Yoshino Aoki

Game Music

A Unique Note for a Unique Story: Earth Seeker Scored by Unique Note

June 30, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

Well, maybe it’s old news by now given that the game was released last week in Japan, but we’ve been informed that our friends over at Unique Note were responsible for the game’s soundtrack. In case you don’t remember, Unique Note is a studio formed by composers Tetsuya Shibata and Yoshino Aoki, and as you can imagine, you’ll be hearing some of Aoki’s lovely voice throughout the score as well.

We were given a taste of the game’s main theme which comes as a lengthy and epic orchestral piece. The latter half features Aoki’s voice, and I have to say, being mainly familiar with her vocal work from Breath of Fire III, what she’s done in Earth Seeker is impressive both in terms of range and production values. I was particularly impressed by Shibata’s string work, and it turns out he used LASS for the project, which Kunal just reviewed last weekend. There’s no word yet regarding a soundtrack release, or even a Western release for the game (there are petitions going around for this game alongside The Last Story, Pandora’s Tower, and Xenoblade), but I’m hoping that some of the game’s music gets released in Japan if the main theme is any indication.

Are you interested in Unique Note’s score for Earth Seeker? Are you hoping that the game gets an English-language release and that a soundtrack is produced in Japan?
Featured, Game Music

GDC 2010: A Unique Interview With Unique Note

April 1, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

You should know all about Unique Note by now. We featured President Tetsuya Shibata and Vice-President Yoshino Aoki last year after they left Capcom to strike it out on their own, and we were able to catch up with them at GDC to find out what they’ve been up to and ask some other unconventional questions in more of an informal chat than an interview.

Ever wonder if it’s acceptable for women to go out drinking with the guys in Japan? Or wonder how Yoshino Aoki, the only female working on Suikoden Tierkres, got stuck working with the cute half-dolphin creatures called the Poirpose? We have the answers here along with details on some of the projects they’ve worked on over the past 8 months, and we also learn about the pseudonym that Tetsuya Shibata released under on the Yuusha 30 soundtrack.

All this and more in our GDC interview after the jump! (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Natsu: A marth TERIT RECORDS Classic (Review)

February 6, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

Remember marth TERIT RECORDS? If you read our recent interview with former Capcom sound designer Hideaki Utsumi, it may sound familiar, as he briefly discussed the record label and a few of its releases. Don kicked off coverage of the label, starting with his review of Shinseiki Kivandelyan, and here we are with another compilation album titled Natsu (Or “Summer” in English), which takes us all the way back to 1997.

Like with other releases from the label, don’t expect “game music.” This is a compilation album featuring mainly electronic tracks with Japanese vocals from a variety of artists. While I didn’t know any of these names before listening, I’m definitely interested in learning more about some of their past work based on this release, and I hope you will too!

Find out more about Natsu in our review after the jump. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Is the New World Worth Exploring?: Shinsekai Kivandelyan (Review)

January 13, 2010 | Don Kotowski | 2 Comments Share this

So, apparently Hideaki Utsumi has a record label called marth TERIT RECORDS. Many of the albums seem to feature current and former Capcom members. Looking at the list, when asked if I wanted to review any of the albums, the Shinsekai Kivandelyan (translates to “New World Kivandelyan”) seemed the most promising.

I’ve been told that the album itself features an important pun in terms of name, art, etc. For example, the name “Kivandelyan,” when put into kana, is quite close to Evangelion. Couple that with the fact that the name for Neon Genesis Evangelion is Shinsekai Evangelion, and things start to add up. Add the fact that the cover art is a clone of Rei Ayanami, who I assume is a character from Evangelion, and the logo itself is quite similar to an Eva logo, and you can see why some people might think this is a legitimate Eva release.

Enough of that, though. What does the album actually contain? It features original music by Hideaki Utsumi, Masami Ueda, Yoshino Aoki, and others. I was expecting a lot, given how much I like some of the people on the list.

Read the review after the jump to see if it fulfilled my expectations. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

A Very Special Gift: The Breath of Fire Original Soundtrack Special Box (Review)

July 28, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

Every once in awhile, game companies surprise us by giving us exactly what we want in terms of game music. While I admit that doesn’t occur often, Capcom is generally one of the companies that show game music fans some love, and I’m sure their in-house record label Suleputer has something to do with it. You guys know I am a huge fan of the Breath of Fire series, as Breath of Fire III served as our soundtrack of the month back in September, so you can imagine that I was pretty excited when Capcom released the Breath of Fire Original Soundtrack Special Box back in 2006.

What’s in it? Well, everything. Not only will you find the Breath of Fire IV and V soundtracks intact, but the original Breath of Fire, which never received an official soundtrack release, as well as additional music from Breath of Fire II and III, are also included, making this the end-all collection for Breath of Fire music fans. Even more, we recently learned that Capcom’s former Sound Director Tetsuya Shibata was responsible for putting the set together, often without the source files, so we should all be thankful for his diligence and Capcom in general for making this possible.

Our review of the massive, 11-disc box set is waiting for you after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

Meet Unique Note: Interview With Tetsuya Shibata and Yoshino Aoki

June 25, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 6 Comments Share this

Hopefully by now you’re familiar with the names of Tetsuya Shibata and Yoshino Aoki. We talked to Shibata at GDC about his role as Sound Director at Capcom Japan. Not only was he responsible for a lot of the music heard in the Devil May Cry series, but he was also responsible for putting together the amazing Breath of Fire Special Box and countless other projects during his tenure. Yoshino Aoki, on the other hand, is the lovely voice behind the Breath of Fire III soundtrack, as well as the composer of Breath of Fire IV and other title during her time at Capcom.

Well, we’re here to break the news to you. Shibata and Aoki have both left Capcom to form their own studio, Unique Note, and we have the first interview with the two about the move and what we can expect to hear from them in the near future. Join us as we learn more about Shibata and Aoki’s background, why they’re heading out on their own, and what their goal is with Unique Note.

Find the joint interview after the jump. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Biggest DS Soundtrack Ever: Genso Suikoden Tierkreis Original Soundtrack (Review)

February 25, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 5 Comments Share this

It’s been a crazy couple of months for Suikoden fans. First there was the promo-only soundtrack, and then a confirmed stand-alone release. Then we were able to speak with Konami’s Norikazu Miura about the game’s soundtrack, and now it’s been announced that there will be another album released in Japan titled Genso Suikoden Tierkreis Extra Soundtrack featuring additional music from the game as well as arranged music by Elements Garden. And that’s not even all of it, as we already have more coverage planned for the coming weeks, but I would have nothing less for my favorite game series of all time.

We finally got our hands on the game’s 3-disc soundtrack which hit Japan last week. Is it everything we had hoped for? Did the outside contributions from composers like Masaharu Iwata and Yoshino Aoki (two composers that I’m quite fond of) make a difference? Well, I don’t want to spoil it, so you’re going to have to read the review.

Take a glimpse at what you’ll be listening to on your DS next month after the jump. (more…)