is a Japanese composer. He is best known for his work in video games, primarily for the Chrono, Xeno, Shadow Hearts, and Inazuma Eleven franchises, among various others. Mitsuda began composing music for his own games in high school, later attending a music college in Tokyo. While still a student, he was granted an intern position at the game development studio Wolf Team.
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. Shortly after, Sakaguchi assigned him to work on the soundtrack for Chrono Trigger (1995), whose music has since been cited as among the best in video games.
Mitsuda went on to compose for several other games at Square, including Xenogears (1998) and Chrono Cross (1999). He left the company and became independent in 1998. In 2001, he respectively founded his own music production studio and record company, Procyon Studio and Sleigh Bells. Mitsuda has also worked on anime series, films, and television programs. He plays piano, guitar, and occasionally the Irish bouzouki at concerts.
Biography
Early life
Mitsuda was born in Tokuyama, Japan, on January 21, 1972, and was raised in the Kumage District of Yamaguchi Prefecture. He 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. Around the same time, Mitsuda also 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. In addition to serving as the lead composer for 2017's Xenoblade Chronicles 2, he also was in charge of the game's audio budget, musician booking, schedule management, and music sheet proofreading, for which he claimed was the largest project he ever worked on. He also composed for its expansion pack, Torna – The Golden Country, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
Musical style and influences
Mitsuda claims to compose by "just fool[ing] around on my keyboard" and letting the melodies come to him. He is also inspired by Celtic music, and has created two albums of music in that style. Selections of remixes of Mitsuda's work also appear on Japanese remix albums, called Dōjin, and on English remixing websites such as OverClocked Remix. During the event, Mitsuda also announced that the long requested Chrono series arrangement album, entitled To Far Away Times: Chrono Trigger & Chrono Cross Arrangement Album, would be released by Square Enix Music on October 14, 2015.
Notable works
Video games
{| class="wikitable sortable" width="auto"
|+
|-
! scope="col"|Year
! scope="col"|Title
! scope="col"|Role(s)
! scope="col"|
|-
! scope=row | 1995
| Chrono Trigger
| Music with Nobuo Uematsu
|
|-
! scope=rowgroup rowspan="2" | 1999
| Chrono Cross
| Music
|
|-
| bQLSI Star Laser
| Music
|
|-
| Inazuma Eleven GO: Galaxy
| Music
|
|-
! scope=rowgroup rowspan="4" | 2014
| Soul Sacrifice Delta
| Music with Wataru Hokoyama
|
|-
| Ten to Daichi Megami no Mahou
| Main theme
|
|-
! scope=row | 2016
| Seventh Rebirth
| Music
|
|-
! scope=rowgroup rowspan="5" | 2017
| Valkyria Revolution
| Music
|
|-
| Another Eden
| Music with Shunsuke Tsuchiya and Mariam Abounnasr
|
|-
| Xenoblade Chronicles 2
| Music with ACE, Kenji Hiramatsu, and Manami Kiyota
|
|-
| Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ignis
| Music with Tadayoshi Makino and Yoko Shimomura
|
|-
| Winning Hand
| Music with Shunsuke Tsuchiya and Mariam Abounnasr
|
|-
! scope=rowgroup rowspan="2" | 2018
| Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country
| Music with ACE, Kenji Hiramatsu, and Manami Kiyota
|
|-
!2019
| Renshin Astral
| Tokyo battle themes
|
|-
! scope=row | 2021
| Edge of Eternity
| Music with Cedric Menendez
|
|-
! rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup" | 2022
| Sin Chronicle
| "HI・KA・RI"
|
|-
| Xenoblade Chronicles 3
| Music with ACE, Kenji Hiramatsu, Manami Kiyota, and Mariam Abounnasr
|
|-
! scope=rowgroup rowspan="1" | 2023
| Sea of Stars
| Music with Eric W. Brown
|
|-
! scope=rowgroup rowspan="1" | 2024
| Soul Covenant
| Music
|
|-
! scope=rowgroup rowspan="2" | 2026
| Edge of Memories
| Ending theme
|
|-
| Another Eden Begins
| Main theme
|
|}
Anime
{| class="wikitable sortable" width="auto"
|+
|-
! scope="col"|Year
! scope="col"|Title
! scope="col"|Role(s)
! scope="col"|
|-
! scope=row | 2004
| Pugyuru
| Music
|
|-
| Yo-kai Watch: Forever Friends
| Recording director; orchestrations with Mariam Abounnasr
|
|-
! scope=rowrowgroup rowspan="2" | 2024
| Delicious in Dungeon
| Music with Shunsuke Tsuchiya
|
|-
| Inazuma Eleven Movie: The Legendary Kickoff
| Music
|
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