Hiroki Kikuta - New Projects
 

Post-Koudelka, most thought that Hiroki Kikuta had fallen off the edge of the earth until he turned up... composing hentai games of all things. Well, since then, it's gradually emerged that he's done quite a bit more than just this. His known non-hentai projects:

1) Kikuta started work on an ambitious three year project, the Chinese MMORPG Bukyo, in 2001, where he was the concept designer, game planner, and composer. Developed by Square Enix, the game's development was abandoned after a closed beta testing period in Taiwan during 2004, meaning neither Kikuta's concept nor score was ever released to the world.

2) Kikuta published the much-publicised original album Lost Files in 2006. His first commercial release in seven years, it was principally a scattered collection of tracks from various projects that haven't been heard before, including the original versions of the demo tracks he submitted to Square to be recruited by them. This album is sold on his personal website and at VGM World.

3) Kikuta is writing a novel and its accompanying CD. In Tennin-so Story, Kikuta's expression of inspiration is anticipated to reach new levels and, by working alone, he will not be compromise by others. Prior to the novel's release, a CD will be released in August 2006's Comic Market 70 event, based on the same world. At last, Kikuta will create a brand new major work that will actually be published!

I'm not so sure what your point is.

Just an aside: I don't think that composing for H-game soundtracks is considered such a step down in Japan. The releases from the most prestigious companies do seem to get some good-quality musical talent.

That's interesting about the CMMORPG. It's certainly possible that the music will turn up somewhere, even if he doesn't reuse it. The novel sounds interesting too. We probably will never see an English translation, but I'm sure the cd will pop up with all the other C70 stuff.

1) To announce a major new project of Hiroki Kikuta's to an English-speaking audience (unless someone else has and I've been blind)
2) To emphasise that Kikuta has done more than just compose for H-games and compile an album of lost files since Koudelka, contrary to popular belief
3) To make some clarifications about the Bukyo projects

I agree here to a large extent. The genre of the games Kikuta composed for post-Koudelka didn't bother me and I know there's plenty of musicians (e.g. Shinji Hosoe and Yasuhisa Watanabe) have made respectable soundtracks to H-games while evolving their styles. Still, I still considered a step-down from the perspective that, for Koudelka, he was involved in practically all sides of production for a major RPG, whereas his role was much more limited and for a smaller audience in the H-games. So, to me, it's more of an issue of audience and role than genre.

Hey, what makes H-Games are something to be ashamed of? I'm sure there's some entertaining ones out there. :tpg:
Also, with people like Kikuta composing the music for games like Sakura Relaxation.. They can't be all that bad. xp

Interesting info, in any case. I'll be awaiting more news on the novel, and moreso, the CD that will be released to accompany it. More Kikuta music is welcome in my collection. :) Lost Files was excellent, no doubt. It reminded me of the stuff that he is capable of.

As for the MMORPG stuff, I wonder why its development was discontinued? S-E was too busy with the Final Fantasy games, or what. :(

EDIT: Yeah, good point about the audience in H-Games, Mr. Maul. There's definitely a smaller group of people that Kikuta's music could reach to, since he ended up composing the music for obscure games.

I heard of Bukyo and bought Lost Files, but I'm still ready for more. I'm glad to hear he's going to keep composing!

Also, :tpg:

Yeah Sakura Relaxation was awesome.

Any info on Bukyo? I mean, despite the fact it was a close beta, surely some chinese boy shared the music somewhere...

Sounds like a new holy search ~

Oh yeah worst thread title ever

I love all of Kikuta's work. Even Koudelka.
I'm glad to see he's making a come back, I just hope he hasn't given up on game music - I love Soukaigi, and I hope that in the future there will be a Seiken Densetsu Arranged Album (might be asking for a bit much) even though Mitsuda is releasing a arranged album of Chrono Cross.

Shame about the online game - looking forward to the next cd :)

There's quite a lot of info about it here. It's all in Chinese, but I know there's a few Chinese dudes in this forum.

That made me cry! ;_; But, yeah, the truth hurts.

Lost Files was pretty bad. Where's the Soukaigi quality sexiness?

You guys seriously can't set Soukaigi as some sort of standard for Kikuta. That is a high bar. It had live instrumentation. Most soundtracks don't even have this.

And Lost Files didn't suck. :mad:

I was a bit disappointed at the beginning of the album, but after learning in this thread that they were likely from his "demo tape" to Squaresoft, I can fully accept that they are subpar when compared to Kikuta's other work.

If you get past the initial disappointment, the later tracks on Lost Files begin to reach a Soukaigi-like level of goodness. I recommend listening again with a fresh disposition.


