was developed by tri-Crescendo with assistance from Monoloth Soft; the company were originally responsible for the sound programming in tri-Ace's Valkyrie Profile and Star Ocean Till the End of Time and its founder, Hiroya Hatsushiba, was one of Sakuraba's long-term Wolfteam collaborators. Its soundtrack was named best soundtrack for a GameCube game in 2004 by IGN. As the site describes, 'everything from the beat-happy and infectious combat themes to the subtle and melancholic tracks during the game's more dramatic moments draw the player deeper into the game world'. Sakuraba commemorated the music for the game in his 2004 live concert. It was a smaller effort than 2003's and mostly recycled the same arrangements, though three Baten Kaitos arrangements and original themes dedicated to organ, piano, and synth were incorporated. Also in 2003, after retaining the light-hearted style of the Mario series in all his Mario Sports works, he controversially arranged the "Super Mario Bros." theme into a brooding and dramatic symphonic arrangement for Team Entertainment's Famicom 20th Anniversary Arrange Soundtracks. He also contributed two progressive rock battle themes to the Dark Chronicle Premium Arrange and opened the Phantasy Star Online I & II Premium Arrange with "The Whole New World" sung by his daughter.

The almost exponential increase in Tales releases after the formation of Namco Tales Studio ensured Sakuraba remained busy after Baten Kaitos. The soundtracks to 2004's Tales of Rebirth and Tales of the Abyss were significantly more technologically commanded than their predecessors; the latter was majorly streamed, allowing Sakuraba and Tamura to use their own audio equipment to enhance fidelity and timbres. The duo was relaced by Masaru Shiina on Tales of Legendia, however, developed by Namco itself. Sakuraba scored 2004's Mario Golf: Advance Tour and 2005's Mario Tennis Advance, retaining the idiom of the Mario Sports series despite hardware restrictions. Also in 2005, he emphasised his symphonic side once more with the score to the PlayStation 2 card game Duel Masters, developed by no companies with other links to the composer. Sakuraba did not participate in 2005's Radiata Stories by tri-Ace, likely due to high workload, though Noriyuki Iwadare arranged three of his Star Ocean compositions for the game. Early in 2006, Sakuraba's most prolific year to date in terms of album releases, his score to Baten Kaitos Origins (aka Baten Kaitos II ~The First Wings and the Heirs of God~) was released; it was regarded as a more consistent experience that the first game in the series, though with fewer peaks. His highest profile 2006 project was tri-Ace's Valkyrie Profile 2 Silmeria for the PlayStation 2. The game was preceded by the release of a remake of the original Valkyrie Profile for the PSP, entitled Valkyrie Profile Lenneth; its soundtrack was lightly remastered for the release and reprinted along with its arranged soundtrack. The score to Silmeria itself represented an evolution in Sakuraba's orchestration and musicality in general, exuding a dark, melancholic, and cinematic feel overall, offering some especially emotional compositions and plenty of curious twists on the composer's trademark progressive rock battles. To accompany the release, an arranged album and voice mix album were also released. To coincide with the game's June 8 release, Sakuraba held his third live concert with Nakamura and Hasegawa dedicated to the series' music; the concert received a partial official album release featuring all new arrangements, but no DVD recording.

Sakuraba continued 2006 with the score for Asmik Ace's Tenshou Gakuen Gekkou Hasumi. An adventure game meets simulation RPG set in a Japanese high school, it had a relatively simple and light score, including many novelty compositions and battle themes using oriental instrumentals. Also in 2006, Sakuraba contributed the progressive rock arrangement "Vargogu's Theme" to the Rogue Galaxy Premium Arrange, the opening composition "Reminiscence" to the synth tribute project FM Sound Module Maniax, and the piano performance to Atelier Iris Grand Fantasm's single "A Connected World Beyond the Mist". At the end of the year, he composed the DS' Tales of the Tempest without assistance from Shinji Tamura for the first time, achieving a very familiar sound after two more unconventional works. Like other Tales games, a J-pop song and drama CD independent of Sakuraba's involvement were created, but unusually these were packaged with the soundtrack rather than released separately. Since 2005, Sakuraba's music has also featured in various remakes for the Tales series. For the PSP, remakes of Tales of Eternia, Tales of Phantasia, and Tales of Destiny 2 have been released. For Tales of Phantasia: Full Voice Edition, Sakuraba created a new ending theme. Sakuraba also arranged his and Tamura's score for Tales of Destiny for its PlayStation 2 remake, offering some new compositions as well, which were released across a four disc soundtrack. Sakuraba also arranged 21 of the series' pieces for two Gumi Dramatic DVDs offered as pre-order bonuses for the remakes of Tales of Destiny and Tales of Destiny 2. His music was reprised for 2007's fan disc Tales of Fandom Vol. 2, where several new compositions by Masaru Shiina were also featured, and was again arranged by Takuya Yasuda for the high-profile PSP game Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology. The composer's latest high-profile work was tri-Crescendo's Eternal Sonata (aka Trusty Bell ~Chopin's Dream~), a fantasy based on Chopin's life. Its four disc soundtrack featured more emphasis on small ensembles and the piano than most of the Sakuraba's previous works, often exuding a fantastical or romantic sound. It still featured some familiarly styled battle and ambient themes nevertheless. It also included seven of Chopin's most well-known pieces performed by Stanislav Bunin and Sakuraba's arrangement of the Revolutionary Etude for the final battle theme.

In January 2008, Sakuraba created his second solo album, Forest of Glass. This piano album was inspired by abstract imagery and enriched by Sakuraba's performance. For the Wii, he has recently scored the Camelot's We Love Golf, focusing on rhythms and light-hearted melodies in a variety of styles, and arranged seven tracks for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, including Mario Sports and Golden Sun: The Lost Age suites. Other works include an arrangement for the Red Stone Original Soundtrack and reprises for the remakes Tales of Rebirth, Tales of Destiny: Director's Cut, Star Ocean First Departure, and Star Ocean Second Evolution. His commitments to tri-Ace's Infinite Undiscovery, Star Ocean 4, and Valkyrie Profile: The Accused One dominate his upcoming works. Infinite Undiscovery's trailers are accompanied by an epic choral work featuring ethnic influences whereas Star Ocean 4's trailer emphasises a bold orchestral approach. Sakuraba will also probably have a role on Tales of Vesperia, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, and Camelot's untitled Wii RPG, but will probably not be scoring tri-Crescendo's Fragile. Away from composing, Motoi Sakuraba is described as a quiet family man, enjoying the company of his wife Yuko and his daughter Mio. However, his opportunities for personal time surely must be limited as the most prolific composer in an industry dominated by workaholics. Whereas composing seven tracks a year was normal for him before joining Wolfteam, these days he sometimes composes more than 250 pieces a year and seems to always have several new projects to work on. Sakuraba represents the legacy of Wolfteam with this prolificacy and its numerous spinoffs — Namco Tales Studio, Camelot, tri-Ace, and tri-Crescendo — provided him with the sheer majority of his work after he became a freelancer. While he extensively reuses certain chord progressions and other features in his compositions, he is keen to individually characterise each of his scores, creating distinct sounds for the Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Golden Sun, Star Ocean, Valkyrie Profile, Baten Kaitos, and Tales series. He has also succeeded in evolving his style over the years, becoming an accomplished symphonist, a versatile arranger, and an all-round musical polyglot while staying true to his progressive rock roots.