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Kenji Ito

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For the Japanese footballer, seeKenji Ito (footballer).

Kenji Ito
Y đằng hiền trị
Born(1968-07-05)July 5, 1968(age 56)
Tokyo, Japan
Other namesItoken
Occupation(s)Composer, musician
Years active1990–present
EmployerSquare(1990–2001)
Musical career
Instrument(s)Piano,clarinet,alto saxophone

Kenji Ito(Y đằng hiền trị,Itō Kenji,born July 5, 1968),also known by the nicknameItoken(イトケン),[1][nb 1]is a Japanesevideo game composerand musician. He is best known for his work on theManaandSaGaseries, though he has worked on over 30 video games throughout his career as well as composed or arranged music for over 15 other albums, concerts, and plays. He learned to play several instruments at a young age, and joinedSquaredirectly out of college as a composer in 1990 at the advice of a professor. He worked there for over a decade, composing many of his best-known scores. In 2001, he left Square to become a freelance composer, but has since continued to collaborate with the company.

Since leaving Square, Ito has composed soundtracks to over a dozen games, and has branched out into composition and production of music for plays and albums for other performers. Ito's work has been performed in a concert dedicated to his pieces as well as general video game music events, and he has played the piano in additional concerts. Pieces of his from theSaGaandManaseries have been arranged as piano solos and published in sheet music books.

Biography

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Early life

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Born in Tokyo, Japan, on July 5, 1968, Ito became interested in music at the age of four.[1]He began to learn to play the piano, becoming interested in it after hearing piano music coming from a classroom he passed by daily with his mother. He was also interested inElectonemusic, but was discouraged from learning it by a piano teacher.[3]By the time he began composing at the age of ten, he had learned to play alto saxophone, clarinet, and piano, and was interested in becoming a singer/songwriter.[1]When he was close to graduating from college, he decided to pursue a career in composing music; when he asked a professor for advice, the professor recommended becoming a video game music composer, given the recent success in Japan ofDragon Quest III.During March 1990, after applying to several video game companies includingHAL Laboratory,Ito began working atSquare.[4][5]

Career

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His first project was a co-effort that same year between himself andNobuo Uematsufor theGame BoytitleFinal Fantasy Legend II(SaGa 2).[6]It led the following year to the first album release of his music,All Sounds of SaGa,which was a combination album ofThe Final Fantasy Legend,Final Fantasy Legend II,andFinal Fantasy Legend III;all of Ito's work onLegend IIappeared on the album.[7]Shortly after in 1991, he composed his first solo work, the soundtrack forFinal Fantasy Adventure(Seiken Densetsu), another Game Boy title. He then returned to theSaGaseries for the next few years, composing the soundtracks to theSuper Famicom'sRomancing SaGa,Romancing SaGa 2,andRomancing SaGa 3.[6]These soundtracks sparked Ito's first arranged albums; the first game was arranged in a French musical style by Masaaki Mizuguchi, while the other two were arranged by Ryou Fukui and Taro Iwashiro, respectively, into orchestral pieces.[8][9][10]Ito was originally scheduled to continue on with theManaseriesand compose the soundtrack toSeiken Densetsu 2(Secret of Mana), but was forced to hand the project off toHiroki Kikutaas his first score due to the demand on his time for scoringRomancing SaGa.[11]

1995 marked the first time since he started composing that he worked on a title outside theManaorSaGaseries;he composed the music forKoi wa Balanceand was a member of an eight-person team forTobal No. 1.He returned to theSaGaseries in 1997 withSaGa Frontier,and finished out the decade withChocobo RacingandChocobo's Dungeon 2;forChocobo Racinghe only arranged previous works from theChocoboandFinal Fantasyseries, and contributed only a few tracks toChocobo's Dungeon 2.[6]He left Square in 2001 to become a freelance composer. He has said that this move was in order to give him the flexibility to work on more than just video game music.[4]

