Hiroki Kikuta - The man behind Koudelka
Hiroki Kikuta (菊田 裕樹) born August 29, 1962, is a Japanese video game music composer and game designer. His major works are Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 3, Soukaigi, and Koudelka, for which he also acted as producer and concept designer.
Bio[]
He has composed music for seven other games, and worked as a concept designer in addition to composer for the unreleased massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Chou Bukyo Taisen. He became interested in music at an early age, but earned a degree in Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Cultural Anthropology from Kansai University. He spent the next few years working first as a manga illustrator then as a composer for anime series before coming to work for Square (now Square Enix).
Sacnoth[]
After composing the soundtracks for his first three best-known works, he formed his own video game production company, Sacnoth, for which he was the president and CEO. After producing and composing Koudelka, he left to become a freelance composer. Since his departure he has formed his own record label, Norstrilia, through which he produces albums of his own compositions and collaborations with other artists, as well as his previous scores. His music has been performed in concerts such as the Symphonic Fantasies concerts in Cologne, Germany in September 2009, and selections of his works have been published as piano arrangements in sheet music books.
Koudelka[]
After Kikuta finished Soukaigi, he left Square and founded the video game development company Sacnoth, assuming the position of the president and CEO from 1998 to 1999. During this time, the company created Koudelka for the PlayStation; Kikuta was credited as the concept designer, game planner, scenario writer, producer and composer. His philosophy in designing video games is that the best projects have a limited number of people designing the overall experience and making key decisions. He tried to follow this philosophy in creating Koudelka, and tried to bring a sense of "obsessive passion" to the project, reading what he claims were over 100 books on British history and taking the design team on a trip to Wales to study the country. The game was released in December 1999 to poor reviews which criticized the game's combat system, though they praised the concept, art direction, and music. Kikuta left Sacnoth soon after; the company changed its named to Nautilus and went on to produce four more games including the Shadow Hearts series before folding in 2007.
Discography[]
| Anime | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | |
| 1990 | The Adventure of Robin Hood | Composition | |
| 1990 | The Legend of Snow White | Composition | |
| Video games | |||
| Year | Title | Role | |
| 1992 | Romancing SaGa | Sound effects | |
| 1993 | Secret of Mana | Composition/arrangement | |
| 1995 | Seiken Densetsu 3 | Composition/arrangement | |
| 1998 | Soukaigi | Composition/arrangement | |
| 1999 | Koudelka | Composition/arrangement/concept design/game planning/scenario writing/production | |
| 2004 | Sora no Iro, Mizu no Iro | Composition/arrangement | |
| Chou Bukyo Taisen (canceled) | Composition/arrangement/concept design/game planning | ||
| 2005 | Sakura Relaxation | Composition/arrangement | |
| Nidzuma wa Sailor Fuku | Composition/arrangement | ||
| 2006 | Tennin-So Kitan | Composition | |
| Kaijinki | Composition | ||
| 2007 | Concerto Gate | Composition/arrangement | |
| Other works | |||
| Year | Title | Role | |
| 1993 | Secret of Mana+ | Arrangement | |
| 2006 | Lost Files | Composition | |
| Kitan Celestial Grass | Composition/arrangement | ||
| Emperor of the Sea | Composition/arrangement | ||
| 2007 | Alphabet Planet | Composition | |
| 2008 | In the Sky on the Water | Composition/arrangement | |
| Love Relaxation | Composition/arrangement | ||
| Nice Life as Wife | Composition/arrangement | ||
| 2009 | DoDonPachi Dai-Ou-Jou Premium Arrange Album | Arrangement | |
| 2010 | Tiara | Composition/arrangement | |
External links[]
- Angel's Fear – Hiroki Kikuta's official website (Japanese)
- kiss twice – Hiroki Kikuta's official blog (Japanese)