Hiroki Kikuta

Hiroki Kikuta is one of the more eccentric video game music composers. His discography has not been very long, but it has been punctuated by extremely notable works, especially the music of Secret of Mana. His early game music work was for Square Soft, but after he left, he branched out into game design, founding the company Sacnoth (later renamed Nautilus) which developed the Shadow Hearts series. In addition to game music, Kikuta has also composed some anime soundtracks. While at Sacnoth, Kikuta fiercely resisted Executive Meddling from publishers -- this earned him something of an Auteur License reputation, whether or not he actually deserves it.

Anime Music

 * The Adventure Of Robin Hood (1990)
 * The Legend Of Snow White (1990)

Video Game Music

 * Chou Bukyo Taisen (2004): Vaporware.
 * Concerto Gate (2007, along with Kenji Ito): Kenji Ito had composed the first World of Mana game, and Kikuta composed the second and third games.
 * Kaijinki (2006)
 * Koudelka (1999)
 * Nidzuma Wa Sailor Fuku (2005)
 * Sakura Relaxation (2005)
 * Secret of Mana (1993): His first video game music composition, and by far his most recognized work.
 * Samples: "Give Love Its Rightful Time, "Flight into the Unknown", "Into the Thick of It", "Meridian Dance", "Orphan of the Storm", "Secret of the Arid Sands", "Star of Darkness", "Danger".
 * Seiken Densetsu 3 (1995)
 * Samples: "Angel's Fear", "Electric Talk", "Few Paths Forbidden", "Frenzy", "High Tension Wire", "Powell", "Whiz Kid".
 * Shining Hearts (2010)
 * Sora No Iro Mizu No Iro (2004): An Eroge.
 * Soukaigi (1998)
 * Samples: "Broken Memory", "Quake", "Ancient Power", "Fire Wire", "Lovely Strains".
 * Tennin So Kitan (2006)