The first work that Ito composed after leaving Square was the soundtrack toCuldcept II,which he regards as his best work. He attributes this feeling both to the fact that it was his first freelance piece and that he handled all aspects of the music production, from composition through arrangement and sound production.[3]From there he returned to working with Square and theManaseries with the remake of his second soundtrack,Final Fantasy Adventure,into the soundtrack ofSword of Mana.It was an act he would repeat two years later for Square, now Square Enix, with the remake ofRomancing SaGa,Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song.He has since returned to theManaseries twice, with the soundtracks toChildren of ManaandDawn of Mana.All of the video game soundtracks that he has composed since the third expansion pack forCross Gatein 2004 have been with the assistance of other composers except for 2007'sHero Must Die,though during those years he has branched out from video games into composing and producing albums and singles for performers as well as composing music for plays and concerts.[6]He has also released an album of piano pieces that he has composed; only two of the eight tracks are from his video game works.[12]

Legacy

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Ito performed piano live during September 22, 2006Press Start 2006 -Symphony of Games-live concert, at which several of his pieces were performed by an orchestra.[5]This concert followed a concert of August 26, 2006Manami Kiyota x Kenji Ito Collaboration Livein which he played the piano for songs composed by him for the event and sung by Manami Kiyota; he has also played the piano at concerts given byThe Black Mages,a band composed of current or former Square musicians, before they expanded to include a full-time pianist.[13]Music composed by Ito has also been performed at theExtra -Hyper Game Music Event 2007andChristmas Live 2008 "gentleecho -prelude-"concerts.[12]

Music composed by Ito was performed at a concert devoted to his music on February 21, 2009 titled "gentle echo meeting" at the Uchisaiwaicho Hall in Chiyoda, Tokyo. A group of five musicians performed eight of his songs, interspersed with performances by Ito and discussions about his music between himself andMasahiro Sakurai.The event began as a concert due to Ito's wish to host one based on his music, but after the space the organizing company, Harmonics International, rented turned out to be run by a high school classmate of Ito, at the classmate's insistence the discussions of Ito's music were added to the program.[5]

Music from the original soundtracks ofDawn of ManaandSword of Manahas been arranged for the piano and published by DOREMI Music Publishing.[14]Two compilation books of music from the series as a whole have also been published asSeiken Densetsu Best Collection Piano Solo Sheet Musicfirst and second editions, with the first edition including tracks by Ito fromFinal Fantasy Adventurewhile the second added tracks he composed fromDawn of Mana.All songs in each book have been rewritten by Asako Niwa as beginning to intermediate level piano solos, though they are meant to sound as much like the originals as possible.[15]Additionally, KMP Music Publishing has published a book of the piano music included in theSword of Manasoundtrack album, which Ito arranged from his original compositions.[16]DOREMI Music Publishing also published music from the original soundtracks of some of theSaGagames that Ito composed as piano sheet music book; music fromRomancing SaGa 3,Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song,andSaGa Frontierwere written by Asako Niwa for piano solos of beginning to intermediate difficulty.[14][17]

Musical style and influences

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Ito's music is mainly inspired by images from the game rather than outside influences; however, he never played the games themselves. The only video games that he plays aresports games;he has only seen up to the introductory movie for most of the role-playing games that he has written music for.[3][4]While many of his pieces are orchestral, he enjoys working in a recording studio and enjoys composing "normal songs" as much as his orchestral works.[4]His favorite video game music from other composers include the music fromStar Fox,Dragon Quest,Final Fantasy,WizardryandNobunaga's Ambition.Non-video game music that has inspired him includes Japanese popular music and soundtracks toanimeworks, as well as easy listening music such asPaul MauriatorRichard Clayderman,especiallystring music.[4]These influences have led him to wish to create music "that you can listen to while you relax". He also wishes to expand his compositions outside video game music and into ballads.[5]

