29 Facts About Yasunori Mitsuda

Yasunori Mitsuda is a Japanese composer, musician, and sound producer.

Yasunori Mitsuda is best known for his work in video games, primarily for the Chrono, Xeno, Shadow Hearts, and Inazuma Eleven franchises, among various others.

Yasunori Mitsuda joined Square upon graduation in 1992 and worked there as a sound effects designer for two years before telling Square's vice president Hironobu Sakaguchi he would quit unless he could write music for their games.

Yasunori Mitsuda went on to compose for several other games at Square, including Xenogears and Chrono Cross.

Yasunori Mitsuda left the company and became independent in 1998.

Yasunori Mitsuda has worked on anime series, films, and television programs.

Yasunori Mitsuda was born in Tokuyama, Japan, on January 21,1972, and was raised in the Kumage District of Yamaguchi Prefecture.

Yasunori Mitsuda took piano lessons beginning at the age of five, but was more interested in sports at the time and did not take music seriously, quitting by the age of six.

Yasunori Mitsuda became interested in PCs after his father bought him one, which was a rare item at the time.

Yasunori Mitsuda started to program computer games and compose music for them, as well as take more technically oriented classes.

At the cost of being used for free physical labor, Yasunori Mitsuda got a first-hand view of the Japanese music world and valuable training both in and out of the classroom.

Yasunori Mitsuda sent a demo which won him an interview at the game studio.

Yasunori Mitsuda was assigned as the sole composer for the game, in the end creating 54 tracks for the final release.

Yasunori Mitsuda drove himself to work hard on the score, frequently working until he passed out, and would awake with ideas for songs such as the ending theme for the game.

Yasunori Mitsuda worked himself so hard that he developed stomach ulcers and had to be hospitalized, which led Uematsu to finish the remaining tracks for him.

Yasunori Mitsuda worked on three more titles for Square: Tobal No 1 and Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Hoseki both in 1996, and Xenogears in 1998, which featured the first ballad in a Square game, the Celtic ending theme "Small Two of Pieces" sung by Joanne Hogg.

In July 1998, following up on what he had said in his original interview with the company, Yasunori Mitsuda left Square to work as a freelance composer, the first of several of Square's composers to do so.

Yasunori Mitsuda has worked on over a dozen games since then, including the spiritual sequel to Xenogears, Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht, and major games such as Shadow Hearts and Luminous Arc.

On November 22,2001, Yasunori Mitsuda formed Procyon Studio as a company to produce his music, along with a record label, Sleigh Bells.

Yasunori Mitsuda consisted of only Mitsuda as composer along with a few sound producers for several years but has since expanded to include other composers.

Around the same time, Yasunori Mitsuda began to compose for non-video game media, including several NHK-produced television shows, as well as anime series such as Black Butler and adaptions of Inazuma Eleven.

Yasunori Mitsuda sometimes comes up with songs while asleep, including the ending theme to Chrono Trigger and "Bonds of Sea and Fire" from Xenogears, though his main inspiration is visual items, "paintings or other things".

Yasunori Mitsuda's music is frequently minimalistic, and he has cited Minimalism as an influence.

Yasunori Mitsuda has listened to a great number of musical genres throughout his life, which he learned from his father, and is especially inspired by jazz music.

Yasunori Mitsuda is inspired by Celtic music, and has created two albums of music in that style.

Yasunori Mitsuda finds it easier to be inspired if he has a visual representation.

Yasunori Mitsuda tries to compose good pieces even for games he feels do not live up to them, so that they will be a redeeming point about the game for the players.

Selections of remixes of Yasunori Mitsuda's work appear on Japanese remix albums, called Dojin, and on English remixing websites such as OverClocked Remix.

The event, titled "The Brink of Time", included Yasunori Mitsuda performing on the piano, guitar, and Irish bouzouki.