Also, Mr. Maul, thank you so much for the information you provided in the opening post. <3

As much as I hate to revive an old and horribly titled thread, it's been announced that Hiroki Kikuta has a new project at Square Enix. This is the MMORPG Concerto Gate, to be hosted by NHN Japan in April 2007. He has been hired as a co-composer, whereas Kenji Ito will lead. Some more info here for the interested.

I expected Kikuta to return to SE after the abandoned Bukyo project, but I'm surprised he'll be working on another MMORPG and even more shocked he'll be collaborating with Kenji Ito (a dubious collaboration, perhaps). I just hope the game and soundtrack don't fade into obscurity like Fantasy Earth, Cross Gate, Front Mission Online, and the various Chinese MMORPGs I know nothing about... or worse still, go down the root of Bakusou Yankee Damashii, Bukyo, and Ambrosia Odyssey...

Great news! Much can be expected from a collaboration of those two. =)

Oh, and I'm not too sure why are you naming all those MMORPGs in this context, except for Bukyo ...

Want me to change the title? Can I? Can I? ;_;

I find the collaboration strange, to be honest. I appreciate Kikuta and Ito for very different reasons. I find Kikuta's style much more original and subtle. Still, I felt Ito did well referencing Kikuta's Seiken Densetsu style in Dawn of Mana.

Well, for the sake of saying that the music for most of SE's MMORPGs has been shrouded in mystery and some MMORPGs just failed outright or were cancelled. So I'm dubious about an OST release...

Feel free to! :D

I think a MMORPG is exactly the kind of game in which their different styles could mix well, actually. Diversity is also something MMORPGS need desperately, on a gaming experience plan.

done. i went for something original ~

Surprising, but awesome news. More stuff from Kikuta is always welcome, and the collaboration with Ito should be interesting to say the least. It's also good to hear that he's joining forces with Square-Enix again (even if it's only for this project). Wonder if we can expect him to compose music for more console RPGs (specifically, one of the Mana games)? I suppose it's unlikely, but it would be nice.

Here's some followup information, as the title was mentioned in the first post but not anything else. It's...

Tennin So Kitan (NSLCD-0002)

Just 1 track, 8:37 in length, but a good one.

Starts off with a short drama (presumably about the novel's story), then around 1:50 the song itself comes in. It's all instrumental until 5:30, then the vocal lyrics get added.

Attached is the cover pic.

Thanks for the info and cover, Carl. The track sounds interesting, even if I thought this project would be more ambitious in terms of length. Great you think it's a good one.

Anybody know if Kikuta composed Puzzlebox's latest entry, Shukubo no Shinshitsu, and whether a soundtrack was released?

"Shukubo no Shinshitsu"? If it's 叔母の寝室 (romanized "oba no shinshitsu" on all Japanese websites which did so) then there's a very tasty sample at the less tasty site. Not particularly Kikuta-sounding to me, and no mention of Kikuta as composer, but his site is linked in the "creator" section of the site's link page whatever that's worth...

Edit: That sample is the theme piece which is explicitly credited to 和田貴史 (Takashi Wada?). No idea if he did the rest of the soundtrack as well as the theme piece is all they talk about music wise on the site.
Edit2: In the trailer Angel Note is credited for "BGM ・Arrangement", I'll suppose for now that includes composing as well. *shrugs

In the creator section Takafumi Wada is credited as the composer.
Besides the main theme there isn't really a good tune in the game either, I guess that's why they did not release a soundtrack. Wada has worked on Shinshou Genmukan for Ciel before (another SP-Janis brand that also Kikuta composed for), but Genmukan was just a remake of the original game made by aias.
Shinshou Genmukan's music is a lot better than Oba no Shinshitsu, but they both sound nothing like Kikuta's music. I doubt he will return for SP-Janis.

On his blog, Kikuta says he composed 13 tracks.



Now, 10 mp3 samples are available by extracting the swf file out of the official site (I can't play some files, though). 7th and 8th tracks are probably Kikuta's.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/i1ki6w

If anyone wants to listen to the Tennin so Kitan track, here it is.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/62mnu3

All the latest posts here have been very interesting and helpful to me. Good to know about those H-games suspected to be composed by him. Also, I find it promising that MP3 samples are included on the main site; maybe, just maybe, we will get a soundtrack release.

Thanks so much for the rip, Seanne. It brings back memories of Secret of Mana + for me. Love the track. :D

To be honest, I'm not sure that a collaboration between Ito and Kikuta is ideal. Neither is particularly renowned for aggressively paced melodies. The final result may indeed feel one-dimensional if neither feels comfortable venturing outside their norm.

