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Naoshi Mizuta
BiographyThis biography was written by Chris exclusively for use at Square Enix Music Online. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission, as this is a violation of copyright. Naoshi Mizuta was born on 24th January, 1972, in Kochi, Japan. Although he studied Law and Economics at Chiba University in hope of a career in these subjects, eventually his love for music superseded this. His interest grew throughout adolescence and he eventually composed his first piece of music a little before graduating from university. Following, Law and Economics no longer appealed to him and he had his sights firmly set on a musical career. He started off his career by composing music for the Street Fighter series on behalf of Capcom. He was involved in creating the music for the Arcade game Street Fighter Zero in 1996 alongside Isao Abe, Syun Nishigaki, Setsuo Yamamoto, and Yuko Kadota. After this, he teamed up with Setsuo Yamamoto, Syun Nishigaki, and Suzuki for the score of Street Fighter Zero 2 Alpha in 1996. His final composing work for Capcom came with the Super Nintendo action game Rockman & Forte in 1998 alongside Akari Kaida. He left the company in 1998 after being attracted by a Square recruitment advertisement and was subsequently hired. Unfortunately, his debut with Square was as the solo composer for the Parasite Eve 2 Original Soundtrack in 1999. The Original Soundtrack failed to be a worthy sequel to Yôko Shimomura's highly acclaimed Parasite Eve Original Soundtrack for many people, as most didn't find its ambient styles to be particularly appealing. However, it was this soundtrack that put him in good stead for the future, as it was where he developed and refined his tone that would soon be heard in much more successful work. After a fairly lengthy hiatus from video game music, he really hit the jackpot in 2002 when he was asked by Square to work with Nobuo Uematsu and Kumi Tanioka on the Final Fantasy XI Original Soundtrack. Here, he took a leading role, composing the majority of the well-known soundtrack, earning him a lot of recognition as a composer. He was also responsible for the score of Tetra Master in 2002, which was a spin-off of the mini-game from Final Fantasy IX, playable on Square Enix's PlayOnline service. More recently, Naoshi Mizuta has also composed music for the two extensions to Final Fantasy XI. As a result, the Final Fantasy XI Rise of the Zilart Original Soundtrack was released in 2003, and the Final Fantasy XI Chains of Promathia Original Soundtrack was released at the end of 2004. As solo efforts, these soundtracks allowed Mizuta to develop his styles and further, and though the loss of Tanioka and Uematsu reduced the diversity of the score somewhat, the quality remained high. As part of his involvement in Final Fantasy XI Chains of Promathia, Mizuta also joined the Star Onions band, which was initially responsible for a concert on the Final Fantasy Chains of Promathia Special Night, 11 September, 2004. They were responsible for performing six tracks from Final Fantasy XI, including Mizuta's "The Federation of Windurst" and "The Sanctuary of Zi'Tah." The band featured Mizuta as a bass guitarist, Kumi Tanioka and Hidenori Iwasaki as pianists, and Tsuyoshi Sekito as a guitarist. Naoshi Mizuta recently composed some of the score for Hanjuku Hero 4 ~The 7 Heroes~ alongside Nobuo Uematsu and the other Hanjuku Mages. Here, he created two rather unusual arrangements of Nobuo Uematsu's work and also created two original tracks, including one heavy rock track, which may come as a surprise to those people accustomed to his Final Fantasy XI. His most significant contribution to game music this year, however, has been as the producer of Final Fantasy XI - Music from the Other Side of Vana'diel, an arranged album dedicated to the performances of the reunited Star Onions, who have been extensively modified since their 2004 debut. The album, released in August 2005, saw ten tracks arranged from the three Final Fantasy XI original scores, including eight of Mizuta's own compositions. As well as producing the album, Mizuta was the bass guitarist and an arranger of five tracks. Kumi Tanioka and Capcom's Masato Kato (of Devil May Cry and Resident Evil Outbreak fame) were responsible for the other arrangements and a number of guest performers were also featured on the album. With Kumi Tanioka and Nobuo Uematsu having major projects of their own to cater to, it looks like Naoshi Mizuta will be the solo composer once again for the next extension to Final Fantasy XI, whenever it will come, though it has yet to be seen whether he will be utilised elsewhere in the meantime. Firmly established as the principal composer for Final Fantasy XI and having received both huge criticism and great praise for his works on the three Original Soundtracks dedicated to the game, Naoshi Mizuta may not be globally loved, but he is certainly well-known. Indeed, while some people found his work to be inspirational and a positive diversion from Nobuo Uematsu's typical contributions, others found his contributions to be bland, lifeless, and boring. His works are certainly a select taste. List of Game ProjectsNote: This list only includes games that the composer has actively worked on, so those games that feature reprises of the composer's work from older titles are not included. Key: C = Composer, A = Arranger, P = Performer, S = Sound Programmer, E = Sound Effects, M = Synthesizer Operator
List of AlbumsOriginal Scores
Arranged Albums
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