Works

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Video games

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Video games scores composed by Kenji Ito
Year Game Notes Ref.
1990 Final Fantasy Legend II Music withNobuo Uematsu [6]
1991 Final Fantasy Adventure Music [4]
Final Fantasy IV Sound effects
1992 Romancing SaGa Music [4]
Final Fantasy V Sound effects
1993 Secret of Mana Sound effects
Romancing SaGa 2 Music [4]
1995 Romancing SaGa 3 Music [4]
1996 Koi wa Balance: Battle of Lovers Music [6]
Tobal No. 1 Music with various others [18]
1997 SaGa Frontier Music [4]
1998 Chocobo's Dungeon 2 Music withTsuyoshi Sekito,Yasuhiro Kawakami, andKumi Tanioka [4]
1999 Chocobo Racing Music [4]
2000 Gekikuukan Pro Baseball: The End of the Century 1999 Music [6]
2001 Wild Card Music [6]
Culdcept Second Music [6]
Cross Gate Music [6]
2003 Sword of Mana Music [4]
2004 Shadow Hearts: Covenant Music withYoshitaka Hirota,Yasunori Mitsuda, and Tomoko Kobayashi [6]
2005 Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song Music with Tsuyoshi Sekito [4]
Hanjuku Hero 4: 7-Jin no Hanjuku Hero Music with many others [4]
2006 Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner Music with many others [6]
Children of Mana Music withMasaharu Iwataand Takayuki Aihara [6]
Pop'n Music 13 Carnival "Battle XIII" [6]
Dawn of Mana Music with Tsuyoshi Sekito,Masayoshi Soken,andRyuichi Sakamoto [6]
2007 Concerto Gate Music withHiroki Kikuta [6]
Hero Must Die Music
2008 Mabinogi Arrangements [6]
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Arrangements[a]
Lux-Pain Music with Yasuyuki Suzuki [19]
Pop'n Music 16 Party "Dance to Blue" [19]
Culdcept Saga Music [20]
2009 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Adventure Team Music with several others
SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu Arrangements [19]
GuitarFreaks & DrumMania V6 Blazing Music with many others [19]
2011 Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 Music withAtlussound team [19]
Half-Minute Hero: The Second Coming "One Winged Hero ~ Theme of Yusha" [19]
2012 Puzzle & Dragons Music with Yukio Nakajima [21]
Culdcept(3DS) Music
Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory Music with Kenji Kaneko andNobuo Uematsu [22]
Demons' Score "Requiem from Lilith"
2013 Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas Music with Kalle Ylitalo and Nobuo Uematsu
Getsuei Gakuen Music withDaisuke Ishiwatari [19]
Puzzle & Dragons Z Music with Yukio Nakajima [23]
2014 Rise of Mana "Fear the Messenger"
Puzzle & Dragons Battle Tournament Music [19]
Terra Battle Music with several others
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Arrangements[b]
2015 Chronos Ring Music with Yoko Shimomura andEvan Call [24]
Chunithm: Seelisch Tact "Gustav Battle" [25]
Shinyaku Arcana Slayer Music [26]
2016 Hero Must Die. Again Music [27]
Culdcept Revolt Music [19]
Puzzle & Dragons X Music withYuzo Koshiro,Akira Yamaoka,and Keigo Ozaki [19]
SaGa: Scarlet Grace Music [28]
Adventures of Mana Music [29]
2018 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Arrangements[c]
Romancing SaGa Re;univerSe Music
2019 Rakugaki Kingdom "Indomitable Soul" [30]
2022 Sin Chronicle "Last Determination" [31]
2024 SaGa: Emerald Beyond Music [32]

Other

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Composition
  • Kokoro no Takarabako(1999) – single byHiromi Ōta[6]
  • Seishun no Fu / Midarete Atsuki Wagami niwa(2002) – concert[6]
  • ~Canaria~(2002) – single by Muneyuki Satoh[6]
  • Touson Dairoku Shishu(2002) – album by Ikuyo Ueda[6]
  • Muneyuki Sato All Songs Collection(2003) – album by Muneyuki Satoh[6]
  • Hajimari no Daichi(2006) – album by Manami Kiyota[6]
  • Our Endless Night -The spring time of life(2006) – concert by Manami Kiyota; with many others[6]
  • Manami Kiyota x Kenji Ito Collaboration Live(2006) – concert by Manami Kiyota[6]
  • Maou Kourin'Live SIDE & Evil SIDE'(2006) – play with many others[6]
  • Kenji Ito Piano Works Collection ~Everlasting Melodies~(2006) – includes one piece fromRomancing SaGa 2,and one fromChocobo Racing[19]
  • Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku o(2007) – anime[19]
  • Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai(2011) – anime ep 5[19]
  • The Girl in Twilight(2018) – anime; main theme[33]
  • Braverthday(2018) – album byNobuhiko Okamoto;"Tsugi wa Kimi ga Shuyaku no Ban da"[34]
  • Arad Senki: The Wheel of Reversal(2020) – anime
Arrangement
  • "Ai no Sumika" ~ "Hyouhaku no Toki /Komoro Nikki -Touson no Fuyuko" Stage Music Collection~(1999) – album by Kyoko Fujimoto
  • Hyouhaku no Toki/ Touson to Fuyuko(2001) – concert
  • Katakoi(2002) – single by Muneyuki Satoh
  • Soredemo Kisetsu wa(2002) – single by Muneyuki Satoh[6]
  • Tougenkyo -Masashi Sada Chromatic Harmonica Music Collection-(2002) – album by Etsuko Kitani
  • Mirai(2003) – album by Yusuke Matsumoto