Kikuta's ambient work is excellent. Ito's piano work is skilled, although often veering on the bland side of sound. On paper, it seems like an ideal pairing but, in execution, I wonder if their low-key styles will complement each other or compete for the same musical space. Where subtle background music is concerned, their collaborations may work. But where more forceful, energized music is necessary, I am hesitant to think that the partnership may be lacking. I'm sure they can come up with something but aggression is neither's forte and I almost worry that such music would sound forced.

Had Kikuta been paired with someone whose ouevre is similar but contains a little more...oomph...say, Tenpei Sato, Ken Nakagawa or Motoi Sakuraba, then I'd be thrilled at the news. For now, it's just an interesting pairing whose efforts feel more like an experiment than a true fellowship, to me.

Has anyone spotted 海神記 ('sea god chronicles') [NSLCD-0003], at all? Last I heard it was supposed to be released at C71.

Its nice to hear Kikuta's name. I was a big fan of Secret of Mana and miss his musical contributions to the video game industry. I will be interested to see how Kikuta has progressed musically. I hear he has been working on hentai soundtracks since then...

Interesting, Seanne. Thanks for the tidbit we can keep our eyes open for....

●海神記 ※コミケ71で販売。通販未定。 2006/12/31 NSLCD-0003
Sea God Chronicle, Sold at Comike 71. Mail Order Undecided.

Better Late than Never...
here's a link to Kaijinki (NSLCD-0003)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/a2lnme

Thanks a million, Carl. New Kikuta material is ALWAYS welcomed, especially since it's been so few and far between the last several years. I'll check it out as soon as I get home.

Alphabet planet

So is this a solo work, or a soundtrack?

Will be sold at C72, and from the little I read about it it seems like it's an original solo work, though taken the VGM way.

Awesome news! Hopefully the Amazon.co.jp orders get fulfilled, as I just placed the preorder for it through that URL link from GMR.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/ALPHABET-PLA...6041869&sr=1-1

Those previous Kikuta cd-bok albums on amazon sold out FAST with no additional stock available, so I hope I can at least get this one....
(2-cds, yummm....)

Wow, great news, and only a month away as well!

Carl: just noticed the link to Kaijinki. If I can assume it is in any way Kikuta-related, would you mind re-upping it somewhere?

Just ordered my Alphabet Planet! Can't wait! :D

Argh, I'm in the same boat... I wandered over here from the STC thread and kicked myself when I saw the upload had expired. *big puppy eyes at Carl*

Here's an updated link, and Shylph deserves the credit for finding this one, I only reposted the URL.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/4dutvu

Much appreciated, thanks! :D The song is gorgeous.

Carl, Shylph, Thanks a lot :D

Downloaded this two days ago but totally forgot my manners: thanks! :)

VGMWorld will stock Alphabet Planet after the release date. So no need to worry if you can't order it from amazon.

Well, that's good news. Although now I kinda wish I'd ordered through VGMWorld instead of Amazon.co.jp, since I'd rather support Kahori. Oh well, she can be the backup plan.

My copy looks like it's about to ship from AmazonJP. I'm looking forward to hearing what Kikuta has cooked up for us this time. I enjoyed Lost Files, personally.

Well, I received my copy earlier today and I'm just starting to check it out. So far, I have to say that I'm really enjoying it. I wasn't a huge fan of Lost Files, but Alphabet Planet is impressive. If I get a chance, I'll share my overall impressions once I've finished the whole thing.

Any chance that this will be released somewhere (#gamemp3s, #gamemusic, etc.)?

I've ordered this soundtrack from VGMusic/CocoeBiz. For two discs of Hiroki Kikuta the price seems reasonable. Here is the link to the item:

http://www.vgmworld.com/catalog/inde...&item_num=1259

Alphabet Planet was just released by gamemp3s, guys!: http://www.gamemp3s.net/

objection, lol

Anyway, I received my copy of Alphabet Planet today and... I'm not exactly impressed. :/

I honestly barely made it through the first disc (and actually had to skip most of the earsplitting "Uriah Heep", track 9); it's almost entirely made up of sugary sweet "town"-ish themes, which I don't mind in small doses or when they're done well, but this just felt like getting hammered with 17 tracks of brainless gee-whiz happiness. Clearly Mr. Kikuta is at a place in his life where he's feeling really good about things, and that's great, but I wish he'd dial it down a notch when he steps over to the keyboard. Coaster.

