Tsuyoshi Sekito

{{Short description|Japanese composer and musician (born 1963)}}

{{Redirect|Sekito|the 8th-century Chinese monk known as Sekitō Kisen|Shitou Xiqian}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Tsuyoshi Sekito

| native_name = 関戸 剛

| image =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1963|4|3}}

| birth_place = Osaka Prefecture, Japan

| alma_mater = Kansai Gaidai University

| occupation = Composer, musician, guitarist

| years_active = 1989–present

| employer = Square Enix

| module = {{Infobox musical artist| embed=yes

| instrument = Electric guitar

| genre = Rock, video game music

}}}}

{{nihongo|Tsuyoshi Sekito|関戸 剛|Sekito Tsuyoshi|born April 3, 1963}} is a Japanese video game composer, arranger, and musician who has been employed at Square Enix since 1995. As a composer, he is best known for scoring Brave Fencer Musashi (1998), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005) and The Last Remnant (2008). He also plays the guitar in the rock bands The Black Mages and The Star Onions; both groups arrange and perform compositions from the Final Fantasy series.

Biography

Tsuyoshi Sekito was born in Osaka, Japan. His career as a video game composer began at the end of the 1980s when he joined Konami's sound team. The first game he scored was Space Manbow in 1989. The following year, he created the music for SD Snatcher and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake along with several other composers. He was subsequently assigned to score the sports titles Double Dribble: 5-on-5 (1991) and Soccer Superstars (1995) and the cartoon adaptations Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers (1991) and Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Hidden Treasure (1993), often as the leading composer. In 1994, he created the soundtrack to the arcade game Lethal Enforcers II: Gunfighters with Yuichi Sakakura. He left Konami in 1995 to join the Osaka branch of Square.{{cite web|url=http://www.vgmonline.net/tsuyoshisekito|title=Tsuyoshi Sekito Profile|publisher=Game Music Online|author=Chris Greening|date=30 December 2012|accessdate=2014-09-21}}

After joining Square, Sekito did not compose any games until 1998; his first assignment for the company was to create the music for Brave Fencer Musashi. In 1999, he assisted in scoring the soundtrack to Chocobo's Dungeon 2 by creating 12 pieces. His fellow composers were Kumi Tanioka and Kenji Ito. The following year, he composed music for the Japan-only All Star Pro-Wrestling along with Kenichiro Fukui and Tanioka. Sekito went solo for the game's sequel, All Star Pro-Wrestling II (2001), and was joined by Fukui again for the third and final installment, All Star Pro-Wrestling III (2003).

In 2002, after Sekito and Fukui's collaboration on All Star Pro-Wrestling, they decided to arrange some of the pieces in the Final Fantasy series, composed by Nobuo Uematsu. The two presented their arrangements to Uematsu who enjoyed their work. Although hesitant at first, Uematsu agreed to join Sekito and Fukui in forming the rock band The Black Mages; Sekito served as the group's guitarist. In 2003, Keiji Kawamori, Arata Hanyuda, and Michio Okamiya also joined the band. The Black Mages have released three studio albums, and have appeared at several concerts to promote their albums.

To create the music for The Last Remnant, Sekito utilized his guitar collection for different tracks and used different guitar sounds and techniques including detuning and delay effects on the album.{{cite web|url=http://blog.square-enix.com/music/remnant_na/2008/12/mr_sekito_about_his_guitar_col.html|title=Mr. Sekito about his guitar collections|publisher=Square Enix|author=Marushi Akio|date=2008-12-07|accessdate=2016-02-01}} Sekito did not use an orchestra for the game's music, but chose particular instruments and players to make the music an assortment of the best for each part.{{cite web|url=http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/the_last_remnant/preview-1384.html|title=The Last Remnant Preview|publisher=Video Gamer|author=Wesley Yin-Poole|date=2008-11-19|accessdate=2016-02-01|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003014453/http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/the_last_remnant/preview-1384.html|archivedate=2012-10-03}}

In Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, Sekito felt unrestricted while composing music for the Nintendo 3DS, saying that he was able to create songs that would make a game player feel that were in a large world even on a small device due to the game console's 3D graphics.{{cite web|url=http://www.destructoid.com/exclusive-meet-the-kingdom-hearts-3d-sound-team-231932.phtml|title=Exclusive: Meet the Kingdom Hearts 3D sound team|publisher=Destructoid|author=Audun Sorlie|date=2012-07-26|accessdate=2016-02-01}}

For the game Final Fantasy Explorers, Sekito had to begin composing music with very few visual effects finished, and thus composed a wide variety of music to fit however it turned out.{{cite web|url=http://squareportal.net/2014/07/07/tsuyoshi-sekito-explains-the-main-theme-of-final-fantasy-explorers-listen-now/|title=Tsuyoshi Sekito Explains The Main Theme of "Final Fantasy Explorers"|publisher=Square Portal|author=Johnny|date=2014-07-07|accessdate=2016-02-01}}

Musical style and influences

Sekito cites heavy metal bands Van Halen and Dream Theater and film score composer Jerry Goldsmith as musical influences.