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Not to be confused with the multi-instrumentalist Itoken of Harpy, zuppa di pesce, Itoken Trio, Kuricorder Pops Orchestra, and others.[2]
  1. ^"Space Armada", "Attack", and "Title (Kid Icarus) "
  2. ^"Mute City Ver. 3", "Super Hoop", and "Culdcept"
  3. ^"Beginning"

References

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  1. ^abc"Kenji Ito's Official English Website".Cocoebiz. Archived fromthe originalon August 19, 2014.RetrievedAugust 6,2008.
  2. ^Itoken."itoken_web".Itoken.Archivedfrom the original on April 5, 2015.RetrievedDecember 8,2014.
  3. ^abcEzaki, Kahori; McCawley, James (December 2004)."Interview with CocoeBiz in December 2004".CocoeBiz. Archived fromthe originalon August 19, 2014.RetrievedJune 15,2007.
  4. ^abcdefghijklmnoWinkler, Chris (2005)."RPGFan Exclusive Interview #5: Kenji Itou, composer".RPGFan.Archivedfrom the original on September 2, 2012.RetrievedDecember 13,2008.
  5. ^abcdJeriaska (April 15, 2009)."Interview: Smash Bros' Sakurai, Kenji Ito Talk RPG Musical Repertoire".Gamasutra.Archivedfrom the original on September 15, 2019.RetrievedNovember 12,2009.
  6. ^abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaa"Kenji Ito's Official English Website – Discography".Cocoebiz. Archived fromthe originalon February 26, 2012.RetrievedNovember 13,2009.
  7. ^Gann, Patrick (March 23, 2001)."All Sounds of SaGa".RPGFan.Archivedfrom the original on August 9, 2011.RetrievedMay 18,2009.
  8. ^Gann, Patrick; C., Eve (February 9, 2002)."Romancing SaGa: La Romance".RPGFan.Archivedfrom the original on September 23, 2012.RetrievedMay 18,2009.
  9. ^Gann, Patrick (August 6, 2000)."Romancing SaGa 2: Eternal Romance".RPGFan.Archivedfrom the original on May 13, 2019.RetrievedMay 21,2009.
  10. ^Farand, Eric (October 15, 2000)."Romancing SaGa 3 OSV".RPGFan.Archivedfrom the original on May 13, 2019.RetrievedMay 21,2009.
  11. ^Jeriaska; Kikuta, Hiroki (June 16, 2007)."Hiroki Kikuta: Lost Files Regained".Square Haven.Archivedfrom the original on January 17, 2014.RetrievedNovember 17,2009.
  12. ^abIto, Kenji."Gentle Echo – Works"(in Japanese). Gentle Echo.Archivedfrom the original on August 29, 2012.RetrievedNovember 16,2009.
  13. ^"Kenji Ito's Official English Website – News".CocoeBiz. Archived fromthe originalon May 16, 2007.RetrievedNovember 12,2009.
  14. ^ab"Doremi Music Web Site"(in Japanese). DOREMI Music Publishing.Archivedfrom the original on August 15, 2011.RetrievedSeptember 14,2008.
  15. ^"Mana Series:: Sheet Music Books".Square Enix Music Online. Archived fromthe originalon May 15, 2013.RetrievedAugust 11,2009.
  16. ^"Sword of Mana Piano Sound Version Sheet Music".Square Enix Music Online. Archived fromthe originalon February 4, 2014.RetrievedAugust 11,2009.
  17. ^"SaGa Series:: Sheet Music Books".Square Enix Music Online.Archivedfrom the original on August 15, 2020.RetrievedAugust 5,2009.