The second disc thankfully does steer away from Happy Happy Land a little, but I'm still not hearing anything particularly memorable or impressive here. This frustrates me, because I felt like Kikuta's style had really evolved and matured by the time Soukaigi and Koudelka came around, but this just feels like a huge step backwards for him.

I was willing to excuse some of Lost Files' unevenness, because it was made clear to us that that was just Kikuta sweeping up whatever was left on the cutting room floor. But Alphabet Planet is supposed to be new, fresh work? Nope. Doesn't cut it. I'll listen to Lost Files ten times (and Soukaigi fifty) before I come back to Alphabet Planet again.

hehe, yeah Vaeran, I did a pretty bad job there on trying to say that I enjoyed it for what it was but it didn't blow me away or anything. I do, however, like Alphabet Planet more. As far as the "Happy Happy Land" style, while I don't mind it, but I do wish he would utilize some of his other strengths as well. It seems like the happy-go-lucky music is all he's doing lately.

Overall, I thought Alphabet Planet was pretty decent. There are some snoozers but also a few winners as well.

Agreed. I did overwait for Alphabet Planet to be released, and i'm really disappointed, really =/.

Listening to the 1st track, i was expecting something memorable, thinking the Guitar sampling wasn't synthetic. However, Kikuta's Works are tending to be a bit "synthetic". I don't bother with Happy Land style, because SoM I/II 's townish pieces were, and still are quite awesome. Honestly, a 2nd HQ-sampling release of SoM tracks would have been way more enjoyable.

EDIT: In contrast, the Ragnarok Online II OST (supplied in the same release pack) is heavenly refreshing. Since the thread is focused on Kikuta works, I won't discuss the album here, lol.

Agreed, the best thing I can think of saying about Alphabet Planet is that the #gamemp3s-release of it was bundled with the RO2 OST. The file names in the torrent made me realize it was composed by Yoko Kanno, which in turn made me get that as well.

Turns out that the RO2 OST is great, whereas Alphabet Planet sounds like... overly happycute synth forgetableness. I guess it sholdn't come as a big suprprise as most of the music he's composed lately seem to fall in that category, but for some reason I had Soukaigi-high hopes for this solorelease. Maybe what Kikuta needs is to get away from the synthsound for a while and compose some music for a live orchestra.

I'm still waiting on Alphabet Planet to arrive in the mail, so I can't comment on the album. I have however heard some of his tracks from the Concerto Gate beta.

Since jeriaska mention Chou Bukyo Taisen, has the music from it been released or ripped or something?

So, has anybody heard anything about Concerto? It was apparently released on the 29th. =/

Also, any update on that Bukyo stuff? :)

Kikuta himself says he has not delivered stuff to the amazon.co.jp yet.

Anyone found Tennin So Kitan Rainy Remix yet? News article about the CD here:

Square Enix Music Online :: Video Game Music News

Oh ok. Fair enough, I suppose. =/ But damn do I want this soundtrack. The sample give me chills.

If anyone is in the Seattle area and is attending Sakura-con, you may be lucky enough to meet Kikuta-san himself:

Kikuta to attend Sakura-con.

Wish I could make it.

The "Concerto" CD is in stock now at Amazon.co.jp
Amazon.co.jpF CONCERTO: ‰¹Šy

It's an Orchestral blend of trademark Kikita + FF Tactics style Sakimoto influence.

Lots of gorgeous and beautiful exploring themes, along with military marches and snare-drummed battle themes. Very high quality sound.

Here's a 20 MB sample pack of tracks so you can check it out:
Send big files the easy way. Files too large for email attachments? No problem!
sendspace.com/file/xp7jni
Kikuta's Concerto CD Samples.rar

I'm awaiting my copy of concerto. I'm looking forward to it, especially now if their is a Sakimoto influence :D

Bumping this to say that Hiroki Kikuta is credited working on the new game title "Moenikki". It's his return to the renowned company Puzzlebox for which he has scored titles such as Sora no Iro Mizu no Iro, Sakura Relaxation and Ni~duma wa Sailor Fuku.

So far a vocal collection has been confirmed to be included with the game. The OP/ED themes can be listened to on the official website as well:
sp-janis.com [Download ServiceFPuzzleBox]

Hopefully the BGM will be better and perhaps next month's Comiket brings us a soundtrack release.

^5 If it's anything like the Sakura Relaxation soundtrack, I'm sold already. The vocal tracks sound alright; do we know who the vocalist is? (<3 for Kikuta)

Moenikki Theme Song "Diary"
Lyrics: Masayuki Kawagishi (河岸昌行)
Compose/Arrange: Hiroki Kikuta (菊田裕樹)
Vocal: Airi Aoyama (青山愛漓)

Moenikki Featured Song "Feeling C"
Lyrics: Masayuki Kawagishi
Compose/Arrange: Hiroki Kikuta
Vocal: Kyoko Sakura (桜京子)

Looks like that second song isn't the ED.