Works

=Video games=

class="wikitable sortable"

! scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Title

! scope="col" | Notes

rowspan="2" |1989

|Motocross Maniacs

| Music with Michiru Yamane

Space Manbow

|Music with Michiru Yamane and Yuji Takenouchi

rowspan="2" |1990

|SD Snatcher

|Music with several others

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake

|Music with several others

rowspan="2" |1991

|Double Dribble: 5-on-5

|Music

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers

| Music with Yuko Kurahashi

1993

|Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Hidden Treasure

|Music with Shinji Tasaka and Hideto Inoue

1994

|Lethal Enforcers II: Gunfighters

|Music with Yuichi Sakakura

1995

|Soccer Superstars

|Music

rowspan="2" |1998

|Brave Fencer Musashi

|Music

Chocobo's Dungeon 2

|Music with Kumi Tanioka, Yasuhiro Kawakami, and Kenji Ito

rowspan="2" |1999

|Chrono Trigger (PlayStation ver.)

|Arrangements

Final Fantasy Chronicles

|Arrangements

2000

|All Star Pro-Wrestling

|Music with Kenichiro Fukui and Kumi Tanioka

2001

|All Star Pro-Wrestling II

|Music

2002

|Final Fantasy Origins

|Arrangements

2003

|All Star Pro-Wrestling III

|Music with Kenichiro Fukui

rowspan="3" |2005

|Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song-

| Music with Kenji Ito

Hanjuku Hero 4: 7-Jin no Hanjuku Hero

|Music with several others

Front Mission Online

|Arrangements

rowspan="2" |2006

|Dawn of Mana

| Music with Kenji Ito, Masayoshi Soken and Ryuichi Sakamoto

Final Fantasy III (Nintendo DS)

|Arrangements with Keiji Kawamori

rowspan="2" |2008

|The Last Remnant

|Music with Yasuhiro Yamanaka

Dissidia: Final Fantasy

|Arrangements with Mitsuto Suzuki

rowspan="2" |2009

|Gyromancer

|Music

Death by Cube

|Music with Mud-J

rowspan="2" |2010

|Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

| Music with Yoko Shimomura and Takeharu Ishimoto

The 3rd Birthday

|Music with Yoko Shimomura and Mitsuto Suzuki

rowspan="4" |2011

|Fantasy Earth: Zero Chronicles

|Music with Hidenori Iwasaki and Ryo Yamazaki

MindJack

|Music

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy

|Arrangements with Keiji Kawamori and Mitsuto Suzuki

Lord of Vermilion Re:2

| Arrangements with several others

2012

|Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

|Music with Yoko Shimomura and Takeharu Ishimoto

rowspan="2" |2014

|Rise of Mana

|Music with Kenji Ito, Hiroki Kikuta, and Yoko Shimomura

Final Fantasy Explorers

|Music

2015

|Dissidia Final Fantasy

|Arrangements with Takeharu Ishimoto and Keiji Kawamori

2018

|Secret of Mana

|Arrangements with several others{{cite web|last1=Gallagher|first1=Mathew|title=Team of arrangers announced for Secret of Mana remake|url=http://www.vgmonline.net/team-of-arrangers-announced-for-secret-of-mana-remake/|website=Video Game Music Online|date=19 November 2017|accessdate=21 November 2017}}

2019

|Kingdom Hearts III

|Music with Yoko Shimomura and Takeharu Ishimoto

2020

|Final Fantasy VII Remake

|Arrangements with several others

2024

|Visions of Mana

|Music with Hiroki Kikuta and Ryo Yamazaki{{cite web |url=https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2023/12/visions-of-mana-isnt-open-world-but-it-does-have-vast-semi-open-areas |title=Visions of Mana Isn't Open World, But It Does Have 'Vast' Semi-Open Areas |date=December 10, 2023 |accessdate=January 25, 2024 |website=PushSquare |author=Ramsey, Robert}}

=Films=

class="wikitable sortable"

! scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Title

! scope="col" | Notes

2005

|Final Fantasy VII Advent Children

|Music with Nobuo Uematsu and Keiji Kawamori

2009

|Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete

|Arrangements with Keiji Kawamori

=Other works=

class="wikitable sortable"

! scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Title

! scope="col" | Notes

2001

|feel/Go dream: Yuna & Tidus

| with Masashi Hamauzu and Masayoshi Kikuchi

2003

|The Black Mages

|

2004

|The Black Mages II: The Skies Above

|

2008

|The Black Mages III: Darkness and Starlight

|

References

{{reflist}}