Who will replace Sugiyama?
 

Koichi Sugiyama has been the sole composer of Dragon Quest series since 1986, no other composer has composed the music other than him since the first time it was released in 1986. We might as well to say that Sugiyama is the main breath of Dragon Quest itself. Without his music, we wont find the same dragon quest music anymore.

Square Enix has cleverly started separating image of Nobuo Uematsu from Final Fantasy since FF X by the assistance of Junya Nakano and Masashi Hamauzu. And as we all know, it's a successful attempt. The final fantasy music we know now is not seen as Uematsu-ish anymore since it is done by different composers like Kumi Tanioka and her brilliant renaissance-like composition for FF CC, or Hamauzu's classical style in FFVII DoC and Sakimoto in FFXII.

But what about dragon quest? 8 games and several spin off, none any of them were done by other composer but Sugiyama. The image of Dragon Quest is just too identical to Sugiyama Music, yet he has been aged. He's 75 years old and to be honest, it's reasonable to think a replacement if the unexpected thing come (hopefully not!).

To be honest I couldn't find any name suitable to replace Sugiyama. Hamauzu is the one that crossed my mind, since he's classical trained, but again, his music has different characteristic compared to Sugiyama. Yoko Kanno might be suitable as well. She's brilliant classical composer. Just listen to any soundtracks done by her, especially the ones with orchestra. You could consider her skill in same level of Sugiyama.

What is your opinion about this? Share your thought here.

I think Sakimoto would be an interesting successor. :)

I was never that big of a fan of Sugiyama; he and his music always seemed a little stodgy to me.

Since Squeenix isn't particularly concerned with keeping their main franchises consistent in sound, they'll probably slot in whoever the flavor of the month happens to be, even if it's a totally inappropriate choice.

Then again, 75 isn't that terribly old. Elmer Bernstein was composing well into his 80's.

The Japanese life expectency age is 96
Hamauzu may go on to do more final fantasys (unless other Square Composers are assigned to later numbers as I think it is going)
Sakimoto...maybe...maybe not...would be interesting

The Dragon Quest games need live sound - definitaly after 7 and 8 - it's a shame they don't stream the symphonic music.

Maybe it needs new blood al together - need to see some new composers on the block :)

Sugiyama was born on 1931-04-11, making him 75 years old. I don't know what the life expectancy is in Japan, but I don't know how many DQ games he has left in him, though I like his music and hope its alot, but this question hay have to be asked soon. Personally, he's one of my favorite SQ-Enix composers, and looking at the list of SQ-Enix composers, one of only 2 that I know and really like their compositions, so I'd have to say that Yoko Shimomura should replace him by default.

Of course, take this with a grain of salt, the only others I'm familiar with are Hamauzu (Who I don't really like, I remember listening to the SGF2 ost in my car once and thinking "This piano piece has been going on for like 20 minutes, when will it be over," and it was really like 10 different songs. Needs variety,) and Sakimoto (Though my opinion of him is slowly getting higher.)

Edit: Beaten

I agree, and it is, but that's why I love him so much. You don't hear that stodgy stuff in games. :)

This is a good question, because he IS getting pretty old. Like RyuFan, I wouldn't mind seeing someone completely new enter the Square Enix scene. But Hamauzu would be an interesting choice. Shimomura wouldn't be so bad, either. In fact, I can actually see Shimomura composing for the series in the future.

But god, just not Sakimoto. I don't think his atmospheric style would suit the series at all. I don't think he could do it well, honestly.

Quoted for truth, and for finally agreeing with my viewpoint in the fact of militant Hamauzu fanboyism :)

I personally think that, on further consideration, that Shimomura or Sakimoto would make good replacements, though it would be nice to see an unknown get a shot or (wonder of wonders) perhaps Mitsuda.

No offense, but I think Sakimoto is a completely bad fit for Dragon Quest's history of music. He's not animated enough in his composing.

In the vgm sphere, I think noone could replace Sugiyama very classical style and I guess Mr. Horii would have to choose someone else, not related to the vgm sphere. But quite frankly I really dont know who could be the successor of Sugiyama. Shimomura? Certainly not. Sakimoto? No way and I'm not even sure he would accept the offer if he was proposed so (even though he has worked on DQVI)... Hamauzu? Hm I dont think so.

EDIT: Anyways, whoever's going after Sugiyama legacy is going to have a lot of pressure, that's for sure!

I think Shimomura music is not suitable for Dragon Quest nuisance, she's just too... techno-ish. No offense. Sakimoto or Mitsuda would be nice choice though.

Shimomura techno-ish? Hmm I guess ive missed something here. While I'm a big Sakimoto fanboy, he's not fitted at all for DQ and anyway I dont want him to be shoot down by DQ fans so yeah... :p
Mitsuda is dead dude, deal with it! :p

...

Just curious... why nobody mentioned Uematsu?

:lolsign:

I dont know, his style is certainly not fitting to DQ? lol

Uematsu's style is completely different. Furthermore, why would he jump ship from Final Fantasy to go into Dragon Quest? He wants to work on new franchises, like the Mistwalker games.

Hamauzu was the first person to jump to my mind, but after composing for his third Final Fantasy game now, I'd say he's pretty tied to that franchise.

My personal choice would be Hirokazu Ando, since he has an upbeat orchestral style. However, he's nowhere close to Sugiyama in musical experience (as far as I know), and he works for HAL.

Otherwise, Akira Miyagawa would be cool.

Hirokazu Ando? What games did he compose for? I just notice his name now.

To be honest, Yoko Kanno is the only name I think could match Sugiyama's classical-ness. She's very classical and capable to write epic in her music.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirokazu_Ando

Mostly a bunch of Kirby games, as well as the the Smash Bros. series.

For the US version of DQ8, thats exactly what they did. Hopfefully we see more of that in the future!

On the thread topic, i dont think anyone could replace his style. His death could very well also be the death of the Dragon Quest series. This is only my opinion. I think it would be an honor to retire the series in his behalf, when that day comes. But as it was said before, he will most likely be around for a LONG while still, so i dont think we have much to worry about yet :oD

I agree with Eriol. Yoko Kanno is the most suitable with her classical styles. I can just imagine music like Dance of Curse in Dragon Quest. In fact, I think her talent would be just the thing that Square-Enix needs ;). I just hope that S-E wouldn't do the unthinkable and get Naoshi Mizuta to write DQ. That alone would make me scream in agony.

Err. josh, who is Naoshi Mizuta?

I also hope that SE wont assign Motoi Sakuraba for Dragon Quest, maybe it's just me, but none of his composition suit my taste.

How about Yuzo Koshiro or Hayato Matsuo?

Matsuo would be a logical choice (possibly) because of his orchestral style. But Yuzo Koshiro...? That would be pretty interesting. Maybe he could go back to his Actraiser days. That would fit perfectly.

Masamichi Amano should start making game music, just for this.

Don't forget to mention Kenji Kawaii. I havent heard any of his works other than the BGM of Fate/Stay Night. But i assume he must be a classical-trained composer. He could be a candidate as well.

He is the main composer for Final Fantasy 11. He alone did the music for all the FFXI expantions, and was accompinied by Kumi Tanoka and Nobou Uematsu for the main game. Im sure youve prolly heard some of his music and just dont know it yet.


I think he worked for Capcom before coming to S-E, someone feel free to confirm/correct me.

Hayato Matsuo would be the best choice. He has already worked with Sugiyama on Magical Knight Rayearth, Idataki Street Special, and all of the Dragon Quest CD Theater albums (where he was an arranger). Matsuo would do a lot with the series and is an incredible musician.