Huh. Never heard of either of those vocalists before. But they sound pretty good so here's hoping they stick around~

I really appreciate this information. When you say 'scored titles such as', does this mean he may have scored other titles too? I don't follow eroge games at all so I'm totally reliant on others for information of these Kikuta projects.

Kikuta is currently listing several CDs for his eroge projects on his official website. They're entitled 'In the Sky on the Water' (for Sora no Iro Mizu no Iro), 'Love Relaxation' (for Sakura Relaxation), and 'Nice Life as Wife' (possibly for Ni~dzuma wa Sailor Fuku), but he hasn't released any further info. Maybe he intends to publish this soundtrack personally as well.

Nope, those three are his only works for Puzzlebox (and the only Puzzlebox games receiving soundtracks at that).
It's cool how he is listing these projects on his website but these are all bonus cds, so we have to rely on Puzzlebox for a soundtrack cd. Bad news is that the preorder bonus is only a vocal collection with nine tracks and some material collection with artwork. And it's coming out on 7/31.

Visual novels usually contain a BGM menu though, so the music could be extracted or recorded at worst.

Moenikki Special Vocal CD has come out,I have shared it in my thread

Thanks shylph.

I haven't heard any other mention of Tennin So Kitan "Rainy Remix" anywhere other than this thread though.

Hey, there's a new VIDEO Interview of him on youtube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suId6Enhzyk

Shylph posted this in other thread, so I'm just relinking it here.

Kikuta's new content from Comiket 74, catchy and energetic!
Tennin Rainy Remix is in the Omake folder.

(C74)[VGM企业][Angel's Fear] Hiroki Kikuda- metaphasic child + Omeke CD.rar
sendspace.com/file/bu82l9

Does anyone know what that's written as in English characters . . . I'm not even asking for a translation, I'd just rather see it in romanji.

Squirrel's translation

01. Those Who Cry for Love at the Center of the World
02. a.Metaphasic Child Hymn, b.The Girl Who Came from Mars, c.Tachyon Network Penetration...
03. AKIHABARA COUNTERPOINT

New Kikuta Album on his Norstrilia Label (NSLCD-0007)
Available here Amazon.co.jp&#xFF1A; IN THE SKY ON THE WATER: &#x83CA;&#x7530;&#x88D5;&#x6A39;: &#x97F3;&#x697D;
3 sample tracks here: sp-janis.com [Download ServiceFCiel]

And two more today:

LOVE RELAXATION (Sakura Relaxation) and
NICE LIFE AS WIFE

Hiroki Kikuta’s Latest Hentai Soundtracks Out On November 4

It's great to see this music finally getting an appropriate release. Especially Sakura Relaxation.

Kikuta is confirmed to work on Tiara, a new eroge. It's the second game by Symphony and I really enjoyed the music from their first work, Ojousama Kumikyoku. I'm sure Kikuta will come up with something even better. The game is going to be released on March 27 and includes a soundtrack CD.
Here's the staff list ôETiaraEô

It seems Kikuta's projects don't draw much attention anymore, but I'm still a huge fan of his music.
After being postponed several times Tiara's release date is July 24 now, but Symphony Soft released a trial version today, which includes a lot of game BGM.
I extracted the ogg files from the game and present to you 33 minutes of Kikuta music from this new game.

Tiara Trial Version Game Rip (Hiroki Kikuta).rar

As mentioned one post above, the game will contain a soundtrack CD.

Thanks for the heads-up and game rip! It's always a pleasant surprise to learn that Kikuta has new works. At one time, I was worried he had vanished from the VGM scene.

Had a quick listen to a few random tunes and I must say I rather like them. There's an elegance to the simplicity and steady pace of some of the tracks - something I haven't heard in Kikuta for a while.

By the way, would like to request for the "metaphasic child + Omeke CD" tracks to be uploaded again if it's possible.

Those looking for insight on all those Kikuta visual novels and original albums can now hear what the man himself has to say. He discusses the underlying themes of the visual novels and the concept behind the original albums plus more:

Square Enix Music Online :: Interview with Hiroki Kikuta (November 2009)

I hope everyone enjoys it. And hope it satisfies for you, Marcel, and thanks again for all your question suggestions.

Thanks Mr. X for linking the interview.

Quite lengthy but very interesting to read! Makes me want to listen to SD2 and Soukaigi again :)