  18. ^Greening, Chris (December 30, 2012)."Kenji Ito Profile".Video Game Music Online.Archivedfrom the original on August 8, 2020.RetrievedJune 30,2020.
  19. ^abcdefghijklm"Kenji Ito".Video Game Music Database. January 1, 2020.Archivedfrom the original on June 22, 2019.RetrievedMay 30,2020.
  20. ^Jeriaska (April 15, 2009)."Interview: Smash Bros' Sakurai, Kenji Ito Talk RPG Musical Repertoire".Gamasutra.Archivedfrom the original on July 16, 2020.RetrievedJuly 16,2020.
  21. ^Williams, Mike (February 26, 2016)."Nintendo and the Console Depreciation of Japan".US Gamer.Archivedfrom the original on July 17, 2020.RetrievedJuly 17,2020.
  22. ^"Hyperdimension Neptunia V ( thần thứ nguyên ゲイムネプテューヌV) Credits - YouTube".YouTube.Archivedfrom the original on April 13, 2016.RetrievedNovember 27,2016.
  23. ^Romano, Sal (September 21, 2013)."Tokyo Game Show 2013 live stream schedule".Gematsu.Archivedfrom the original on June 30, 2020.RetrievedJune 29,2020.
  24. ^Greening, Chris (September 27, 2014)."Hamauzu, Shimomura, Ito, and Sakimoto attached to new RPG projects".Game Music Online.Archivedfrom the original on October 2, 2014.RetrievedSeptember 30,2014.
  25. ^Greening, Chris (June 22, 2016)."CHUNITHM Original Soundtrack -Seelisch Tact-".Video Game Music Online.Archivedfrom the original on June 12, 2020.RetrievedJune 12,2020.
  26. ^"Shinyaku Arcana Slayer".tactics SRPG Database.Archivedfrom the original on March 4, 2016.RetrievedNovember 11,2015.
  27. ^Fuller, Alex (February 26, 2020)."Hero Must Die. Again Review".RPGamer.Archivedfrom the original on July 20, 2020.RetrievedJune 11,2020.
  28. ^Greening, Chris (September 16, 2015)."Kenji Ito and Hidenori Iwasaki for SaGa Scarlet Grace".Video Game Music Online.Archivedfrom the original on September 18, 2015.RetrievedSeptember 17,2015.
  29. ^Osborn, Alex (June 28, 2016)."Final Fantasy Adventure Remake Adventures of Mana Now on PS Vita".IGN.Archivedfrom the original on July 15, 2020.RetrievedJuly 13,2020.
  30. ^""ラクガキ" がコンセプト の RPG『ラクガキ キングダム』 chính thức phát biểu. Tự đánh giá の miêu いた hội が lập thể hóa して động き ra す『ラクガキ vương quốc 』を tiến hóa させた tân cơ trục 【 trước ra し tuần san ファミ thông 】 ".Famitsu(in Japanese). July 11, 2019.Archivedfrom the original on March 23, 2020.RetrievedMarch 23,2020.
  31. ^Romano, Sal (October 1, 2021)."Sega announces 'choose your own ending RPG' Sin Chronicle for iOS, Android".Gematsu.Archivedfrom the original on October 3, 2021.RetrievedOctober 3,2021.
  32. ^Torres, Jason (September 15, 2023)."Square Enix reveals SaGa Emerald Beyond for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Mobile".RPG Site.Archivedfrom the original on September 16, 2023.RetrievedSeptember 16,2023.
  33. ^Pineda, Rafael Antonio (March 21, 2018)."Animax Reveals 20th Anniversary TV Anime/Game App Akanesasu Shōjo".Anime News Network.Archivedfrom the original on March 22, 2018.RetrievedApril 4,2020.
  34. ^"Braverthday【 xa hoa bàn 】"(in Japanese).Lantis.Archivedfrom the original on July 18, 2020.RetrievedJuly 18,2020.
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