Yasunori Mitsuda

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 founded a music production studio and record company, Procyon Studio and Sleigh Bells, in 2001.

Mitsuda joined Square upon graduation in 1992. He worked there designing sound effects for two years before being assigned his debut project in Chrono Trigger (1995). 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. Mitsuda has also worked on anime series, films, and television programs. His music in Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, and Chrono Cross has since been cited as among the best in video games.

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 +YearTitleRole(s) 1995 Chrono Trigger Music with Nobuo Uematsu 1999 Chrono Cross Music bQLSI Star Laser Music Inazuma Eleven GO: Galaxy Music 2014 Soul Sacrifice Delta Music with Wataru Hokoyama Ten to Daichi Megami no Mahou Main theme 2016 Seventh Rebirth Music 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 2018 Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country Music with ACE, Kenji Hiramatsu, and Manami Kiyota 2019 Renshin Astral Tokyo battle themes 2021 Edge of Eternity Music with Cedric Menendez 2022 Sin Chronicle "HI・KA・RI" Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Music with ACE, Kenji Hiramatsu, Manami Kiyota, and Mariam Abounnasr 2023 Sea of Stars Music with Eric W. Brown 2024 Soul Covenant Music 2026 Edge of Memories Ending theme Another Eden Begins Main theme Chronoscript: The Endless End Music with Shunsuke Tsuchiya, Mariam Abounnasr, and Manami Kiyota 2027 Xenoblade Genesis Music with Manami Kiyota and Mariam Abounnasr

Anime +

Pugyuru Music Yo-kai Watch: Forever Friends Recording director; orchestrations with Mariam Abounnasr

Delicious in Dungeon Music with Shunsuke Tsuchiya Inazuma Eleven Movie: The Legendary Kickoff Music